Our usual scour of the post-Gameweek press conferences sees Claudio Ranieri confirm his decision to take spot-kicks off Riyad Mahrez. Steve McClaren talks up Georginio Wijnaldum’s versatility, Roberto Martinez praises the return to form of Kevin Mirallas, whilst Alan Pardew hints at giving Wayne Hennessey another chance in goal, despite a couple of key recent errors.
Mahrez relieved of penalty duties
Claudio Ranieri has taken the decision to relinquish Riyad Mahrez of his penalty duties, after the Algeria international missed twice from the spot in the last three Gameweeks. Considering that four of Mahrez’ 13 league goals this term have come through penalties, this development certainly diminishes the Fantasy appeal of a midfielder that’s drawn blanks in his last five outings. Incidentally, Ranieri declined to comment on who the Foxes’ new first-choice penalty taker would be:
“He was a little sad. I spoke with him and said ‘come on man, a lot of champions missed penalties,’ and it doesn’t matter I told him I will change now to leave him calm without pressure and when I think it is right to give him the penalties again I will give them. I said to him ‘don’t worry, take a little break, and then I give you the chance to take them again in the future.’ I don’t know now who will take them instead. Let me think and speak with my players. Last season it was Ulloa who took them. I don’t know now.”
McClaren lauds versatile Wijnaldum
Georginio Wijnaldum has been Newcastle’s driving force from midfield this term. Aside from ranking top of the team for goals (nine) – all of which have arrived on home turf – the Netherlands international places second among his counterparts for shots on target (21) this season, engendering the best shot accuracy (51.2%) of any midfielder that’s chalked up at least 15 attempts. After watching the Dutchman bag a goal and assist in the 2-1 win over West Ham, Steve McClaren praised his summer signing’s contribution, having recently shifted him from the left wing into a central support berth:
“He’s everything that we thought he would be. We said to Jonjo [Shelvey], you’ll enjoy playing in this team because we’ve got footballers and Gini is one of those. He’s our link. It’s important to get the balance right in the team and we allow him to make runs forward. He’s very effective, strong, he’s getting better and better. He’s got used to the tempo and he can score goals. He can work, he can play, he’s an intelligent footballer, he can play any position.”
Bilic praises Payet’s impact on Hammers’ team-mates
Dimitri Payet quickly got back into the swing of things in his first start following a two-month layoff, notching a goal and an assist against Bournemouth en route to an 11-point haul. As a consequence, the France international gained 330,000 new owners prior to Gameweek 22 and is currently the eighth-most popular “transfer in” (27,000) this week. Slaven Bilic asserted that Payet lifts the performance of the whole team – something that’s evidenced by the fact the Hammers ranked joint-second-bottom for goals (five) when the former Marseille man was consigned to the treatment room:
“You have some players who, no matter how good they are, depend on the team to create something, then demand the ball and try to do the job. Dimitri is different. You just have to give him the ball – and move. Then he will make all of you better. Can you imagine how important Dimitri is for a player like Aaron Cresswell for example? Aaron is an offensive full-back but he needs someone further forward to keep the ball for a few seconds so he can go on an overlap. If he has confidence that his team-mate will hold onto the ball, then he can go. If he is not sure, he may not risk it.”
Wenger pleased with Oxlade-Chamberlain’s central display
In response to Mesut Ozil being ruled out with an inflamed foot for Arsenal’s trip to Stoke City, Arsene Wenger elected to switch from a 4-2-3-1 to 4-3-3 set-up, deploying Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain in the centre of the park. The former Southampton academy product accounted for three of the attempts the Gunners’ midfield generated at the Britannia Stadium and was the only member of that contingent to register an accurate shot. Wenger was impressed enough with the winger’s performance to suggest that he’s willing to field him centrally again:
“He had very interesting moments in the game where he showed his qualities and how he can get out of pressure, go past people and get into the final third. In the future it can be a very interesting position for him. I played him in a 4-3-3 today. Normally we play a 4-2-3-1 as players like to push forward and I think it is a position that suits him well.”
Pardew wants Hennessey improvement
Having committed errors in successive matches that led to goals, the 4.1-priced Wayne Hennessey is skating on thin ice. The Welsh international spilled Joleon Lescott’s header during Crystal Palace’s 1-0 loss to Aston Villa, before misjudging Fabian Delph’s long-range effort at the weekend, raising questions over his ability to afford us a long-term budget option between the posts. Alan Pardew has revealed he is set to keep faith in Hennessey for now, though alluded that another poor performance could be the final straw:
“Wayne should have saved it. He’s made a couple of costly mistakes this week, and I need to see a reaction from him. The ball’s firmly in his court, but he deserves me to give him that opportunity and I will.”
Evans explains Baggies lack of clean sheets
West Bromwich Albion have struggled on the defensive front of late, carding just two clean sheets across their previous 12 match-ups – having posted five in seven before that. Jonny Evans believes that the Baggies’ lack of shut-outs is a product of a more attack-minded approach, which has recently yielded two goals against Stoke and Chelsea and sees the Midlands outfit sit fourth for both shots (62) and efforts in the box (38) over the last four Gameweeks:
“Maybe it’s the fact that we’re having a bit more of a go. You can see that we’re scoring more goals. Okay, we haven’t scored against Southampton but we scored two away at Chelsea from open play and I think that’s always been a wee bit of a criticism of the team, that we’re only waiting for set pieces. But I think you can see that we play a bit more on the front foot, putting teams under pressure and not sitting back as much.”
Martinez lauds Mirallas form
A peripheral figure for Everton through the first third of the season, Kevin Mirallas has pushed himself into contention recently with two goals in three outings. The Belgian wide man was particularly eye-catching during the Toffees’ 3-3 draw with Chelsea, placing joint-top among midfielders for shots on target (three) last Gameweek. Roberto Martinez lauded Mirallas’ rise to prominence while reaffirming the depth of quality within Everton’s squad:
“I am a neutral person, I can assess every single training session and at the moment we have a very, very strong squad which means that you need to be at your best as a player in order to earn the right to play. That is the key for us becoming a team that can compete for everything that is in front of us. Kevin’s performance was outstanding and that is what you want from every member of our squad so I have got no problem whatsoever with that and football is the best judge and when Kevin is at his very, very best he showed just how important he is for us.”
Martinez hails Funes Mori goal threat
Ramiro Funes Mori emerged from the bench late on at Stamford Bridge and went on to fire Everton into the lead in the 90th minute, with his second league strike of the season. The Argentine now has three goals in 22 appearances in his debut campaign with the Merseysiders, and is the only Toffees defender to score in the top flight this term. Discussing his backline’s potential, Martinez praised Funes Mori’s ability in and around the box ahead of a very kind run of fixtures (SWA, NEW sto, WBA).
“It is an extra bonus and an extra weapon. You want that goal-scoring threat from all over the park and our full-backs are always capable of scoring from open play and we now have centre-halves who have a real presence in the box and dead-ball situations are important. Ramiro’s power and clinical touch are important and to score three goals already, and especially in big games and big environments, that is a mentality side. We have three very, very important centre-halves and that competition for places was exactly what we needed.”
Klopp on Liverpool’s forwards
Christian Benteke was on bench duty for Liverpool’s previous two league clashes, with Jurgen Klopp preferring to field Roberto Firmino as a false nine. Given that the Brazilian recorded a brace against Arsenal and ranked joint-third among all midfielders for attempts (12) and shots on target (five) over the last four Gameweeks, he looks set to retain that berth for the time being. That being said, Klopp hasn’t ruled out the possibility of Firmino and Benteke starting together in the future, though admits the duo have yet to strike up an understanding:
“We have to think about how we create chances. First of all, we can get the ball into the box and then maybe Christian will finish it. For this situation, you have to look at how it fits. We had our games with Roberto Firmino at No.10 and Christian at No.9. It did not work in this moment, but that does not mean we can never play like this. In this moment it doesn’t fit too well, so we have to think about how to make it easier for the players to bring in their skills. Christian always has the possibility to play. To have Christian on the bench is a quality sign, to bring him in with his qualities in a close game. I would like to bring him in with us 2-0 in the lead to make it 3-0 or 4-0, but now it was twice not in the lead, it was the complete opposite situation.”
Ozil unconcerned over lack of goals
Although Mesut Ozil has already amassed six more assists (16) than his previous best haul over a season, he lays claim to just three goals. Indeed, the former Real Madrid playmaker mustered just four attempts during his last six starts, underlining his limited goal threat. Ozil contended that he’d be doing his team-mates a disservice if he eschewed his creative tendencies and upped his shooting rate:
“I try to be as successful as possible in every single game – to win the match. It doesn’t really matter if I’m scoring or assisting, as long as we win. I don’t think I will be doing myself any favours if I focus on scoring more, or becoming more arrogant in front of goal – and certainly not my teammates.”
Daniels thriving due to top-flight step up
By way of his two penalty goals in six outings, Charlie Daniels has attracted a wave of new owners in search of a budget defender. In fact, the 4.6-priced full-back currently charts third in terms of “transfers in” (44,000) this Gameweek as Bournemouth gear up for a promising pair of road trips (sun, cpl). Ruminating on his progress this campaign, Daniels – who also has an assist, three clean sheets and eight bonus points over that period – reckons that the step up in class has brought out the best in his abilities:
“I think I am playing the best football of my career. I’m enjoying each test week in, week out, which is obviously a big factor, and it’s bringing out the best in me. Each week is a different test and I have to adapt to that in training during the week and put that into practice in games. I can go as far as I want to go and of course I want to be the best that I can be. I just have to keep working hard, putting in performances and who knows what will happen after that? When Tyrone (Mings) comes back from injury he is going to be a top left-back and in order to keep my place I will have to keep playing well.”
