Juan Mata has had a great year, guiding Chelsea towards the club’s first Champions League trophy and scoring the last goal that helped Spain lift this summer’s European Championship. The Spaniard’s contribution to his club was phenomenal last season, during which he scored 12 goals & assisted another 20, in all competitions. In the 2012/13 […]
Archive | November, 2012
Fantasy Football – Gameweek 13
As usual, the good folks at Fantasy Yirma provide their excellent Fantasy Football insight. Here are their picks for Gameweek 13. Gameweek 13 preview: Biting the hand that used to feed him? Running into an ex is never the most comfortable of experiences, but it usually makes you want to prove that you’re doing well for […]
5 Facts About Money In Football
Who was the first £1000 Footballer? Why were Sunderland once known as ‘the Bank of England’? Where did Manchester United’s wealth originate from? Fact 1: The First £1000 Footballer (Alf Common – joined Middlesbrough from Sunderland in 1905.) Fact 2: The Rise Of United’s WealthIn 1902, Newton Heath were facing bankruptcy. Desperate to […]
Off with his head – Abramovich sacks Di Matteo
After steering Chelsea to a historic Champions League trophy that had eluded owner Roman Abramovich since he bought the club, Chelsea have sacked Roberto Di Matteo. Ironically, it was after a 3-0 defeat to Juventus in the same competition and the prospect of being knocked-out in the group stages that led to his sacking. TKTG […]
David Beckham – Where next ?
The soon-to-be former MLS player will think about a move back to England, but Australia and China are the most realistic options. When David Beckham says he intends to take on one more challenge before hanging up his boots, we had better take him seriously. Since Sir Alex Ferguson ended his dream of staying at […]
How Pep Guardiola got the Barcelona players on his side
Frank Rijkaard’s Barcelona were suffering an unstoppable decline into decadence, the dressing room lacking discipline and spirit. Ronaldinho had lost his status as the most exciting player on the planet, the president Joan Laporta had only just survived in office and Catalan self-esteem was at its lowest ebb for decades. At that point Pep Guardiola […]
Pretty football and the Nash equilibrium
Ignore Barcelona. Ignore Spain. Ignore 1982 Brazil, Total Football Holland, and the Invincibles. What if the real footballing lesson about aspiration and beauty lies not in art, but in economics? This I have learned from John Forbes Nash, the Nobel Laureate depicted by Russell Crowe in A Beautiful Mind. In the movie version, Crowe/Nash advises […]
The man who can run a game with his chest
The Belgians have taken the Premier League by storm and there is one man in particular who is leading the way – Marouane Fellaini. It can even be argued that the towering midfielder was partially responsible for Manchester United losing the title to Man City last year given the way he almost single-handledly brought Everton […]
Tactics Board: QPR 1-3 Southampton
Queens Park Rangers can’t turn a corner and they can’t defend one either. As Southampton won the game branded ‘El Sackico’, one of the themes of the season – zonal marking – was present and incorrect. But, more to the point, so was another: Rangers’ ineptitude. …Southampton’s first is a case in point. QPR opt […]
Qatar Airways to appear on Barça shirt
The contract signed by Qatar Sports Investment and FC Barcelona foresaw the possibility of including a new sponsor on the team shirt from the third season of the agreement Sandro Rosell has welcomed Qatar Airways, “an ambitious brand with global aspirations, always commitment to the utmost excellence in its field” The Qatar Foundation now becomes […]
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