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Xabi Alonso, the ex-Liverpool playmaker, has agreed terms with Real Sociedad and will manage their B team, Sanse, for the next two campaigns.

The club have terminated Aitor Zulaika’s contract and they are ready to go down a different path with this true icon of the beautiful game.

Alonso is no stranger to managing, either. This will be his second appointment in that area as he has also managed Real Madrid’s youth squads in their 2018/19 campaign.

Now, he has taken to

/BztDeERCQvO/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link” data-lasso->Instagram to celebrate a new chapter in his career and it was met with a lot of positive feedback from his friends and ex-teammates.

Steven Gerrard and Jamie Carragher, both ex-Reds, were first on the scene sharing their best wishes and messages of support as Alonso rolls into a new and exciting challenge.

Alongside them were some other stars who did the same and showered the Spaniard with their support.

As a player, Alonso was best known for his glowing spells with Liverpool, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich, but his career actually started exactly where he is now, with Real Sociedad.

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The wives of Celtic legends Billy McNeill and Stevie Chalmers will unfurl the Scottish Premiership flag ahead of the opening game of the season, the Hoops have confirmed, and the news has gone down very well with the fans.

Lisbon Lions McNeill and Chalmers passed away within a week each other in April and the club is honouring two of their best ever players. Unfurling the Premiership flag isn’t some measly show that every club does on opening day either – it represents last season’s title triumph, the club’s eighth in succession.

The two heroes played in the Bhoys’ greatest ever night as they became the first British-based club to win the European Cup, defeating Inter Milan 2-1 in Lisbon.

Watch Celtic Live Streams With StreamFootball.tv Below

Liz McNeill and Sadie Chalmers will be there in honour of their late husbands’ great achievements not just on that fateful night, but over the course of their glittered careers and lives, in which the legendary duo racked up a truly remarkable 749 club appearances between the two of them.

The presentation will take place ahead of Neil Lennon’s first domestic game back in permanent charge against St. Johnstone on August 3.

Here’s what the supporters had to say about the touching gesture on Twitter…

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This article is part of Football FanCast’s Pundit View series, which provides opinion and analysis on recent quotes from journalists, pundits, players and managers…

Speaking on talkSPORT, former Crystal Palace manager Sam Allardyce has urged Arsenal to “stop messing around” in their pursuit to sign Wilfried Zaha.

What did he say?

Reports in recent weeks had suggested that the Gunners had not given up hope of signing Zaha, after they saw an initial bid for the Ivory Coast international rejected.

Despite suggestions that the Gunners would potentially be coming back in with an improved bid, Allardyce reminded the north London side that the transfer window deadline is approaching and warned them about dithering for any longer.

Watch how to cross the road like a boss with freestyler Ben Nuttall in the video below…

The ex-England boss said: “Pay the money. Time’s running out and the window is going to shut. If Manchester United are having to pay £90m for a centre-half, which is what they’ve been quoted for (Harry) Maguire, then this £70m/£80m price tag being put on Zaha is well worth it in light of the market we’re operating in today.

“Wilfried is proven at this level and he’d be a massive success at Arsenal. He’s ready, but Arsenal need to stop messing around like they are the minute.

“Wilfried is in his prime – there’s not too many players like him about. He’s ready now to move on now, so Arsenal just need to get the deal done.”

Tick-tock

As the Gunners’ final pre-season friendly on their tour of the USA came to an end against Real Madrid, all eyes turned straight back to what Unai Emery’s side will be doing in the transfer market for the rest of the window.

Arsenal face a tricky start to the Premier League campaign with the likes of Liverpool and Tottenham to come in the early weeks of the season, and need to get up and running as soon as possible.

Leaving a deal for Zaha to the last minute in the hope they can drive a hard bargain is a dangerous game, and could potentially leave them with egg on their face. As Allardyce suggests, the Gunners simply have to push the boat out immediately and bring the 26-year-old in, if indeed he is their main priority this summer.

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Alexandre Lacazette and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang are a truly inseparable duo at Arsenal, both on and off the pitch, it seems.

Whenever one posts something on their

/B0EozI9o8A6/” data-lasso->social media accounts, the other is extremely quick to reply and either rinse his friend or share some great messages of support.

It’s safe to say the attacking tandem of the Gunners is really getting along, and for that reason, it was not really surprising to find Aubameyang’s response in Lacazette’s comment section under his latest Instagram snap.

The Frenchman shared a photo with some of Olympique Lyon’s players after the Emirates Cup game and it seems that Aubameyang got a bit jealous.

The pacy forward from Gabon commented that he won’t even like the photo, which is probably because he’s not in it with them. But after a while, he posted a second reply saying that he’ll make the effort of liking it after all since it is for his “brother”.

The attacking duo scored 50 goals between them last term, but it wasn’t enough to help their club secure a top-four finish in the Premier League, or a trophy with the nearest they cam being their Europa League final defeat to Chelsea.

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This article is part of Football FanCast’s Transfer Focus series, which provides opinion and analysis on recent transfer news…

According to Sky Sports, Aston Villa are one of the two Premier League clubs considering a move for RB Leipzig striker Jean-Kevin Augustin as they look for a viable back up to club-record signing Wesley Moraes.

What’s the word?

Villa boss Dean Smith has spent over £130m on 12 new arrivals already this summer as he looks to bolster his squad ahead of their Premier League return.

The spending doesn’t look to be stopping there with the transfer window’s closure soon on the horizon.

Smith shattered the club’s transfer record to bring in striker Wesley for £22m but recent reports to Neal Maupay and Charlie Austin, on top of this latest link, suggest that another forward is wanted at Villa Park.

The club currently have Scott Hogan and Jonathan Kodjia as alternative options in that department.

Watch Aston Villa Live Streams With StreamFootball.tv Below

Bordering on a panic buy

Augustin has been frozen out at the Bundesliga club and they are willing to sell the 22-year-old in order to recoup the £15m they paid for him back in 2017 when he joined from Ligue 1 giants Paris Saint-Germain.

Last season, the France under-21 international played just 17 games in the Bundesliga – of which only four were starts. He also only managed to score three goals with the lot coming in this first three appearances of the season.

The signing reeks of a panic buy after the club missed out on reuniting Maupay with his former boss Smith – the Frenchman has gone to Premier League rivals Brighton and Hove Albion in a £20m deal.

That deal is only £5m more than the minimum amount Villa will have to pay Leipzig for Augustin, when in reality, the club should have forked out the extra few million to secure a player that their manager knows all too well.

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Links to Augustin and Maupay provide hints into the sort of striker Smith wants to add with them both being different types to the 6 foot 3 Wesley, who is more of a target man of sorts because of his height.

Maupay outperformed Augustin in every aspect of his game. Despite being two inches smaller, he won more aerial duels (0.6 vs 0.1).

The former Brentford star also recorded more than four times the amount of shots per game at 3.3 and outscored him substantially with 25 league goals compared to his three.

Having missed out on the 22-year-old, a move for Augustin isn’t really necessary and borders on spending just for the sake of it – risky business after Fulham were relegated doing the same last summer.

They’ve already spent £130m this summer and have Kodjia who is probably a better back-up option having played in England since 2015.

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This article is part of Football FanCast’s The Chalkboard series, which provides a tactical insight into teams, players, managers, potential signings and more… 

West Brom were dominant in their 1-1 draw with Millwall on Saturday but ultimately in front of goal they looked rather lacklustre with the visitors scoring both goals in the game.

The Baggies, aided by a piece of misfortune on Alex Pearce’s part, took the lead just before the hour mark as the defender headed a Matt Phillips cross into his own net before striker Matt Smith slammed home an effort from close range which really could have been avoided.

Albion enjoyed 72.5% possession and heavily controlled the game but failed to really get going in forward areas.

The problem seemed to lie with £8m summer signing Kenneth Zohore failing to have much of an impact on the game – he recorded just 12 touches in his 57 minutes which was one less than his substitute Hal Robson-Kanu, who played just over half the time of the 25-year-old.

Zohore also fluffed the best chance of the game in what was his home debut – probably one to forget.

On the Chalkboard

The season is only two games deep but Albion are showing signs of encouragement – they look more cohesive and more organised but lack that cutting edge up top.

During spells last season, even when looking particularly poor, they’d be able to get by thanks to goals from the likes of Jay Rodriguez and Dwight Gayle, who netted 46 in total.

It’s been the absolute contrast of that so far this campaign but their solution could lie in £4m deadline day signing Charlie Austin.

Manager Slaven Bilic brought in four new names on deadline day but none were able to feature on Saturday. therefore the best of West Brom might be a couple of weeks away.

The Croatian will be hoping he can get the former Southampton striker up to speed as soon as possible – a particularly hard task given the lack of a pre-season he’s had on the south coast with Ralph Hasenhuttl seeming to freeze out the 30-year-old.

Thogden ranks all 24 Championship home kits in the video below…

Austin’s record in the Championship is impeccable having netted 66 goals in 129 appearances across spells with Burnley and Queens Park Rangers, where he became a playoff winner in 2014.

Zohore may well be Albion’s number nine for the time being but that won’t last long if this current level of performance continues.

Tuesday night’s Carabao Cup opener against the very same team they faced at the weekend, Millwall, presents an ideal opportunity to give Austin and the other signings much-needed game time.

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Well, it will certainly be interesting to see what type of crowd turns up for Newcastle United’s EFL Cup clash against Leicester City next week.

Indeed, when the club drew attention to the fixture on Twitter, a number of Newcastle fans insisted that they would not be turning up for the match.

The tweet urged fans to buy their tickets in advance – saving 50% in the process with adult tickets starting at just £10, which seems very reasonable.

Watch Newcastle United Live Streams With StreamFootball.tv Below

However, the supporters were not having any of it, with many taking the opportunity to criticise the club once again.

Newcastle have lost both of their Premier League games this season – starting with a 1-0 home loss to Arsenal before going down 3-1 at Norwich City last time out.

The EFL Cup could provide a welcome distraction next week, but to say that the supporters are not interested would be a slight understatement.

A selection of the Twitter reaction can be seen below:

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This article is part of Football FanCast’s Pundit View series, which provides opinion and analysis on recent quotes from journalists, pundits, players and managers…

People shouldn’t kid themselves over Manchester United new boy Harry Maguire after just one game, says former Red Devils defender Paul Parker.

Parker played for United from 1991 to 1996 and made 105 appearances for the club, and he has spoken to The Mirror about why people shouldn’t be so quick to judge the England international after just one game since his £80m move from Leicester.

What did he say?

The 55-year-old said: “There’s no doubt Maguire started off well with a decent enough performance and a clean sheet, but let’s not kid ourselves.

“The win flattered United and allowed nice things to be written and said, but I’m not getting carried away.

“United scored those two quick goals, so for me, it was a false scoreline. People are saying Maguire is the best ever on the evidence of just one game. So you can’t judge him and say he’s going to be a Man United great after one game up against a weak Chelsea team.”

Can’t disagree

Frank Lampard’s Chelsea came to Old Trafford last weekend with the intent to attack, and a lot of space in behind was created as a result which suited Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s pacey forward line of Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial.

Maguire dealt with his individual battles well and came out of the match smelling of roses, hence the narrative of him being United’s saviour as Parker alludes to.

However, the whole team had a nice, easy day on the afternoon and there will be plenty of harder challenges to come for the former Hull man – the media shouldn’t be making such iron-cast narratives on just a single fixture.

Doing this will only set Maguire up to fail if he endures a tough time in his next outing, and will also lead to the 26-year-old having enormous amounts of pressure placed on him after just one game – the bottom line is that the Englishman has achieved nothing at Old Trafford other than a mere three points.

He should be allowed to settle in at his own pace and not have any wild claims made about his form so soon into his career, even if the comments are all positive.

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This article is part of Football FanCast’s Pundit View series, which provides opinion and analysis on recent quotes from journalists, pundits, players and managers…

QPR boss Mark Warburton has defended his ever-changing team selections following the midweek loss to Portsmouth.

The former Rangers manager has used 22 players already this season, and has overseen a mixed start to the campaign with the R’s winning two and losing two of their opening five Championship games.

Warburton also watched his side drop out of the Carabao Cup at the second hurdle following a 2-0 loss at home to League One Portsmouth, having overcome Bristol City on penalties in their first outing of the competition, but he has defended his decisions.

What did he say?

Warburton said: “We made eight [changes in the previous round] and won, we made six at the weekend and won. I’m a bit bemused when I hear about Watford making 11 [against Coventry on Tuesday], other teams making ten.

“You’ve got a squad of players – so when do they play? When do these players play? If you don’t think they’re good enough, don’t have them in your squad.

“If they don’t play, then when they do come on people say, ‘Oh, he lacked match sharpness’. Well he hasn’t played for six weeks.”

Has every right to defend his decisions 

Football is a team game and managing a sizeable squad is often an unenviable and impossible task.

It is Warburton’s job to make those types of calls and also to keep everyone in the squad as happy as he possibly can.

Cup games are usually the best opportunity to give fringe players a run out, and if the Londoners had picked up some better results it would be safe to assume that he wouldn’t be facing this type of criticism.

Additionally, the Championship is one of the most gruelling divisions around with 46 hard-fought matches on the fixture list throughout the season, in which players face trips all over England against some determined opponents.

It is imperative that Warburton does what he can to keep everyone fresh and injury-free, but also ensure that his charges are match fit so that they are able to be called upon when needed.

He isn’t going to be able to do that without making changes, so he has every right to defend his decision making.

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Dani Ceballos and Mesut Ozil are two graceful players. Individuals with the capabilities of unlocking stern defences.

Ozil, of course, is a World Cup winner and has won multiple honours with Real Madrid.

His new teammate, however, is at the opposite end of his career. Fresh off the back of European U21 success with Spain, Ceballos has also played for Real.

Technically, he still does.

The 23-year-old signed for the Gunners on loan for the season, becoming one of the first major moves in Arsenal’s summer activity.

They completed their work in rather stunning fashion by landing Nicolas Pepe for a club-record fee whilst also finally getting their man in Kieran Tierney.

Yet it’s the loan star who has so far made the biggest impact in N5.

Ceballos was rather mistreated at Real Madrid, a situation that had Zinedine Zidane having to publicly apologise.

That is now in the past and instead, the midfielder has a chance of a fresh start.

The Spaniard got off the mark brilliantly against Burnley at home, putting in a shift that was way above any of his teammates.

Against Sean Dyche’s men he was magnificent, claiming two assists, having three shots and also winning two tackles, per WhoScored. It was the complete performance from a man seemingly left in the wilderness at Real.

But there is a bigger picture here and one that involves Ozil.

For different reasons, Ceballos can lift a burden from the German’s shoulders in 2019/20, that’s if Unai Emery can find a role for him following a security incident involving Sead Kolasinac too.

Understandably, Ozil is yet to feature this season but it surely won’t be too long before he’s back in the fold.

His rather strained relationship with the manager was well documented last season as Emery left him out of a trip to West Ham despite being fit whilst the former Madrid midfielder also started on the bench away at Bournemouth.

Whether he has the mentality to play on the road is questionable whilst this mystery illness he seems to have continues to be a problem.

He’s already missed a match this term because of it and it remains to be seen what the actual issue is. However, Ceballos is someone who can allow Ozil his off days.

Why? Because he can create goal-scoring opportunities. He laid on three against Burnley in his first home start.

Ozil’s history when it comes to assists is renowned. Throughout his career he has 213, 19 of which came in a single Premier League season during 2015/16 according to Transfermarkt.

He hasn’t come close since, and neither have any Arsenal players. Last season the highest number was eight and Ozil made the most key passes, 1.9, despite only playing 24 matches.

This shows Arsenal have concerns with creativity, particularly when the 30-year-old is missing.

Therefore, Ceballos can make all the difference. For Spain at the U21 Euros, he average 2.8 key passes per outing.

It’s a different level but it demonstrates the capabilities he has.

As a result, Arsenal can make do without their sometimes sluggish German this season if they have their new loanee ready and available.

This can particularly be the case on the road.

His performance against Liverpool was disappointing as he failed to make a single key pass on that occasion, but some of the qualities he’s displayed in his time with the Gunners show he can be the man Arsenal need away from home.

He can pass and he can also get stuck into a game defensively too, two dynamic qualities that are rarely on offer.

Ozil was left out last season because he wasn’t the type of energetic player to help them in ties away from the Emirates.

Ceballos is the opposite of this.

Watch Arsenal Live Streams With StreamFootball.tv Below

He won two tackles against Liverpool and completed the same amount versus Burnley. His role in Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s goal against the latter was a fine example, hurrying his man before winning the ball back.

But this isn’t new to his game. Against Germany U21s in the European final this summer, he won four tackles and also made two interceptions, per WhoScored.

This is the major advantage the former Betis man has over Ozil but it proves why he can lift some unwanted burdens from him and make the ex-Germany international’s life easier.

In pre-season, Emery praised Ceballos’ hunger.

Certainly on the evidence we’ve seen so far, that isn’t an attribute that’s lacking.

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