Sometimes, small gaps and weaknesses in personnel and strategy can add up to disproportionately bad results

Karthik Krishnaswamy26-Nov-20254:53

Gautam Gambhir: This side is ‘learning on the job’

Things surely can’t get any worse. The only way from here, surely, is up.These are thoughts India’s fans must have consoled themselves with at various points over the last year and a bit of home Tests. Each time, they’ve only discovered that things can certainly get worse, and that directions other than up are always in play.From Bengaluru to Pune to Mumbai. And from there, after the brief lull of Ahmedabad and Delhi, to Kolkata and Guwahati. A journey that took India all over the map while mostly going south.Zero-three against New Zealand. Zero-two against South Africa.You have to go back as far as 0-3 against West Indies in 1983-84 followed by 1-2 against England in 1984-85 for the last time India suffered two Test-series defeats at home within such a short span of time. And before that, all the way back to the late 50s.This, for India and their fans, is not normal. It feels especially abnormal because these results have come so close on the heels of an era of unimaginable dominance.It’s hard to process. The air around Indian cricket crackles with anger. It must have felt this way when Kapil Dev launched Pat Pocock high over the Feroz Shah Kotla and into long-off’s hands, having hit the previous ball for six, during a final-day collapse that gave England a route to a series-turning victory in a match that seemed to have been heading towards a draw. India dropped Kapil for the next Test.Related

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A move like that seems unthinkable today, but history, in other ways, always seems to repeat itself. For Kapil, substitute Rishabh Pant and his day-three charge at Marco Jansen in Guwahati, in the middle of a similarly match-turning collapse.Great players do daft things sometimes. But what lapse of reason led India, in home conditions, from near-invincibility to abject fallibility at such dizzying speed? Do their results paint an accurate picture of their quality? Are they really this bad? Is this a blip, or does it point to a deeper malaise in the country’s red-ball ecosystem?Quality in sport, first of all, is a relative thing. Apart from everything else 0-3 and 0-2 tell us, they tell us that New Zealand and South Africa were exceptional touring teams, purpose-built for Indian conditions with wisdom derived from, among other things, India’s many years of home success. These were teams built to compete, and to pounce on any bits of luck that went their way.And luck kept going their way, not least the luck of the toss. And if New Zealand caught India at one point of a transition, with ageing players beginning to show signs of decline, South Africa caught them at another, with inexperienced players still finding their feet.With those caveats out of the way, it still feels surreal that India didn’t win or draw even one of these five Tests. Pant, Ravindra Jadeja and Yashasvi Jaiswal played all five of them. Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj played four each, and KL Rahul and Kuldeep Yadav (and Gill, sort of) three each. These are experienced, established Test cricketers.Sometimes, though, small gaps and weaknesses in personnel and strategy can add up and coalesce into disproportionately bad results.5:55

Saba Karim: India have fallen behind in Test cricket

Consider India’s selection of multiple allrounders through this South Africa series. As individual players, all of them merited selection. Washington Sundar returned to Test cricket last year as a vastly improved bowler, and performed excellently with ball and bat in England. Axar Patel hadn’t played Test cricket for a year, but his bowling has always seemed tailormade for Indian pitches, and he is capable of batting in a wide range of lower-order situations.Dhruv Jurel had been in such a rich vein of form, for India A and during the Tests against West Indies, that he gave India no option but to pick him even after regular keeper Pant’s return from injury. Even Nitish Kumar Reddy, the most debatable of these selections in home Tests, had shown enough evidence of belonging at Test level, particularly with the bat, even if he wasn’t anything like the finished article yet.And given that India were in transition, none of them was coming in ahead of established specialists. It wasn’t even clear which specialist batters and bowlers they were keeping out.But because of this, India came into this series with areas of vulnerability that they probably should have foreseen. One was exposed in their very first turn with the bat, when Shubman Gill went out of the series having faced just three balls.It hurt India badly that they played with ten men for all of that Test, and it continued to hurt them in the second Test, when they ended up without a plausible replacement who was both a specialist batter and batted right-handed. In selecting Reddy in their squad, India had left themselves open to this circumstance.Two, in picking Washington and Axar as their fingerspinners behind Jadeja, they had wilfully picked a trio of players with roughly similar strengths. All allrounders, all quick, accurate fingerspinners best suited to pitches offering sharp, early turn.India were outbowled and outbatted in Guwahati•Associated PressThere was every chance they could have won India the Kolkata Test on a pitch that suited their strengths. Guwahati, however, exposed their limitations severely.And in Gill’s absence, India’s middle order in Guwahati ended up looking unsuited to the conditions. We often speak of bowlers’ suitability to conditions, but sometimes it’s true of batters too. A line-up like India’s in Guwahati, with plenty of depth and notional flexibility, could be extremely handy in low-scoring conditions like Kolkata’s. The circumstances of India’s first innings in Guwahati, however, called for batters with the experience of scoring big hundreds, frequently, over multiple first-class seasons.India couldn’t call up the Cheteshwar Pujara and Kohli of 2016-17 to bat at Nos. 3 and 4, but their squad didn’t contain anyone in that mould, forget with that level of quality or experience. Jurel could become that player in the future, but he’s definitely better served batting at No. 5 or 6 at present, while Sai Sudharsan and Padikkal, for all their potential, have first-class averages in the high 30s and early 40s respectively.And so, for all the proven quality of India’s senior players, the potential of their younger players, and the individual merits of their allrounders, the parts added up to a jumbled whole. That whole could have still beaten a weaker opposition even with all their ill-luck with the toss and injuries. Against a quality South Africa side that had just won a WTC final and drawn a series in Pakistan, however, the whole was just too full of holes.

India have once again returned to demanding early turn, but they could be underestimating how much more aware and better equipped visiting teams have become

Philander: ‘On that surface 123 was like 350-400’

Over the three days of the first India-South Africa Test match and its aftermath, a tricky, up-and-down pitch at Eden Gardens has triggered two parallel debates.One, already discussed on these pages, is whether such pitches are good for Test cricket.The other, which gained urgency as South Africa pressed home the decisive advantage they gained on the third morning, is whether such pitches are good for India. Is it really in their best interests to roll out tracks that turn sharply, and offer uneven bounce, from day one?Related

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India certainly think so. Gautam Gambhir, their head coach, has made it clear that he and the rest of India’s team management had asked curator Sujan Mukherjee for a surface along the lines of what they got.”This is what we asked for, and this is what we got,” Gambhir said in his post-match press conference. “I thought the curator was very supportive. And I still believe that irrespective of how the wicket was, 123 [124] was chaseable. And I felt that if you are willing to put your head down, and if you have a solid defence, if you have the temperament, you can definitely score runs.”Yes, it might not be a wicket which is going to [allow you to] be very, very flamboyant, where you can play those big shots. But if you are willing to put your head down, definitely it’s a wicket where you can score.”Is the pressure mounting on Gambhir, the red-ball coach?

Score, here, had to be a relative term. Neither team passed 200 over the four innings, and Temba Bavuma scored the only half-century of the match, his unbeaten third-innings 55 helping South Africa set a target of 124 that proved well beyond India in fourth-innings conditions where run-scoring and survival were both fraught with risk.While there were generous amounts of turn on offer from the first afternoon itself, the factor that made batting especially challenging was uneven bounce, which meant batters could never feel settled at the crease. There were 12 scores of over 20, but only one above 40.”This is exactly the pitch we were looking for,” Gambhir reiterated, when asked if the uneven bounce had surprised him. “And I feel that, as I just mentioned before, that the curator was very, very helpful. And this is exactly what we wanted. And this is exactly what we got. When you don’t play well, this is what happens.”Over the last decade, India have tended to go back and forth over their preference of pitches for home Tests. In 2015, when they were a young, up-and-coming team taking on a South Africa side with a proud away record, they won a four-Test series 3-0, with two of the Tests played on square turners. This proved to be a one-off, as India built a formidable home record over the next half-decade or so on pitches that usually allowed both teams to post sizeable first-innings totals.Simon Harmer picked up eight wickets in the Kolkata Test•BCCIThe first home Test of the post-pandemic period, at Chennai in 2021, however, made India rethink their strategy, as England won a Test match on the back of a massive first-innings total that India weren’t able to get close to. Then, the pitch was benign on day one but began to offer sharp turn even before India began their first innings; winning the toss gave England a massive advantage.It was here that India went back to asking curators for pitches that turned from day one, in the belief that these surfaces would minimise toss advantage.Gambhir echoed this sentiment on Sunday. “We have always said we want turning wickets where the ball turns a little on day one so that the toss doesn’t become an important factor. We’ve never said we want to play on bad wickets or rank turners. Ultimately, if we had won, we wouldn’t be speaking about the pitch this much.”That Gambhir retained his belief that turning tracks minimised the effect of the toss was interesting, considering India’s recent results on such pitches. They have lost the toss in each of their last three home Tests on tracks with early turn – against New Zealand in Pune and Mumbai last year, and now against South Africa – and have gone on to lose each match.Losing the toss has meant India have had to bat fourth on all three occasions. This is usually a disadvantage even on flatter subcontinental pitches. Pitches that offer turn and/or uneven bounce early on often give teams their only real window of straightforward batting conditions — which could last for as little as one session — on day one, and amplify the treachery of batting fourth.Gambhir: ‘This was not an unplayable wicket’

How might Pune, Mumbai and Kolkata have played out if India had won the toss and batted first?There is one counter-argument, though, which comes from India’s series against Australia in early 2023. In that series, which pitted two relatively evenly-matched spin-bowling units, batting second seemed to give teams a bit of an advantage, because early moisture in the first session of the match often made the ball turn alarmingly, before the pitch settled down somewhat.Asked about this after India lost the third Test in Indore — where Australia’s spinners made deadly use of that first-session moisture — their then captain Rohit Sharma said he too had pondered the question of whether there was an advantage to batting second on such pitches, without coming to a decisive conclusion. “Again it tells you that toss is not a factor at all in this series,” he said. “You’ve got to bring your best skills, play best cricket and win the game.”It could well be the case, notwithstanding recent results, that pitches that turn sharply, and early, by and large advantage the team winning the toss less than flat pitches that begin breaking up on day two or three. Gambhir’s belief only reiterates similar thoughts expressed by previous coaches and captains stretching at least as far back as 2012, when MS Dhoni called for pitches that turned from day one during a home series against England. He made this plea after India had a Test against England on a slow, low, flat pitch in Ahmedabad.”I don’t even want to see this wicket,” Dhoni had said. “There wasn’t enough turn and bounce for the spinners… Hopefully in the coming matches we’ll see the wicket turn, right from start, or as soon as possible so that the toss doesn’t become vital.”A thread runs directly from Dhoni 13 years ago to Gambhir now, and every team management along the way has also subscribed to the broad idea that the toss matters less on square turners than on flat pitches.That’s the Test – Keshav Maharaj leads the celebrations•Getty ImagesThe recent history of square turners in India presents one other observable pattern. They have tended to occur in series where India rate their oppositions highly, such as the 2015 series against South Africa. The series against Australia in 2017, which came at the end of a long home season played mostly on flat pitches, began on such a pitch in Pune, where a defeat made them veer away from that gameplan.In 2023, India went 2-0 up against Australia on sharp turners, before a defeat in the third Test in Indore led them to close out the series with a high-scoring draw on an Ahmedabad shirtfront. Now, after two Tests against West Indies on pitches enabling big scores in the first innings, India have once again returned to demanding early turn. They respect South Africa, and they don’t want to take any chances.In respecting their opposition in this manner, however, India could be underestimating just how much more aware and better equipped visiting teams have become over recent years. Australia in 2023, England and New Zealand last year, and South Africa now have all arrived with players who are more experienced, possess better attributes for the conditions, or both, than most previous touring teams from those countries. Simon Harmer and Keshav Maharaj, for example, aren’t just skillful fingerspinners; they’re both on their second Test tours of India, and bring knowledge gained over long careers that have taken them to all parts of the world, including two recent subcontinent tours. Giving them conditions that add fangs to their bowling may not be in India’s best interests.And in doing this, India may be underestimating just how good their own bowlers are on normal Indian pitches. In Jasprit Bumrah and Kuldeep Yadav, they have the world’s best fast-bowling wicket-taker and the world’s best spin-bowling wicket-taker in conditions with minimal help for seam or spin. In Mohammed Siraj, they have a quick, skillful operator who is dangerous with new ball and old, and can pound away on good lengths relentlessly without losing his intensity. In Ravindra Jadeja, they have one of India’s greatest-ever fingerspinners, and if Washington Sundar and Axar Patel aren’t yet as rounded as he is, they come close to matching him for control. All three are genuine batters as well.Against this, in Kolkata, South Africa had an attack that had Harmer, Maharaj and the hugely gifted left-arm quick Marco Jansen, but they were without their best fast bowler, Kagiso Rabada, and had Wiaan Mulder, a batting allrounder, taking the new ball in the first innings. This attack certainly did not match India’s for depth or variety in Indian conditions. And certainly not for experience in Indian conditions.There was a distinct gap between these attacks, on paper, and India narrowed it with their choice of pitch. They had done the same thing last year, against New Zealand, with devastating consequences. They chose to do it again.There’s something to admire in India’s bull-headed belief in their pitch strategy. But is it really doing their cause any good?

While the batters showed brilliance at various stages, the bowlers lacked control and failed to match India’s discipline

Firdose Moonda06-Dec-2025Fans in Ranchi, Raipur and Visakhapatnam were not only ones happy to see Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma in action in the ODI series against South Africa, the opposition’s young batters were too.For Ryan Rickelton, Matthew Breetzke and Dewald Brevis, none of whom had played ODIs against India before, watching the two of the top-ten leading run-scorers in the format up close would have been an education their coach Shukri Conrad hopes they immersed themselves in. “For our young batters to see what the world’s best – Virat and Rohit – can do and how they go about the business, I’d like to think that we’ll take that learning with us and then grow from there.”Kohli was in imperious form through the series, with centuries in the first two games, and finished as its highest run-scorer while Rohit contributed two quick and classy half-centuries. Both played important roles in India’s ability to post massive scores and though South Africa did the same in two of the three fixtures, the consistency of India’s best was something both to behold and aspire to.South Africa’s highest run-scorer was Breetzke, whose two half-centuries added to his tally of five (and a century) in his first 12 ODIs, and whose intensity has been compared with Kohli’s by his SA20 captain Keshav Maharaj. But he still had just over half Kohli’s runs in the series, which shows something of where South Africa fell short.Aiden Markram and Quinton de Kock got hundreds and Temba Bavuma and Brevis a fifty each but South Africa collectively did not kick on like they would have wanted to. Rickelton’s form is a concern, especially his lack of footwork, and the composition of the top order remains in question. Tony de Zorzi, who did a lot of good work over the last two months in the subcontinent, will be out for an extended period of time after suffering a grade three hamstring injury which will further scupper some of South Africa’s medium-term plans.Related

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They have nine more ODIs scheduled on the FTP before April 2027, which is a long time but not many matches to confirm their home World Cup plans. It’s still far enough away to not be too concerned and Conrad isn’t. “Part of this is building towards 2027, the World Cup in South Africa and I’d like to think that a few things are starting to fall into place for that,” he said. “We’ve built a lot of experience and you gain so much more experience when you’re up against the best.”Naturally, after the success of their Test side last month, South Africa also wanted to beat the best and they gave it a decent shot. They fell 18 runs short of a target of 350 in game one, chased 359 in game two and then ultimately could not post a competitive total in game three, which is the only match where they batted first. Conrad did not use that as an excuse. “There’s no doubt that the toss plays a part. Batting second is easier, but that’s not the reason India thumped us tonight,” he said. “I don’t think it’s the dew factor that was the only difference between the two sides. We let ourselves down with the bat. We needed to post something a lot more competitive to put India under pressure. We left a lot of runs out there this evening.”Lungi Ngidi was among South Africa’s bowlers who struggled for control•Associated PressAfter de Kock’s dismissal for 106, South Africa lost five wickets for 59 runs and were bowled out with 13 deliveries remaining in their innings. India’s chase, inside 40 overs, suggested they would have needed to face those balls and score significantly more runs to have challenged them. And while there is a massive focus on batting in a high-scoring series, South Africa will also zoom in on their bowlers.They were without Kagiso Rabada from the outset and then Nandre Burger for the decider and found it difficult both to control the run-rate and to take wickets. Marco Jansen’s four was the most for them across three matches and less than half of the leading wicket-taker, Kuldeep Yadav’s nine, though he has a different discipline. South Africa’s premier spinner, Keshav Maharaj, played two matches and took one wicket but his economy of 5.70 was their most efficient.What South Africa lacked was a seamer who could hold an end, as Arshdeep Singh did for India. He conceded at 5.5 runs to the over and took five wickets. “With the ball they’ve been a lot more disciplined than we’ve been throughout the series. You only need to look at the wide count,” Conrad said.ver the three matches, South Africa gave away 47 runs in wides compared to India’s 21 which is indicative of their struggle for control. It also cost the chance to do the double, so to speak, which would have been a feather in Conrad’s cap. “We had a chance to do something really special. I think the last time India lost both a Test and ODI series at home goes back to the 1990s,” Conrad said. “So we missed out on that opportunity. But they’re a world-class side with world-class players. And when Rohit’s in the type of form, and Virat, especially, is in the type of form that he’s in, you cannot afford to be off your game.”South Africa were and they don’t have another trophy but they do have a five-match T20I series to prepare for, which starts on Tuesday.

Mikel Arteta has got a lot right in the almost six years he has spent in the Arsenal dugout.

He has generally got rid of the right players at the right time, he’s changed the culture for the better and reconnected the club with the fans.

However, he has also overseen his fair share of dud signings, with Raheem Sterling’s loan move last season perhaps being the worst.

Arsenal have made more good signings than bad over the last six years, but it looks like new Sporting Director Andrea Berta may have already made his own Sterling-type addition to Arteta’s side.

Sterling's forgettable Arsenal spell

To describe Arsenal’s transfer dealings in the summer of 2024 as disappointing would be an understatement.

Yes, the club did sign two excellent players in Mikel Merino and Riccardo Calafiori, but they also failed to sign the lights-out attacking star the team were so clearly crying out for.

It might have been this lack of forward signings that led the club to go out at the last minute and bring in Sterling on a season-long loan.

During his announcement, the Chelsea loanee told the Emirates faithful they would “see the best” of him, but that was as far from what actually happened as possible.

The former England international certainly tried to make a mark in North London, but he looked miles off the pace and was limited to minor appearances throughout the campaign.

Sterling’s Arsenal record
Competition	EPL	UCL	FA Cup	EFL Cup
Appearances	17	6	1	4
Minutes	496′	297′	80′	270′
Goals	0	0	0	1
Assists	2	2	0	1
Goal Involvements per Match	0.11	0.33	0.00	0.50
Minutes per Goal Involvement	248′	148.5′	N/A	135′
All Stats via Transfermarkt

In fact, the multiple league winner played just 1134 minutes for the Gunners across 28 appearances, of which only 13 were starts.

The Kingston-born Premier League legend left N5 with a single goal and five assists to his name, and unfortunately, a total, undeniable flop.

Now it looks like Arsenal might have another Sterling situation on their hands with a Berta signing.

Arsenal's new Sterling

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Berta and Co signed the likes of Eberechi Eze, Martin Zubimendi, Christian Mosquera, Piero Hincapie and Viktor Gyokeres.

However, unfortunately, there is one summer addition who could potentially fall into the Sterling category: Christian Nørgaard.

Now, before the pitchforks come out, nobody is saying that the Danish international will be as big a problem for the club as the Englishman was, in terms of wages and blocking a loan slot.

Nor is he likely to be as noticeably off the pace compared to the rest of the team as the Chelsea man was.

However, what is also undeniably true is that at the moment, it’s hard to see where he is going to get any game time at all.

The 31-year-old joined the club in July, and at the time of writing, has made just seven first-team appearances, totalling 302 minutes, of which three have been starts.

Worse still, he has played just 14 minutes of Premier League football this year, with 13 minutes of those coming against Burnley.

It’s a bizarre situation, as the 39-capped international captain of Brentford last season and ended the campaign having made 34 league appearances for them, totalling 2830 minutes.

Now, nobody expected the veteran midfielder to be even a semi-regular starter for the Gunners, but it seems like Arteta has no trust in him whatsoever, refusing to bring him on when Declan Rice came off against his old side.

There may be light at the end of the tunnel in the shape of the FA Cup for the summer signing, but even then, it feels like the manager will turn to someone else.

Ultimately, Nørgaard didn’t cost much, is a consummate professional, isn’t a media focus, and, in that way, isn’t really a problem for Arsenal.

However, it does feel like Arteta doesn’t really fancy him, and, like Sterling last season, his stint in North London will be short-lived.

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Jack Salveson Holmes

Dec 5, 2025

Manchester United have now moved into pole position in the race for a “sensational” star, and a £30m offer is being prepared.

Ruben Amorim identifies top midfield target

It is becoming increasingly clear that Man United will look to sign a new midfielder in 2026, and Ruben Amorim has now identified Elliot Anderson as his top target, although a deal could be on the expensive side, with a £100m fee being touted.

However, the Red Devils may be forced to move on to alternative, potentially more affordable options, with it recently emerging that the Etihad Stadium is Anderson’s preferred destination.

It would be disappointing to miss out on the Nottingham Forest star, who is now an established England international, having picked up six caps since the start of September.

The 23-year-old is not the only English midfielder of interest to Man United though, according to a report from Spain, which states they are now leading the race for Atletico Madrid’s Conor Gallagher, who has fallen down the pecking order at the Spanish club.

Several Premier League clubs have emerged as potential suitors for Gallagher, but United are the frontrunners, and a £30m opening bid is in the works, with the La Liga side willing to sanction a departure for a fee in that ballpark.

With the Englishman not receiving much game time under Diego Simeone, a January move could make sense for all parties, with Man United certainly in need of additional reinforcements in midfield…

"Sensational" Gallagher could be solid addition for Man Utd

Despite not being the flashiest of signings, the former Crystal Palace man could be a solid addition for the Red Devils, who need to sign at least one new midfielder, amid the uncertainty surrounding Casemiro and Kobbie Mainoo’s future.

It has now been revealed that United could be willing to let Mainoo leave this winter, should they manage to find a replacement, while Casemiro’s future is under review, with the Brazilian’s contract due to expire in the summer.

As such, two new midfielders may be required, and Gallagher could be a good squad player, having been lauded as “sensational” by journalist John Cross.

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The 25-year-old is very experienced in the Premier League, making 136 appearances in the competition, while he has also tested himself in the Champions League, netting one goal in five appearances this term.

£30m feels like a reasonable fee to pay for the 22-time England international, so it makes sense for Man United to pursue a January move, although Anderson should remain their top target.

Vitor Pereira had penned a new contract at Wolverhampton Wanderers back in September.

Yet, as we now enter November, the Portuguese boss is no longer occupying the Molineux hot-seat, with the Old Gold yet to collect a Premier League win this season from ten matches.

It is going to be a huge task for whoever takes on the reins after Pereira to try and turn around Wolves’ miserable season, with a surprise return for Gary O’Neil reportedly once on the cards.

However, despite allegedly entering talks about coming back to the top-flight’s basement club, the ex-Wolves manager pulled out of a shock reunion.

This could be a blessing in disguise in the West Midlands, with O’Neil enduring a tough end to his previous Old Gold spell…

Where things went wrong for O'Neil at Wolves

Going back in for a previous manager to try and turn around a sinking ship very rarely works out.

O’Neil did manage to keep Wolves up during his first campaign in charge during the 2022/23 season, as a depleted Old Gold side that no longer had the likes of Ruben Neves and Raul Jimenez on their books soared to 14th in the league standings.

It’s the woeful start to his second campaign in charge that would likely have not made this an appointment to go down well with the already disgruntled Molineux masses.

Indeed, Wolves only managed to collect a dire two wins from 16 games before he was given his marching orders, having also conceded a calamitous 40 goals along the way.

Games managed

100

Wins

31

Draws

17

Losses

52

Goals scored

135

Goals conceded

178

Points accumulated

110

Therefore, expecting O’Neil to return and be a transformative appointment would have been viewed as far-fetched, with Wolves chairman Jeff Shi even admitting when he got rid of the 42-year-old that he had “cut ties too late.”

Thankfully, Pereira worked out in the short term. But, now, Wolves need another fresh set of ideas to get them out of a similar mess, as a former Old Gold player turned successful manager continues to be linked with the vacancy.

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Wolves' outstanding O'Neil alternative

Wolves have been linked with a whole host of different and unique names, with ex-Molineux goal machine Robbie Keane even throwing his hat into the ring.

But, it appears now that current Middlesbrough boss Rob Edwards is high up on the priority list to replace Pereira, with talkSPORT naming Edwards as a ‘strong contender’ to get the job.

It’s noted that former Manchester United boss, Erik ten Hag, is also on their radar, although Edwards is currently ahead of the Dutchman to get the job.

The current Boro boss has a release clause in his contract at the Riverside and could soon make a return to the Premier League.

Immediately, with his previous connections to the club as a player and as a former U21 coach, it could be a good fit.

That’s before you even take into account the admirable job he did at Luton Town, who were rooted towards the foot of the Premier League division throughout the 2023/24 campaign.

Against all the odds, the much-loved Edwards nearly kept Luton afloat in the Premier League, as the Boro boss made the Hatters a stern team to try and break down.

That led to the minnows picking up a 1-1 draw against Liverpool that season, and saw them compete with Arsenal all the way at Kenilworth Road in a 4-3 defeat. Remarkably, that is the last time the Gunners have shipped three goals in any game of football.

Mikel Arteta even commended Edwards for how “difficult” he had made Luton to beat, with Wolves in some dire need of the same grit and application to try and get them out of their horrible hole.

It wasn’t all just attritional performances, though, as Edwards also managed to turn Carlton Morris into an 11-goal hero in the top-flight. That will be music to the ears of a misfiring Jorgen Strand Larsen, who has only one league strike next to his name this season.

But, as can be seen watching the highlight reel above, the imposing Norwegian did manage to fire home 14 goals last campaign, as he attempts to become Edwards’ next focal point, if the ex-Luton manager is handed the reins.

Described as an opportunity that will be “hard for him to say no to” by journalist Graeme Bailey, it will be intriguing to see if Edwards does end up swapping a top-of-the-table position in the EFL for another basement battle in the league above.

With a bit between his teeth now at the Riverside Stadium, it could be time for Edwards to mount a Premier League return, having also previously been lauded as “one of English football’s brightest and best young coaches.”

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West Ham have reportedly held discussions over signing a Brazil international duo who’ve both impressed in front of goal this year, with Nuno Espírito Santo badly in need of a new focal point up front.

The club’s January transfer window plans are becoming increasingly focused on three key priorities — a defender, midfielder and forward (Sky Sports).

The urgency for a striker stems largely from the ongoing issues surrounding Niclas Fullkrug’s persistent injury problems, which have severely limited his availability and impact for the Hammers since his move last year.

Fullkrug was brought in with high hopes as a reliable goal-scoring option to lead the line, but his torrid injury record has prevented him from consistently delivering those expected contributions.

Time and again, injuries have sidelined Fullkrug, and this inconsistency has left West Ham very short of choices upfront.

Callum Marshall, while tipped for a promising career, is too inexperienced to lead the Irons’ forward line, while it is believed that Nuno privately doesn’t rate summer signing Callum Wilson.

This has resulted in Nuno experimenting with Lucas Paqueta as West Ham’s false nine in their last two Premier League matches — which both ended in defeat.

Sunderland 3-0 West Ham

West Ham 1-5 Chelsea

Nottingham Forest 0-3 West Ham

West Ham 0-3 Tottenham

West Ham 1-2 Crystal Palace

Everton 1-1 West Ham

Arsenal 2-0 West Ham

West Ham 0-2 Brentford

Leeds 2-1 West Ham

The lack of a dependable number nine is a major concern for Nuno as he looks to avoid a dreaded drop back down to the Championship, which is now a serious possibility.

In the last fortnight alone, David Sullivan, Karren Brady and the Hammers board have been linked with a host of intriguing options.

Real Madrid sensation Endrick is apparently a top target for West Ham, but they’ll have to move quickly as Ligue 1 giants Lyon have already made a formal approach with the player himself keen.

Journalist Alan Nixon has said that West Ham have already worked on a loan deal for Al-Ahli striker Ivan Toney as well, with the Irons also holding discussions over Gonzalo Garcia (Graeme Bailey).

West Ham "offered" Brazil duo Pedro and Kaio Jorge

Now, according to Hammers News and journalist Graeme Bailey, you can add Brazilian strikers Pedro and Kaio Jorge to West Ham’s list of potential targets this winter.

Pedro, who’s scored 15 goals for Flamengo during this 2025 season, once plied his trade for Fiorentina in Europe but has spent the majority of his career in South America — where he’s earned six caps for the national team.

Jorge’s scored a seismic 20 goals for Cruzeiro this year, and the 23-year-old ex-Juventus sensation is still yet to reach his prime.

Jorge only has one senior appearance for Brazil so far, but considering his stellar 2025 campaign, Carlo Ancelotti will certainly be keeping a keen eye on the striker ahead of next year’s World Cup.

Bailey reports that West Ham have held discussions with agents about signing Pedro and Jorge, with Nuno’s side “offered” the duo by representatives.

That is as far as it’s gone, but there is reason to believe shopping in the Brazilian Serie A market could prove fruitful.

Jorge carries a market value of just £15 million according to Transfermarkt, while Pedro’s value comes in at around £17.5 million — making them pretty affordable options.

They’re also both represented by Bertolucci Sports, an agency that’s helped Brazilian talents like Gabriel Magalhaes, Bruno Guimaraes and Matheus Cunha seal moves to the Premier League in recent years.

انتهت منذ قليل مباراة الهلال السوداني مع سانت لوبوبو، ضمن منافسات دور المجموعات من بطولة دوري أبطال إفريقيا.

وحسم التعادل الإيجابي بهدف لكل فريق مباراة الهلال مع سانت لوبوبو بهدف لكل منهما ضمن منافسات الجولة الثانية.

وفي نفس المجموعة انتهت مباراة صن داونز الجنوب إفريقي ومولودية الجزائر، بنتيجة التعادل السلبي على ملعب 5 جويليه بالجزائر.

طالع.. فيديو وصور | مشادة بين لاعبي الأهلي والجيش الملكي في دوري أبطال إفريقيا

ويتواجد فريق الهلال في المجموعة الثالثة من دوري أبطال إفريقيا، رفقة أندية مولودية الجزائر وصن دوانز الجنوب إفريقي وسانت لوبوبو الكونغولي.

ويقع الهلال في وصافة المجموعة بنتيجته الحالية المجموعة برصيد 4 بينما صن داونز رصيده 4 نقاط في المركز الأول. ترتيب مجموعة الهلال في دوري أبطال إفريقيا 

1- صن داونز- 4 نقاط (مباراتين).

2- الهلال السوداني- 4 نقاط (مباراتين).

3- مولودية الجزائر- نقطة وحيدة (مباراتين).

4- سانت لوبوبو- نقطة (مباراتين).

Liverpool boss Arne Slot has made some candid remarks about his side’s plight in recent weeks. He understands the issues in front of him, and yet the Dutchman is struggling to find a route out of this rut.

A summer of sweeping change was always going to run the risk of taking from Slot’s finely-wrought tactical set-up from last season, when the Premier League was conquered so dominantly in his first year.

Hugo Ekitike aside, it is concerning nonetheless that practically all of the Anfield side’s summer signings have flattered to deceive this far. But it’s more concerning still that so many mainstays are just as far down from the wayside.

The struggling Liverpool mainstays

Liverpool are so open defensively, it is shocking. There is a staggering absence of balance from head to toe, and Slot’s comments, alluding that he is currently unsure how to overcome this issue, have been disquieting for anxious fans.

Even during last week’s resounding Champions League victory over Eintracht Frankfurt, the five-star Reds conceded first and looked wobbly until the hosts’ own defensive fragilities shattered open.

Virgil van Dijk has cut a forlorn figure during post-match interviews, with his side’s four-game skid in the Premier League weighing heavily on his armband.

The 34-year-old has not been at the races of late, needlessly giving away a penalty during the recent league loss to Brentford and altogether failing to marshal his troops, shipping so many goals each game.

Mohamed Salah, too, is toiling, with last season’s leading man reduced in strength and significance this year.

But Salah has still had his moments this season, while Van Dijk remains dominant in the duel and leads the side in an almost understated way: without the Dutchman, this struggling defence would unspool chaotically.

However, another of Slot’s most trusted lieutenants has been in woeful form all year, and he’s beginning to show shades of one Thiago Alcantara, who was immensely talented but frustrating under Jurgen Klopp’s wing all too often.

Liverpool's new version of Thiago

Liverpool signed Thiago from Bayern Munich for over £20m in 2020. Jurgen Klopp and his side had just won the Premier League, and the glittering Spaniard was identified as the perfect technician to open up new dimensions in the centre of the park.

How a fully-fit Thiago would have done for the Merseysiders across a prolonged period, we will never know. Thiago retired after four seasons with Liverpool, making only 97 appearances, all told. His final year, 2023/24, yielded just one off-the-bench display against Arsenal.

It ended up being a disappointment, such was Thiago’s quality, and now, in different circumstances, Alexis Mac Allister threatens to become the club’s new version.

Mac Allister’s current struggles are not of his presence on the sidelines, but rather, the 26-year-old’s inability to impress in Slot’s system thus far.

He was largely immense across his first two terms in red, but the tough-tackling, slick-passing Mac Allister seems to have lost his physicality and athletic robustness. He is a shadow of himself.

For a player whose completeness and control in the engine room has paid such big dividends for Liverpool in the past, this is a concern, and offers shades of Thiago in that he is arguably the most technically gifted midfielder at the club and yet is proving to be a “huge disappointment” in this regard, according to one Premier League analyst, who drew attention to him being the “Thiago-type” in Slot’s team and yet struggling to muster the requisite technical levels.

Thankfully, Mac Allister has been among Liverpool’s most impressive performers since signing, and there is as much an expectation as an anticipation that he will swiftly return to form and spearhead this new chapter.

During the early phase of the 2023/24 campaign, TNT Sports pundit Joe Cole hailed Mac Allister as a “superstar” of a midfielder whose dynamism and sharp-mindedness allowed him to “play anywhere” across the field.

Applying that theory should see the Argentina international thrive as the perfect cog in the middle of the Slot machine, easing Liverpool away from their current bother. Mac Allister has been anything but the solution, with his output on the decline across most every metric in the top flight.

Alexis Mac Allister in the Prem for Slot

Stats (* per game)

24/25

25/26

Matches (starts)

35 (30)

8 (7)

Goals

5

0

Assists

5

1

Touches*

55.8

43.1

Accurate passes*

35.5 (87%)

28.4 (85%)

Key passes*

1.3

0.8

Dribbles*

0.5

0.0

Ball recoveries*

4.2

3.1

Tackles + interceptions*

3.3

1.8

Total duels (won)*

4.9 (48%)

2.3 (44%)

Stats via Sofascore

Right in the thick of things in midfield, Mac Allister cannot be expected to emerge on top across every duel he contests. But he’s proving far less willing to engage in combative situations, with mismanagement, residual issues from an affected early-season setback and the absence of confidence that comes from

The good part is that Mac Allister has proven his quality across a number of campaigns in the Premier League, and he’s a world champions with his nation besides.

But we can’t hide from the fact that he hasn’t been pulling his weight, and what’s more concerning is that Liverpool lack an alternative who can provide Slot’s system with the full package in the way he can.

With this in mind, it’s paramount that Mac Allister revives his quality in the middle of the park and lifts the champions back to the standard they were playing at before. Otherwise, this new Thiago-esque reputation will only harden across the looming wintry months.

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