As I watch Levante crash to a 4-0 defeat at home to Real Sociedad, a performance described by the Revista podcast as the worst by any team in La Liga so far this season, a kid sits in front of my wearing a coat bearing the slogan “Never EVER give up.” He left before the … More Is Levante’s Pretty-Ugly Fairy Tale Finally Over?
Scouting isn’t rocket science! Every time a Premier League side signs a good foreign player the nation goes crazy. Who is this mystery guy? Where did he come from? Anyone with a decent knowledge of the game outside the UK would have known that the likes of Santi Cazorla, Oscar and Papisse Demba Cissé were … More Iago Aspas (Celta Vigo)
Here’s something I wrote for Soccerlens The Bundesliga returned last weekend, and in the process welcomed back its player of the year from two seasons ago. Nuri Sahin’s failure to flourish after leaving Germany is a surprise. Whether it says more about him or the coaching he received during his sojourn is something we may … More Can Only Klopp Unlock The Sahin Enigma?
It’s difficult to see the notion of the mind game as anything other than a journalistic invention, a key part of the narrative arc which has little effect on the changing room, except perhaps a gradual erosion of the credibility of the likes of Rafa Benitez as the press constantly proclaim him the loser of … More If PR own goals matter, Liverpool are in trouble.
Scouting isn’t rocket science! Every time a Premier League side signs a good foreign player the nation goes crazy. Who is this mystery guy? Where did he come from? Anyone with a decent knowledge of the game outside the UK would have known that the likes of Santi Cazorla, Oscar and Papisse Demba Cissé were … More Vicente Iborra (Levante)
Chelsea’s fans might feel uncomfortable at the thought of Rafa Benitez at the helm, but is that sense of unease misdirected? Perhaps the anger directed at the Spaniard is merely a proxy for the uncomfortable realities his arrival has stirred deep within fans’ hearts about their relationship with the club’s owner. The words Benitez is … More Please Can We Have Our Souls Back? Chelsea’s Fans Backtrack On Their Faustian Pact
Old footballers never die-they just reappear in widescreen slow motion. The Football Masters is a tournament for those of us who are happy to venerate the names of our ersthile heroes, rather than be saddened by what they’ve become! A circuit for players past their sell-by date, it’s a seven-a-side competition which does roll back … More Masters of the Universe
Peripheral Vision 