Eric Cantona: 20 years on from the phone call that changed football Sir Alex Ferguson’s Manchester United were a mess before the arrival of a mercurial Frenchman from Leeds 20 years ago. When the Premier League was introduced in 1992, Sir Alex Ferguson described it as “a piece of nonsense” that sold supporters “right down […]
Tag Archives: Manchester City
Why Rafael Benítez may never be accepted by Chelsea fans
Affection remains for Roberto Di Matteo at Stamford Bridge, making it a tough introduction for ‘Rafa the Blue’ Rafael Benítez pretended to busy himself with the seating arrangements on his bench, Roman Abramovich staring out impassively from his box high up in the west stand while the mutiny rippled round the arena. Neither betrayed a […]
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 Great Zaha Hype?
Before the start of the season, few outside of the Championship would have heard of Wilfried Zaha. However, given the recent surge in analyses on the winger’s potential, his England call-up and the numerous rumours of possible £20 mln move to a Premier League team, TKTG has compiled some of the better articles on the new youth […]
Disproportionate – The gap between Europe’s elite and the rest
Celtic’s 2-1 upset win over Barcelona on Wednesday prompted some to describe it as the “second greatest night in the history of the club” after — presumably — that night in 1967 when 11 men born within a few miles of Parkhead went out and became champions of Europe. That generated some interesting discussion, as you would […]
Match Report – City vs Spurs
Manchester City 2 Tottenham 1 Edin Dzeko lived up to his super-sub billing by firing Manchester City to victory against Tottenham. Dzeko struck three minutes from time to complete a defiant second-half comeback from the unbeaten Blues, who closed the gap on Barclays Premier League leaders Manchester United to two points. It was the Bosnian’s […]
Why Mancini can’t get it right in Europe
When Roberto Mancini’s rage against the slow death of Manchester City’s Champions League aspirations finally fizzles out, it will be replaced by the recognition of a brutal truth. Mancini was the flesh and blood embodiment of all the frustration this competition has brought City as he stalked on to the pitch carrying bitter disappointment and […]
From Hero to M’Villain
Yann M’Vila had the world at his feet. Courted by Europe’s leading clubs, he was on the verge of a big money move. What went wrong for the young midfielder? Yann M’Vila became known to Premier League fans this summer, as the Stade Rennais holding midfielder was targeted by various top-flight clubs. His supposed destination […]
Chelsea – Are they for real?
They stunned Europe last season by winning the Champions League in a series of hard-fought defensive displays. This season however, they’ve taken the English Premier League by storm, having added some real attacking flair within their ranks. Juan Mata & Eden Hazard have combined exceptionally well, whereas Oscar has shown some real flashes of brilliance. […]
Building a new City
Since that epic finale to last season’s English Premier League, and having clinched their much famed £1billion title, Manchester City have begun work on a £100 million training complex. It is said to be modeled around the La Masia football academy in Barcelona, which is known to have produced world class talent like Iniesta, Xavi […]
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