Articles By Ahmed Bilal (646)

When Reina asks for patience, you know Liverpool are in trouble

Author image Ahmed Bilal  •  Sep 14 2010

Jose Reina has always been the optimistic one – for several years, every year Liverpool’s title challenge would falter only for Reina to trot out the most optimistic of predictions,…

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Premier League Squads

Author image Ahmed Bilal  •  Sep 8 2010

Premier League rules state that each club must submit a squad, maximum 25 players, containing eight home-grown players (players trained in England or Wales for 36 months before the age…

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Arsenal Fan Share – Premier League’s version of MyFootballClub

Author image Ahmed Bilal  •  Apr 8 2023

As I write this, the Arsenal Fan Share website is down, thanks to poor choice of web hosting (they really went cheap here) and a deluge of traffic from excited…

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Football Manager 2011 Preview

Author image Ahmed Bilal  •  Aug 11 2010

Football Manager 2011 will be released shortly before Christmas 2010, and promises a raft of new features including real-time contract negotiation, a revamped training system and a number of match…

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Adidas and FIFA send Goalkeepers to defend Jabulani

Author image Ahmed Bilal  •  Jan 11 2022

Why are Petr Cech (Czech Republic), Oliver Kahn (Germany) and Sergio Goycochea (Argentina) talking to the press about penalty shootouts? On the surface, which where mainstream media reporting – here’s…

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Rafa, Liverpool and some truth

Author image Ahmed Bilal  •  Jun 26 2010

Rafa Benitez and Liverpool. What a story, eh? Man gives club best years in last two decades. Man loves club. Fans love the man. And then, poof. In one bedraggled…

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2010 World Cup Second Round Preview

Author image Ahmed Bilal  •  Dec 7 2021

The charm of the World Cup is in the anticipation that fuels the excitement in the latter stages. After a slowish start (at a par with any cup competition), South…

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The Vuvuzela World Cup

Author image Ahmed Bilal  •  Jun 16 2010

The 2010 World Cup has effectively been rebranding as the Vuvuzela World Cup – for all intents and purposes, they are bigger than England’s dreams of fluking to another title,…

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Aon and Manchester United

Author image Ahmed Bilal  •  Jun 1 2010

Today’s article on Aon was supposed to be about the numbers, a dry analysis of the pros and cons plus the usual refutations needed for every major sponsor – no,…

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Mourinho: No one beat Chelsea and Barcelona like Inter

Author image Ahmed Bilal  •  May 19 2010

Jose Mourinho, speaking to the press before the Bayern Munich v Inter Milan Champions League final. On the importance of the game: “This game is the most important in the…

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The real reason Fabregas wants to go to Barcelona

Author image Ahmed Bilal  •  May 19 2010

So, it’s damn near official now – Fabregas wants to leave Arsenal for Barcelona. Arsenal fans will say they saw it coming miles away (it’s by far the longest-running transfer…

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Ian Holloway joins Football Manager

Author image Ahmed Bilal  •  May 12 2010

Today sees a world first as one of the most famous faces in football management, Ian Holloway, becomes football’s only virtual manager allowing anyone to call upon his expertise, quirks…

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Why Chelsea won the title and United, Liverpool and Arsenal didn’t

Author image Ahmed Bilal  •  May 10 2010

Hello readers. I refrained from writing about the title race until it was done and dusted – and there’s plenty to talk about, from pre-season predictions to key battles where…

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Vote For The Soccerlens Podcast!

Author image Ahmed Bilal  •  Apr 24 2010

As I said earlier today, only titles (and awards) count in football. You may disagree (especially if your team wears red, pretends to play in pretty triangles and don’t like…

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Titles aren’t everything, but only titles count

Author image Ahmed Bilal  •  Apr 22 2010

A friend asked me this question right after the Inter-Barca first leg: If Barcelona don’t get to the final, lose the league title to Madrid and Argentina bomb at the…

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