In just 7 days, the U-21 European Championships group stage has come to a close, a tournament whose peculiar scheduling and lack of preparation haven’t taken any of the spectacles away. In the 24 group stage matches, we witnessed captivating individual performances, fluent midfield dominations, and more than enough goalkeeping errors.   Though many of…

Last season, Turkish football saw the emergence of Hatayspor to the country’s top flight for the first time in their history. The club is from the Mediterranean region of Turkey, based in the city of Antakya. Hatayspor was formed in 1967 as a product of the merger between Kurtulusspor, Esnafspor and Reyhanli Gençlikspor before the…

One year after narrowly surviving relegation, West Ham sit fifth in the league table after 28 matchdays, whilst having one game in hand on several of their top four rivals — Chelsea, Leicester City, Liverpool and Manchester United. It has been a turbulent period for West Ham since moving out of the historic Boleyn Ground…

For decades, the prospect of drawing FK Crvena zvezda (Red Star Belgrade) in Europe would be enough to thoroughly excite fans across the continent. Over 30 years since their last European trophy, this is no different. They notoriously possess one of the most imposing fan bases.   In addition to this, their long-established unity and passion…

In the world of football these days, it takes bold minds, great thinkers, risk-takers and innovators to change the usual norm, to use a limited budget to achieve success, to outthink the richer clubs, and to use unorthodox methods to succeed in a hugely competitive sport. This is exactly what Mathew Benham has achieved at…

This is the final part of my three-part series analyzing the different Premier League Squads before the January Window. You can read Part 1 here and Part 2 here.   In Part 1, I discussed how the top 8 teams (after Matchday 14) were placed in terms of squad depth before they enter the January…

This is Part 2 of my three-part series analyzing the different Premier League Squads before the January Transfer Window. You can read the first part here. In Part 1, I discussed how the top 8 teams (after Matchday 14 ) were placed in terms of squad depth before they enter the January Transfer Window. In…

The winter transfer window is upon us once again. However, we cannot expect clubs to be very active like how they are in the summer transfer window as the season has already begun and most of the managers are content with the resources at their disposal.   That being said, certain clubs still need additions…

Serie A is still often depicted as a defensive league, the home of Catenaccio. Fabio Capello’s 1993/94 AC Milan side did win the Scudetto whilst only scoring 36 goals, so this claim isn’t entirely unjustified, but Italian football has progressed since then. Take Atalanta for example. They managed 98 goals last season and provided some…

It’s the best start in Vitesse Arnhem’s 128-year history. They’ve lost one in eleven and sit second in the Eredivisie, just two points behind Ajax. But they also have a 37-year-old technical director with no experience in the role and a manager that has been sacked from his last two jobs. So how have Vitesse…