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England have been on the wrong end of some big upsets in ICC events and have been shocked once again in this World Cup, by Afghanistan in Delhi. Which of these defeats was the most surprising?

ESPNcricinfo staff15-Oct-2023England have been on the wrong end of some big upsets in ICC events and have been shocked once again in this World Cup, by Afghanistan in Delhi. Which of these defeats was the most surprising?

The pressure-specialist batter talks about how she – and Australia – gets going when the going gets tough

Interview by Andrew McGlashan26-Feb-2022Beth Mooney was part of the Australia side left shell-shocked by their exit from the 2017 ODI World Cup, and has since been a central figure in a team that has taken the format to new heights. Ahead of this year’s World Cup in New Zealand she spoke about lessons from the past, her development as a batter and the challenge ahead.What does the Australian team feel like now compared to the 2017 World Cup side?
It was very different. Not in a negative way or anything – it was just there were some people that had been around for a really long time and had done things in a particular way and perhaps we didn’t really adapt quickly enough to situations that were thrown at us. Obviously it’s well documented about Harmanpreet [Kaur] tearing us apart and Chamari [Athapaththu] in the round game, so we didn’t know how to adjust as quickly as we could. You look at our team now and, especially in the last six months, it just seems like any situation that’s thrown at us, we’ve always got an answer. Whether it’s Meg [Lanning] out there making decisions as the captain – she’s done an exceptional job in the last two years – or batters trying to come from behind and win a game. It’s been an unbelievable turnaround for this group. That’s probably the biggest change I’ve seen – the ability to problem-solve as well as adapt when we’re under fire a bit.Related

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That 2017 semi-final is often cited as a turning point for Australia. Was there a moment in the field where you thought it was getting out of control and since then, when games have got tight and you’ve been under pressure, have you recalled what was learnt?
Certainly there were moments where Harmanpreet was just hitting it over the boundary with ease where I thought, geez, this could be a big innings. It was probably only about half an hour before that I thought, this is good, we won’t be chasing that much and myself and Bolts [Nicole Bolton] can get us off to a good start. The game obviously took a pretty dramatic turn towards the back end of our bowling innings, when she was playing out of her skin and playing an unbelievable one-day knock.There’s been plenty of times since then we’ve been put under the pump. I look back to that T20 World Cup when we played New Zealand and we had to win that game to make the semi-final. We were under a lot of pressure defending a pretty mediocre total and Sophie Devine was still out there, who can do what Harmanpreet can do. We had better plans to adjust and a few more options that we believed that could work.The semi-final at the T20 World Cup is another example. DK [Delissa Kimmince] coming on there in the 11th over out of 13 and going for five runs. That was probably the difference.The Mackay win: Mooney took Australia over the line with her 125 not out in a last-ball thriller•Albert Perez/Getty ImagesHow soon did the conversations start after that loss to India in 2017?
It was a pretty sombre dressing room. People were hurting. That wasn’t the story we wanted to tell for that team. We essentially had an extra day in England that we didn’t want. We wanted to get out of there pretty quickly and then we basically disappeared for a couple of months in the winter in Australia. The next time we got back together was just before the Ashes, in October 2017.Pete Clark, our psych, and Motty [head coach Matthew Mott] decided to replay some of the highlights of India winning in this dark room at the National Cricket Centre in Albion. A lot of us spoke about how it felt immediately afterwards. There were a lot of people who felt embarrassed, a lot of people who were disappointed. A lot of people were angry. A lot of people who felt a certain amount of shame, as well, for that result. But it all just allowed us to realise that we were all feeling similar things and we all knew what needed to change. We made a commitment to change in that moment.Certainly it is a confronting thing to do when you’re trying to park something that is so fresh in your memory. Then you see it on the big screen in front of you and talk about how it makes you feel. For us it was just about watching it all over again and making sure we could let it go and commit to something completely different to what we delivered that day.Has it felt like a long time to get a chance to make amends?
Yeah, it has been a long wait. Even during the [2021-22] Ashes, there was a lot of anxiety about catching Covid in Melbourne and Canberra and not being able to get on the plane and missing the opportunity to rectify some things that went wrong in the last one. So it felt like a long time.There’s a lot of things that we’ve achieved in that time that people probably didn’t expect us to, but certainly within our group it’s very different. I think we’ve got a good balance of people who were a little bit scarred from that last World Cup and some people that have no idea what it feels like to bomb out of a World Cup like that.With head coach Matthew Mott during the Ashes. Mott and the team psychologist conducted a post-mortem of the 2017 World Cup semi-final loss that Mooney says sparked a commitment to do things differently•Getty ImagesOne of the things you’ve achieved since then is the 26-match winning streak in ODIs. Did you realise what you were doing as it was happening? “This is No. 20, 21” etc?
We didn’t really talk about it until we were in New Zealand this time last year and there was a lot in the media about going past Ricky Ponting’s team’s record in ODI cricket. Our whole mindset after the 2017 World Cup was making sure that we played each game in isolation. We would win an ODI series and be 2-0 up, then lose the third game and that sort of leaves a bit of a bitter taste in your mouth.That was essentially how we ended up getting to so many ODIs wins because we didn’t want to ruin the vibe that we’d created in making sure that we put the nail in the coffin, so to speak, on tours.You’ve played a couple of innings that have defined matches this season – the century in Mackay and 73 in Canberra – both from tough positions. Is that something you pride yourself on, being at your best in the most challenging situations?
You could say it’s easy to go out there and score runs when your life is going easy outside of cricket, when the wicket is a batting paradise and it’s one of those days where things feel like you can do no wrong, but the innings you remember as a batter are the ones that you have to really grind out. Being able to get the team into a position to win a game that people think we can lose, I really pride myself on.Bringing people along with me as well. Tahlia [McGrath] has been doing a great job and found herself out there with me a couple of times when we’ve been under the pump. Just having that belief within the dressing room and within myself that you know nothing’s ever too far gone for us to come back, so if I can hang on and get the team into a better position than when I walked out there, then I’m doing the job that they expect of me and I expect of myself.On the run-chase scenario: what’s your mindset when you are in a position like that? And is it something you found has come naturally or have you developed it over the years?
It’s been more about just calmness at the crease, whether I’m opening in WBBL or batting in the middle order in one-day international cricket. No situation really gives me any level of stress when I’m out there because I feel like I can control the game a little bit.This group of coaching staff and Meg and Rach [Haynes], they value the fact I understand the situation and what’s required. I probably initially didn’t think that I was very good at that. But over the last couple of years I’ve got a little bit more data to suggest that I’m doing something right in judging what’s in front of me.With Tahlia McGrath, who in Mooney’s words has “found herself out there with me a couple of times when we’ve been under the pump” in the third ODI against New Zealand in Brisbane in 2020•AFP via Getty ImagesI think it’s just this quiet calmness and quiet confidence about the process that I go through when I’m batting, and making sure that I stick to that as often as possible. The realisation that no game is ever really too far gone if you don’t believe it is so.Certainly that game in Mackay, I probably didn’t look at the scoreboard for about 15 overs of it, and when I did, we needed about 180 off 150 balls. I thought, “Actually that’s not too bad.” Once I work things out like that, dumb it down a little bit and make it sound a little less scary in my own mind, it makes my life a bit easier.Has the amount of T20 cricket you’ve played – both individually and as teams – broadened the mind about what is possible in the 50-over game?
Definitely. That game [in Mackay] is a classic example. We were chasing eight or nine an over for the last 15-20 overs, which five years ago you were probably never going to chase down, but given the pressure situations you find yourself in in T20 cricket, sometimes needing ten an over in the last five overs, it’s a totally gettable number. The evolution of T20 cricket will find its way into women’s one-day cricket and we’ll see we’ll see a lot more games like in Mackay that day.Was there someone growing up that you modelled yourself on as a batter and thought, “I’d like to play like that”?
I had a couple. I had lunch with him a few weeks ago, before the first Ashes Test in Brisbane, and told the story. I think he got a bit embarrassed but I used to love watching Mike Hussey bat in Test cricket. Just the determination and grit – he seemed to always find a way to score runs. He had to do it the hard way as well. It took him a long time to debut for Australia, but once he got there, he never let anyone have a sniff at the spot he had in the side. So I thoroughly enjoyed watching him play, as well as Adam Gilchrist, who I have a bit of correspondence with. It’s kind of nice to think that two blokes I watched and admired growing up, I can send them a text and check in and ask questions. I probably tried to model my cover drive a little bit on Mike’s.Is it a nice thought, with the women’s game much more visible now, that there is a generation of young children coming through who will want to bat like Beth Mooney?
It’s certainly a bit of a surreal moment when kids say that. Usually my response is, “You can do better than wanting to bat like me, surely!” Which I think they get a little bit offended about. While I do shy away from that public nature of things, it is a real sign of what’s changed in the world. Some girls might want to say they bat like me, and that’s amazing. But the thing that really stands out for me is watching dads bring their young boys to female games where there’s no male game afterwards. There’s certainly going to be a lot more of that moving forward just with how much exposure women’s cricket is going to get in the next six months with the World Cup and the Commonwealth Games.Mooney with Georgia Redmayne (batting) and Darcie Brown play with kids at a launch event for the series against India last year•Bradley Kanaris/Getty ImagesIn this phase of your career is there someone who you lean on for advice from outside the Australia coaching group?
She’s probably not someone I would ring up about my batting because she probably knows all about it, but Kirby Short I’ve got a really good relationship with, post her playing career. She tends to give me a little bit of tough love at times, but also some perspective about how I’m going on and off the field, and she can usually read my body language even if we’re not in the same country. She’s had a huge influence on how I go about my business and the calmness that you see out there on the field. She’s taught me a lot, so if I’m ever feeling like things are getting out of control, she’s easily one of the first people I’d get on the phone with to just to share how I’m going. She’s got a pretty good reputation around the cricket circle of being a bit of a leader and a mentor, so it’d be silly of me not to use that where I can.As a team you’ve needed to come through some challenging situations this summer. Does that stand you in good stead going into a World Cup?
I think any games you can draw on that you’ve got yourself out of the s**t basically and found a way to win certainly helps. But we’re under no illusions that everyone starts from scratch. It means absolutely nothing that we’ve won the Ashes and we had that earlier streak of 26 games, because we’re all starting from square one. So if we’re not on our game from day one on March 5, then we’re already one step behind everyone else. I think the next few weeks will be really interesting to see how it all unfolds and I think everyone’s just really excited to get started.I’m sure you’d like this tournament to be less stressful than the T20 World Cup campaign, but it’s rare for a competition to go without a glitch or a setback. Having gone through that experience, are there things you can draw on?
Even the Ashes didn’t start well, did it. I broke my face, Tay [Vlaeminck] was out again with a foot injury. It seems that we can’t go on any tour without some kind of hiccup along the way.We’ll always look back at that T20 World Cup and wonder how we got through it in one piece. I certainly can’t afford for it to be as stressful this time because I lost a lot of weight during that World Cup and I’ve probably got nothing left to lose after my surgery.

INEOS splashed the cash in the summer transfer window to provide Manchester United head coach Ruben Amorim with more quality at both ends of the pitch.

Senne Lammens was brought in from Royal Antwerp, to replace Andre Onana, and has prevented 1.51 xG across five appearances in the Premier League so far this season, per Sofascore.

£62.5m was also spent on the signing of Matheus Cunha from Wolverhampton Wanderers. The Brazil international scored his first goal for the club last month in the 4-2 win against Brighton & Hove Albion.

Bryan Mbeumo has arguably been the most successful addition to the squad. Since his £71m move from Brentford, the left-footed star has scored five goals and provided one assist in 11 Premier League games for the Red Devils.

Whilst Cunha and Mbeumo both arrived from other English clubs as known quantities, the club were also willing to splash the cash on more of a gamble, with Benjamin Sesko.

The Red Devils spent £66.4m to sign the Slovenia international from RB Leipzig in the summer to replace Rasmus Hojlund, and he has had a mixed start to life at Old Trafford.

Why Man Utd need to sign another centre-forward

Sesko has scored two goals in 11 appearances in the Premier League since his big-money move from Germany, and both of those goals came in his first seven outings.

The 22-year-old marksman scored his first goal for the club against Brentford in September, before netting his second goal against Sunderland in a 2-0 win at Old Trafford.

Sesko scored 13 goals in 33 matches in the Bundesliga in the 2024/25 campaign for Leipzig, per Sofascore, so it was always going to be a tough ask for the striker to hit the ground running as a goal machine in the Premier League.

The Slovenian forward, as shown in the graphic above, has missed more ‘big chances’ than he has managed goals scored, which suggests that he needs to improve his efficiency in front of goal if he wants to be the main number nine for Amorim.

Minutes

90

30

Shots

3

0

Goals

0

0

Key passes

0

0

Big chances created

0

0

Ground duels won

0/0

0/7

Aerial duels won

0/3

2/2

As you can see in the table above, Sesko struggled in his last two appearances for United before the international break, losing the majority of his physical duels without offering any significant threat in the final third.

The former Leipzig star’s mixed start to his career at Old Trafford may explain why the club are reportedly looking to add another player in his position in the winter market.

Man Utd chasing deal for another Bundesliga striker

According to CaughtOffside, Manchester United are one of a number of clubs chasing a deal to sign Borussia Dortmund centre-forward Serhou

Guirassy.

The report claims that he has a release clause in his contract with the German side that will allow him to be sold for a fee of roughly £44m to a ‘select group of elite clubs’ in the January transfer window.

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Mega money deals, controversial moves and big-name flops. This is the home of transfer news and opinion across Football FanCast.

It adds that Arsenal, Manchester United, and PSG are all in the race to sign the Guinea international, but it remains unclear if any of those three teams fall into the group of clubs that can activate that release clause.

CaughtOffside reports that the Red Devils are ones to watch in the race to land the Bundesliga centre-forward because Amorim wants more experienced options in his frontline.

Sesko, 22, is still in the early stages of his development and Guirassy could be viewed as an experienced number nine who could offer a huge upgrade in the immediate term.

Why Man Utd should sign Serhou Guirassy

At the age of 29, the Dortmund centre-forward would arrive at Old Trafford as the experienced striker that Amorim wants to bolster his squad with, as he would be ready to come in and make an instant impact.

It can sometimes be the case with young players that they have the technical qualities and potential to be an incredible player in the future, but they do not have a tight grasp of the nuances that come with delivering consistently at the top level.

Guirassy, being 29 and having been around the block, has tightened up his game and is focused on output, scoring and assisting goals, which is reflected in his statistics compared to Sesko’s over the past 365 days.

His statistics when it comes to scoring goals and creating goals are far more impressive than the young Slovenian’s, which is understandable given the difference in experience between the two players.

The Dortmund striker was even described by German legend Lothar Matthaus as “one of the best strikers in Europe” back in March, which speaks to how much he has impressed in German football.

Appearances

30

33

Goals

21

13

Minutes per goal

124

185

Big chances missed

21

10

Conversion rate

23%

19%

Big chances created

7

5

Assists

2

5

As you can see in the table above, the United transfer target scored eight more goals than Sesko in the Bundesliga during the 2024/25 campaign, despite playing three fewer matches.

The experienced centre-forward has also scored seven goals in 15 appearances in all competitions during the current season, per Sofascore, whilst the Red Devils marksman has only scored twice since his move from Leipzig.

Therefore, United could immediately improve their starting line-up by bringing the Dortmund striker in to be a huge upgrade on Sesko, given that their respective performances over the past 18 months suggest that he would offer significantly more as a goalscorer.

Forget Anderson: Man Utd in talks to sign "world's most underrated footballer"

Manchester United appear to making huge moves in their pursuit for a new midfielder in January.

1 ByEthan Lamb Nov 20, 2025

This is why INEOS should push to beat Arsenal and PSG to the signing of the Bundesliga star to add more goals to the team for the second half of the season, whilst also providing Sesko with an experienced mentor to help him improve in the long term.

Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta has explained why Jurrien Timber and Riccardo Calafiori were left out of his starting XI to face Club Brugge in the Champions League on Wednesday night. The Gunners were already without key defenders Gabriel and William Saliba due to injury, meaning midfielder Christian Norgaard was handed a surprise start in central defence in Belgium.

• Injuries piling up for Arsenal

  Arsenal have had a very strong start to the season but have seen key players pick up injuries in recent weeks, particularly in defence. Gabriel, William Saliba and Cristhian Mosquera  have all been sidelined, while Leandro Trossard and Declan Rice were also ruled out of the trip to Belgium for Arsenal's latest Champions League match. The situation means that Arteta raised a few eyebrows with his team selection against Club Brugge as the north Londoners aim to maintain their 100% record in the competition so far this season.

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  Arteta explains absence of duo

  The Arsenal boss told ahead of kick-off: "They both had issues from the weekend, both really bad kicks. For Jurrien it was too early and for Ricci [Calafiori] we have to manage to see if he can do some minutes [tonight]."

  The absence of the duo meant that Arteta lined his team up with Norgaard partnering Piero Hincapie in central defence, with Ben White and Myles Lewis-Skelly as the full-backs. The outing is Norgaard's first as a centre-back since featuring in the role for Brentford in the Championship back in 2020.

• Arteta defends training methods

  Arsenal have now suffered 28 injuries already this season, but Arteta has defended his training methods and insists they are not to blame.

  He told reporters: "Not training, no, because we don't have time to train. So, training is not there. But obviously, the fact that you are missing players, you are loading other players more. That's a consequence of that and it's a really dangerous. The fact that we have some others who have long-term contracts that haven't been with us since the beginning of the season. But, yeah, it's a test for the team, and so far, we have reacted very, very well to that."

  "I think you have to separate the kinds of injuries that they have. Some of them have been long-term and acute injuries, especially with some of the key players who give you a lot of days out. It's something that we are constantly looking at. As I said, we have played a lot of games with a lot of players missing. That gives a lot of stress and then more injuries. We are on it and I'm really happy with what we are doing in terms of the medical stuff and everything that we are trying to do together. Sometimes, as well, we need some people to go in our time.

  "It's not only one season. It's about some of the players that they have played. It starts to get overloaded and you start to ask them again and again to play. Others, because, as well, the moment that you have an injury, you are more likely to have another injury. That's been a consequence of some of the states as well. We're on it."

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• Praise for Norgaard

  Arteta also took time out to praise Norgaard pre-match. The summer signing has only made two appearances as a substitute in the Premier League so far this season and just one start in the Champions League. Yet Arteta is happy with how he's settled in following his transfer from Brentford. He told reporters: "I'm really happy with how he’s come to the club, especially with him and everything that we need to do in many areas. Not only in the pitch, but what he has to do, he excels in the manner that we expect him. I think it's similar to Ben White or Myles [Lewis-Skelly]. They haven't played as much as expected, but they're very positive."

'Baby Lukaku'. That is the nickname, coined by Romelu Lukaku's former team-mate Kevin Mirallas, that Belgian journalists love to use when they write about Promise David. It's easy to see why, too, with the Union Saint-Gilloise striker one of European football's most unsung talents, a true Hidden Gem.

The striker is physically and mentally strong and is very fast. Weapons with which he can force something in every game. With his profile, it is not surprising that Premier League clubs such as West Ham United are closely following him. And yet David does not dispel all doubts.

David appears clumsy, wild, certainly no clinical finisher, and his lack of concentration is apparent. David is an enigma to scouts. He can't tread water, but he can swim easily from A to B. The black Michael Phelps, he calls himself in Similarly, David can play a terrible game, yet still manage to get his name on the score sheet. That may actually be his greatest quality. It drives his coach, David Hubert, crazy. But Hubert can't ignore him, because his striker can score anytime, anywhere. And his five-year plan? He's ticked that off in a year and a half. Promise David has found his way.

• Lukaku-esque

  If there is one goal that perfectly illustrates just why Mirallas, who now works as USG's attacking coach, compares David to Lukaku, it was his striker against Royal Antwerp in March 2025. In the opening game of the Jupiler League championship play-offs, David was played in behind the Antwerp defence as Rosen Bozhinov pulled out all the stops to fend the striker off.

  "As I ran, I felt a claw at my neck," the striker told podcast about a goal that quickly went viral on the internet. "When I took a shower later, it hurt badly because he had literally torn the skin off my neck. I bled throughout the entire match and didn't even realise it."

  "I headed straight for the goal, seeing nothing but green," David continued. "I didn't want to dive or fall. Then he grabbed me again. I thought, 'You f*cking dick!' I swung my arms back and my shirt ripped. I was happy about that, because every time he pulled on that shirt, it felt like I was choking."

  With only half a shirt left, David finally broke free from Bozhinov, though the defender had slowed him down just enough for a team-mate to catch up. David, though, produced a simple body feint to leave the second defender in the dust before sliding the ball into the net, slapping his chest powerfully and screaming mightily in celebration.

  "I was subbed and then took a look at my phone," he said. "The goal had already been posted on social media and it looked horrible. It was just assault!

  "Our sporting director has that shirt hanging in our new training facility, alongside all kinds of other historic kits from Union's history. He said, 'This shirt symbolises Union: it's about resilience, strength and not giving up." It is precisely those three things that symbolise David's unusual career path, too.

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• Where it all began

  As a child, David always was an energetic boy – "My teachers thought I was a good kid, but also that I was a distraction to others," he recalls – as he grew up in Brampton, Ontario, a city that also has links to his fellow Canada internationals Cyle Larin, Atiba Hutchinson and Tajon Buchanan.

  However, it was not in Canada, but rather in Lagos, Nigeria, where David discovered his love for football. As a toddler, he lived there with his grandparents, while his uncle was a huge Chelsea supporter.

  "I'll never forget him picking me up at my grandmother's house," David told . "I sat on the back of his motorbike and we rode to the bar together to watch the matches."

  Upon moving back to Canada, David looked for a hobby to pour his energy into. At first, it was the piano, but when it broke – "That really p*ssed me off!" – David went looking for something else, and soon found his new love: football.

• 'F*ck you moment'

  David initially joined Toronto FC's academy, but at the age of 15 he was let go. He then spent three years with semi-professional outfit Vaughan Azzurri before, having turned 18 in 2019, he was offered a move to Europe to join Croatian third-division side NK Trnje. It proved, however, to be a painful moment in his young life.

  "Things happened in Croatia that I didn't even dare tell my parents about," David recalls, before revealing the racist abuse he suffered from his coach in Zagreb. "He didn't want black people, Africans, on his team. He said bizarre things to me.On one occasion, my team-mates didn't translate what he had shouted during a training session until a month later because they found it too awful. Everyone froze the moment he said it. It was something like,God forbid I ever put a black player in my team.'"

  David was sent back to the youth team, where he was able to rediscover his love of the game under a different coach, Rajko Vidovic. When Vidovic became the coach of the first team shortly afterwards, he provided the prolific striker an opportunity, one which David took immediately.

  "It was the biggest f*ck you momentof my life," David says of the goal he scored moment after coming off the bench for his debut. "It felt like revenge on that one man."

  David soon left Zagreb, however, and moved to the United States and USL outfit FC Tulsa. The switch did not prove to be a success, and he soon headed back to Europe, joining Maltese side Valletta.

  "I lost a cup final there," David remembered. "That broke me. I've cried three times in my life when it came to football, that match was one of them. My niece Liz was in the stadium at the time and she took a photo of me on the big screen just as I was crying. Man, I'm ugly when I cry."

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• The big break

  By the time a spell with a different Maltese club, Sirens FC, had also ended in disappointment, David was 21 and his dream of a career as a professional footballer seemed very far away.

  "My parents wanted me to come home," he said. "Until then, they had always supported me. But they had lost hope. I asked them for one more opportunity." That opportunity soon arose in Estonia with Kalju FC. At that point, David drew up an ambitious five-year plan that would end with him playing and scoring at a World Cup.

  "The idea was to either play football really well, or be a loser," said David when summing up his thoughts at the time to podcast. "I really didn't want to go to school."

  Things didn't start well for him in his new home, however. David was regarded as a 'project' and was initially integrated into Kalju's youth team. There, however, he scored a lot of goals and was eventually promoted to the first team. But any suggestion that David was finally on the right track were soon put to bed.

  "I remember playing a match," he recalled. "We were 2-1 up at half-time and I was playing pretty well. They lured us in and then played long balls, so as an attacker I didn't put any pressure on them when we were leading. I walked into the changing room and the president grabbed me by the neck and dragged me out before saying, Is this how you want to play? Don't you know what your father does to keep you here? I'm 60 and I move more than you do!'

  "In the second half, I scored again and we won 4-3. All my team-mates were celebrating in the dressing room but I was in the shower crying because the president had just called my father and agent and said it was a big mistake to bring me to the club.

  "I didn't have an apartment, but was staying in a hostel. At the same time, all my friends from home were graduating. I had my father's credit card with me because I wasn't earning any money from football. That's when I really thought, 'What am I doing with my life?'"

  Those emotions eventually subsided and David worked hard to secure a regular role in the first team. In the 2024 season, he scored 14 goals in 16 games, but despite interest in his services from leagues higher up the food chain, Kalju initially refused to let David leave under any circumstances: "It was insane. I begged them, 'Please release me'. Those times made me understand how people feel when they have to work a 9-to-5 job they hate."

  David's plea worked and Kalju reached an agreement with USG in the summer of 2024 for David to move to Belgium.

Arne Slot will surely be under more intense pressure in the Liverpool hot seat if he cannot turn around his side’s disastrous Premier League form after the international break concludes.

Last season, the Merseyside giants romped home to the title, with a bumper 25 wins secured, having also only lost a meagre four games all campaign long.

Now, however, it’s a grim five defeats on the menu from 11 outings, with former Reds attacker Peter Crouch even stating that there must be “some serious question marks” as to whether the ex-Feyenoord boss should remain in the Anfield post for the long term, if the losses continue to stack up.

He does have the January transfer window on his side to try and arrest this slide, though, as Liverpool prepares to splash the big bucks again…

Where Liverpool could strengthen in 2026

The disappointing Reds are now eight points adrift of Arsenal at the top of the Premier League, which has led many pundits to state that the reigning champions are in a crisis at the moment.

Still, uprooting to Anfield will be seen as an attractive next career step for many promising talents around the world.

One target includes AZ Alkmaar star Kees Smit, as rumours persist that the £22.5m-rated midfielder is on their agenda.

Alongside Smit, Liverpool are also reportedly still keen on adding Marc Guehi to their ranks in January, after a failed summer move, as Crystal Palace brace for Liverpool to reignite a deal, despite their current bruised status.

Palace are not the only Premier League club that could be on the receiving end of Liverpool attempting to spend big to turn around their dismal fortunes, however, with TEAMtalk revealing – via their sources – that Slot’s men are favourites to land AFC Bournemouth superstar Antoine Semenyo, despite intense interest also popping up from Tottenham Hotspur.

The report goes on to state that a £65m release clause will be activated when the window opens, which has alerted both Liverpool and Thomas Frank’s outfit, with the Reds ready to meet that price to win themselves an explosive, Premier League-proven forward.

Liverpool desperately need some deadly firepower, having been burnt by deals for Florian Wirtz and Alexander Isak in the summer, as Slot and Co’s excessive spending – £415m to be exact – looks very rash.

Semenyo could well offer up some much-needed entertainment; therefore, with the Ghanaian also going down as Slot’s new Luis Diaz if a deal is secured, who was a departure in the summer, now overloaded with regret.

How Semenyo compares to Diaz

Diaz leaving Liverpool has certainly hurt the Reds more than they might have initially anticipated.

Of course, the lavish spending in the summer with Isak and Wirtz coming through the door was meant to see in the start of a new-look Liverpool attack, with Diaz discarded to Bayern Munich in the process.

Unfortunately, with the aforementioned pair regularly fluffing their lines and the revitalised Colombian already sitting pretty on 11 goals and five assists from 17 games in Bavaria, it does feel as if Liverpool have dropped a clanger getting rid of an attacker once branded as “unpredictable” and hard to contain at his Premier League best by ex-Arsenal goalkeeper David Seaman.

Diaz blew hot and cold on English shores, hence his exit and Seaman’s unpredictable assessment, as 29 Premier League goals fell into his lap at Anfield. Semenyo is only three short of that amount right now for the Cherries, as another gung-ho, direct talent emerges that can wreak havoc at the peak of his powers.

Liverpool saw first-hand how blistering their £65m target can be at full pelt right at the start of the season when powering home that high-energy equaliser, with his Cherries teammate in Marcus Tavernier stating that he is “unplayable” when operating at his devastating best.

Thankfully, the goals and assists have followed in abundance, away from just simply bombing forward with pace to burn, with six goals and three assists in Premier League action alone this campaign, even resulting in Chris Waddle’s claiming that he’s currently “the best winger in the country.”

Semenyo’s numbers for Bournemouth

Position

Games

Goals + Assists

RW

38

12 + 3

LW

26

5 + 3

RM

10

5 + 0

LM

8

3 + 4

CF

4

1 + 0

Sourced by Transfermarkt

The similarities don’t just stop with their comparable styles, though, with both attacking stars in question also capable of being adaptable and malleable when needed, as seen in Semenyo swapping between left wing and right wing duties regularly for Andoni Iraola’s men.

Diaz would also happily oblige in this regard at Anfield, with eight goals even coming his way from a centre-forward spot for his ex-employers.

Semenyo will, further, hope he can replicate Diaz’s career at Anfield even more closely in lifting a Premier League title down the line, past the current slump in form.

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Posts ByAngus Sinclair Nov 19, 2025

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