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
Death, The Beautiful Game And Finding Motivation In Mortality
What drives success in sport? Last Tuesday night, we saw Serge Gnabry score 4 goals away at Spurs in the Champions League. That is success in the game of football. But what drives that success? Where does the will to win, to do great things on a football pitch, come from? Is it innate? Is… Keep Reading
The Trouble with Scotland is That It’s Full of Scots
Yes, it’s an inflammatory title, but I stole it from a movie so it’s probably fine. The international break is all about pretence. For English people who don’t like football, it’s a chance to impress your mates who do by pretending you like Harry Kane and for English people who do like football, it’s a… Keep Reading
The New Goal Kick Law: How Norwich Have Shown Arsenal Who’s Boss
The 2019/20 football season has brought us many new things. VAR has been introduced to the Premier League, Steve Bruce is now the Newcastle head coach, and, for a brief moment, Paddy Power emblazoned themselves on Huddersfield’s new kit in a horrific ‘Miss Universe’ style satchel. There have also been some rather consequential rule changes… Keep Reading
Believe The Hype: Leeds Look The Real Deal
After seven games of The Championship the pre-season favourites are living up to their tag. Being favourites has often proved a poisoned chalice in this division, as Stoke found to their cost last season, but the hat seems a perfect fit for Leeds United. Marcelo Bielsa’s side are sitting pretty at the top of the… Keep Reading
Ajax – Underestimate Them At Your Peril This Season
Every story needs an adequate setting, whether it’s a novel, a biography or this football article, and what a better place to be on the 8th of May, 2019 than in the Netherlands. It was a cold night, like any other Dutch night in May, but the streets were warm with excitement as practically anybody… Keep Reading
La Masia and Barcelona – Once a Highrise, Now a Stuttering Stagnation
La Masia de Can Planes, or La Masia for short; translation: ‘The Farmhouse’. Once an old Catalan farmhouse, this iconic location no longer produces milk and eggs, but has been producing some of the finest footballing talents the world has seen in recent decades. This is F.C Barcelona’s academy, one of the staple names in… Keep Reading