Arsene Wenger on his future, being a tech investor, science taking over football and his dream of an Arsenal university May 24, 2019 When Arsene Wenger said his goodbyes to Arsenal, bringing down the curtain on a 22-year tenure which transformed the club and left an indelible mark on English football, he was adamant about one thing: he was not hanging up that manager’s coat with the pesky zip for good. But weeks turned into months and now, [...]
Football’s most lucrative match stagnates in value amid Premier League rights growth slowdown May 22, 2019 The Championship play-off final, which takes place on Monday at Wembley and pits Aston Villa against Derby County for the last remaining spot in next season’s Premier League, is well established as the most lucrative one-off match in the world of club football. Worth an estimated minimum of £170m to the victors – 10 times [...]
Manchester City: Treble winners, record breakers, untouchable – and too good? May 19, 2019 In the wake of a domestic treble unprecedented in English men’s football, there should be no sparing of praise for the brilliance of Manchester City. Saturday’s FA Cup final against Watford was a devastating showcase: a 6-0 dismantling of a good team, the most emphatic margin of victory in the fixture for more than a [...]
How Watford’s digital overhaul has helped the FA Cup finalists to keep punching above their weight May 16, 2019 Nestled among the replica kits and Javi Gracia T-shirts at Watford’s club shop is a version of “Guess Who?” in which the board game’s usual cast of characters is replaced with current Hornets players. Rival supporters might quip it’s an apt product for a team whose revolving door policy to recruitment can make it difficult [...]
Best of the Rest XI: The Premier League’s top performers this season outside of the Big Six May 15, 2019 This season’s individual accolades have been awarded and, unsurprisingly, the vast majority went to players at Liverpool and Manchester City, with the leftovers for players at other Big Six clubs. But the Premier League is home to another 14 teams who have shown an array of talent this year. Here is City A.M’s Best of [...]
From ticket prices to stellar salaries, you can’t take the economics out of football May 15, 2019 The appearance of Liverpool and Spurs in the Champions League final and Arsenal and Chelsea in the Europa Cup one has generated massive interest. But the official ticket prices for the games are surprisingly reasonable. Liverpool and Spurs have been offered 16,613 tickets each. Five per cent of these are expensive, at £513 each. A further [...]
Trevor Steven: My manager and players of the year from a vintage Premier League season May 13, 2019 Manchester City are champions again but they will never win a tougher Premier League title than this year’s. They and Liverpool have played at such a high level for the duration of the top-flight campaign that I can’t imagine we’ll see anything like it again for a long while. That is reflected in my choices [...]
Tottenham 2-2 Everton: Mauricio Pochettino aiming to make history after securing fourth place in the Premier League May 12, 2019 These are heady days for Mauricio Pochettino. After a dismal run of seven defeats in 11 Premier League games threatened to derail all Tottenham’s good work in the first half of the season, one game in midweek changed everything. Lucas Moura’s hat-trick in Amsterdam on Wednesday turned the normally reserved Argentinian into an overwhelmed, passionate [...]
In the world’s strongest league, Manchester City prove they are the best of the best May 12, 2019 The midweek may have belonged to Liverpool and Tottenham, but the season is Manchester City’s. Pep Guardiola’s team on Sunday issued a timely reminder to the Premier League that they remain the best in the land, becoming the first to retain the trophy since 2009 with a 4-1 final-day win at Brighton. And at the close [...]
Full English: Chelsea’s penalty shoot-out win and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang hat-trick ensure European final clean sweep May 9, 2019 Rumours of English football’s demise have been greatly exaggerated. It may have taken a nervy penalty shoot-out at Stamford Bridge, but Chelsea edged past Eintracht Frankfurt tonight after a 1-1 draw to ensure an all-London Europa League final against Arsenal in Baku on 29 May. Never before have both major European finals been populated by [...]