It was Jurgen Klopp who foresaw football’s shift towards defensive solidity back in 2018. Possibly wishing for his head to reside somewhere other than his hands, Klopp brought in Alisson and Virgil van Dijk to rectify Liverpool’s frequent lapses at the back. With hindsight, he had spotted an opportunity. Football in the mid-2010s frequently resembled … Read more
We’re heading for the finishing straight of the Premier League season and that means predictions, at least 70 per cent of which make us look damn fools in three months’ time. Those are the rules. But the real fun lies in which three turn out to be spot on. We’re supremely confident about the identity … Read more
Arsenal dodged a comical banana skin in Spurs, Erling Haaland cooked for once, Arne Slot settled an old score and Oliver Glasner deeply hates his life. There are also words of varying degrees of kindness for Leeds, Nottingham Forest, Tony Bloom and Brentford. Refresh your minds with a look at the Premier League table after the … Read more
When you think of Leicester City you probably picture Wes Morgan and Claudio Ranieri lifting the Premier League title back in May 2016. Now take that image in your mind, throw it into the middle of the nearby M1 and watch as several lorries run it over. That is the state of modern Leicester City. … Read more
It might not mean much or indeed anything at all when the post-mortems on Spurs’ season come to be written, but his first interview as Spurs boss did at least bring one slice of comfort to the fans: he gets it. Igor Tudor understands the assignment. It doesn’t mean he will or even can complete … Read more
Jose Mourinho ‘tried to comfort’ a ‘furious’ Vinicius Jr by blaming him for suffering alleged racist abuse. But Cole Palmer holidaying is a bigger story. The Sun website handles the Benfica v Real Madrid controversy hilariously and predictably terribly. Marcus Rashford is also on a collision course with a future Manchester United teammate. Comfort zone … Read more
“In a World Cup year, Pep will have given him the full sales pitch saying, ‘you are coming in and the number one jersey is yours. You will be playing regularly, challenging for the Premier League and playing Champions League football and if you play your cards right, you might be playing for England in … Read more
It’s not been a great week for Quad Gods but Arsenal safely avoided any costly fall as they ticked off one of the more routine but necessary steps towards history. Wigan were swept aside by Arsenal’s history-chasers, who show no sign of succumbing to the February curse in the month when so, so many would-be … Read more
It’s FA Cup fourth-round weekend! Let’s get excited! Always a tricky weekend, is FA Cup fourth-round weekend. Tends to feel a bit betwixt and between, neither nowt nor summat. Lacking both the magical all-things-are-possible wonderment of third-round weekend and the glory-in-our-sights potential of the later rounds, while still having the nerve and temerity to force … Read more
With Liverpool facing an uphill fight to qualify for the Champions League following Manchester City’s comeback win at Anfield, head coach Arne Slot looks doomed to lose his job around a year after guiding the Reds to their 20th Premier League title. Slot would likely already be out of work had he not had credit … Read more