Arsenal have struggled with goalkeepers down the years.

The likes of Manuel Almunia and Lukasz Fabianski had their critics, whilst David Ospina and even the great Petr Cech also had their moments of difficulty between the sticks for the Gunners. Now Bernd Leno is the man currently trusted with the number one shirt and, whilst he may have a 77.2% save percentage ratio this term, he still made five mistakes last season that led to goals, the joint-most in the Premier League along with Asmir Begovic.

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Wojciech Szczesny was another who failed to set the world alight in goal for Arsenal. So little was his impact, in fact, he was sold to Juventus for just €11.3m (£10m) in 2017. Since then, though, he has turned himself into one of Serie A’s top shot-stoppers.

Here, we take a look at how he is getting on.

Time at Arsenal

Szczesny cost the Gunners just £45k from Legia Warsaw in 2006. It took him a while to break into the side, with his first real taste of professional football coming with Brentford in League One, where he conceded just 29 times in 28 matches, keeping 10 clean sheets along the way.

As soon as he returned for the 2010/11 season, he worked his way into the first team, starting more matches than any other goalkeeper that season. That led to him becoming Arsene Wenger’s first-choice for the next three seasons.

However, some horror moments, such as the blunder that cost Arsenal the 2011 League Cup final against Birmingham City, obviously frustrated Wenger, which saw him displaced by Colombia international David Ospina. The Poland international was then sent out on loan to AS Roma, where he kept 22 clean sheets in 72 matches in the league. Still, that wasn’t enough to persuade Arsenal to keep him, with them deciding to move him on to the Old Lady.

Where is he now?

The 6ft 5 colossus needed to compete with Italian great Gianluigi Buffon at first when trying to nail down a starting spot at Juventus, but he still made 21 appearances in all competitions. He followed that up with 41 matches last season, including all 10 of their Champions League matches, and he is now the number one choice between the sticks at the Juventus Stadium, appearing in 26 matches this term to date.

All in all, he has shipped just 67 times in 88 outings, keeping 42 clean sheets. His save percentage rates have been stunning in the league, as well – he has numbers of 72.7%, 75.6% and a huge 84.6% in his three campaigns so far. That has already seen him win the Scudetto twice, and they were in a title race for a third before Serie A was suspended due to the current pandemic.

This has seen his Transfermarkt value rise to £36m.

Clearly, Wenger’s lack of foresight could have cost them €22m (£19.2m), which is what they spent on Leno.

The country showed its appreciation for the NHS last night with streets across the nation joining together to clap for their hard work and dedication to the current pandemic hitting the UK, and things aren’t any different for footballers as West Ham defender Aaron Cresswell got in on the action.

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His tweet showing his support has sparked a reaction from many of the Hammers faithful on social media.

The 30-year-old has been a frequent presence on the left-hand side of David Moyes’ defence all season, and it’s clear to see that he’s still a fan-favourite at the London Stadium.

Here’s how they have been reacting…

Many fans were in full agreement with Cresswell, joining in on the appreciation, claiming it was “incredible” and “superb” while one supporter told the Englishman to stay safe ahead of a potential return to action at the end of April.

Others joked about his poor attempt of a whistle, but of course, that is merely tongue in cheek given the severity of the ongoing situation. Everybody needs a bit of positivity right now.

The veteran full-back has featured 25 times in all competitions this season as the Hammers’ season has been flirting with a relegation battle for the most part.

Is life under Gold and Sullivan really that bad? Maybe this quiz will change your minds, West Ham fans…

They currently sit tied on points with AFC Bournemouth, who occupy the final spot in the drop zone, so Moyes and his team have it all do to when the Premier League gets back on track with only nine games left this campaign.

AND in other news, West Ham unlikely to sell Haller this summer says journalist…

England’s likely Test attack was forced to work hard by an impressive Queensland batting performance on day one of their final warm-up match before the first Ashes Test in Brisbane. At stumps Queensland had reached 333 for four, with Martin Love capitalising on his two successful seasons at Durham to finish unbeaten on 124.Although England were heartened by the return from injury of both Andrew Flintoff and Michael Vaughan, both of whom were making their first appearances of the tour, they found wickets hard to come by after Queensland, one of Australia’s strongest state sides, won the toss and decided to bat.Andrew Caddick was the pick of England’s bowlers in the early stages, accounting for openers Jimmy Maher and Brendan Nash after they had put on 60 runs for the first wicket. Nash was brilliantly caught in the gully by Marcus Trescothick as he tried to cut, and Maher after making 41 from just 46 balls, guided a lifting delivery in Caddick’s next over to Mark Butcher at third slip.But it was 36 overs before England made their next breakthrough, as two players with extensive English experience, Stuart Law and Martin Love, added 133 runs Flintoff took the first of two wickets. Law, on 68, got an inside edge on to his pad as he tried to drive, for Flintoff to take a straightforward catch.Andrew Symonds then joined Love to forge another century partnership, with Symonds contributing 47 off 65 balls before Symonds, cutting at a lifting ball, edged behind to Alec Stewart. Love’s unbeaten 124 included 16 boundaries and came off 233 balls on a pitch that is ideal for batting.

After Premier League rivals Liverpool got criticised for their decision to furlough the club’s non-playing staff (something that they have now reversed), it seems Manchester United are keen to learn from the Reds’ mistake.

According to The Daily Mail, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s are unlikely to make use of the current scheme, and are “set to tell around 900 non-playing staff they will be kept on by the club on full pay with no request for government cash.”

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After hearing about their club’s reported stance on the matter, United fans took to Twitter to share their thoughts on the situation.

A couple of fans gave credit to the likes of the Ed Woodward and the Glazers for the club’s reported decision.

One United supporter meanwhile took a dig at rivals Liverpool and Spurs and insisted that this is “how a club should act”.

If this report is accurate, and it does turn out to be the case, then Solskjaer’s side should be applauded.

Both Liverpool and Tottenham have shown what not to do, and have been roundly slammed for it, and the Red Devils have simply learned from their mistakes.

Meanwhile, Man Utd would be making a foolish mistake by snubbing this star.

It wasn’t quite the home-run derby that the Americans had been led to expect, but Daniel Vettori and Kumar Sangakkara hope cricket’s Florida experiment will continue. The two-match Twenty20 series in Lauderhill over the weekend was drawn 1-1 but the result was of little consequence.This series was more about the chance to gain exposure for the sport in the world’s third most populous country. But the first two international cricket matches in the USA proved to be dour affairs, with a slow, low pitch and only two sixes hit in each game, and the Sri Lankan captain Sangakkara hoped the nature of the contests didn’t turn American fans away.”That’s one of the subtleties of cricket, that a low-scoring game can be exciting if you analyse it properly,” Sangakkara said. “The wicket wasn’t conducive to big hitting but ideally it should have been a high-scoring two games, 180 to be chased down would have been great out there on a ground like this with fans watching cricket for the first time.”For the players and the die-hard fans the excitement is the same but probably for an introduction maybe we could have had a lot more scores. The ground facilities are pretty good, there’s great seating, the atmosphere is brilliant to play cricket in. You just need to keep playing cricket on tracks like this, the more you play the better the tracks become.”In the first game, New Zealand battled to 120 for 7 from their 20 overs and then dismissed Sri Lanka for 92, while in the second match New Zealand never recovered from losing four wickets in the first three overs. Their final score of 81 was New Zealand’s lowest in a Twenty20 match but the captain Vettori said apart from some improvement in the pitch, there were few other problems with the Lauderhill venue.”Most international grounds probably need those off-field facilities where you can train while the game is going on, it makes it a little bit easier,” Vettori said. “There’s not too much more. The standard of the wicket could improve a little bit but apart from that I think the ground has everything going for it.”It’s certainly given USA cricket a profile, and I think that’s the biggest thing to come from that. Both teams really enjoyed coming here and in the future, when we talk to other players from around the world we’ll tell them how good a time we had and how good the facilities are, and you’ll get other teams coming along and enjoying it just as much as we did. USA cricket has come along way just from this week.”New Zealand now have a two-month break before they tour Sri Lanka for a tri-series also involving India and Vettori was hopeful of a better performance next season.”I think all the guys are ready for it. They’ve been going non-stop for about nine to10 months so everyone’s due a break,” Vettori told . “We’ve got to make sure that we use this break to try and improve as a side and when we go to Sri Lanka we’re ready to try and win over there.”

Loads of Newcastle fans have been raving over a clip of Allan Saint-Maximin, after the Frenchman shared a moment from training on his Twitter account.

How to become a fan favourite at a new club… be ridiculously good at football? Check. Help out the local food banks? Check. Stay active on social media? Check. Gucci headband? Debatable.

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Saint-Maximin has quickly forged a unique relationship with the Toon Army, thanks in part to his incredible skill on the pitch, averaging a whopping 4.4 dribbles per game, but also due to his personality off it, where he has been keeping fans entertained while football is suspended.

The 23 year-old, valued at £22.5m by Transfermarkt, has shared plenty of videos of his backyard training and football with his daughters, but went a different route this week by sharing a clip of him humiliating two teammates at once with a rainbow flick during a training drill.

You can watch the video and find some of the best Twitter reactions down below…

Have you seen the footage of Salomon Rondon that has got Newcastle fans talking?

According to LaRoma24, Tottenham could be interested in making a move for Patrik Schick this summer.

What’s the word?

The north London side were after a striker throughout the January transfer window, but in the end, failed to bring anyone through the door to help cover for Harry Kane’s absence from injury.

Now, Italian publication LaRoma24 claim that Bundesliga side RB Leipzig, who have had Schick on loan for this entire season, have asked for a discount to sign him permanently from Roma this summer – something the Giallorossi have rejected.

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The report adds that this may have opened the door for a new club to enter the race for the Czech Republic international’s signature, and that Spurs are “already working on this negotiation”.

Champions League

Spurs fans will all be aware of Schick and what he can do, having seen him start up front in both games of Leipzig’s Champions League last 16 clash with the north Londoners earlier this season.

Whilst the striker may not have scored, there can be no questioning he ran the Spurs back-line ragged with his movement off the ball, and selfless creativity. Over the course of the two matches, he completed all four of his attempted dribbles, made four key passes, and won an impressive 17 of his 26 total duels.

Even though Timo Werner may have been the man Spurs fans would have been wary about, it was arguably Schick who outshone his German counterpart – as per Sofascore, the Czech averaged a higher match rating than the forward in both legs.

It’s no surprise that Schick has received major plaudits for his work this season in Germany, with Leipzig sporting director Markus Krosche saying: “He has incredible quality and brings something different to the team which makes our squad more versatile”.

Having seen first-hand what he can do, Daniel Levy must surely be considering going all in for the £18m-rated Schick this summer.

George Bailey believes Australia’s spin bowlers must find a way to be more effective on the subcontinent if the team is to have any chance of winning the next World Twenty20, to be held in Bangladesh in 2014. After returning home Monday Bailey also defended the form of the middle-order batsmen, who besides his own 63 in the semi-final loss to West Indies had little impact in the tournament as the top three carried the bulk of the workload.Three days after Australia’s tournament ended their exit might not have looked so bad, coming as it did against the eventual champions. However, one notable feature of the final was that both sides had outstanding finger-spinners with a mystery element: Sri Lanka’s Ajantha Mendis was the tournament’s leading wicket taker with 15 at 9.80 and the West Indian Sunil Narine was equal fourth with nine victims, including five in the semi-final and the decider.Another bowler of similar ilk, Pakistan’s Saeed Ajmal, was also equal fourth on the wicket tally and all three were miserly as well. In contrast, Xavier Doherty leaked 8.63 runs an over – his 1 for 48 from three overs in the semi-final seriously dented Australia’s hopes – while Brad Hogg managed only two wickets in his six games and the allrounder Glenn Maxwell was equally ineffective. Bailey knows it will be almost impossible to win in Bangladesh in 2014 with a similar slow-bowling output.”One of the things we need to look at is the way we bowl our spin,” Bailey said. “I don’t know any other way to describe it than as a Western-type way of bowling, which tends to be to try and draw the batsman out of the crease, whereas all the teams who have had success at the World Cup, their spinners are bowling into the wicket, quite fast, hitting the stumps every ball, making it very hard.”We need to find a way to develop spinners like that, and the tough thing is maybe bowling like that doesn’t really suit conditions in Australia. But I think if you look at all the stats from the tournament that was probably one of the areas that if we’re serious about winning the tournament we’re going to have to find a way to improve come Bangladesh.”During the World Twenty20, Muttiah Muralitharan said he believed one of the reasons Australia would not produce such a spinner was that unorthodox bowlers would be encouraged at junior levels to change their style. Bailey said it was important that young spinners with potential were identified regardless of whether they fit the Australian idea of what makes a good slow bowler.”As a nation we still talk about whether guys have legitimate actions or not and at the end of the day that’s really not for us to be arguing about,” Bailey said. “If that’s the rules and that’s how bowlers are bowling now and having success in international cricket then we’ve got to start developing those players and developing them at 10-11 years of age and we start to have some bowlers who do bowl like Murali or Ajmal or Narine.”You’re hoping that a few of our spinners are watching the tournament [World T20] and seeing the type of spinners that are having success. I think the way our coaching system is set up it’s going to be tough for some spinners to get through because the way a lot of the spinners who have had success bowl in the subcontinent, you’re probably not going to be playing much cricket in Australia if you bowl like that. There’s a balancing act there.”A lack of impact from the spinners cost Australia but there were also concerns about the imbalance in the batting order, with most of the runs coming from the openers Shane Watson and David Warner, and the No.3 Michael Hussey. Although opportunities were limited because of the success of the top three, there were still times when Australia needed runs from the middle order, notably in the semi-final.Chasing 206, Australia were 29 for 3 and it was the perfect time for the rest of the batsmen to step up and back the work of Watson, Warner and Hussey from earlier in the tournament. Batting at No.5, Bailey blasted 63 from 29 balls but had no real support – Cameron White was caught down leg side for 5, David Hussey chipped a return catch for a duck and Matthew Wade top-edged a sweep.”It’s a tough one. If you’re talking about winning the tournament, I think if you’re winning a World Cup you’re not talking about how well your four, five and six batted,” Bailey said. “Your one, two and three need to get you the runs. Four, five and six come in and either get you to a reasonable total or save your bacon. But if you’re winning the games it’s your top three you need to rely on.”I think whenever we’re progressing through to the back end of one of these tournaments we’re not going to be seeing much of the middle order. The challenge of the format is when you do get a chance you’ve got to be prepared to step up and make it your day.”Australia’s exit before the final was a disappointing way for Bailey to end his first tournament in charge, but he said the memories wouldn’t be all bad.”To knock out South Africa and India as we did was really pleasing,” he said. “I thought we played some really good cricket there. It’s just a matter of when you do get to the knockout stages you’ve got to be able to play your best cricket.”

Alastair Cook admitted England would have to reflect on the selection of their side after succumbing to a nine-wicket loss against India in the first Test in Ahmedabad.England’s bowling attack, with three frontline seamers and one specialist spinner, looked ill-suited for a Test played on a low, slow wicket, with the seamers claiming 1 for 254 in the match.Their batsmen also struggled and, in eight innings between them, England’s middle-order of Jonathan Trott, Kevin Pietersen, Ian Bell and Samit Patel contributed just 68 runs. By contrast, Cheteshwar Pujara scored 247 runs in the match without being dismissed and India’s two spinners claimed 13 wickets between them.While Cook admitted the problem, in part, was simply that several players had underperformed, he also conceded that the team management would have to reconsider the make-up and balance of the side ahead of the second Test which begins in Mumbai on Friday.”Clearly we’re going to have to look at our selection,” Cook said. “There are some good people making decisions in this England team and we thought we were doing the right thing for the side. The result showed we might have got it wrong. When you get beaten by nine wickets, you have a look at a lot of areas and we have to look at what we could have done better. There will be a lot to ponder. We’ll have to look at our squad for the next game.”The omission of left-arm spinner Monty Panesar has been highlighted as a key error by many critics but Cook felt the failure of England’s batting line-up in the first innings was more of an issue. He refuted any suggestion that England had been underprepared, but accepted that they would require far more of the team to contribute if they were to fight their way back in the series.”Our batting, especially in the first innings, didn’t deliver enough runs,” Cook said. “I thought it was a very good cricket wicket. There was a little bit in it for the spinners, but if you applied yourself with the bat it held together probably better than we thought it would. It was turning, yes. But runs were able to be had out there, as we showed in our second innings.”If we’re going to win out here, everyone in the game has to contribute. We need everyone to stick their hands up at certain times. The lads who haven’t performed as well as they would have liked in this game will be very disappointed. We showed a lot of character in that second half of the game. There are a lot of quality players in that dressing-room, with very good records who have scored hundreds against every attack in the world. They didn’t deliver in this game, and they know that. The middle order didn’t score enough runs. Everyone has to have a look at themselves if we want to take something out of this series.”The defeat means England have lost five out of six Tests in Asian conditions this year, leaving Cook to agree that mental scars might be as large an impediment to progress as technical deficiencies. “I’d say it’s a bit of both. Clearly, there are always technical issues before the mental ones kick in. We’re doing the right things. It’s now getting it right out in the middle and trusting our method there. We can only continue working as hard as we are doing, and I can’t fault the lads for that. It’s a case of working as hard as we can in the nets, and trusting our method out in the middle.”Cook also said the result had soured the memory of one of his finest innings. “I’m very happy with the way I batted,” he said. “To score any hundred for England is very special and to score one in that situation probably made it even more special for me.”Technically, it might have been a good innings. But you always get more satisfaction when you do it in a winning cause or to save a game. Maybe the 230 in Brisbane, in a similar match situation, is a better innings. But the result is what really matters and we weren’t good enough over the five days to win. I’d have been even prouder if I’d survived and dragged a draw out of it. I’m bitterly disappointed.”

يرى الويلزي جاريث بيل، جناح فريق توتنهام هوتسبير، أنّ جوزيه مورينيو الأنسب لقيادة السبيرز، مُشيرًا إلى أنه يتطلع إلى العمل مع المدرب الذي حاول التعاقد معه مرتين عندما كان سبيشال وان في ريال مدريد.

توتنهام أعلن أمس السبت تعاقده مع بيل على سبيل الإعارة لمدة عام، قادمًا من ريال مدريد، بعد 7 سنوات من رحيله (طالع مزيدًا من التفاصيل).

وقال بيل لـ “بي تي سبورت”: “تحدثت إلى مورينيو قبل الانتقال إلى هُنا، تحدثنا عن ما يريده مني، وعن الدور الذي يرغب أنّ ألعبه مع توتنهام، وأنا سعيد بذلك”.

وأضاف: “إنه مدرب كبير، اسم مألوف في عالم كرة القدم، يملك عقلية الفوز، وأعتقد أنه مُناسب تمامًا لـ توتنهام”.

وواصل: “الجميع هُنا يريد الفوز بالألقاب، ومورينيو يعرف ذلك أكثر من أي مدرب آخر، لذلك نأمل أنّ نتمكن من فعل ذلك هذا الموسم، سنحاول تحقيق كل ما يريده كل مُشجع لـ توتنهام، نريد التتويج بألقاب هذا الموسم”.

أقرأ أيضًا.. جاريث بيل: عقليتي تغيرت في ريال مدريد.. وجائع لحصد الألقاب مع توتنهام

وتابع: “أنا سعيد للغاية بالعوة إلى توتنهام، لقد حظيت باستقبال جيد، أحب النادي، وأحببت وقتي هُنا؛ وآمل أنّ نحصل على لقب على الأقل، ومنح المٌشجعين السعادة”.

وأكمل: “أتفهم أنه سيكون ضغط عليّ وبعض التوقعات، لكنني سأقدم كل ما لديّ، أملك عقلية الفوز، ولا داعي للقلق، سأبذل قصارى جهدي، ودائمًا ما يكون هُناك ضغوطات وانتقادات على اللاعبين”.

وأردف: “لقد استمتعت بوقتي في ريال مدريد، قلت من قبل أنني أحببت العيش هُناك، لقد كنت سعيدًا في مدريد، وتحقيق كل ما حققناه، وآمل أنّ أتمكن من فعل الأمر ذاته هُنا”.

وأتم تصريحاته قائلًا: “الآن حان الوقت للفصل التالي في مسيرتي، أريد الاستمرار في الفوز بالألقاب وأريد أنّ أفعل ذلك مع توتنهام”.