Why Paul Lambert needs time at Wolves

It's the old cliché in football that managers need time to settle. What Wolverhampton Wanderers fans will soon need to realise is that newly appointed boss Paul Lambert may require a lot longer than most managers need to settle in.

Lambert lost his first home game in charge of his new side 2-0 against Sheffield Wednesday on Saturday afternoon proving that Lambert has more to deal with than he perhaps bargained for.

Here are five reasons why Lambert needs all the time he can possibly get to settle in at Molinuex.

Squad Size

With billionaire owners currently in charge of Wolves, Walter Zenga was able to spend big at the start of this season and he surely made the most of it. The former manager bought in 13 new signings with five of them joining on loan.

Now, Lambert has been left with a squad of 31 first team players and seriously needs to consider who is and isn't in his plans.

A big January cull would not be surprising given the large squad that Lambert has inherited.

Formation

Paul Lambert has been regularly known to avoid playing two up front. However is his philosophy going to work at his new side?

During their defeat against promotion hopefuls Sheffield Wednesday, Jon Dadi Bodvarsson looked incredibly isolated up front and is in desperate need another man to provide support for him.

Bodvarsson has been Wolves' main striker this season. However, with only two league goals all season, he is out of form and the isolation up front is not helping that. 

If Lambert wants any chance of revitalising his teams’ fortune this season, he needs to either give someone such as Nouha Dicko or Paul Gladon a try as a lone striker, or change the system completely.

Why is George Saville on the wing?

The Chelsea academy graduate has started Wolves' last two matches on the left hand side. 

The natural central midfielder has looked poor in both games in this position and it begs the question, why is he playing there?

Wolves signed four wingers who can comfortably play on the left side in the summer, so why not play one of them and pick George Saville, who clearly can't get a game over Dave Edwards, Conor Coady and Jack Price in the middle of midfield.

Defensive Issues

With captain Danny Batth suspended, on loan Richard Stearman partnered Kourtney Hause against Wednesday in the middle of defence.

The pair struggled to deal with the attack of both Fernando Forestieri and the returning Lucas Joao and it was not a pretty sight for the Wolves back line, especially in the first half.

It does not help that they are missing experienced defender Mike Williamson and his absence could be part of the reason they have only kept four clean sheets this season, against Preston, Newcastle, Ipswich and Reading.

Lambert may look to bring in another experienced defender in January in order to reduce the poor defensive record displayed this far this season.

Low Confidence

Wolves are without a win in over two months and their confidence is incredibly low.

To top things off, Nouha Dicko, who is still considered one of Wolves' star men is without a league goal since May 2015. The Malian has yet to find his shooting boots since return from a length injury.

Kourtney Hause may be representing England Under 21's on a regular basis, but his irregular spells in the Wolves line up are not doing his confidence or his sides form any good.

Hause still has a lot of potential, but if Lambert does not address confidence and get his side back to winning ways, the ability of his players may decrease at the rapid rate in which they already are. 

Lincoln Red Imps: All you need to know about Celtic's semi professional opponents

Celtic kick-start their Champions League qualifying this evening against semi-professional Lincoln Red Imps from Gibraltar. The question a lot of football fans, Celtic fans and so called 'betting experts' are wondering is; who the hell are Lincoln Red Imps? Now before I go any further I'm making it very clear that I'm not a expert in Gibraltar or indeed their domestic football, I never have been and I highly doubt I ever will be. This however is what I can tell you.

Lincoln Red Imps are arguably one of the most successful sides in Gibraltar. In their trophy cabinet they currently posses 22 Gibraltar football league trophies, 17 Rock Cup trophies and 18 Gibraltar League Senior Cups. Now this sounds impressive (on a Gib scale) but when you take into account that they last time they did not win the league in the 2001-2002 season, iTunes had not even been invented and Marcus Rashford was four years old. This shows that the Lincoln Red Imps may sound like a pub team but in their recent times in domestic football they've had success on a scale that even Paris Saint Germain would be proud of.

Why are they so dominant?

Well, you'd think that the fact that they share a 5,000 seat Victoria Stadium may possibly something to do with it, but when you realise that the entire Gibraltar first division share the stadium with the national side then this feat doesn't seem as impressive. They do however posses 10 of the 31 players who are currently play for Gibraltar's national side including their two only current goalscorers Kyle Casciaro and national captain Roy Chipolina. The fact that a lot of the team play for club and country together may have lead to the domestic success.

Since Gibraltar's acceptance into UEFA in 2013, they have been able to enter one team for Champions League qualification and one team for Europa League qualification. Now despite this being in force for three seasons the Imps are the only Gib side to feature in Champions League qualification ever. In 2014 they were knocked out in the first round and last year reached the second round of qualifying only to be knocked out by FC Midtjylland. This campaign they have reached the second round where they face Celtic and despite their domestic success and history they have a enormous hurdle to climb to beat Brendan Rodgers' new side.

Celtic go into this campaign with a new manager with new ideas and seeks a lot of ambition with Rodgers' charismatic Celtic team. They are currently undefeated in their four pre-season friendlies whilst on tour in Slovenia and Austria  with two wins and two draws. They have also bought in teenage striker Moussa Dembele from Fulham who bagged 17 goals in 46 games for the West London side last season. He will look to form a deadly partnership with Leigh Griffiths who impressively scored 40 times in 51 games last season for The Bhoys.

So I hope that you have  better understanding of Celtic's opponents tonight. Despite their immense history Lincoln Red Imps probably don't stand a chance against the 1967 and 1970 European Cup winners and you would be very brave to think otherwise.

EURO 2016: Poland and Iceland, defensive geniuses?

Similarly to the 2015/2016 Premiership season and just footballing season in general, EURO 2016 has been full of drama, early exits and the rise of the underdog. For Leicester City their success came via confidence, belief, passion and their 'foxes never quit' motto. For the underdogs of the Euros thus far such as Iceland and Poland, their success has been highly due to tactical planning. Both nations I feel share a common tactic of a strong defensive mindset and high pressuring, counter attacking football. It has becoming clear that this is becoming a near normality in the modern game.

Iceland have so far scored 6 times in the Euros and have only conceded 4 goals in their 4 games, despite some of their fixtures coming up against European heavyweights such as Portugal and England.

Now to be scoring an average of 1.5 goals a game despite only averaging less than 8 shots a game is impressive enough, especially of a nation with a population 10% larger than that of Newcastle is staggering.

Yet they've faced an average of just under 20 shots per game and only conceded once each time out. Why is this?

Iceland's defence is not full of household names in the slightest with Kari Arnason being arguably their most famous defender in this country despite his most famous stints in England coming at Plymouth Argyle and Rotherham.

The current Malmo captain Arnason may have played in the Champions League last season, but he is by no means a world class defender.

Centre Back Kari Arnason already has two assists as EURO 2016.

It all comes down to tactical game play from Iceland's joint managers who have prepared their back four to be bombarded by chances and pressure for 90 minutes whilst still being able to turn defence into attack at a drop of a hat. Arnason has the joint highest rate of blocking shots in the entire competition out of everyone who has played all 4 possible games in the competition so far alongside Poland's Michal Pazdan and Slovakia's Martin Skrtel.

The likes of Swansea's Gylfi Sigurdsson have just applied pressure, made important tackles and been able to feed in the likes of Kolbeinn Sigthorsson whose able to cause problems for defences with his speed and strength similar to how Jamie Vardy's constant threat for Leicester City. You can probably start to see where this is going.

I've already spoke a lot about how solid defences and counter attacking football has worked for Iceland, but another man joint with Arnason for his blocking duties is Poland's Michal Pazdan.

Pazdan and his Polish Compatriots have only conceded once their four games at EURO 2016, and even that took arguably the goal of the tournament by Xherdan Shaqiri.

Despite only scoring three times so far, the Polish have done enough to get through each round. Star striker Robert Lewandowski may have been a flop so far in France but young Ajax forward Arkadiusz Milik has been doing his bit with his vital goal against Northern Ireland.

I mentioned earlier that Iceland had their answer to Jamie Vardy and Poland have their own Riyad Mahrez. Okay he may not be as much of a hidden gem as Mahrez but Jakub Blaszcykowski's two goals and one assist has made him Poland's star man. He has been statically ranked as the ninth best player in the championships to have played all four possible matches. His raw pace and desire to turn defence into attack has shown how easily it can be to turn a game onto its head.

Jakub Blaszcykowski has been directly involved in all of Poland's goals in France so far.

Well a lot of you are probably thinking it's great to see the underdogs doing well but what's your point. It's very simple, football is changing, how to win matches is changing it goes back to the origin of the likes of the Crazy Gang, you don't have to be the best team with the best players to win football matches. The 1988 FA Cup winning side of Wimbledon had a simple philosophy of get rid and attack. Dave Bassett famously said 'why take 25 passes to get there' meaning that the games to short to be playing the tika taka style of the modern day Barcelona. Teams like Leicester City, Iceland and Poland have won games and grinded out results by playing direct with a high pressure counter attacking style.

Is this the answer to England's problems? Do the Spanish need to employ such a system to stop their demise of the past two tournaments? Is this the sign of a new era in football?

Costel Pantilimon, a necessary signing?

At the start of the season, most football fans would say that Watford bringing in Costel Pantilimon on an undisclosed fee from Sunderland is a fantastic piece of business. However, what no one expected was for Watford to be tenth in the Premiership, 11 points clear of the relegation zone at the end of January and to possess one of the strongest strike partnerships in the league.

A key to their success and possibly a hidden gem to the Hornets is their experienced 34-year old goalkeeper Heurelho Gomes. Despite being known for a catalogue of mistakes and howlers during his six year spell at Tottenham Hotspur, Gomes has been on top form for the newly promoted side and has statistically been the best goalkeeper in the league this season. Gomes has played every minute of Watford's Premiership campaign and has a better average match rating then every keeper in the league this season that has played over 50% of the league this season. Despite strong seasons from the likes of Petr Cech and Jack Butland, the Brazilian has consistently impressed including 8 clean sheets and two man of the match performances against Southampton and Bournemouth.

How does the best keeper in the premiership this season compare to Watford's new signing. Gomes has made 2.7 saves per game on average compared to the 4.2 average saves per game made by Costel Pantilimon. Pantilimon also has an average of 0.2 saves in the six yard box which is double that of his new south american team mate. Pantilimon also has an average of 1.7 saves in the penalty area per game compared to Gomes who only has 1.3. Pantilimon also has the best record in the division for saves out of the box per game with an impressive 2.3 per game, Gomes only has 1.3. However the big distance is their number of clean sheets. Pantilimon may seem superior on statistics but he has averaged a clean sheet every 5.67 matches in the league this season, compared to Gomes who has an incredible average a clean sheet every 2.86 league games which puts him as the tied fourth keeper in the league for most clean sheets.

So make your own judgements, but the way I see it why would you change a working formula. If you have the best keeper in the league this season, then keep playing him. Not that Pantilimon isn't a good signing but he is currently 16th in the goalkeeper rankings out of the 20 keepers to play the majority of this campaign, where as they're current number one is the current number one.

Gary Neville's 5 Key Players At Valencia

With the shock announcement of Gary Neville becoming the new manager of Valencia, I decided to look at five key players who could be crucial to helping secure a top four finish for the legendary English Defender's first proper managerial job.

Shkodran Mustafi: 

Mustafi has been a solid part of the defence for the Spanish side this season. In his ten league appearences so far this season, the German has picked up two goals and two man of the match performances. As well as being a formidable player in Valencia's season so far, he has also now become a regular call up for the German national side despite only being 23 years old. He currently has nine caps and a world cup winners medal to his international collection.

Mustafi's performances haven't reflected on his sides current form. Mustafi is currently ranked as the 11th best player in Liga BBVA ahead of some very big names including Diego Godin, Sergio Ramos and Andres Iniesta. The German also has the best interceptions per game average in the entire league and is also currently in the leagues team of the season.

Valencia may be ninth but if the rest of the side can follow on from Mustafi's good form, then Neville may have the influence to get back to winning ways.

Jaume Domenech:

With injuries to both vice-captain Diego Alves and Matthew Ryan, Jaume has been given a perfect opportunity to stake his claim in the Valencia first team, and indeed he has. Jaume has kept six clean sheets in his 15 appearences this season. The 25 year old had been predominately playing for Valencia's B team until this season but if he keeps playing the way he is, Alves may struggle to get his number one shirt back.

Domenech is currently 12th in the leagues player rankings putting him above Real Madrid's Keylor Navas. Jaume is also the leagues highest rated goalkeeper on average match rating, making him the current goalkeeper in this seasons current team of the campaign. He also has an impressive 4.1 average saves per game which is the third best in the league.

When Diego Alves returns from injury, the Neville brothers will have a big decision when choosing their main keeper. 

Paco Alcacer:   

The 22 year old striker currently has six  goals and two assists to his name in 12 league appearences, despite only starting seven times. The rising star has also scored twice for his country this season with them both coming in Spain's 4-0 win against Luxembourg during their EURO 2016 qualifying campaign. Alcacer is highly rated in Spain and has scored six times in his 11 caps for his national side. 

Alcacer has been Valencia's only fairly prolific striker this season and if he was to be given more starts, he could easily be their next top striker since the days of Roberto Soldado and David Villa. Alcacer also boasts an impressive goals per minute ratio in the Spanish top flight with his average goals coming every 123.8 minutes. A record which is better than both Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.

Joao Cancelo:

Cancelo is a 21 year old right back who is looking like he could be a very hot prospect in the near future. Despite Cancelo's young age, the Portugese defender has made 74 youth caps at all levels for his country and has scored four goals in the process. The full back is best known for his tackling and his dribbling and despite not being a household name just yet, he is certainly one to watch.

The Neville's will know exactly what it's like to be a young full back emerging into the first team, and these are arguably two of the best possible coaches for the youngster to be playing under. Out of right backs who have played the majority of the league campaign, Cancelo ranks as the second best in the league putting himself above the likes of Danilo, Juanfran and Dani Alves

Daniel Parejo:

Dani Parejo is one of the better known Valencia players across the European scale. The 26 year old defensive midfielder is the current captain and is well renowned for his long shots and passing contributions. The skipper has had four goals and two assists in his 11 league appearences this season including a man of the match performance against fourth placed Celta Vigo with two goals and two assists. 

Despite never representing Spain at full international level, Parejo has scored nine times in 43 appearences within the Spanish youth set-up. Parejo's leadership qualities and all round contributions are going to be key for Gary's side this season and if he gets injured, Valencia's problems will worsen even more.

So there are my five players that have been key so far for Valencia, if Gary Neville can get a whole squad of these determined talents, they should have no troubles of returning to the Champions League.


  

Roberto Firmino: Liverpool's Marquee Signing

In a bid to change around Liverpool's fortune, Brendan Rodgers has targeted 3 big name South Americans to add to his squad hoping to get back into the top 4 next season. Overnight he has successfully got his first of his 3 targets after signing 23 year old Brazilian playmaker Roberto Firmino from Hoffenheim on a 5-year-deal. The fee is estimated to be around £21.3 million however the fee could rise to £28 million with the additional transfer fee coming via add ons. Firmino isn't exactly a household name over here just yet but I feel he can possibly become a fantastic addition to both Liverpool and the Premiership.

Firmino has had a very impressive season scoring 15 times in 45 appearances and providing 10 assists for Brazil and Hoffenheim. Roberto Firmino finished as the Bundesliga's third best player this season and finishing only behind Kevin De Bruyne and Arjen Robben (according to whoscored.com).

He is naturally an attacking midfielder who tends to play just off the striker and could form a formidable partnership with the likes of Daniel Sturridge this season.

My only concern about Firmino joining is what will happen to Phillipe Coutinho as his performances have been one of the only positives Liverpool can take from this season. Rodgers has often used one attacking midfielder and two wingers and the signing of Firmino would surely force Coutinho out wide or out of the team all together. 

Firmino is the fifth player so far to move to Anfield alongside James Milner, Adam Bogdan, Danny Ings and Jospeh Gomez but I feel this is by far the most significant of their new signings. Either way if Firmino is regularly playing and used well, then Liverpool may well return to their former glory.

Bobby Wood: Klinsman's latest hidden gem?

Since Jurgen Klinsman's reign in charge of the USA national side, he has been tactically scouting players from Germany or playing in Germany who are eligible for the United States. He included 5 of these players in his 2014 World Cup squad with big names such as Jermaine Jones and Julian Green included. He has encouraged the USA to play more aggressive and attacking football which helped them have an impressive World Cup campaign. The success is continuing with the USA side after picking up two impressive victories away in Europe beating the Netherlands and World Cup Winners Germany 3-4 and 1-2 respectively.

In these 2 friendly matches, a hidden talent has proven to come off the bench and score in both fixtures. This is 22 year old Bobby Wood who plays his club football for Erzgebirge Aue in the German second division. Despite the low level domestic football and his lack of previous fame, his recent impressive form for the national side may revitalise his career.

This is big risk for the USA but if players like him can continue to play impressively for the national side, the American's national football talent will soar to development which will help further the domestic league in terms of popularity and standard of football. Particularly with the likes of Frank Lampard, Steven Gerrard and Kaka recently arriving at the MLS.

The question is, could Bobby Wood a poorly-known second tier striker use his International opportunity to become a global household name like Landon Donovan once was?