Manchester United legend Wayne Rooney has admitted that he has no sympathy for England international Marcus Rashford amid his ongoing struggles.
Rashford was heavily linked with a move to Paris Saint-Germain during the 2022 summer transfer window but he ended up sticking with Man Utd and was one of their best players last season.

“He’s in a privileged position…”

The 26-year-old has endured a difficult season this term, though. He has just seven goals in his 27 Premier League appearances so far this campaign.
The Man Utd attacker was heavily criticised after he reported ill following a midweek night out in Belfast but he recently hit out at the media for how they have treated him and insisted that he remains committed to the club.
Speaking ahead of Man Utd’s home game against Everton on Saturday, Rooney admitted Rashford “needs to find some form and consistency”.
“Not much. If I’m being honest,” Rooney said on TNT Sports when asked whether he has sympathy for Rashford.
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“He’s in a privileged position where he’s playing for Manchester United. I’ve said before, he’s the one player I believe can beat my goalscoring record.
Related video: Dyche pleased with Everton form ahead of Manchester Utd trip (Dailymotion)

“I hope he does because he’s a Manchester lad, but he needs to hit some consistency. He’s not had the best of seasons.
“He needs to find some form and consistency.”
Rio Ferdinand added: “When Wayne wasn’t in form, and there were moments, we all had that, the one thing he would fall back on is work ethic.
“He’d get around people and chase people, his performance would start lifting from that.”

“Sometimes his body language isn’t the best…”

Rooney also thinks Casemiro, Raphael Varane and Bruno Fernandes should do “more” to help to improve Rashford’s performances.
“I don’t think Marcus is that sort of player, I don’t think he’s a leader and sometimes his body language isn’t the best,” Rooney said.
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He added: “I look at Casemiro, Varane and Fernandes, as captain, they should be getting that out of Marcus. It’s up to teammates to get more out of you.”
Ferdinand agreed: “Some players need it throughout their career. Nani needed to be drilled every day. At half-time, Wayne would scream at Nani to get the best out of him.
“His thing might be just running in behind. He’s one of the most lethal players, he’s so quick and his timing is good.
“He needs to scream at Bruno to give him the ball and be aggressive in that nature.
“He needs to look at someone with those steely eyes and say ‘give me the ball’.”

Gallagher hits out at Liverpool ‘simpleton’ Alexander-Arnold over ‘means more’ debate – ‘he’s a bit dim’

Noel Gallagher has hit out at Liverpool star Trent Alexander-Arnold following the defender’s comments about Manchester City.
Liverpool host Man City at Anfield on Sunday and this could be the last time Jurgen Klopp comes up against Pep Guardiola in the Premier League.

“Our trophies mean more…”

The Reds want Klopp to leave on a high and they are on track to ensure that happens. They have won the Carabao Cup and remain in contention for the Premier League, FA Cup and Europa League.
Ahead of Sunday’s match at Anfield, Liverpool are one point clear of Man City at the top of the Premier League.
The rivalry between Liverpool and City has dominated this era of the Premier League but Guardiola’s side have come out on top more often than not.
Alexander-Arnold sparked debate earlier this week by suggesting Liverpool’s “trophies mean more” than they would for Man City.
“We’re up against a machine that’s built to win – that’s the simplest way to describe City and their organisation,” Alexander-Arnold said.
“Looking back on this era, although they’ve won more titles than us and have probably been more successful, our trophies will mean more to us and our fanbase because of the situations at both clubs, financially.
“How both clubs have built their teams and the manner in which we’ve done it, probably means more to our fans.”
READ MORE: Liverpool – Man City combined XI… Klopp has three inclusions as Foden, Haaland, Salah lead the line
In response to these comments, former Oasis band member and Man City supporter Gallagher called Alexander-Arnold a “simpleton”.
Related video: Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp on Trent Alexander Arnold's Manchester City criticism (Dailymotion)

“If he wasn’t such a simpleton then I’d say yeah… First of all, he says ‘in this era City have probably won more trophies than us’ and it’s like hang on, we have won more trophies than you, in fact we’ve won twice as many than you,” Gallagher said on talkSPORT.

“He’s a bit dim…”

“For someone to say that a trophy means more to one set of fans, than another set of fans, is the talk of a simpleton.
“I tell you this, West Ham winning the Europa Conference League, will have meant as much as the Champions League to us. For him to come out with that, even by footballer’s standards he’s a bit dim. I don’t think he was being clever and all this about him playing mind games – really?”
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During his press conference on Friday, Liverpool boss Klopp addressed Alexander-Arnold’s comments, suggesting he has “no problem” with the full-back’s interview.

“One of our slogans, that I love, is “this means more.” It means more to us. This club is special to us. So if we feel it, why shouldn’t be allowed to say it?’. You love these kind of interviews where somebody says what he thinks and the whole world tells you it’s not right, what you think.
“It’s just how he feels, how we feel, and I have absolutely no problem about that. I am pretty sure he showed total respect (to City) as well. In the last decade, Man City is the most successful team in English football and maybe Europe. It’s a ridiculous record they have. It means a lot for their people I am sure.
“Maybe it’s just for the fact we didn’t win that many. We are not in situation winning five league titles in a row and realising number five was better, we’ve never had that situation so we don’t know 100 per cent, but that’s it.”

Man Utd 2-0 Everton: Fernandes, Rashford penalties ensure Red Devils return to winning ways

Bruno Fernandes and Marcus Rashford scored penalties as Manchester United beat Everton at Old Trafford to *slightly* ease the pressure on Erik ten Hag.
Two penalties for United took the game away from Everton before the break as Fernandes and Rashford converted their spot-kicks.

It was not the most comfortable afternoon for Man Utd as Everton registered 23 shots (six of which were on target) but Ten Hag’s team managed to keep a clean sheet en route to a much-needed victory.
The pressure has been mounting on Ten Hag in recent weeks and this victory will not be enough on its own to save his job with new co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe understood to be considering a change before next season.
Man Utd remain sixth in the Premier League and they are eight points adrift of Aston Villa, who have a game in hand.

Liverpool – Man City combined XI: Klopp has three inclusions as Foden, Haaland, Salah lead the line

Liverpool and Manchester City face off on Sunday in a colossal match in the Premier League title race. A combined XI has never been more necessary. Injured players are not included, so no Trent Alexander-Arnold or Alisson, for example.
 
GK: Ederson (Manchester City)
The Alisson-Ederson debate will have been more interesting than the Caoimhin Kelleher-Ederson one, mainly because there isn’t one.


READ MORE: Liverpool hero below Arsenal, Chelsea goalkeepers in ranking of all 20 Premier League No. 2s
 
RB: Kyle Walker (Manchester City)
Another debate that would have been better had a Liverpool player not been injured; Kyle Walker is the easy choice ahead of young Conor Bradley. Had Trent Alexander-Arnold been available, it would have been a close call.
 
CB: Ruben Dias (Manchester City)
The three-time Premier League winner is one of the best centre-backs in the world. He gets in ahead of his City team-mates and everyone that plays for Liverpool not named Virgil.
 
CB: Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool)
Van Dijk completes the best possible centre-back pairing using Premier League players from the last decade.
 
LB: Andy Robertson (Liverpool)
Pep Guardiola does not use a natural left-back but has made Nathan Ake one of the best in that position in England. Unfortunately for the Dutchman, he is not better than Robertson, who probably completes the best possible back four, now we mention it.
Related video: Gomez fine, Konate not sure yet - Klopp of squad fitness for City clash (Dailymotion)

 
DM: Rodri (Manchester City)
The best defensive midfielder in the world has not lost in 60 competitive appearances – the Community Shield was lost on penalties, so does not count. A trip to Anfield is as tough as it will come for Rodri, whose impressive run could be about to come to an end.
 
CM: Bernardo Silva (Manchester City)
What a little magician this guy is. We love him and he gets in ahead of whoever Jurgen Klopp has to offer in his position.
 
CM: Kevin De Bruyne (Manchester City)
Liverpool’s midfield has always been critical to any success under Klopp and while Dominik Szoboszlai and Alexis Mac Allister are fine players, neither would start for Manchester City ahead of De Bruyne or Silva.
The former has arguably cemented himself as the greatest midfielder in Premier League history and walks into every combined XI we do involving City.
Man City trio Kevin De Bruyne, Erling Haaland and Phil Foden celebrate a goal.
© Provided by Football365
Kevin De Bruyne, Erling Haaland and Phil Foden celebrate a goal.
 
RW: Mohamed Salah (Liverpool)
And Salah does whenever we are doing a Liverpool combined XI. There is also a debate to be had regarding his Premier League legacy. Is he the best winger Our League has ever seen? He is the most efficient, that’s for sure.

One thing that has not really been spoken about with Salah is his incredible availability. His recent injury setbacks have made us realise just how durable he is, which is the most underrated attribute a footballer can have.
 
LW: Phil Foden (Manchester City)
Out of position? Maybe a little bit. Bothered? Not even a little bit. Foden frequently pops up in this position in concept England XIs, so don’t get your knickers in a twist.
Foden has arguably been the best player in the Premier League this year, scoring six goals in his last six appearances in the top flight.
 
ST: Erling Haaland (Manchester City)
The Darwin Nunez-Erling Haaland debate lasted around two weeks. The 2022 Community Shield sold us a dream before the latter showed he was better than we gave him credit for, and there was never any doubt over his ridiculous talent.
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Are Everton the thickest football team in the Barclays? This was an infuriating watch

This Everton team must be an absolutely maddening one to support.
It’s not that they’re a bad team – although they are also that – it’s that they’re a bad team that perpetually feels like it might be close to not being that, but then just proves itself once again to be exactly that.


It’s surely easier to take supporting a team that is simply sh*t. There’s an ‘ah well’ shrug-of-the-shoulders world-weariness that can be brought to supporting a team that is simply sh*t. There can be some gallows humour about it all.
But supporting a team that is sh*t but so nearly quite good is surely just very rattling indeed. Everton shouldn’t be this sh*t. Above all they shouldn’t be so very, very thick.
Their performance at Old Trafford must be among the thickest performances ever seen in the Premier League. And it came somewhere where in recent years they know a thing or two about thick performances. Heck, part of the reason Everton’s performance in this defeat stood out as so monumentally thick is because it came against a United performance that was itself very nearly as stupid. El Thicko, or something less thick. Or more thick. Whichever’s funnier.

With Casemiro as its baffling standard bearer, United spent unfathomably large periods of the first half giving the ball back to Everton in all manner of theoretically dangerous locations, absolutely none of which they had the foggiest idea how to exploit.
The near total lack of confidence Everton possess in attack is genuinely quite painful to watch. This is an attacking unit almost entirely paralysed by its own doubts and insecurities. The most accurate summary of Everton as an attacking side is that they score far less than xG says they should, but precisely as many goals as they themselves expect to score. Which is to say, hardly any.
READ MORE: Premier League xG table has Everton fifth and Manchester United 13th
But while there’s a sorrowful nature to watching Everton try to attack, it was their defensive work at Old Trafford that really marked them out as a powerfully stupid side that deserves only derision.

Now we rather like Alejandro Garnacho. He’s also quite often a bit stupid, but with him that’s all part of the fun and the charm. And fun is what he undoubtedly is. On both his best and worst days, he is a fun footballer to watch. We’ve got bags of time for that.
But what Garnacho is not, is a clinical end-product merchant. Everything else he did here today outside the two occasions when Everton players decided to brainlessly trip him up and concede the most obvious penalties in history, only confirmed this.
The best such moment came late in the first half, after the two maddeningly stupid penalty incidents, when Garnacho surged once again into the Everton penalty box and, as the realisation dawned that nobody was going to just mindlessly trip him up this time, had no answer and ended up doing precisely nothing whatsoever.
Don’t worry, though. This wasn’t Everton learning lessons or being less stupid. Even as Garnacho did nothing, there was still the sight of Jarrad Branthwaite – a properly excellent young centre-back surely destined to fulfil his promise some day at a less silly team than this – sliding uncontrollably through the penalty area for no readily apparent reason.

The penalties they did concede were the sixth and seventh Everton have given away in the Premier League this season, taking them joint top on that metric, and rendered just ever more witless by coming against a side whose struggles this lunchtime to create anything in open play should have looked so enormously familiar to the Toffees.
That Everton find themselves this season a team that can’t even say with any certainty how many Premier League points they possess due to the ever-changing and still-to-be-confirmed punishments for spending too much money on too many bad footballers (also quite stupid behaviour) is just enormously fitting.
They are currently a truly infuriating football team and also club.

Liverpool, Newcastle surge into race for classy Tottenham linked winger available for reduced fee; summer bidding war likely

Liverpool and Newcastle United have reportedly joined the race for Wolves star Pedro Neto, who is also a target for Arsenal and Tottenham. 
The 24-year-old winger is arguably Wolves’ best player and despite that Gary O’Neil would love to keep him, a departure is looking increasingly likely.


Neto signed for Wolves from Lazio in 2019 for around £18m and has gone on to make over 130 appearances for the West Midlands club.
This season, the Portugal international has scored two goals and made nine assists in 18 Premier League games – the fourth-most assists in the division.
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Neto’s good form certainly hasn’t gone unnoticed. As reported by TEAMtalk, Arsenal and Tottenham are both huge admirers of Neto and are very keen on a summer deal.
It was previously thought that Wolves would demand at least £80m for Neto this summer, but a fresh report has claimed that they may be willing to accept less.

Liverpool, Newcastle join race for Pedro Neto

According to the Daily Mail, a fee of £60m will be needed to sign Neto this winger, and now two more clubs have joined the race for him.
The report claims that Newcastle scouts have ‘discussed’ the idea of signing the talented 24-year-old in the summer, but Liverpool also hold an interest.
Related video: The Magpies’ Nest Newcastle United Podcast: Resurgence against Wolves, scores to settle at... (Dailymotion)

Eddie Howe is keen to bring in competition for the likes of Anthony Gordon, Miguel Almiron and the injury-prone Harvey Barnes this summer as he aims to take his side back into the top four next season.
As for Liverpool, they could lose their Premier League record goal scorer in Mohamed Salah at the end of the season, amid sustained interest from Saudi Arabian clubs.
Bringing in a replacement for Salah will be no easy task and the Reds have several names on their shortlist – including Athletic Bilbao star Nico Williams – but Neto is another player they admire.
One area of concern for Neto’s suitors, however, is that he has picked up injuries in both matches against Newcastle this term, most recently departing at half-time with a thigh concern during Wolves’ 3-0 defeat at St James’ Park last weekend.
In fact, Neto has missed 92 games in total due to various injury concerns since the start of the 2019/20 campaign, which is something that will continue to be monitored.


He’s undoubtedly a top player when fully fit, though, so it’ll be interesting to see whether Liverpool, Newcastle, Arsenal or Tottenham are willing to match Neto’s £60m price tag this summer.
It’s looking likely that a bidding war could take place for the Wolves star.
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