The cliché goes that you have to be crazy to be a goalkeeper. The only crazy thing about them is the lack of respect for their craft. Crazier still is the rise of Liverpool stopper Adrián. Released by West Ham United this summer – where he had been understudy to Łukasz Fabiański after a string of errors – he took on the job of being deputy to one of the world’s best goalkeepers: Liverpool’s Alisso...
By now you can set your clock by it: the annual write-Watford-off-for-relegation season preview piece, produced by every publisher and media outlet worth its salt. Hornets fans revel in it. For four straight seasons their club has been earmarked for the bottom three, only to defy the odds and perceived wisdom. The fact they’ve done so while changing head coach four times since promotion, we...
It just doesn’t happen. Paris Saint-Germain, the most dominant side in Ligue 1, do not get given the runaround by a 16-year-old midfielder. Such a scenario would be mere fantasy. The storyline of a television show that has jumped the shark. Or so it seemed until Sunday night when Rennes came from behind to beat Thomas Tuchel’s on Sunday evening. M’Baye Niang and Romain Del Castillo netted the goa...
Liverpool used to be a stepping-stone. Now they are a final destination. Jürgen Klopp possesses a star-studded squad, they’re competing for Premier League titles and they’re, once again, a feared entity in Europe. The club have restructured their wage bill to not just compete at the top but to stay there. And for the first summer in several years Liverpool kept hold of their star attractions wit...
The cliché goes that you have to be crazy to be a goalkeeper. The only crazy thing about them is the lack of respect for their craft. Crazier still is the rise of Liverpool stopper Adrián. Released by West Ham United this summer – where he had been understudy to Łukasz Fabiański after a string of errors – he took on the job of being deputy to one of the world’s best goalkeepers: Liverpool’s Alisso...
By now you can set your clock by it: the annual write-Watford-off-for-relegation season preview piece, produced by every publisher and media outlet worth its salt. Hornets fans revel in it. For four straight seasons their club has been earmarked for the bottom three, only to defy the odds and perceived wisdom. The fact they’ve done so while changing head coach four times since promotion, we...
It just doesn’t happen. Paris Saint-Germain, the most dominant side in Ligue 1, do not get given the runaround by a 16-year-old midfielder. Such a scenario would be mere fantasy. The storyline of a television show that has jumped the shark. Or so it seemed until Sunday night when Rennes came from behind to beat Thomas Tuchel’s on Sunday evening. M’Baye Niang and Romain Del Castillo netted the goa...
Liverpool used to be a stepping-stone. Now they are a final destination. Jürgen Klopp possesses a star-studded squad, they’re competing for Premier League titles and they’re, once again, a feared entity in Europe. The club have restructured their wage bill to not just compete at the top but to stay there. And for the first summer in several years Liverpool kept hold of their star attractions wit...
Alexis Sánchez: the worst signing in Manchester United history? It’s certainly difficult to argue against such a statement. There have been several high-profile players to have struggled at Old Trafford – think Juan Sebastián Verón, Kléberson and most recently Ángel Di María – and instances of money being squandered: Bebé, anyone? Yet none of these signings had club-altering ramifications. N...
There was a time when Ashley Barnes was being touted for a call-up by Austria. Now there is a legitimate case to answer over whether an England cap should be out of the question. Despite being born in Bath – and having the West Country twang to prove it – the 29-year-old has represented Austria, the country of his paternal grandmother’s birth, at under-20 level. His hopes of a senior call-up...
Norwich City’s opening game of the 2019/20 Premier League campaign was a baptism of fire. A trip to Anfield isn’t the easiest place to start things – especially not as a newly promoted club – and Liverpool haven’t lost a league match at home since April 2017. As the half-time whistle went the scoreline read 4-0. Jürgen Klopp’s side attacked at will and on another day they could’ve headed into th...