All posts by n8rngtd.top

Unai Emery’s transfer business during his time in charge of Aston Villa has been excellent. Not only has he moved on players such as Moussa Diaby and Douglas Luiz for lavish fees, but he has brought in players who have wonderful futures in the game.

It marks a change from the recruitment that had occurred under previous manager Steven Gerrard, with several players failing to live up to their hype.

Steven Gerrard’s recruitment at Aston Villa

The former Rangers manager took charge in November 2021, tasked with leading Villa to the European spots. Gerrard made a few decent signings during the January 2022 transfer window, bringing in players such as Philippe Coutinho and Lucas Digne, who made solid impacts.

That summer, Coutinho’s loan deal was made permanent, before the likes of Robin Olsen, Leander Dendoncker, and Diego Carlos were signed ahead of the 2022/23 campaign.

Out of these players, only Carlos is still featuring for the first team, but what once looked like an impressive signing has potentially turned into a financial mistake…

How much Aston Villa spent on Diego Carlos

The Brazilian defender cost the club £26m in 2022, but he suffered a serious injury on his first Premier League start for Villa, ruling him out for the majority of his debut season.

He returned to full fitness last term, making 38 appearances in all competitions, yet Carlos has fallen down the pecking order this season, starting just seven times in all competitions under Emery.

The £100k-per-week defender has struggled in the Premier League. Across four games in the top flight, the centre-back has won just 1.3 total duels per game – a success rate of 31% – while losing possession six times per game and making only 0.5 tackles each game.

Hardly the statistics of a player at the top of their game. Will Emery consider his future when the January transfer window rolls around in a couple of months? Especially as he can call on several other players who appear to be favoured in his position.

These performances haven’t exactly done wonders for his current market value since joining the Midlands side, as it has dipped drastically over the previous two years…

Diego Carlos’ current market value at Aston Villa

Spending £26m on a player when the club had no European income was a risky piece of business and, in this regard, it has not paid off.

Indeed, according to Football Transfers, Carlos is currently valued at just €4.5m (£3.7m), clearly representing a massive drop from the fee Gerrard spent to secure his signature.

Market Movers

Football FanCast's Market Movers series explores the changing landscape of the modern transfer market. How much is your club's star player or biggest flop worth today?

Emery must now ruthlessly ditch him from the squad in January, although Villa may have to take a huge loss on the defender, as his current market value does not suggest that any team is likely to spend £26m on him now.

This works out as a staggering 86% decrease from the original £26m fee in just over two years, proving that it hasn’t been the best piece of transfer business conducted by the club in recent years.

Aston Villa can make Duran more unplayable by signing "insanely good" star

Aston Villa’s young marksman and their target could form a deadly partnership

By
Joe Nuttall

Nov 1, 2024

Good things worth waiting for as allrounder is relaxed at prospect of delayed Test debut

Vithushan Ehantharajah30-Nov-2022″If it doesn’t happen, it doesn’t happen.”On Tuesday, Ben Stokes announced Liam Livingstone will be making his Test debut against Pakistan in Rawalpindi. Just 24 hours later, with the start of the first Test up in the air as a virus coursing through the England squad threatened to leave them shy of 11 fit cricketers, Livingstone remained at ease when asked if he was prepared to wait a little longer. With a decision to be taken at the last possible moment at 7:30am PKT on what may or may not be day one of the first Test in Rawalpindi, another night’s sleep won’t affect him too much. Livingstone is unmoved, in every sense.He had already opted out of the final day’s optional training at the ground before players began reporting symptoms late on Tuesday. “I’ve spent most of the morning on the golf simulator,” he says, like a man who had walked bleary-eyed to and from his local shop to buy a Diet Coke in the midst of a Zombie Apocalypse. “It was quite weird. Everybody was going down one by one. Thankfully I’ve been clear up to now.”I’ve just been chilling upstairs, had breakfast with Sax (Mark Saxby) who’s just come back from being ill, so I haven’t seen anyone. I don’t know what’s going on. Thankfully it’s way above me (the decision on whether the Test will begin as planned). I’ll stay way out of it. I’ll prepare as if I’m going to make my debut tomorrow and that’s that, if it doesn’t happen, it doesn’t happen but I won’t be wasting any energy thinking about what’s going to happen tomorrow.”Related

• Brendon McCullum: 'We'll be pushing for results. If we get outplayed, that's okay'

• Liam Livingstone to make England Test debut against Pakistan

• Rise and fall of an English dynasty in just five years of Pakistan Tests

• Morning decision for Rawalpindi Test as sickness bug disrupts England plans

• Ben Stokes leaves door open for possible U-turn on ODI retirement

If you wanted an insight into Livingstone’s mindset, and what Stokes and Brendon McCullum see in him, there it is, in bold brash Cumbrian. The Lancashire batter is a man of his own mind who rarely sweats the small or big stuff.A lot has been made of the decision to hand cap number 708 to a player who last played first-class cricket at the start of September 2021, and has since made his reputation – and money – across the world as a franchise gun-for-hire, whether abroad or at home, notably when he carried the first edition of The Hundred as part of Birmingham Phoenix. That decision for specialisation, he cedes, was tactical, with an element of uncertainty.”The reason for that was to get into a World Cup squad in 2021,” he says. “That looked a long way off when I went out and played all these franchise tournaments and I guess I thought I was closer to a Test squad then than what I was.””Over the last couple of years I’ve pretty much lived life day by day, enjoying the fact that we’re travelling the world… we’re going to all these cool different countries to play in their franchise tournaments. I’ve learned that you really don’t know what tomorrow can bring and, if anything, this sort of proves that. If you asked me two or three months ago if I was going to be playing in this Test series, I’d have said probably not.”And yet, there is an element of fate to how things have panned out over the last month, starting with the victory in 2022’s edition of the T20 World Cup, then this call-up. Australia was the site of both, in many ways. Prior to the tournament, Stokes, a long-term friend of Livingstone, took the 29-year-old to one side to ask if he’d be interested in coming to Pakistan. It was a very quick yes. “When Stokes and Baz ask you if you want to play Test cricket, it’s quite hard to say no to them two.”It would also have been hard given as a kid, long before Twenty20, let alone franchise competitions, this offer was the stuff of garden hit and giggles.”The two things whenever I played in the garden with my brother was you’re either playing Test cricket for England or playing for England in a World Cup. So I guess being able to live them two dreams over the last couple of weeks and even more so win a World Cup and make my Test debut two weeks later is pretty cool.”An elated Liam Livingstone jumps on Ben Stokes after England’s T20 World Cup triumph•Getty Images

While we’re on family, it’s worth bringing in Livingstone’s father. A Facebook post from Steve Livingstone on November 12 talking about the imminent pride of travelling to Australia to watch his son in a World Cup final went viral on social media. Will he be able to do the double and see his son make his Test debut?”No,” answers Livingstone. “It was a trade off, he didn’t know which one to do. I guess being able to see your son win a World Cup would have been too hard to turn down. I don’t know what he would have done if we’d have lost that final but… thankfully that all worked out really well.”It’s a very proud moment to give back for years and years of driving up and down the M6 three times a week for three or four years while I was still at school and college. I owe a lot to mum and dad and I guess tomorrow will probably be more about them than it will be about me.”Even contained within the support, there was the odd moment his father could not hide the fact that Livingstone’s career looked like it was taking him away from this moment.”Dad has always said he wants me to play Test cricket. Even times when I’ve had chats with him thinking I’m probably not going to get that opportunity anymore, you could always see in his face that he was quite disappointed with that.”The closest he came before was a 2018 tour of New Zealand in which he was a non-playing squad member. That came off the back of his most productive first-class season for Lancashire, with two centuries within 805 runs at an average of 42.36, which followed an England Lions winter in which he scored twin hundreds against Sri Lanka A in the same match. Though the immediate red-ball experience between then and now is very different, he rates himself better equipped now for the whims of Test cricket.”I guess I don’t really have the red-ball cricket behind me of what I did back then, but I definitely didn’t have the experience back then of what I do now. The situations and challenges that are going to come up, I’m sure I’ll have seen them all before.”It doesn’t matter what colour the ball is, what format of cricket you play. There are always challenges you’ve got to take on. I’m sure this week will be no different. It’s the bit that excites me, the different challenges that can come up in five days of cricket rather than 20 overs of cricket.”No doubt the big hits will grab the attention. Stokes even went as far to state earlier in the week that Livingstone will try and clear the media centre at the Rawalpindi ground. But it is his part-time bowling, of leg spin and off spin that has him ahead of Surrey’s Will Jacks as the third spinner, behind Jack Leach and Joe Root. It has long been a nifty short-form selling point for Livingstone to clubs and country. Now, Stokes hopes it will have the same effect of almost coaxing dismissals out of quiet passages of play.”Having the skill-set to do different things is what has made me very selectable for Baz and Ben,” he boasts, matter-of-factly. “I’ll see what we need, what fits best at that certain time. It doesn’t always mean spinning the ball away from the bat: there may be rough outside a left-hander’s off stump that you can use to bowl leg-spin into, so being open-minded and making sure I can use them skill-sets to my advantage and ultimately try and make an impact of England winning a Test.”Whether the bowling translates to the longest format is all part of a bigger conversation as to whether Livingstone will translate to the longest format. Given how vague the predictions have been regarding conditions for the next three Tests, this might only be a selection for the here and now.Either way, a cricketer who has long been a glorious fantasy as a Test cricketer will soon become a reality. And there is perhaps no better setting for it to happen than in a group that encourages participants and observers to dream big.” The last couple of days, being around the environment, it’s been very different to the previous Test squad I was in,” Livingstone reflects. “The messaging is very simple, very clear and I guess the way I play my cricket is probably going to fit perfectly with the way Baz and Stokesy want to play their cricket. I’m just really excited for what’s to come.”As are the rest of us.

Bayern Munich are looking to sign Brighton's Bart Verbruggen as they identify the Dutch goalkeeper as Manuel Neuer's long-term replacement.

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• Bayern want to sign Bayern's Verbruggen
• Kompany known to be an admirer of Verbruggen
• German side looking to replace Neuer

• WHAT HAPPENED?

  Per , Bayern have shown strong interest in signing Brighton goalkeeper Verbruggen in the summer as they look to find a long-term replacement for their legendary custodian Neuer. The Bundesliga giants will, however, have to shell out £50 million ($63m) if they are to convince the Seagulls to sell.

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  THE BIGGER PICTURE

  Bayern boss Vincent Kompany is a long-time admirer of the Dutch goalkeeper and had worked with him at Anderlecht. The Belgian coach later tried to sign Verbruggen at Burnley in 2023, but Brighton eventually secured his services. The 22-year-old has been impressive between the sticks for the Seagulls and has played an important in the club fighting for a European slot in the 2024-25 campaign.

• Getty
  

  DID YOU KNOW?

  Neuer signed a fresh deal at Bayern Munich last month which will now keep him at Allianz Arena at least until June 2026. The club, however, have started to look for possible options who could replace the veteran as the club's No.1 in the long run.

• Getty Images
  

  WHAT NEXT FOR BAYERN MUNICH?

  Harry Kane and Co will be back in action next Wednesday as they take on Bayer Leverkusen in the first leg of their Champions League round of 16 fixture.

Zimbabwe know they are capable of upsetting a top-eight side or two, but their first priority at the World Cup is to avoid embarrassment against Ireland or UAE

Firdose Moonda09-Feb-2015Cricket’s big (read: Test-playing) teams use matches against smaller outfits to take a breather or experiment, even during a major tournament. Zimbabwe will use those fixtures to reassure themselves they still belong among the elite.”The most important games are Ireland and the UAE,” Craig Ervine said. “If we lose one of those, it makes the task of getting to the quarterfinals ten times harder. But if we can win both of those and hopefully cause an upset with one of the others, it gives us a chance.”That succinct analysis reveals much of what we need to know about the Zimbabwean mindset. They’re not among the top eight, they’re not among the cute and cuddlies – Ireland, Afghanistan, Nepal or the UAE – bubbling under, they’re stuck in an awful limbo between jumping off the edge and being pushed and it makes competing in a World Cup a test of character and skill.Zimbabwe are not supposed to be so concerned with Associate nations because they are supposed to beat them and beat them comfortably. But there remains the real possibility that they may not, which is why Zimbabwe’s first focus is on the teams ranked below them, rather than punching above their weight. “It’s beating those smaller teams first before we can have any sight of beating a bigger team,” Sean Williams confirmed, while Brendan Taylor called the penultimate group stage match against Ireland “the biggest game for us.”Taylor acknowledged that his harsh reality is that even if Zimbabwe win against the two teams they do not want lose against, it may not be enough to secure a spot in the knockouts. In 2011, they were victorious over Canada and Kenya, but lost to all of Australia, New Zealand, Pakistan and Sri Lanka and were booted out. They need to beat one of the big boys to get through and Taylor has identified “West Indies or Pakistan” as teams they fancy themselves against, although he knows it will take a performance bigger than the sum of all Zimbabwe’s individual parts to do that.They have only delivered one example of that in the last year, beating Australia in the triangular series at home, despite threatening to pull off a few more recently. “What disappointed me the most was after how well we bowled at South Africa in two of the games, the way we batted,” Taylor said. “That was frustrating because if one guy just put his hand up, we would have got two wins there.”Zimbabwe bowled South Africa out for the first time since the 1999 World Cup in August last year during their bilateral series in Bulawayo and again in the triangular series involving Australia. Both times, they restricted South Africa to under 260 but they failed to chase 258 and 232 when none of their batsman took responsibility in a line-up that collapsed.Who does Taylor think will do it this time? “I’d like to say myself; well, myself and a few others,” he said. “We are batting to No.8 now, we used to bat to No.7. It might leave us a bit thin when it comes to bowlers but on these smaller grounds, I think it will be quite high scoring and the team that bats the best is giving themselves a better chance.”Zimbabwe’s line-up has been bolstered by the inclusion Solomon Mire, who has taken the role of finisher off Elton Chigumbura’s hands. “Elton hits the ball far but Solomon hits the ball harder. He is really good to watch,” Taylor said. Mire was a rookie at the Melbourne Renegades, played in the Dhaka Premier League and is in good form, with 68 from 32 balls and 39 from 23 balls in two of the three games Zimbabwe played against Northern Districts last week. Zimbabwe won all three games, although two of them were close contests, and had what Ervine said was “the best practice we could have asked for.”Despite squeezing past the New Zealand domestic side by 22 runs in the first match and 11 runs in the third – the second game saw Zimbabwe win by eight wickets in more dominant fashion – Zimbabwe posted over 200 twice and over 300 once and developed a rhythm to their batting. “We have a good pattern now. We have the guys at the top, with Sean Williams coming back it strengthens the middle order and towards the end we’ve got Solomon and Elton, who are quite explosive,” Ervine said.It also gave them a glimpse of how their bowling is holding up on batsmen-friendly surfaces. Williams believes they lack for a “wicket-taking” spinner, especially since Prosper Utseya was banned from bowling spin because of an illegal action. Utseya is in the squad and will bowl medium-pace but Chigumbura admitted a slew of allrounders makes it tricky for him to manage the attack and his own bowling will “play a big part when it comes to the balance of the team,” so he will be doing a lot of it.”Prosper’s situation didn’t help us. He was our banker in the middle overs but Sean Williams has proven to be very handy for us and Tafadzwa Kamungozi is quite economical. I think the fifth bowler is a tricky one,” Taylor said. “If we can sneak a few overs our of Sikandar Raza and maybe Hamilton Masakadza we should get through but you have to be careful on smaller grounds where big teams will look to target that fifth bowler.”It was beginning to look as though Zimbabwe were working through that in their warm-up match against New Zealand. Raza and Masakadza and Kamungozi each got a wicket, Tinashe Panyangara and Chigumbura got two apiece and Zimbabwe had the co-hosts on the ropes at 157 for 7 when the match was called off. Zimbabwe will never know whether that was good enough to cause what they now consider an upset against a top-eight team but it suggests they can surprise. If they listen to their captain and understand that “not panicking too early will be key in this tournament,” they may surprise when it really matters.

The Boston Red Sox met with star free agent outfielder Juan Soto for three hours on Thursday night, in a meeting that was reportedly productive for both sides.

Soto came out of the meeting impressed with Boston's pitch, which included a video that noted Boston's history of star players from the Dominican Republic, according to a report from Sean McAdam of . If Soto were to join the Red Sox, he would be the latest star player from the D.R., joining David Ortiz, Manny Ramirez, Pedro Martinez and current star third baseman Rafael Devers.

Soto and agent Scott Boras met with Red Sox brass in California, a meeting that included team president Sam Kennedy, chairman Tom Werner, chief baseball officer Craig Breslow and manager Alex Cora. The meeting was meant to be informational with no official offer of terms being made. That is expected to occur Soto meets with all interested teams.

The 26-year-old was instrumental to the New York Yankees' run to the World Series this season, which ended in a loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Soto hit 41 home runs and drove in 109 runs while batting .288 on the season. His 41 home runs were a career-high.

Among batters, Amy Satterthwaite and Laura Wolvaardt climb to No. 3 and No. 5 respectively

ESPNcricinfo staff15-Mar-2022England might have lost all their three games so far in the ongoing Women’s World Cup, but left-arm spinner Sophie Ecclestone’s stocks have continued to rise. She has now overtaken Australia’s Jess Jonassen, who plies the same trade, as the No. 1 bowler in the ICC Women’s ODI rankings. Ecclestone is the No. 1 bowler in the T20I rankings as well.Ecclestone took 3 for 20 in a losing cause against West Indies and followed it up with an impressive 1 for 23 against South Africa, but England lost again as Marizanne Kapp put up an excellent all-round show.

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Kapp picked up 5 for 45, her maiden five-wicket haul in ODIs, before guiding the chase with a 42-ball 32. As a result, she has jumped four spots to No. 4 on the bowling charts, while also retaining her No. 3 spot in the allrounders’ rankings.West Indies’ Hayley Matthews was another player who made gains on the allrounders’ chart. She is now at No. 2, her 45 and 2 for 40 against England and 43 and 1 for 65 against India helping her gain two spots.Matthews, however, is still 87 ranking points behind Ellyse Perry, who sits at the top of the chart. Perry strengthened her position by scoring 68 and picking up 1 for 18 in Australia’s 141-run win over New Zealand. In the same match, Ashleigh Gardner’s unbeaten 48 and 2 for 15 helped her move two spots up to No. 7.Among batters, New Zealand’s Amy Satterthwaite and South Africa’s Laura Wolvaardt were the big gainers.Satterthwaite scored 75 against India and 44 against Australia. That saw her climb up five spots to No. 3. At 717 rating points, she is just eight behind No. 2 Tammy Beaumont and 14 behind No. 1 Alyssa Healy.Wolvaardt’s 75 and 77 against Pakistan and England, respectively, meanwhile, helped her break into the top ten. She is currently at No. 5.

Enzo Maresca has been tasked with bringing Chelsea back to Champions League football, looking to bolster his squad ahead of the 2024/25 Premier League season, and finish higher than their sixth-place finish last season.

He has already been reunited with a familiar face, with the Blues acquiring Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall from Leicester City, as well as Renato Veiga, Tosin Adarabioyo, Marc Guiu, Caleb Wiley, and Omari Kellyman.

But Chelsea could still be set for a busy few weeks in the transfer market, with links still circling around striker options and a potential left-winger, as well as many expected outgoings.

Chelsea's search for a striker

According to reports from Football Insider over the weekend, Chelsea are admirers of Sporting striker, Viktor Gyokeres, whilst other Premier League clubs such as Arsenal, Liverpool and Tottenham are also interested in the Sweden international.

The 26-year-old striker has a £86m release clause according to the reports, and that fee is expected to be too high for the Premier League clubs, meaning the likelihood of a move depends on Sporting lowering their asking price.

Gyokeres made 50 appearances in all competitions for Sporting last season, scoring 43 goals, providing 15 assists, and totalling 4,169 minutes of football.

How Gyokeres compares Jackson

Chelsea striker Nicolas Jackson made 44 appearances in all competitions in 2023/24, scoring 17 goals and providing six assists. That marked an impressive return in his first Premier League season, especially after his slow start, missing multiple big chances (24 in total).

Meanwhile, Gyokeres's 43 goals were more than the Blues' top scorer, Cole Palmer, who scored 25 goals for the club in 45 appearances, and another Chelsea striker target, Victor Osimhen, who scored 17 goals in 32 appearances for Napoli last season.

Gyokeres, who was described as a "powerhouse" by analyst Ben Mattinson, due to his ability to hold up play, bring others into play and use his aerial prowess to affect the game. His high touches in the penalty area, averaging 8.71 per 90, is due to his hold-up play, and ability to play with his back to goal.

The 26-year-old has better metrics in most areas compared to Chelsea striker Jackson, and Chelsea target Osimhen. Having a better Non-Penalty Goals metric, having more shots on target despite fewer shots than Osimhen per 90, and creating more chances for others with 0.31 assists per 90.

He also shows his complete nature, averaging 3.52 progressive carries per 90, and 2.10 successful take-ons per 90, showing his ability to create for himself and be part of build-up play due to his quality on the ball.

Gyokeres provides a ready-made version of Jackson, who has shown signs of becoming the player Gyokeres is, but could need a few seasons to reach that prolific level that the Swede already provides – having only previously scored 13 times during his stint at Villarreal.

Much of the talk, of course, at present will be centred around the Blues' interest in Osimhen – amid reports regarding a potential swap deal involving Romelu Lukaku – yet Gyokeres has shown himself to be a worthy alternative.

Romano: Chelsea want £207k-p/w striker who'd be the finest since Drogba

This “world-class” player would be a stunning addition at Stamford Bridge.

2

By
Angus Sinclair

Jul 29, 2024

Chelsea star Cole Palmer has been told the one thing he needs to do if he is to become the best player in Europe by former Blue William Gallas.

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• Palmer starring for Chelsea
• Has helped the Blues into second place in table
• Offered advice on how to be Europe's best

• WHAT HAPPENED?

  Palmer has been lighting up the Premier League again this season with Chelsea and already has 11 goals and six assists to his name in just 15 outings in the English top flight. The England star's performances have helped Chelsea into second place in the table above both Arsenal and Manchester City, while Palmer has been told he has the "X-factor" needed to win the Blues the title.

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  THE BIGGER PICTURE

  Maresca has also praised Palmer, calling him "not normal," after seeing the 22-year score two penalties – including a cheeky Panenka – against Tottenham last time out. Gallas has praised the new Chelsea boss for the way he has used the attacker this season but has warned the England international he has a way to go before he can be described as the best in Europe.

• WHAT HAS BEEN SAID

  Gallas told : "Cole Palmer can be the best player in Europe but I don’t want to hail him as the best player in the game until he does what he has done for Chelsea with England. But he has already put in so many great performances for Chelsea and looks like he doesn’t feel any pressure at all, he is so cool. The two penalties summed him up, Enzo Maresca has given him so much freedom and allowed him to play exactly where is best for him which has worked so well."

• Getty Images Sport
  

  WHAT NEXT FOR CHELSEA

  Chelsea will have to cope without Palmer next time out in Kazakhstan when they face Astana as he is not part of their Europa Conference League squad. Palmer will return to action on Sunday with the Blues they take on Brentford in the Premier League.

Manchester United played the penultimate game of their US tour in the early hours of this morning when they took on La Liga side Real Betis in San Diego.

It was a night of mixed fortunes for Erik ten Hag as, while he saw Marcus Rashford and Antony come off injured, he also watched his side emerge with a 3-2 victory, thanks to goals from Rashford, Casemiro and Amad Diallo.

The young Ivorian was a constant threat throughout his time on the pitch and was easily one of the Red Devils' best performers, although one of his younger teammates was just as good.

Amad's game in numbers

Ten Hag opted to start Jadon Sancho down the middle and Amad out on the right this morning, and based on his performance, his decision was totally vindicated.

The Abidjan-born dynamo was a constant threat for the three-time European champions, winning the penalty that brought the team level and then scoring their second goal a few minutes later to hand them the lead.

The explosive winger clearly impressed Manchester Evening News Chief United writer Samuel Luckhurst, who awarded him an 8/10 for his display, writing that he was 'the man of the hour again' and that when he scored, he did so 'superbly.'

While it's undoubtedly a positive appraisal, it's one justified by the former Atalanta gem's statistics from the game.

For example, in his 62 minutes of action, he took 44 touches, scored one goal, completed 100% of his long balls, was successful in two of his three dribbles, won a penalty, made two interceptions, won eight of 11 duels and made two tackles as well.

Overall, the young attacker's performance was incredibly impressive, although he wasn't the only standout from the match.

Harry Amass' game in numbers

Yes, the youngster in question is 17-year-old left-back Harry Amass, who started and played a considerable amount of the game against Betis while looking utterly unphased by it all.

The inexperienced teenager looked anything but during his 62 minutes of action, and while admirably fulfilling his defensive duties, he proved effective in attack and provided the assist for Amad's goal in the 24th minute.

Luckhurst was also impressed with the teenager as he gave him an 8/10 in his player ratings, writing that he 'followed up that invaluable half against Arsenal with a better performance against Betis' and highlighted his brilliant cross that led to the side's second goal.

This is another undeniably positive appraisal backed up by the player's statistics from the game. In his 62 minutes on the pitch, he made one clearance, three interceptions, and three tackles, won 100% of his duels, took 50 touches, and didn't commit a single foul.

Ultimately, while the injuries to Rashford and Antony are far from ideal, United's victory against Betis highlighted that Ten Hag has some incredibly exciting youngsters at his disposal this season in Amad and Amass, and that the future is looking bright for United.

He wants Man Utd: INEOS leading race for dream Mainoo signing

Manchester United continue looking for perfect Mainoo partner

By
Connor Holden

Aug 1, 2024

Kuldeep Yadav has been named as his replacement

ESPNcricinfo staff14-Feb-2022Washington Sundar has been ruled out of India’s three-match T20I series against West Indies, which begins in Kolkata on Wednesday. According to a BCCI release, the spin-bowling allrounder suffered a hamstring strain while fielding during the third ODI in Ahmedabad on Friday.Left-arm wristspinner Kuldeep Yadav has been named as Washington’s replacement in India’s squad.The hamstring strain is the latest in a series of injuries and illnesses that have hounded Washington over the last few months. First, he was forced to miss the second half of IPL 2021 in the UAE after suffering a finger injury. He returned to domestic action during the 50-overs Vijay Hazare Trophy, helping Tamil Nadu reach the final, but a bout of Covid-19 kept him waiting for his international comeback, ruling him out of the ODI leg of India’s tour of South Africa in January this year.Washington finally returned to India colours during the ODIs against West Indies, playing all three games and showing promise with both ball and bat. He picked up four wickets at 18.75, while conceding just 4.16 runs per over, and he also contributed scores of 24 and 33 in his two outings with the bat.Just when he seemed to be back in the thick of things, however, injury has struck once more.As a specialist bowler, Kuldeep isn’t a like-for-like replacement for Washington; the batting ability of seamers Shardul Thakur, Deepak Chahar and Harshal Patel, however, should still allow India to pick an XI without compromising on their batting depth.India squad for T20I series: Rohit Sharma (capt), Ishan Kishan, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant (wk), Venkatesh Iyer, Deepak Chahar, Shardul Thakur, Ravi Bishnoi, Yuzvendra Chahal, Mohammed Siraj, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Avesh Khan, Harshal Patel, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Deepak Hooda, Kuldeep Yadav.