talkSPORT

Simon Jordan and Martin Keown were embroiled in a feisty debate on talkSPORT about Tottenham's issues under Ange Postecoglou.

Spurs experienced a dramatic collapse on Sunday as they fell to a 3-2 defeat away at Brighton, despite holding a two-goal lead at half-time, and Arsenal legend Keown couldn't resist a pop at his old rivals.

Postecoglou described the loss as the club's 'worst' of his tenure in north London and hinted at a problem with the players' menatlity.

Jordan and Keown were discussing the Spurs boss on White and Jordan the following morning, with his set-piece struggles a topic of conversation.

However, it was Keown's reference to the Gunners that was a cause for things to get heated in the talkSPORT studio.

"Now I think he has to be perfect in everything he does," said the three-time Premier League winner with the Gunners.

"There are some teams now... if you look at it back in the day, the teams that played direct football, percentage football, you're going to say your Boltons and your Wimbledons..."

"And they got vilified," said Jordan, before Martin continued: "They were very good at set-pieces. But now, the best team at set-pieces is one of the teams that actually plays the best football, Arsenal. So what you need to do is you need to invest first in class for every area."

"How did you shoe Arsenal into this conversation?" Jordan asked after expressing bemusement on his face, but Keown defiantly responded: "Because it's a fact!

"So what he [Postecoglou] needs to do is, if his rivals or the other teams or competitions in that division are doing better in that area, he has to do better himself. He has to spend more time on the training pitch..."

"But they've been given latitude to build, Jordan interrupted. "They didn't start like this.

"Arsenal didn't start like this, [Mikel] Arteta didn't turn your library into a cheering fanbase, it took him some time do to it, so you've got to give people a degree of ability to change the culture."

Later on in the discussion, host Jim White read a message from a Spurs listener: "Is Martin not forgetting how long it's taken Arteta to build this Arsenal team?

"Shut up Martin, you're an Arsenal cheerleader."

Jordan and Keown then resumed their argument, with the ex-Gunner saying: "We're talking about a football club changing a culture."

However, Jordan wasn't having it and replied: "And we're talking about your club who haven't won a league in 20 years, so shut up!"

"Yeah but we've won trophies," Keown insisted before adding: "We're winning football matches."

However, the talkSPORT duo did finally see eye-to-eye as Jordan agreed with Keown when he said: "I'm talking about there being no balance in his team.

"If he [Postecoglou] strikes a balance, they can be successful, but the manager has to step out of his ego and say, 'Right, OK, we haven't got to win this 6-0, we just need to win it 2-0.'"

Spurs have now lost three of their opening seven Premier League matches of the season and are ninth in the table.

Their form outside of the top flight has been more impressive, though, as they currently sit third in the Europa League with two wins from two.

Ange Postecoglou believes Tottenham's 3-2 defeat to Brighton is the worst of his tenure as head coach.

Spurs were cruising to victory at the halfway point of Sunday's clash at the Amex Stadium thanks to goals from Brennan Johnson and James Maddison. But somehow, they left empty-handed.

Yankuba Minteh, Georginio Rutter and Danny Welbeck scored within 21 minutes of the restart to seal a stunning Brighton turnaround.

Defeat is Postecoglou's 17th from 51 matches across all competitions since he took charge last summer.

The scoreline was not as bad as their heaviest loss, 4-0 away at Newcastle last season, but he'll be keen to forget this one in a hurry.

"Yeah, that's disappointing," he told Sky Sports following a contrasting performance level in the first and second halves of the match.

"I'm frustrated, I'm absolutely gutted with that, it's probably the worst defeat we've had since I've been here.

"Unacceptable second half, we weren't anywhere near where we should be, maybe we just got carried away with how we were going."

When asked if there was a problem with his side's mentality, he said: "Yeah I think so.

"Second half, I just don't think... we kind of accepted our fate, which is a bit hard to understand because we haven't done that since I've been here, we've usually followed through everything.

"But when you don't, you pay a price and we paid the price."

Spurs have also made unwanted history with Sunday's result as they are the first ever Premier League side to lose ten matches when taking a 2-0 lead.

The record-breaking result left former Spurs star Dimitar Berbatov dumbfounded.

"Is it possible Spurs were telling themselves at half-time they won the game?" Berbatov asked the rest of the panel on Sky Sports.

"Is that also a possibility? Coming from us [Berbatov, Les Ferdinand and Steve Sidwell] who used to play the game.

"Maybe they were thinking it was going to be easy in the second half.

"They maybe underestimated Brighton a bit and that was probably the mistake as well, as in the second half Spurs weren't there.

"From the first half, it was gone, and we were watching here in disbelief, like what is going on?"

Although the result against Brighton is only the first time this has happened under Postecoglou, fans will undoubtedly be worried.

They have lost for the third time in the Premier League this season, with Newcastle and north London rivals Arsenal the other teams to get the better of them.

In comparison, Spurs were unbeaten at this stage of last season and didn't fall to defeat until November when they lost 4-2 to Chelsea.

They sit ninth in the table on ten points and will now have to wait two weeks to provide a response due to the international break.

Spurs will host London rivals West Ham on Saturday 19 October, live on talkSPORT, in a bid to revive their chances of European qualification.

Brennan Johnson has equalled Harry Kane's near six-year scoring record for Tottenham with his latest goal against Brighton.

The 23-year-old fired in for Spurs on 23 minutes from a Dominic Solanke through-ball moments after they had a goal ruled out for offside.

Johnson was in excellent form for the north London side prior to the weekend's trip down to the south coast, scoring five goals in five.

He has now extended this to six in six appearances in all competitions, matching club legend Kane in the process.

The striker was the last Spurs player to net in successive games in January 2019, doing so across three different competitions.

Of his seven strikes, five of them came in the Premier League, with the other two were netted in the FA Cup and Carabao Cup.

Johnson has scored three in the league and another in the Carabao Cup, and his other two finishes have been in the Europa League.

The former Nottingham Forest man's first came late on in their 2-1 Carabao Cup away at Coventry City before the second was scored at home against Brentford.

Qarabag were the next opponents to concede to Johnson in the Europa League ahead of his opener for Spurs in their 3-0 win at Manchester United.

Goal number five was scored against Ferencvaros, with Johnson firing on all cylinders in his second season at the club and surpassing his goal tally of five from the previous campaign.

Spurs' evening got even better in the 37th minute as James Maddison fired the ball through Brighton goalkeeper Bart Verbruggen after receiving a pass from Timo Werner.

Ange Postecoglou's side have responded well to their back-to-back league defeats against Arsenal and Newcastle by scoring 12 goals in six matches.

However, Brighton pulled a goal back just moments into the second-half via a Yankuba Minteh finish from inside the area.

The Seagulls then turned the match on its head when Georginio Rutter and Danny Welbeck scored within eight minutes of each other.

Brighton held on to complete the remarkable comeback to take them to sixth in the Premier League, with Spurs below them in tenth.

Former Tottenham goalkeeper Paulo Gazzaniga was Girona's penalty-saving hero on three occasions in one match.

The 32-year-old completed a move to LaLiga last summer following a spell at Fulham, initially joining the club on loan.

Gazzaniga made his ninth league start of the season for Girona on Sunday when they hosted Athletic Bilbao at Estadi Montilivi.

Although he was unable to keep a clean sheet in a 2-1 win, the ex-Spurs man showcased his quality when facing three Bilbao penalties.

The first came in the opening 45 minutes against Alex Berenguer, with Gazzaniga saving down low to his left.

Inaki Williams was next to miss for Bilbao although the penalty had to be retaken as the Girona goalkeeper went off his line too early.

However, the visitors were denied form 12 yards once again as Ander Herrera also saw his effort saved by Gazzaniga.

It was an excellent performance in goal from the Argentine as he helped seal a crucial win for Girona with Cristhian Stuani scoring a stoppage-time penalty to seal all three points.

Gazzaniga started his career in Valencia's academy before making the move to England in 2011 to sign with League Two side Gillingham.

After just one season, he completed a switch to Southampton after their promotion to the Premier League.

He made just 23 appearances across all competitions though for the Saints though and departed in 2017 for Spurs.

Gazzaniga had a lot more game time in north London, especially in the 2019/20 season as he made 18 Premier League appearances whilst Hugo Lloris was out injured.

But the goalkeeper eventually moved across the capital in 2021 to Fulham and helped them seal an instant return to the Premier League.

He featured just 15 times during his spell at Craven Cottage and first joined Girona on loan in 2022, with his move becoming permanent a year later.

Gazzaniga's appearance on Sunday was his 76th for the club across three seasons and could well be his best yet.

Ange Postecoglou reserved high praise for his four teenage stars but quickly dismissed the proposed ‘Ange’s Angel’s’ tagline.

The Tottenham boss was delighted after his young line up showed no fear in Thursday’s 2-1 Europa League victory at Hungarian side Ferencvaros.

Goals from Pape Matar Sarr and a fifth-consecutive goal for Brennan Johnson ensured Spurs continued their 100 per cent start to the competition.

Postecoglou handed full debuts to academy stars Mikey Moore and Will Lankshear and both combined to set up Sarr’s 23rd-minute opener.

Summer signings Lucas Bergvall and Archie Gray were also given spots in the starting XI and Postecoglou was delighted with the quartet’s contributions.

However, when asked whether the youngsters could adopt the name Ange’s Angels in a similar fashion to the Busby Babes and Fergie’s Fledglings, Postecoglou laughed: “No, no, no, you’ve got to do better than that. No chance.

“The first thing is that they’re part of our first team squad, not because I want some young players, it’s because they’ve earned that spot.

“Then it’s about how to help them develop and the moments we need to put them in there, the moments we need to hold off. And we can’t discount the fact that Archie is 18, Lucas is 18.

“I thought Archie was brilliant. We asked him to play in two different positions and it’s incredible how he just adjusts and he’s able to bring his game to wherever we put him.

“Lucas worked hard and Will was unlucky with a couple of moments when we could have got a goal.

“These guys are there because they’ve earned their spot but they’re an important part of our development.

“Whilst we want to be a team that has an impact this year, it’s like I said before, it’s important we’re developing players along the way so that whatever sort of period of potential for success or opportunity for success exists, it’s elongated because of the young players you got through.”

Postecoglou reserved special praise for 17-year-old Moore who is viewed as a huge prospect for the future.

Moore became Tottenham’s youngest-ever Premier League appearance maker in May when he was introduced as a second-half substitute in the game against Manchester City.

“I thought Mikey was outstanding. It’s brilliant for a 17-year-old to play 90-plus minutes in a European away tie,” Postecoglou said.

“He just handled it superbly, I kind of knew he would and I think it’ll help his growth as a footballer once you get through an experience like that.

“I think he’ll grow and evolve and I didn’t feel like I needed to take him off. He still looked strong at the end and was still contributing.

“If you look at the Premier League, how many 17-year-olds are actually contributing and Mikey is already, which shows that he’s got something special but we’ve just got to be really careful about how we develop that.”

'It's too soon'

Tottenham manager Ange Postecoglou has been speaking to the press ahead of Spurs' game against Brighton on Sunday.

The north London club were in action last night in the Europa League and beat Hungarian side Ferencvaros 2-1 in a nervy encounter.

Destiny Udogie played no part after picking up a knock against Manchester United, while there was no Heung-min Son either.

And it's good news for one, but bad for the other, with Udogie expected to be fine, but Spurs will still be without their captain.

When asked about injuries, Postecoglou said: "Fairly tired, but physically, no issues from last night's game.

"Destiny we think will be okay, training today and tomorrow.

"Sonny is unlikely, he's pushing hard, but it is too soon."

'He's going to run out of lives'

talkSPORT's Alex Crook thinks that Erik ten Hag's time as Manchester United manager is nearly up and is likely to end at the weekend when they face Aston Villa.

The Red Devils scraped a 3-3 draw with Porto in the Europa League last night, needing Harry Maguire to score a last-gasp equaliser.

One of the stranger decisions made by Ten Hag was to take Marcus Rashford off at half time despite the England international scoring and causing havoc down the left wing.

After the match, Ten Hag revealed that Rashford wasn't injured, and it was simply 'rotation'.

This decision baffled Crook.

Speaking to talkSPORT, he said: "The Rashford substitution at half-time was utterly bizarre. Unless he’s injured, which we now know that he wasn’t, this was a complete headsgone from Ten Hag. He scores one goal, he makes another, for him not to come out for the second half was appalling management.

"Ten Hag needs wins, he needs performances and he got neither last night. He was 2-0 up and looked like they were cruising, then as they always do under Ten Hag they suddenly look vulnerable at the back and all of a sudden they’re 3-2 down. It’s utterly chaotic.

"He brings on Maguire and he’s got lucky because Maguire has gone up and scored a superb header.

"But that’s not great management, that’s just luck, and he’s going to run out of lives in the end, and I think he’ll probably run out of lives against Aston Villa at Villa Park on Sunday."

Sob on the Tyne

Newcastle United boss Eddie Howe has confirmed that Alexander Isak will not be fit for the Toon's game against Everton tomorrow.

The Swedish striker wasn't called up for his country's Nations League games next week, suggesting he wouldn't play on Merseyside, and Howe has confirmed that is the case.

Isak picked up a toe injury during Newcastle's 2-1 win over Wolves.

He played the 3-1 defeat to Fulham but couldn't be involved in the 1-1 draw against Manchester City, and he's now expected back after the international break.

Callum Wilson is also out, meaning Anthony Gordon is likely to lead the line once more on his return to Goodison Park.

But Nick Pope, Kieran Trippier and Fabian Schar are all fit.

Speaking to the press, Howe said: "Alex Isak will not make the game. We hope he will be back with Callum Wilson for the game after the international break."

Scholesy on the money

Manchester United scraped a 3-3 draw against Porto last night in the Europa League, and the performance of their centre-backs was a concern.

The Red Devils were 2-0 in front but found themselves 3-2 down, needing Harry Maguire to step off the bench to rescue a point.

They also had Bruno Fernandes sent off for two bookable offences.

But the real issue was just how poor Matthijs de Ligt and Lisandro Martinez were.

De Ligt was beaten to two crosses by Porto's Samu Omorodion, who scored twice, while Maguire came on and saved the day.

Certainly, it was a performance that made Paul Scholes' comments about De Ligt appear true.

Speaking on a recent edition Sky Sports' Fan Debate, Scholes revealed he didn't think there was too much difference between Maguire and De Ligt.

He said: "I am not sure it's that much of an upgrade.

"He might be slightly better, but he's not a massive improvement."

Walks' return

Another player to be recalled to Lee Carsley's side for England's upcoming Nations League games is Kyle Walker.

The Manchester City right-back was given extra time off after helping the Three Lions reach the Euro 2024 final.

So when Carsley picked his first England squad as interim boss, Walker hadn't featured for his club, so he was left at home.

However, now that he's back in the team, Walker has been recalled into the Three Lions side, with Newcastle's Valentino Livramento missing out.

Speaking about Walker's recall after announcing his squad, Carsley said: "Before the last squad, he hadn't played a minute for Manhchester City.

"He's a player I've never worked with, but we are looking forward to having him back.

"I know what he's done in the past, and we think he can help the young players as well."

'It's nothing to do with form'

Interim England manager Lee Carsley has revealed his squad for the upcoming Nations League games.

The unlucky members to miss out were Eberechi Eze, Jarrod Bowen, Harry Maguire and Valentino Livramento.

However, Carsley has assured those players that they still have long-term futures with the Three Lions, while he also insisted none of them had been dropped due to form.

When asked about those four, he said: "This was more a chance of me looking at other players.

"Certainly, it's nothing to do with form or anything like that.

"The players I left out all had a chance of being involved, I've spoken to all of them and made it totally clear that this is sort-term, and they just need to keep playing well for their clubs."

He was also asked specifically about Maguire and made clear that the Manchester United centre-back's England career isn't over.

"Harry is a player I've worked with in the past.

"It was a case of talking to him about my decision, but Harry still has a really important part to play in future squads."

Dom's on target

England manager Lee Carsley has been speaking to the press after naming his squad for the upcoming Nations League games against Greece and Finland.

Dominic Solanke has earned a recall for the first time since 2017 after scoring 19 Premier League goals last season.

He also has two in his last two for Tottenham, and Carsley is excited to work with him.

When asked about Solanke's inclusion, he said: "Dom is a player I am fully aware of. He was very close to making the last squad.

"He did so well at Bournemouth, and he's taken that into his time at Spurs.

"He's got a lot of attributes I really like, as well as being a really nice person."

Rogers is ready

talkSPORT's Adrian Durham believes that Aston Villa's Morgan Rogers is ready to play for England.

Rogers has made a breakout this season in the Premier League, becoming a regular starter for Unai Emery's side.

And Durham thinks the U21 international's form proves he's worthy of a first senior Three Lions call-up.

"I love players who want the ball, even when the chips are down and against difficult opponents," the talkSPORT presenter explained.

"This [Rogers] is a proper footballer.

"And when Villa signed him in the January window, I don't think anybody thought that he'd be ready for the first team this season.

"But he looks ready for England, nevermind the Aston Villa first team.

"He's a quality footballer and with the amount of young players who have come through in that team, what a credit to the football club."

'They always speak about weight'

Kalvin Phillips has opened up about his frustration at constant comments about his weight.

Phillips was labelled 'overweight' by Man City boss Pep Guardiola after the 2022 World Cup and the midfielder went on to describe it as the 'toughest moment of his career'.

Guardiola did apologise for the comment, but the now-Ipswich loanee has revealed the knock-on effect that those words had.

And he also went into detail about how it has been a consistent issue since he was at Leeds under Marcelo Bielsa.

"Bielsa is obsessed with body composition and weights," Phillips explained on the 'My Mate's A Footballer' podcast.

"And I was on the higher end of the team, if not the highest.

"We had a pre-season where for three weeks I'd go home and I'd literally just have a protein shake for my dinner.

"I just had to keep losing weight, losing weight. He was like that until the last week I was there. He always pushed me to be on a certain weight target.

"I obviously respected it, but I knew that I couldn't starve myself or dehydrate myself because eventually, I was going to get injured or stop performing.

"Only recently, since I've come to Ipswich, have I got to the target, round about, that Biesla set me.

"The manager here is very big on body composition as well and I thought 'I'm not getting off to a bad start here, I need to make sure my weight's on point'."

"It's just become a narrative with me," Phillips continued.

"You obviously heard about the time when Pep [Guardiola] came out and said that I was overweight after the World Cup. That narrative on social media just grew and grew into something that it wasn't.

"Every club I'd go to, the manager and nutritionist, they'd always speak about weight before they'd say anything else. At a point it peed me off a little bit. I was getting quite frustrated with it.

"Now I've come to Ipswich and the manager is an unbelievable person as well as a manager. We spoke about all the past stuff that happened in my career. He just said he wanted me to get to where I was when I was at Leeds."

Call them up, Carsley

Tottenham manager Ange Postecoglou has called for interim England boss Lee Carsley to pick two of his biggest stars in the squad.

Postecoglou has piled praise on James Maddison for his recent form and also on Dominic Solanke for his scoring streak.

Speaking on Wednesday, he said: “I think Madders has been outstanding so far this year. His form from the first game has been really strong physically.

“I’ve said a few times that he’s back at the levels where he can play in the manner he wants to and do everything he wants in a game.

“In the last two or three weeks he’s had an effect on goals and assists as well, which always gets highlighted with players in his position, but his general play has been outstanding.

“I’m sure if he continues in that vein he will be in the conversation for England squads moving forward.”

And on Solanke, Postecoglou added: “He’s getting up there now in terms of physical fitness, I think every game he looks like he’s getting stronger.

“It’s a demanding role up front for us, it’s not just about goals, it’s about his link-up play and pressing.

“We’ve put a fair amount of workload on him, even though he’s missed a couple of games.

“I can see he’s getting strong. Obviously the goals help. He’s a striker.

"He wants to score goals and that helps him to feel better about the beginning of his career here.

“I think he’s in great condition, he’s already made a big impact at our football club, but I’m even more excited about what’s ahead and the potential we have as a team and he as an individual and that he can make a significant impact.”

'His potential is huge'

Aston Villa's Jhon Duran continues to prove himself as an up-and-coming star in the world of football.

Duran has only played 303 minutes this season, with almost all of his appearances coming off the bench.

The 20-year-old continues to play as an understudy to Ollie Watkins in the Premier League and other competitions.

But he's still managed to score six goals in that time and his latest was an historic one against Bayern Munich last night.

And following that Champions League goal, Villa manager Unai Emery spoke about the Colombian striker.

Emery said: "He arrived here two years ago and he is young, his potential is huge.

"Sometimes he has been impatient and I need to speak to him as a person and connect to him as a person.

"As well as a player to try to let him play, putting him on the field because his talent is there and the capacity to help us."

Need for speed

Tottenham defender Micky van de Ven has unsurprisingly been clocked as the fastest Premier League player this season.

After a marauding run set up Brennan Johnson's opener away at Manchester United on Sunday, he then sprinted back before half-time to tackle Alejandro Garnacho.

It saw him reach a staggering 37.12 km/h in the process.

Not only was this the fastest any Premier League player has run so far this term, it was also the fourth highest speed recorded since data began being collected from the 2020/21 campaign.

Incredibly, Van de Ven is responsible for three of the four top speeds recorded during this time, with his 37.38 km/h against Brentford last season topping the charts.

Along with Van de Ven, Erling Haaland, Gabriel Martinelli and Anthony Elanga are all in the top ten quickest players so far from this season.

Need for speed

Tottenham defender Micky van de Ven has unsurprisingly been clocked as the fastest Premier League player this season.

After a marauding run set up Brennan Johnson’s opener away at Manchester United on Sunday, he then sprinted back before half-time to tackle Alejandro Garnacho.

It saw him reach a staggering 37.12 km/h in the process.

Not only was this the fastest any Premier League player has run so far this term, it was also the fourth highest speed recorded since data began being collected from the 2020/21 campaign.

Incredibly, Van de Ven is responsible for three of the four top speeds recorded during this time, with his 37.38 km/h against Brentford last season topping the charts.

Along with Van de Ven, Erling Haaland, Gabriel Martinelli and Anthony Elanga are all in the top ten quickest players so far from this season.

Top 10 fastest Premier League players this season (km/h)

Micky van de Ven – Tottenham – 37.12

Anthony Elanga – Nottingham Forest – 35.90

Erling Haaland – Man City – 35.74

Timo Werner – Tottenham – 35.69

Gabriel Martinelli – Arsenal – 35.57

Alejandro Garnacho – Man United – 35.48

Cameron Archer – Southampton – 35.47

Pedro Neto – Chelsea – 35.40

Yankuba Minteh – Brighton – 35.38

Marcus Rashford – Man United – 35.53

Best of the rest

Bukayo Saka may be one of Arsenal's world class players - but he's not the club's most important star.

That's the view of ex-Tottenham striker Darren Bent, who believes that honour belongs to striker Kai Havertz.

The German forward brought up his fifth goal of the season in Wednesday's 2-0 win over Paris Saint-Germain.

Speaking on talkSPORT Drive, Arsenal fan Bent waxed lyrical over the ex-Chelsea man, who has reinvented himself at the Emirates.

He said: "There's an argument now that he's Arsenal's most important player - and that includes Saka.

"He can play in a number of positions, as a No.9, a No.8, he's comfortable in possession.

"He scores goals, he's brave, the most league goals he ever got for Chelsea in a season was eight and the most assists he got in a season was three.

"He got 13 [for Arsenal] last season, seven assists, he's become vital, he's just score three games on the bounce.

"He just looks a big physical presence, and that's what I like about him for Arsenal, where Arsenal try and play it out from the back, there's time where the press is on, you can't do it, but you can clip the ball to him, he takes it on his chest, he battles for it, he wins the header, he brings it down, he brings others into play."

He added: "His ability is not limited to just scoring goals, he can do everything."

'They should be challenging'

Arsenal legend Ray Parlour is quietly confident that the Gunners will win a trophy this season.

Mikel Arteta's side are still unbeaten in all competitions and are the current favourites to win the Premier League.

But in recent campaigns, they got close to winning trophies and seemed to lose form at the most crucial of times.

Parlour knows that, and he believes that the key to having some success is to keep consistent and ride some luck at times.

"They're going in the right direction, that is the most important thing for Arsenal," Parlour said on talkSPORT Drive.

"I'm not going to get carried away and say they're going to win this or that, but they're going to be challenging, that's what I'm going to say.

"They should be challenging with the squad they've got and with the team they've got.

"But they've just got to keep going now and they'll need a bit of luck along the way as well."

'I want to be in the England squad'

Yesterday, James Maddison spoke about how much he wants to be back in the England squad.

But he's not been called up for the upcoming international break...

The Tottenham midfielder didn't get picked for Euro 2024 and failed to make Lee Carsley's first squad last month.

Since then, Maddison has hit some form for Spurs and he believes he is now the 'fittest he's ever been'.

However, despite a goal and a couple of assists this season, he has not done enough to break into Carsley's Three Lions again.

His last international appearance came in June as he came off the bench to feature in a 3-0 win over Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Rogers is ready

talkSPORT's Adrian Durham believes that Aston Villa's Morgan Rogers is ready to play for England.

Rogers has made a breakout this season in the Premier League, becoming a regular starter for Unai Emery's side.

And Durham thinks the U21 international's form proves he's worthy of a first senior Three Lions call-up.

"I love players who want the ball, even when the chips are down and against difficult opponents," the talkSPORT presenter explained.

"This [Rogers] is a proper footballer.

"And when Villa signed him in the January window, I don't think anybody thought that he'd be ready for the first team this season.

"But he looks ready for England, nevermind the Aston Villa first team.

"He's a quality footballer and with the amount of young players who have come through in that team, what a credit to the football club."

'They always speak about weight'

Kalvin Phillips has opened up about his frustration at constant comments about his weight.

Phillips was labelled 'overweight' by Man City boss Pep Guardiola after the 2022 World Cup and the midfielder went on to describe it as the 'toughest moment of his career'.

Guardiola did apologise for the comment, but the now-Ipswich loanee has revealed the knock-on effect that those words had.

And he also went into detail about how it has been a consistent issue since he was at Leeds under Marcelo Bielsa.

"Bielsa is obsessed with body composition and weights," Phillips explained on the 'My Mate's A Footballer' podcast.

"And I was on the higher end of the team, if not the highest.

"We had a pre-season where for three weeks I'd go home and I'd literally just have a protein shake for my dinner.

"I just had to keep losing weight, losing weight. He was like that until the last week I was there. He always pushed me to be on a certain weight target.

"I obviously respected it, but I knew that I couldn't starve myself or dehydrate myself because eventually, I was going to get injured or stop performing.

"Only recently, since I've come to Ipswich, have I got to the target, round about, that Biesla set me.

"The manager here is very big on body composition as well and I thought 'I'm not getting off to a bad start here, I need to make sure my weight's on point'."

"It's just become a narrative with me," Phillips continued.

"You obviously heard about the time when Pep [Guardiola] came out and said that I was overweight after the World Cup. That narrative on social media just grew and grew into something that it wasn't.

"Every club I'd go to, the manager and nutritionist, they'd always speak about weight before they'd say anything else. At a point it peed me off a little bit. I was getting quite frustrated with it.

"Now I've come to Ipswich and the manager is an unbelievable person as well as a manager. We spoke about all the past stuff that happened in my career. He just said he wanted me to get to where I was when I was at Leeds."

Call them up, Carsley

Tottenham manager Ange Postecoglou has called for interim England boss Lee Carsley to pick two of his biggest stars in the squad.

Postecoglou has piled praise on James Maddison for his recent form and also on Dominic Solanke for his scoring streak.

Speaking on Wednesday, he said: “I think Madders has been outstanding so far this year. His form from the first game has been really strong physically.

“I’ve said a few times that he’s back at the levels where he can play in the manner he wants to and do everything he wants in a game.

“In the last two or three weeks he’s had an effect on goals and assists as well, which always gets highlighted with players in his position, but his general play has been outstanding.

“I’m sure if he continues in that vein he will be in the conversation for England squads moving forward.”

And on Solanke, Postecoglou added: “He’s getting up there now in terms of physical fitness, I think every game he looks like he’s getting stronger.

“It’s a demanding role up front for us, it’s not just about goals, it’s about his link-up play and pressing.

“We’ve put a fair amount of workload on him, even though he’s missed a couple of games.

“I can see he’s getting strong. Obviously the goals help. He’s a striker.

"He wants to score goals and that helps him to feel better about the beginning of his career here.

“I think he’s in great condition, he’s already made a big impact at our football club, but I’m even more excited about what’s ahead and the potential we have as a team and he as an individual and that he can make a significant impact.”

'His potential is huge'

Aston Villa's Jhon Duran continues to prove himself as an up-and-coming star in the world of football.

Duran has only played 303 minutes this season, with almost all of his appearances coming off the bench.

The 20-year-old continues to play as an understudy to Ollie Watkins in the Premier League and other competitions.

But he's still managed to score six goals in that time and his latest was an historic one against Bayern Munich last night.

And following that Champions League goal, Villa manager Unai Emery spoke about the Colombian striker.

Emery said: "He arrived here two years ago and he is young, his potential is huge.

"Sometimes he has been impatient and I need to speak to him as a person and connect to him as a person.

"As well as a player to try to let him play, putting him on the field because his talent is there and the capacity to help us."

Not feeling Blue

Enzo Maresca has stood by his decision to axe Ben Chilwell from Chelsea's Conference League squad - insisting he has no regrets.

The Blues boss has shown his ruthless side since replacing Mauricio Pochettino in the Stamford Bridge dugout in the summer by freezing out a number of players.

It resulted in Conor Gallagher, Romelu Lukaku, Raheem Sterling, Trevoh Chalobah, Armando Broja and Kepa Arrizabalaga all being shipped out.

But Chilwell remained on the club's books following the summer transfer window - despite being offered to Chelsea's Premier League rivals.

And he was one of many high-profile stars in the Chelsea dressing room to be left out of the League stage of their Conference League squad.

Despite being included in their Premier League squad, he has failed to even make the bench in any of their opening six top-flight matches.

Ahead of the club's Conference League opener against Belgian outfit Gent on Thursday night, Maresca was asked whether he has any regrets over his decision to omit him from their squad list.

Speaking in his pre-match press conference, he simply stated: "No. I don't think so."

Need for speed

Tottenham defender Micky van de Ven has unsurprisingly been clocked as the fastest Premier League player this season.

After a marauding run set up Brennan Johnson's opener away at Manchester United on Sunday, he then sprinted back before half-time to tackle Alejandro Garnacho.

It saw him reach a staggering 37.12 km/h in the process.

Not only was this the fastest any Premier League player has run so far this term, it was also the fourth highest speed recorded since data began being collected from the 2020/21 campaign.

Incredibly, Van de Ven is responsible for three of the four top speeds recorded during this time, with his 37.38 km/h against Brentford last season topping the charts.

Along with Van de Ven, Erling Haaland, Gabriel Martinelli and Anthony Elanga are all in the top ten quickest players so far from this season.

Need for speed

Tottenham defender Micky van de Ven has unsurprisingly been clocked as the fastest Premier League player this season.

After a marauding run set up Brennan Johnson’s opener away at Manchester United on Sunday, he then sprinted back before half-time to tackle Alejandro Garnacho.

It saw him reach a staggering 37.12 km/h in the process.

Not only was this the fastest any Premier League player has run so far this term, it was also the fourth highest speed recorded since data began being collected from the 2020/21 campaign.

Incredibly, Van de Ven is responsible for three of the four top speeds recorded during this time, with his 37.38 km/h against Brentford last season topping the charts.

Along with Van de Ven, Erling Haaland, Gabriel Martinelli and Anthony Elanga are all in the top ten quickest players so far from this season.

Top 10 fastest Premier League players this season (km/h)

Micky van de Ven – Tottenham – 37.12

Anthony Elanga – Nottingham Forest – 35.90

Erling Haaland – Man City – 35.74

Timo Werner – Tottenham – 35.69

Gabriel Martinelli – Arsenal – 35.57

Alejandro Garnacho – Man United – 35.48

Cameron Archer – Southampton – 35.47

Pedro Neto – Chelsea – 35.40

Yankuba Minteh – Brighton – 35.38

Marcus Rashford – Man United – 35.53

Best of the rest

Bukayo Saka may be one of Arsenal's world class players - but he's not the club's most important star.

That's the view of ex-Tottenham striker Darren Bent, who believes that honour belongs to striker Kai Havertz.

The German forward brought up his fifth goal of the season in Wednesday's 2-0 win over Paris Saint-Germain.

Speaking on talkSPORT Drive, Arsenal fan Bent waxed lyrical over the ex-Chelsea man, who has reinvented himself at the Emirates.

He said: "There's an argument now that he's Arsenal's most important player - and that includes Saka.

"He can play in a number of positions, as a No.9, a No.8, he's comfortable in possession.

"He scores goals, he's brave, the most league goals he ever got for Chelsea in a season was eight and the most assists he got in a season was three.

"He got 13 [for Arsenal] last season, seven assists, he's become vital, he's just score three games on the bounce.

"He just looks a big physical presence, and that's what I like about him for Arsenal, where Arsenal try and play it out from the back, there's time where the press is on, you can't do it, but you can clip the ball to him, he takes it on his chest, he battles for it, he wins the header, he brings it down, he brings others into play."

He added: "His ability is not limited to just scoring goals, he can do everything."

'They should be challenging'

Arsenal legend Ray Parlour is quietly confident that the Gunners will win a trophy this season.

Mikel Arteta's side are still unbeaten in all competitions and are the current favourites to win the Premier League.

But in recent campaigns, they got close to winning trophies and seemed to lose form at the most crucial of times.

Parlour knows that, and he believes that the key to having some success is to keep consistent and ride some luck at times.

"They're going in the right direction, that is the most important thing for Arsenal," Parlour said on talkSPORT Drive.

"I'm not going to get carried away and say they're going to win this or that, but they're going to be challenging, that's what I'm going to say.

"They should be challenging with the squad they've got and with the team they've got.

"But they've just got to keep going now and they'll need a bit of luck along the way as well."

One-man team?

Cole Palmer is clearly Chelsea's superstar.

No player across Europe's top five leagues has contributed to more goals since he signed for the Blues last summer.

And he's started this season in fine form too, scoring four goals in the first 45 minutes against Brighton last weekend.

Palmer isn't part of Chelsea's Europa Conference League squad though, as the club has chosen to rest him, and that has prompted questions over whether they will struggle without him.

Enzo Maresca was asked whether his side may be too reliant on the England international to have left him out.

Maresca replied: "No. It is not about reliance. We have already played some games without Cole.

"For sure, for us or any team in the world, Cole is an extra, something that you need. But we also need to protect some players. They need that.

"It is not because we try to protect Cole, Romeo Lavia or Wesley Fofana [who are also not in the European squad] for some... it's for a reason. I think Cole needs that."

Richarlis-on his way back

Tottenham striker Richarlison has posted a positive fitness update on his Instagram this afternoon.

The Brazilian hasn't played any football since August after picking up a calf injury that led to him pulling out of international duty.

He has been out of action for Spurs' last four league games but now he could be closing in on a return.

Richarlison posted a new picture of him back on the grass in his training gear with a sand timer in the caption.

It indicates he's on to the next step of his recovery and that he will be back in action soon.

He's not expected to be fit for Tottenham's European clash against Ferencvaros tomorrow or their Premier League game against West Ham on Sunday.

But there could be hope of a comeback after the international break which begins after this weekend.

'We have incompetent VAR officials'

Danny Murphy has defended referee Chris Kavanagh and taken aim at VAR following Bruno Fernandes' red card decision.

Fernandes was sent off against Tottenham last weekend, but the suspension has since been rescinded after an appeal.

But that raised the question as to why a retrospective review needs to take place while VAR is in the game.

"When it happened in full time, most people went 'Ooo naughty'," Murphy said on White and Jordan earlier today.

"I understand how a ref can get something wrong because when he saw that, and it did look naughty, he's given him a red.

"So let's give Chris Kavanagh a little bit of leeway, he needs some help, hence the fact we've got VAR.

"Well, VAR have got time to take a breath and not only did he [Fernandes] slip, he caught him below the knee with the side of his foot and not his studs.

"As soon as they saw that, they should have said: 'Chris, I think you're wrong on this one, go and have a look I think you'll change your mind.'"

Murphy continued to talk about why it took an extra review following the appeal to overturn the decision and it not being overturned by VAR during the game.

"Unfortunately, we have incompetent VAR officials," he added.

"So if the original review panel which is VAR aren't good enough to do their job, then we need another review of it."

Maresca on Mudryk

Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca has been speaking about Mykhailo Mudryk's lack of football so far this season.

Mudryk joined the Blues for almost £90million during last year's January transfer window.

But he's struggled to get into his new boss' side, with the squad boasting an incredible amount of talent in wide areas.

And now the Chelsea boss has addressed the reason why.

When asked why Mudryk hasn't started many games this campaign, Maresca said: "I think Misha played from the start against Wolves in the Premier League. We gave him some games.

"They all want to play from the start but sometimes it is not possible.

"Against Barrow, Misha did very well. I think when he was inside, he was okay. Hopefully he can do a good game tomorrow.

"We can say exactly the same for Nkunku. The club signed him as a big player and at the moment, he is not playing in the Premier League.

"But things change quickly in football. Right now, the situation is this but it doesn't mean it will be the same for all of the season."

He continued: "I don't think with Misha it is a lack of confidence.

"It's Misha and he needs to improve something, like the rest. But we are happy with the way he is working."

'Friends again'

Bukayo Saka has put an end to the squabble between him and Arsenal legend Robert Pires.

Pires said last month that he believed Jeremy Doku was a better player than Saka, stating the latter lacks 'consistency and experience'.

However, he then backtracked on those comments a couple of weeks ago, saying on Instagram: "Ahead of [the north London derby] I want to clarify that I think @bukayosaka87 is an amazing player and I have huge respect for him.

"A while ago I was asked to compare him to another player. I said the other player had better skills in some areas.

"This does not mean the other player is better than @bukayosaka87. I genuinely think @bukayosaka87 is better and a fantastic number seven."

And his backtracking seems to have pleased Saka who has now posted on his own Instagram with a selfie of the pair.

His post in which both are smiling together is captioned 'Friends again' with a laughing face, signalling the end of their beef.

Isak blow

Newcastle striker Alexander Isak has been left out of Sweden's squad for the upcoming international break.

Isak has missed the Magpies' last two games with a broken toe that he sustained during a win over Wolves last month.

The 25-year-old played through the issue against Fulham but he was not able to recover and is now sidelined.

He will not be travelling to play for his country and therefore he is expected to miss Newcastle's clash with Everton this weekend too.

Their trip to Goodison Park is Toon's last game before the break.

Sweden manager Jon Dahl Thomasson confirmed that it is Isak's injury keeping him out, saying: “It is one of the world’s best strikers who is missing.

“He is really disappointed not to be able to contribute and help the team, but he is not ready to perform due to injury.

"I am sure he will be back in November and help us when we play again.”

Phil-ling better

Phil Foden says he’s ‘feeling more like myself’ after starring in Manchester City’s comfortable victory over Slovan Bratislava last night.

The England star scored and assisted as City won 4-0 in Slovakia to hit back from his struggles so far this season.

Foden said: “It was a good night for myself, obviously, being back out there.

“It’s nice to score again, but more importantly I’m just enjoying my football again. I’m delighted with the result and how I played.

“I’ve had a very slow start to the season with a bit of illness and a bit of fatigue, but I’m getting back into it now and feeling more like myself.”

Foden will now hope to start and shine again as City face Fulham in Premier League on Saturday before the upcoming international break.

He added: “I am obviously confident and believe in the team but this season teams have played the same way, where they defend on the edge of the box and it’s been difficult to break them down.

“Hopefully we can find new ways to break it down and score goals. That’s the aim.”

Mainoo boost

Manchester United star Kobbie Mainoo has been spotted in training in a timely injury boost for Erik ten Hag.

Mainoo appeared to injury his hamstring in Sunday’s 3-0 home defeat to Tottenham and had to be replaced at half-time by Mason Mount.

Ten hag said after the match: "I can't say in this moment. I have to find out but, of course, when a player is coming off before half-time already, then there are some concerns."

But those concerns appear to have been allayed with Mainoo pictured in a training session today.

Mainoo will likely be rested for tomorrow's Europa League clash with Porto but looks set to be fit for Sunday's Premier League trip to Aston Villa.

‘This is the year’

Bukayo Saka is convinced this will be the season that Arsenal beat Manchester City to the Premier League title.

Saka, 23, made the claim following Arsenal's impressive 2-0 Champions League win against Paris St Germain at the Emirates.

The statement win, against a side which reached the semi-finals of the Champions League last season, came three days after a stoppage-time victory over Leicester which took Arsenal level on points with rivals' City.

Arsenal have finished runners-up to Pep Guardiola's side for the past two seasons, but when asked if the Gunners are ready to deliver their first league title since 2004, Saka replied: "I don't want to put too much pressure on us, but I do think this is the year.

"We have been close for the past two years and we are getting closer, but, yes, hopefully this will be the year.

"There is a lot of hunger in my belly. In previous years we have finished runners-up, but that spirit in me is that I want to win this season and I believe in myself a lot."

Ref watch

Chris Kavanagh has been selected to referee Chelsea v Nottingham Forest this weekend following his controversial decision to send off Bruno Fernandes last Sunday.

Fernandes’ red card in Manchester United’s 3-0 defeat to Tottenham has been overturned.

The midfielder lunged in on James Maddison but appeared to slip just before and United have made a successful claim for wrongful dismissal.

Kavanagh, who oversaw the match at Old Trafford, has now been appointed as the referee for Chelsea’s home clash against Forest at 2pm Sunday.

Meanwhile, United’s trip to Aston Villa at the same time this weekend will be refereed by Robert Jones.

Other notable appointments include Simon Hooper taking charge of Crystal Palace v Liverpool and Tony Harrington overseeing Arsenal v Southampton.

Do the Gunners have enough ammo?

Jamie O'Hara insists Arsenal haven't got the squad depth to go far in both the Premier League and Champions League this season.

The ex-Tottenham midfielder told talkSPORT: “Arsenal as a football club a great place at the moment, they're fighting on all fronts, for all competitions.

“The Premier League and the Champions League are the ones that they want, right? We know that.

“There is going to come a point in the season where they're playing their best team every week because they got Premier League and the Champions League and they got to play their best side.

“They haven't got the squad. I don't think they've got the squad depth to make a difference when it comes to later on in the season.”

Sports Bar co-host Jason Cundy disagreed and believes Arsenal can go far in both competitions this term - if they keep their star men fit.

He said: “They have got a squad, I feel, that's better than last season. Keep everyone fit, this is key, let's call it as it is, if you keep your big dogs fit.

“Odegaard is out but if you can get him back and you keep that spine of Gabriel, Saliba, Rice, Odegaard, Havertz.

“You keep the big dogs fit and firing, they will go deep in competitions. They will.”

Dominic Solanke is hopeful of earning an England recall when Lee Carsley names his latest squad on Thursday, talkSPORT understands.

Solanke has scored in each of his last three games for Tottenham and is understood to have impressed interim boss Carsley during their 3-0 thrashing of Manchester United on Sunday.

Carsley was in the crowd at Old Trafford to run the rule over Solanke and his teammate James Maddison.

Spurs' record £65million signing Solanke won his only senior England cap in a friendly against Brazil in 2017.

He has made many appearances in numerous age groups for England and was part of their Under-20 World Cup-winning campaign in 2017.

The Three Lions take on Greece and Finland next week having obtained maximum points from their opening two Nations League fixtures.

Carsley's first game in charge saw England claim a 2-0 victory over the Republic of Ireland in Dublin before winning by the same scoreline against Finland at Wembley last month.

The Nations League group stage is rounded off in November with England travelling to Greece before facing the Irish at Wembley.

Carsley is set to be given the Nations League campaign as an audition to get the England job full time.

It's understood he's the frontrunner for the post despite a number of big names in management, including Pep Guardiola, Jurgen Klopp and Graham Potter, previously being linked with the job.

The 50-year-old was previously the Under-21s boss and guided the Young Lions to European Championship success in the summer of 2023.

If he gets the job, he'll succeed Gareth Southgate, who experienced huge success as England boss with two European Championship finals and a spot in the World Cup semi-finals to boast amongst his other achievements in the role.

Carsley made a number of surprise selections for his first England squad, handing first call-ups for Newcastle's Tino Livramento, Lille's Angel Gomes, Chelsea's Noni Madueke and Nottingham Forest's Morgan Gibbs-White.

If the Football Association decides not to hire Carsley then they may look to former Chelsea and Brighton boss Potter, who didn't exactly rule himself out of contention.

Asked about the England links earlier this week, Potter joked: "I think it's time for a commercial break, isn't it?!

"As an Englishman, of course it's a fantastic job and I'm supportive of FA and what they decide to do and whoever the next coach is.

"Gareth did a fantastic job and I'm sure Lee will in his time, however long that is."

Micky van de Ven showed what made him the Premier League's fastest player during Tottenham's 3-0 victory over Manchester United.

The defender raced nearly the length of the pitch to set up Brennan Johnson's opener, and his heroics at Old Trafford saw him record the fastest speed of any Premier League player this season.

And while the Dutchman's stunning assist was arguably the game's standout moment, it wasn't actually where he hit top speed.

On the brink of half time, Van de Ven raced back to tackle United's Alejandro Garnacho, reaching a staggering 37.12 km/h in the process.

Not only was this the fastest any Premier League player has run so far this season, it was also the fourth highest speed recorded since data began being collected in the 2020/21 season.

Incredibly, Van de Ven is responsible for three of the four top speeds recorded during this time, with his 37.38 km/h against Brentford last season topping the charts.

The 23-year-old's season's best against the Red Devils sees him place comfortably ahead of his fellow speed merchants.

Nottingham Forest's Anthony Elanga ranks second in the leaderboard, with his personal record of 35.90 km/h, over one km/h slower than van de Ven's.

While Manchester City goal machine Erling Haaland leads the Premier League goalscoring charts by some distance with ten goals in his first six games, he ranks third in the sprinting category.

Haaland's top speed of 35.74 km/h places him narrowly ahead of Spurs' Timo Werner (35.69 km/h), who comes in fourth place.

With Arsenal bidding to lift a first league title in over 20 years, they will surely need some pace in their squad to see off opponents.

And winger Gabriel Martinelli could be the man to provide this, who ranks fifth among the English top-flight's most rapid players at 35.57 km/h.

Man United stars Alejandro Garnacho and Marcus Rashford also feature in the top ten in this category, with the speedy Argentine sixth (35.48 km/h), and his fellow attacker tenth (35.53 km/h).

Meanwhile, Southampton may look to make greater use of striker Cameron Archer's sharpness if they are to turn their disappointing start to the season around.

Saints have endured a difficult return to the Premier League, sitting a lowly 19th in the table and without a win in their opening six games.

This comes in spite of Archer's running statistics, who has recorded the seventh top speed of any player at 35.47 km/h.

Elsewhere among the early season speed demons, Pedro Neto has continued to showcase his frightening pace at new club Chelsea following his summer arrival from Wolves.

The Portuguese winger's impressive 35.40 km/h places him eighth fastest for the campaign.

But this is still over one km/h shy of the 36.86 km/h he hit against Luton last season, which is the seventh fastest top speed on record in the Premier League.

Tottenham will look to continue their perfect start to their Europa League campaign away at Ferencvaros, live on talkSPORT.

Spurs only trail league table leaders Ajax on goal difference after a 3-0 win over Qarabag, despite an early red card for Radu Dragusin.

Ange Postecoglou's men now travel to the Hungarian champions buoyed by beating Manchester United by the same scoreline.

The north Londoners will fancy their chances of extending their winning streak, with Ferencvaros losing to Anderlecht last week.

Although this is the first competitive meeting between the two clubs, Postecoglou does have previous in this fixture.

The Australian guided former club Celtic to home and away wins over Ferencvaros in the 2021/22 Europa League group stage.

Ferencvaros vs Tottenham: Kick-off time

Kick-off at the Groupama Arena is scheduled for 6.45pm local time, which is 5.45pm in the UK.

Tottenham are usually in action during the second slot of UEFA's European fixtures as a high-profile Premier League team.

However, unusually, all but one of Spurs' four away league phase games have been booked in for the earlier 5.45pm kick-offs.

The one exception is the Battle of Britain showdown against Scottish giants Rangers in December, which will be held at 8pm.

That is the same time as all of Tottenham's remaining home matches, which include the visits of AZ Alkmaar, Roma, and Elfsborg.

Ferencvaros vs Tottenham: talkSPORT coverage

This Europa League clash will take place on Thursday, October 3.

talkSPORT 2 will have live coverage from Hungary, with commentary from Alex Crook and former Liverpool midfielder Ray Houghton.

To tune in to talkSPORT or talkSPORT 2 through the website, click HERE for the live stream.

You can also listen via the talkSPORT app, on DAB digital radio, through your smart speaker and on 1089 or 1053 AM.