They were good enough to win the Premiership, but never quite managed it. Here is a list of the greatest XI of players that have never picked up a Premier League winners medal. Newcastle United, Liverpool, Chelsea, Arsenal, Middlesbrough and Tottenham Hotspur players all feature in the best XI to have never won the Premier […]
Archive | 2012
Arsenal sign £150m deal with Emirates
Arsenal have announced a new five-year deal with Emirates worth £150 million. The contract with the international airline, worth £30 million a year, includes shirt sponsorship until the end of the 2018/2019 season, as well as stadium naming rights until 2029. The Emirates brand will also continue appearing on Arsenal’s training kits, while the new […]
More Goals Than Milan – Messi’s 2012 in numbers
The Argentine is now just five away from Gerd Muller’s legendary mark of 85 goals and his 2012 haul is greater than the total amassed by a host of clubs Messi played his part in Dani Alves’ brilliant opener before scuffing a second into the corner with his right and rounding the keeper for a […]
Juan matters more this season
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 […]
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 […]
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