By Andrew Misra
Injured. Probably the word most football fans would use to describe Abou Diaby’s career. He’s now announced his retirement at the age of 32. Diaby made just 198 club appearances in total during a 14-year career, and had been without a club since being released by Marseille in 2017. Continue reading “We need to talk about Abou: how good was Diaby?”
By Andrew Misra
If you’ve spent a large amount of your life playing, watching and generally consuming football then it follows logically that you should know a lot about it. But the sport is so broad, deep and structurally layered that it’s impossible to be on top of it all. Stop a self-confessed football fanatic on the street and ask them who is fourth in the Eredivisie and there’s a good chance that they won’t know (AZ Alkmaar). That same fan, though, can tell you off the top of their head that Emile Heskey scored seven goals in 62 England appearances over an eleven-year international career. Or that a young Dimitar Berbatov came off the Bayer Leverkusen bench in the 39th minute of the 2002 Champions League Final.
Continue reading “Why women’s football is worth watching: lessons from Bramall Lane”
By Andrew Misra
The long-anticipated news has landed. Aaron Ramsey has signed a pre-contract agreement with Juventus. The deal will see him move to Turin in the summer and reportedly earn over £400,000 per week. Eye-watering.
Continue reading “‘Like Zidane’ – Remembering 2013 Aaron Ramsey”
By Andrew Misra
Controversy is never far away from Hatem Ben Arfa and now he’s suing PSG. Continue reading “Hatem Ben Arfa – The Argumentative Magician”
By Andrew Misra
So it’s transfer deadline day. So what? The fax machine suddenly becomes a thing again. The fabled 11pm deadline. The Harry Redknapp car window, you probably know it all. The January 2019 transfer window has been decidedly muted and the prospects of that changing today don’t look too inspiring. Continue reading “The drama of Transfer Deadline Day on 31st January 2011”
By Andrew Misra
There’s something about the Goal films which hit the footballing world hard after 2005 (maybe not so much the third incarnation). There’s something unique about how fondly they are remembered by a whole generation of football fans – you’re probably smiling just thinking about them now. For most, that something is the brilliant Santiago Muñez, a wonderful player and a nice, humble chap. He’s a bit of a virtual cult hero and there have been attempts aplenty to recreate his legend in the worlds of Football Manager and FIFA videogame series. Sadly, and whisper it quietly, it is highly unlikely that Muñez actually exists. But his was a career all about the realisation of a dream – so why can’t we dream too? Who was he? What sort of player was the Mexican hotshot? Let’s take a look…
Continue reading “The mystery before the history of movie star Santiago Muñez”
By Andrew Misra
The giant, round Champions League flag ripples between its legion of bearers in the centre circle just as the excitement does amongst the crowd of 35,472 fans. The familiar anthem by Tony Britten begins and the breaths of many around the world habitually grow slower and deeper just for a second. Then the heart rates raise as the shiny metallic Handel inspired majesty builds purposefully towards its crescendo. And then they raise.
Die Meister. Die Besten. Les grandes équipes. The champions.
Continue reading “Apprentice beats master: when Cesc humiliated Vieira at Highbury”
By Andrew Misra
“I cause problems”. Not the ominous words of a vengeful villain on the big screen, but those of Andy Carroll on his latest return off the bench against Crystal Palace a month ago. That’s right, he’s back. The pony-tailed beast is back. Big Andy is back. For now, at least.
Continue reading “The misunderstood talents of Andy Carroll: more than just a master of headers?”
