Bafana Bafana dare to dream, Luton pull a rabbit out the hat, Rashford's cracking response to bender controversy and more! Gary Lemke's highlights a few talking points ahead of the weekend's football.
SHHH. TRANSFER WINDOW IS CLOSED
Well, how was that for you? And so ended one of the most underwhelming transfer periods, with the window closing quietly instead of with a loud bang. Even if the January window is traditionally quieter than the between-seasons one, it was calm by any standards.
Perhaps it’s the threat of breaching Financial Fair Play rules, which have seen Everton and Nottingham Forest already charged, while it seems a matter of time before Manchester City and Chelsea will get a knock on their chairman’s door.
Early estimates put the entire month’s spend at £100 million, with Crystal Palace buying midfielder Adam Whatton from Blackburn for £22.5m. Elsewhere, Armando Boja’s asking price from Chelsea came down from an initial £50m to a maximum £4m in joining Fulham.
Adam Wharton and his technical ability..
— ~ (@CFCdruw) January 28, 2024
Here’s an example with his passing on display: pic.twitter.com/K8JDuNGnEi
TEQUILA BENDER FLOORS RASHFORD
Some might argue that it should be filed under the “single 26-year-old footballing millionaire goes on bender” category, in other words, nothing to see here. But. in this world of social media, mobile fans and celebrity culture, Marcus Rashford’s 12-hour tequila drinking session in Belfast made headlines.
And earned him a two-week fine from Manchester United (some £650,000). The problem is that he called in sick (aka one-day flu) and didn’t pitch for United training. That’s all fair, after all, he’s a professional.
Yet, reports that he was “put into bed, passed out, fully clothed, at 3am”, by a 30-year-old waitress, is now the way of the world. And, why would the waitress be so keen to rush to the media? Anyways, he responded in perfect fashion by opening the scoring in United’s 4-3 win over Wolves on Thursday night.
What a brilliant finish from Marcus Rashford. 🔥🔥 pic.twitter.com/lWMrJPcnDc
— RED BRIGADE (@mufcredbrigade) February 2, 2024
CAN BAFANA DARE TO DREAM?
Cyril, Cyril, can we have another public holiday if Bafana Bafana win AFCON? Now that you’ve finished scoffing at that thought, consider this: Bafana, the 1996 champions, are in the quarter-finals where they face Cape Verde.
The winner meets the winner of Nigeria and Angola in the semi-finals. Bafana saw off World Cup semi-finalists 2-0 in the Last 16. The latest World Rankings with the eight remaining teams is: Nigeria 42, Ivory Coast 49, Mali 51, South Africa 66, Cape Verde 73, Guinea 80, DR Congo 112 and Angola 117. All of Senegal, Egypt, Cameroon, Morocco and Tunisia have fallen by the wayside.
Not many People are deeping the fact that Bafana Bafana went Toe to Toe Twice in 6 months with a Moroccan team who finished 4th in the FIFA World Cup and ended up winning both games scoring 4 goals and only Conceding 1 goal😳😳
— Uwais Saeed (@13Uwais) January 31, 2024
SA the only team to beat them since the WC X2✅😉🇿🇦 pic.twitter.com/nW6PQ2lsgb
WHO WILL REPLACE KLOPP?
With Jurgen Klopp announcing he is leaving Liverpool at the end of the season, betting has opened to see what his next move, when he’s ready, would be. He’s odds-on to become Germany national team manager.
In terms of those to replace him at Anfield, Xabi Alonso (Bayer Leverkusen) is 4/10 favourite, with Roberto De Zerbi (Brighton) at 7/1, Zinedine Zidane 17/2, Steven Gerrard 9/1 and Julian Nagelsmann 10/1. Who is your fancy to replace Klopp. As a Chelsea fan, I’m offering Mauricio Pochettino on a free.
Only ONE man can manage Liverpool after Jürgen Klopp leaves, his name is XABI ALONSO. 🇪🇸🤝
— Rami (@LFCRami_) January 26, 2024
pic.twitter.com/wMtaD6JlDe
JOTA PROVING TO BE A RARE BREED
It has always amazed me when commentators refer to a player “taking the shot with his weaker foot”, or forgiving him for missing something with his “wrong foot”. When a professional footballer earning some £200,000 a week only has “one foot” then it feels as though they are taking the mickey.
Two players who don’t have a “weaker” foot are Tottenham’s Son Heung-Min and Man City’s Kevin De Bruyne. You can also add a third to the list – Liverpool’s Diogo Jota. He has now scored 27 times in the Premier League with his right foot, 20 times with his left foot and 18 times with his head.
Diogo Jota 23/24 - Clinical pic.twitter.com/7be3yCwcSK
— The Big LFC™ (@TheBigLFC) January 25, 2024
FAST START HELPS LUTON’S CASE
Luton Town have certainly rallied in their cause behind beating the drop. They moved out of the relegation zone – leaving Everton, Burnley and Sheffield United standing at the trapdoor – when they beat Brighton in midweek.
They have a tough game at Newcastle this weekend though. However, they were 2-0 up against Brighton in 2min 17sec and went on to win 4-0. Only one team in EPL history has been 2-0 up in a shorter space of time after kick-off – Leicester against Derby in 1998.
Yoruba-Nigerian/British, Elijah Adebayo scores Luton's first hat trick in Premier League history 🎩
— THINK YORUBA FIRST (@ThinkYoruba_1st) January 30, 2024
He needs to be invited to the Super Eagles team🙏🏽.
Scoreline: Luton 4: Brighton 0 pic.twitter.com/DweFyMWsDV
