As Liverpool and Manchester City hit the final straight of a pulsating Premier League title race, the big questions will start up again.
Is Pep Guardiola a bald fraud ? Is Jurgen Klopp cracking up as he prepares for Sunday s mouth-watering meeting with Tottenham? This, it seems, is the way it has to be.
In modern elite sport, the narrative of bottlers and chokers holds mass appeal. What other possible excuse could these pampered, exulted stars have for not winning apart from some sort of ill-defined flimsiness, either individually or collectively?
Additionally, it works perfectly when events are analysed through the binary prism of social media arguments and their bantering thirst for points-scoring. Something is either brilliant or rubbish: You think that s good…
Pep Guardiola claims agent Mino Raiola offered Manchester City Paul Pogba and Henrikh Mkhitaryan in January, despite branding the Catalan coach a dog and a coward in a recent interview.
Raiola and Guardiola have a long-standing feud which is said to go back as far as 2010, when the Dutchman s client Zlatan Ibrahimovic was reportedly forced out of Barcelona due to disputes with the Catalan.
In an interview at the end of March, Raiola also claimed then-AC Milan chief Adriano Galliani stopped him from attacking Guardiola after he led Barca to glory in the 2011 Champions League final.
The City boss addressed Raiola s criticism at Friday s news conference ahead of the Manchester derby, pondering why the agent would offer Pogba and Mkhitaryan from rivals Manchester Un…
New York Red Bulls and New York City FC are both attempting to raise their first MLS Cup (Original Photo : robertpaulyoung Flickr)
The most intriguing prospect in this year’s MLS Cup playoffs is the potential Eastern Conference Finals matchup between the New York Red Bulls and New York City FC.
The two clubs have very different histories. The Red Bulls were originally named the New York-New Jersey Metro Stars in 1996 before being taken over by the soft drink company and rebranded in 2006. No matter what the club has been called it has not had much success during their 20 years.
They were the last of the original MLS clubs to win any silverware (they have now twice won the Supporters Shield, the title for the regular season) but have always failed in the playof…
Herve Renard is hoping for a backlash from his Morocco players to what he believes is their unfair exit from the World Cup.
Having lost to Iran in their opener, Morocco suffered another 1-0 defeat to Portugal in Moscow on Wednesday to see their elimination confirmed.
Renard was outspoken in his criticism of referee Mark Geiger afterwards, claiming Cristiano Ronaldo s goal should have been ruled out for a foul by Pepe, and he did not hold back when he spoke prior to their final Group B game against Spain.
He said: It [their exit] is unfair when you see everything we did against Portugal, it s highly unfair.
A goal was conceded that was a huge foul. It was not seen. Why?
It was similar to an incident in the match between France and Australia, for …
Following the decision over the 10-month suspension of Sandro Tonali for betting offences, Newcastle are reportedly keen to sign Ruben Neves on loan from Al-Hilal in January to fill the vacant spot in their squad for the second half of the season.
Both clubs are owned by the Saudi Public Investment Fund, and there were concerns over such a move being devised to avoid any potential Financial Fair Play issues. Therefore, the 20 Premier League clubs held a vote to decide whether such transfers, loan deals between clubs with the same owners, should be forbidden. The vote ended 13-7 in favour of the ban, but with the minimum to pass a notion like that being set at 14, it wasn t enough, and Newcastle could make a move for the former Wolverhampton Wanderers midfielder.
However…
Antonio Conte says he is enjoying every single moment at Tottenham as he nears a year in charge of the Premier League club.
Conte, appointed in November 2021, has not always portrayed his time in London in quite such a positive light, outlining the need for improvement and investment in order to seriously challenge.
Meanwhile, his Spurs contract is set to expire at the end of the season.
But ahead of Saturday s match with Bournemouth – Tottenham s final league game before November 2, the date on which Conte was appointed last year – the Italian spoke in glowing terms of his adventure .
I always say that I am enjoying my time in Tottenham, he said. In one year, we had a great path together, with the club, the players, the fans and you [media].
A Russian Premier League soccer club sent Burger King s reported interest in a naming-rights deal up in flames.
The fast food giant was rumored to have made a whopper of an offer — €6.8million (almost $7.6 million) — to Zenit if it changed its name to Zenit Burger King.
Amid the social media jokes — Zenit St Petersburger King, anyone? — Zenit settled this unusual beef by unseating The King from his throne.
With a little help from HBO s blockbuster Game of Thrones, the club posted a GIF to its official Twitter account that ensured it gave Burger King a thorough grilling.
Who s the king?!
— ФК «Зенит» (@zenit_spb)
Zenit would not have been Burger King s first foray into soccer sponsorship, after it infamously …
Borussia Monchengladbach have announced the signing of Switzerland international Denis Zakaria from Swiss Super League club Young Boys.
Midfielder Zakaria agreed a five-year deal at the Bundesliga side after passing a medical on Friday, while Gladbach also confirmed the sale of Julian Korb to Hannover.
Zakaria said he consulted with fellow Switzerland internationals who play for Bundesliga teams before opting to make the move and is aiming to help his new club qualify for Europe after they missed out last season.
I feel that the change is a good decision for me and Borussia is the next good step for my career, 20-year-old Zakaria said.
: We will be doing some more business yet in the transfer market.
— Gladbach (@borussia_en)
I s…
Inaki Williams is Mr Reliable for Athletic Bilbao and has now not missed a single LaLiga match for a remarkable six years.
Williams started Sunday s clash with Celta Vigo, partnering Oihan Sancet up front.
That means that the 27-year-old – who seems set to stay at Bilbao for the majority of his career, given he is under contract until 2028 – has now played in 227 consecutive LaLiga matches, far and away a record in the competition.
Williams overtook previous record holder Juanan Larranaga when he played in his 203rd LaLiga match in a row earlier this season.
He last missed a league game on April 17, 2016, when Athletic beat Malaga 1-0.
Williams featured as a substitute in a 1-0 loss to Atletico Madrid four days later and went on to play in …
Frenkie de Jong has expressed his desire to stay at his dream club Barcelona rather than join Manchester United.
The Netherlands international has been strongly linked with a move to Old Trafford for a reunion with Erik ten Hag.
De Jong won the Eredivisie title and KNVB Cup under Ten Hag at Ajax and also helped the Amsterdam giants reach a Champions League semi-final three years ago.
The 25-year-old on Tuesday told ESPN he is eager to remain at Barca.
I prefer to stay with Barcelona, De Jong said.
Barcelona is just my dream club. Also from a young age. I just said it too. I ve never regretted my choice despite the fact that I had hoped for more in terms of prizes than I ve achieved so far. But I have never regretted my choice.
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