WHEN DAVID LUIZ WAS CARTED OFF TO PARIS SAINT-GERMAIN for a world-record £50 million transfer fee, it felt like Chelsea had conned their way into one of the deals of the century.…
Both overrated and underrated, Claude Makélélé’s public perception changes with each passing year. Perhaps it’s the idea that we’ve already seen his upgrade in the form of the high-speed blur that is…
Hit and miss: that’s an honest way to describe Chelsea’s history with forwards in the Premier League. For every Didier Drogba, there have been a couple of Adrian Mutus on the books…
Above all else, Harry Redknapp is a football manager, arguably the last English manager to work at a top team in his homeland, and one who represents a dying breed. Seen as…
ENGLISH TEAMS ARE OFTEN CRITICISED FOR THE LACK OF A SOLID GAME-PLAN. There’s sometimes a dearth of continuity caused by the constant culling of managers, leading to confusion as players have to…
Will West Ham ever return to the days where local lads played beautiful football among their peers, with many born close to the stadium itself? It’s highly unlikely, but that won’t stop…
German sporting dominance was often viewed with an air of suspicion on the British Isles, thanks to World War sentimentality, relative economic strength, and historical state-sponsored doping for political gain by the…
Football isn’t politically correct. It’s not an ideal location for discourse, and it’s not the best place to hear enlightened views about modern society. It’s a sport where telling the referee what…
‘Boring James Milner’: as nicknames go, it’s not the worst dished out in England over the last few decades. He could have been called Shrek, or likened to a vegetable. His style…
It’s always hard if you’re seen as the sidekick in a successful partnership. Ricardo Carvalho has often had to play second fiddle to bigger names in the various teams he’s played for…
“I DON’T FEEL pressure … I don’t give a toss about it. I spent the afternoon of July 9 in Berlin sleeping and playing the PlayStation. In the evening, I went out…
If I were to argue that England were the Arsenal of international football, who would I be insulting? On face value it’s Arsenal right? Some may say England. The answer is neither,…
When players move to Major League Soccer in the twilight of their career, there’s a common assumption that they’ll have it easy in the retirement home of football. The success of the Beckham…
Paul Scholes is arguably the most naturally gifted English midfielder since Paul Gascoigne, but his time at the top was marred by the circumstances surrounding his early international retirement, as well as his…
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…
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…
IT IS NO GREAT SECRET that José Mourinho is fond of mind games. Throughout his two spells in charge of Chelsea, whenever things have been going against him – and even when things…