For Phil Thompson, the occasion seemed to demand Gerard Houllier’s return. “Gerard has always known when the time was right for him to come back and tonight was that night,” said the Liverpool assistant manager of the Frenchman’s unexpected reappearance in the Anfield dugout after a little over five months. It was 19 March 2002…

During the weeks and months leading up to the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022, we will drop a weekly article that chronicles the history of the most prestigious football tournament on the planet. This series of articles will also allow you, the readers, to revisit all 21 previous editions from different angles and perspectives. We…

During the early-mid 2000s, Real Madrid became synonymous with one word; Galactico. Under Florentino Perez, Madrid operated a policy of signing one superstar every summer, in a bid to conquer European football and create a Harlem Globetrotters-esque squad of the world’s best.   Zinedine Zidane, Luis Figo, David Beckham and Ronaldo all arrived between 2000…

Much change has occurred at Palermo F.C. and not just this summer but throughout their 120-year history, occasionally rising high before financial falls. A tumultuous decade gone and it would appear as though the Sicilian side could now be looking at a brighter future. Promotion back to Serie B secured and the newest member of…

The European football season is long and hard. Away days in December in freezing cold temperatures, Saturday midday kick-offs away at stadiums with notoriously intimidating atmospheres, home derby matches against a well-matched opponent and finally the delight or despair of your side scoring or conceding a last-minute decisive goal. All emotions are experienced and lived…

Zinedine Zidane was one of the greatest players of his generation. Now, he strives to be the greatest tactician of this generation.   Guy Lacombe, Zidane’s mentor and former coach said that, “What Zidane did already have was the sense of the collective. He made other players play well. He used to solve problems on…

When we think of incredible football teams, the mind immediately wanders to the likes of Brazil 1970, West Germany of 1974 or more recently Manchester United’s 1999 Treble winners, Arsenal’s Invincibles or the Spain team of 2008-2012. What about the Wunderteam? It could be argued that the icons of Austrian football tend to get overlooked…

Hummel and Denmark are synonymous with each other. The sportswear brand and national team started off their relationship in 1979 and ran until 2004, before German giants Adidas took over, but 2016, after 12 years away, Hummel made a return, starting a second deal that would run until 2024, exciting fans as their first tenure…

In the season 2012/13, Jupp Heynkes led Bayern Munich to a historical treble, breaking a number of records along the way and becoming the first German side ever to win the treble.   They recorded the highest point tally in the league of 91 points, had the biggest point gap between first and second place…

When Gerónimo Rulli saved a David de Gea penalty in the 2021 Europa League Final shoot-out, he etched perhaps the greatest underdog story in Spanish football history into the record books, putting his side into the pantheon of great European upsets. Villarreal had won a trophy they, quite frankly, had no right to win.  …