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This article is part of Football FanCast’s Opinion series, which provides analysis, insight and opinion on any issue within the beautiful game, from Paul Pogba’s haircuts to League Two relegation battles…

It has been a long while since we’ve last seen Samuel Umtiti continuously play for Barcelona.

Just a couple of years ago, however, the 25-year-old centre-back was on top of the world and looking like he could become Blaugrana’s best defender in some time.

After all, he was receiving all sorts of praise by club legends like Eric Abidal.

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Abidal even likened Umtiti to Franz Beckenbauer and stated that his compatriot had already surpassed him back then when talking to RAC1 (via Goal).

“Umtiti is much better than Abidal. He will be the black Beckenbauer at Barca.” – Eric Abidal, 2017

But things have gone sour very quickly for the now 25-year-old centre-back.

In 2016/17, Umtiti played a total of 43 games for the Blaugrana across all competitions, starting all games in the Champions League and 24 in La Liga. This trend continued into the next season as well as the Frenchman mustered 40 appearances across all competitions, once again starting the vast majority of them.

But trouble started brewing the season after that when his knee started to give.

In 2018/19, he had to miss 28 games due to some serious injuries and now, in 2019/20, he’s already missed a total of nine matches due to an issue with his foot.

Watch Lionel Messi and Gareth Bale answer the internet’s weirdest questions in the video below…

That means that he has only played a total of 15 games since the start of the 2018/19 season.

That is a seriously worrying statistic and it wouldn’t be a stretch to say that he will have to resolve his issues rather quickly or Barcelona might start looking at other options.

He might have been one of their best defenders two years ago but now, these injuries have become a serious problem both for him and for the club.

Not to mention that the Catalans are pretty stacked at that centre-back position with Gerard Pique, Clement Lenglet and Jean-Clair Todibo already available in the first team and the likes of Ronald Araujo, who made his senior debut just recently against Sevilla, banging on the door and aching for that big chance.

For those reasons, this feels like a do or die situation for Umtiti.

The competition at big clubs like Barca is always tough but it seems that there are quite a lot of contenders waiting for a chance to dethrone the Frenchman sooner rather than later.

We’ve seen the quality he possesses when he’s fit, and many of the fans obviously still believe in him, but he’s definitely walking on thin ice already, especially considering that there were some rumours of his potential exit last summer.

Who’s to say that Barcelona won’t pull the trigger the next time Umtiti fluffs his lines or suffers a long-term absence? And would it even be unfair of them to do so considering everything that’s been going on with the player?

Only time will tell but if anything, time is exactly what the 25-year-old seems to be running out of.

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This article is part of Football FanCast’s Opinion series, which provides analysis, insight and opinion on any issue within the beautiful game, from Paul Pogba’s haircuts to League Two relegation battles…

Tottenham Hotspur fans may well be on the verge of getting exactly what they’ve been demanding ahead of the Carabao Cup clash against Colchester United on Tuesday night.

It’s fair to say that Spurs have very rarely been the team they have shown they can be in the past so far this season, and their two recent results against Olympiacos and Leicester City sum things up.

However, they have the chance to bounce back against the League Two club, and it could allow Mauricio Pochettino to hand out a chance to some of the club’s younger players.

17-year-old striker Troy Parrott made a decent impression during pre-season and has made a big impact for the north London outfit’s youth teams, too.

As well as finding the net in the UEFA youth league match against Olympiacos last week, he also netted twice for the U23s in a 3-1 win against Manchester City last month, meaning he has three goals in just 151 minutes on the pitch, as per Transfermarkt.

In addition, he inspired the Republic of Ireland’s U21 team to a 2-1 victory against Sweden earlier this month with a second-half brace.

When the Colchester draw was made it led to plenty of calls from fans for him to be given a chance, and it does make sense in general with no out-and-out centre-forward competition for Harry Kane following the summer departures of Vincent Janssen and Fernando Llorente.

Football London report that Pochettino has admitted he is considering handing the teenager his debut against the League Two club, and that was further backed up by the fact he was left out of the squad as the U23s were beaten by their Blackburn Rovers counterparts on Monday.

It remains to be seen whether he will be in the starting XI or on the bench, but it does appear as though the wishes of Tottenham fans are going to be granted.

Should he play, it will be the moment of truth to see if he is ready to make an impact for the first team now.

This article is part of Football FanCast’s The Chalkboard series, which provides a tactical insight into teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…

It’s nearly time for Barcelona’s second game of the Champions League group stage.

The Catalans will welcome Inter Milan at the Camp Nou and the key to overcoming them just might lie in the middle of the park.

On the chalkboard

It hasn’t really been a dream start for Barcelona in Europe this season.

Their opening clash against Borussia Dortmund at Signal Iduna Park ended in a goalless draw but the Catalans surely wanted to claim more than just a point for their efforts.

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Still, that was only the first game and seeing how Inter Milan also drew their game with Slavia Prague, Group F is very much open.

This particular clash, however, is huge for both teams and if Barca want to pick up all three points, Sergio Busquets will have to outshine Marcelo Brozovic.

Midfield generals

Busquets is very much the linchpin of Barcelona’s midfield.

In many ways, the experienced Spaniard is the Catalans’ general and everything starts and ends with him in the middle of the park. But Brozovic certainly looks like Busquets’ direct counterpart in Inter’s camp.

Watch Lionel Messi and Gareth Bale answer the internet’s weirdest questions in the video below…

The Croat is heavily involved in everything that’s happening on the pitch and most of it flows directly through him.

Just this season, in the six games he’s played in Serie A, Brozovic has registered a 91.5% passing accuracy with a total of 83.8 passes per game. This becomes even more impressive when we compare it to Busquets’ 90.6% passing accuracy and 76.8 passes per game.

Barcelona are very much known for their passing game, which only emphasises Brozovic’s importance to his team since he managed to edge out Busquets in both aforementioned categories.

But the Croat falls short only slightly in key passes as he tallied 1.2 as opposed to his rival’s 1.4 per game.

Both players are pretty active going the other way as well, often dominating the defensive phases of the game. Busquets registered 2.6 tackles and one interception per game in La Liga while Brozovic averaged 3.2 tackles and 1.8 interceptions under his belt in Serie A.

By all standards, this is looking likely to be an impressive battle of two highly skilled players – Barcelona’s midfield general vs Inter Milan’s engine.

The winner of this battle just might tip the scales in his team’s favour.

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Having joined West Ham last summer for a reported £36m from Italian side Lazio, Felipe Anderson showed more than enough signs that he could develop into a truly top-class signing for the Hammers.

The Brazil international fired in ten goals in 40 games across all competitions in his debut campaign for the team, and has started this season well too.

Despite not getting on the score-sheet against Norwich at the London Stadium on Saturday, Anderson delivered a virtuoso performance for Manuel Pellegrini’s side.

The 26-year-old registered three shots and three key passes in the 87 minutes he was in the game, and had a joint game-high six successful dribbles too.

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After seeing the Brazilian’s fine display, West Ham fans flooded to Twitter to hail the former Lazio star.

Many Hammers supporters thought he completely terrorised the Norwich defence, with one fan suggesting he had “scared the living daylights” out of the Canaries.

Some fans even insisted Anderson could lay claim to being the best player outside of the Premier League’s top six after his impressive performance.

Check out some of the reaction from West Ham fans below:

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Villa host West Ham United on Monday, and Dean Smith’s side could potentially be at the bottom of the table by the time that game rolls around.

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The Villans currently sit in 18th, but with every other team playing before them this weekend they may find themselves cut adrift if results don’t go in their favour.

Despite the fact they’ve got a longer wait than many of the other sides, that hasn’t caused Grealish to lose focus.

The 24-year-old captioned his post ‘All eyes on Monday’, and that’s exactly the type of message Villa fans will want to read from their captain.

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[ad_pod ]Liverpool attacker Sadio Mane has told LiverpoolFC.com that the team aren’t putting any pressure on themselves in the Premier League title race, and Reds fans have been quick to react to his comments on Twitter.

The Merseyside outfit recovered from the minor blip of losing consecutive fixtures against Manchester City and Wolverhampton Wanderers – in the top flight and FA Cup respectively – at the beginning of 2019 to record successive victories against Brighton & Hove Albion and Crystal Palace.

The latest thrilling 4-3 win against the Eagles left them four points clear of City at the summit, while they are also nine above third-placed Tottenham Hotspur in the standings ahead of the final 15 fixtures of the season.

Speaking to LiverpoolFC.com, Mane highlighted the professional mentality in the dressing room:

“We have experience now.

“Of course we are confident if we’re winning – but not too much, we know what can happen. We are still professional footballers and we’re still going to try to take it game by game.

“The season is long and we have many games. Making pressure for ourselves doesn’t help. Why not just try to win games until the end of the season?”

The FA Cup exit to Wolves means Jurgen Klopp’s men have an 11-day gap to prepare for their next Premier League fixture against Leicester City at Anfield on Wednesday, where they will hope to pick up their 20th top flight win of what has been a brilliant campaign to date.

Liverpool supporters took to social media to give their thoughts on their 26-year-old attacker’s defiant message, and while one said he’d “better tell Lovren and Lallana that”, another said the Senegal international has an “elite mentality”.

Here is just a selection of the Twitter reaction…

Are the media letting Jurgen Klopp off lightly for his lack of silverware? The Pl>ymaker FC squad have their say in the video below…

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This article is part of Football FanCast’s The Chalkboard series, which provides a tactical insight into teams, players, managers, potential signings and more… 

Leicester City showed they mean business on Wednesday night as Brendan Rodgers named effectively a full-strength side for their Carabao Cup tie against Newcastle United.

Only two changes were made with captain Wes Morgan being given his first start of the season whilst Harvey Barnes was rewarded for thumping home their winner versus Sheffield United at the weekend.

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The game was stretched to penalties after Yoshinori Muto’s close-range strike cancelled out James Maddison’s deflected free-kick before the Foxes won via Jamie Vardy’s spot-kick after some heroics from goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel.

Rodgers’ decision to produce a strong squad in the Carabao Cup goes to show that, even if he doesn’t realise it, he is learning from the mistakes made under ex-boss Claude Puel.

On the Chalkboard

Last season, the Foxes had a genuine chance to win some silverware if they had actually tried to contend in the cup competitions.

They rotated against Manchester City last season and were ultimately knocked out in the quarter-finals of the Carabao Cup for the second successive season.

The Northern Irish manager has expressed his desire to do well in the domestic tournaments, which is a far different attitude to that last season.

Puel eventually lost his job so that’s not a route Rodgers will want to go down himself.

His moves in the transfer market have been impressive whilst on the pitch he has Leicester playing a good enough style of football, which sees them sit fourth in the table already.

Yet the League Cup wasn’t the only competition Puel rotated in. Against Newport County in the FA Cup, they were on the end of a giant-killing after the Frenchman made changes to his XI.

Based on his selection and quotes this week, Rodgers isn’t in danger of repeating his predecessor’s failure.

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Manchester United have been having a quiet transfer window in terms of incomings, but rumours have been spreading of fall outs and potential moves for many of the current squad, with the latest development one that would potentially be welcomed by fans.

What’s the word?

According to Sky Sports Italia, as cited by MilanLive, Eric Bailly is one of a number of defenders that AC Milan are interested in signing this January to replace Simon Kjaer.

The Serie A side are said to be looking for a quick fix to replace the Milan defender, who has been ruled out for the rest of the season, and Manchester United’s centre-back is one that they have reportedly ‘focused their attention’ on.

Fans will be buzzing

Bailly has been previously criticised for his poor performances when given his opportunity to play in the side, with Trevor Sinclair ripping into the “poor” player after the 2-0 defeat Manchester United sustained to local rivals, Manchester City:

“What is Bailly doing? That is poor defending,” he began.

“We’re not surprised, are we? He’s a rash defender and he seems like he’s always got a mistake in him,

“You can’t teach an old dog new tricks and the ship has sailed for Bailly. He’ll never be the composed defender Man United need.”

The £87k-per-week flop has had his ups and downs at Old Trafford over the last five and a half years, and has only been given seven appearances in all competitions this season. Thus, fans will surely be delighted to see the back of him.

According to SofaScore, Bailly has not helped his side keep a single clean sheet in any of the Premier League games he has played in this season, as well as averaging less than one interception per game while only winning possession 0.3 times on average over the season so far in the league.

It’s safe to say fans would not be sorry to see the central defender leave the club this January, with one fan simply tweeting: “Bailly can leave.”

Ralf Rangnick has had a number of internal issues going on this week, with Bailly named as one of 11 players who are rumoured to want to leave the club this season, and with the FA Cup game against Aston Villa coming up this evening it will be interesting to see who the German coach plays in his starting line up amidst the drama.

If he does, it will be a mistake. After all, the defender should be brutally axed from the Theatre of Dreams this winter.

In other news: Ralf Rangnick eyes a swoop for Rudiger

Manchester United have not made much progress so far in their winter transfer window, despite many players being linked to the club over the first two weeks, but Ralf Rangnick could be set to make his first star signing as manager at Old Trafford.

Rangnick’s side have been struggling to get results in the Premier League since the new year began, with a defeat at home in their first game of the year against Wolves, and drawing in their second league game of 2022 with Aston Villa after losing a two-goal lead on Saturday evening.

These results and a clear lack of determination to see games out will only put more pressure on the interim manager to make signings who can make a positive impact and offer the side the quality they need to climb into the top four as they compete with West Ham United, Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur for a Champions League qualifying place.

One player that could save Rangnick’s six months in charge at Old Trafford, is Ousmane Dembele who was hailed “better than Mbappe” by Barcelona president, Joan Laporta, recently.

The 24-year-old forward has not been playing a lot for the La Liga giants with only six appearances in the league this season so far due to a knee injury, and has been linked with a move to Manchester United this week, with the £287k-per-week gem out of contract in the summer, so a cut-price deal could be available if Rangnick feels it would be worth stepping up on the signings this month.

Dembele has a fantastic goal involvement record at Barcelona, despite only playing 58 minutes on average per game for the club so far, with a goal or assist every 141 minutes according to Transfermarkt.

Someone with consistent output would be a great addition to the Manchester United forward line, with the creative possibilities endless for the French attacker if he was to play alongside the second-highest goalscorer in the history of football, Cristiano Ronaldo.

Fans would also love to see Dembele add attacking depth at Old Trafford, with one fan even tweeting:

“What is the solution to make Man United a great club? Sign Dembele.”

Rangnick will be looking to find a way to get the fans back on side after some turned on the manager after the Aston Villa game on Saturday evening, so signing a star offensive player like Dembele could be a good way to get back in the good books of the fanbase for the German coach.

In other news: Rangnick has fee agreed for Amadou Haidara

Premier League clubs, including Aston Villa, met on Monday and decided against a circuit breaker over the festive period.

Villa shared the Premier League’s statement on their official Twitter channel, with a number of supporters reacting to the update.

Villa have been hit with a rapid rise of virus cases and had to cancel their match against Burnley on Saturday. The club had requested for the game to be called off at 10:30am on Saturday morning, but the fixture wasn’t officially postponed until 12:40pm, with little more than two hours to the scheduled kick-off time.

It was the sixth and final top-flight match to be postponed over the weekend (and the 10th in the space of a week) due to the pandemic, but the Premier League confirmed that it is ‘collective intention to continue the current fixture schedule where safely possible’.

That means Villa’s Boxing Day meeting with Chelsea is still on at this moment in time despite the outbreak at Bodymoor Heath.

Villa fans react

Here is what these Villa fans had to say in reply, with many not happy regarding the statement, which one supporter described as a “joke” in the increasingly worrying circumstances.

“Looks like I’ll be ready to go and then end up in the pub again lol, feel sorry for people that travel a far distance for them to call it off last minute, the Premier league are a joke”

Credit: @SamBrogan3

“’The health and wellbeing of all concerned remains our priority…’ Complete lies”

Credit: @Sayers8

“Gonna spread like wildfire. But money must come first”

Credit: @ajsfounded71

“So half a squad for Boxing Day’s game… Isolation is 10 days”

Credit: @VillaCannock

“If that’s case we probs have to field half the team with youth players, guarantee if it was other way around with Chelsea the game would’ve already been postponed”

Credit: @Hellyer7

“Looking after the so called big six again!”

Credit: @austinw1957

In other news: ‘On my knees’ – Many Aston Villa fans erupt as Lange makes ‘bold’ January transfer bid