The man has been handed a one year extension by Chelsea and looks to see out the last season of his career with the club before jetting off to a distant location or leaving his boots at the training ground and calling it a day. The Chelsea captain has been somewhat of a rock all
With Hamburger SV in the bottom three, two points adrift of safety with eight games to go, the Bundesliga could realistically be about to lose its only ever-present club. Hamburg have played in each Bundesliga season since its inception in 1963 and, fifty-two years later, may be about to experience their first ever relegation having
Out of a raft of exciting young Portuguese footballers coming through the ranks, Braga forward Rafael Silva is one who is considerably ahead of what can be considered a normal learning curve. Still only 21 years old, Rafa, as he is known, has accumulated 64 appearances in Portugal’s top flight, earned himself three caps for
So disheartening is the course of modern football that a player Bayer Leverkusen signed last summer on a 5-year contract is already subject of rumours linking him with a move away from the club. Bayer and manager Roger Schmidt must be entitled to wonder what the point of it all is if the progress they
Newcastle United have had their moments in the sun, but this season has yet again been topsy-turvy for the Toon Army. Who should remain and who should suffer the chop at the end of the campaign? Goalkeepers This is arguably the easiest part of the squad to analyse. Tim Krul should be kept. The
October 5 2014, Juventus beat Roma 3-2. This is what Roma manager Rudi Garcia said after the match; “This game made me realise who will win the Scudetto. We are stronger than Juventus, Because we are stronger, we have to win tomorrow (versus Chievo), because we have to talk about results.” That was a huge
For a lot of people, we forget how severe injuries can be for footballers. It’s easy to assume that due to professional footballers wages, injury can’t possibly be that much of an inconvenience – what we forget is that not all footballers are professional. For those that play football week in, week out for nothing
Stoke City manager Mark Hughes had to be insistent, after seeing his side lose 1-2 at home to Crystal Palace on Saturday, that his team’s season “would not peter out”. It is indeed in danger of that happening, with defeats in their last 2 games before they head to Chelsea in a fortnight’s time. Their
Being a part of the most lethal attacking trio in European football must be thrilling. At the age of 23, Neymar is lining up alongside Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez for Barcelona every week and is thriving on his opportunity. Well into his second season at the Catalan giants, the Brazilian has settled and at
One of the ways you can turn your tournament into a revenue-generating event is to sell your own merchandise. Shirts and other souvenirs are items you can sell that will not only improve the memorability of your tournament, but also help finance the event. However, it is also possible for the opposite to happen and
It was this time last year when Marca ran the headline “Messi’s lowest ebb” just before Barcelona faced Manchester City in the second leg of their meeting in the last 16 of the Champions League. History has repeated itself for both clubs 12 months on with the Catalans again knocking out City at the same
Britain truly is the home of organised sport, and her sporting influence is felt across the globe. Whether you’re a South American footballer, a North American golfer, an Indian cricketer, an Australasian Rugby star, or a Chinese snooker player, you owe it all to the sporting heritage of the UK. This article aims to tap
Franco Vazquez has been something of a revelation in Serie A this season. The 26-year old Argentine attacking midfielder is contributing to a fine season for his club Palermo, the Sicilian outfit sit tenth in the table – after achieving promotion from Serie B just last season. He was bought to Sicily in 2011 to
Stefano Pioli spoke excitedly after witnessing his team negotiate a difficult trip to Torino and come away with a 0-2 win. “I think we’ve gained a winning mentality, built thanks to positive results which gave us confidence” said Lazio’s coach and if winning mentality is a phrase a little overused among the buzzwords of modern
Bought by FC Porto in the summer of 2013, Juan Fernando Quintero’s performances in pre-season friendlies, notably in the prestigious Emirates Cup tournament in London, and then early in the 2013/14 campaign, appeared to indicate the northerners had struck gold again. An exhilarating dribbler, powerful shooter – usually with his magical left foot – and
In the late nineteenth century, Arthur Wharton (1865-1930) was an athlete of legendary proportions, competing at the top level in many sports including cycling, rugby, cricket athletics and football. It was previously believed that Wharton was the first ever black football player; however new evidence has recently come to light that shows this distinction goes
Burnley’s 1-0 victory over Manchester City on Saturday evening gave the Lancashire outfit a real chance of staying in the Premier League against the odds in what would be an extraordinary achievement for Sean Dyche and his shoe-string assembled squad. A season that has seen them take points off Chelsea, Manchester United, Southampton and now
Jose Mourinho is a man after my heart. In my opinion, the greatest manager of my lifetime, the Portuguese’s managerial ingenuity took a hit in front of his own fans (who he has for most part of the season ripped apart for their lack of support) when PSG came from behind twice to end
Louis van Gaal has credentials that make for fantastic reading anywhere in the world. The Dutch physical education teacher and managerial myth has carved a niche for himself in the world of football management and it is the major reason he could still attract a job as lucrative and challenging as the one he is
Football is played in many places around the world, with many different sets of rules, but there is only one place in the world where a type of football has been played continuously for a thousand years: Ashbourne, in Derbyshire, England. The earliest written records of the game go back to the twelfth century, when