More at stake for Arsenal and Unai Emery than Chelsea and Maurizio Sarri in Europa League final between managers with points to prove May 28, 2019 When Unai Emery and Maurizio Sarri pitched up in London a year ago they did so with something to prove. For the Spaniard, it was that his failure to deliver the clean sweep of honours that Paris Saint-Germain’s hierarchy craved owed more to the unique ecosystem of France’s richest club than his own shortcomings as [...]
Aston Villa hit £170m jackpot after promotion gambles pay off against Derby County May 27, 2019 It tends to take a gamble to escape the bear pit of the Championship. Aston Villa have bet bigger than most and now, with victory in the play-off final over Derby County on Monday, they have scooped the £170m jackpot that promotion to the Premier League guarantees. Villa were rewarded for rolling the dice on [...]
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 [...]