Atalanta: A True Underdog Story
This year’s Champions League saw the depressing endgame of UEFA’s endless cowering to the whims of the game’s biggest clubs. For the first time all the clubs reaching last 16 of the Champions League came from Europe’s big five leagues (4 each from the Premier League and La Liga, 3 each from Series A and… Keep Reading
Football in India: The tapped market that remains untapped
To many, football in India might seem like a strange concept, but it has been prevalent for quite some time. The country featured some interest from the late 1800s – 1970s, but India’s first major football league, the National Football League (NFL), was established in 1996. Organised into 3 divisions, it hosted 10-12 teams during… Keep Reading
“Oh no….not him!” 6 of the Strangest Managerial Appointments in Football
As former Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho settles in at Spurs and his predecessor at Tottenham is being strongly linked with Arsenal it appears to becoming common place for clubs to turn to a former nemesis. But Jose and Daniel Levy are from being football’s first strange bedfellows, here we remember some of English football strangest… Keep Reading
The Joe and the Melee and Raheem
“Sterling behaved a bit like a spoilt child.” This was a line given to The Athletic about reports on Monday regarding a canteen bust up between England players Raheem Sterling and Joe Gomez. The fight reportedly lasted no longer than 15 seconds, but the media backlash to it is still ongoing… which is also how… Keep Reading
Unai, Thanks for all the Good Ebenings, but It’s Time to Say Goodnight
I’ve never really liked the phrase “that’s what football’s all about”. It’s overused, not very insightful, and can be applied to basically any facet of the game. Here are some examples of things that could claim to be what football is “all about”: results, bringing people together, a good slide tackle, limbs, money, goals, winning… Keep Reading
A Halloween Story – Something Is Spooking North London
’Twas Hallows Eve, when all throughout the North, tempers flared and so anger came forth. Curses and rants swarmed Arsenal Fan TV, while crooked fingers lay towards Dele Alli. This is a tale of two establishments, possessing a bitter rivalry spanning decades, who have well and truly been struck by the fear of Halloween. The… Keep Reading
Whatever Happened to England’s Under 20 World Champions?
What were you doing on 11th June 2017? In years to come that may well be seen as the day that finally saw England’s footballing fortunes turn. Almost a year on from their shambolic exit from Euro 2016 and a bemused Roy Hodgson telling the assembled press he wasn’t sure why he was there, England’s… Keep Reading
An Impending Coaching and Managerial Shift: Nagelsmann, Conceicao and Gallardo
There is a current crop of managers at present that you could consider genuinely world class. Jurgen Klopp, Pep Guardiola and Zinedine Zidane are three that come to mind, with notable mentions for Mauricio Pochettino, Thomas Tuchel, Carlo Ancelotti and Diego Simeone perhaps warranted. It is with this in mind that I decided to look… Keep Reading
Kosovo – Where Football Means Everything
Kosovo has a unique football culture. Could you think of another territory or country whose people ferociously support a national team that isn’t their own? And not just good wishes for a neighbour or a Celticesque willing for England to lose. I spent a week in Kosovo in 2015. It happened that two fixtures for… Keep Reading
Liverpool and Manchester City: Gods of the Gap
The “God of the Gaps” argument is a theological outlook where the gaps in scientific knowledge are evidence or proof of gods existence, physical or otherwise. On the whole, it was a criticism used by people to refine ‘God’ to only the gaps science cannot explain – it is merely a pro-science argument. This will… Keep Reading