Jose Mourinho’s Manchester United future: Why former Chelsea manager could only ever be a short-term fix at Old Trafford August 21, 2018 The twin tenets of Manchester United’s ethos are stated in black and white in their investor prospectus of summer 2014, issued when the Glazer family put shares up for sale on the New York Stock Exchange. Under a section highlighting the qualities that made then-manager Louis van Gaal an attractive hire, it notes that the [...]
Crystal Palace 0-2 Liverpool: Five things we learned as Mohamed Salah makes the difference for the Reds August 20, 2018 Mohamed Salah is often at the forefront of games and tonight was no different. Liverpool’s star man had the most shots of any player on the pitch and was the instigator in all of the match’s major incidents. Strangely for him he was wayward in front of goal and yet he was still vital to [...]
Five things we learned from the Premier League weekend: Man City can do no wrong, Man Utd worries mount, don’t write off Chelsea, Spurs calm in storm and West Ham need support August 19, 2018 No Kevin De Bruyne? No problem. Come to that, Manchester City also rested Raheem Sterling and Kyle Walker and used Leroy Sane sparingly against Huddersfield on Sunday. Ominously, the record-breaking Premier League champions still won 6-1. City can currently do no wrong; every tactical tweak made by Pep Guardiola pays off in spades. Here, it was [...]
Tottenham v Fulham: London sides in completely different boats ahead of Premier League clash August 17, 2018 Tottenham and Fulham could hardly be in different states coming into their Premier League match at Wembley tomorrow. Spurs have a great deal on their minds. The delay to their new stadium construction is chief among them and manager Mauricio Pochettino admitted yesterday it was “massively disappointing for everyone”. With the transfer window closed and [...]
Trevor Steven: Why Chelsea and Maurizio Sarri had the best result of the Premier League’s opening weekend August 14, 2018 On an opening weekend that saw most Premier League results unfold as you would have expected there was one that stood out. Chelsea’s 3-0 win over Huddersfield was no upset, but a long trip to Yorkshire still represented a tough test for a new-look Blues team and it could have turned into a difficult afternoon. [...]
World Cup 2018: Tournament review – Heavyweight drop-outs, VAR, penalties, set pieces, wonder goals, concussion and politics July 15, 2018 After 64 matches – including a pointless third-place play-off – over 30 days the World Cup has come to its conclusion. France beat Croatia 4-2 in the final in a match that neatly summed by the whole competition. There were goals from set pieces, a VAR-assisted penalty and lots of quality to boot. But you [...]
England out on penalties? World Cup shootout odds are against Three Lions but Gareth Southgate’s approach boosts their chances July 2, 2018 England may have avoided a World Cup clash with old foes Germany, Portugal and Brazil by finishing second in their World Cup group, but there may be no escaping a more familiar enemy now that they are in the knock-out rounds: the dreaded penalty shoot-out. No side has a worse record in World Cup shoot-outs [...]
Deep learning: Belgium’s secret weapon for England’s World Cup group decider June 27, 2018 England manager Gareth Southgate has long been be familiar with the threat posed by some of the supreme talents in the the Belgium squad such as Eden Hazard, Romelu Lukaku and Kevin De Bruyne. Yet the Red Devils have a less well-known weapon at their disposal for tonight’s World Cup match in Kaliningrad, effectively a [...]
World Cup 2018: England’s Jesse Lingard has trademarked his JLingz celebration — and he’s done so at the perfect time June 17, 2018 Jesse Lingard is ready to make his mark at the World Cup. Less than three weeks ago, as England were preparing for their first warm-up game against Nigeria, Lingard applied for four trademarks with the UK Intellectual Property Office; three featuring his nickname “JLingz” and another featuring the image of his goal celebration. Should the [...]
England’s 3-5-2: Is Gareth Southgate right to stick to one formation throughout the 2018 World Cup? June 17, 2018 There are plenty of unanswered questions about Gareth Southgate’s young England side ahead of their World Cup opener against Tunisia on Monday, yet one thing seems virtually set in stone: they will line up in a 3-5-2 formation. England will play with three centre-backs, two wing-backs, one defensive midfielder with two mobile midfielders either side [...]