The football blog for fans of all clubs
Monday Night Football, or as we will call it from here on in, MNF, is the proverbial cherry which sits on top of the cake. The cake being the weekend football from the Premier League, the cherry being an 8pm kick off under the lights to finish the round of fixtures. Before the final game […]
One of the greatest aspects of sports is the underdog taking on the favoured team. There’s no greater thrill than watching a smaller club take down a favourite. If you are rooting for the favourite, there is a special thrill in rooting for the favourite club, as you have a large community to draw energy […]
Generally speaking, there are two strategies to deal with the Barcelona possession game. The first, and most often used, is to sit back, hunker down, and hope to hit Barca on the break. The downside is that you must rely on your team to play cohesive defence that can stop a front three that are […]
Andres Escobar was a centre back for Altetico Nacional and Colombia. A player with 51 caps for his country and 222 appearances for his club, he was an accomplished defender who had been offered a contract with AC Milan prior to the World Cup in 1994. However, he lost his life after the 1994 World […]
‘I was at the Chelsea training ground last week to see Eden Hazard and noticed N’Golo Kante wandering back to the changing rooms. So I went over to him and stood in front of him. And I poked him in the chest. I had to, just to check if he was real! “You are real, […]
In this column, we focus on one manager and his decisions before, during, and sometimes after a match. We (and other writers) analyze the decisions and results as if choice works out as it is supposed to. If a club wins, the manager made the right choices; the converse is also true. Sometimes, though, luck […]
The English Premier League reached an extremely interesting stage as several teams picked up vital wins, but how did their European counterparts fare? Barcelona now find themselves just a point off Real Madrid at the top after thumping Alaves 6-0, who they play in the Copa Del Ray final in a few weeks’ time. Suarez […]
Week in week out there seems to be an abundance of decisions which are being talked about long after the games have ended. The standard of refereeing this season has been poor at best. In fact, it’s not just the referees who are making bad decisions but also the linesmen, or assistant referees as they […]
Back in 2004 there was a lot of noise from America, as D.C. United had signed an unknown 14-year-old in the MLS Super Draft. Fast forward three months and the same young player made his debut, becoming the youngest ever to play in the MLS. Two weeks later, another record broken as he became the […]
Last Saturday’s demolition of Bologna saw Napoli move into third in Serie A and are currently the leagues in form team. They have been unbeaten over the last ten matches, scoring 24 points over that time whereas leaders Juventus have the same points but have two defeats and have scored 13 goals fewer. During the […]
Jordan Ayew (The Aston Villa version of Andre) was shown off by Swansea City on Thursday with obligatory club shirt in hand after his return from the African Cup of Nations. Jordan chose the very unusual number three despite being a striker, his excuse was that Ghana legend Asamoah Gyan wore number three, and hopes […]
The 1996/97 season was a roller-coaster of a ride for all Middlesbrough supporters. They had 3 points deducted for failing to fulfil a fixture against Blackburn Rovers. They were relegated from the Premier League at the end of the season – the infamous deduction of 3 points making the difference and condemning the Boro to […]
June 9th 2006 18:00, I am sitting with my best friend watching the opening match of the World Cup. It wasn’t my first World Cup, I was 20, but it was the first being played when I was fairly knowledgeable about football outside of England. Having got over the heart break of Euro 2004, we […]
Omar Bogle aims to be the new hero at Wigan Athletic after bagging a brace on his first start for the club. Times really are bad for the former Premier League side, especially as the most popular player in the world looks set for a spell on the bench for the near future. Fan favourite […]
Stefan Pioli had a good problem on his hands. His Inter club was in form. The doldrums of earlier in the season were gone and the Nerazzurri had climbed to within points of a Champions League place. Standing in their way to reclaiming their usual spot as a scudetto contender was their nemesis Juventus. This […]
On the 2nd May 2016, Leicester City were finally crowned champions of England, after Tottenham’s draw with Chelsea. We were treated to footage of the player celebrating at home and the fans outside the stadium all looking like they could not believe it themselves. It was no more than Leicester deserved. They were, over the […]
After the ….Danke! (Thank you) & Auf wiedersehen Jurgen! (Goodbye Jurgen) ..then came, Welcome, Klopp to the Kop…YNWA Jurgen Klopp’s style of football is best described in his own words. ‘I always want it loud!’ he says, ‘I want to have this ‘booooom!’ I like fighting football, not serenity football. What we call in German […]
The one flashpoint in an otherwise one-sided Chelsea-Arsenal match on Saturday involved the first goal by Marcos Alonso. Reacting to a rebound on a Petr Cech save, Alonso went up to head the ball into the net. The controversy involved his arms going up and making contact with Arsenal defender Hector Bellerin’s head. The internet […]
Away from the crazy land of English football, several European teams picked up important victories as they push towards their respective league titles. Many top forwards were particularly on fire this weekend as they banged in goals left, right and centre. In Spain Fernando Torres, one of the most loved yet hated men in the […]
Whisper it quietly but there is a new player in the world of Football, that said it doesn’t take the biggest afficionado to know that China is hell bent on becoming a superpower in the beautiful game and the way they are going about things you get the feeling that they are going to achieve […]
