It is becoming increasingly difficult for those in charge of social media accounts to get it right, and indeed read the current situation.
After a defeat, it is better to post nothing than something that attempts to raise the spirits. That is just one of the rules.
West Ham’s official Twitter account is currently in a decent position when considering that the team finished their 2017-18 Premier League campaign with a 3-1 win over Everton at the weekend.
On Monday, a tweet was posted which pointed out that Marko Arnautovic’s 11 Premier League goals during the 2017-18 season was the most for a West Ham player in the top flight for 11 years.
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However, instead of bringing praise from the supporters, many claimed that the statistic was embarrassing, and said that Javier Hernandez, who is set to leave this summer, would have broken that record if the Mexican was given enough opportunities to start throughout the season.
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Sometimes it is difficult for social media accounts to win, and here is another example of things going wrong. A selection of the Twitter reaction can be seen below:
According to West Ham United news website Claret & Hugh, the club are reportedly considering selling Aaron Cresswell, rated at £10.8m by Transfermarkt, if they receive an acceptable offer this summer.
Claret & Hugh report that the east London outfit’s hierarchy haven’t been impressed with the 28-year-old – who has played as a left-back, left wing-back and a left-sided centre-back in a three-man defence in recent weeks – from a defensive point of view.
Even though he has largely been playing as a central defender, the former Ipswich Town man is still the club’s top assister with seven in 34 Premier League appearances, while he scored his first goal of the campaign in the 4-1 defeat at home to Manchester City last month.
We decided to ask West Ham fans to vote on our poll to see whether they would like to see the versatile defender sold this summer, and a huge 73% of them were against it.
Cresswell certainly looked to have answered some of his critics with a clean sheet in the 2-0 win against Leicester City at the King Power Stadium on Saturday, which coupled with other results ensured that they preserved their top flight status for at least another 12 months, but Irons fans on Twitter post-match were not impressed with his performance.
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The summer before Michael Carrick joined Manchester United, he went with England to World Cup 2006 as part of the most talented Three Lions squad of its generation.
Despite it being clear that the Gerrard-Lampard conundrum could be solved by introducing a holding midfielder, Carrick was not contemplated as the answer.
Owen Hargreaves was the belated solution Sven Goran Eriksson reached for – and Sir Alex Ferguson completed his signing the summer after Carrick’s arrival – but it was the former West Ham man that the Scotsman chose to replace Roy Keane.
Following the Irishman’s acrimonious departure during the previous season – United’s third consecutive campaign without winning the Premier League as Arsene Wenger’s Invincibles and Jose Mourinho’s Chelsea machine looked set to dominate – the understated Carrick was brought in to replace him, as well as inheriting the famous number 16 shirt.
Carrick was the only new arrival at Old Trafford in the summer that proceeded a Premier League title win that led to a period of sustained dominance that saw the Geordie collect five Premier League titles, an FA Cup and a Champions League winners medal.
The deep-lying playmaker was a quiet, unassuming character, often deferring to Paul Scholes in the early days of his United career before blossoming into the last standard-bearer of the excellence Ferguson demanded, retiring five seasons after the legendary Scotsman.
Speaking ahead of Carrick’s testimonial, which took place at the end of last season, Gary Neville summarised why the playmaker made such a success of his time at Old Trafford, underlining his dedication to improvement and setting a standard.
“One of the biggest compliments you can pay Michael is that the team-mates around him had huge appreciation for him. He made everybody play better. What people may not understand is the quiet, introverted passion that he holds for Manchester United.
“When we won leagues, Michael would be the one singing the most and going home last from the parties; the one that would look the happiest and most joyous behind the scenes at having won a trophy.
“Behind the scenes he showed how much he loved the club. He absolutely loves United. He’s also an incredible role model.
“Michael would always do every single rep in the gym, every single inch of every warm-up; he made sure he ate every single thing right, did absolutely every single bit of pre-activation, was always in the gym with the fitness coaches and sports scientists, always did the hydration tests.
“He did absolutely everything by the book and set an incredibly high standard not only for himself, but also in the dressing room.”
Those words from Neville, who himself was not the most naturally talented but carved out a hugely successful career at his boyhood club through unstinting hard work and professionalism reveal the level of dedication that went into maximising Carrick’s talent to allow him to thrive under constant scrutiny at Old Trafford.
There aren’t many joyous highs that stand out from Carrick’s United career – the double in the 2007 7-1 against Roma, the 2008 Champions League final penalty and the 2009 late winner at Wigan are the three that come to mind – but similarly it is hard to remember many nightmares he had.
Never the quickest or strongest, Carrick was only truly outmaneuvered by the Barcelona sides of 2009 and 2011 – where his attempts to stifle the most talented midfield seen in modern times on the biggest stage of all were hamstrung by the presence of an aging Ryan Giggs alongside him in central midfield.
It is easy to say he was underused by England – and there are times when he would have undoubtedly added greater balance to a midfield lacking the ability to look after the ball – but Carrick himself has admitted that his enthusiasm for international football could have been greater, as could his performance level at certain periods.
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It was that single-minded desire to succeed at United that created a classy, ultra-professional playmaker who remained in a vastly successful side under Ferguson.
He is the last of that Fergie-era side to retire but the fact that Jose Mourinho wants to keep Carrick around to instil that same high standard of consistency into the current crop speaks volumes about how rare that personality is to find.
According to La Verdad, Newcastle United want to sign Celta Vigo attacker Pione Sisto in this summer’s transfer window.
The 23-year-old had a fine 2017-18 campaign at Celta – scoring five times and registering 10 assists in 36 appearances in all competitions for his Spanish club.
Sisto’s performances throughout the season are believed to have attracted the attention of a number of European clubs, and Newcastle are said to be in the hunt.
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The attacker, who is valued at £13.5m by transfermarkt.co.uk, joined Celta from FC Midtjylland in the summer of 2016, and has gone from strength to strength during his time in the top flight of Spanish football.
It is not a surprise that a host of teams are monitoring his situation, but it is worth noting that Sisto has a contract at Celta until the summer of 2021.
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The Newcastle fans have been reacting to the transfer speculation, and it would be fair to say that a number are desperate for the Denmark international, who has previously been linked with Southampton, to move to St James’ Park this summer.
A selection of the Twitter reaction can be seen below:
Unai Emery secured his first signing as Arsenal manager earlier this week when Stephan Lichtsteiner joined from Juventus on a free transfer.
The experienced right-back has been added to a defence that desperately needs rejigging.
The Gunners also require a defensive midfielder, but judging by the media reports, Emery seems to be targeting more players to fill the back line, specifically at right-back.
According to Bild, the North London outfit are interested in recruiting RB Leipzig’s Lukas Klostermann.
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The 22-year-old, who is valued at £10.8m by Transfermarkt, predominantly plays at right-back, but he can also feature across the back line.
Last season, the German made 39 appearances in all competitions and contributed with one goal.
Now that Lichtsteiner is at the club, Hector Bellerin has competition for the right-back slot.
With that in mind, it would not make much sense for Emery to bring in another figure to fight for that position.
That seems to be the general consensus among Arsenal fans.
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Tottenham Hotspur have made an offer to Atalanta defender Rafael Toloi ahead of a potential transfer, according to Premium Sport.
What’s the word?
The longer the days go on without Toby Alderweireld signing a new contract, the more likely it is that the Belgian will leave the club.
Depending on the situation behind closed doors, Tottenham could already be looking at potential replacements.
According to Premium Sport, Toloi is on the list of candidates and has even received an offer from the North London outfit.
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The 27-year-old has been at Atalanta since 2015 when he joined from Brazilian side Sao Paulo.
Last season, the centre-back caught the eye as he made 39 appearances in all competitions, including 29 starts in Serie A.
Toloi also contributed with three goals and four assists over the course of the campaign.
Is Toloi right for Tottenham?
An aspect of the defender’s ability that is certainly appealing to Pochettino’s style of play is that he is skilful on the ball.
The Brazilian can play out from the back, but is also a strong tackler and decent at intercepting passes.
Toloi reads the game well and would fit into Tottenham’s system, but he is not better than Pochettino’s current options.
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A replacement for Alderweireld would need to be found if the Belgian ends up leaving by the end of the summer.
However, the manager must not overlook that strength shown by Jan Vertonghen and Davinson Sanchez last season.
Toloi is certainly a decent defender, but if Spurs are going to recruit a new face, he needs to be challenging Vertonghen and co for a starting spot.
Last season, Dusan Tadic had moments of inconsistency during Southampton’s difficult season.
There were times when he was the best player on the pitch, and days when he failed to contribute to the effort of the team.
Despite this, the Serbian international, who has earned 54 caps for his country, is regarded as one of the Saints’ best players.
The 2017-18 campaign was tough for everyone associated with the coastal club as they had a very serious brush with relegation.
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It took a slender 1-0 win over Swansea City in the closing stages of the season to retain their spot in the Premier League.
Mark Hughes had a tough job on his hands when he replaced Manuel Pellegrini in March, but he managed to reach the main objective, and earned himself a permanent contract as a result.
Tadic has been a Southampton player since 2014 when he signed from Twente, but rumblings from the rumour mill suggest that he could be on his way out of the exit gates at St Mary’s.
Dutch publication De Telegraaf reports that Ajax have agreed personal terms with the winger on a four-year contract.
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It is believed that the Eredivisie giants will part with around £15m to sign the 29-year-old, who scored seven goals and created four assists in 41 appearances in all competitions last season.
Some Southampton fans have been left fuming at the thought of selling Tadic.
New Arsenal manager Unai Emery’s main priority in the transfer market this summer will be to strengthen his midfield and defensive options following a disastrous 2017/18 campaign in which they struggled away from home and once again failed to qualify for the Champions League.
The Spaniard, who would be making his first big mistake as boss by signing a 29-year-old World Cup star, will know that he needs to boost his backline if they are to enjoy an improved 2018/19 season, and with the likes of Alexandre Lacazette, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Mesut Ozil in attack he has the top-class options available to him going forward.
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However, having lost Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Theo Walcott over the course of the previous two transfer windows, the north London club may well be looking to add some pace in wide areas that they were sometimes lacking earlier this year.
One player that may have caught Emery’s eye on Sunday is Colombia’s Juan Cuadrado, rated at £25.2m by Transfermarkt, who currently plays for Juventus after he proved to be a flop in the Premier League with Chelsea, where he made just 15 appearances in all competitions before he was sold to the Serie A giants.
The 30-year-old showed the speed he has against Poland by successfully completing five dribbles, while he also produced seven crosses and three key passes with a passing accuracy of 95%, as per WhoScored.com.
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With one goal from three shots, the wideman proved that he is a goal threat as well as being creative, and he could be the missing link in Arsenal’s attack ahead of the new season.
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The BCCI has cracked down on suspect bowling actions by instructing domestic umpires to waste no time in reporting bowlers believed to be chucking
Cricinfo staff08-Nov-2009The Indian board (BCCI) has cracked down on suspect bowling actions by instructing domestic umpires to waste no time in reporting bowlers believed to be chucking. Those whose actions are believed to be suspect have been reported and will be no-balled without a warning, the BCCI has stated.A list of 32 bowlers with suspect actions was compiled by an advisory group, which subsequently sent the named players for rehabilitation to the National Cricket Academy in Bangalore. From the list of 32, the BCCI has reported that 12 bowling actions ranged from between 0-15 degrees as accepted by the ICC, while the other 20 bent their arms at a flexion limit of more than 15 degrees. The list has been sent to match referees, umpires, coaches and affiliated regional boards across India.”During the pre-match meeting the match referee will only convey the warning and the outcome as per action replay if any bowler from the circulated list plays and bowls with suspect action,” Ratnakar Shetty, the BCCI’s chief administrative officer, said. “Since the warning is already conveyed to the captain during the pre-match meetings by match referee, there is no need for an umpire to give any further warning to such bowlers on field of play.”If the bowler with suspect action plays and if in the opinion of the umpires he bowls with suspect action they can immediately call and stop him from bowling as per the law. He should not be allowed to bowl during the match. This action should be clearly communicated by match referees to team officials.”During the first round of action in this season’s Ranji Trophy season, three bowlers have had their actions under scrutiny. Two Baroda bowlers were called for chucking in two days while a day later Kulamani Parida, the veteran Railways spinner, was stopped from bowling during a game. Delhi’s offspinner Yogesh Nagar was also no-balled for a suspect action on Friday.The BCCI released a list of eleven bowlers reported for chucking during the junior and senior Twenty20 competitions, before the Ranji season. They are: Gujarat’s Mohnish Parmar (whose action was subsequently cleared by the BCCI) and Amit Singh, the Under-19 Maharashtra bowler Sagar Sawant, Uttar Pradesh’s Mohammad Norman, Rohan Thapa from Baroda, Delhi’s Nagar, Sayed Zaki of Orissa, Punjab’s Ankur Jund, Vobhor Bisen from Vidarbha, Tripura’s Debabhakt Jamta and Arlen Konwar from Assam.
Ricky Ponting could miss his first Test in five years after Australia’s physio confirmed Ponting’s elbow injury has left him in doubt for the Boxing Day Test against Pakistan
Brydon Coverdale at the WACA18-Dec-2009Ricky Ponting could miss his first Test in five years after Australia’s physio confirmed Ponting’s elbow injury has left him in doubt for the Boxing Day Test against Pakistan. Ponting was struck just above the left elbow by a delivery from Kemar Roach in the first innings at the WACA and scans revealed a tendon injury, although there was no bone damage.The Australians did not want Ponting to bat in the second innings, to give him extra recovery time, but when they stumbled to 7 for 125 he came to the crease. However, Ponting had not taken any painkillers and was clearly hampered by the problem, and he survived for only six balls before fending a short delivery to bat-pad.Although he did not make the injury worse during his second innings, Ponting is still no certainty to play at the MCG in eight days. The team physio Alex Kountouris said Ponting was better on Friday than he was the previous day but he remained a day-by-day proposition for the time being.”He is in doubt for Melbourne,” Kountouris said. “His arm has been quite sore. We were really worrying about this game first, which was why we were trying to avoid him batting today and see if we can get him to recover a little bit more and see how he pulls up tomorrow. He’s better today than he was yesterday, which is a good thing, but we’re not sure how he’s going to go by Melbourne.”Ponting batted on for 40 minutes in the first innings after taking the blow, before he retired hurt. He later said that he could have stayed at the crease but “wouldn’t have been able to hit the ball off the square”, and he didn’t look much better in the second innings.Kountouris said the injury was unusual but Damien Martyn had once missed a Test due to a similar problem. Although the injury could potentially turn into a long-term issue for Ponting, Kountouris was not expecting that to be the case.”It can be, of course, it’s in the tendon so that’s a possibility but I don’t think that’s going to happen,” he said. “I think it will settle down with time.”It’s almost like when you get meat and bash it with a mallet to soften it down. That’s what’s happened, the fibres have been squashed and have been disrupted in the tendon so now every time he uses that muscle, he can get little tearing of the muscle fibres.”Ponting has not missed a Test since October 2004, when he was ruled out due to injury from the first three Tests on the tour of India and Adam Gilchrist stepped in as captain. As the vice-captain, Michael Clarke would be the man in line to take over should Ponting not recover for Boxing Day.