It’s back! The Premier League has returned. After an enforced break during which we witnessed……..well…….nothing really except England and Scotland both won a meaningless game of football, (it’s the meaningful ones with which they have a problem), business as usual is restored to the nation.
The top six are all back in action and here we look at what has happened and what will happen in their games. (more…)
With the possible exception of Ashley Young, who has benefitted from lavish praise and plenty of game time since José Mourinho became the Manchester United manager, there is nothing to suggest that others have improved and, in fact, players such as Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Paul Pogba seem to have regressed.
By the time the Armenian left Old Trafford for Arsenal and the welcoming arms of Arséne Wenger, he almost looked a broken man. His confidence appeared to be shot to pieces and his last few appearances for United had seen him regularly substituted after poor displays during which he continuously gave the ball away. Hopefully, for his sake, he will fare better in London. (more…)
In our constant crusade to bring internet football education to the masses, today we take a brief look at clickbait. What it is, what it does and what it means for you, the reader.
Todays headlines are all true. They could be described as softcore clickbait as they are designed to bring readers to our site rather than another. If they weren’t true, then they could be classed as hardcore clickbait.
In other words, hardcore clickbait is a deception. It is a lie to make people click on a webpage in order to increase the “visitor count” to that particular page. This, in turn, increases the revenue paid by advertisers who have their products displayed on that page. (more…)
So that’s the end of the international injury windows for this season. The next friendlies on the horizon are in June after the proper football has finished.
England signed off with a draw, at home, against Italy who couldn’t even qualify for this year’s World Cup. Quite why this gives the so-called experts such optimism for the tournament itself is a little baffling.
Our playground logic suggests to us that, if they can’t beat a team which DIDN’T qualify for the finals in Russia, at home, then what chance do they have of beating any of the ones who DID qualify and beat them on foreign soil to boot! (more…)
Mohamed Salah is not Lionel Messi. He is not as good as Lionel Messi and probably won’t come close to achieving what Messi has achieved over the course of his career.
He is, however, similar in the way he runs, the close control he has when in tight situations and his ability to finish when some, usually including the opposition goalkeeper, may think the chance has gone.
The big question for Liverpool fans is; can your club keep hold of him?
With reports of interest from Real Madrid, to name but one, it isn’t money which will entice Salah away from Merseyside, it is ambition. Is Liverpool’s ambition in sync with the Egyptian’s? (more…)
Stubborn Old Man has now decided he is having to endure criticism because he is 68 years old! By attempting to apportion blame to absolutely anything as long as it isn’t himself he is displaying perfectly the detrimental aspect of ageing.
Honestly, the man is becoming a joke and the sooner he leaves Arsenal to be replaced by another manager the better! Not because of his age but because of his attitude and poor recent record!
He is being criticised because his team is rubbish. His team has been rubbish for the last few years and, as far as the Champion’s League goes, has been rubbish for the last twenty!
Arsenal fans are now fed up with his refusal to accept the obvious and take an executive role at the club. They are not bothered about his age. (more…)
Back in 2013 when “Sir Alex of Govan” retired he placed his ceremonial sword in a hole in a convenient stone. Fed up with the lack of competition in the Premier League and annoyed by the quality of opposition in the Champion’s League, he decided to call it a day.
Now the sword was just waiting to be removed by his rightful heir.
First up was “Moyes the Clueless” another Scot, indeed another Glaswegian and also a favourite of Lord Ferg. But try as he might he could not budge the sword. Despite signing world-class talent such as the coveted Marouane Fellaini and actually reaching the quarter finals of the Champion’s League, he really didn’t have a clue how to manage Manchester United. (more…)
So what did we learn about England’s World Cup chances from their win against The Netherlands? Not a lot that we haven’t known for the last fifty years or so, that’s what!
The fact that Gareth Southgate’s men managed to scrape a 0-1 win at the home of a team who couldn’t even qualify for this year’s tournament says more about the Dutch than it does about England.
Holland is a team in transition. Having reached the semi-final of the last World Cup and the final of the one prior to that, their fall from grace has been quite spectacular.
Now, with new manager Ronald Koeman in charge, the onus is on youth and the need to provide experience to some of the lesser known players so they can become the greats of the future. (more…)
So there is a slight chance that England will pull out of the World Cup due to the current tension between the UK and Russia.
As is often the case when politics and sport meet there are rarely any winners.
Back in 1980 the United States, among others, boycotted the Moscow Olympic games. They then spent the whole fortnight pointing out how many medals they would have won had they been there. The boycott was in protest at the Russian invasion of Afghanistan earlier that year and achieved precisely nothing, a little like the invasion itself. (more…)
(Goofy Gareth and Barmy Bobby enjoy a very short conversation about the success of their two national teams)
Now that the Premier League season is nearly over and Manchester City are about to be crowned champions thoughts can begin to turn to the World Cup which begins in June.
The usual boring group games will be supplemented by some pretty good looking group games where two teams who are actually decent will be playing each other.
Of course, what usually happens in these matches is that the two teams in question have either already qualified or are massive favourites to do so and they play out a boring draw because they don’t need anything else! (more…)
WHY SAY ANYTHING? 