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After coming into the Nations League games last week with some hope and expectation, England ultimately had to settle for a third-placed finish in the competition.

Gareth Southgate’s side were made to pay for their mistakes against the Netherlands in the semi-final, before salvaging some sense of pride with a fine penalty shoot-out win against Switzerland on Sunday.

Having officially now ended their season, Manchester City star Raheem Sterling took to Instagram to admit his disappointment at the Three Lions not being involved in the final of the tournament, but insisted that he would look to rest up, before ‘going again’ for pre-season.

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The 24-year-old had a game to forget against Switzerland, spurning several opportunities in front of goal; a stark contrast to his lethal scoring form this season under Pep Guardiola.

In 51 games across all competitions, Sterling struck the back of the net an incredible 25 times, and provided a further 18 assists too. Having won the PFA Young Player of the Year award, the England international will fancy himself to kick on again next season, as City look to claim a hat-trick of Premier League crowns.

With the European Championship coming up at the end of the following season, Sterling will surely be one of the main men the country relies on to fire them to glory.

[ad_pod ]Tottenham Hotspur fans have been left split over Gary Lineker’s tweet stating that Harry Kane simply must start in the Champions League final.

The England captain has been injured since the first leg of their quarter-final against Manchester City in April.

A debate has since raged among Spurs fans as to whether he should start in the showpiece in Madrid.

And Lineker waded in on Tuesday, insisting that if he can prove his fitness, manager Mauricio Pochettino has to pick him in his starting XI.

The selection would surely see either Lucas Moura or Son Heung-Min dropped.

Lucas, of course, scored a hat-trick in the second leg of the semi-final against Ajax, with his third goal coming in the final minute of injury time.

Placing him on the bench, then, would be rather harsh but Kane’s scoring record this season is impeccable; he has netted 24 goals in 39 outings.

But fans have been left split on his inclusion; some believe that he is the club’s best player and must play, while others are worried about the prospect of a half-fit forward stunting the team’s momentum.

Take a look at the best of the reaction below!

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Danny Mills has inadvertently pinpointed the main reason why Tottenham Hotspur should not sign Ryan Sessegnon in his column saying he would be a great addition, as per Football Insider.

What’s he said?

Spurs have been heavily linked with Sessegnon in recent days.

The BBC claimed on Wednesday that the club will bid for the Fulham full-back-cum-winger in the coming weeks.

However, Mills does not believe that the 18-year-old is good enough defensively to play as a left-back and has instead urged Spurs, if they secure his signature, to deploy him further forward on the flank.

He said: “I see him as an attacking player rather than a left-back, as he has a lot to learn defensively.

“He looked great in the Championship but the Premier League is a totally different level.”

A major issue

Sessegnon is not going to dislodge Heung-Min Son from the starting XI at Spurs.

He clearly has a high ceiling and has impressed even while playing in a genuinely terrible Fulham team throughout the 2018-19 season.

But there is little point in Spurs prioritising the signing of yet another attacking player when they really need a defensive overhaul.

It is at left-back and right-back where the most investment is required and, with Danny Rose surely likely to stay, the club should be looking at potential targets to replace Ben Davies.

Sessegnon, as Mills said, is not that player; Spurs would be better off looking elsewhere this summer.

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According to Gazzetta dello Sport, West Ham United are considering a summer move for Inter Milan attacker Ivan Perisic.

Perisic has long been linked with a move to the Premier League, but West Ham are now being touted as  surprise summer suitors.

Perisic, who starred for Croatia en route to the final of the 2018 World Cup, has scored seven times and contributed eight assists in 39 appearances in all competitions for Inter this term.

The West Ham fans have been on social media commenting on the speculation, which has come as a bit of a surprise.

Former Wigan & Fulham man, Jimmy Bullard recently showed that he’s still got it! Check out the video below…

And it would be fair to say that the majority do not believe that their club stand a single chance of signing Perisic from Inter in this summer’s transfer window – with some speculating that news of the Irons targeting such a big name is linked to the club pushing for season ticket renewals.

A selection of the Twitter reaction can be seen below:

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Pablo Zabaleta believes West Ham United are too “mentally weak” to qualify for the Europa League this season.

The Hammers lost 2-0 to Everton on Saturday, a result that dealt a bitter blow to their chances of finishing in the top-seven.

What’s the word?

The Hammers now lie 11th in the Premier League, two points behind seventh-placed Wolves.

Nuno Espirito Santo’s men have a game in hand, however, as do 10th-placed Watford.

And Zabaleta has blasted the club’s mentality as they attempt to overhaul the promoted side and qualify for Europe.

Speaking to the London Evening Standard, he said: “I am not happy at all because if you look at the season so far, we have not been consistent enough. We have had three or four bad performances against teams around us.

“There are five teams looking for that seventh position and it is all about one or two points difference between them.

“We have lost so many opportunities to be in that seventh place and it shows the weak mentality that we have probably got and which we need to improve looking forward.”

Form dips

Manuel Pellegrini’s team have struggled for consistency throughout the season.

Since the turn of the year, they have not won two Premier League games in a row, and their loss to Everton came on the back of a win over Huddersfield Town and a defeat to Cardiff City.

Zabaleta, having come from Manchester City, is the elder statesman in the squad and is right to be drawing attention to the Irons’ deficiencies.

It’s quite shocking to see an active player blast his own team quite so harshly, but it’s difficult to argue with the highly-decorated ace.

He has to hope that his team-mates listen as the season reaches its conclusion, with the club still in with an outside shot of qualifying for the Europa League.

Such has been their fluctuating form this term, it would be a surprise if they went any great distance in the competition.

Alan Shearer slammed the Swiss national side regarding their handling of the incident regarding Newcastle’s Fabian Schar today, amid growing concerns that failure to change the concussion rules in football is putting players’ lives at risk.

Speaking in his column for The Sun, he called for a complete change in how head injuries are dealt with, and suggested football authorities should copy the protocols used in rugby, and other sports, on allowing medical teams to treat players immediately.

He also called for independent medical staff to be on hand to make the decisions regarding a player’s ability to return, taking any decision away from parties with a vested interest.

Fans have taken to Twitter to applaud the former England star, and there seems to be almost universal agreement that something needs to be done as soon as possible to prevent a repeat of the events in Georgia on Saturday.

Here are some of the comments:

Certainly, it is a very important issue, and one that should benefit from the amount of exposure it has received this week.

The authorities need to act now, and surely will, as there will be no hiding place if next time it happens, a player suffers severe brain damage, or even dies.

What are your thoughts about Shearer’s comments? Are his ideas for change the right thing to do? Let us know your opinion…

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Former Leeds United manager Neil Warnock has told talkSPORT that Marcelo Bielsa has done a good job with the Yorkshire outfit, but he expects them to miss out on automatic promotion this season after saying they have a “soft belly”.

What’s the word, then?

Well, the Cardiff City boss was asked about the club he took charge of between 2012 and 2013 on talkSPORT, and in true Warnock form he certainly didn’t hold back.

Norwich City and Sheffield United currently occupy the top two following the latter’s win at Elland Road last weekend, and the 70-year-old expects it to stay like that while aiming a slight dig at the famous Yorkshire side.

He said: “He’s done a good job, Bielsa, but I think Leeds will miss out.

“I just think Leeds have got a soft belly at times at the back when they’re under pressure, in comparison with the other two.”

Bielsa’s next team talk done for him

The Whites need to bounce back with three points when they host Millwall at the end of the month, but the Argentine should simply pin up Warnock’s words on the dressing room wall pre-match.

It is something that should act as a big motivation for the players, to prove that they are strong and that they can still finish in the top two with a strong set of results at the end of the campaign.

The words of the club’s former manager may well be the catalyst to help Leeds finally get over the line.

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Everton were stunned by a second half comeback at Newcastle on Saturday afternoon, and Tim Sherwood has absolutely blasted Jordan Pickford’s role in the defeat.

The Toffees continue to be frustratingly inconsistent, as after putting in a brilliantly resilient performance against Liverpool they completely collapsed at St. James’ Park on Saturday.

Marco Silva’s side got off to the perfect start, scoring twice in the first half while Pickford stopped a Matt Ritchie penalty, but the hosts turned the game on its head after the interval.

Salomon Rondon scored just after the hour mark, and Pickford then woefully fumbled a Miguel Almiron shot into the path of Ayoze Perez, who made it 2-2. Perez then grabbed the winner six minutes from time.

What did he say?

Speaking on BT Sport Score, former Tottenham boss Sherwood said: “He (Pickford) makes some world class saves the kid, but he makes too many mistakes.”

Asked if he would drop the shot-stopper, Sherwood responded: “I’m taking him out, he makes too many risks, he’s not an England goalkeeper.”

Has he got a point?

Put simply, it’s impossible to disagree with Sherwood on this one, as his comments were completely factual.

Pickford does take too many risks, and the England number one leads the Premier League in mistakes leading directly to goals because of it.

In fact, he was lucky to even still be on the pitch to make his blunders on Saturday, as he should have seen a red card for his challenge on Rondon that led to the saved penalty.

Marco Silva now has a responsibility both to his squad and to the fans to show that no one is above the law if they are underperforming, and the £30m signing from Sunderland should lose his place for next weekend’s clash against Chelsea.

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West Ham have renamed the London Stadium’s East Stand in honour of legendary Hammer Billy Bonds, who holds the record of appearances for the club with an incredible 793 games under his belt and also lifted the FA Cup twice (1975 and 1980).

Bonds will join Bobby Moore and Sir Trevor Brooking, who have both been immortalised at the former Olympic stadium in a similar way. The 72-year-old will be in attendance for the stand’s unveiling via ceremony on 2nd March, prior to the Premier League clash with Newcastle.

Speaking about the decision to whufc.com, joint-chairmen David Gold and David Sullivan said: “This is a proud and historical moment for West Ham United, as we honour one of the very greatest players ever to pull on the famous Claret and Blue shirt.

Who is West Ham’s worst ever signing? Check out the video below for a pretty strong candidate for the dubious honour…

“To West Ham United supporters, Billy Bonds epitomises the very heart and soul of our Football Club. A man who gave blood, sweat and tears during the course of a 21-year playing career and led the Club with dignity and pride as a manager between 1990 and 1994.”

The honour is surely one that Hammers fans feel has been a long-time coming and it is undoubtedly deserved – you can find the best of the reaction on Twitter below…

The Mumbai fire department has asked the Wankhede Stadium to undertake measures to improve its fire safety mechanism as it is currently not in compliance with fire safety norms. The stadium, which will host the World Cup final, was inspected by two fire officials on Wednesday.”The [inspection] team has found that the newly renovated stadium has many loopholes in its fire safety mechanism,” chief fire officer Uday Tatkare told PTI. “We will write a letter to the Mumbai Cricket Association stating there is a need to comply with fire safety norms. Once they abide by the terms we will conduct another inspection.”MCA joint secretary Lalchand Rajput, however, said there were only a few minor changes required. “We have already received the NOC and what is left now is the compliance certificate,” Rajput told ESPNcricinfo. “We were visited by the department day before yesterday [Wednesday] and they pointed out a few minimum requirements that we will have no problems complying with. It is not as if this is a new ground that has never passed fire safety requirements before. We have just redeveloped the stadium and this is minor stuff.”There have been previous worries about the progress of renovations at the Wankhede, which began soon after the conclusion of the 2008 IPL season. Back in 2010, a public interest litigation (PIL) was filed stating the work at Wankhede was in violation of several environmental and safety norms. One of the main concerns was the lack of access of the fire brigade to all parts of the venue, as required under the National Building Code of India.The stadium was then supposed to be ready by November to host a Test match between India and New Zealand, but was dropped as a venue for that series. In December last year, the ICC inspection team slammed the stadium, saying it was not possible to confirm that it would be in a suitable condition to be handed over by January 31.The Wankhede managed to recover from that setback and was given the go-ahead by the ICC on January 27, even as Eden Gardens lost the India-England fixture. The Wankhede will host two World Cup group matches featuring New Zealand, Canada and Sri Lanka, apart from the final.