Innholdsfortegnelse for Issue 86 i Soccer 360 Magazine

Back in February Zdenek Zeman, the high priest of all-out attacking football, landed himself in some hot water. The Czech, whose Foggia side enthralled Serie A in the early 1990s and who helped launch the careers of Ciro Immobile, Lorenzo Insigne and Marco Verratti at Pescara, inti-mated that the growth of the women’s game in Italy would be stunted as Italian women prefer to “stay in the kitchen”. Zeman quickly stated that he’d been taken out of context but it’s difficult to imagine the quotes gave him too many sleepless nights. This, after all, is a man with a history of controversial comments. His statement that football needed to “get out of the pharmacy” led to a high-profile trial in which Juventus club doctor Riccardo Agricola and managing director Antonio…

In the first year of the Europa League, Fulham surprised everyone by reaching the final. A decade on, Stephen Donovan looks back on their incredible run It was something of a miracle that Fulham were even competing in Europe in 2009-10. A little over a year earlier they had looked certain to be relegated from the Premier League, only for manager Roy Hodgson to follow up a great escape by leading them to seventh place the season after, and so the Cottagers entered the inaugural Europa League. Just like Wolves in 2019-20, Fulham began their campaign in July. They comfortably came through two qualifying rounds before being placed in a very difficult group which included Roma and Basel. The odds were stacked against them, but three wins including a magnificent…

The ‘winter blues’ are a real thing. Seasonal affective disorder makes lots of people feel down during the colder, darker winter months, but there’s nothing like a huge transfer to a new club and the massive signing on fee that goes with it to ease the pain of a long, hard January. CHRISTIAN PULISIC – BORUSSIA DORTMUND TO CHELSEA, £57.5M Premier League side Chelsea paid a huge fee to secure the services of United States international Pulisic last year, before immediately loaning him back to Dortmund for the remainder of the season. The most expensive American in history has enjoyed a mixed start to life in England, but there have been numerous glimpses of his immense potential, not least with a hat-trick against Burnley in October. OSCAR – CHELSEA TO…

Not every record is wanted by its holder. Daryl Hammond spotlights five record holders who’d probably rather stay in the dark… MOST OWN GOALS IN ONE GAME – THREE, STAN VAN DEN BUYS Not the kind of hat-trick the Germinal Ekeren player was looking for when he scored all three for Anderlecht in 1995. Worse still, the third was credited to him though the ball appeared to take its final touch from an Anderlecht player. FASTEST RED CARD – TWO SECONDS, LEE TODD Lower league footballer Lee Todd – then of Cross Farm Park Celtic – was sent off after two seconds of a 2000 game against Taunton East Reach Wanderers. As the story goes, Todd’s expletive-ridden response to the referee’s loud whistle at kick-off earned him a swift red…

Carlo Ancelotti’s handling of Moise Kean, could, in the eyes of some Everton fans, ultimately determine his legacy at the club. His summer capture from Serie A giants Juventus shocked most supporters, given his status as one of Europe’s most exciting young talents. But arguably no player was a greater symbol of the lack of planning that went into Marco Silva’s squad than the Italy international, as the 19-year-old was expected to carry the goal burden with another young striker, Dominic Calvert-Lewin. That was despite Silva favouring a slow, rigid style of play and both Kean and Calvert-Lewin being at their best with space to run into and crosses fired early into the penalty area. Neither got the service or support they needed under the Portuguese, and it looked certain…

Senegalese sensation Sadio Mane is once again ripping up the Premier League this season. He has netted 15 times in all competitions and 41 goals over the past two seasons. With the Red Men eyeing up an unbeaten season and potentially a famous treble, it is quite possible that Mane will be remembered in Liverpool mythology as one of the central figures in arguably the greatest Liverpool team there has ever been. With that being said, any football worth their salt should probably be getting clued up about the bombastic winger. Here are ten interesting facts about Sadio Mane to get you started: 1) HE SCORED THE PREMIER LEAGUE’S FASTEST EVER HAT-TRICK When Mane netted three times in less than 180 seconds when playing for Southampton in the 2014-15 season,…

“I have to admit, I smile at this, because so many turned their noses up when Ibrahimovic was coming to Milan, but at the age of 38, he is making the difference” – Gigi Buffon praises Zlatan Ibrahimovic, as the Juventus veteran isn’t the only one “making the difference” at a certain age. “To play against Juventus is easy, you have nothing to lose” – Former Brescia hero Dario Hubner says it’s easy for teams like Brescia to play against Juventus as they have nothing to lose. “If we start with the headlights turned off and have great humility at Euro 2020, our national team could go far, very far. I hope our opponents will underestimate us” – Italy boss Roberto Mancini hopes the opponents “will underestimate” Italy during Euro…

GOING UP Eibar look to have turned a real corner in their bid to avoid being dragged into a relegation battle, with a return to basics in 2020. Jose Luis Mendilibar’s side have rediscovered their grit in recent weeks, with just one defeat between the turn of the year and the start of February, and an impressive 2-0 victory at home to Atletico Madrid boosting their survival bid. GOING DOWN Real Betis’ drive for European football in 2020-21 is losing momentum, as a run of bad form at the start of the year has pushed them into mid table. Goals have been an issue for Rubi’s side, with summer signings Borja Iglesias and Nabil Fekir struggling to hit form, and veteran captain Joaquin continuing to carry a sizeable goal scoring…

Prior to the summer of 2019, hardly anyone outside of Norway had heard of Erling Braut Haaland, although he was coming off one full season in the Austrian Bundesliga. He did make some ripples during the Under-20 World Cup, when he scored a whopping nine goals against a hapless Honduras side as Norway cruised to a 12-0 victory. It was not enough to prevent his team from crashing out in the group stage, but it was enough to get people talking because it looked more like something akin to a video game than a real-life match. Predictably it set numerous records: the most scored by a single player, the most goals scored in a game, the biggest win ever for Norway, and the worst defeat suffered for Honduras. Moreover, Haaland…

THEY BEAT OFF COMPETITION TO BRING IN RISING STAR ERLING BRAUT HAALAND. THE GOOD Borussia Dortmund have forced themselves right back into the Bundesliga title race, with Lucien Favre’s side going goal crazy following the winter break. Der BVB saw their battle with old rivals Bayern Munich, as well as Borussia Monchengladbach and RB Leipzig, show signs of fading before Christmas, but they have come back with a vengeance in 2020. Favre’s own position was under real pressure at the back end of 2019, with sustained questions over his suitability to take this talented young side on to the next level for the remainder of the season. However, the club backed the former Nice coach with both words and funds in January, as they beat off competition to bring in…

“Thomas embodies FC Bayern and represents the club excellently. In Munich, in Bavaria and in the whole world. That’s why it’s hard to imagine FC Bayern without Thomas at the moment.” - It’s difficult to imagine Bayern Munich without Thomas Muller, says club president Herbert Hainer. “I feel better already, even if I believe that I was too harshly criticized for my performances in the first half of the season. I have always said that not everything in football is about scoring goals and making assists.” - Bayer Leverkusen star Kai Havertz believes he was too heavily criticized for his performances in the first half of the season. “It’s absolutely fantastic! It’s just a fantastic feeling that I haven’t had before.” - New Borussia Dortmund recruit Erling Halaand says nothing…

Herbert Chapman created the W-M formation as an adaptation of the 2-3-5. In a time when two full-backs – now known as centre-backs – behind a trio of what were then called half-backs, the former Arsenal coach would push the two full-backs out wide and invite one of the half-backs to drop deeper and create an M-shape in defence. He added another defender to counter a new offside law in the 1920s and helped Arsenal win the league twice with his revolutionary formation. The Italian maestro Vittorio Pozzo answered by changing the letter and make the defenders part of the attacking play, creating a W-W formation by tweaking Chapman’s M-W slightly. The triangles of these formations can be spotted in many of the most recent innovations. When a team player…

JAVIER HERNANDEZ – LOS ANGELES GALAXY This may very well be the biggest transfer in MLS history – yes, even more so than David Beckham’s or Sebastian Giovinco’s. Chicharito will not only help the Los Angeles Galaxy on the pitch but will help the league attract the coveted Mexican market even more off it. Fantastic signing all around. LUCAS CAVALLINI – VANCOUVER WHITECAPS The Vancouver Whitecaps secured the signature of the Canada international, who will certainly help bolster the team’s atrocious attack. Only one team scored fewer goals than the Whitecaps last season and Cavallini is a smart addition to help ensure that won’t be the case again in 2020. ROMAN TORRES – INTER MIAMI This may not be the flashiest signing, but the two-time MLS Cup champion is an…

SUSPENDED BY COLON Former Portland Timbers striker Brian Fernandez has been suspended by his current club Atletico Colon for missing weeks of training. Before joining the Superliga Argentina club, the 25-year old left MLS after the Timbers moved to terminate his contract over a substance abuse issue. EMERSON ROMANCE Atlanta United midfielder Emerson Hyndman says he is very excited to see rock group My Chemical Romance headlining Music Midtown in Atlanta this September. After a nine-year hiatus, My Chemical Romance have announced a North American comeback tour for the ages. Beginning in Detroit on Sept. 9, the tour will run through October and may be a precursor to the band’s first record since 2010. HEALTHY SLEEVE Atlanta United have a new sleeve sponsor, with the club announcing that Georgia’s largest…

There are many England fans that still believe that football really did come home in the summer of 1996. There may not have been a European Championship triumph at the end of it, but there was a definite change in the way the sport was regarded in the country – and the Premier League was never the same again. But how much of an impact did Euro 96 have on the way football was played in England? And was the tournament as good as those memories suggest? This summer England will host the most important games of Euro 2020 as it is spread across the continent. But 30 years on from Bobby Moore lifting the Jules Rimet trophy in 1966, England hosted a European Championship that is now looked back…

1) Matured in Manchester Before making a move to continental Europe, Jadon Sancho was brought through the Manchester City academy. He left for Germany in 2017. It’s fair to say the City board will regret letting such a valuable asset go for free. 2) World Cup Winner Though Sancho dreams of one day lifting the main edition of the tournament with England, he has already taken a massive step in that direction by winning the under-17 World Cup. 3) Baller Best Mates Sancho is best pals with Arsenal’s Reiss Nelson. When coming through the ranks of their respective clubs, they were both considered the hottest properties in the English game - the ‘wonder kid’ label clearly brought them together. 4) Home with the Hornets Before being recruited by Man City,…

For the first time in its current format, the knock-out phases of the Champions League will be comprised solely of teams from England, France, Germany, Italy and Spain. This comes despite warnings from the European Clubs’ Association before the season started that the dominance of the so-called big five leagues will not go unchecked. What has happened in Europe’s biggest competition that this issue is so obvious, and yet so hard to combat. Wealth has long been closely aligned to success in football. Long before takeovers by sheikhs and oligarchs, it was brand power that saw the likes of Manchester United, Liverpool and Real Madrid become global sporting powerhouses. However, in recent years it has become evident that high achieving clubs can not only be categorised by their own financial…

‘ENGLISH FOOTBALL HAS HAD A CURIOUS RELATIONSHIP WITH THE EUROPA LEAGUE SINCE THE COMPETITION WAS LAUNCHED’ It is fair to say that English football has had a curious relationship with the Europa League since the competition was launched in its current format back in 2009. The Premier League has produced three winners and a further three losing finalists in the 11 seasons to date, yet many still believe that in spite of the positives and the considerable rewards that come with lifting the trophy, it can act as a major hindrance to those sides less equipped to cope with its demands. Many of the Premier League’s so-called ‘big six’ have big squads which allow them to make changes to their line-ups in the Europa League. Arsenal and Manchester United did…

Duncan Ferguson’s brief tenure as interim boss in December reignited a crucial fire within the fan base, following the stale end to Marco Silva’s time at Goodison Park. He only oversaw four games but didn’t lose any of them in 90 minutes – there was a League Cup penalty shootout defeat to Leicester – and earned five valuable points at a time when Everton could have been dragged into a relegation dogfight. The former Scotland international cuts an iconic figure for Blues fans and retaining him was a necessary and intelligent move by Ancelotti. His playing career was beset by injuries and suspensions but at his best, he was unstoppable in the air and seemed to live for the big games. Goals against Manchester United and Liverpool earned his place…

GOING UP Everton’s rise since appointing Carlo Ancelotti has been steep – and shouldn’t have been unexpected. The Italian has continued Duncan Ferguson’s approach of reverting to the basics and making sure they’re done well, first and foremost, and then allowed his more attacking players the freedom to flourish – not least the thriving Richarlison. GOING DOWN Aston Villa have spent a net total of just over £110m since they were promoted back to the Premier League in the summer of 2019. And for that they’ve got a relegation battle and a real problem if they drop back to the Championship. It appears they literally can’t afford to go down.…

‘MILAN SAVED ZLATAN IBRAHIMOVIC FROM HIS BARCELONA HELL’ The prodigal son has returned home. In case you’ve been sleeping under a rock for the last few months, a certain Zlatan Ibrahimovic has re-joined Milan as a free agent. Zlatan’s contract with LA Galaxy expired at the conclusion of the season and left him free to negotiate. Whilst he was linked with moves to Everton, Napoli, and more romantically, with Bologna to play under friend Sinisa Mihajlovic, it always seemed likely that he would go back to the city he didn’t want to leave in the first place – Milan. Ibrahimovic left in 2012 under a cloud, effectively compelled to accept a transfer to Paris Saint-Germain once it became clear Silvio Berlusconi couldn’t afford to keep the Swede on the club’s…

GOING UP The Slovakian attacker Josip Ilicic is in the form of his life, beating last year’s haul of 12 goals with four months to spare. Ilicic may not be an orthodox centre-forward but at the age of 32, has never performed better and is playing an instrumental role in guiding Atalanta to another Champions League finish. GOING DOWN The writing was on the wall for former Napoli and Inter boss Walter Mazzarri after his Torino side were thumped 7-0 by Atalanta and 4-0 against relegation candidates Lecce. Mazzarri left his squad in mid-table and there is work to be done to get anywhere near last year’s seventh place finish.…

‘THE FINAL STRAW CAME WHEN BARCELONA FAILED TO WIN THE FIRST TWO FIXTURES OF 2020. VALVERDE WAS SACKED THE FOLLOWING MONDAY’ For the first time in 17 years, Barcelona have changed coach in the middle of the season. Not since dismissing Louis van Gaal in January of 2003 had the Catalan club witnessed a change in the dugout in the middle of a campaign, while they hadn’t even fired anyone since then as Radomir Antic, Frank Rijkaard, Pep Guardiola, Tito Vilanova, Gerardo Martino and Luis Enrique had all left on their own terms or in a mutual parting of the ways. Given the situation down the road at Real Madrid, where mid-season firings have become normal, this loyalty to the coaches was a matter of great pride for many Blaugrana…

DEMOLITION MAN Barcelona defender Samuel Umtiti has had to attend a court hearing as he stands accused of causing €183k worth of damage to a property. As outlined by Diario Sport, the Frenchman appeared at the Esplugues de Llobregat court for one hour and testified that he was not aware of any damage being caused. Umtiti is alleged to have caused damage to the villa of which he once resided in the town of Baix Llobregat. ZIP IT VICTOR Six people have been arrested after a video was leaked showing sexually explicit content of Malaga boss Victor Sanchez del Amo. The former Real Madrid midfielder and Spain international, was shown indecently exposing himself on camera whilst wearing a Malaga training top, with the video widely circulated on Twitter and WhatsApp.…

Young players do come and go. Erling Braut Haaland is on a hot-streak, but over in Serie A, there was another player who not too long ago was also scoring goals left and right at a blistering rate, only to tail off spectacularly. Remember Krzysztof Piatek? He burst onto the scene with Genoa and at one point was leading the scoring charts in Serie A, leading a desperate Milan to snap him up halfway through his debut term with the Grifone. Unfortunately for the Polish talent, although he had a solid second half of his first season in Serie A, his first full season at the San Siro turned out to be an utter disappointment, with just five goals in 20 appearances across all competitions and the Rossoneri decided to…

GOING UP This season’s Bundesliga title race is shaping up to be a good one, with as much as five teams involved. Bayern Munich will be looking to keep hold of their crown and extend their record reign, but will have to fight off the likes of Borussia Dortmund and the strengthening RB Leipzig. Monchengladbach and Bayer Leverkusen also find themselves within striking distance and should not be overlooked. GOING DOWN Werder Bremen’s woes have continued into 2020, with just one Bundesliga win in the first month of the year in as they slip down into the relegation zone. Manager Florian Kohfeldt’s position looks to be in real danger, as the club potentially faces a first top flight relegation since 1980.…

RasenBallsport Leipzig have never been more competitive as they establish themselves as true title contenders in Germany and compete in the knockout stages of the most prestigious tournament in Europe – the Champions League. The appointment of young Julian Nagelsmann represents another step in a highly successful route towards supremacy. The former TSG Hoffenheim tactician was brought in to fill the huge shoes left by the former instructor Ralph Rangnick at the Red Bull Arena, but the 32-year-old has proven fearless. Even though he wasn’t brought in to reinvent the club yet another time, he was targeted as the perfect fit by a consortium that continue their quest to conquer another sporting venue. When Red Bull lurked around in Germany, looking to invest in a football team, it took them…

EASTERN CONFERENCE ATLANTA UNITED 2019 SEASON: 18-4-12, 58 points (Second in the East, Conference finalists) KEY ADDITIONS: Brooks Lennon (Real Salt Lake), Mo Adams (Chicago Fire), Edgar Castillo (NE Revolution), Fernando Meza (Necaxa) DEPARTURES: Julian Gressel (D.C. United), Darlington Nagbe (Columbus), Justin Meram (Real Salt Lake), Michael Parkhurst (Retired) Atlanta United will be disappointed with the way they were eliminated from the playoffs last year and will be eager to get back to MLS Cup for the second time in three years. They have the quality and depth to do it with the likes of Josef Martinez and Pity Martinez both returning. Atlanta United will be a real force throughout the season. CHICAGO FIRE 2019 SEASON: 10-12-12, 42 points (Eighth in the East, did not make playoffs) KEY ADDITIONS: Robert…

IN AN INTERVIEW WITH OUR SEAN MASLIN SHE TALKS ABOUT HER EXPERIENCE ABROAD, WHAT PROMPTED THE MOVE TO THE SPIRIT, AND HER GOALS WITH CANWNT. SEAN MASLIN: IT HAS BEEN A BIG OFFSEASON FOR YOU IN MAKING THE MOVE TO THE SPIRIT. WHAT’S THIS WHIRLWIND EXPERIENCE FOR YOU BEEN LIKE? JENNA HELLSTROM: I have had a pretty good offseason. At the end of last season I got a knee injury and so I have been on working my recovery and going through rehab. I also had the opportunity to go to Vancouver and train before National Team camp just to see where I am at and to run some tests. The knee surgery that I had this offseason wasn’t a major surgery but they were doing some cleanup on my…

WHAT’S IN A NAME? The first thing that a lot of fans get wrong is the name of the tournament itself. The 1996 edition was the first one to be given the Euro [insert year here] form – but its formal name is the European Championship. That’s ‘championship’ not ‘championships’. Even otherwise respected journalists have been known to use the incorrect term. But most fans will call this year’s tournament Euro 2020 anyway, so maybe we’re just being pedantic. PAST WINNERS Founded in 1958, the first European Championship was held two years later – and has returned every four years since. There have been 15 tournaments in all, producing ten national team winners. Two of those winners are countries that don’t even exist anymore – the Soviet Union and Czechoslovakia.…

OLIVIA SCHOUGH (29) MARCH 11 CLUB: DJURGARDENS ANTOINE GRIEZMANN (29) MARCH 21 CLUB: BARCELONA HAKIM ZIYECH (27) MARCH 19 CLUB: AJAX & CHELSEA JADON SANCHO (20) MARCH 25 CLUB: BORUSSIA DORTMUND LEAH WILLIAMSON (23) MARCH 29 CLUB: ARSENAL N’GOLO KANTE (29) MARCH 29 CLUB: CHELSEA SERGIO RAMOS (34) MARCH 30 CLUB: REAL MADRID GABRIEL JESUS (23) APRIL 3 CLUB: MANCHESTER CITY JULIE ERTZ (28) APRIL 6 CLUB: CHICAGO RED STARS FRANCK RIBERY (37) APRIL 7 CLUB: FIORENTINA SADIO MANE (28) APRIL 10 CLUB: LIVERPOOL GIANLUCA MANCINI (24) APRIL 17 CLUB: ROMA ISCO (28) APRIL 21 CLUB: REAL MADRID MALLORY PUGH (22) APRIL 29 CLUB: SKY BLUE FC…

After their strong performance in the competition so far, Stephen Donovan proposes that Wolves should be seen as dark horses to win the Europa League Although Wolverhampton Wanderers are competing in only their second season back in the Premier League after six years away, they have already built a powerful reputation. Any team that comes up against them knows they are in for an almighty test, and they possess attacking weapons – the blistering pace and strength of Adama Traore to name just one – that others don’t. For that reason, Wolves have every right to be considered potential dark horses to win the Europa League in 2020. While their fellow English competitors Arsenal and Manchester United have a much greater pedigree on the European stage, neither are in the…

EDINSON CAVANI Uruguay international Cavani has been one of the most prolific strikers in Europe for more than a decade. Injuries have hampered him this term after helping himself to 193 goals in 278 games in his first six seasons for Paris Saint-Germain, but having turned 33 on Valentine’s Day, this long-haired Adonis is looking for a new challenge. Atletico Madrid looked like they were close to sealing a deal for a man who has a half-century of international goals to his name, but refused to meet PSG’s asking price for a player whose contract is up at the end of the current campaign. There’s a good chance he’ll still end up at the Wanda Metropolitano next season, but could MLS expansion side Inter Miami sneak in to steal him…

CRISTIANO RONALDO IS MENTIONED ON OVER 40 SEPARATE OCCASIONS IN THE LIST OF EUROPEAN CUP RECORDS’ “I can’t say that Lionel Messi is the best ever, but he is the best in his time,” said Ronaldinho. And he had a point. We’ll never really know if Diego Maradona would have waltzed past defenders such prime Sergio Ramos and Pepe so easily, or whether Messi’s supreme close control would be anywhere near as inch-perfect on the mudbath pitches of the 1980s and 1990s. For those of us not privileged enough to watch football’s greatest in their pomp have only elders’ testimony, grainy YouTube compilations, and the records they leave behind to get an appraisal of their greatness. But look back in 50 years’ time and the records set by Messi and…

ANCELOTTI IS LIKELY TO HAVE TO RIDE OUT ANOTHER WAVE OF ‘CHAMPIONS LEAGUE OR BUST’ PRESSURE FOR 2020-21’ Carlo Ancelotti’s move to Everton has been the managerial talking point at the 2019-20 Premier League season, as the multiple Champions League winner swapped Naples for Liverpool. His arrival was greeted with a mixture of skyrocketing optimism that the serial Champions League winner took the post at Goodison Park, to scepticism that Ancelotti was motivated by significant financial gain from the club’s deepening pockets. However, the reality, as it so often is, finds itself somewhere in between for Carlo and his potential Blue Revolution. The eventual dismissal of Marco Silva came as such a relief to most Everton fans that talk of his successor took a few days to formulate, such was…

1) NON-LEAGUE HERO As recently as 2011, Jamie Vardy was playing his football for Halifax Town and Stocksbridge Park Steels, semi-professional sides in the English football pyramid. Fast forward less than a decade and he was playing in the Champions League and for England at the World Cup. 2) FACTORY TO THE FOOTBALL FIELD During his time playing for Stocksbridge Park Steels, Vardy worked in a factory because his income from football alone was not enough to sustain him. 3) CAN’T WRITE SCRIPTS LIKE THIS… Vardy’s rise from the basement of football to its pinnacle is said to be the inspiration for a Hollywood biopic of his life. It isn’t known whether the film is in production yet - the producers will probably be waiting until the end of his…

His playing time since re-joining Juventus after one year with Paris Saint Germain has been limited, but when given the chance the era-defining Italian shot-stopper is still proving why he is consistently referred to as one of the greatest goalkeepers in the history of the game. The most recent addition to his sizable portfolio of stellar performances came in Juventus’s 1-1 Coppa Italia first-leg draw with AC Milan. At the San Siro, Gigi made 11 saves. The pick of the bunch came when, at full stretch, he nudged Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s goal-bound header past the post - a 42-year-old saving from a 38-year-old; it was a moment which stood as a monument to longevity and to stoic defiance of age. When the final whistle shrilled, Buffon swapped his shirt with young…

Lionel Messi criticised how sporting director Eric Abidal handled the situation. Euan McTear examines what that means for his future at Camp Nou… As the club captain and best player, Lionel Messi remains Barcelona’s leader on the pitch. Although injuries meant he didn’t play a full 90 minutes until the eighth round of the 2019-20 LaLiga season, he quickly got up to speed and scored 12 goals in his next eight league matches to move to the top of the division’s scoring charts despite having given everyone else a head start. Yet Messi doesn’t seem completely happy. The ‘Matchday’ documentary series that the club made to cover the 2018-19 season showed just how angry and disappointed the Argentine was with the way last season ended and he has looked visibly…

SIMPLY THE BEST Bundesliga stars Jadon Sancho, Axel Witsel, Benjamin Pavard, Thiago Alcantara, David Alaba and Jerome Boateng are among the top 10 most effective players across Europe’s top five leagues, with Borussia Dortmund star Sancho topping the list, according to a report by the CIES Football Observatory research group. Comparing players operating in the Bundesliga, the English Premier League, Spain’s LaLiga, Italy’s Serie A and France’s Ligue 1, the study measured attributes such as goals and assists, shot and passing accuracy, strength in possession and risk-taking. OIL JUST SCORE MORE Erling Haaland’s goal scoring exploits since arriving in Germany have not only aided Borussia Dortmund’s bid for a first Bundesliga title since 2012, they have also helped Norway’s state pension fund. As reported in German publication Bild, Norway’s state…

THE SWISS BOLT Swiss coach Karl Rappan created what came to be better known as catenaccio in response to the W-M formation. Rappan wanted to adapt a style that depended less on individual talent and turned the 2-3-5 of the WM into a 1-3-3-3 set-up, the first documented use of the sweeper – the eponymous bolt of its name. WINGLESS WONDERS England might have codified the sport of football but it’s not been a home of innovation since. Sir Alf Ramsey was one of the few to do something different and his 1966 World Cup-winning team were considerably narrower than teams of the day, in what 2020 would know as a diamond formation. The so-called wingless wonders delivered England’s only senior international trophy. TOTAL FOOTBALL Less a tactical innovation, more…

JOAO PAULO – SEATTLE SOUNDERS The Seattle Sounders signed the Brazilian to be their third Designated Player, but more importantly to help them make a deep run in the CONCACAF Champions League, which the club has made an objective this season. It'll be interesting to see how the midfielder adapts to life in North America and whether he'll be able to match the success of other South Americans who have made the move in the past. JESUS FERREIRA – FC DALLAS The 19-year-old made his United States Men’s National Team debut against Costa Rica on February 1 and has a bright future ahead of him. He enjoyed a breakout season in 2019, featuring in 33 games, scoring eight goals and providing six assists. The youngster will be seeing even more…

GOING UP 25 years of MLS is a wonderful milestone and it’s great to see the league celebrate its history of the past quarter of a decade. Better yet is the focus on MLS before David Beckham crossed the Atlantic Ocean. Hopefully MLS continues to celebrate throughout the season and remembers its roots accordingly. GOING DOWN The son of beloved actor Tom Hanks is an unlikely lightning rod in the LAFCLA Galaxy rivalry, but that’s what Colin Hanks has become. Hanks Jr tweeted his love for Robbie Keane back in the Irishman’s days at the Galaxy, but now he’s wearing the LAFC kit at New York Fashion Week……

Social media never ceases to excite and entertain us with clubs, players, and fans able to interact like never before. Ian Waterhouse rounds up some of the best social media stories from Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. SUAREZ GYM SESSION Instagram Barcelona star Luis Suarez went under the knife in December to fix an issue with his right leg, but he took to Instagram to let the world know he is back in the gym with a cheesy thumbs up and trademark grin. Lets just hope he had has lost none of his bite due to injury. NEYMAR SHOWS HIS APPRECIATION Facebook The tragic death of basketball star Kobe Bryant and his daughter stunned the world, with hundreds of messages of love for the former NBA star. Neymar was among the…