Tottenham v Fulham: London sides in completely different boats ahead of Premier League clash August 17, 2018 Tottenham and Fulham could hardly be in different states coming into their Premier League match at Wembley tomorrow. Spurs have a great deal on their minds. The delay to their new stadium construction is chief among them and manager Mauricio Pochettino admitted yesterday it was “massively disappointing for everyone”. With the transfer window closed and [...]
Trevor Steven: Why Chelsea and Maurizio Sarri had the best result of the Premier League’s opening weekend August 14, 2018 On an opening weekend that saw most Premier League results unfold as you would have expected there was one that stood out. Chelsea’s 3-0 win over Huddersfield was no upset, but a long trip to Yorkshire still represented a tough test for a new-look Blues team and it could have turned into a difficult afternoon. [...]
World Cup 2018: Tournament review – Heavyweight drop-outs, VAR, penalties, set pieces, wonder goals, concussion and politics July 15, 2018 After 64 matches – including a pointless third-place play-off – over 30 days the World Cup has come to its conclusion. France beat Croatia 4-2 in the final in a match that neatly summed by the whole competition. There were goals from set pieces, a VAR-assisted penalty and lots of quality to boot. But you [...]
England out on penalties? World Cup shootout odds are against Three Lions but Gareth Southgate’s approach boosts their chances July 2, 2018 England may have avoided a World Cup clash with old foes Germany, Portugal and Brazil by finishing second in their World Cup group, but there may be no escaping a more familiar enemy now that they are in the knock-out rounds: the dreaded penalty shoot-out. No side has a worse record in World Cup shoot-outs [...]
Deep learning: Belgium’s secret weapon for England’s World Cup group decider June 27, 2018 England manager Gareth Southgate has long been be familiar with the threat posed by some of the supreme talents in the the Belgium squad such as Eden Hazard, Romelu Lukaku and Kevin De Bruyne. Yet the Red Devils have a less well-known weapon at their disposal for tonight’s World Cup match in Kaliningrad, effectively a [...]
World Cup 2018: England’s Jesse Lingard has trademarked his JLingz celebration — and he’s done so at the perfect time June 17, 2018 Jesse Lingard is ready to make his mark at the World Cup. Less than three weeks ago, as England were preparing for their first warm-up game against Nigeria, Lingard applied for four trademarks with the UK Intellectual Property Office; three featuring his nickname “JLingz” and another featuring the image of his goal celebration. Should the [...]
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 [...]