After a World Cup’s worth of transfer speculation, Manchester United chief executive Ed Woodward typically felt the need to offer some headline-creating words of his own. “Our financial position allows us to do things in the transfer market that most other clubs cannot do,” he said last week. It was quite a statement, especially […]
Archive | Athletico Madrid RSS feed for this archive
Play for Brazil or Spain?
…Diego da Silva Costa is waiting for a call that could make him a World Cup-winning striker. He has two options for which national team he might represent next year during soccer’s showcase event. One is Brazil, where he was born. The other is Spain, where he plays professionally and where he was recently granted […]
4-4-2 is becoming trendy again
…When Barcelona were Europe’s dominant force between 2009 and 2011, for example, it was extremely difficult to tell whether strategy would move in the first respect (further evolution) or the second respect (a shift toward an opposing style of play). In the end, Bayern’s success last year probably represented a hybrid of the two: They […]
Everyone’s a liar during the transfer window
… From the other side of the negotiating table, Spurs were saying much the same thing. Their official statement noted that they did not want to sell Bale but that his resolve to leave was decisive. He had forced their hand; they had little choice. Coach Andre Villas-Boas added that “the pressure we were subjected […]
Atlético end 14-year Madrid curse
… Historic is the word. This may even be Atlético’s greatest ever night. “If we win it will be forever,” Adrián had said before the game. Diego Simeone said he didn’t know where it ranks in the club’s history. But, he added, “in many years’ time, it will be remembered.” And how. Atlético had not […]
EU prepare to stop public funding of Spanish debt-ridden clubs.
It is the powerhouse of global football, home to its greatest players and a World Cup-winning national team, but Spain’s soccer bubble looks set to explode as European authorities prepare to halt public funding of debt-ridden clubs. In a move that threatens to provoke the partial collapse of a football system built on unsustainable piles of […]
A festival of football in Madrid by Graham Hunter
This was sublime. Football at its purest, its quickest, its most relentless — thrilling enough that if anyone had watched this sport we love for the first time tonight then they’d be hooked for life. Craving more. When so many of the world-renowned participants — Leo Messi, Xavi, Mesut Ozil and Sami Khedira — performed […]
Atlético Madrid: Its time to take them seriously
Fast, physical and ruthless; second-placed Atlético have left the scars of their past behind and may be hard for Real to catch. The gap? Hang on a minute, which gap? The gap between Real Madrid and Barcelona might be 15 points, but the gap at the top is eight points. While most naturally focus on […]
Runaway Train – Unbeaten Barcelona on course to obliterate record point haul
It was an astounding achievement. Jose Mourinho’s Real Madrid lost only twice in La Liga last season and claimed an unprecedented 32 victories on their way to winning the Primera Division with a historical high of 100 points. No team had ever reached three figures before in Spain’s domestic competition, but just eight months on, Barcelona seem set not only […]
Christmas Crackers – the View from Spain
So the apocalypse failed to show on cue. It has a habit of doing that. It was also supposed to take place on December 12 (12.12.12 and all that), but it finally made an appearance on the evening of December 22, when the backside of Saint Iker Casillas was announced by Chendo, an ex-player and […]
TOKNOWTHEGAME.COM 