Thursday newspapers (includes West Ham)

[Alan]

"BBC Brighton manager Roberto de Zerbi and Bayer Leverkusen boss Xabi Alonso are contenders to replace Carlo Ancelotti should he leave Real Madrid when his contract expires at the end of the season. (Cadena Ser - in Spanish) Manchester United insiders say the relationship between manager Erik ten Hag and England winger Jadon Sancho, 23, is beyond repair. (i) Saudi Arabian clubs will lead the chase for 24-year-old Nigeria striker Victor Osimhen ahead of Real Madrid and Chelsea should he leave Napoli in January. (Mail) Manchester United are planning to open talks over a new contract with 20-year-old Tunisia midfielder Hannibal Mejbri, who is being tracked by Sevilla.(Fabrizio Romano) Manchester United are planning talks with manager Erik ten Hag over a new contract. (90 Min) Chelsea are in the market for a new left-back, with Inter Milan's 25-year-old Italy defender Federico Dimarco and AC Milan's France defender Theo Hernandez, 25, on their shortlist. (Calciomercato - in Italian) Sheffield United have spoken to former manager Chris Wilder over the possibility of replacing Paul Heckingbottom. (Football Insider) Roma are considering a January move for Tottenham's 29-year-old England defender Eric Dier. (Calciomercato - in Italian) Everton's financial future could be in doubt if a takeover by US-based investment firm 777 Partners is not approved. (Guardian) 777 Partners is confident of passing the Premier League owners and directors' test, and has begun dialogue with Everton fan groups to try to ease supporter concerns about its proposed takeover. (i) Newcastle United manager Eddie Howe wants to sign a central defender in the January transfer window. (Football Insider) Newcastle ended their shirt deal with kit manufacturer Castore early over concerns about the quality of their merchandise. (Telegraph - subscription) Saudi Arabia are considering recruiting referees from the Premier League and across Europe on a full-time basis. (Times - subscription) Sky Paper Talk DAILY MAIL Saudi Arabian clubs will lead the chase to land Victor Osimhen should he be available in the January transfer window, with Real Madrid and Chelsea also among the clubs holding an interest. Rory McIlroy came out swinging and showed LIV Golf battle scars are still raw as he said the likes of Sergio Garcia and Ian Poulter 'will miss being at the Ryder Cup more than the players will miss them'. Aston Villa women's star Rachel Daly has deleted a tweet claiming players did not wear the club's 'sweaty' shirt, which has brought about concern for holding too much moisture, during a friendly game this month. Former Real Madrid defender Sergio Ramos was reportedly the victim of a horrifying home raid while he was away on Champions League duty with Sevilla last week. Andrew Flintoff is set to be part of England's coaching team for the five-Test tour to India at the beginning of 2024. THE SUN Manchester United landed an astonishing 12th home cup tie in a row - as Newcastle were 'rewarded' for beating Man City with a Carabao Cup trip to Old Trafford. Marcus Rashford hopes to kick his car crash woes into touch - after buying a Mercedes van to be driven by a chauffeur. Antony will remain on indefinite leave from Manchester United - despite flying back into the UK on Tuesday. Luton's Albert Sambi Lokonga is facing months out with a hamstring injury. DAILY MIRROR Real Madrid are weighing up a swoop for Brighton's Roberto De Zerbi as they consider successors to Carlo Ancelotti. Gabriela Cavallin, who says she was assaulted by Manchester United star Antony, is due to fly to the UK next week to speak to police. DAILY STAR Disconsolate Napoli striker Victor Osimhen refused to celebrate his goal for the club on Wednesday just days after the club mocked him on social media. Manchester United are confident they have not broken any FIFA rules by forcing Jadon Sancho to train alone following a bust-up with Erik ten Hag. DAILY EXPRESS Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag is yet to receive an apology from Jadon Sancho. Tottenham Hotspur are optimistic James Maddison's knee injury is not serious and that the midfielder will be fit to face Liverpool on Saturday. The World Cup-winning coach Jorge Vilda has been summoned as a ""suspect"" in the criminal case against Luis Rubiales, who is facing sexual assault charges for kissing a player on the lips. UEFA's decision to reinstate Russian junior teams is in disarray after strong opposition to the move from a number of countries and the women's Euro Under-17 Championships hosts Sweden saying they will block Russia's participation. World Rugby is determined that future World Cups will expand to 24 teams, but know that the next hosts - Australia and the United States - need to rapidly improve on the pitch to make it work. The former France centre Virimi Vakatawa will make a stunning comeback with Bristol Bears in the Gallagher Premiership this season, after he was forced to retire in 2022 with a heart condition. Middlesex are locked in a legal battle with their former chief executive Richard Goatley over allegations of financial mismanagement. THE GUARDIAN The Liverpool MP Ian Byrne has urged the Football Association to call for Aleksander Ceferin to ""consider his position"" as Uefa president due to mounting concerns about alleged cronyism and safety deficiencies following the near-disaster at the 2022 Champions League final. THE TIMES Saudi Arabian clubs are looking to recruit leading referees from the Premier League and across Europe to raise the standard of officiating in the country's top division. THE ATHLETIC Paris Saint-Germain and four of their players, Ousmane Dembele, Randal Kolo Muani, Achraf Hakimi and Layvin Kurzawa, have been summoned by the LFP, the body who oversee French professional football, over allegations of offensive chanting during their victory against Marseille on Sunday. A number of senior Uruguay men's football players, including the likes of Manchester United's Facundo Pellistri and Liverpool's Darwin Nunez, have issued a statement in support of the strike taking place by the Uruguayan Mutual of Professional Soccer Players (MUFP). AC Milan have announced plans to build a new 70,000-capacity stadium in the south-eastern area of the city. FIFA is under pressure to remove Cameroon FA (FECAFOOT) president Samuel Eto'o from his role after a group of the country's football officials called on the organisation to take action against the former striker. The implementation of FIFA's new agent regulations in England is being delayed by the FA. DAILY TELEGRAPH Newcastle United are the latest Premier League team to encounter problems with kit manufacturers Castore after it emerged they ended their partnership early following complaints from supporters over the poor quality of their merchandise. Wyndham Clark, the US Open champion, lit the blue touch paper at the Ryder Cup by claiming the European players would be ""leaking oil"" and ""mentally fatigued"" by Sunday and that it could bring their first home defeat in 30 years. DAILY RECORD Michael Beale insists SPFL schedulers should be doing more to help Premiership clubs after suffering two more injuries as his Rangers side set up a Viaplay Cup semi-final clash against Hearts. Barry Robson says he is relishing Aberdeen's battle on three fronts after watching his team set up a Viaplay Cup semi-final clash with Hibernian. Aberdeen could be without James McGarry for up to six weeks. SCOTTISH SUN Scott Brown has emerged as one of the favourites for the Cheltenham Town manager's job having recently been in charge of another League One club in Fleetwood. Mail West Ham blushes are spared by Tomas Soucek as he hits late winner against League One Lincoln West Ham left it late against Lincoln to advance to the Carabao Cup fourth round Hammers midfielder Tomas Soucek scored the game's only goal By Jonathan Veal Tomas Soucek's second-half goal ensured West Ham overcame a tough test in the Carabao Cup third round at Lincoln with a 1-0 victory. This was nothing other than 'job done' for the Hammers as Soucek's 70th-minute strike from a corner booked their place in the next round. Boss David Moyes made a host of changes to his side but Soucek was one of his Premier League starters who was involved and that proved vital while goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski also made a number of good saves. Lincoln went for it in the final 15 minutes in a bid to force penalties and Dylan Duffy tested Fabianksi with a stinging shot from distance, which the keeper met with a full-length save. West Ham were able to see it out to make it through to the fourth round for the fourth successive year. The Athletic West Ham keep conceding goals – it’s time to integrate Konstantinos Mavropanos By Roshane Thomas The longer Konstantinos Mavropanos waits for his Premier League debut, the stronger the clamour among West Ham’s supporters for his inclusion becomes. Nayef Aguerd has endured an error-prone start to the season, which leaves his place vulnerable. He was sent off in the win over Chelsea, at fault for Bernardo Silva’s go-ahead goal in the 3-1 defeat to Manchester City and gave away a penalty for the opener in the loss to Liverpool by the same score. Mavropanos joined West Ham in August for £17million ($21.6m) from German side Stuttgart. The 25-year-old made his debut in last Thursday’s 3-1 win over visitors TSC Backa Topola of Serbia in the Europa League group opener and is likely to feature in the Carabao Cup last-32 tie at League One side Lincoln City tonight (Wednesday). But what can the 20-cap Greece international offer manager David Moyes and how does he differ from the current partnership of Aguerd and Kurt Zouma? Set-piece threat Mavropanos is yet to make his Premier League debut as he had a minor injury when he arrived in the summer, but he impressed when he got his first senior run-out for West Ham in the Europa League. The 6ft 4in (194cm) centre-back demonstrated the threat he poses, particularly with fellow summer signing James Ward-Prowse now on set-piece duty. Already this season, Aguerd and Zouma have scored headers off Ward-Prowse assists in victories over Chelsea and Luton Town respectively. Mavropanos came close to scoring in similar fashion but headed wide against TSC. “I wanted really badly to see that ball go into the net, but it’s not a big problem,” said Mavropanos. “Hopefully next time. With a player like James, and his quality, we will create a chance from each corner and it’s always going to be a good opportunity for us to get a goal.” The defender played 32 times for Stuttgart in all competitions in 2022-23 as they narrowly avoided relegation to Germany’s second tier, and made 87 appearances overall in the past three seasons, scoring seven times. Mavropanos’ height played a factor. He is now West Ham’s tallest centre-back, narrowly ahead of Zouma, Aguerd and Angelo Ogbonna, all at 6ft 3in, while Thilo Kehrer is 6ft 1in. Between Aguerd (eight), Zouma (13) and Mavropanos (22), the latter had the highest number of headed efforts at goal last season — albeit all three players scored twice with their heads. Mavropanos showed his match-winning ability when he scored in a 2-1 victory over Hertha Berlin last November, heading home in the 98th minute. Zouma is yet to score a winner for West Ham while Aguerd did so as they beat Southampton 1-0 in April. It is another attribute that potentially makes Mavropanos stand out from his defensive colleagues. Mavropanos further demonstrated what he is capable of when he scored twice in Greece’s 5-0 European Championship qualifying victory over Gibraltar this month. It might even have been a hat-trick but he saw a sixth-minute header cleared off the line. Mavropanos often generates enough height to get on the end of crosses for corners, as shown in the graphic below. West Ham were rightly nicknamed “set-piece monsters” a couple of seasons ago and the addition of Ward-Prowse means Moyes will be keen to capitalise on the aerial strengths of Mavropanos, Zouma, Aguerd and 6ft 3in midfielder Tomas Soucek and bring that moniker back. “We’ve been a decent side from set pieces, maybe without the word ‘specialist’, but I think we’ve got a specialist now in Ward-Prowse,” said Moyes. “He’s contributing to us and our results at the moment. He’s made big contributions in all the games.” Mavropanos’ second goal against Gibraltar was a glancing header following a corner. With only four Premier League teams having generated more set-piece xG than West Ham this season, the opportunities will almost certainly be there for him, should he break into the team. Defensive anticipation Mavropanos’ ability to read the game is one of his strongest attributes. Here, in a friendly against Lithuania back in March, he is tasked with marking Fedor Chernykh. The winger pushes into the penalty area but Mavropanos makes a key interception to repel the threat. In 2022-23, Mavropanos led all Bundesliga centre-backs with 63 interceptions. That is significantly more than Zouma (30) and Aguerd (18) made in the Premier League, although, as always, the style of play and defensive setups of the respective teams should be taken into account. In that home loss to Manchester City this month, Aguerd mistimed his jump which allowed Bernardo to score, while Darwin Nunez was able to find space between him and Zouma to score Liverpool’s second goal at Anfield on Sunday. Mavropanos has frequently shown he is excellent at judging the trajectory of the ball when it is in the air. In this example, against Eintracht Frankfurt last season, Mario Gotze whips a pass over the top to Randal Kolo Muani but Mavropanos makes an important challenge to deny the France forward a goalscoring opportunity. Mavropanos being a good reader of the ball stretches beyond his ability to make interceptions and tackles. He is skilled at the art of making goal-line clearances Whenever Mavropanos is defending a corner, he tends to retreat to the goal line so he can be in position to get the ball away. But Mavropanos’ anticipation is not just confined to his team’s own six-yard box. In the example below, Hertha Berlin’s Suat Serdar attempts a forward pass in the middle third of the pitch. Mavropanos not only steps in to make a key interception but also demonstrates his ability to initiate a counter-attack The defender drives into Hertha territory and although the move ultimately leads to nothing, it shows that Moyes has a player here who can not only play out from the back but push into the attacking third when needed. Mavropanos (355) had more ball carries last season than Aguerd (138) and Zouma (123) combined. Long-throw specialist It was not uncommon for Mavropanos to take long throw-ins for Stuttgart. At West Ham, it’s usually only Michail Antonio and Vladimir Coufal who do this. It is another skill set that Moyes will be keen to utilise. It is no surprise Greece coach Gus Poyet, well-versed in English football after many years here as both a player and manager, speaks in glowing terms about Mavropanos. Moyes is often cautious when integrating new signings but it seems Mavropanos has the attributes to do well in the Premier League — as well as the experience of four years at Arsenal earlier in his career, although he only made seven league appearances for them — and with West Ham still to keep a clean sheet in the 2023-24 Premier League, it could be time for him to get a run of starts."

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bill green 1:47 Thu Sep 28

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Thanks Alan 1:20 Thu Sep 28

[Thanks Alan]

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