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With Newcastle United's transfer activity still hamstrung by financial limits, PIF's summer business appears to involve ensuring key assets stay at the Premier League side.

Latest Newcastle transfer news

With the threat of FFP sanctions looming over their heads, it has long been thought that the Magpies would only be able to enter the transfer market once they have made significant sales.

Newcastle must get rid of a player who currently earns more than Joelinton

The 28-year-old has only managed three starts all season.

By
Ethan Lamb

Mar 6, 2024

It has been reported that star man Bruno Guimaraes is set to leave this summer with the Brazilian boasting a release clause of £100million. Whilst watching the 26-year-old leave St James' Park would be heartbreaking for Toon fans, many know that the windfall provided would be essential in getting new signings through the door.

There has been growing talk around exercising the £28m option to buy on Lewis Hall's loan however, it is uncertain whether this would see the youngster loaned out straight away.

Until a major sale is completed, it is likely that a lot of Newcastle's work will centre around tying key players down to new deals. With a number of contracts set to expire in the next couple of seasons, the north east outfit look to have already taken significant steps to agreeing fresh terms with a key player.

Toon star edging closer to new deal

According toTthe Newcastle Chronicle, talks around Joelinton's new contract are "heading in the right direction". The outlet has heard that the Brazilian will "be offered a significant increase on his current pay packet, granting him his wish of being one of the club's top earners".

Talks over Joelinton's new deal had previously stalled however, it is now reported that the influence of both Eddie Howe and Amanda Staveley behind the scenes has helped negotiations progress. With former football director Dan Ashworth now on gardening leave ahead of a move away from Tyneside, Staveley has stepped in and has been an important part in getting the deal done.

The 27-year-old's contract is set to expire at the end of next season however, both the club and player are eager for the midfielder to remain at St James' Park. When Joelinton was asked about his future back in December, the Brazilian said that he wished to remain in the north east: "Yes, of course I want to stay. I feel at home here. My family feels at home, my son has friends here."

Branded a flop when he arrived from Hoffenheim for a club-record £40million fee back in 2019, Joelinton's transition from striker to midfielder has seen him become a fan favourite at St James' Park.

Joelinton Premier League Stats 2023/24	Total Per 90	Rank vs Midfielders in comparable leagues
Non-penalty goals	0.16	74th percentile
Successful take-ons	2.70	81st percentile
Touches	1.27	81st percentile
Tackles	2.38	67th percentile
Interceptions	1.35	81st percentile

From the table above, it is clear just how important Joelinton is to Newcastle and Howe. A Swiss Army Knife of a midfielder, the Brazilian is just as comfortable starting attacks as he is stopping them. Getting Joelinton to sign a new deal would be a massive coup for the Magpies with the player integral to Howe's style of play.

Tottenham chiefs are said to be eyeing a new striker alongside a permanent deal for Timo Werner, and like a £100 million star for the role.

Spurs linked with new striker this summer

Spurs, alongside their rumoured interest in a new winger and another centre-back, have been sporadically tipped to bring in a new number nine to replace club-record goalscorer Harry Kane.

Ledley King has now told Tottenham chiefs to sign "wonderful" 24-year-old

He’s a recommendation of the Spurs legend.

ByEmilio Galantini Mar 19, 2024

Technical director Johan Lange, helped by ex-managing director Fabio Paratici's contacts, is believed to be laying the groundwork to sign a marquee striker (Wayne Veysey) – leading to links with a host of top options.

Spurs are apparently in contention for Brentford star Ivan Toney, with the England international looking extremely likely to leave his current club later this year and join an elite side.

Son Heung-min

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Richarlison

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Dejan Kulusevski

6

Brennan Johnson

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Cristian Romero

4

Lesser known options, like Union St. Gillosie striker Mohamed Amoura, are also in the frame. The Algerian has bagged 22 goals and six assists in all competitions, and rumours claim he could depart Belgium for as little as £17 million.

Ange Postecoglou currently has Richarlison as the sole natural senior striking option in his squad, and he's bagged a brilliant nine goals in his last 11 league appearances.

However, this hasn't stopped the club from looking at others ahead of the transfer market's reopening, and this has now been backed by another source this week.

Spurs are apparently likely to make Werner's deal from RB Leipzig permanent through the £15 million buy-option clause in his contract, with it believed they're eyeing a striker "on top of" the German.

Tottenham eyeing striker and like Evan Ferguson

Alongside Werner, TEAMtalk state that Tottenham are indeed keen on signing a striker and like Brighton star Evan Ferguson.

The Republic of Ireland sensation, who is rumoured to command a seismic £100 million price tag, is admired by Spurs chiefs – with Ferguson seriously impressing at points this term.

Just 19 years of age, he's already been highly praised by Arsenal legend Ian Wright among others.

"All he has to do is keep doing what he is doing and they are going to start talking about him in million terms because that striker is not allowed. You can’t find that guy to come around, who is 18, in the Premier League and at the perfect club to continue to grow," said Wright last year.

“They aren’t going to be able to hold onto that guy if he carries on doing what he is doing. He is too good. So intelligent – for 18, it’s really, really composed finishing.

“He is fearless at 18. Can you imagine being in the Premier League at 18? You’re not under the pressure you would be under like Garnacho would be under at Manchester United – you watch the way he plays, all the top teams, the top six teams. He can play in any of those teams. We know Brighton, at some stage, they will sell him.”

It was another bad day at the office for Chelsea on Sunday, and that's putting it lightly.

After shipping four goals away to Liverpool during the week, Mauricio Pochettino's side had the perfect opportunity to get back on track with a Premier League home game against Wolverhampton Wanderers.

However, despite taking a 1-0 lead within 20 minutes, the Blues managed to lose the game 4-2 and left the pitch to a cacophony of entirely warranted boos from their own supporters.

To a man, the team were poor, but there were two who managed to reach an even lower level, and if the Argentine wants to keep his job for a little while longer, he'd be wise to drop them for the FA Cup replay against Aston Villa this evening.

Enzo Fernández's game vs Wolves in numbers

The Pensioners' £107m World Cup winner had a game to forget at Stamford Bridge on Sunday, and while he might not have been directly responsible for any of Wolves' goals, he was utterly ineffective.

So poor was his performance that the Standard's Nizaar Kinsella gave him a 4/10 on the day and argued he 'was poor defensively when Wolves were in transition'.

It's hard to disagree with Kinsella's assessment when the former Benfica man lost possession 12 times in the 101 minutes he spent on the pitch, which works out to losing the ball once every 8.4 minutes, which isn't good enough.

During the game, he was dribbled past once, committed two fouls, took one shot which was off target, mustered a paltry combined expected goal and assist figure of just 0.29 and was inaccurate with all three of his crosses.

Enzo Fernández's game in numbers
Minutes	101
Expected Goals + Assists	0.29
Crosses (Accurate)	3 (0)
Shots Off Target	1
Fouls	2
Possession Lost	12
Dribbled Past	1
All Stats via Sofascore

In all, the Argentinian was incredibly underwhelming, and if he doesn't start dramatically improving before the end of the season, he'll quickly pick up the label of a big-money flop, which is a hard label to escape from in English football.

That said, there was a player who was even worse than Fernandez on Sunday, someone who has a genuine shout for being the worst player on the pitch, and by quite some way.

Malo Gusto's game vs Wolves in numbers

Chelsea's worst player on the day, and quite considerably so, was French right-back Malo Gusto.

The former Lyon man was a walking disaster on the day, failing to provide any substantive attacking threat whatsoever and living up to Get French Football News' description of him as a "liability" at the back.

In his 81 minutes on the pitch, he managed a combined expected goal and assists figure of just 0.19, lost possession 12 times, won just two of his 12 ground duels, committed three fouls, was dribbled past three times and gave away the penalty that allowed Matheus Cunha to complete his hat-trick.

Malo Gusto's game in numbers
Minutes	81
Expected Goals + Assists	0.19
Penalties Conceded	1
Ground Duels (Won)	12 (2)
Crosses (Accurate)	2 (1)
Dribbles Attempted (Successful)	3 (0)
Fouls	3
Possession Lost	12
Dribbled Past	3
All Stats via Sofascore

With statistics like that, it's not hard to see why Kinsella gave the 20-year-old a 3/10 for his efforts, arguing that 'the defender kept putting Chelsea in danger with his passing.'

Boehly and Eghbali hold internal talks as Chelsea weigh Pochettino decision

The club’s form simply hasn’t been good enough.

By
Emilio Galantini

Feb 6, 2024

Ultimately, while both players are still young and could well go on to become future stars for the Blues, their performances on Sunday warrant some time on the bench.

MatériaMais Notícias

Depois de conquistar protocolarmente a Taça Guanabara, o Flamengo tem uma missão mais encardida nesta terça-feira, quando receberá oUnión La Calera, do Chile, pela segunda rodada do Grupo G da Libertadores. Rogério Ceni corre contra o tempo para corrigir falhas de posicionamento no sistema defensivo, o que tende a ser essencial para que o Rubro-Negro mantenha a ótima sequência em casa pelo torneio.

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Embora tenha sido eliminado no Maraca em 2020, o Fla, já com Ceni, empatou com o Racing nos 90 minutos e caiu nos pênaltis (pelas oitavas de final). Ao todo, são oito jogos sem ser derrotado no estádio, com sete vitórias no período – além do resultado de igualdade citado anteriormente.

Pela Libertadores, o último revés no Maracanã foi contra o Peñarol, em abril de 2019 (0x1). Já para esse primeiro jogo da edição de 2021 em casa, Ceni alertou acerca do sistema defensivo, em voga após constantes mudanças e falhas, sobretudo no quesito bola aérea defensiva.

-Temos que repetir mais treinamentos dessa maneira para que a gente atenue esse tipo de gol. É chato você tomar. Eu acho que é o quarto que tomamos em cinco ou seis jogos que sofremos de bola parada sempre colocando jogadores altos onde a bola cai – falou Ceni, na mais recente coletiva, emendando:

– Honestamente eu sempre falo que o sistema é muito mais importante que os próprios atletas. Temos ótimos jogadores na posição. O Rodrigo Caio fez exame e não constatou lesão. Acho que volta rápido. O Arão vem jogando nessa função. O Bruno e o Gustavo. Hoje o Léo também retornou. Vamos formar a zaga sempre com o que temos de melhor. Mas é necessário ser protegida por todos os outros. Mas uma pena, eu não gosto de tomar gols de bola parada. Geralmente times que eu trabalho fazem mais gols de bola parada. Tudo bem que o Flamengo é um time mais baixo, com muito toque de bola. Mas vamos tentar evoluir, repetir, trabalhar. Trabalhamos muito sistema defensivo ontem e o único gol que saiu foi assim. Mas não dá para desistir. Vamos continuar trabalhando.

Ainda sem poder contar com Rodrigo Caio, Rogério Ceni deve escalar novamente Willian Arão e Gustavo Henrique na zaga – a dupla da estreia no torneio, inclusive.

O time do Fla para receber o Unión La Calera-CHI deve ser o mesmo da estreia no torneio, ou seja: Diego Alves; Isla, Arão, Gustavo Henrique e Filipe Luís; Diego, Gerson, Arrascaeta e Everton Ribeiro, Bruno Henrique e Gabigol.

O técnico elogiou o time chileno e apontou qualidades que preocupam (veja aqui). Neste momento, o Unión La Calera está com um ponto, enquanto o Fla lidera o grupo, com três.

+ Confira a tabela completa da Libertadores

Em tempo: o duelo entre Flamengo e Unión La Calera será às 19h15 desta terça, no Maracanã, e válido pela segunda rodada do Grupo G da Libertadores. O LANCE! transmitirá o confronto em Tempo Real.

Steven Smith finished the last Ashes series having scored 687 runs in seven innings so, really, there was little surprise that he began the next contest in similar vein. Except, of course, for everything that has happened since. He marked his return to Test cricket after 16 months with one of his finest hands, lifting Australia from an almost down-and-out 122 for 8 – with considerable help from the tail – to a position from which they could consider themselves ahead of the game, psychologically if nothing else.Having gone to 98 with a six off Moeen Ali then tucking a single, a drive through the covers against Ben Stokes from his 183rd delivery brought up his 24th Test hundred – and it was no ordinary milestone. The emotions came flooding out as he celebrated then tried to compose himself with a few deep breaths and a look to the sky, taking in the applause along with a few remaining and largely foolish-sounding boos.He had been beaten early on by the excellent Stuart Broad – most batsmen would have been – but once he settled there was barely a moment when he did not look in control despite the many problems of his team-mates, although was thankful for the DRS on 34 when he was given lbw playing no shot at Broad. By the end he was flaying England’s bowlers to all corners of (Fortress) Edgbaston including a monstrous, dismissive swing over the leg side off Broad three balls before he finally missed to end one of the great Test innings.Away from the personal landmarks and epic backstory he had turned around Australia’s day in partnership with Peter Siddle, who earned the final place in the XI ahead of Josh Hazlewood, and Nathan Lyon. The last two wickets added 162 with Siddle contributing a superbly constructed 44, in a stand that firstly frustrated England and then began to deflate them, before Smith dominated the last-wicket alliance of 74 in 13 overs with Lyon which left them looking forlorn.While Broad and Chris Woakes had done so much to put England in command, the absence of James Anderson to a recurrence of the calf injury he sustained in the lead-up to the series hurt in the final session. Anderson only managed four overs before leaving the field for the first time and by lunch was already off for a scan. With Stokes below his best, Joe Root suddenly didn’t appear to have many options to turn to. It was probably not Plan A, B, or C to use Joe Denly’s legspin with Australia eight down.Root had not been unhappy to lose the toss and the challenge to Australia’s top order was clear inside the first couple of overs. While Smith’s Test comeback would go on to take the headlines, David Warner’s stay was a bizarre affair. He edged his first ball from Broad down the leg side but it wasn’t spotted by umpire Aleem Dar (the first of a host of errors for the on-field officials) and England didn’t review. Then they did review for an lbw that was going over before Broad won a decision off Dar that was missing leg stump. And that was all before the end of fourth over.Cameron Bancroft, who was handed a nine-month ban compared to the year for Warner and Smith, was worked over by Broad before edging low to first slip and when England successfully reviewed for a thin edge by Usman Khawaja shortly after drinks it was 35 for 3.Travis Head enjoyed a promising first season in the Test side as the post-Newlands rebuilding began and looked in good order as he made the bowlers come to him before working off the pads. However, five overs after lunch, Woakes swung one back to win a leg before and did the same to end Matthew Wade’s first Test innings in two years – although the latter, again, needed recourse to the third umpire.England, and especially Broad, could not believe their luck when Tim Paine pulled a short delivery straight to deep square leg – it wasn’t quite 60 all out or Stokes’ Trent Bridge catch, but the #Broadface made an appearance – and two balls later James Pattinson was given lbw to one which replays showed was sliding down leg. By then it was hard to keep up with what should and shouldn’t have been out.When Pat Cummins offered no shot to a booming Stokes inswinger Australia had lost 5 for 23 in 11 overs and were heading for something very similar to the 136 they were bundled out for in the 2015 Test at this ground. That was the point in the series, level at 1-1, where it swung England’s way with considerable haste. Being skittled out early this time could have opened up some old wounds.Smith hadn’t even reached fifty by this point and when he quietly acknowledged that milestone off 119 balls it seemed like being not much more than a face-saver in the bigger picture. But Siddle, who has averaged over 30 for Essex this season, showed that he has learnt about batting against the moving Dukes ball (Paine will hope the bowling follows tomorrow) having been saved by the DRS before scoring when he was given lbw to Woakes despite a thick inside edge.At times early on he scored more freely than Smith, who was intent on seeing through the innings, and showed some deft placement until he lunged forward at Moeen and inside-edged to short leg. For a few balls it appeared Smith would try to slog his way to a century, but Lyon has a solid technique and did not let his former captain down.The timing of Smith’s dismissal meant two overs for England’s openers to face. With no nightwatchman this time, Rory Burns and Jason Roy got through but Australia were the buoyant side with plenty more plaudits for Smith as he left the field again. There is one indisputably great Test batsman on show in this series. It’s very early days, but he could be the difference.

Newcastle United have reportedly been offered the opportunity to sign a big-name player in an eye-catching move during the January transfer window.

Newcastle transfer news

Eddie Howe will have been relieved to see his side pick up a 3-0 win away to Sunderland in the FA Cup third round on Saturday as he looks to turn the Magpies' season around. New signings could help make a big difference in that respect, and lots of individuals have been linked with moves to St James' Park.

That applies from back to front, with Crystal Palace centre-back Marc Guehi seen as an option to strengthen Newcastle's defence – Sporting CP hero Goncalo Inacio is another option – while rumours suggesting Kalvin Phillips could arrive from Manchester City are refusing to go away, ahead of a possible loan switch.

Meanwhile, VfB Stuttgart striker Serhou Guirassy has also been backed to complete a move to Newcastle a number of times of late, should Howe desire more attacking firepower moving forward.

Now, a shock transfer rumour has come to the fore, as the Magpies are linked with a signing that would cause quite a stir in the North East.

Newcastle offered chance to sign Jordan Henderson

According to a fresh update from HITC, Newcastle have been given the opportunity to sign Jordan Henderson this month, with other Premier League clubs also believed to be in the conversation.

"In terms of where the Englishman may end up, it’s our understanding that the first club who were made aware of his potential availability was former club Liverpool.

"Intermediaries have been hard at work over the weekend attempting to offer their client to some of the Premier League’s top teams. Some of these sides who have been made aware of his availability include Arsenal, Chelsea, Tottenham Hotspur, Newcastle United, Crystal Palace, Fulham and West Ham."

There is no question that Newcastle signing Henderson would catch the eye hugely, considering his past as a homegrown star at Sunderland, prior to joining Liverpool in the summer of 2011.

The 33-year-old's move to Saudi Pro League side Al-Ettifaq hasn't panned out the way he hoped – he earns a reported £350,000 per week there – and while his best days are now behind him, he does still possess quality and a huge amount of experience.

Henderson is a Champions League and Premier League-winning captain, tasting glory with Liverpool in 2019 and 2020 respectively, and he has also racked up 81 caps for England, playing at World Cups and European Championship alike.

Newcastle have "concrete" interest in Champions League-winning manager

Are the Magpies already eyeing an Eddie Howe replacement?

ByHenry Jackson Jan 8, 2024

The reaction to the midfield veteran moving to Newcastle could be negative among the fanbase, however, not only because of his Sunderland past but also due to his advancing years, not acting as a long-term addition.

For those reasons, it is a transfer that should be avoided, but if Howe genuinely believes Henderson could boost his midfield options in the second half of the season, he should be trusted, especially as Jurgen Klopp has lauded the "special career" that the Englishman has enjoyed.

Stiaan van Zyl scored an unbeaten century to guide Sussex to their first Specsavers Championship Division Two victory of the season, defeating Durham by six wickets at Emirates Riverside. Beginning the final day on 144 for 3, the visitors still had a challenge to score the 68 runs that would carry them over the line on a gloomy morning. Van Zyl continued his brilliant knock, defying the hosts with a resilient performance before upping the ante.Laurie Evans did offer a chance in the morning session when he drilled a Chris Rushworth delivery straight to Jack Burnham at cover. A wicket could have exposed Sussex’s batting line-up to a nervy chase, but Burnham failed to grasp the opportunity – epitomising his side’s performance over the course of the match.Evans made the most of his second life, reaching his fifty from 104 deliveries. Van Zyl then reached three figures with a nudge down to fine leg. Matt Salisbury removed Evans for 51, but Ben Brown knocked the next ball for the winning run to guide Sussex over the line, capping a resilient performance on the road from his side.”To get a hundred in the last innings on the last day, I’m very proud of it,” van Zyl said. “It’s a great win for us. The Leicestershire game was disappointing. We let ourselves down there. That’s why this win means a lot to us, just to get that first win of the season.”Durham will be frustrated by the manner of their defeat, failing to capitalise on advantageous positions in the match. They reduced the visitors to 71 for 7 in their first innings following fine bowling from James Weighell and Rushworth. However, Luke Wells, who played the innings of the match with an unbeaten 98, managed to grind out 131 runs for the final three wickets, bringing Sussex within 22 runs of Durham’s first-innings total.”That was an unbelievable innings,” van Zyl said of Wells’s knock. “We knew if we got a partnership going this morning to get the runs to win below fifty we would see the body language in the field go down, then we could capitalise. The wicket was okay when the ball was softer. You just had to hang in there and get the runs.”After losing quick wickets on the morning of day three, Durham appeared to be steady with Gareth Harte and Ned Eckersley at the crease. However, after scoring back-to-back boundaries, Eckersley smashed a delivery from medium-pacer Tom Haines straight at Evans.The wicket sparked a collapse as Liam Trevaskis and Ben Raine fell within the space of three deliveries. Although Harte combined with the Durham lower order, the target of 212 set for the visitors was always going to be vulnerable to one significant partnership.After losing Phil Salt and Haines, Wells and Van Zyl combined with a stand of 83 to see off the threat of the new ball and make significant inroads into the required total. Salisbury did give Durham brief hope when he dismissed Wells for 41, but van Zyl and Evans saw their way to the close and proceeded to whittle down the target on day four.Durham were almost handed a lifeline only for Burnham to put down a simple chance. Sussex picked their moments to find the boundary and displayed the composure out in the middle. Van Zyl was the foundation of their success, reaching his first Championship century of the term from 149 deliveries.Durham Lead High Performance Coach James Franklin branded his team’s two defeats from as many County matches in 2019 as not good enough.”We’ve had our chances there’s no two ways about it,” Franklin said. “The game against Derbyshire we had them five down in the first session, and here we had Sussex 70-7. To end up on the losing side in both of those games is disappointing. The guys are hurting about that.”We’ve had batting collapses as well, which is not great fun either. We’ve got plenty of scope to improve. It has been evident in our four innings this season that when we lose one, we can lose two or three quite quickly. Whether or not that is a little bit of reminiscence of what has been happening the last couple of years and we’re suffering a hangover of that, I’m not too sure. What we can do now is reflect on how we want to go about our Championship cricket.”We’ve got a nice break now into our one-day cricket. We’ve got a whole campaign there to quickly get our minds focused on in the next couple of days. When we get back to Championship cricket in May, we’ve got to be very clear on what we’re about because these first two games aren’t good enough.”

Crystal Palace have submitted an offer to sign Arsenal striker Eddie Nketiah, with those at Selhurst Park already receiving a response.

Crystal Palace target January signings

The Eagles appear to be after some winter window additions before the deadline, with rumours suggesting Palace would like to sign a new central midfielder and left-back. Roy Hodgson admitted last month the need for new signings due to a number of injury problems within his squad.

“All clubs have a very strong department in terms of recruitment and scouting, and so it seems to me that's an ongoing process.

“Sometimes [that] gets accelerated at a time if a club finds itself in a position where there are a lot of players that perhaps have got to be replaced for one reason or another and, as a result, the jeopardy becomes a bit stronger because you suddenly start to realise that our squad has been seriously depleted and in order to get back up the strength we have to do something about it.”

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ByLuke Randall Feb 1, 2024

Alongside a new midfielder and a new full-back, another attacking addition could be required, with Jean-Philippe Mateta ready to leave the club. West Ham striker Danny Ings has been rumoured as a Palace target, however, the club have already made an offer for another Premier League striker in Nketiah.

Crystal Palace make Eddie Nketiah bid

According to Football Transfers in the last 48 hours, Palace have already submitted a loan offer with an obligation to buy Nketiah in the summer. The report adds that the Gunners ‘are still not close to signing a striker this window so any possible sale of Nketiah is off the table for now’, and as a result, have turned down Palace's proposal.

Arsenal could still land a new attacker of their own before the deadline, though, which may well open the door for Nketiah, on £100,000-a-week, to leave the Emirates later this month.

The 24-year-old has been on Steve Parish and Dougie Freedman’s radar for some time now, with reports last summer claiming he was their number one target. Although they have been knocked back with their loan-to-buy bid, it does seem as if a move isn’t completely dead this month, should Arsenal land a forward of their own.

If the Englishman makes the move across London, then Palace would be getting themselves a forward who has already registered 10 goal contributions this season and has made over 100 Premier League appearances.

Arsenal

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Leeds

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5

1

England U21

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16

3

Earning the praise of Arteta as a result of his performances, the Arsenal manager has labelled Nketiah as "incredible".

“It was a great goal but I think overall his performance was incredible. The way he understood the pressing, his intensity, the way he counter-attacked certain spaces, the composure he showed. And then he stayed patient. And in the box he produced a moment of real quality to win us the game.”

Quinton de Kock, South Africa’s best batsman on day one of the first Test, has conceded that Sri Lanka’s inexperienced quicks caught his team “off guard” at Kingsmead.There are few real surprises in top-level cricket any more, such is the preponderance of video analysis. Generally, it is also a disadvantage to field a green attack. But so fresh are three of Sri Lanka’s bowlers, that their newness may actually have helped them in Durban. Vishwa Fernando and Kasun Rajitha have played three and four Tests respectively, but claimed 7 for 130 between them.Suranga Lakmal, by far the most experienced member of the attack, took 1 for 29.”Going forward we’ll be much more alert to the bowling up front. We’ve understood that Suranga Lakmal is a serious opening bowler that we have seen a lot of, and have good plans for, but were a bit unaware of the new guys,” de Kock said. “I think they caught us off guard. Going forward we’ll plan better, and I’m sure we’ll get off to better starts.”The two new guys – we hadn’t seen much. We’ve only played one of them [Rajitha] in white-ball cricket once. The rest, it was unseen before. To understand and change our gameplan can be quite tough, especially with the pitch. They bowled really well – they didn’t miss their lengths often. We had work hard to get what we did.”While left-armer Vishwa largely seamed the ball into the right-handed batsmen, Rajitha bowled mostly outswingers, as the pair posed a variety of questions through the day. Vishwa was the more economical, going at 3.64, where Rajitha conceded 4.63 an over.”I think what surprised us was just the angle of their bowling and the skills they had,” de Kock said. “They had different actions, some skiddiness, and some bounce. But with those new guys, the batsmen have had a feel of them now, and we’ll come back and see how we are going to go about it. They are two solid bowlers and they will keep us in trouble through the series. We’ve got to keep our eyes open for them.”De Kock said a total of 235 was “a little under par”, but he expected South Africa’s bowlers to be effective on a still-green Kingsmead surface on day two.”I think early on, in the first hour or two, there definitely will be some movement in the wicket. But I think as the day goes on, it will get better. I also think Keshav Maharaj will come into play a little bit more. As you see, the wicket is spinning quite a bit.”

Joe Root has warned his batsman that they must take personal responsibility for their failures in the Caribbean, after England collapsed in ignominious fashion once again in Antigua to hand West Indies a ten-wicket victory, and an unassailable 2-0 series lead, with two days to spare in the second Test.Root himself cannot be excused from such self-reflection, having made just 40 runs in four innings to date – albeit with some notable moments of misfortune, in particular the good-length snorter with which Alzarri Joseph dismissed him on the first day in Antigua.But, speaking at the end of a chastening day, he admitted that his team might be forced to “go about things slightly differently in the future”, after the policy of positive intent in adversity that had proved so successful in Sri Lanka before Christmas came unstuck in spectacular fashion against a committed, varied and aggressive four-man pace attack.”It’s very disappointing,” Root said. “We came here to win and to find ourselves out of it with a game to go is hard to take. We have been outplayed, outperformed and we have to take that on the chin.”England’s downfall was all the more damning given the manner in which West Indies grafted in their first – and only significant – innings. With Kraigg Brathwaite and Darren Bravo epitomising their determination – Bravo’s 215-ball half century was the slowest ever made by a West Indian in Test history – they ground out a priceless lead of 119 on a pitch that proved tricky for players on both sides, but on which England’s expansive strokeplayers had no answer.”We have to learn some lessons,” said Root. “The way they went about stuff in certain areas has been very skilled, especially how they batted yesterday against some very high skilled bowling. That was frustrating. We felt unlucky. It’s not an excuse, they managed to find a way to a good score on that surface.Asked if any players in England’s line-up would be capable of emulating Bravo’s sheet-anchor application, Root said: “I think a number of guys can, I’d like to think I can. I felt unfortunate not to make a big contribution and when experienced players aren’t making scores over fifty, it makes it very difficult for the rest of the guys around them.”With the match finishing two days early, it seems highly likely that England will be sent back to the nets in the coming days, with the influence of the head coach Trevor Bayliss and batting coach Mark Ramprakash sure to come under further scrutiny ahead of Saturday’s third Test in St Lucia. Having harboured ambitions of using this tour to enhance their claims to the Test No.1 status, England will enter that match facing the very real possibility of a 3-0 series defeat that would have echoes of the famous “Blackwash” series of the mid-1980s.”I think we have got to be better at what we do, or maybe do things slightly differently,” said Root. “The choice comes down to the individual. I can’t bat for 11 guys, neither can Trevor or Ramps. The responsibility is down to the individual. But we will stick together and work on it as a group and try and come back with a really strong response in St Lucia.”After being rolled aside for 77 in the first innings of the series in Barbados, England’s batting was arguably even more feeble on the third afternoon in Antigua, as they lost all ten wickets for 97 runs in the space of 30 overs – four bowled and three lbw, as West Indies’ quicks concentrated on line and length and waited for the errors to come.”There were a couple of disappointing dismissals that guys will have to look at individually,” said Root. “But on a surface like that you have to commit to whatever decision you make. As a side they tried to absorb pressure but, when they went to hit boundaries, they gave it everything. Having that balance is important.”I think they played better than us, exploited the surfaces and we haven’t scored enough runs. It’s very easy to sum us up and say we’re a bad side after two games, having played so well for a period. We have to make sure we respond quickly and finish this tour on a high.”