Trevor Steven: Arsenal must prioritise a top four finish in the Premier League over European exploits February 19, 2019 The season starts here for Arsenal. The next seven days will be vital to their hopes of qualifying for the Champions League and they have three winnable games. If they don't return to Europe's elite competition next year then this campaign will have to be seen as a disappointment. They face BATE Borisov, Southampton and [...]
Never mind the Big Six, it’s all about the Premier League’s Big Three as Manchester City, Liverpool and Tottenham underline gulf in quality February 10, 2019 We all know about the Big Six, the Premier League’s half a dozen richest clubs who monopolise the top places in the table, effectively creating a two-tier division of haves and have-nots. It’s plain to see in the current rankings, with the biggest gap between positions anywhere in the top flight being the 12 points [...]
Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester City become first Premier League clubs to install pioneering Intel True View technology February 7, 2019 It’s the world’s most watched sporting competition, but now the Premier League’s billions of viewers are about to get a new way to consume every goal, assist and save. Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester City have become the first clubs in English football to sign up for Intel’s True View technology, which uses an array of [...]
Five talking points from Sunday’s Premier League matches: Manchester City dispel title doubts, Arsenal losing ground, Paul Pogba and Marcus Rashford inspire Manchester United, Leicester in limbo February 3, 2019 It took just 50 seconds for Sergio Aguero and Manchester City to dispel the notion that that the midweek defeat at Newcastle was anything other than an aberration; one of those freakish results that even the best teams usually succumb to once a season. City penned in Arsenal, Aymeric Laporte whipped the ball across goal [...]
Premier League clubs’ January transfer window spending falls for first time since 2012 February 1, 2019 The amount Premier League teams spent in the January transfer window fell for the first time since 2012, according to football money experts Deloitte. England's top tier clubs spent just £180m on permanent signings, some way off the £430m that was lavishly shelled out last winter. Nearly a third of this window's total outlay was [...]
Trevor Steven: Gonzalo Higuain can save Chelsea’s top four hopes, Ivan Perisic is the boost Arsenal need and Tottenham’s inactivity is mystifying January 29, 2019 Smart signings are possible in the January transfer window, such as Tottenham’s purchase of Dele Alli from MK Dons in 2015 and Leicester’s recruitment of Riyad Mahrez from Le Havre in 2014, but they don’t tend to be big names. Chelsea’s loan deal for Gonzalo Higuain is one of the few; it’s rare to get [...]
Tottenham overtake Juventus and close in on Arsenal in Deloitte Football Money League January 23, 2019 Tottenham’s emergence as one of Europe’s growing powers is paying dividends off the field, with the club now placed among the top 10 richest football clubs in the world. Spurs overtook Italian giants Juventus to take 10th place in Deloitte’s Football Money League 2019, as revenue leapt to €428.3m (£379.4m) last season from €359.5m in [...]
The world’s richest football clubs 2019: Real Madrid replace Manchester United at top of Deloitte Football Money League January 23, 2019 Manchester United have lost their status as the world’s richest club after Real Madrid replaced them at the top of Deloitte’s Football Money League. The Spanish giants ended United’s two-year domination of the annual list by generating revenue of €751m (£665m) last season – an all-time record for any football club. Read more: Spurs vs [...]
Chelsea manager Maurizio Sarri has chosen a dangerous time to gamble on his criticism provoking a positive reaction January 20, 2019 Conventional wisdom dictates that football managers shouldn’t criticise their players in public. Point out their flaws, tear strips off them and give them the hairdryer treatment behind closed doors, but in front of the cameras it’s generally regarded as counter-productive. Maurizio Sarri has never been one for convention, though. The Chelsea manager, who had a [...]
Berkeley Group chairman Tony Pidgley on Brexit, buildings and bonus backlashes January 16, 2019 Tony Pidgley is a staunch defender of his trade, as you would expect Britain’s best-known housebuilder to be. So it comes as something of a surprise when, asked about the huge row that hit his sector last year when fellow housing boss Jeff Fairburn took a £75m bonus, he does not come down on Fairburn’s [...]