Ritsu Doan is a 22-year-old Japanese right winger/attacking midfielder who is currently playing in the Bundesliga for newly promoted Arminia Bielefeld. Doan is on loan from Dutch side PSV Eindhoven, having moved to Bielefelder Alm on a season-long loan in September.   Doan was born in Amagasaki, Hyogo, Japan and grew up playing for Gamba…

France. Baguettes, croissants and centre-halves. Just three things they do exceptionally well. The latter is the focus today, and my word, do the French produce quality centre-backs.   Perhaps best epitomised by the fact that Aymeric Laporte is still yet to have a senior cap to his name, the abundance of centre-half talent that France…

Many feared that Virgil van Dijk’s long term injury had the potential to derail Liverpool’s title defence. The fall out from that clumsy Jordan Pickford lunge in a controversial Merseyside derby was messy, to say the least. Emotions were running high, the goalkeeper was met with a barrage of online abuse and rival fans rejoiced…

“The lads are giving me their soul, but in games like this, our limits emerge. You need experience, and who do I ask? Sensi taken from Sassuolo or Barella taken from Cagliari? Maximum respect for them, but unfortunately they lack it.”   That was the blunt assessment made by Inter coach Antonio Conte in November…

İlkay Gündoğan began his career at VFL Bochum, breaking through their youth academy. He began playing for the club’s reserve team in 2008 before securing a move to FC Nürnberg the following season. His first big move came when Borussia Dortmund acquired him in 2011; he helped Dortmund win the Bundesliga and DFB-Pokal double in…

Through the winding cobbled alleys. Past the idyllic Victorian curvature, of the pier front, whose grace and charisma reach out beyond the water’s edge. Lewis Dunk sets himself. Rising and crashing, stretching and diverting, the coursing symmetry of boot hitting ball and wave hitting wood. So simple, so swift and yet its impression so unmistakable. …

It’s fair to say that Nicolas Pépé’s sequel season at Arsenal has hardly set the Premier League alight, managing only four starts (prior to Southampton) with the majority of minutes played as a substitute. Whilst, his league minutes dwindled Pépé continued to graft in the Europa League, contributing with two goals and two assists in…

Perhaps the biggest surprise package of the 2020/21 UEFA Champions League group stage was Club Brugge, who finished third in Group F with 8 points. The Belgian side came within one game of advancing to the Champions League knockout round, only to draw to Lazio at the Stadio Olimpico, and they will instead face off…

On the origin of species, in footballing terms at least; tall, aerially shrewd strikers would serve such purpose: stay central, saunter into dangerous areas, score and assist goals. Since the turn of the century, Didier Drogba and Robert Lewandowski have both mastered that purpose, phasing it into the modern game so proficiently. But in the…

Over the past few years, Indonesia has produced a wide variety of promising attacking midfielders and wingers. The list ranges from 20-year-old Egy Maulana Vikri, currently plying his trade at Ekstraklasa side Lechia Gdańsk, 19-year-old Witan Sulaeman, playing at Serbian SuperLiga side Radnik Surdulica, and 21-year-old Todd Rivaldo Ferre, who recently joined Thai League 2…