Trent Alexander-Arnold had a stellar season for Liverpool as he played a big role in the club securing a top-four place and reaching the Champions League final.

The 19-year-old not only impressed the fans, but he caught the eye of England manager Gareth Southgate, who included the right-back in his squad for the World Cup in Russia.

With Kyle Walker and Kieran Trippier in the setup, it was always going to be difficult for the teenager to fight his way through.

Alexander-Arnold was given a slither of hope when Southgate opted to pursue a 3-5-2 system, but he decided to use Walker in defence and Trippier as wing-back for Monday night’s opening Group G match against Tunisia.

[brid autoplay=”true” video=”256266″ player=”12034″ title=”Watch Three reasons we love to hate… Spain”]

Both looked comfortable in their roles, but Walker made a blunder by giving away a penalty after appearing to swing his elbow.

FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. Subscribe FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.

---

Subscribe

By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.

In the end, though, England earned a 2-1 victory thanks to Harry Kane’s last-gasp 91st-minute goal.

Alexander-Arnold did not get a minute of action, which disappointed many Liverpool fans and some have called on Southgate to play the youngster against Panama.

Comment from discussion Hendo and Trent after the England match.Comment from discussion Hendo and Trent after the England match.Comment from discussion Hendo and Trent after the England match.

Tottenham Hotspur have been heavily linked with a move for Boca Juniors midfielder Wilmar Barrios in the last week, but following his impressive display for Colombia in their 2-1 defeat to Japan in their opening 2018 World Cup fixture on Tuesday, perhaps Premier League rivals West Ham United should be looking to sign him, too.

Colombia website Antena 2 reported that Spurs have an agreement in place to bring the 24-year-old, who is rated at £7.2m by Transfermarkt, to north London this summer, with a move potentially going through after the tournament in Russia.

[ad_pod ]

A move for Barrios would be no surprise given previous reports have suggested that Mauricio Pochettino is ready to listen to acceptable offers for Victor Wanyama, Mousa Dembele and Moussa Sissoko before the window slams shut on August 9, but they aren’t the only ones looking for a new player in that position.

Irons boss Manuel Pellegrini, whom the fans want to sign an England international following his display against Tunisia, may well be searching for an upgrade on the likes of Mark Noble and Cheikhou Kouyate following a disappointing 2017/18 campaign or the duo, and Barrios showed against Japan that he could be a brilliant option for the Chilean.

The 24-year-old came on as a 29th minute substitute following an early red card for Carlos Sanchez, and he showed how strong he is defensively with seven tackles and one interception against their counterparts from Asia, while he showed he is decent on the ball too with a passing accuracy of 80%.

FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. Subscribe FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.

---

Subscribe

By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.

West Ham need a quality player with potential and energy in that area, and they must beat Spurs to bring the Colombia international to London.

[brid autoplay=”true” video=”257236″ player=”12034″ title=”Watch Five things we learned from England 21 Tunisia”]

As reported by Sky Sports, Rangers could have a battle on their hands to bring Dylan McGeouch to Ibrox this summer, with Sunderland opening talks with the midfielder about a switch to the Stadium of Light.

What’s the story?

Rangers were linked with a move for the 25-year-old earlier this month, with Steven Gerrard reported to be interested in adding the player to his new look midfield at the Light Blues next season.

They’ll have to move quickly though.

Sky Sports report that he is already in discussions with League One outfit Sunderland as former St Mirren boss Jack Ross looks to build a side capable of winning promotion to the Championship at the first time of asking.

With his Hibs contract set to expire at the end of the month, is now the time to move for the Scotland international?

[ad_pod ]

Is he worth signing?

McGeouch is coming off a stand-out 2017/18 season at Hibernian, winning both the players’ and supporters’ player of the year awards at the club ahead of more hyped talents like John McGinn.

The former Hoops man was the player who made Neil Lennon’s side tick all season, his dynamic and committed midfield play allowing Hibs’ attacking players to shine in the final third, despite a lack of direct goal contributions.

The central midfield area is one that can be really improved at Rangers after last season and McGeouch could finally make his name at Ibrox playing under a midfield legend in Steven Gerrard.

FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. Subscribe FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.

---

Subscribe

By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.

On a free transfer, this is a deal that could prove to be one of the bargains of the summer if Rangers pull it off.

[brid autoplay=”true” video=”255574″ player=”12034″ title=”Watch Four World Cup myths debunked”]

The Everton fans in and around the Transfer Tavern are hoping that now they’ve recruited Marco Silva, a man they have desired for months, he can lead them back into European contention. 

After enduring a very turbulent season under the guidance of Sam Allardyce for the majority, the Everton fans were bitterly disappointed to see how badly they wasted their money last summer on players that really failed to perform. That cannot afford to happen again this season and so our punters feel a safe investment would be in 21-year-old youth prodigy Junior Firpo, who is valued at £4.5 million on Transfermarkt.

The Real Betis fullback only made his break into the first team in 2018 but has since massively impressed as a pacey attacking left-back running up and down the wing. Firpo even scored 2 goals and created 2 more during his first-team stint and judging by the early potential he has shown, Firpo could be the ideal replacement for Leighton Baines, whose contract runs out next season.

His attacking intent suggests also that if not used as a left-back, Junior Firpo would be more than capable as playing further forward as a winger. The Dominican Republic man has all the potential to be a strong player in the Premier League but if Everton are interested in his signature, they must act quick to beat the stiff competition from Arsenal, who are also reportedly interested.

Everton know they need to improve but with the future in mind, Junior Firpo could be a good asset for the present and future, should his progression continue.

FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. Subscribe FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.

---

Subscribe

By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.

Do you agree… Let us know!

The thinness of resources in Pakistan’s middle order has opened the door for Misbah-ul-Haq to revive, once again, his international career

Cricinfo staff26-Nov-2009The thinness of resources in Pakistan’s middle order has opened the door for Misbah-ul-Haq to revive, once again, his international career. Misbah was dropped from all three Pakistan squads before the team left on its tour of New Zealand, following a poor run with the bat this year.The withdrawal of Younis Khan from the New Zealand trip, however, not only left Pakistan without a captain, but also a No. 3 who averages 50 in Test cricket. Mohammad Yousuf, who took over the captaincy from Younis, immediately asked for Misbah’s return, citing the need for his experience in a middle order which included inexperienced batsmen Fawad Alam and Umar Akmal in the first Test in Dunedin.A member of the selection committee told Cricinfo that Misbah would most likely be in New Zealand before the second Test, due to begin in Wellington on December 3. “We don’t know exactly what day he will go, but we are keen to send him there to be part of the squad,” the official said. The decision needed to be approved by the board but that is thought to be a formality.The request for Misbah’s inclusion was initially turned down by Pakistan’s selection committee. However, following the failure of most of Pakistan’s batting line – the Akmal brothers apart – in the first innings of the ongoing first Test in Dunedin, the selectors agreed to send Misbah out to New Zealand. Before the younger Akmal saved Pakistan with a hundred on debut, Pakistan had collapsed to 85 for 5, and the middle order of Alam, Yousuf and Shoaib Malik, was looking undermanned, particularly with an opening pair as flimsy as Imran Farhat and Khurram Manzoor.The decision is bound to cause comment, especially as Pakistan already have a large 17-man squad touring in New Zealand. Additionally, they already have a middle-order option, Faisal Iqbal, in place. If he plays, he will at least provide a safe pair of hands in the slips. Farhat, who has a long history of dropping chances in the slip cordon, was at first slip and he promptly dropped two in New Zealand’s first innings.Misbah returned to the Pakistan team after a five-year hiatus in 2007, in magnificent fashion. His inventive, fearless batting led Pakistan to the brink of World Twenty20 glory that same year, and he bolstered his reputation as Pakistan’s man for a crisis by scoring two Test hundreds in India towards the end of the year. The returns since were not so spectacular and this year in particular has been poor – an average of 28.57 in five Tests and 300 runs in 13 ODIs. He has been scoring domestically, however, the route through which he came back into the national side in 2007 and the day he was axed, he responded with a career-best 284 in the Quaid-e-Azam trophy.

The plays of the day from the second day of the first Test at Centurion

Sahil Dutta and Andrew McGlashan17-Dec-2009de Villiers drops the script…
Makhaya Ntini arrived at the crease to a standing ovation in his 100th Test. Yet it was his efforts with the ball which really brought the crowd to their feet, not least the Barmy Army, after a free drink was promised to everyone in the ground for the moment Ntini took his first wicket. With emotions running high, Ntini flew into an aggressive spell and immediately found the obliging edge of Alastair Cook’s bat. With the sure-handed AB de Villiers at third slip, Ntini was already celebrating, but astonishingly, the script flew straight through AB’s fingers. It was the closest Ntini came to a wicket, but an early beer could await the crowd tomorrow.Crowd invasion
How pleasing it was to see the fans allowed on the outfield during the lunch interval. It’s hard to remember the last time that happened during a Test match in countries such as England and Australia, where tough health and safety laws preclude it, or on the subcontinent, where security fears play their part. But shortly after the players had left for lunch, the crowd swarmed onto the ground and enjoyed the balmy weather while playing their own games of mini-cricket. They were able to stroll up and look at the pitch while children were able to run around on the same surface as their heroes. Nobody got hurt and no damage was done. Hopefully other administrators were watching.Jimmy’s long wait…
England’s ‘leader of the attack’ has actually been chasing his team-mates for a while. James Anderson had not managed a Test wicket since Edgbaston on August 3, when he had Shane Watson caught behind for 53. Since then he toiled without reward for 18 overs as England almost lost the Ashes at Headingley, before 21 more at The Oval as England won them back. Today, four months on, and after a further 26 overs in this game, he finally picked up the key wicket of Jacques Kallis to get England’s morning and Anderson’s series underway.Slippery hands
England bowlers couldn’t create many chances, but when they did, they inevitably seemed to find their way to Paul Collingwood. England’s best fielder took three catches yesterday and was snaffling them for fun in practice before play started today. When he caught JP Duminy, off Graeme Swann’s opening over, he equalled the England record for most outfield catches in an innings. He then had the chance to go clear at the top, when Harris top-edged an attempted cut, but he spilled it. His place in history is now shared with a fairly lengthy list of fellow players, with Marcus Trescothick against Zimbabwe at Lord’s in 2003 being the last.Down and then out
Morne Morkel was putting up stubborn resistance with an impressively determined innings when he got himself into a tangle against a well-directed short ball from Graham Onions and took a nasty blow on the chin. He staggered away from the crease and then went down on his haunches as concerned players quickly signalled for the physio. Looking a little dazed, Morkel lay on the ground as he was treated with some magic spray. Soon he was given the all-clear, but it wasn’t a surprise when he flashed outside off stump and edged to the keeper soon afterwards.Token effort
Plenty has already been said about the review system in this game, but today it worked as it was meant to, even if Graeme Swann is probably still convinced he had Morkel leg before only to see it overturned. South Africa had the better of the system – or rather used it better – so had both their reviews left when Friedel de Wet was given out to Swann to close the innings. He had nothing to lose so he asked for a second look and TV confirmed it was plumb. When teams have spare reviews at the end it’s going to lead to some rather hopeful requests.Young and old
South Africa’s new-ball attack was in the hands of two bowlers at opposite ends of their careers. Bowling the first over was 100-Test veteran Ntini and at the other was new cap Friedel de Wet. Ntini should have had a wicket in his first over, while de Wet could barely land his first ball on the cut strip. However, it was the debutant who ended up making the breakthrough and the man with 388 Test scalps had to wait to add to his tally.

Sunday’s pitch provided little encouragement for the Uttar Pradesh bowlers, as they managed only four wickets and conceded 255

The Bulletin by Siddarth Ravindran in Bangalore03-Jan-2010
The Chinnaswamy Stadium hasn’t been a venue where bowlers have thrived in the recent past, as the lack of outright results testify – only one in the previous nine first-class matches. In keeping with the trend, Sunday’s pitch also provided little encouragement for the Uttar Pradesh bowlers, as they managed only four wickets and conceded 255.Karnataka’s batting unit had a comfortable day, and if not for a couple of ill-advised shots, the home team would have been in a position of dominance. Each of their specialist batsmen got a start, but no one really capitalised on a slow, benign track; their highest run-getters of the season, Manish Pandey and KB Pawan, crafted contrasting half-centuries but didn’t convert them to centuries.UP have three bowlers with India caps in their line-up, but they rarely tested Karnataka after Mohammad Kaif lost the toss. RP Singh provided the visitors their best passage of play an hour after lunch, scalping two wickets in the space of five deliveries. Pawan and Ganesh Satish were making desultory progress, slowly constructing a second-wicket stand that was sapping UP’s morale, but RP had both batsmen nicking to the wicketkeeper in the 57th over. Pawan chased one going away with the angle from over the wicket, while Satish fended at a delivery jagging in from round the stumps.That double-strike left Karnataka at 138 for 3, but only brought together captain Rahul Dravid and Pandey, who combined for the day’s largest partnership, worth 109 runs. Dravid was his usual steady self, not taking too many risks, content with punishing the loose deliveries served up. Pandey, though, was more expansive after a cautious beginning, driving Praveen Kumar on-the-up through extra cover and then carving the next one, a shorter, wider offering through cover for four more.With the score smoothly mounting, UP decided to set 3-6 fields to contain the batsmen: a leg slip, a short midwicket and a very straight short mid-on were the close-in fielders, backed by a wide mid-on, deep midwicket and fine leg. UP’s bowlers persistently bowled down the leg side to tie down Karnataka, with medium-pacer Bhuvaneshwar Kumar even sending down three leg-side wides. Before tea, the tactic was used only against Pandey, but Dravid was also subjected to it in the final session. Sometimes, it was the off side that was packed with six close fielders, with bowlers angling it across the batsmen from round the wicket.The strategy worked for a while, but it was abandoned after the 84th over when Pandey twice found a way through a gridlock of fielders to the boundary on the off side: first, Parvinder Singh was deftly gilded to the vacant third-man region for four, and then a full, wide ball was crashed through cover for another boundary.Another move from UP to minimise the runs was also thwarted by a flurry of fours from Pandey. Thinking that the new ball would be easier to score off they delayed taking it, preferring the unthreatening dibbly-dobblies of Parvinder and the leg spin of Piyush Chawla. In the 90th over, bowled by Parvinder, Pandey reached his half-century with a cross-batted swipe to midwicket, clubbed the next delivery over mid-on for a one-bounce four and completed a hat-trick of boundaries by top-edging a wide one over point. UP took the new ball in the next over.RP Singh and Bhuvaneshwar bowled four amiable overs with it, during which Pandey and Dravid stretched their partnership beyond hundred. Kaif then decided to replace Bhuvaneshwar with Praveen Kumar, who struck with his first delivery. Pandey exited after looking to muscle a very wide delivery through the off side, only managing to edge it to second slip, where Kaif took a sharp catch.There had been another attempted shot to regret for Karnataka earlier in the morning, when opener Robin Uthappa looked to sweep an overpitched delivery from left-arm spinner Praveen Gupta, only to miss and be plumb lbw. Uthappa and Pawan had no trouble with the bowling till then. Uthappa had moved fluently to 32, and had safely negotiated the potentially troublesome first hour, before his misjudgment ended his stay.Pawan and Satish then took their time in building Karnataka’s score. Pawan dropped anchor while Satish was a bit more adventurous, always keen to use his feet to the spinners. Both of them had their hopes of a big score dashed by RP, but Karnataka still have the rock-solid Dravid at the crease to orchestrate the push towards 400 on the second day.

A round-up of the opening day’s action of the second round of the WICB Four-Day Competition 2009-10

Cricinfo staff16-Jan-2010Lendl Simmons lit up the first ever day-night first-class fixture in the West Indies with an entertaining century to take Trinidad and Tobago to 302 for 7 against Guyana at the Vivian Richards Stadium. Simmons made 104 while Jason Mohammed fell 13 short of his century. The pair came together with the score on 39 for 2 and added 143. They took T&T to 133 for 2 at lunch but after resumption, when on 61, Mohammed retired after complaining of cramps. However, the pink ball started to assist the spinners and seamers and in this period, Simmons managed to reach his century, off 135 balls. He went for 104, caught by Assad Fudadin and soon after, T&T lost another wicket. Mohammed returned, added another 26 to his score before he was caught in the deep. T&T suddenly lost their way and were at 264 for 6, before Denesh Ramdin and Rayad Emrit added some stability with a stand of 48 for the seventh wicket. Ramdin, who ended on an unbeaten 43, was lucky to be dropped on 35 by Derwin Christian.It was a funny old scorecard for Leeward Islands with only three double-digit scores in their disappointing score of 188 against Jamaica at Warner Park.
David Bernard and Nikita Miller shared most of the spoils to bundle out Leewards. The home team was in trouble in the morning session when they were reduced to 52 for 4. Runako Morton and Omari Banks started a recovery with a stand of 51 for the fourth wicket. Morton hit nine fours and a six in his 60 before he was dismissed, caught at first slip off Odean Brown. Devon Thomas joined Banks in another recovery stand of 69. Banks hit four fours and a six off 112 balls before he nicked Bernard with the score on 172. But that was followed by another collapse as Leewards lost their last four wickets for 16 runs. Bernard finished with 4 for 38. Jamaica had a jittery start to their innings as well when they lost Shawn Findlay – caught brilliantly at square leg by Anthony Martin – and Xavier Marshall. They ended the day trailing by 139.Barbados took control on the opening day in Charlestown,
restricting Combined Campuses and Colleges to 213. The spinners Nikolai Charles and Ryan Hinds shared seven wickets between them to run through the line-up. CCC chose to bat first but never really took control. They went to lunch at 67 for 2, before Barbados dominated. The CCC innings was built around Nekoli Parris’ solid 47 and a patient 45 by Romel Currency. Charles struck in quick succession and CCC suddenly lost three wickets for nine runs. Parris, who hit six fours, was caught at forward short-leg, captain Floyd Reifer was caught in the same position off Kemar Roach. Currency was dropped on 29 by Hinds and went on to resist for close to four hours. He added 48 for the seventh wicket with Ryan Austin before Hinds broke the stand, having Austin caught at slip. Hinds took 3 for 41 while Charles took 4 for 46. Barbados lost the wicket of Dale Richards early and ended a satisfying day at 33 for 1.

New Zealand’s Twenty20 expertise was too much for an overpowered Australia again as the hosts secured a 59-run victory

Cricinfo staff26-Feb-2010New Zealand 132 for 7 (Bates 48, Haynes 3-19) beat Australia 73 (Watkins 3-8) by 59 runs

ScorecardSuzie Bates was Player of the Match for her brisk 48•Getty Images

New Zealand’s Twenty20 expertise was too much for an overpowered Australia again as the hosts secured a 59-run victory in Wellington. After losing all five one-day matches in Australia, New Zealand hit back to conclude the tour with three Twenty20 wins in a row and took their streak to four after easily defending 132 for 7.Australia were in trouble from the start and the exits of Shelley Nitschke, who was bowled trying to pull Kate Pulford (2 for 21), and Alex Blackwell ended their chances. Blackwell played on to Suzie Bates, leaving her side at 32 for 4, and her team-mates were unable to fight back. Aimee Watkins cleaned up the tail with 3 for 8 to dismiss Australia for 73, their lowest T20 total.The opener Bates set up New Zealand with some strong hitting in her 48 off 40 balls and Sophie Devine helped finish it off with 28 off 22, including a six to midwicket, before being run out in the final over. Rachael Haynes was the most successful of the visitors with 3 for 19 in two eventful overs.

Plays of the day from the final day of the first Test at Chittagong

Andrew Miller in Chittagong16-Mar-2010Shot of the day
Junaid Siddique’s pummelling straight drive off Steven Finn that carried him through to his maiden Test century. Given his uncertainties against the quicks in the first innings, Junaid’s response was heroic in the extreme, as he stayed in line at all times, cut out the flinches off the ribs that had curtailed his stay on Saturday, and resolved to bat Bangladesh through to safety. Not even the advent of the nineties could upset his composure, as Finn came round the wicket to alter his line of attack, but was met with a crashing blade and an instant punch of delight, even before the ball had crossed the rope.Reaction of the day
Press boxes as a rule are a dour and objective domain. Applause is generally frowned upon, lest it gives the impression that you are rooting for one team or the other. But every now and again, one’s true colours are run gloriously up the mast, as occurred at the moment when Junaid reached his ton. A spontaneous, genuine and heartfelt explosion of applause and cheering burst forth from the sizeable Bangladeshi contingent, and even one or two of the Brits followed suit. It just goes to show that, regardless of the result of this match, a notable PR victory has been secured nonetheless.Send-off of the day
Junaid’s partnership with Mushfiqur Rahim had lasted for two balls shy of 70 overs, when finally – finally! – Graeme Swann made the breakthrough. Ten balls after lunch, in the 108th over of the innings (and Swann’s 41st for that matter), Junaid propped forward with less conviction than he might otherwise have shown before the interval, and squeezed a simple edge to Paul Collingwood at slip. But the bowler’s reaction was eyebrow-raising to say the least – a massive, lip-readable, obscenity and a double pump of the fists. It was a touch unnecessary but somewhat revealing. Few Bangladeshi batsmen have ever been worthy of such a back-handed compliment.Anticlimax of the day
One of Bangladesh’s two heroes made it to his landmark. The other, sadly, succumbed five runs short. Mushfiqur’s efforts throughout the game have been magnificent – he was the hub of his team’s resistance in the first innings and the yeoman support for Junaid in the second. But just when his second Test century was looming, he was coaxed into arguably his only rash shot of the match, a gallop down the track and a loose swipe at Swann, who slid a fuller delivery beneath the bat and into the off stump.Catch of the day
Michael Carberry had a busy time in the field on debut, with a key run-out in the first innings and the match-sealing catch in the second. The moment, when it arrived, was a sprinting, tumbling affair at deep midwicket, as he made ground to a lofted clip from Naeem Islam and clung on near the turf to wrap up the contest by 181 runs. And fittingly, it handed a tenth wicket to the Man of the Match, Graeme Swann, the first England offspinner to achieve such a feat since Jim Laker in his heyday of 1956.