Tottenham 2-0 Manchester City: Spurs win in classic Jose Mourinho style to move fifth in the Premier League February 2, 2020 It has taken some time but Tottenham have now experienced peak Jose Mourinho. A return to his past glories came in the perfect scenario – against his arch foe – and, more importantly, in the most traditional of manners. Tottenham had three shots, spent the majority of the game with every player behind the ball [...]
Guardiola and Klopp are right: English football would be improved by scrapping the EFL Cup and FA Cup replays January 28, 2020 Once upon a time cup ties, like any extra games, meant significant extra income for English football clubs. The FA Cup final, meanwhile, represented a unique chance to be watched around the world. The brutal truth is that, for Premier League teams, neither of the above are true any more: top-flight status ensures financial security [...]
Football’s data liberator: How smarterscout founder Dan Altman plans to bring stats to the mainstream January 28, 2020 Dan Altman has been many things. Economist. Best-selling author. British government advisor. Columnist. Consultant. Teacher. All of those occupations revolved around the use of data, and “after about 15 years” Altman, in his own words, “got a bit bored and decided to try something a bit different.” That boredom has seen the 46-year-old American turn [...]
England hopefuls James Maddison and Jack Grealish with chance to impress in Carabao Cup semi-final January 28, 2020 With a Wembley final awaiting the winner, there is everything to play for in tonight’s Carabao Cup semi-final tie between Leicester City and Aston Villa. The second leg, poised at 1-1 after a draw at the King Power Stadium three weeks ago, is also a match that will pit two England hopefuls, Villa captain Jack [...]
Shrewsbury 2-2 Liverpool: League One side’s comeback shows that the FA Cup is alive and well amid renewed questioning January 26, 2020 Teeth gnashing about the death of the FA Cup is nothing new. Every season there are opinions voiced and column inches filled by people mourning the decline of English football’s most historic cup competition. Nobody cares about it anymore, the argument goes. Premier League teams aren’t giving it the respect it deserves. Crowds are too [...]
How resurgent Southampton bounced back from that 9-0 defeat to climb the Premier League January 23, 2020 Southampton will come into Saturday’s FA Cup fourth-round tie against Tottenham full of confidence that they can win, having beaten Spurs 1-0 on New Year’s Day. It is a scenario that few could have envisaged following the record-breaking 9-0 thrashing handed to the Saints by Leicester exactly three months ago Saturday. But having since shot [...]
Chelsea 2-2 Arsenal: Hector Bellerin’s late strike sees 10-man Gunners earn point and show heart at Stamford Bridge January 21, 2020 Mikel Arteta had attempted to rally his Arsenal side for tonight’s 2-2 draw with Chelsea by labelling it as a must-win if they were to have any chance of finishing in the top four. While they failed to come away with all three points, the 37-year-old would have been the happier of the two managers [...]
How Liverpool sporting director Michael Edwards rose to the very top January 21, 2020 With the ever-increasing presence of statistical analysis in football, and particularly in player recruitment, has come the rise of the transfer guru. Leicester City’s 2015-16 title success prompted Everton to poach Steve Walsh, the man credited with spotting N’Golo Kante, Riyad Mahrez and Jamie Vardy, but he proved unable to unearth similar hidden gems and [...]
You can’t compare Jurgen Klopp’s side to great Liverpool teams but I prefer watching them to Manchester City January 21, 2020 Managers are a vital part of any club and certain conditions – money, clout – are necessary in a rebuilding job, but Jurgen Klopp really has proven to be the perfect fit for Liverpool that he was billed as. Since arriving in October 2015 he has improved the team each year and, having won the [...]
‘Intruder’ Fifa is a threat to European club football, says Spanish league boss Javier Tebas January 20, 2020 Javier Tebas, the man who accused Paris Saint-Germain of “peeing in the pool” and flouting football’s financial rules, is know for shooting from the hip and now it is Fifa in the outspoken Spanish league chief’s crosshairs. Specifically, LaLiga president Tebas is disturbed by his Fifa counterpart Gianni Infantino’s apparent determination to transform the Club [...]