With the Women’s Champions League final on Sunday, there are parts of the 2019/20 season still to be wrapped up, and yet 2020/21 is already upon us. New dawns, new faces, new outfits; our levels of knowledge drop again on the rollercoaster of sporting life. But a new season also tends to mean that we…
It wasn’t too long ago that most teams across Europe had at least one box-to-box midfielder in their team. The sort of player to make a crunching tackle on the edge of their own area before arriving late to finish off a team move just moments later. However, football is perpetually evolving and the demands…
The combined age of Barcelona’s two top-scorers is 66. That’s pensionable age. It’s no surprise, given the ground-breakingly embarrassing exit from the Champions League, that there’s talk of a rebuild at Camp Nou. Some are even wondering how Los Culés might look if Lionel Messi left. But the player that needs shifting most urgently is…
David Beckham was always going to sprinkle some stardust over Inter Miami. It’s taken a while but the arrival of World Cup winner and former Juventus and Paris Saint-Germain midfielder Blaise Matuidi ticks that box. What makes the deal for the 33-year-old all the more impressive is he won’t be a Designated Player (DP). For…
Despite being one of Europe’s most upwardly-mobile clubs, few pundits could have predicted that RB Leipzig would enjoy such a successful UEFA Champions League this season. Relative newcomers to Europe’s top table, the German side have certainly ruffled a few feathers among the continent’s elite in 2019/20; knocking out the likes of Tottenham Hotspur, Juventus…
Only three players in the Premier League attempted 100 or more shots in the Premier League last season. Mohamed Salah topped the list with 125 and recently named PFA Player of the Year Kevin De Bruyne claimed the third spot with 100. If I gave you ten guesses to name the player sandwiched between the…
When the term ‘modern-day defender’ is muttered, the mind automatically assumes ball-player. It’s natural. Every player these days is judged on their footballing ability due to the nature of the game. Teams no longer just put pressure on the opposition. It’s not just a token effort and pressing triggers are, instead, like military operations. A…
It can be difficult to be involved in football statistics and not sound like you’re recruiting for a cult. “Expected goals will change your life. It’s the true way to live. Pay me some money for my data feed and expertise and I can show the way to enlightenment and inner peace.” Actually, scratch the…
The flow of talent from Asia to the upper echelons of European football has been steadily increasing since the turn of the century, as the game’s top clubs have gradually woken up to the untapped potential in the world’s largest continent. There may have been a time when club executives viewed Asian imports as a…
It’s rare for a player to do what Ollie Watkins has done. In 2019/20, his first full campaign as a centre-forward for Brentford, he scored 25 goals in 46 games. There’s usually a sort of transitional period but Watkins looked right at home leading the line. The 24-year-old may have called Griffin Park home for…