There may not be another manager in football quite like Quique Setién, who arrived late, rose slowly but now influences many up and coming coaches
FALSE NINE, REGISTA, LIBERO; these are all terms that will undoubtedly be familiar to the typical football enthusiast. As indeed will the players associated with them, the likes of Lionel Messi, Andrea…
GOOGLE IAGO ASPAS and you will find yourself presented predominantly with the words ‘Liverpool’ and ‘flop’. Google Iago Aspas and press spacebar and you will be given the suggestion ‘Iago Aspas corner’.…
Disbelief, despair and hopelessness: all were sentiments felt by anyone affiliated with Welsh football on the morning of November 21, 2011. Gary Speed had been found dead in the garage of his…
After Luis Enrique announced his seemingly inevitable resignation as Barcelona coach, he made a poignant statement: “The reason clearly had to do with the way of life I need to have in this…
From Messi and Batistuta to Bielsa and Menotti, few cities in the world of football have given us more talent than the Argentine metropolis of Rosario
ANDRÉ SCHÜRRLE EMBARKED ON A POWERFUL, driving run down the left wing, and lifted a hopeful ball towards the six-yard box, picking out the awaiting Mario Götze. The substitute immaculately controlled the…
If ever there was a time for Harry Redknapp to effusively proclaim a player as “triffic”, it was when describing Frank Lampard. The year was 1996, the venue was a West Ham…
When the conversation topic turns to footballing legends, those that spring to mind are generally the quintessential one-club men – Francesco Totti, Ryan Giggs and Steven Gerrard, for example. None of these players had…
WHEN RAMADAN SOBHY’S tame shot trickled through a sea of players in the box and found the net in Egypt in March last year, Nigeria once again found themselves on the brink…
After defeats against Real Madrid in the UEFA Super Cup and Barcelona in the Spanish Supercopa, Jorge Sampaoli prepared his Sevilla players for their first La Liga game of the season, against…
AS TEMPERS FLARED during a particularly feisty Madrid derby at the Bernabéu in December 2012, Atlético Madrid assistant manager Germán Burgos directed a threat towards José Mourinho that would unnerve even the most confrontational of…