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This article is part of Football FanCast’s Pundit View series, which provides opinion and analysis on recent quotes from journalists, pundits, players and managers…

Jamie Redknapp has suggested that Marco Silva has every right to be furious after the controversial VAR decision that led to a goal for Brighton & Hove Albion at the weekend.

What did he say?

Everton lost for the sixth time in the Premier League on Saturday, but the game was overshadowed with a debatable VAR call on Michael Keane. The Englishman was seen to step on Aaron Connolly’s foot, but it looked completely accidental as he watched the ball come down from a pass to the Brighton forward.

The decision to rule it a foul resulted in a penalty, which brought the Seagulls level. 14 minutes later, Lucas Digne would smash the ball in his own net and hand the home side all three points as a result.

Redknapp said in his Daily Mail column: “Silva should be seething with VAR.

“Marco Silva has every right to be angry with the decision of VAR to award Brighton a pivotal penalty in their 3-2 defeat of Everton at the Amex Stadium.

“Michael Keane did step on Aaron Connolly’s foot, but let’s be honest, that was extremely harsh. Especially when you think of some of the other calls which have not been given, like when Bournemouth’s Jefferson Lerma stood on David Silva’s foot at the Vitality Stadium in August. Where is the consistency?”

What’s the point if it’s not consistent?

As Redknapp alluded to, there is currently no consistency in VAR. There have been instances throughout the season so far which have made the technology look worthwhile, but this seems to be outweighed by the constant controversy it brings.

For example, VAR overruled the penalty decision for Callum Hudson-Odoi against Burnley this weekend, when Michael Oliver initially pointed to the spot. Replays showed that the Chelsea man went down without contact, and VAR rightfully so ruled it out.

However, then there are instances such as Keane’s on Connolly. This was similar to when Lerma stood on Silva’s foot in August and it was not given as a penalty, which then makes it tough to justify the means for Keane’s contact with Connolly to be a foul.

It’s beginning to feel like VAR is simply adding an extra layer of controversy to decisions that are subjective by nature and, as Redknapp says, Silva is well within his rights to feel aggrieved by weekend events.

This article is part of Football FanCast’s In Numbers series, which takes a statistical look at performances, season-long form and reported transfer targets… 

West Brom managed to keep their throne atop the Championship table on Saturday afternoon but needed late, late heroics to do so as they defeated Middlesbrough at the Riverside Stadium.

Baggies substitute Hal Robson-Kanu, who signed a contract extension during the week, popped up with the winner just eight minutes from time.

The 30-year-old was on hand to tap home the ball at the back post following a goalmouth scramble.

Slaven Bilic’s men managed to hang on to move two points clear of second-placed Leeds United, who are the only team to defeat Albion this season.

In the heart of midfield, Jake Livermore continued his fine form, as if he has been given a new lease of life under the Croatian.

The addition of Romaine Sawyers during the summer has certainly brought the best out of him as he’s been able to play his more natural style, instead of carrying the older duo of Gareth Barry and Chris Brunt on his legs alone.

This performance has to be up there with one of the best we’ve seen from the 29-year-old this season, and maybe over the past 18 months or so.

Per SofaScore, Livermore managed to record a 92% passing accuracy, which was aided by him completing three of his four long balls. He also managed five tackles, two blocked shots, and even fired off two of his own.

In the process, he offered something no other Albion midfielder does as Sawyers failed to make a single tackle.

Watch West Bromwich Albion Live Streams With StreamFootball.tv Below

It is his presence in the centre of the pitch that is so needed in a Bilic side – his fast-tempo and passing style of football often requires the smaller, enigmatic type of players like Grady Diangana or Matheus Pereira, who if you could find a weak point in their game, it would be their lack of physicality.

And that is what the seven-time England midfielder can offer as displayed by him winning five of his eight ground duels. This is further backed up by Express & Star journalist Joe Masi, who labelled Livermore as ‘commanding’ and that he is ‘physically so important to this team.’

The former Tottenham Hotspur man is just so integral to Bilic’s midfield, especially after performances like that.

Trent Alexander-Arnold has been a little bit unfortunate when it comes to individual accolades this year.The Liverpool right-back controversially didn’t make FIFA’s Team of the Year, and he was pipped to the PFA Young Player of the Year award by Raheem Sterling.Watch Liverpool Live Streams With StreamFootball.tv Below

However, he’s finally been acknowledged for his personal achievements as he was given a Guinness World Record certificate for one of his incredible feats last season.

Indeed, the 21-year-old is now a record breaker, as he’s been given an award for the most Premier League assists in a single season by a defender.

While we’re not quite sure if that can truly be considered as a ‘world record’, the feat is still impressive nonetheless.

The Liverpool man set up 12 league goals last term, eclipsing two Everton stars as Leighton Baines and Andy Hinchcliffe held the previous record of 11.

With Alexander-Arnold averaging 3.5 key passes per game in the league this season, don’t be surprised if he has to pick up an updated version of this award this time next year after breaking his own record.

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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…

Crystal Palace travel across London this Saturday to take on Tottenham, who have endured a mixed start to the campaign.

Mauricio Pochettino’s men have won just one of their opening four Premier League games so far, drawing two and losing one. They will have presumably been left disappointed by their last outing against rivals Arsenal, too, seeing as they were leading 2-0, although they have one player in their ranks who loves causing Palace problems…

Who is it?

Heung-min Son.

Since arriving on these shores from Bayer Leverkusen, the South Korean has developed a knack of finding the net against the Eagles.

He scored against Palace on his Premier League debut at White Hart Lane back in 2015, while also netting in a 1-0 win at Wembley.

Last season also saw Spurs play the first-ever league game in their new stadium, incidentally against the south Londoners, and guess what?

Son scored in a 1-0 win – Palace must keep an eye on the deadly forward.

Who must keep Son under wraps?

Palace right-back Joel Ward will have a real task on his hands this weekend, as he should be the one directly up against the 27-year-old.

Son technically started centrally behind Harry Kane last time out against Arsenal, but his heat-map proves that most of his activity came down the left flank – he won the penalty for Harry Kane’s goal by cutting in on his right foot from the left.

The 6 foot 2 defender records some pretty impressive defensive numbers – 2.8 tackles per game and 4.3 clearances isn’t bad at all – but just by watching him you can see how rigid and slow he is at times, whereas Son is almost the complete opposite.

The man with five goals in 222 appearances for the Eagles must win his battle against Son – who scored 12 league goals last term – if Palace want to have any chance of a result this weekend.

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This article is part of Football FanCast’s Pundit View series, which provides opinion and analysis on recent quotes from journalists, pundits, players and managers…

Adrian Durham has continued his assault against Tyrone Mings this week after the Aston Villa centre-back was announced in Gareth Southgate’s England squad for their upcoming qualifiers, having his say on the matter on talkSPORT, via Birmingham Mail.

What’s he said?

It appears that the former Bournemouth defender has been rewarded for his excellent form over the past eight months with a call-up to the England squad.

Mings was an instrumental figure in getting Villa promoted last season as his arrival on loan practically kick-started a historic ten game-winning run, which catapulted them into the playoffs.

The towering 6 foot 5 centre-back is now a fan-favourite at Villa Park.

Watch Aston Villa Live Streams With StreamFootball.tv Below

Earlier this month, the talkSPORT presenter claimed Mings was brilliant against Tottenham on the opening weekend, but there were signs that he would contribute towards a potential instant relegation.

Now Durham has given his verdict on the 26-year-old’s call-up by questioning whether he has done enough to warrant it, he said:

“He’s left-footed, which I think is a massive plus in his favour, but there are other centre-backs who have been overlooked.

“Ben Mee for example, [James] Tarkowski – both at Burnley. Conor Coady for a long time at Wolves has looked really good.

“I’ve no problem with Mings being in the squad, but if I was one of those three I’d be thinking what have I got to do to get into the England squad?

“He’s just waltzed in from the Championship, and after three games he’s just walked in. If I was one of them I’d feel a little bit aggrieved.”

Understandable points

Mings has been excellent alongside Bjorn Engels and we’ve previously covered how the imposing centre-back has been proving that he’s been worth every bit of that initial £20m price tag.

But the three names Durham mentions, and you could even throw Lewis Dunk in there too, will all feel a bit disheartened – especially as they have been playing regularly in the Premier League for the past year, if not longer.

Mings has featured in all three games this season, and if he continues at this rate, he’ll smash his previous season total in any one season for Bournemouth – he’s only played as little as seven total games in a given Premier League campaign.

As can be seen from the image above, courtesy of WhoScored’s comparison metric, all of the four other alternatives featured in 35 Premier League games or more last season, something Mings is yet to achieve in his career despite being of similar age at 26.

Questions over his call-up in relation to the others, therefore, are understandable from Durham.

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Loads of Manchester United fans have been discussing a behind-closed-doors game that took place this week, and they’re desperate to see Angel Gomes in the first-team.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer fielded a mixture of fringe players and youth in a friendly against Sheffield United on Tuesday, per Utdreport.

The likes of Sergio Romero, Chris Smalling, Diogo Dalot, Phil Jones and Alexis Sanchez all started, as they beat the Blades 3-1.

The forward line has really caught the eye though, with both Mason Greenwood and Gomes amongst the attacking ranks.

The goals came from Andreas Pereira, Greenwood and the 18 year-old Gomes, who fans now want in the senior side, with one even calling him “world class”.

The number ten position is a bit of a headache for Solskjaer with Jesse Lingard starting the campaign woefully, and Gomes has managed 25 goals and 15 assists for the various youth sides at the club.

He has appeared four times in the first-team, and was on the bench for last season’s crazy comeback at PSG.

Take a look at some of the best Twitter reactions down below, where fans are begging the gaffer to bring him in more often and use him in Lingard’s position…

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[ad_pod ]This article is part of Football FanCast’s The Chalkboard series, which provides a tactical insight into teams, players, managers, potential signings and more… Crystal Palace completed the signing of Victor Camarasa from Real Betis on Wednesday, but the announcement was preceded by a confusing tweet from BBC Sport journalist David Ornstein, who said that Eagles manager Roy Hodgson plans to use him out wide.

On the chalkboard

Out of the 145 games Transfermarkt have recorded the Spaniard’s position for during his career, only 11 of his appearances have come on either the left or right of the midfield, with the remaining 134 through the middle.

That said, of his 33 appearances in all competitions on loan at Cardiff City last season, seven of those came from the right-hand side as Bluebirds boss Neil Warnock obviously saw that he could do a job there when required.

By the sounds of it Hodgson plans to use him there far more regularly, however.

Given the Eagles currently have James McArthur, James McCarthy, Luka Milivojevic and Cheikhou Kouyate already battling for a spot in the middle, there doesn’t appear to be much space for another central player in Camarasa.

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A method in Hodgson’s madness

While four of his five goals and three of his four assists for the Welsh club in 2018/19 came from playing in a central position, the 25-year-old did also provide a goal and an assist from the right, too.

Camarasa may not be the most experienced in that role, but he does have some attributes that allow him to make an impact there.

For example, he successfully completed 1.1 dribbles per game for Cardiff in the Premier League last season according to WhoScored, as well as making 1.6 key passes.

Interestingly enough he also averaged 1.3 crosses per outing too, which is obviously one of the main traits required as a wide player.

It remains to be seen whether Camarasa would be used on the wing in all of Hodgson’s preferred 4-3-3, 4-2-2-2 and 4-4-2 formations he used last season, but he also faces some tough competition from the likes of Andros Townsend and Wilfried Zaha, providing the latter doesn’t move abroad in the next few weeks having failed to secure the exit he wanted to another English club.

It is by no means a plan that is guaranteed to be a success, but he the Spaniard can be trusted and it certainly gives Hodgson an interesting option on the eve of the 2019/20 campaign.

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كشف فرج عامر رئيس سموحة، عن قيام اتحاد الكرة بمطالبته بدفع مبلغ 3 ملايين جنيه، قيمة المسحات الطبية التي أجراها النادي خلال الفترة الماضية.

وتخضع أندية الدوري المصري لمسحات طبية، للكشف عن الإصابة بفيروس كورونا، قبل خوض مباريات المسابقة المحلية.

وقال فرج عامر عبر صفحته الشخصية بموقع التواصل الاجتماعي “فيس بوك”: “مفاجأة غير سارة، اتحاد كرة القدم كان قد أعلن أن جميع المسحات الطبيةً الخاصة بالفريق الأول لكرة القدم المشارك ببطولة الدوري مجانية”.

طالع | اتحاد الكرة: فوجئنا بشكوى ضد الزمالك بسبب “الإنتاج الحربي”.. واستشهدنا بـ الأهلي أمام فيفا!

وأكمل: “فوجئنا بفاتورة من اتحاد الكرة تطلب سداد 3 ملايين جنيه قيمة هذه المسحات، بدون أي اتفاق مسبق مع النادي، للأسف لن نتمكن من السداد لأن هذا القرار لم يناقشنا أحد فيه من قبل”.

مفاجإة غير سارة اتحاد كرة القدم بعد ان اعلن ان جميع المسحات الطبيةًالخاصة بالفريق الاول لكرة القدم المشارك بالدوري…

Posted by Farag Amer onMonday, February 15, 2021

تقدم مجدي أبو المجد، المدير الفني لمنتخب مصر لكرة اليد، باستقالته من استكمال مهمته مع الفراعنة عقب انتهاء مونديال العالم الذي أقيم في مصر مؤخرًا.

واحتل منتخب مصر لكرة اليد المركز السابع بمنافسات كأس العالم لكرة اليد، بعد الهزيمة أمام الدنمارك في ربع نهائي البطولة بركلات الترجيح 4\3، بعد التعادل في المباراة، وكذلك الأشواط الإضافية.   

أقرأ ايضًا.. رسميًا.. نادي يوروفارم المقدوني يُقدم كريم هنداوي

وعلم “بطولات” أن مجدي أبو المجد تقدم باستقالته من تدريب منتخب مصر لكرة اليد، بعد بطولة العالم الأخيرة بمصر، حيث يرغب في خوض تحد جديد بعد انتهاء كأس العالم.

ويسعى أبو المجد خلال الفترة المقبلة للنظر إلى عروض أخرى داخل أو خارج مصر

[ad_pod ]This article is part of Football FanCast’s Transfer Focus series, which provides opinion and analysis on recent transfer news…According to journalist Phil McNulty on Twitter, Aston Villa are having a look at Ahmed Hegazi this summer.

What’s the word?

Aston Villa pulled off one of their biggest deals of the summer yet this week by confirming they’d signed Tyrone Mings from Bournemouth.

He’ll add to a defensive line that has already been bolstered by the additions of both Kortney Hause and Matt Targett already.

However, before that news was released, it was revealed that they were also considering West Brom’s Hegazi.

McNulty confirmed on Twitter that they’d been having a look at the 56-cap international when also watching Trezeguet in action for Egypt at the Africa Cup of Nations.

Wouldn’t fit their philosophy

Villa’s signings this summer have all been below the age of 26. Mings has been their eldest signing whilst Targett, Hause and Wesley are all aged 23 and below.

It’s clear that the Villans are targeting young players to develop and this was one of the main messages that Christian Purslow laid down in May.

Speaking to the BBC he said: “On the recruitment side in particular, things have not been handled as I think they should be in the way our fans expect, which is for us to be a young exciting team and a team that over time establishes itself back in the Premier League.â€

Therefore, signing Hegazi, who is now 28 and doesn’t have much room for development, would go against his word.

Although the experience of the centre-back could prove useful, it would seem a particularly questionable signing after going out of their way to release 31-year-old Tommy Elphick.

Watch Aston Villa Live Streams With StreamFootball.tv Below

Villa made it a priority to get rid of players who were ageing at the end of the season so to bring in someone who could soon surpass their best would fail to make much sense, especially with James Chester, now 30, still on their books.

After all, this is a player who was relegated from the Premier League only two years ago with West Brom.

As a result, Villa would be better off chasing a younger central defender if they have desires of further adding to their backline.