Sunderland AFC – CaughtOffside

Tottenham the latest Premier League club to express interest in teenage Sunderland star

Charlie Patrick — Mon, 03 Jun 2024 20:59:24 +0000

Tottenham have become the latest Premier League club to express an interest in signing Sunderland midfielder Jobe Bellingham according to reports.

Bellingham had a good first season with the Black Cats following his £3m move from Birmingham last summer, scoring seven times in 47 appearances in all competitions.

Sunderland finished a lowly 16th in the Championship, but Bellingham, the younger brother of Real Madrid star Jude has attracted interest from the Premier League.

Spurs enter race for Jobe Bellingham

The Guardian report that Sunderland are desperate to keep hold of Bellingham, with the club expected to demand in excess of £20m for the England under-19 international.

The Report states Spurs along with Crystal Palace and Brentford are believed to be the English clubs that have expressed an interest.

Bellingham is attracting interest from the Premier League.

It’s not just clubs from England who are interested, with his brother Jude’s former side Borussia Dortmund believed to have expressed an interest, but The Guardian adds Bellingham is unlikely to follow in his brother’s footsteps as he’s keen to pursue his own path.

Sunderland want to keep hold of the 18-year-old because the club believe he is a crucial part of the squad that is aiming to win promotion to the Premier League next season.

Bellingham is understood to still have three years remaining on his contract, and Sunderland will want to get as much money as possible if they do sell, given Birmingham are believed to have a 15% sell on clause.

Video highlights: Arsenal 3-1 Sunderland – Bellerin’s brace of assists secures FA Cup 4th round place

Ashley Attlee — Sat, 09 Jan 2016 18:17:32 +0000

A superb performance from Hector Bellerin – with goals from Joel Campbell, Aaron Ramsey, and Olivier Giroud – secured Arsenal’s place in the FA Cup fourth round, with the Gunners coming from behind to get a dominant 3-1 win. We’ve been supplied with a match report and all the goals from our friends at All Arsenal, check out all the action below:

http://www.allarsenal.com/2016/01/matchreports/video-highlights-report-arsenal-3-1-sunderland-ramsey-giroud-to-the-rescue/

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We survived an early scare to make it through to the fourth round of the FA Cup, coming from a goal down to win 3-1 against Sam Allarydce’s Sunderland.

A couple of players were given rests for the game, with Mesut Özil and Per Mertesacker the most notable of the absentees. It was an extremely attacking lineup named by Arsene Wenger, with the likes of Theo Walcott, Joel Campbell, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Olivier Giroud, and young Alex Iwobi all starting.

We arguably should have taken the lead early on after a great bit of build up play, Olivier Giroud setting up Kieran Gibbs as he raced into the box. His shot was straight at the keeper however, who parried it out for a corner.

Sunderland didn’t look a huge threat, but were causing us some problems with their high energy and high pressing game. It was this tactic that yielded them a goal, harrying Laurent Koscielny and Kieran Gibbs, forcing them into a mistake.

The left-back put in a good tackle to prevent a Sunderland attack, but needlessly put Koscienly into danger with a really poor pass. The Frenchman then failed to clear quick enough, and Jeremain Lens was able to nick the ball and smash it past Petr Cech at his near post. 1-0.

Thankfully we didn’t have long to wait for an equaliser, with Joel Campbell to the rescue. Alex Iwobi – who was getting his first senior Arsenal – drove through midfield towards goal, before spreading the play to Theo Walcott on the left. Walcott picked out Campbell in the box with a great pass, and the Costa Rican applied a smart finish into the bottom right corner. 1-1.

There were a couple of half chances before the end of the first half, but in the end we went into the break with honours even.

Early in the second half we unquestionably should have been ahead, with great work from the Ox seeing the ball cannon off the post. The ball fell straight to Walcott, but under pressure he couldn’t direct it goalwards.

It was a case of ‘anything you can do’ for Sunderland, who went down the other end and rattled Cech’s crossbar with a Steven Fletcher head, Duncan Watmore firing over on the rebound.

Walcott really should have given us the lead after being set up with a great cut-back by Gibbs, but his tame effort was straight at the keeper.

Aaron Ramsey was brought on with 20 minutes to go, and the substitution had an instant impact. He added some much needed energy and gave us the kick we needed, then moments later we were ahead.

Great work from Hector Bellerin and Joel Campbell down the right set the Spaniard away, and there were bodies in the box to aim at. He fired a ball low across goal, where super sub Aaron Ramsey was there to smash it in. 2-1.

Sunderland had looked dangerous, so a 2-1 scoreline certainly won’t have been enough to settle Arsenal fans’ jitters. We got a third shortly after though, which all but put the game to bed. It was Bellerin yet again who got the assist, his pace proving too much for a tired Patrick van Aanholt – not to mention Danny Graham who failed to track back. He put a fine cross into the box, laying it on a plate for Olivier Giroud to tap in. 3-1.

It really should have been four or five before the end of the game, with referee Martin Atkinson somehow failing to give one of the clearest penalties you’ll ever see. Giroud had his feet taken from under him right as he was about to shoot, but bizarrely, nothing was given.

SEE MORE:
Arsenal transfer news

It wasn’t a perfect performance by any stretch, with a couple of players below par, but we got through and that’s what counts.

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Player ratings: Arsenal 3-1 Sunderland – Super sub Ramsey & Giroud late goal give Gunners the FA Cup win

Ashley Attlee — Sat, 09 Jan 2016 17:34:46 +0000

Arsenal came from behind at home to get a 3-1 win over Sunderland this past Saturday afternoon, arguably making harder work than they should have done against the relegation candidates at the Emirates. Our friends at All Arsenal have provided us with some player ratings from the game, do you agree with them?

http://www.allarsenal.com/2016/01/matchreports/player-ratings-arsenal-3-1-sunderland-bellerin-campbell-to-the-rescue-after-early-scare/

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We weathered an early storm to get the win against Sunderland this Saturday, keeping our dreams of a third consecutive FA Cup trophy alive.

A defensive nightmare gave the Black Cats the lead early on, but impressive performances from a number of players ensured we eventually got the result we deserved.

Here’s how we rate the players following our 3-1 win over Sunderland:

GK) Petr Cech – 7.0

May be disappointed that he was beaten at his near post, but made a handful of decent saves to make up for it.

RB) Hector Bellerin – 8.0 (MotM)

Struggled defensively at times in the first half, with Patrick van Aanholt looking to get forward whenever possible. In the second half he made the most of tired legs though, constantly romping down the right hand side and providing two superb assists.

LB) Kieran Gibbs – 6.0

A really bad mistake to give the first goal away, getting in a horrible mess with Laurent Koscielny. He wasn’t bad for the rest of the game, but if we were going to concede it looked like the Englishman was going to be responsible.

CB) Laurent Koscielny – 6.5

Has to share the blame for the goal we conceded, and in all honesty didn’t look totally secure throughout the game.

CB) Gabriel Paulista 7.0

His partnership with Koscielny didn’t always look infallible, and Sunderland certainly caused some problems. A lot of aerial battles were lost, and a better team might have punished us.

SEE MORE:
Arsenal transfer news

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Player ratings: Man City 4-1 Sunderland – De Bruyne destroys shocking Black Cats

Ashley Attlee — Sat, 26 Dec 2015 17:19:54 +0000

Manchester City went some way towards making up for their loss against Arsenal before Christmas, getting a dominant 4-1 win over a struggling Sunderland side and closing the gap on Leicester City – who lost against Liverpool.

This is how we rate the Man City players following their 4-1 win:

GK) Joe Hart – 6.5

Barely anything to do all game, but will have been disappointed at losing his clean sheet.

RB) Bacary Sagna – 7.5

A solid performance, although barely had anything to do defensively. Offered a good outlet going forward and allowed Kevin De Bruyne to regularly move infield.

LB) Aleksander Kolarov – 7.0

A bit of a ghost down the left, when really he should have done more against a poor Sunderland side.

CB) Eliaquim Mangala – 7.0

Again we didn’t see much of Mangala, but he dealt with Steven Fletcher well. Possibly should have scored from a corner at one point.

CB) Nicholas Otamendi – 7.0

Taken off for Vincent Kompany, who City have badly missed. But the Belgian was unfortunately substituted himself a few minutes later.

DM) Fernandinho – 7.5

When not playing one of the bigger boys, Fernandinho gives the likes of Yaya Toure and David Silva the freedom to get forward without worrying too much about the counter attack.

CM) Yaya Toure – 7.5

Another great goal, but nothing else hugely spectacular from the Ivorian. He just doesn’t look motivated at the moment.

CAM) David Silva – 7.5

Ran things in midfield and looks somewhere like getting back to his best.

RAM) Kevin De Bruyne – 8.5 (MotM)

Two assists and a goal, unquestionably the Man of the Match. He was a constant thorn in Sunderland’s side, and the fact that they never knew whether he’d play the long ball or get up close and personal with quick one-twos meant they just couldn’t deal with him.

LAM) Raheem Sterling – 7.5

Booked early on for diving, but scored an uncharacteristic headed goal and caused Sunderland real problems with his pace and trickery.

ST) Wilfried Bony – 7.0

A great goal, some excellent hold-up and link-up play, but a truly shocking penalty miss in the second half.

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Sunderland make Advocaat offer to stay on as manager having secured Premier League survival

Ed Dove — Fri, 22 May 2015 16:58:47 +0000

Having kept Sunderland in the Premier League, Dick Advocaat has been invited to stay on as the Black Cats boss.

SEE MORE
Arsenal transfer news
Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger claims star has saved club £40m
Why Arsene Wenger must sign a defensive midfielder for Arsenal this summer

The Dutchman arrived at the club with the remit of keeping the North-East giants in the Premier League following the unhappy decline of Gustavo Poyet’s side.

Having succeeded with this goal, the 67-year-old has confirmed that he has been offered an extended deal to stay at the Stadium of Light beyond the end of the current campaign.

“They have made me an offer, yes,” confirmed Advocaat, as reported by L’Equipe.

It hasn’t been plain sailing for the Dutchman since moving to the Premier League—his first-ever stab at coaching in the English top flight.

He was appointed on March 17, with Poyet having been dismissed after a 4-0 home defeat to Aston Villa.

The former Glasgow Rangers coach struggled to have an instant impact, losing his first match to West Ham United, but has only lost one since then—a 4-1 home defeat to Crystal Palace.

The coach’s record to date at the Stadium of Light is won three, drawn three and lost two, with the 1-0 derby victory over Newcastle United in the manager’s second match endearing him to the club’s fans.

Before moving to the Premier League, Advocaat had previously managed the Russian, Serbian and Belgian national sides, PSV Eindhoven and AZ Alkmaar.

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Arsenal clearout: Eight Gunners stars set for summer transfers, including Liverpool targets

Mark Brus — Fri, 22 May 2015 07:46:32 +0000

Arsenal could be set to embark on a major clearout in this summer’s transfer window as latest speculation suggests as many as eight current Gunners stars could be on their way out of the Emirates Stadium at the end of the season.

Arsene Wenger may be active in bringing players in again this summer, but a number of first-teamers may need to make way first, with reports that these eight Arsenal players could be on the move…

1) Jack Wilshere

Linked with a move to Liverpool or Manchester City, Jack Wilshere could be shown the door this summer after failing to reach the potential seen in him as a youngster.

2) Aaron Ramsey

Linked with a surprise £50m move to Barcelona, Aaron Ramsey has had another good season and is now wanted at a bigger club.

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Premier League’s 20 worst signings of the season, featuring Liverpool trio & Manchester United flops

Edward Bennett — Thu, 21 May 2015 19:00:15 +0000

A look at the twenty worst signings by Premier League clubs this season in terms of value for money, with Manchester United and Liverpool particularly culpable in the transfer market with some shocking buys last summer…

20) Mauro Zarate (West Ham United)

Signed on a free but still a big disappointment, Mauro Zarate left West Ham for a loan move to Queens Park Rangers in January and has done little for either club this season.

19) Abel Hernandez (Hull City)

Signed for £10m, Abel Hernandez has been desperately poor for Hull City and unable to steer them away from relegation.

18) Brown Ideye (West Bromwich Albion)

Another £10m buy, Brown Ideye has not paid off for West Bromwich Albion at all with just four Premier League goals all season long.

17) Juan Cuadrado (Chelsea)

A player who has barely featured since his £23.3m move from Fiorentina in January, Juan Cuadrado has proven a surprisingly poor signing for Chelsea.

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WAG Stacey Flounders stands by Adam Johnson as Sunderland star attends court over child sex charges

Edward Bennett — Mon, 18 May 2015 10:26:45 +0000

Sunderland winger Adam Johnson arrived with his girlfriend at Peterlee Magistrates court today to face charges of sexual activity with an under-age partner.

The former England international seems to be supported by his WAG Stacey Flounders, who walked with him hand in hand to the courtroom for his Monday morning hearing.

Johnson was charged for engaging in sexual activity with a girl under the age of 16 last month, but will now be hoping to protest his innocence, with solicitor Paul Morris insisting his client will plead not guilty to the charge, according to the Daily Mail.

The 27-year-old has been released on bail and is expected to be allowed to play for Sunderland in their final two games of the season against Arsenal and Chelsea as they face a battle to escape relegation and stay in the Premier League for next season.

Still, this case will surely cast doubt over Johnson’s future with the club and in the game as a whole.

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Adam Johnson moves child sex offence court case to help Sunderland in relegation battle vs Arsenal

Charli Casey — Sun, 17 May 2015 21:12:17 +0000

England international Adam Johnson will now be available for Sunderland in Wednesday night’s clash with Arsenal having had his court date over child sex offences moved to earlier in the week.

The 27-year-old was last month charged with three counts of sexual activity and one offence of grooming with a girl under the age of 16.

The former Manchester City winger was originally scheduled to appear at Peterlee Magistrates on the day of the clash with the Gunners – Wednesday 20 May – but will now appear on Monday 18th, the Daily Mail reports.

This means the midfielder will be available for selection in the first-team squad to face Arsene Wenger’s side, as they look to avoid relegation with just two games remaining.

Rather controversially, the Black Cats opted not to suspend Johnson over the charges, and he has since played a key role in helping his team in their recent four-game unbeaten run.

Dick Advocaat’s side face the unenviable task of needing to take points off Arsenal and Premier League champions Chelsea in their final two fixtures of the season, or rely on other results to go their away, to avoid the drop to the Championship.

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All Premier League 2015 free transfers: Chelsea and Manchester City stars among those out of contract

Charli Casey — Thu, 14 May 2015 12:00:56 +0000

As the curtain is drawing ever closer on the Premier League season, it’s reached that time where we take a look at which players from England’s top flight will be out of contract in the summer.

Chelsea legend Didier Drogba could be leaving Stamford Bridge for a second time next month, while Manchester City midfielder James Milner is likely to move on from the Etihad when his current deal expires.

Take a look at the soon-to-be free agents from each Premier League club below…

Arsenal: Mathieu Flamini, Abou Diaby, Damian Martinez

This summer may finally be the season that Abou Diaby leaves North London, and retirement could be on the cards for the Frenchman.

Aston Villa: Darren Bent, Ron Vlaar, Chris Herd, Enda Stevens

Tim Sherwood looks as though he has led Villa to Premier League safety, and out of the four players whose contracts with the club are up in the summer, captain Ron Vlaar must be one they are persuading to stay.

Burnley: Dean Marney, Steven Reid, Ross Wallace, Michael Duff, Danny Ings

Danny Ings is the most high profile player who looks to be on his way out of relegated Burnley in the summer. With the Daily Star revealing that Manchester United are not after his signature, Liverpool look set to land the free agent next month.

Chelsea: Didier Drogba, Gael Kakuta

Didier Drogba could be leaving Stamford Bridge for a second time in the summer, but Chelsea fans will be hoping that the experience Ivorian striker stays put with the Premier League champions.

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