Monday News (includes West Ham)

[Alan]

BBC

Everton are plotting a move to sign AC Milan's Nigeria winger Samuel Chukwueze, 25, in the January transfer window. (Football Insider)

Manchester United are aiming to convince Bayern Munich full-back Alphonso Davies, 23, to choose them over Real Madrid when the Canada international's contract expires at the end of the season. (Fichajes – in Spanish)

Arsenal could land long-term Serb target Dusan Vlahovic, 24, for a bargain price because the Juventus striker's talks with his club over a new contract are not progressing well. (Caught Offside)

Incoming England manager Thomas Tuchel has parted ways with long-time coaching partner Zsolt Low before taking up the role. (Sun)

Aston Villa have entered the race to sign Cameroon forward Bryan Mbeumo, 25, from Brentford. (TBR Football)

Manchester United may loan Netherlands striker Joshua Zirkzee, 23, to Juventus if they sign RB Leipzig's Slovenian forward Benjamin Sesko, 21, next summer. (Tuttomercato – in Italian)

Manchester City, Liverpool, and Tottenham have set their sights on Real Valladolid's Spanish winger Raul Moro, 21. (Fichajes – in Spanish)

Borussia Dortmund's English winger Jamie Bynoe-Gittens, 20, is drawing interest from Arsenal, Tottenham, Crystal Palace and Nottingham Forest – though the German club want more than £50m for the player before they will consider selling. (Caught Offside)

Arsenal, Juventus, AC Milan and Napoli are among the clubs watching Como and Argentina midfielder Nico Paz, 20. (Nicolo Schira on X)

Former Barcelona manager Xavi has been linked with taking over as manager of the Qatar national team. (Al Raya - in Arabic)




Sky Paper Talk

DAILY MAIL

Rapper A$AP Rocky is set to buy EFL club Tranmere Rovers, according to reports.

Neymar had to wipe away the tears as he spoke about the year he has spent out of action due to injury as he closes in on a return.

No Premier League club has yet committed to the second Summer Series in the United States.

The EFL's annual summer meeting has been brought forward to February - in an attempt to tackle the various financial issues facing the game.

Russell Martin insists his Southampton stars are still playing for him, despite Saturday's second-half collapse against Leicester.

Bayer Leverkusen star Victor Boniface survived a crash with a lorry which saw him rushed to hospital on Sunday morning.

Footballing couple Alisha Lehmann and Douglas Luiz reportedly had their home burgled in Turin on Saturday night.

THE SUN

Roma hero Kostas Manolas scored FIVE goals in just 34 minutes on his debut with a Greek non-league club he surprisingly joined after leaving Serie A.

Lionel Messi scored a stunning 11-minute hat-trick to book Inter Miami's spot in the FIFA Club World Cup.

THE ATHLETIC

Liverpool head coach Arne Slot fears that attacker Diogo Jota will miss Wednesday's Champions League trip to RB Leipzig due to injury.

Lauren James has withdrawn from the England squad for the upcoming pair of October international friendlies.

The Ligue de Football Professionnel (LFP) say they have launched an investigation into alleged homophobic chanting from Paris Saint-Germain supporters during the Ligue 1 game with Strasbourg on Saturday.

DAILY MIRROR

Manchester United coach Darren Fletcher could face an FA charge after laying into match officials at half-time in the Old Trafford tunnel.

Mohamed Salah is out of contract at the end of the season, but Liverpool legend Jamie Carragher is confident the forward will sign a new deal and remain at Anfield.

DAILY EXPRESS

Zsolt Low will not be part of Thomas Tuchel's backroom staff in England.

Montpellier president Laurent Nicollin shocked viewers by publicly announcing the sacking of head coach Michel Der Zakarian live on air after Sunday's 5-0 humiliation against Marseille.

THE TIMES

Howard Webb was listening to the match officials' communications during Arsenal's defeat by Bournemouth but had no input into the VAR decision to send off William Saliba, the referees' organisation Professional Game Match Officials Limited has insisted.

Trevor Birch, the chief executive of the EFL, has revealed there are no plans to discuss the introduction of VAR to the Championship despite recent glaring officiating errors.

DAILY STAR

Portsmouth's players got stuck in a lift after they beat QPR on Saturday afternoon - leading their match-winner, Callum Lang, to start rationing water with this squad.

DAILY RECORD

Boss Philippe Clement has raised the eyebrows of Rangers fans after his post-match comments on Jack Butland's performance against Kilmarnock.

Atalanta manager Gian Piero Gasperini still reckons Celtic are a force to be reckoned in the Champions League ahead of their meeting on Wednesday and is not paying any attention to the hammering dished out by Borussia Dortmund two weeks ago.

SCOTTISH SUN

Rangers fans made their feeling clear towards the Ibrox board during their clash with Kilmarnock at Rugby Park.



The Athletic

West Ham implode against Tottenham and expose deep-rooted issues

By Roshane Thomas

October 19, 2024: The day West Ham United hit the self-destruct button.

Whether it was Mohammed Kudus’ uncharacteristic dismissal for shoving Micky van de Ven and Pape Matar Sarr in the face, the defensive frailties or a motionless Julen Lopetegui presiding over another second-half capitulation, the 4-1 defeat to Tottenham Hotspur further exposed their deep-rooted issues.

After eight league games, West Ham’s identity remains a mystery. The head coach has yet to find a system that allows the attacking trio of Kudus, Jarrod Bowen and Michail Antonio to thrive consistently. The defence remains porous despite the combined £55million ($71.7m at the current exchange rate) summer arrivals of Maximilian Kilman, Jean-Clair Todibo and Aaron Wan-Bissaka. The slow integration of Crysencio Summerville into the XI is no longer justified. Lucas Paqueta’s form has nosedived and the midfielder is careless in possession.

It is a new season reminiscent of the old. West Ham have only won once since August, with five points from their last six games.

Lopetegui retains full support from the board, but the gravity of the situation will do little to alleviate the pressure he is under.

Vice-chair Karren Brady’s true emotions at Tottenham were concealed as she wore sunglasses in the directors’ box. Pre-match, David Sullivan’s red Rolls-Royce was briefly stuck in traffic on Tottenham High Road. Given what he and the fanbase were subjected to, a diversion back to his residence would have been more appropriate. Some supporters left the away enclosure as early as the 65th minute. The reality is Tottenham could have subjected West Ham to more misery.

Before the international break, victory over promoted Ipswich Town was viewed as a turning point. Fans dug deep into their well of optimism for the London derby, but the loss has weakened their hope.

The dread grew as the team conceded three goals in eight minutes after the interval — but it was also no surprise, with defeats to Liverpool (in the Carabao Cup) and Chelsea last month following a similar pattern.

Kudus scored the opener, but the elation was short-lived after his red card — his first dismissal since November 2019. To compound matters, the Ghana international will receive a minimum three-match suspension, missing upcoming games against Manchester United, Nottingham Forest and Everton.

He walked past Lopetegui and his backroom staff as he headed down the tunnel. Kudus, known for being level-headed, lost his cool and there can be little empathy for his actions.

But it is the second time in a month his lack of discipline has been questioned. Kudus and Lopetegui had a frank exchange of words when the attacker was substituted at half-time in the 1-1 draw against Brentford.

“We (Lopetegui and Kudus) are going to talk,” said the head coach after the Tottenham loss. “Not today. It’s not the day to talk, but he will be aware he can improve his actions in these moments because it is not good for him, the club or the team.”

Tim Steidten, the technical director, has previously received praise for the club’s recruitment, but he also now warrants scrutiny.

The club signed an ageing forward in Niclas Fullkrug, 31, for £27million from Borussia Dortmund. He remains sidelined with a calf injury and has only played 63 minutes in the league. Luis Guilherme, the £25million signing from Brazilian side Palmeiras, has featured once totalling four minutes. That is £52million worth of talent. Midfielder Guido Rodriguez is still adapting to Premier League football, while Carlos Soler’s involvement has been restricted to substitute appearances.

Post-match, Lopetegui apologised to supporters and offered reassurance that performances will improve. He wants doubters to reserve judgement until May. It sounds good in theory, but the adage that actions speak louder than words comes to mind.

“The message is we are sure we will have better moments,” Lopetegui said. “The Premier League is very long and we knew we had a hard start. But we are going to improve. I am sure about this.

“Today we are very frustrated and so sorry for them (the fans) above all. We are going to work very hard for the next challenge.

“We have to do better. Maybe I have to improve, too, my translation with my players. The first half was interesting. We did good things. We scored and had chances to score more. After 2-1, the worst thing for me is not being able to keep the mentality. You are losing 2-1 but you have a lot of time in front of you to draw or to win the match. That’s why we have to improve one important step — to handle these bad moments in another way.”

Attention turns to West Ham’s upcoming home game against Manchester United.

Lopetegui and Erik ten Hag find themselves in embattled positions. Whenever a manager is under pressure, there comes a point when they are no longer capable of redirecting the lurching turbulence. Lopetegui will hope he is not subject to such a fate, but failure to turn around the slow start to the season may cost him his job.

 

[With Kind Regards]

Thanks Alan.

[Texas Iron]

Cheers…