WHEN IT COMES TO LISTING THE GREATEST DEFENDERS OF ALL-TIME, Paolo Maldini is up there with the best there ever was. His calibre is proven in the European Cup and the Champions…
Month: January 2016
HOW DO YOU MEASURE SUCCESS in football management? If it’s just about emerging victorious, José Mourinho is up there with the best over the past decade. There’s no doubt that José Mourinho is…
This feature is part of The Masterminds FOOTBALL CAN BE APTLY be described as a simple game made complex. It is about the goals and entertainment and the social function it affords its…
Everton of the mid-1980s were one of Europe’s finest sides, and their class of 1985 ranks as one of the great club teams in English football history
During his still-short managerial career, Pep Guardiola has coached many modern-day legends, including Carles Puyol, Andrés Iniesta, Xavi, Samuel Eto’o and Lionel Messi. But there’s only one man he’s ever labelled as “the…
Mention football to most people in Gibraltar and you’ll probably be greeted with more mumblings of their continued struggles on the international scene than anything else. Despite being one of the oldest football…
Below the radar of mainstream media, there is a debate raging in the football (soccer) world in the USA and Canada). At the centre of the debate are U.S. Soccer (FIFA’s representative…
MOST TEENAGERS COUNT DOWN THE DAYS until they turn 18, eagerly anticipating this milestone in their lives when they gain their independence and are able to do things that they couldn’t as a…
They are there for all to see; the burning intensity of the glare, the endless cavern of passion, and the relentless desire that seems to give an advantage in any confrontation. They’re ever-present in the sublime, the ludicrous,…
From South America to Panama to the United States, the Copa América has been inching ever closer to Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, where the first match of the Copa América Centenario –…
Arriving as a relative unknown with little backing in the press, Lubomir Moravcik went on to establish himself as one of Celtic’s greatest players
IN FOOTBALL, the greatest legacies are reserved for those who pioneer their way into folklore. Manager and players alike are remembered in the grandest terms by evaluating their role in changing the course…
Given the thousand of words dedicated to Mesut Özil, adding another 800 or so to the conversation seems rather trite. Yet the German is such a charismatic, divisive figure it’s hard to avoid…
Arsenal THE WORD ‘EMBROILED’ depicts imagery of a painful, laborious struggle with no real end in sight. Consequently, within the realms of football speak, the word is quite appositely associated with a…
AS 2015 approached its conclusion one team had dominated the European football landscape. The five trophies claimed by Barcelona set a standard that many will struggle to match. Just as impressive as…
Anyone that has followed football for the last 12 years is more than familiar with the miracles Lionel Messi is capable of. The mind of every fan in the world has stored an…
ALONG WITH SELFIE-STICKS, an unhealthy fascination with net-spend and those ridiculous looking half-and-half scarves, the latest “thing” to be embraced by a certain generation of football fans is the deluded view that the…
This feature is part of The Masterminds More than anything else, a football manager thinks about winning. It’s the source of their happiness, their confidence and, ultimately, keeps them in employment. No manager…