Will Berbatov or Barry be transfer villian of 2008?
“Judas, Judas”, that evocative biblical name could be applied and regularly chanted at either Gareth Barry or Dimitar Berbatov next season if they are seen to depart their clubs for…
Do English referees give England players favourable decisions ?
Paul Scholes’s non-sending off in the title climax on Sunday has confirmed a suspicion I’ve held for a while – Premiership referees are biased in favour of England (or just…
UEFA Cup Final 2008 – Is Manchester Ready?
Editor: The author’s worst fears were realised as fan violence marred the UEFA Cup Final. Marco has the match report, Guardian has the eyewitness account of the police officer who…
Youth Football in the US
Ruud Gullit: ‘We can’t play sexy football at LA Galaxy’ “I can’t play sexy football with this team at the moment because we are not ready for this. There is…
La Liga Week 37: Atletico Madrid seal Champions League place
With Real Madrid already crowned champions, attention turned to the battle for European places and the fight to avoid relegation. The big news this week is that Atletico Madrid guaranteed…
“Manchester United are champions. They are the best team in the world,” says referee Bennett
We had an e-mail at Soccerlens this morning from a distraught football official who feels that he has been unfairly castigated by fans, managers, players, pundits, his family, his friends,…
Euro 2008 Countdown – Group A: Swiss to get rolled on home turf
Don’t expect the goals to fly in when the Group A fixtures get underway at the European Championships this summer. Czech Republic had an outstanding record in qualifying, conceding only…
Manchester United’s debt, analysed
The article uses last available financial disclosures of the club as at 30th June, 2007 (download document (PDF) here). The words “current/currently” reflect opinion/fact with the same timeline in backdrop….
What constitues a football hotbed? Newcastle fans look away now…
The North East of England is often described as a ‘football hotbed’ — an area that is widely accepted to be rich in the culture, tradition and passion of the…
After Robo-Crouch, Here’s Robo-Keeper…
There could be tough times ahead for Luca Toni. The Bayern Munich striker, just recently crowned Bundesliga champion and currently leading the scoring charts with 21 goals, may soon be…
Transfer Rumors: Arsenal, Manchester United, Aston Villa, Newcastle, Real Madrid, Barcelona, AC Milan, Juventus, QPR
Guess who’s back? That’s right, me and the transfer roundup. The season’s winding down and the rumors are heating up, so you’ll be seeing me in this space regularly. Anyway,…
La Liga Week 35: Real Madrid clinch the title
Congratulations to Real Madrid for winning their 31st Spanish league title. It’s been a funny old season in Spain so perhaps it was appropriate that Madrid should come from behind…
AC Milan Win the Derby and Ruin Inter’s Hopes for an Early Celebration (Serie A Matchday 36)
Watch Milan v Inter live online here. Three weeks ago, at the end of the 3-2 match lost to Juventus (Matchday 33) Milan manager Carlo Ancelotti had declared: “Our objective…
Cuauhtémoc Blanco Bravo of the Chicago Fire
Image courtesy of the Chicago Fire and Major League Soccer. Last year, Major League Soccer welcomed David Beckham amidst significant mainstream media coverage in North America. Another player who joined…
UEFA U-17s 2008 potential stars – who are the future Kaka, Messi and Henry?
Uefa’s Under-17 Championships have revealed many a burgeoning young talent to a wider audience in the last six years. It is the stage where Wayne Rooney (2002), Cesc Fabregas (2004),…
