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 [...]
World Cup 2018: An insider’s view on what England fans face in Russia June 13, 2018 England flew out to their training base in Repino ahead of their opening World Cup match against Tunisia on Monday. Gareth Southgate’s side begin their Group G campaign in Volgograd, before travelling to Nizhny Novgorod to play Panama and Kaliningrad to face Belgium. Read more: Trevor Steven: Why Neymar holds the key to this World [...]
World Cup 2018: Why have Asian, African and North American teams stagnated after showing such promise in the 1990s and 2000s? June 13, 2018 At the turn of the century it appeared that Pele’s oft-cited prediction that an African team would win the World Cup by the year 2000, while not exactly accurate, had at least forecast a coming shift in the footballing world’s balance of power. In 1996 a Nigerian golden generation featuring Europe-based stars Jay-Jay Okocha and [...]
Hold the praise for Sergio Ramos: our willingness to applaud the dark arts of football has gone too far May 29, 2018 Football’s loose and ever-shifting moral code has been thrown under the spotlight by Real Madrid’s Champions League triumph over Liverpool, the injury to Mohamed Salah that changed the momentum of Saturday’s final, and the foul by Sergio Ramos that ended the Egyptian’s participation – and possibly his hopes of playing at the World Cup next [...]
Premier League TV rights packages booted into long grass amid “cut-price” concerns March 7, 2018 The Premier League has booted a decision on unsold TV rights packages into next month, as it faces being forced to accept a “cut-price deal” for the remaining 40 games. Sky and BT Sport snapped up five of seven packages on offer for a total of £4.5bn in mid-February. But the remaining two sets of [...]
Paris Saint-Germain’s Financial Fair Play gamble? Possible repercussions of an early Champions League exit for Europe’s big spenders March 5, 2018 When football’s most expensive player Neymar was debuted in front of the world’s media at Paris Saint-Germain this summer following his world record £200m move to France from Barcelona, there was only one competition up for discussion. Neymar’s arrival was seen as the Qatari-owned club’s big play in their search for the one major trophy [...]
FA Cup 2018 third round prize money: How much is winning it worth compared to the Champions League and Premier League? January 5, 2018 In winning last season's FA Cup, Arsenal basked in the glory that only comes with winning silverware, their players popped champagne, fans savoured stopping London rivals Chelsea from winning a double and manager Arsene Wenger made history as the competition's most successful manager. And yet for all that, in monetary terms the triumph was worth [...]
World Cup 2018 prize money: Fifa increases financial offering to $400m October 28, 2017 The winning team at next year's World Cup in Russia will be awarded a record $38m (£29m) in prize money, after world football governing body Fifa boosted its financial offering to record levels. A total prize money pool of $400m represents a 12 per cent increase on the $358m paid out to teams at the [...]
World Cup 2018 prize money: Fifa increases financial offering to $400m October 28, 2017 The winning team at next year's World Cup in Russia will be awarded a record $38m (£29m) in prize money, after world football governing body Fifa boosted its financial offering to record levels. A total prize money pool of $400m represents a 12 per cent increase on the $358m paid out to teams at the [...]
Uefa figures reveal Leicester banked more money from Europe last season than Champions League winners Real Madrid and Europa League winners Manchester United October 20, 2017 Leicester City made more money from playing in Europe last season than Champions League winners Real Madrid, new figures from Uefa reveal. The European football governing body has published the exact sums earned in prize money and TV payments by clubs playing in the Champions League and Europa League last season. Leicester, currently in the [...]