Talking Points of the Weekend

Is Ivan Toney pushing for an England call up?

After his hat trick against Leeds at the weekend, some people are suggesting that Ivan Toney should get an England up including former strikers Gary Lineker and Michael Owen. He's made a good start to the season with 5 goals from the opening six games which will certainly back up his case. So is he pushing for a call up based on the form he's in?

He'll be someone that Gareth Southgate will be looking at after his performance at the weekend and the fact that he's a threat from set pieces which is an area where England are dangerous from. But getting into the squad itself will be a bit of a challenge as Harry Kane and Tammy Abraham are the the current first choice strikers and are likely to be going into the World Cup.

He still has a chance of getting in though as Dominic Calvert Lewin is out injured and Ollie Watkins is yet to get going this season. However him getting the call up will depend on the amount of players to be selected in the squad itself and one of the other attacking players picking up an injury. His form will definitely give him a chance of getting selected and if he can keep it up over the couple of weeks, he could be in contention.

The officials using VAR are the main reason behind its failings

VAR has definitely had its moments since it was first brought in but there have been some moments where is has been used properly. This weekend was certainly another weekend full of VAR controversy with two or three decisions coming under the spotlight. West Ham's disallowed goal in their defeat at Chelsea was certainly one of them and was Newcastle's disallowed goal in their draw with Crystal Palace.

Both of those goals were originally given and should've been. But both were controversially ruled out. Jarrod Bowen appeared to foul Edouard Mendy in the build up to West Ham's equaliser whilst Joe Willock collided into Vicente Guaita. Bowen did touch Mendy with his boot but in my opinion it wasn't enough for it be serious foul play with the touch only being a slight one. Willock was clearly going for the ball when he collided with Vicente Guaita and there was even a slight shove on him by Tyrick Mitchell. A shove anywhere on the pitch would be given as a foul but as Willock was going for the ball with not much else he could've done to prevent the collision, he goal really should've stood.

The main problem we have with VAR is that the officials using it are not using it correctly. This is why referees are having to change their mind after initially awarding the correct decision on some occasions because the VAR officials are encouraging them to change their mind. The on-field referee should just make the decision himself as he's the one officiating the game not the VAR officials. They can call the referee over to the pitch side monitor in case he missed something but the on-field referee should just make the decision himself instead of being encouraged by VAR to change his mind.

Brendan Rodgers under deep pressure at Leicester

One point from the opening six games and five losses in a row. Brendan Rodgers is definitely under deep pressure after a start like this and some fans are already calling for his head. He might not have been properly backed in the transfer market over the summer but he should still be able to get the best out of the players he has at his disposal.

He'll obviously take some of the blame for their poor start as he's the manager of the team who sends the players out on the pitch to perform. He has lost a couple of key players in Kasper Schmeichel and Wesley Fofana but given how talented the Foxes' squad is on paper, you would've expected them to have started the season a lot better than they have done.

There were some boos at full time after their 5-2 defeat at Brighton when he went over to the fans to thank them for their support which tells us that they're clearly not happy with how things are going at the moment. There was a banner in the crowd saying "Rodgers Out" which will no doubt be a message towards the board who haven't really backed him this summer. If results don't improve over the next few games, the owners may be forced to press the button because they're in deep trouble at the moment.

Rashford has his confidence back

Marcus Rashford looked like a player with no confidence for much of last season but this season e appears to have re-gained it. He's causing defenders problems with his pace and runs in behind and is a player who looks fit and ready to prove a point. He's impressed as the central striker since Erik Ten Hag put him there and United have looked a much better team since.

His goals against Arsenal were both classic no.9 goals with the first one being scored by making the run in behind and using his ace to beat the defenders whilst the second one was scored by him being in the right place at the right time. The first one was similar to the one he scored against Liverpool a couple of weekends ago when he ran in behind to latch onto Anthony Martial's pass to score his goal in United's 2-1 win that day.

He's given United a focal point in their attack which they didn't really have in their opening two games and they've become a much improved side ever since because of that. HIs performances up there have kept Cristiano Ronaldo out of the team and with him in that position, United have a better chance of finishing in the top four than they did a couple of weeks ago.