標籤: deserves

burnley Forward Gian Fleming believes he should have already earned a place in the Netherlands squad due to his form this season.

Speaking to Voetbal InternationalThe 27-year-old Burnley forward admitted he is surprised he has not been contacted yet.

“I haven’t heard anything,” Fleming told VI when asked about a possible call-up. “If someone had come to see, I would not have paid any attention to it.

“My principle is always this: I demand from myself that I perform so well that a coach, or in this case a national coach, cannot ignore me. Obviously, this has not happened yet.”

He even set a personal goal for himself before the March international break.

“In my mind, I had to score eight goals to get into the team. When the selection was announced, I only had seven goals. The next day, I scored my eighth goal against Fulham. I thought, it’s too late.

“A few days later, Memphis Depay was out of the Dutch national team due to injury. So, by then I was already on eight, but they decided not to call a replacement. So, my assessment was wrong. It’s a real shame. I would have liked it.”

Premier League dominance

Gian Fleming believes so He is performing well in the Premier League Which ensures his selection.

While Burnley have struggled this season, and seem destined for decline, Fleming has eight goals in the competition this season.

Those are impressive numbers. In fact, he is the Dutchman’s best performer at the top level. Fleming also believes that he is proving himself even against the best players game after game.

He said, “Look at it in black and white: the Premier League is undoubtedly the best and toughest league in the world.”

“And there is no Dutch player who has scored more goals in it than me. I measure myself against the top players in every match; half of the Premier League will soon be at the World Cup. I feel ready for the Dutch national team.”

haven’t given up yet

With the World Cup approaching, convincing Netherlands boss Ronald Koen to include him now will be no mean feat.

Indeed, the failure to call up the Burnley striker during the international break is a clear indication that he is not in their plans right now. However, Fleming would not go down without a fight.

He concluded, “The fact that this is starting to become an issue at the age of 27 is remarkable in itself.”

“But you can leave a challenge for me. That’s what I enjoy. Maybe I’m a little crazy. The fact that I wasn’t called this time stirred something inside me. It’s less likely. But there’s still a chance. Then I’ll try my best for it.”

The Denver Nuggets put on one of their best offensive performances of the season in a 142-135 win over the Dallas Mavericks, and Jamal Murray was once again at the center of the proceedings. Murray finished with 53 points on 19-28 shooting, another historic day amid a career season so far.

And according to a post on Vinny Benedetto’s X, Nuggets head coach David Edelman believes he’s in contention for the All-NBA First Team as well.

“I really hope All-NBA is something that’s obvious and there’s no argument,” Edelman said, referencing another “special night” for the 29-year-old.

According to The Athletic, Edelman claimed he has had several such nights this season before matching the accomplishments of both Murray and Nikola Jokic with Denver.

“It’ll be really cool when this thing is over and we look back at what these two have done together here. We’re really fortunate in this city to have these two guys playing for this basketball team,” he concluded.

Murray went 9-14 from beyond the arc and also had six rebounds and four assists. The guard had already scored 33 points at halftime, almost half of Denver’s 68 points in the first two quarters.

The Canadian international is having a career season, posting his best-ever averages of 25.4 points, 7.1 assists and 4.4 rebounds. He is also making 7.4 three-pointers per game and 10.9 two-pointers per game, which are career highs.

In addition, Murray’s three-point efficiency (42.6%) this season is also slightly higher than his career-high 42.5%, which came during the 2023-24 season. These statistics have come along with several game-winning performances, with Murray already receiving his first All-Star call-up this season.

Of course, his coach also took this opportunity to praise Nikola Jokic, who returned with a spectacular triple-double of 23 points, 21 rebounds and 19 assists. Jokic reached 6,000 career assists despite shooting only 8-19 from the field during the game. The Nuggets shot 56% overall and 50% from three-point field, much of the credit for Murray’s almost obscene shooting in the game.

At this point, it appears the MVP race is limited to just four players: Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic, Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Los Angeles Lakers guard Luka Doncic, and San Antonio Spurs center Victor Wambayama.

This is certainly one of the closest contests in NBA history, and it could go down to the last game of the regular season.

Of these four, Vembanyama may be the underdog – as crazy as it sounds. He acknowledged that at the moment, “it’s still fair to have debate” over who should be named MVP. However, he is eager to change it.

“My goal is to make sure there’s no debate at the end of the season,” the two-time All-Star said.

When 22-year-old Vembanyama was asked to give three arguments for winning the trophy, he gave a thoughtful answer that should get him more votes.

“My first suggestion would be that defense is 50% of the game, and it’s been underrated so far in your race. I believe I’m the most dominant player defensively in the league,” Vembanyama said in a video posted by Jared Weiss of The Athletic.

“My second argument would be that we have almost swept OKC on the season. We have dominated them three times with their actual team and four times with their rotation players. My third argument would be that the impact of the offense is not just points.”

Asked Wembley to provide his 3 campaign bullet points on why he should be MVP https://t.co/HjRppaPLfY pic.twitter.com/FHXrFMjAi3

– Jared Weiss (@JaredWeissNBA) 24 March 2026

Vembanyama practically dropped the mic with his sharp response.

With him remaining relatively healthy, the Spurs ended their six-year playoff drought. As he noted, his overall impact on both ends of the floor is hard to overstate.

Wembanyama admits he is one of them, and he has a good chance to surpass former Chicago Bulls star Derrick Rose and become the youngest MVP in league history.

AFC Bournemouth forward Ryan has officially received his first call-up to the Brazil national football team, After being included in Carlo Ancelotti’s squad for upcoming international friendlies.

In form of Brazilian press anticipatedThe 19-year-old is one of the main new names in the squad selected for matches against the France national football team and Croatia national football team in the United States later this month.

His inclusion follows a strong start to life with Bournemouth in the Premier League, and the Italian coach praised the young attacker during his press conference following the squad announcement.

“Very powerful, he has quality and a good attitude on the pitch,” Ancelotti said when discussing the Bournemouth player.

“He has presented himself very well in a difficult league and he is young. He definitely has a future in the national team. I don’t know whether at the next World Cup or not, but for what he is doing for the coaching staff, he deserves to be here.”

Brazil got a chance due to the influence of the Premier League

Ryan’s rapid rise in England played a key role in convincing the Brazilian coaching staff.

Since arriving from Vasco, the attacker has enjoyed an impressive start to life in the Premier League. He has scored two goals and provided one assist in his first seven games for Bournemouth.

The youngster has recorded two goals and one assist in seven appearances for Bournemouth so far in all competitions, numbers that underline the immediate impact he has made since arriving in English football.

Those performances quickly put him on Brazil’s radar. Reports prior to Brazil had already indicated that the coaching staff had a strong internal appreciation for the young player and were monitoring his development closely.

From an analytical standpoint, his offensive output also helps explain the excitement surrounding him. According to FBRef figures, Ryan is averaging close to 2.3 shots per 90 minutes in the Premier League so far, with around 1.2 of those attempts on target.

He is also delivering around 1.4 key passes per 90, showing the ability to create chances for teammates in addition to scoring himself.

The numbers also highlight his direct style. Ryan is attempting more than three dribbles per match, with a success rate of around 55%, making him one of Bournemouth’s most aggressive ball carriers in the final third.

His early Premier League impact ultimately proved enough to earn him a place in the team.

first senior opportunity

The upcoming friendlies will now provide Ryan with his first opportunity to wear Brazil’s famous yellow shirt at senior level.

Brazil will face France on March 26 at Gillette Stadium in Boston. Five days later, Ancelotti’s team will face Croatia at Camping World Stadium in Orlando.

For Bournemouth, the call-up represents another sign of how quickly the teenager’s profile is rising in European football.

Just a few months after leaving Brazil, Ryan is already taking to the international stage. And if his development continues at the current pace, the Cherries could soon add a regular Brazil international to their squad.

Robbie Keane meets Alex Toth with some very warm – and frankly lovely – words on Bournemouth

➡️ Pride makes him cry
➡️ The rise of Toth is reminiscent of himself at Wolves
⭐️ “I helped someone achieve his dream”
💬 “One of the nicest kids I’ve ever met” 👇https://t.co/L21EzOF0Ps #afcb

– Sports Witness (@Sport_Witness) 20 January 2026

While many NBA veterans celebrated Miami Heat star Bam Adebayo’s historic 83 points, a fair share of the negativity originated from fans of the Los Angeles Lakers and Kobe Bryant. It was Bryant’s 81 points that Adebayo surpassed, and count former Lakers forward and Bryant’s former teammate Robert Horry as someone who wasn’t exactly thrilled with the performance.

During a segment on Spectrum Sportsnet, Robert Horry criticized Bam Adebayo’s 83 points during the Heat’s win against the Washington Wizards, citing the alleged manner in which he accomplished the historic feat.

Horry said, “83 points is impressive. But it gets to a point where you have to respect the game. And I think there were moments in this game where it wasn’t respected.” “83 points is a lot, I appreciate the effort, and it’s going to go down as the second-most points in the game. But it’s like you always say on certain things, there should be an asterisk by it, I’m putting an asterisk by it. It’s still a lot. I’m not taking anything away from Bam, it’s a lot.”

There is no doubt that what Horry was referring to was the end of the game in which the Heat intentionally fouled to extend the game and gain additional possessions to help Adebayo break Bryant’s record.

Adebayo’s historic night gives him the second-most points scored by an individual player behind Wilt Chamberlain’s 100. He is now only one of three players to reach 80 or more points in a single game. Meanwhile, there are a few players who have hit 70 and above, including current players Luka Doncic, Devin Booker, Joel Embiid, Donovan Mitchell and Damian Lillard as well as former players Chamberlain, Elgin Baylor, David Robinson and David Thompson.

Matheus Cunha has publicly defended Ruben Amorim and insisted that credit for Manchester United’s recent improvement should still be given to the Portuguese coach.

talking to DAZN PortugalCunha explained that he feels Amorim’s influence is visible, even though United have now entered a new phase under Michael Carrick.

“I was always very grateful for everything Ruben did,” Cunha said. “When things change, it’s very easy to see what came up only as problems. But it’s quite the opposite – he was an incredible person.”

There is weight in those words. Amorim’s magic at United divided opinions. The results were inconsistent. Strategic debates dominated the coverage. Yet Cunha suggests that internal perception was very different from external noise.

pressure and perception

Cunha pointed directly to the pressures surrounding Amorim’s tactical system.

“The pressure on that system to deliver was so great that we forgot how simple the overall context was and focused too much on the negative.” he explained.

In other words, the investigation may have overshadowed the structural work being done behind the scenes.

Importantly, Cunha also highlighted recruitment. “A lot of new players came in because of him. So I think he’s a big part of the success we’re having now.”

This is an important claim. This implies that the current movement under Carrick is not entirely different from that of the era of Amorim, but is partly a continuation of the foundation already laid.

more than just structures

Cunha also downplayed Amorim’s allegations obsession with strategic shapes.

“To be very honest, I think football numerology is very confusing,” He said. “We attack in different ways and end up defending in the formation that everyone says is Ruben’s.”

That comment subtly reinforces his broader point. Systems evolve during matches. Structures change. What matters is harmony and understanding.

For Manchester United supporters, this provides an interesting inside perspective. Amorim’s tenure cannot be remembered solely through results or structures. According to Cunha, his cultural and squad-building influence still shapes United today.