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With the news that Liverpool are looking to loan out Dominic Solanke, according to The Sun, newly appointed Fulham boss Claudio Ranieri should be looking to tie up a deal for the England U21 striker to aid his side’s relegation battle.

What’s the word, then? 

Well, Solanke has made just six starts since arriving at Anfield last summer, managing to score just a solitary goal in his time on Merseyside. Recently, however, in an environment that he has so often thrived in, the 21-year-old scored a match-winning double for England Under-21’s against Italy U21’s in impressive fashion.

With Roberto Firmino, Daniel Sturridge and even Divock Origi ahead of him in the Reds’ pecking order, the former Chelsea forward looks to have no future at the club and should be desperate for a move away to save his stagnating career.

Where would he fit in at Fulham? 

The Premier League’s basement side have only managed to score eleven goals in 12 appearances this season as a collective – only four sides have hit less. £22m man Aleksander Mitrovic has been responsible for five of those whilst others struggle to help him shoulder the burden.

Whilst on paper, Solanke doesn’t appear to be a player who will come straight in and sort things out, his presence alone could fire up the Serbian forward and help him find his best form yet again.

Thogden witnessed Wayne Rooney’s final England cap. Check out his vlog here…

Andre Schurrle has pitched in with four goals, although he often starts in wide positions. If the Liverpool forward arrives at Craven Cottage, he will offers a physical presence up top alongside Mitrovic, as well as a clever forward’s brain where his runs and pace will help stretch defences.

Should they get him, they will be getting a player who is still yet to truly fulfil the potential that many saw in him as a youngster whilst with the Blues, under a boss in Ranieri who is extremely encouraging and positive.

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In the likes of Mesut Ozil, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Alexandre Lacazette, Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Aaron Ramsey, amongst others, Arsenal boast a wealth of attacking talent that most other clubs in the world would be envious of.

The quality of these individuals is unquestionable, their usefulness to the Gunners ought to be examined by Unai Emery though.

On the chalkboard

Without balance and cohesion, Arsenal’s attacking contingent will resemble less of a unit and more of a collection of individuals. As things stand, since taking over at the Emirates Stadium in the summer, Emery has yet to strike this balance.

Which team is the dominant force in London right now? Playmaker FC’s Tom Skinner has a very unpopular opinion on the matter. Check it out in the video below…

Against Bournemouth on Sunday, Ramsey and Ozil were benched, whilst Mkhitaryan and Alex Iwobi were deployed in support of Aubameyang. Despite grinding out a victory, the Gunners failed to perform fluidly in attack and all too often the individuals in their frontline looked to be operating on different wavelengths.

This is exemplified by the fact that only the Armenian managed to achieve a pass accuracy rating of above 80%. 

It is not only with this trio that issues have arisen. With Aubameyang forced onto the left flank to accommodate Lacazette centrally, the 29-year-old former Borussia Dortmund man has been stifled. It has proved difficult, too, for Ozil to be integrated into the side without leaving the team defensively vulnerable. Ramsey, for his part, has been little more than a bit-part player in the Premier League so far.

Deadwood out

It is vital that Emery discovers a functional and expressive configuration of his attacking talents soon. He may also have to countenance thinning his ranks in order to maintain squad harmony and discipline. 

With Ramsey and Danny Welbeck’s contracts set to expire at the end of the season, and Mkhitaryan failing to perform, those ought be the ones that make way in order to allow for Emery to restructure his forward ranks in his image.

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Having started just four Premier League games for Liverpool since arriving from Monaco in a £44m deal back in the summer, many fans have been left in the lurch regarding why the Brazilian was brought to Anfield. However, his performance in the Merseyside derby has made his position crystal clear…

A platform for the attackers to build from

In previous years, Liverpool have had some fantastic attacking players who have thrived consistently, such as Luis Suarez, Raheem Sterling and Philippe Coutinho. However, the defence has ultimately let them down at the end of the day due to their own incompetence as well as a lack of protection.

The Reds have so often in recent years been described as a ‘Ferrari at the top end of the pitch, and a Vauxhall Corsa at the back’. With Fabinho on the pitch, however, he is the engine in a team looking more like the famous sports car than the aforementioned inferior mode of transport right now.

Against arch-rivals Everton, the former Real Madrid midfielder made six tackles and covered 11.4kms – both stats more than any of his teammates managed. He also had 99 touches and made 87 passes with a completion rate of 87.4% – it is strikingly obvious that he excels at winning the ball, and successfully laying it off to a teammate.

A player that every top side needs

Every successful side in football has had a midfield destroyer such as the Brazilian international. Manchester United had Roy Keane. Arsenal had Patrick Vieira. Nowadays, Manchester City have Fernandinho and Chelsea have N’Golo Kante; apart from the departed Lucas Leiva, the Reds haven’t really had a crunching midfielder in the middle for years, but Fabinho is that and so much more.

Playmaker FC Exclusive: Jermaine Jenas reveals he would have snubbed Tottenham for Arsenal if they’d come knocking in 2005…

It is fair enough of Jurgen Klopp to bed the 25-year-old in slowly – he did the same with Andy Robertson and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain last season. Liverpool have done extremely well to stay just two points off the Citizens with their secret weapon kept in reserve.

Pep Guardiola’s side should be wary on the impact Fabinho will have on the side after Christmas. A fully fit, motivated and fresh defensive midfielder keen to do the dirty work for his teammates will make the fearsome three of Mohamed Salah, Roberto Firmino and Sadio Mane even more potent.

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Loads of Liverpool fans have been reflecting on the week’s action, and they’re delighted with the resurgence of James Milner.

Milner had an excellent start to the season, but the Reds’ veteran midfielder had been poor since recovering from a hamstring injury.

That was until Wednesday night, when the versatile star quite literally did a bit of everything in the win over Burnley.

Playmaker FC Exclusive: Jermaine Jenas reveals he often received racist abuse after North London Derbies – Check out the video below…

The 32 year-old scored the Reds’ first goal with a sweetly struck ball from the edge of the box, before moving to left back where he was both more creative and more defensively solid than Alberto Moreno.

Milner made three key passes, whipped in nine crosses and best of all his move back to left-back just calmed everything down when Moreno looked to be losing his way.

After a difficult run of form and a really poor performance in Paris, the Anfield cult hero bounced back in brilliant style on Wednesday, and you can find some of the best Twitter reactions down below…

[ad_pod ]I don’t need to tell you much about the feud between Paul Pogba and Jose Mourinho at Manchester United; just whack either of their names into Twitter or Google and hundreds of articles will appear on the topic.At a club that has a global reputation as significant as United’s, and for a player of Pogba’s unerring marketability, it was particularly foolish of Mourinho to pick a fight with a player that cost the club £89m, has over 6m Twitter followers and more than 30m on Instagram – the Frenchman’s commercial worth to a club obsessive over these exact qualities was always going to see him win his battle with the Portuguese boss.The 25-year-old wasted no time in reacting to his former boss’ sacking. Just 46 minutes after the Red Devils announced that the former Chelsea and Real Madrid boss would be leaving, Pogba uploaded a picture along with the tagline ‘Caption this!’

You don’t need to be an expert in body language to see that the former Juventus star’s facial expression is one that says: “You really thought you could challenge me and win, huh?” Additionally, the fact that Pogba deleted this post soon after it was uploaded tells you all you need to know.

Off the pitch, the World Cup winner is eccentric to say the least. He is constantly mocking up new dance moves with teammates, ‘dabbing’ or what not, and just being overly loud in general.

Perhaps it was a generational thing why Mourinho visibly detested him so much, even calling him a ‘virus’, or maybe the 55-year-old is just becoming a grumpy old man who is just ‘Yer Da’ but just happens to be a huge figure in the footballing world.

On the pitch, however, there is no way that you can argue that a player who has won countless titles, numerous individual awards – including being named in the FIFA World XI for 2015 – and has so much swagger and confidence in general could perform so pitifully and uselessly unintentionally – his woeful performances under Mourinho could easily be argued as being an act of sabotage, and he now has what he wanted.

As the club’s record signing Pogba can now truly step up and show the world that it was in fact Mourinho who was holding him back, and he must replicate the brilliant performances he showed for his country in the summer as they won the 2018 World Cup for his club.

He has won the battle to be the alpha male at Old Trafford, but with no new challenger in sight, he must show that he can be a leader and an inspiration; if he still under performs in this post-Mourinho era, there aren’t many excuses left for a player thoroughly out-of-sorts.

Which big 6 club needs to do the most business in January? Check out what the Playmaker FC squad think in the video below…

[ad_pod ]Leeds United have been boosted by the news that Liam Cooper is back in training with the club following a knee problem.Cooper has missed Leeds’ last two Championship matches after picking up the injury during the clash with Sheffield United on December 1.The 27-year-old underwent knee surgery in Italy, but has returned to training sooner than expected, which is a huge boost to the Whites.It is extremely unlikely that Cooper will be able to face Aston Villa in the Championship this weekend, but the central defender could be in line to return to action during the festive period, despite initially being ruled out until 2019.The Leeds fans have been offering their views on Cooper’s return, with the club posting a video of the 6ft ace on the training field.And it would be fair to say that the majority are absolutely delighted.A selection of the Twitter reaction can be seen below:

Who are the best away fans in the Championship? Playmaker FC’s Thogden gives his top 10 in the video below…

It’s absolutely no coincidence that supporters of both Manchester City and West Ham United hold Pablo Zabaleta in such high regard. 

The modern game is flooded with immensely talented footballers who are more concerned with their image and lacking the burning passion which supporters expect to see for their financial investment.

It can be difficult to watch a player shirk a 50-50 after you’ve spent the best part of £100 – and the rest – to go and watch your beloved side in action.

Pablo Zabaleta, however, is on the opposite end of the spectrum. During his prime the Argentine was one of the most effective overlapping full-backs in the division, despite his lack of pace and no-nonsense approach.

But above all it has always been Zabaleta’s old-fashioned approach, willingness to give absolutely everything for the side and patch himself up following a blood-stained head injury which have endeared him to the supporters.

The Hammers faithful will regretfully wave goodbye to Zabaleta at the end of the season when he will officially retire from football, but a recent report from Sky Sports suggests a similar character could be set to arrive at the London Stadium, namely Gary Medel.

According to the report, West Ham officials are set to travel to Turkey this week to advance negotiations over a January deal for Besiktas’ versatile midfielder.

It’s no coincidence that Boca Juniors, Sevilla and Inter Milan are all detailed on his impressive CV and, while supporters may have qualms over the signing due to his age and mixed spell with Cardiff City, he is exactly the type of player who could become a fan-favourite on the terraces at the London Stadium.

Like Zabaleta, Medel is a functional player who relishes a battle and embodies the spirit of a past-era which is rapidly diminishing in modern day football.

Sure, sometimes Medel’s enthusiasm for adopting an aggressive approach can spill overboard, but with the right guidance and discipline from Pellegrini he could become a shrewd addition to the squad,

West Ham are short of options in central midfield and Medel could add a further layer of combative spirit in a midfield anchor role to support Declan Rice.

Medel may not command widespread enthusiasm among the fanbase, but if Pellegrini can handle his hot-headed personality and translate it into colossal performances in-front of the back-four, his sceptics will end of hailing another Zabeleta-type figure by the end of the season.

West Ham fans – thoughts? Let us know below!

According to the results of our recent poll, 64 per cent of Sunderland fans think that attacking midfielder Lynden Gooch is worth over £6m, with the majority believing that he should be valued between £6m-£9m.

The 23-year-old is an extremely gifted player and he has been in fine form so far this season for new manager Jack Ross. However, his current contract is set to expire at the end of this campaign and with him being such a valuable player the Black Cats will need to ensure they don’t lose him on the cheap in January, or perhaps worse, on a free transfer in the summer.

Gooch can play on either wing and would be an asset for most clubs in the English Football League, so Sunderland must tie him down to a new deal. Having come through the club’s academy, Gooch has now managed well over half-a-century of games for the first-team, and has also picked up four international caps for the USA.

In our poll, 31 per cent of fans felt that he should be worth between £6m-£9m, 22 per cent said between £9m-£12m and 11 per cent thought he should be valued at over £12m. Check out the full results below.

Everton winger Ademola Lookman made only his third start of the season on Saturday as Marco Silva’s men got over the line against a spirited Lincoln City team with a 2-1 victory to progress to the fourth round of the FA Cup.

Lookman’s showing against the Imps, however, was a welcoming sight in what has been a tough few weeks for the Toffees.

Silva has struggled to get the best out of his wingers in recent matches with both Theo Walcott and Bernard underperforming in the Premier League.

On Saturday, though, the manager once again saw the raw talent and individual brilliance of the 21-year-old Lookman, who opened the scoring at Goodison Park in the 12th minute.

The former RB Leipzig man was lively on the ball and kept the Lincoln players guessing with his movement across the pitch, as well as his clever passes.

Lookman could easily have had a second goal before half-time with the score already 2-0 in favour of the home side, but his right-footed shot from the left edge of the box flew just wide of the target.

The attempt at goal, however, indicated how good Lookman’s movement was in the game. The Englishman, who started on the right-flank, drifted from side to side throughout the game to try and confuse the Lincoln defenders’ attempts to track him.

For Silva, this should be the brightest of indications yet this season that Lookman deserves another start in the Premier League to help lift Everton from their recent disasters.

Lookman has once been named in the starting lineup for a league match this season and that was at home to Newcastle United at the beginning of December.

But the poor results that followed after that draw has left Silva in a spot of bother with regards to selection.

Lookman would bring much-needed energy and pace to the Everton team when they host Bournemouth at Goodison Park on Sunday.

His presence would also compliment someone like Richarlison, who will surely most likely start at striker again against the Cherries.

Cutting back in-field from the right-wing will allow the Brazilian to make runs in behind the Bournemouth defence and Lookman will be able to direct play with his accurate passing.

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Jurgen Klopp says the biggest mistake of his career was failing to sign Sadio Mane for Borussia Dortmund.

The Liverpool boss is now enjoying working with the Senegal international at Anfield, but says he still regrets failing to take the winger to Signal Iduna Park.

What’s the word?

Klopp identified Mane as a key target when he was manager of Dortmund, and even went so far as to discuss a move with the then-Red Bull Salzburg star.

However, Klopp failed to follow through on the move, and he subsequently joined Southampton.

Mane would go on to score 25 goals in 75 appearances for the Saints, while also chipping in with 14 assists.

And Klopp says he still regrets his failure to rubber-stamp the deal.

“I have made a few mistakes in my life and one of my biggest mistakes ever was not taking Sadio when I was at Dortmund,” Klopp said, per Goal.

“We were together in an office and I spoke to him.

“Afterwards I wasn’t sure but that was really my fault!

“He’s an outstanding boy and life gave me a second chance to work with him and hopefully we can both use it.”

Klopp returned for Mane in 2016, securing his signing for a fee of £34million.

Nabil Fekir move reignited?

We often hear of managers expressing regret at failing to sign some of the biggest names in football.

Klopp missed out on signing Fekir from Lyon last summer when a deal looked almost done, and his regret at not signing Mane previously could mean that he reignites his interest in a player that he clearly admires and still plies his trade with the French either this month, or more likely in the summer.

Which big 6 club needs to do the most business in January? Check out what the Pl>ymaker FC squad think in the video below…

The German manager may know that this is his best chance to bring the 25-year-old to Anfield, as if he is allowed to join another big club then a move to Liverpool would be a lot less likely to happen.