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In his second Premier League season, Manchester City goalkeeper Ederson has maintained form with 12 clean sheets and just 20 goals conceded, and will remain a key member of the squad in the chase with Liverpool and Spurs for the title.

Few clubs within England can boast a better ‘keeper than City with their 25-year-old Brazilian, whose world-class distribution has had a considerable effect on the rest of the Premier League, vastly altering what we expect from modern-day goalies. 

But according to one pundit at least, Ederson would be just another goalkeeper if he were playing in League One.

Speaking on what his ideal goalkeeper would look like on this week’s Fixture in Focus Podcast, former Watford and Brentford star Richard Lee pointed out that fitting within a club’s system, above all else, is the most important aspect for a goalkeeper, and used the Manchester City net-minder to drive his point home.

“The truth is it’s horses for courses. If Ederson was in goal for AFC Wimbledon – this is nothing against AFC Wimbledon – who are known for being reasonably direct, we might consider him an average League One goalkeeper,” Lee said. “I mean that genuinely. We’re not going to see his strengths.”

“He’s going to be popping everything forward, which he’s good at doing. But then his game is going to be based on his ability to keep the ball out of the net or come out of traffic to collect crosses, which he’s good at but that isn’t his strength. His strength is being involved in goal after goal because of the way he plays out of the back.”

Fortunately for Ederson, it doesn’t seem likely he’ll be rushed out of Manchester and off to AFC Wimbledon any time soon.

To hear the full interview with Lee, give the Fixture in Focus Podcast a listen below – if you love what we do and don’t want to miss another episode, don’t forget to subscribe on your preferred podcast platform by clicking here.

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According to the reliable ExWHUemployee on Episode 124 of ‘The West Ham Way’ radio show, West Ham United attacker Andriy Yarmolenko is ahead of schedule in his injury return, and could feature earlier than expected at the end of the campaign.

What’s the word, then?

Well, the Ukraine international injured an Achilles tendon during the defeat against arch-rivals Tottenham Hotspur back in October, and The Independent reported at the time that the big-money £17.5m signing could be out of action for six months after undergoing surgery.

ExWHUemployee suggests in his latest update that the 29-year-old was only expected to be available for maybe the final one or two Premier League fixtures of the season, but the forward could now be available for the last month of action, meaning he could potentially feature in the trip to Old Trafford on April 13.

Yarmolenko had started to find some form prior to the issue, scoring twice in the 3-1 win against Everton before following that up a fortnight later with an assist in the win against Manchester United by the same scoreline.

Big boost?

It certainly is.

In this era of ‘big 6’ dominance, has finishing 7th become as good as winning a trophy? The Pl>ymaker FC squad have their say in the video below…

West Ham may have little to play for in terms of European qualification or domestic cup success, but they will still want to finish as the best of the rest outside of the top six in the top flight.

As things stand ahead of their fixture against Fulham at the London Stadium on Friday night, they are six points adrift of seventh-placed Wolves with a dozen matches left to play.

Potentially have Yarmonlenko back in action earlier on in their run-in will be a big boost for the Irons in the final third, with the Ukrainian having the ability and quality to make a real difference alongside the likes of Manuel Lanzini, Marko Arnautovic and fellow summer addition Felipe Anderson.

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Sheffield United manager Chris Wilder has reiterated how vital it is that he and his squad focus on themselves in the run-in of the Championship campaign.

The Blades are currently in the thick of the Championship title race, along with Norwich City and Leeds United. Wilder believes that his side must concentrate on what they have to do themselves, without getting distracted by what’s going on around them.

What he said

As quoted by The Star, the Bramall Lane boss said “I’m not interested in what Leeds do or what Norwich City do…All I want to do is focus on ourselves and make sure we get results because that’s something we can influence. We can’t influence what other clubs do so it’s a waste of time worrying about that.”

Watch how to cross the road like a boss with freestyler Ben Nuttall in the video below…

Wilder will know that these external issues, if they’re allowed to distract his squad, could see his own side’s title ambitions crumble as the Blades take their eye off the ball.

Wilder’s words will reassure fans that the team are focused, but the manager’s comments should also be taken heed of by his players.

What he meant

Wilder’s address was likely aimed at his own squad as much as anyone else. By publicly stating the importance of keeping their concentration, he adds extra weight to his message. 

The Blades are in for a nervy couple of months, as the title fight is likely to go down to the wire. Wilder must do all he can to keep his squad calm and attentive to their own jobs. Relaying this message via the media is a smart way of reinforcing its importance.

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It would be fair to say that the Stoke City supporters were not pleased with what they saw from Tom Ince in Saturday’s 1-1 draw with Aston Villa.

Ince played 74 minutes of the contest before being replaced and he has been accused of lacking effort during the Championship clash at the Bet365 Stadium.

The 27-year-old only had one shot and made just one tackle against Villa, according to WhoScored.

Ince has had a hand in 10 Championship goals this season – scoring six and providing four assists.

However, he has not registered in the league since the start of December and the Stoke fans were not very pleased with what they saw on Saturday afternoon.

Ince is certainly a talented footballer, but there is a general feeling that he could put in more effort when things are going against his team.

A selection of the Twitter reaction from the frustrated Stoke fans can be seen below:

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The business end to the season is well and truly upon us, and Liverpool appear to be the ones feeling the heat more than most.

A lot of teams would give an arm and a leg to be sat atop the Premier League table around this time of the season, but for some sides the pressure of being the team that looks down on everyone else can be a bit too much, and dips in form will be inevitable if that is the case.

We’ve recently seen the Reds squander a seven-point lead, dropping points in four of their last six games to allow Manchester City to leapfrog them into first place by a single point.

In light of that, Football FanCast takes a look at a few other title collapses from years gone by…

Manchester United – 2011/12

The Red Devils threw away the chance to win the Premier League in circumstances that will haunt them for eternity. Back in the 2011/12 campaign, United sat eight points clear with just six games to go, before a shock defeat to Wigan saw them wobble.

A 4-2 lead with just ten minutes remaining at home to Everton ended in a 4-4 classic, which allowed Manchester City to go ahead of their bitter rivals on goal difference thanks to Vincent Kompany’s winner in the Manchester Derby – the rest, as we all know, is history.

Liverpool 2013/14

The Reds are no strangers to bottling it, as we all saw in the cruellest of fashion back in the 2013/14 season. Well, for Steven Gerrard anyway.

Liverpool’s academy-graduate-turned-captain-fantastic famously cried ‘We do not let this slip!’ after a nervy 3-2 win away to Norwich, before ironically slipping himself and allowing Demba Ba to score in what was a must-win game against Chelsea.

Does Newcastle’s infamous title collapse of 1996 mirror what is happening at Liverpool right now? The Magpie Channel discuss in the video below…

Brendan Rodgers’ men then got lost in the hope of eating up Manchester City’s superior goal difference whilst 3-0 up away to Crystal Palace, and were pegged back by three goals in 11 minutes – only a point returned back to Anfield from two must-win games, and the Citizens consequently won their second Premier League title.

Arsenal – 2007/08

It was a season containing a number of thumping Emmanuel Adebayor efforts amidst an easy-on-the-eye style of play from Arsene Wenger’s men, which helped them open up a five-point gap over their title rivals in February 2008.

However, a horrific leg break for key man Eduardo just three minutes into a game away to Birmingham set the tone for the rest of the season. Arsenal would go on to draw that game having led 2-1, before a run of just one win in eight games saw them finish third, a whole four points behind eventual champions Manchester United.

Newcastle – 1995/96

A season famous for Kevin Keegan’s post-match rant (you know the one), Newcastle’s implosion saw the impact of mind games hard at work as the Magpies suffered the ultimate collapse.

Keegan’s men led by a whole 17 points with 15 games of the season to play.

However, between the end of February and early April, Newcastle lost five of their eight Premier League fixtures to hand the initiative over to an Eric Cantona-inspired Manchester United, and Sir Alex Ferguson’s men ended up being the ones holding the trophy aloft in May as a result.

Arsenal continue to plough ahead in their quest to cement a top four place this season under new manager Unai Emery.

The Gunners, despite suffering a poor loss in mid-week against Rennes, will be confident of securing that Champions League spot they crave, and a good run of form between now and the end of the season could see them home.

However, a disappointing January saw Arsenal quiet in the market, with no new additions to the ranks in what could well prove a crucial lack of business for the club.

Depending on how things pan out between now and the summer, things during the next transfer window could be quite different, and we here in the Tavern think that Emery needs backing by his board to bring in some new players of real quality.

And one man we feel would be a superb addition to the Gunners is Dortmund and Germany forward, Marco Reus.

The wide forward has long been a superb talent over in the Bundesliga, and it would be exciting for the English game to see a player of his quality make his mark in the Premier League.

For Arsenal in particular, they could do with another player in attacking areas who can make a real difference, especially with the wavering form and undecided future of fellow German, Mesut Ozil.

Reus has proved his quality over a long period of time now, and he could well be keen on a reunion with former Dortmund striker Pierre Emerick Aubameyang, who has excelled in the red and white of Arsenal.

The Gunners have a long way to go to challenge right at the top, but signing players like Reus might be a big step in the right direction.

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John Hartson has expressed his delight at news concerning a handful of imminent returns at Celtic, with the likes of Tom Rogic, Filip Benkovic and Oliver Ntcham all moving back into first team contention.

What’s the word?

While Benkovic returned to first-team football on Sunday afternoon, there was no place in the squad for Rogic.

The Australia international has been sidelined for the entirety of 2019 so far, but Neil Lennon has suggested that he could be set to return in time for the Old Firm derby after the international break, per Daily Telegraph.

With that in mind, Hartson acknowledged the quality he can bring to the club in an article published by Evening Times.

‘He really is one of the big game performers at Celtic at the minute and he is one of those players that you can look towards to make something happen.’

The gushing praise for the enigmatic playmaker is deserved to an extent, but he still has plenty to prove on the biggest stage to justify his glowing reputation in Scotland.

Rogic must prove he is a big game player in Europe

When dancing past defenders and dictating entire games from midfield Rogic has often looked a class above in Scotland. His performances have earned him affectionate praise and the ‘wizard of Oz’ nickname to boot, but his form in Europe has left plenty to be desired at times.

One of his most abject performances at the club arrived when Celtic hosted RB Salzburg at Paradise in December, a game which the 26-year-old failed to influence with any meaningful moments of wizardry; he crumbled in the club’s biggest game of the season.

Brendan Rodgers and his outclassed players ultimately progressed into the knockout stages of the competition despite stumbling to a 2-1 defeat, but Rogic’s no-show underlined the gulf in class between Scotland and some of Europe’s top divisions.

A big-game player in domestic competitions no doubt, and his return could be huge with Rangers lying ahead. His failure to galvanise Celtic’ attacking players against Salzburg, though, hinted that he must extend that ‘big game performer’ label onto the biggest stage.

Josh McEachran. Gael Kakuta. Lucas Piazon. Charly Musonda. These are names that are written into the history of Chelsea Football Club, and all for the wrong reasons. Whilst the Blues have been celebrating silverware and breaking records over the last 15 years, many of the players at the club have been living through a very different fate. 

Indeed, for all of Chelsea’s success on the pitch at Stamford Bridge, they’ve had markedly less success on the training pitches at Cobham – at least in the traditional sense. Featuring in five consecutive FA Youth Cup finals is a testament to the strength of the Chelsea academy, but the Blues’ failure to promote any young talent into the first team during that time indicates that it’s a system with a broken cog.

Josh McEachran made first appearance for Chelsea in the Premier League during the 2010-11 season, but in the 2015-16 season, he moved to Brentford after 5 separate loan spells. Gael Kakuta played a solitary game for the Blues in the 2009-10 Premier League season, and he’s subsequently spent time at 10 separate clubs since, either on loan or permanent moves. He left Chelsea in 2015 on a free transfer. Lucas Piazon had shades of Kaka about him when he moved to Stamford Bridge in 2011, but after just 1 Premier League game for the Blues in the years since, he’s best known for his impressive two-year stint at Fulham now. Charly Musonda is more of a contemporary failure for the Blues, with his failed loan to Celtic last season indicative of Chelsea’s mismanagement of their most talented young players.

On their own, Chelsea’s inability to harness this talent is bad enough, but when combined and added to the likes Nathaniel Chalobah, Ryan Bertrand and Bertrand Traore – three players that were sold on for pennies after Chelsea signed big money replacements – the problem becomes an epidemic, and so far, Chelsea haven’t been able to find a cure.

That’s a real problem for a number of reasons. Firstly, and most notably, it reduces the overall quality on the field for Chelsea. Some of Europe’s most talented men have graced the pitch at Stamford Bridge only to be moved on prematurely, like Kevin De Bruyne and Mohammed Salah, and that’s left the Blues in a worse position long-term. It’s also bad for the fans of the club. You only have to watch Chelsea once to see how popular homegrown talent is, given the constant chances of ‘Ruben!’ whenever midfielder Ruben Loftus-Cheek enters the fray at Stamford Bridge. Homegrown talent has an immediate affinity with a club’s fanbase, and their lack of utilisation at Stamford Bridge has been a consistent point of contention between the fans and the club at Stamford Bridge in recent years. There’s also the club identity argument. If a player has grown up at a club, he’s inherently got a better connection with it, and that can help make them a better player as a result. Take John Terry, for example. He had incredible natural talent, but it was his love for Chelsea that took him to the next level.

There’s no doubt, then, that Chelsea are worse off for their lack of youth development, and that’s only come to the fore more prominently this week owing to a recent report surrounding Jadon Sancho. Sancho has emerged as one of Europe’s brightest young talents this season after ditching Man City for Borussia Dortmund, and now the Independent are reporting that Man Utd are considering an £80 million move for him. That’s a stunning sum of money, and it serves as further proof that Chelsea simply cannot afford to not utilise their youth talent. Not only is it costing them players on the field, but, evidently, it’s costing them big money, too.

Now, of course, Chelsea have made big money from their youth academy over the years, but nobody has come close to the £80 million fee associated with Sancho – and so it’s clear that Chelsea are missing a trick. Not only is the Englishman impressing on the field, but he’s now potentially going to make a big impact off of it, too.

This is particularly poignant at present given the situation surrounding Callum Hudson-Odoi. Linked with a move to Bayern Munich in January, he’s hardly featured since that point, with the German giants still expected to return for him in the summer. And, with only a year left on his contract at Stamford Bridge, the Englishman could well be able to force an exit for Chelsea for a cut-price fee.

This isn’t only a Chelsea problem, it’s important to recognise that. Man Utd, the team linked with Sancho this time around, have their own issues, and they’ve got a ton of under-utilised talent that should get a chance. From Tahith Chong to Mason Greenwood. the Red Devils face a similar set of issues if they don’t make use of the academy. But the difference between the two clubs is that Man Utd have a history of focusing on youth, and even during their recent struggles, players like Marcus Rashford have made the jump. And that’s, significantly, without the use of the loan system.

This has never been a more pressing issue for Chelsea. They’ve been able to manage the consequences of their rejection of youth for years with minimal impact, yet now it’s not only costing them talent; it’s also costing them money. It’s at this point that the Chelsea brass cannot, and surely will not, allow it to continue.

Hudson-Odoi, too, is only at the surface of the problem. From Mason Mount to Reece James to Dujon Sterling, there are dozens of young players at Stamford Bridge that could prove to be worth their weight in gold. And if Chelsea don’t utilise them, somebody else will, and as in the case of Sancho, they will reap the rewards instead.

Chelsea fans – what is the solution to this problem? Will Hudson-Odoi leave? Do the Blues just need a complete restructure? Let us know below…

–  Take a look at the rest of our Trending Transfer coverage on Man Utd’s interest in Jadon Sancho by clicking here –

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Liverpool fans on Twitter have been discussing young prospect Ryan Kent’s chances of making it at Anfield, and the majority don’t feel that the winger has a future on Merseyside.

Kent has impressed this season over in Scotland having joined Steven Gerrard’s Rangers on loan back in the summer, notching five goals in 21 Scottish Premiership appearances.

Has Alisson been Liverpool’s most important signing of the season? Check out the video below to find out why Jurgen Klopp thinks so…

The 22-year-old’s direct, exciting wing play has been a big feature of the Gers’ season, with his performances earning him a nomination for the club’s Player of the Year award as well as the Young Player of the Year award.

The Englishman came through the ranks with the Reds, and has spent the last four seasons out on loan – before his spell in Glasgow, Kent has enjoyed temporary stints with Barnsley, Bristol City and even Freiburg in the Bundesliga.

However, with world-class players such as Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah in the first-team, and names like Divock Origi in reserve, it seems unlikely that Kent will get many chances at Anfield, and many Reds supporters on Twitter have echoed that sentiment…

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Zinedine Zidane has demanded that Real Madrid complete the signing of Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Christian Eriksen this summer, according to El Confidencial.

The Frenchman returned to the Santiago Bernabeu hotseat earlier this month and is already beginning to plan for the summer.

What’s the word?

Eriksen has thus far spurned Tottenham’s advances to pin him down to a new contract.

His current deal expires at the end of next season, with Mauricio Pochettino’s men running the risk of potentially losing him on a free once the 2019-20 campaign draws to a close.

The London Evening Standard reported in January that the Denmark international was stalling in contract negotiations; he is said to have been offered at least £150,000-per-week, a significant increase on his current £70,000-per-week wages.

El Confidencial state that Los Blancos are keen to sign a playmaker this summer, with Eriksen the target.

Indeed, they claim that “if nothing changes” he will move to the Spanish capital, having been hand-picked by Zidane as a potential reinforcement.

The 27-year-old has scored seven goals and laid on 12 assists thus far this season.

Move Winks forward

It appears inevitable that Eriksen will leave Spurs this summer.

He has thus far shown no signs of wanting to extend his stay at the club and it is not every day that Real come knocking.

Manager Pochettino has the perfect opportunity, then, to put in place a succession plan this season involving Harry Winks.

Winks has regularly played as a deeper central midfield player but has the attributes required to play more advanced; he is deceptively strong, a fine passer of the ball and offers the vision to split defences. Perhaps his one flaw is his lack of goals but that can come with time.

Former Southampton and England star Matt Le Tissier has expressed his doubts that Winks could play in a forward role, writing on Twitter: “(Winks) does the simple things well but too often when he attempts something with a larger degree of difficulty he can’t do it, plenty of time to improve on that tho (sic) as still very young and inexperienced.

Asked to pin down what he struggles with, he added: “Long-range passing and shots at goal. As I said he’s young and got time to improve on those things, not being disingenuous at all.”

The 23-year-old will need to make some tweaks to his game and he will never be a carbon copy of Eriksen. But in terms of orchestrating play and creating chances, he has the potential to fill the void.

With Eriksen seemingly certain to move on, he has the perfect opportunity to prove Le Tissier wrong and ensure that Pochettino does not need to dip into the transfer market to replace the Dane.