Football hooliganism is something which plagues the sport all around the world, but in England, it is something which is hoped to be just about extinguished. Long gone are the terraces which were last seen years ago with the Hillsborough disaster being the trigger for the reform in the English footballing culture , and in
Earlier today, while at school, I was informed of the sacking of Chelsea manager Roberto Di Matteo and my first feeling was one of bemusement. Bemused at the fact that the man who had led Chelsea to their first Champions League trophy and to an FA Cup all within two months had been sacked after
It almost sounds like a broken record, Arsene Wenger facing questions over a transfer policy that has failed to add a single trophy in the past seven years and one that sees a high profile player exit the door every summer shouting “lack of ambition” at the top of his voice. However through overseeing the
Back in the days, Dortmund was the team who feared no one. They were a complete powerhouse. Something similar to Barcelona nowadays. With the likes of Stéphane Chapuisat, Andreas Möller and Michael Zorc, the current sporting director of BVB, the team used to tear any defense apart with no hesitation. For some reasons, Dortmund started to lose its form game
Amidst the poor Arsenal performances we have seen recently, there has been some suggestions that Arsenal need a change in formation and/or system. Now I am no tactical genius but I struggle to see why Arsene Wenger (while he knows far more than me) carries on using the same formation he has used and that
For decades, supporters of Chelsea FC have been treated to watch some of the best goalscorers that British football has seen. The Shed End has gazed at the consistent finishing of club legends such as Kerry Dixon, Jimmy Greaves, all time top scorer Bobby Tambling, Didier Drogba and of course Peter Osgood the “King of
12 weeks into the Serie A campaign, we see the defending champions Juventus on top of the League table. We can also see that this season there will be 5 teams in for the fight: Juventus, Inter, Napoli, Lazio and Fiorentina. Let’s start off with Juventus, the defending champions look like the team to beat
We were all so optimistic. We thought that this season would finally be the one where we kicked on and where we started to dream about Thursday nights in some exotic city in Eastern Europe. Oh how wrong we were. Instead were nervously looking over our shoulder, with the possibility of rainy away days in
After losing the League One play-off final on penalties to Huddersfield, Danny Wilson didn’t have the best of summers in re-shaping his Sheffield United team for another assault on promotion. Hitting a spot of financial difficulty, a summer of transition awaited after the Blades announced they would have to balance the books, leading to a
On paper, it is hard to ascertain a team with the resources of Manchester City. There’s Barcelona, Real Madrid and Manchester United. Their players attracted to being adulated the entire world around. Then it has to be Manchester City. Manchester City has been turning around its own fortunes in the last three years. But yet
On 29th October, FIFA’s Football Committee and a group of experts from France Football decided on the 23 man shortlist for the 2012 Ballon d’Or awards and the winner will be announced on 7th January 2013. Here are who I think are the six most likely candidates to win the award, as well as the
There was nothing unconventional about 19 year old Paul Pogba signing for Juventus, who had won the Scudetto in an unbeaten season.The former Le Harve youth player traded the red of Manchester United for the the black and white of Juventus (although formerly of Notts County since 1903). It seems to be a given that Paul Pogba
On Saturday, 3rd November, Chelmsford City Football Club from the Conference South embarked on their biggest F.A Cup tie to date (arguably!). I have supported Chelmsford City since the 2008/09 season, my first match was at home to A.F.C Wimbledon, the eventual winners of the league, and was hooked ever since that 3-2 win. I’ve
Over the past decade, Sevilla have had some impressive central midfield partnerships, but there have been a few which just quite simply have not worked out or lived up to expectations. The partnership of Renato and Enzo Maresca was effectively the bedrock for the club’s success in the UEFA Cup in 2006, with both players
“Judge us with ten games in.” - Arséne Wenger, trying to calm his critics. We’re ten games in now, and it’s looking rather grim for Wenger’s boys in red. After a disastrous last fortnight, even Wenger’s admirers are starting to doubt him. A new-look Arsenal team marched out of the tunnel at the Emirates, in
Since taking over from Kenny Dalglish, Brendan Rodgers has had a mixed start to his Liverpool career. League results have been disappointing so far, and the home loss to Swansea in the Capital One Cup proved the bad transfer business the club made in recent transfer windows. Joe Cole, Stewart Downing and Jordan Henderson
There is little to no doubt that at this current moment in time Radamel Falcao is the best striker in world football. The Colombian forward, currently plying his trade at Atletico Madrid is dominating the headlines both in Spain and across Europe with continued tales of his exploits. His career began at River Plate in
The Ivory Coast may be a poor, typically deprived African nation located on the African west coast, but it produces its fair share of top class players. The Ivorian national team is generally regarded as the strongest African national team, despite flattering to deceive at international tournaments, and when you look at the players that
A couple of nights ago, I tuned in to watch Arsenal visit Reading in a Capital One Cup match at the Madejski Stadium. Although I’m not a Gunners fan or a Reading fan, I have been closely following English football since I was seven. Before the game, most of the football world didn’t expect a
Yeah, I meant it –wicked. What else can I say about my dear Arsenal? Being an Arsenal fan it would be normal if you have high blood pressure or once in a while a heart attack! Yesterday was one of such nights where you totally felt lost, then have an array of hope, cool down
The 9th match-day of the 2012-2013 Liga BBVA has been completed and it has been another terrific week packed with outstanding goals. Currently Barcelona and Atletico both have 25 points from 9 games, but Barcelona have a superior points-difference and thus top the league. Lionel Messi leads the race for the Pichichi with 13 goals
At the start of the season, there was a sense of “now or never” surrounding Chelsea’s £50 million striker Fernando Torres. In the year and a half since joining the Blues, Torres had shown little to nothing of the form that had made him one of the world’s top strikers in the late 2000’s. He
The decisions given against Chelsea in this weekend’s game may be viewed by many people as a mere co-incidence and that it was honest mistakes on the part of the officials. Moreover, conversations will centre on, “accepting the referee’s decisions in the true spirit of sportsmanship”. This appears to be what being English is all
Where did it all go wrong for Athletic Bilbao? At the end of last season they had emerged as almost everyone’s second favourite side; their run in the UEFA Europa League had won them many admirers and it was thought the club would go from strength to strength. However, the summer then came along and
The iconic image of Bobby Moore lifting the Jules Rimet trophy in 1966 is burned into the mind of every self-respecting English football fan. It represented the peak of English football; a deserved triumph for the creators (and in that year, perfectionists) of the game. It was a mark that stood England up among the