Ross Barkley did not have a good game against Sunderland.
Barkley spent most of his time posting up defenders like a basketball player from the 90s, but that strategy doesn't work very well if you're 40 yards from the goal. Ronald Koeman noticed this and yanked Barkley for Spaniard Gerard Deulofeu, who is wispy and aggressive and prefers to glide at/around defenders instead of trying to smash them into grit.
In the first half against Sunderland, Everton looked listless, stuck even. They kept posting up Ross Barkley like 40 yards away from the goal, and it was not working. Romelu Lukaku only touched the ball 10 times and still probably should have had two goals.
In the second half against Sunderland, Gerard Deulofeu came on for Barkley and Lukaku ended his 11-match scoring drought then added two more for good measure.
It’s very ironic when you think about it. The fact that English Premier League (EPL) is considered (by some) the best league in the world and yet the number of British players playing abroad is shockingly low. In England alone, we could come up with long lists of Spanish, French, German, Dutch and Italian players applying their traits in the EPL.
The sensational Kevin De Bruyne and 19-year-old forward Kelechi Iheanacho put Manchester City up 2-0 by the 36th minute of Saturday’s Manchester derby. Zlatan Ibrahimovic pulled one back for United in the 42nd minute, but City went on claim all three points with a 2-1 victory in the Manchester derby.
Pep Guardiola’s Premier League record with Manchester City now reads played four, won four. It’s been a dream start for Guardiola and City, doubly so now that the Spanish manager has emerged victorious from his first visit to Old Trafford.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s signing for Manchester United is the final big European stop for a man who has found success in the Netherlands, Italy, Spain and France. The questions surrounding his ability to succeed in the Premier League, while undoubtedly a media creation, still seem to fuel his desire to stay at the top of his game at 34 years of age.
Transfer deadline day has come and gone and Premier League clubs (even Arsenal!) were not afraid to splash some cash.
We all remember the long, drawn out, inevitable transfers such as Paul Pogba to Manchester United. But here are three last-minute deadline day deals that caught us all by surprise.
1. Jack Wilshere (Arsenal to Bournemouth)
It's been ten years since Cristiano Ronaldo first flirted with the prospect of leaving Manchester United for Real Madrid. We all know he wound up making the switch to the Santiago Bernabeu during the summer of 2009, but Ronaldo’s three extra years at United helped him become the Herculean figure he is today.
Ronaldo's initial itch to leave United stemmed from fear — a fear of backlash from the whole of England after his perceived role in Wayne Rooney's sending off during a 2006 World Cup quarterfinal.
The 2016 summer transfer window is officially closed. There have been many exciting transfers as well as some truly terrible, overpriced ones. We're only a few weeks into the new season so we don’t know for sure how these transfers are going to work out, but we've come up with a list of 10 transfers which we anticipate will prove worthless.
#10: Maarten Stekelenburg | Fulham to Everton
Yaya Toure reportedly told Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola back in May that he was determined to fight for his future at the club and see out the remaining year of his contract.