Alex Pritchard – CaughtOffside

Drama unfolds in Championship as Sunderland midfielder refuses to play just an hour before match

Mehdi Gokal — Sat, 27 Jan 2024 16:09:53 +0000

Sunderland’s Alex Pritchard made headlines by refusing to play for the club against Stoke City earlier today.

Despite the Black Cats leading 1-0 at half-time, courtesy of Mason Burstow’s goal, Pritchard’s decision to refuse playing time was unexpected and prompted the club to issue a statement.

In an official announcement on their website (as reported by The Sun), Sunderland disclosed that the versatile midfielder informed the club on Friday morning that he was no longer available for selection.

Additionally, he withdrew from the matchday squad, expressing his immediate desire to leave the club.

The statement emphasised that Sunderland would refrain from providing further comments at the current juncture.

Sunderland announced on their official website (via The Sun):

“On Friday morning, Alex Pritchard informed the Club that he was no longer available for selection and he subsequently withdrew from today’s matchday squad.”

“The midfielder also expressed his desire to leave SAFC with immediate effect.”

“The Club will be making no further comment at this moment in time.”

Four Tottenham players expected to leave this summer named by Sky journalist

Joe Fish — Sat, 23 Jul 2016 06:00:12 +0000

Nabil Bentaleb is one of four players who are being tipped to leave Tottenham Hotspur as part of Mauricio Pochettino’s summer transfer plans.

The Algerian midfielder has not been included in the Spurs squad to tour Australia for their pre-season International Champions Cup campaign.

And Lyall Thomas – Sky Sports’ expert for all things Spurs – has indicated that is because it is looking likely that Bentaleb has no future at White Hart Lane.

In reply to an inquisitive fan, Thomas tweeted that he expects the 21-year-old, along with three other first-team fringe players, to be allowed to leave.

Pritchard for sale at £8m. NJie discussing possible Marseille move. Bentaleb + Fazio’s futures also appear elsewhere https://t.co/uIxVbFJJJJ

— Lyall Thomas (@SkySportsLyall) July 22, 2016

Bentaleb showed great promise in his early Tottenham appearances, making 25 Premier League starts in 2014-15 before an injury-hit campaign last season in which he featured only 11 times, and not once in the league after August.

The youngster has huge potential, but Pochettino seemingly trusts the likes of Ryan Mason or Tom Carroll to provide better cover in the centre of the park.

Alex Pritchard is another who was highly rated at Tottenham, but their return to the Champions League means that his opportunities to play would be slim.

The £8m price quoted by Thomas seems a bit steep for a talent who is only proven at Championship level, but we know Daniel Levy drives a hard bargain!

As Thomas alludes to, speedy forward Clinton N’Jie is in talks with Marseille about a loan return to France, only 12 months after arriving from Lyon.

And the last of the up-for-sale quartet, Federico Fazio, who spent the second half of last season with Sevilla, is most likely to go back to Spain once more.

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(Photos) Vincent Janssen debut ends with defeat for Tottenham in preseason London derby

Robert Summerscales — Sun, 17 Jul 2016 12:15:09 +0000

Both of Tottenham Hotspur’s 2016 summer signings featured as Mauricio Pochettino’s men lost 1-0 to Fulham in a behind-closed-doors London derby yesterday.

A Vincent Janssen debut and a second preseason appearance for former Southampton midfielder Victor Wanyama could not inspire Spurs, who also gave minutes to Nacer Chadli, Cameron Carter-Vickers, Nabil Bentaleb, Alex Pritchard, Kieran Trippier, Heung-Min Son, Michel Vorm, Luke McGee and Shayon Harrison.

Fulham had former-Spur Scott Parker in midfield.

The only goal of the game came on 88 minutes when Luca de la Torre fired past McGee from 10 yards following some neat play by Stephen Humphries.

Spurs had been the better side, so Fulham’s goal came somewhat against the run of play.

Janssen – a recent recruit from AZ Alkmaar – almost bagged an equaliser at the death, but his stylish effort was well saved by Fulham goalkeeper Jesse Joronen.

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(Photos) Four summer signings make debuts as Spurs and Liverpool start preseason with wins

Robert Summerscales — Sat, 09 Jul 2016 14:51:11 +0000

Tottenham Hotspur and Liverpool have both begun their preseason campaigns by winning their first friendly of 2016.

Spurs got the ball rolling by thrashing Nottingham Forest 3-0 at their Hotspur Way training ground on Saturday morning, less than 24 hours after Liverpool had scraped a 1-0 win over Tranmere Rovers in front of a packed Prenton Park.

Tottenham’s sole summer signing so far, former Southampton midfielder Victor Wanyama, made his debut for Spurs.

Meanwhile, Liverpool handed debuts to all three of their summer signings, with German goalkeeper Loris Karius, Cameroonian centre-back Joel Matip and Senegalese attacker Sadio Mane all featuring.

None of the new boys got on the scoresheet, but all got through their first game without any fitness concerns.

Tottenham’s goals against Forest came courtesy of Heung-Min Son, Tom Carroll and Alex Pritchard.

Liverpool’s winner was struck by Danny Ings.

The below photos of Wanyama were first featured on TottenhamHotspur.com.

Sadio Mane on his Reds debut…

A photo posted by Liverpool Football Club (@liverpoolfc) on Jul 8, 2016 at 12:34pm PDT

Joel Matip in #LFC colours for the first time…

A photo posted by Liverpool Football Club (@liverpoolfc) on Jul 8, 2016 at 12:35pm PDT

@lorisk21 makes his #LFC debut! ?

A photo posted by Liverpool Football Club (@liverpoolfc) on Jul 8, 2016 at 1:57pm PDT

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Important Spurs midfielder targeted in bold transfer swoop

Jonathan Machlin — Tue, 21 Jun 2016 20:15:03 +0000

Tottenham Hotspur have devoted a lot of time and energy to give winger Alex Pritchard experience in the hopes that he develops into a player that can get more consistent reps at White Hart Lane down the road. But one of the Spurs’ former rivals hopes to upend all of work by signing him this summer.

According to HITC Sport, Newcastle United manager Rafa Benitez has targeted Pritchard in an effort to ensure his club’s promotion to the Premier League next season.

Pritchard made one appearance for the Spurs last season before being loaned to West Bromwich Albion and making three appearances. He has made two Premier League appearances for the Spurs in the past three seasons.

The year before he spent the season on a loan spell to Brentford. During the season he made 45 appearances and scored a career-high 12 goals.

Follow @jtmlovessports on Twitter

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Tony Pulis reveals why Tottenham starlet Alex Pritchard is not playing for West Brom

Joe Fish — Sun, 28 Feb 2016 13:06:38 +0000

Tony Pulis has explained Alex Pritchard’s lack of match action for West Bromwich Albion by claiming that they have a responsibility to Tottenham Hotspur to manage the youngster’s fitness.

Pritchard joined the Baggies on loan from Spurs on transfer deadline day this winter, but has made only two substitute appearances so far and was unused in Saturday’s 3-2 win over Crystal Palace.

The 22-year-old missed the first half of the season with an ankle injury, and was loaned to Albion with the hope that his recovery could be aided by game time, according to the Birmingham Mail.

Pritchard has featured in five matchday squads but only played 53 minutes for West Brom, and Pulis has insisted that he is merely trying to protect the midfielder, in the interest of Tottenham.

“Alex has come in and has tremendous talent,” Pulis is quoted as saying by the Birmingham Mail.

“He was injured at Tottenham for a long time so it’s just making sure and I think Tottenham are concerned we don’t push him too quickly too soon. The last thing they want is the kid to get injured again so it’s just about being patient with Alex as much as anything else.”

“He’s trained well, he’s worked well and he’s desperate to be involved. But sometimes you have to hold them back and we have a responsibility to Tottenham for that.”

The Welshman’s reasoning for not using Pritchard – even more frequently off the bench – seems strange when he considers him to at least be fit enough to regularly make Albion’s matchday squad.

One would have thought that Tottenham would have kept their academy graduate at White Hart Lane if they still had big concerns over his fitness, allowing Mauricio Pochettino to monitor him in training.

A more understandable explanation would be that Pulis is reluctant to throw in Pritchard, who has very limited Premier League experience, while his side are still not safe from relegation.

We might see more of the England U21 international, who scored 12 goals in 45 Championship games for Brentford last season, once his match sharpness improves, and Albion’s top-flight future is secure.

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Tottenham FINALLY set to land long-term strike target as agreement reached for summer transfer

Joe Fish — Sun, 07 Feb 2016 09:59:16 +0000

Tottenham Hotspur could finally get their hands on West Bromwich Albion striker Saido Berahino in the summer after chairmen Daniel Levy and Jeremy Peace reportedly reached a gentleman’s agreement.

Spurs have been chasing the 22-year-old since last summer, when they had three bids, the biggest of which was said to be in the region of £22m, turned down late in the transfer window.

Newcastle United and Stoke City came in for Berahino in January, but Peace maintained that the England Under-21 international would not be sold and knocked back Newcastle’s £24m offer.

However, according to The Mirror, Peace did compromise on Berahino’s future last month when he agreed to give Tottenham first refusal on the player as part of the Alex Pritchard negotiations.

Pritchard has moved to The Hawthorns on loan for the rest of the season. He was apparently wanted by several Premier League and Championship clubs, but ended up at Albion on deadline day.

The Mirror reports that Spurs used this opportunity to strengthen their position over Berahino, who has not started a league game for the Baggies since October, largely because of the off-pitch distractions.

Berahino, and Pritchard, came off the bench in West Brom’s 1-0 defeat to Newcastle United yesterday, but is expected to feature more heavily between now and the summer as Albion fight relegation.

It seems that he could then get his desired move to Tottenham, who have been in the market for support for homegrown hero Harry Kane – Berahino’s one-time strike partner at England youth level.

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Tottenham injury news: Midfielder to resume training next week and could return against Sunderland

Joe Fish — Thu, 07 Jan 2016 18:22:58 +0000

Alex Pritchard will reportedly return to first-team training with Tottenham Hotspur next week.

The 22-year-old has been out since last August after surgery on his right ankle, but could be back in contention for Spurs’s Premier League visit of Sunderland on January 16, Sky Sports reports.

Pritchard starred during a loan spell at Brentford in 2014-15, scoring 12 goals and supplying seven assists to help the Bees reach the playoffs in their first season in the Championship.

The young playmaker was integrated into Mauricio Pochettino’s first-team squad over the summer alongside former academy graduates such as Harry Kane, Ryan Mason and Nabil Bentaleb.

But he then suffered a reoccurrence of the ankle injury which cut short his Euro 2015 campaign with England’s U21s, and he has not played since a cameo against Everton at the start of the season.

January has long been pinpointed as his possible return date, and Sky Sports report that Norwich City and Swansea City were both looking to take Pritchard on loan for the rest of the campaign.

But Sky Sports adds that Pochettino wants to keep Pritchard at White Hart Lane and has plans to use him in the first team. Spurs are still in the Europa League, FA Cup and Premier League title race.

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Tottenham v Norwich preview: Pochettino could risk rotating against dangerous Canaries

Joe Fish — Thu, 24 Dec 2015 17:00:25 +0000

Tottenham Hotspur will be looking to start a winning run when they host Norwich City on Boxing Day.

Mauricio Pochettino’s side are fourth in the table and have only lost twice in the Premier League this season, but eight draws mean that they have lost pace with frontrunners Arsenal and Leicester City.

Last weekend’s 2-0 win at Southampton was an excellent response to the home defeat to Newcastle United, but Spurs will want to string victories together. Their best winning run this season is three.

Although Norwich toppled Manchester United at Old Trafford in their previous outing, Pochettino might see their visit to White Hart Lane as an easier game than the trip to high-flying Watford 48 hours later.

Any rotation of his squad therefore might come against the Canaries. Kyle Walker, Mousa Dembele and Christian Eriksen may all be held back, but Harry Kane is likely to start a 46th straight league game.

Kieran Trippier may be called upon for a full league debut for Spurs. Son Heung-Min, Nacer Chadli, Tom Carroll and Nabil Bentaleb are also in contention if Pochettino chooses to shuffle his pack.

Summer buy Clinton N’Jie has been ruled out for up to three months after knee surgery. Ryan Mason and Alex Pritchard are also sidelined. Danny Rose has recovered from illness, The Guardian reports.

Alex Neil may also consider resting some players. Monday’s home game against rock-bottom Aston Villa is much more winnable despite the confidence victory at United would have brought his Norwich side.

The Canaries should also be boosted by their recent record versus Spurs. They have lost only once on their last four trips to the white half of North London, and beat them in their most recent top-flight meeting in 2014.

Declan Rudd will continue to keep ex-England goalkeeper John Ruddy out of the side. Youssouf Mulumbu could be recalled at the expense of Wes Hoolahan should Neil wish to stiffen up his midfield.

Steven Whittaker, Jonny Howson and Graham Dorrans are among those who may benefit from some festive rotation. Loanees Andre Wisdom and Matt Jarvis missed the United win and remain out.

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Top 10 Championship Stars Good Enough For The Premier League Including Tottenham Loanee

Will Rook — Wed, 11 Feb 2015 08:00:58 +0000

Quality in the Championship has been growing and growing over recent years…

The race for promotion from the Championship this season is hotting up as the campaign enters the final third and the all important issues are battled for and quality shines through.

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Here are 10 players in the Championship who are good enough to make the step up to the Premier League.

Callum Wilson – Bournemouth

The former Coventry City man has been on fire for Bournemouth this season with 15 goals and with his side going well in the Championship, should be in the top division soon enough.

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