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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…

When Sir Alex Ferguson made his departure from Manchester United back in the summer of 2013, the Red Devils surely could not have envisaged a scenario where over six years later, they would have no Premier League trophies, and on to their fourth permanent manager.

There has been a constant sense of muddle and disjointedness at Old Trafford, and it is little surprise to see them well outside the top four at the moment, and losing to the likes of FC Astana. They are the ultimate symbol of how quickly things can go wrong, and how difficult it can be to change things around.

And having sacked Unai Emery on Friday morning, Arsenal must ensure they do everything that they can to avoid repeating their rivals’ concerning recent history. When the Spaniard took over from Arsene Wenger, it was suggested at the time that it was a “unanimous” decision to appoint him. With his three successive Europa League titles with Sevilla, it certainly had merit to it.

But fast forward 18 months later, and the Gunners have parted ways with a manager who has overseen their worst run without a victory since Feburary 1992. Already, there are suggestions that the likes of Wolves’ Nuno Espirito Santo, Napoli’s Carlo Ancelotti and even the out-of-work Massimiliano Allegri are under consideration to replace Emery.

When it comes to deciding the former Gunners boss’ successor, the north London side’s hierarchy must be fundamentally aware of ensuring they don’t travel to the complete extremes. Just look at the transition from Jose Mourinho to Ole Gunnar Solskjaer at United, to see a snapshot of such a decision. The two appear to be polar opposites, certainly in terms of their man-management, with the former an abrasive personality, and the latter more jovial.

Such a disparate change can lead to even more confusion amongst the playing squad, and it’s something Arsenal will need to be wary of. The Gunners need to learn from their rivals’ mistake, and go for a manager who aligns with their own philosophy, rather than simply the ‘best’ candidate available. On paper, Ancelotti and Allegri’s CV at both domestic and European level is unparalleled, with the former winning three Champions Leagues, and the latter reaching two finals.

But are they the perfect fit for what Arsenal want? It is why the Gunners’ reported interest in Mikel Arteta should be encouraging for the Emirates faithful. A former captain of the club, who knows them inside out, and is learning from Pep Guardiola and his philosophy. It points to a sense of direction and purpose to their thinking, and a very reassuring sign that they are learning from United’s fatal mistakes.

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Jose Mourinho has arrived at Tottenham Hotspur and he’s ready to stir the pot, quite literally. Of course, with Mauricio Pochettino now gone, it’s fairly safe to assume there will be changes happening at Spurs and hopefully, Daniel Levy knows what he signed up for when he chose the Special One to lead his troops.

Be that as it may, it also wouldn’t be a stretch to say that Mourinho will likely want some reinforcements in order to get this team firing on all cylinders once again.

But which of his former pupils could the Portuguese coach actually bring to Spurs that would fit his system nicely?

Let’s take a look…

Luka Modric – Real Madrid

Mourinho’s stay at the Spanish capital was very much a success, regardless of how it ended. The Special One managed to rival Pep Guardiola’s Barcelona, who were arguably one of the best teams in world football at that time, and even claimed some silverware for his trouble.

Modric, granted, wasn’t such a big figure back then as he is now but with 34 years already in the locker and new faces emerging from Real Madrid’s midfield, the Croat could possibly be prized away from the Galacticos.

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Not to mention that he appears to still have something of a soft spot for Spurs from his days in London and when you take all of that into account, this transfer suddenly doesn’t seem like a reach at all.

Besides, Mourinho could use someone of Modric’s pedigree, skill and experience in his team.

Why not give it a go?

Nemanja Matic – Manchester United

Matic is definitely one of the players that thrived under Mourinho’s stern but just hand while the Special One was at the helm of Manchester United.

The 31-year-old defensive midfielder enjoyed playing for the Portuguese and he also enjoyed a really important role in his system as Mourinho values a good pivot for defensive cover for his preferred style of play.

Matic’s contract expires in the summer and seeing how he’s fallen out of favour at Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s squad and was even reported to be close to a January exit, it wouldn’t be a stretch to see Mourinho come back for his man.

Even though he is already past his 30s, Matic surely has a couple more good seasons in his legs.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic – Manchester United

By this point, you’re either extremely excited by this pick or you can’t believe you’re actually seeing what you’re seeing.

But yes, Ibrahimovic and Mourinho worked well together while the Special One was at Old Trafford, similarly to his relationship with Matic, and the great Swede did have a good spell under his guidance as well.

Of course, he scored 29 goals and assisted a further ten in the 53 games he played for the Red Devils, but was hampered by a serious injury just when he finally got going.

With Harry Kane still in the squad, there doesn’t seem to be a need for an additional striker, especially one that would hardly play second fiddle to the Englishman. However, Kane has no senior competition for his spot and has been linked with an exit to Real Madrid, and Ibrahimovic is the prototype Mourinho striker.

It sounds crazy at first but in some scenarios, it wouldn’t be outrageous to think he decides to scoop up the Swede for free after his MLS adventure has come to its conclusion.

Can you imagine these two hot-heads working together again? Neither can we but it would definitely be a blast…

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…

Moussa Sissoko is insistent that Tottenham Hotspur can still finish in the top four this season, per The Daily Telegraph.

What’s the word?

Spurs have endured a horrific start to the campaign and are currently 11 points behind fourth-placed Manchester City.

Pep Guardiola’s team are joined by Liverpool, Leicester City and Chelsea in the top four but Sissoko remains positive about the chances of Mauricio Pochettino’s side climbing the table.

Indeed, Spurs have won just three times in the Premier League thus far this term and have not won away in the league since January.

Sissoko said: “Of course we are far, far behind the top four, but the season is long and we can still win a lot of games.

“It will not be easy but we know we have the qualities to do it.

“When we come back [after the international break] we will try to catch the teams in front of us and see where we are at the end of the season.”

Sissoko believes that the key to an upturn in results could be the club’s home form – they have already drawn twice and lost once in north London in 2019/20.

He added: “We have to make our home a fortress. Normally we have to take most of the points at home against every team, but we have a bit of a problem with that. It is a shame for us because the fans are pushing us along with their support, but at the end we don’t win.”

Misdiagnosis

Spurs need to improve their away form instead of focusing on winning at home.

They last won on the road in the league against Fulham in January. That’s the Fulham team that have since been relegated and begun the season anew in the Championship.

Thus far this season, Spurs have taken three points from six games on the road. They have a goal difference of minus five and would be in the bottom three if only away games counted. Burnley have an identical record of three draws and three defeats, while only Norwich City, with five losses, have worse.

Compare that with the current top four. Liverpool are unbeaten and have 16 points away from home, Chelsea have 15, Manchester City 12 and Leicester 10.

It is no surprise that the top four overall is also the top four on the road.

But if Spurs are to heed Sissoko’s words and climb the league, they need to start turning up on their travels and taking the points back to London as a matter of urgency.

Their home form, by comparison, has seen them take 11 points, only one fewer than Pep Guardiola’s side, who have the third-best home record in the league.

Sissoko, then, has managed to miss the point by a convincingly wide margin.

Thibaut Courtois’ start to life at the Spanish capital has been all but easy.

But now, things are finally starting to look just a bit better for the big Belgian between the sticks.

Real Madrid are finding their feet and with them, so is Courtois who’s slowly but surely showing his true colours to his fans.

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On Wednesday night, Los Blancos completely obliterated Galatasaray in the Champions League, putting six goals past them at the Santiago Bernabeu with Courtois recording his fourth clean sheet in a row at the same time.

By all standards, it was quite the night for the lads wearing the royal white of the Galacticos and for all of their fans watching.

Many Madridistas were quick to jump to Twitter and social media to praise the man that was once a heavily criticised figure in the squad.

They seem to be loving this big improvement and boost in confidence the goalie has been showing as of late.

You can see some of their replies down in the collection of tweets below:

Dani Ceballos was loaned out to Arsenal in the summer of 2019.

And initially, it looked like he could actually find his place among the ranks at the Emirates as the 23-year-old midfielder mustered some good performances at the beginning of the campaign.

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But even though Unai Emery’s men are currently struggling to compete in the Premier League – seeing how they are currently in sixth – it seems that Ceballos doesn’t really want to return to Real Madrid at the end of his spell.

According to a report from AS (via the Sun), the young Spaniard doesn’t really see eye to eye with the current manager of Los Blancos, Zinedine Zidane, and that is stated as the main reason he doesn’t want to return to his parent club.

Of course, upon seeing this update, many Real Madrid fans proclaimed that they don’t want and don’t need Ceballos anyway and they would be happier if he actually stayed put.

You can see some of their reactions and replies down in the collection of tweets below:

Some Charlton fans have taken to Twitter to reveal that they’re in agreement with the club’s decision to let Tariqe Fosu join Oxford United back in the summer.

The 23-year-old has enjoyed an impressive season so far in League One under Karl Robinson, scoring four goals and grabbing three assists in ten league appearances.

Contrastingly, Fosu endured a tough campaign in the same division while with the Addicks last term, scoring just twice and setting up four goals in 27 appearances – it is telling that he has already been involved in more goals in 17 less games.

Because of his fine form so far in 2019/20, the topic of whether or not it was a good decision to sell the 5 foot 11 forward has arisen amongst some Charlton fans on Twitter, and it’s safe to say that the majority are in agreement with the club’s summer decision.

Let’s take a look at some of the responses…

Former Manchester United centre-back Jaap Stam has claimed that he was approached to become Newcastle United’s new manager over the summer.

Indeed, Stam told Voetbal International that the Magpies had wanted him to succeed Rafael Benitez as head coach, but the Dutchman ultimately decided to take charge of Feyenoord following the exit of Giovanni van Bronckhorst.

However, according to Chronicle Live, senior club sources have claimed that there was no interest in Stam nor indeed any contact with him over the summer.

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It is a bit of a bizarre situation as it would be strange for the former centre-back to make it up, particularly as he is now head coach of one of the biggest clubs in the Netherlands.

That is the current situation, though.

As expected, a number of Newcastle fans have been on social media offering their views on the latest developments surrounding the story.

And a selection of their Twitter reaction is available to view below:

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…

So just like that, everything seems to be rosy in the Manchester United garden. From the turmoil of staring the Premier League’s relegation places right in the eyes before the Liverpool game, to the jubilation of knocking out Chelsea on Wednesday night, things have turned around dramatically at Old Trafford for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.

The Red Devils earned a hard-fought draw against Jurgen Klopp’s men to halt their rivals’ flawless start to the league campaign, before sealing back-to-back away wins against Partizan Belgrade and Norwich. And to well and truly cap off their recent revival, Solskjaer’s men turned over Chelsea 2-1 in the Carabao Cup to reach the quarter-finals of the competition. So everything back to perfect then?

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Not quite. Whilst the confidence appears to be soaring back to some of the squad’s most important players – Marcus Rashford in particular following his run of four goals in three games – there are some under-lying issues that need to be fixed. The Red Devils’ victories over Partizan and Norwich were absolutely to be expected – the former are currently only fourth in the Serbian top-flight, and the latter are deep in the Premier League relegation zone.

Their triumph in the League Cup against Frank Lampard’s Chelsea was decided by a thunderbolt free-kick from Marcus Rashford – the type he has ballooned into the stands multiple times before. Not to mention that neither side put their best team out. So whilst United do deserve credit for going away to Stamford Bridge and clinching victory, the kind of praise they get should be tempered. They remain goal-shy, having scored just 13 times in their opening ten league games, and only had seven shots in the entire game against the Blues on Wednesday.

Injuries have taken their toll on the side in these opening months of the campaign, not least the almost two-month lay-off suffered by Anthony Martial. The Red Devils’ squad depth means that injuries to just one or two players in key areas can threaten to leave a gaping hole in the side. With an already congested December schedule further made troublesome by their progress into the quarter-finals of the Carabao Cup, issues of burn-out and muscle fatigue are likely to be far more prominent.

So whilst things appear to look like they’re heading in the right direction, Solskjaer simply cannot afford to get carried away.

Arsenal midfielder Mohamed Elneny could be returning to Arsenal sooner than expected in order to complete a permanent transfer to AC Milan, according to Gazzetta dello Sport (via Sport Witness).

What’s the word?

Elneny, 27. is currently on loan at Besiktas but has not featured in the Turkish Super Lig as much as the Egypt international would have hoped and it appears the deal could now be scrapped.

After only making three appearances in all competitions this season, the aforementioned report has claimed that Milan could be a possible destination for Elneny for a “negotiable” €15m (£13.1m) fee.

The complexities of that process though – whether Arsenal can terminate the loan or will need Besiktas to do so – aren’t particularly clear.

Time to cash in

The Egyptian midfielder has been at Arsenal since 2015 after his £5m move from FC Basel and was brought in under Arsene Wenger’s management.

Elneny has not played more than 14 Premier League games in a season since his arrival from Switzerland and finds himself pretty far down the pecking order due to the arrivals of Matteo Guendouzi, Lucas Torreira and Dani Ceballos over the last few summers.

With the 27-year-old yet to score for the club and having registered only three assists in the Premier League in four years, it’s time for Arsenal to cash in on the Egypt international.

There are much better midfielders at the club and even Torreira – a £26m signing – has struggled to get into Emery’s side this season. He has made just two starts in the top-flight.

Arsenal simply don’t need Elneny anymore, so if there’s a club interested in signing him permanently, the north Londoners should jump at the chance to get the midfielder off the books, even if it takes some manoeuvring with his seemingly unhappy loan employers.

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

After a fruitless derby over the weekend, Real Madrid will be hosting Club Brugge at the Santiago Bernabeu this Tuesday night. And Los Blancos will be looking to continue their unbeaten streak but in order to do so, they will also have to contain David Okereke.

On the chalkboard

Zinedine Zidane didn’t really have the best opening to the 2019/20 La Liga season.

Early on in the campaign, the Galacticos struggled immensely with getting a clean sheet in the books, conceding in each of the initial five games across all competitions.

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Not to mention that the start of the Champions League was, in fact, the worst of the lot. Real Madrid not only lost the game at Parc des Princes against Paris Saint-Germain but they also did it while conceding three goals with absolutely no reply.

Now, however, their fortunes just might be changing since they’ve managed to keep a clean sheet in the last three games, the latest one coming from the Madrid derby at Wanda Metropolitano.

But even though Club Brugge are no Paris Saint-Germain, they do have a prolific young player in their midst that is bound to cause the Galacticos a lot of trouble if he isn’t properly taken care of.

And that’s where Sergio Ramos comes into play.

Experience vs youth

At the moment, Real Madrid’s defensive woes seem to be going out the exit door.

The last couple of games have indeed proved that Zidane’s troops do know how to defend, after all. But in the Champions League, everything is possible and no opponent should be underestimated.

Okereke is still only 22 years old but this season he has been extremely prolific for Brugge in their domestic competition. The young forward has scored four goals in a total of eight games played, six of which he started from the get-go.

His Champions League opener was also quite a good one as he tallied three shots in that game and one key pass in Brugge’s draw against Galatasaray, so Ramos could have his hands full with the 22-year-old.

But the experienced Spaniard is no slouch either, having averaged 1.6 tackles, one interception and 3.7 clearances per game so far in La Liga.

And bearing in mind the former World Cup and Champions League winner’s vast experience, Okereke might face a really stern challenge come Tuesday night – not that Ramos can afford to take the 22-year-old lightly.