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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…

Speaking exclusively to Football FanCast, ex-Leicester defender Steve Walsh has suggested Ben Chilwell would be “silly” to leave the Foxes.

What did he say?

The England international has come through the Leicester academy, and made his senior debut for the club in October 2015 when he featured against Hull City in the League Cup.

Since then, the 22-year-old has established himself as the side’s first-choice left-back, playing in 36 of the 38 Premier League games last season.

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His impressive performances have seen him be linked with a move away, but Walsh has tipped the defender to remain at the club.

He said: “I think he’d be silly to move. Money talks, though, we’ve seen it with Harry Maguire. I think Ben Chilwell is happy here with his football amid rumours obviously of teams coming in.”

Building for the future

Could Chilwell make the move to one of the Premier League’s traditional big six? Most probably. His defensive numbers this season make for very impressive reading, averaging 1.5 tackles and 1.2 interceptions per game from left-back. The big question however, is whether he feels confident in Leicester’s ability to break the existing monopoly at the top of the table.

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In fact, he needs to look no further than Harry Maguire and Manchester United’s struggles this campaign to know the grass isn’t always greener. At Leicester, Chilwell is an automatic starter, and the club appear to be heading in the right direction under the management of Brendan Rodgers. Fast, attacking football and getting winning results on the board too.

It may be worthwhile for the 22-year-old to simply stay on board the Foxes train and see where it takes him.

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…

West Ham have got off to a good start to the season with only two defeats in eight league games, but the success of their summer signings has so far been mixed.

Sebastien Haller has gained plaudits for his all-round play and his return of four goals in seven league matches suggests he is adjusting well to to England, unlike Pablo Fornals.

The Spaniard arrived from Villarreal in the summer with a degree of expectation due to being described by Manuel Pellegrini as a “talented player”, his transfer fee of £24m, and some impressive performances in the U21 European Championship – but he is yet to find his feet at the Hammers.

The 23-year-old managed five goals and six assists in the last campaign but he is yet to show quality in the final third this time around. He only has one shot per game to show for his efforts, and is still without a goal or assist.

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Equally worrying are the signs that he is yet to get up to the speed of the Premier League.

He has achieved a rate of just 0.4 key passes and 0.5 successful dribbles per game, which is nowhere near good enough if he is to displace one of Manuel Lanzini, Felipe Anderson or the in-form Andriy Yarmolenko, who has three goals in seven league games.

Further evidence of that fact is his average of 18 passes per game. His lack of contribution will do little to persuade Pellegrini that he is deserving of a starting place and if the struggle to adapt continues then he could run out of time to impress.

By comparison, Anderson and Lanzini boast average pass stats of 51 and 45 respectively, and even with them in the side West Ham have only managed 11 goals in eight matches.

Despite that, Fornals needs a regular run in the side – even if it is of short-term detriment to the team.

Lanzini is not at the top of his game currently, offering only one assist in seven matches, and giving Fornals the responsibility to create and score goals from his favoured position could do him a great deal of good.

It will allow him game time to adjust to the league’s intensity, create an understanding with his teammates and settle at a new club where being in and out of the side could be damaging his morale.

If he is able to build in all of the above aspects then his quality should show and he may begin reproducing the consistent displays he showed in Spain, and the Hammers could certainly benefit from the 1.3 key passes he achieved last year.

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…

Time isn’t necessarily running out for him, but that doesn’t mean he shouldn’t start thinking about his future.

Given the current log-jam that is in front of 18-year-old Liam McCarron, with the likes of Pablo Hernandez, Jack Harrison and Helder Costa all having more seniority than him, it’s unlikely that he’s going to get a lot of game time at Elland Road this season, especially if he isn’t playing regularly for the U23s either.

Even Eddie Nketiah has dabbled with time on the wing as well, so that could make his chances even harder.

However, with Harrison and Nketiah’s loans, and Pablo Hernandez’s contract all expiring at the end of the season, competition going into the 2020/21 season is set to be a little sparser.

But there’s only so much he can be doing as part of the club’s U23s.

There needs to be a point where he can prove that he can cut it against senior sides as well.

Given that his contract runs out in 2022, he still has some time to show that he can have a career at Elland Road, but there may be a chance to help his career if he takes a little detour.

This is why he needs to be banging on Marcelo Bielsa’s door at the next opportunity and demanding to be sent out on loan, to put him in the best position to compete for one of the spots that will be available next season.

Whilst he is only 18, that hasn’t stopped Bielsa putting faith in young players before, in fact that’s how Jack Clarke managed to get his move to Spurs, by impressing off the back of his 25 appearances in the team last season.

Thogden ranks all 24 Championship away kits in the video below…

Meanwhile, 20-year-old Jamie Shackleton has started to make inroads into the squad this campaign too, so it’s not as if he has to wait forever to get his chance if he can make something of it.

The youngster has already played 16 times at senior level in League Two so is clearly ready for more exposure but that doesn’t look likely at Leeds in 2019/20, especially if hat-trick scorer from pre-season, Ryan Edmondson, can’t even get a chance.

McCarron needs to give himself the best opportunity to make something happen, and that’s not going to come if he continues to just ride things out with the U23 team.

He needs to be brave and start asking for chances, rather than waiting for them to happen.

West Ham suffered back-to-back defeats after Everton’s 2-0 victory on Saturday, and many fans are concerned with the underwhelming performances from the creative midfielders in the side.

Manuel Lanzini and Felipe Anderson are bearing the brunt of fan criticism, with the latter in particular being singled out for his decline.

The Brazilian enjoyed a successful debut season with the Hammers but he has failed to live up to the 10 goals and five assists he made in 2018/19, with no goals and three assists so far in this league campaign.

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As a result, Manuel Pellegrini’s side are struggling to create chances for Sebastien Haller, and with only four shots on target at Goodison Park their threat was too easily eliminated.

Some supporters are disappointed with the effort shown by Anderson, with many claiming he is failing to live up to expectation, and that is contributing to West Ham’s ineffective attack, with 11 goals scored in nine league games.

Andre Gomes and Tom Davies had too much influence in midfield for the Toffees, with 45 and 40 passes respectively, and that caused concern for some fans, as shown in the reactions below.

Manchester City fans have taken to Twitter to state that they do not want to see Mikel Oyarzabal join the club after Leroy Sane was linked with a move to Bayern Munich.

According to TEAMtalk, City are prepared to let Sane leave the club to join the German giants, with Pep Guardiola lining up Oyarzabal as his replacement.

The report claims that club scouts see him as the perfect alternative, with his release clause just shy of £70m.

It seems that fans are massively against this move and it’s difficult to blame them given the standard of Sane’s performances since he joined the club from Schalke.

On the other hand, fans have called for the club to targets players such as Jadon Sancho instead, who was at the club’s youth academy before he moved to Borussia Dortmund.

Sane is currently sidelined with an anterior cruciate ligament injury which he sustained in the Community Shield and will miss the majority of the season.

His potential replacement, Oyarzabel, has had a sensational start to this campaign, scoring four times and providing three assists.

However, this does not seem to be enough for the fans…

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…

Arsenal midfielder Granit Xhaka has hit back at Patrice Evra after the former Manchester United defender called the Gunners “babies”.

What’s he said?

Evra spent eight years at Old Trafford, winning five Premier League titles, as well as the Champions League and the Club World Cup.

And he claims that he often referred to the Gunners as “babies” when playing for United, and has no reason to change that assessment following their 1-0 defeat to Sheffield United on Monday.

He said on Sky Sports, via Football 365: “Sheffield United deserved the win, but I’m not surprised about Arsenal. I said before the game that they had to make sure they didn’t fall into the trap.

“I used to call them ‘my babies’ 10 years ago, and they are still when I look at them and think they are ‘my babies’ and that’s the truth – I’m not being disrespectful when I say that.”

Xhaka, despite the Gunners’ defeat, hit back at the comments, though, insisting that they are “b*******”.

He said on Sky, via F365: “A lot of people speak too much.

“I have a lot of respect for him because he was a great player, but you have to be careful what you say.

“He knows what these situations well, but it’s not only him. A lot of people speak a lot of b******* and it’s always the same.

“For me, it’s strange because they [former players] have been in the same situation as us – maybe it was sometimes good, sometimes not so good, but like I said, if you speak b******* like this every weekend, then what they say doesn’t get respected.”

Stop losing

If Xhaka wants Arsenal to be respected, he needs to help his side to victories.

Instead, on Monday, his side surrendered meekly in the face of a Blades side roared on by a vociferous Bramall Lane crowd.

Xhaka claims that Evra should respect the fact that he went through difficult moments during his career too, but he more often than not ended up on the winning side. His trophy haul accounts for that.

The Switzerland international, by comparison, has won the FA Cup once.

Before he is to start hitting back against Evra, he needs to ensure that he adds some more baubles to his collection, and perhaps stop his side from losing against newly-promoted teams.

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

Barcelona are finally back in action this Tuesday night after having a weekend off due to El Clasico being postponed. But now they face Real Valladolid at the Camp Nou and Clement Lenglet, of all people, just might play a key part in that match-up.

On the chalkboard

Even though the Catalan giants are currently second in the table with a game in hand, things are not really that rosy at the Camp Nou.

The victory against Slavia Prague was far from an impressive feat and despite Blaugrana tallying all three points, that game showcased their biggest weakness of the ongoing season – their defence.

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Simply put, they are leaking far too many chances and shots to the opposition and sooner rather than later that will come back to haunt them.

And even though things have been slightly better in La Liga than in the Champions League, considering they are conceding 9.9 shots per game in the domestic competition as opposed to 16 in Europe, this is still a valid cause for concern.

Even more so since their defence will come up against Oscar Plano, one of Real Valladolid’s best performers so far and a player who has a keen eye for goal.

Defence vs attack

Despite their defensive hiccups, Lenglet has been quite impressive throughout the ongoing season.

Just recently, when Barcelona faced Eibar in La Liga, winning 3-0 in the process, the French centre-back was one of the best players on the pitch, tallying an assist along with a rather clean defensive display.

Watch Lionel Messi and Gareth Bale answer the internet’s weirdest questions in the video below…

But the Catalans will surely need him at his best when they face Real Valladolid at the Camp Nou.

Their backline needs to make a statement and it might just be up to Lenglet to be the man who’s going to step forward.

So far, he has tallied two tackles, 0.9 interceptions and three clearances per game in the ongoing 2019/20 La Liga campaign. Apart from that, he is not really easy to dribble past, considering that has only happened 0.4 times per game in the season.

But he’s facing an opponent who is very much keeping his team afloat.

Real Valladolid are currently sitting in ninth spot and they owe much of their success to Plano. With a rating of 6.96 according to Whoscored, the 28-year-old is their best performer so far in the season.

Not only that but with three goals and two assists already to his name, he’s also topping both of those categories at the very moment.

Seeing how he also tallied 1.5 shots and 1.1 key passes per game, it seems that he is extremely efficient and doesn’t need too many chances to make a clear impact.

It’s also pretty important to note that he has been fouled 2.1 times per game so far, which suggests that the opposition clearly have trouble containing him at times.

Lenglet, on the other hand, has made 1.3 fouls per game so it will be interesting to see who comes on top in this one.

One way or the other, Barcelona’s centre-back might have his hands full and the team’s success could depend on his performance.

This article is part of Football FanCast’s Transfer Focus series, which provides opinion and analysis on recent transfer news…

Bayern Munich are fans of Tottenham Hotspur boss Mauricio Pochettino as they search for a successor to current boss Niko Kovac, per Sport1.

What’s the word?

The Bundesliga giants are currently second in the table, one point behind Borussia Monchengladbach.

Bayern were almost knocked out of the DFB Cup on Tuesday, too, as Serge Gnabry and Thomas Muller saved the club from a 1-0 defeat to second-tier VFL Bochum.

And the report claims that the club’s players have stopped playing for the 48-year-old, with Pochettino a potential successor.

Indeed, sporting director Hasan Salihamidicz is said to be an advocate of appointing the Spurs manager, and he has the Argentine’s phone number.

Waiting by the phone

One imagines that Pochettino might well be waiting by the phone.

The former Southampton boss has spent a total of five years at Spurs, guiding them to the Champions League final last season.

Yet, this year, he has overseen a traumatic start to the campaign; they have won just three games in the Premier League and, ironically, were thumped 7-2 by Bayern in the Champions League.

There are not many opportunities for managers to move to genuinely elite European clubs but it appears as though the door may be ajar at the Allianz Arena.

Bayern are serial trophy winners, they have won the last seven Bundesliga titles in a row and Pochettino has yet to pick up a single winner’s medal as a coach.

Indeed, one feels that his project at Spurs is nearing an end, such is their poor form, and that he could suddenly be tempted away.

A move to the Bavarian giants would almost guarantee a trophy and Pochettino ought to seriously consider the possibility.

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…

This could be a make or break signing for the Blues.

A lot of fuss has been made about Birmingham City’s new acquisition Jeremie Bela, with a recent article from Birmingham Live describing him as ‘an astute pick up’.

Whilst he might be the answer that they’re looking for in regards to taking some of the pressure off Lukas Jutkiewicz’s shoulders, there should still be a little bit of cause for concern, because it sounds as if there’s a lot riding on this move.

What’s he said?

Speaking to the club website about the new arrival, Clotet was keen to point out just the sort of qualities that a player like Bela can bring to the club:

“Jeremie has a record of very good numbers when it comes to goalscoring chances, he is very calm in the box, using those chances he is very cool in those situations.”

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A lot of pressure to deliver

Bela has scored 33 career goals (via Transfermarkt), with 11 of them coming this past season, so on the face of it would look as if they’ve got themselves the perfect player. However, when you factor into it the amount of time it takes for a player to adjust to a different league – six games for a striker arriving from Spain according to research – there’s a lot of pressure on him to hit the ground running.

The current forwards that surround Jutkiewicz right now, like Alvaro Gimenez and Kerim Mrabti have been struggling so far this season to find the back of the net – scoring once between them, and if he can’t do it, then Clotet’s men are back to square one when it comes to finding that source of goals to relieve Jutkiewicz.

As we discussed on FFC when the deal was nearing completion, there is potential for him to form a great partnership with the club’s established centre-forward Jutkiewicz, with a ‘big man, little’ man partnership where Bela plays off Jutkiewicz to win flick-ons.

But this is all based around the idea that his goal return last year is a sign of real progression rather than just a freak year where everything went right for him.

Guess we’ll just have to wait and see if this latest gamble by the Blues turns out to be something special, or just another player that can’t make the grade.

“I lost two years at the very highest level”.

Those were the words spoken by Manchester City’s Riyad Mahrez in a recent interview with France Football.

In the interview, he explained how the Leicester City hierarchy blocked a proposed move to Arsenal the summer after the Foxes had won the title in 2016 and how he felt frustrated with the Foxes’ slide down the table the following season.

He eventually swapped blue shirts in the summer of 2018 in a £60m deal, and has gone on to win back-to-back Premier League titles, but has only scored 15 goals in all competitions since, which is less than the 18 he managed just in the league campaign of 2015/16 (via Transfermarkt).

However, his comments that those years between the title and his move to the Etihad were essentially a waste have not gone down well with the Foxes faithful.

They took to Twitter to slam the former Player of the Year, with many of them now poking fun at the fact he’s been reduced to a substitutes role in his new abode.

Possibly one of those ‘think before you speak’ moments for Mahrez.