Stories By Graham Ruthven
-
Sport
John Stones and the unlikeliest of revivals at Man City
If the Manchester City career of John Stones wasn’t already in jeopardy, it certainly became so when the club failed once to make their long-awaited breakthrough in the Champions League. Against Lyon, with City’s season on the line, Pep Guardiola favoured a back three that included teenager Erick Garcia and midfielder Fernandinho over the 26-year-old who watched the full quarter final defeat from the bench.
-
Sport
Are the USA entering a football golden generation?
As the football world gathered in Russia for the 2018 World Cup, the USA was absent. For the first time since 1986 there was no sign of the stars and stripes at the sport’s biggest party after the country suffered a disastrous qualification campaign.
-
Sport
Is Pochettino the right man to take Dortmund forward?
Lucien Favre could sustain no more. He was already on thin ice after a poor run of form when Borussia Dortmund lost 5-1 at home to Stuttgart on Saturday. Barely 24 hours passed before it was made official that Favre had been dismissed from his role at the club with assistant Edin Terzic appointed caretaker manager until the end of the season.
-
Sport
Arsenal living to regret their Zaha decision
Just a few hours before Arsenal turned in a lifeless performance in last Sunday’s North London derby, the Gunners were offered a reminder of the electricity they could have had as Wilfried Zaha scored twice in a 5-1 away win for Crystal Palace over West Brom.
-
Sport
Sheffield United in danger of succumbing to second season syndrome
Few expected Sheffield United to be afflicted by the dreaded second season syndrome. The Blades were one of the greatest success stories of the 2019/20 campaign, finishing in the top half of the Premier League table.
-
Sport
The solution to Arsenal’s striking woes? Olivier Giroud.
On paper, Arsenal boast one of the most potent attacking lines in the Premier League. Mikel Arteta has a number of proven options in the final third but the Spaniard seems unsure of how to set up his team, with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang played through the middle for the home defeat to Wolves on Sunday.
-
Sport
Pochettino should be cautious before taking PSG job
While he remained coy on where he saw himself next, it was clear from what Mauricio Pochettino said, both through his words and his body language, as a guest on Sky Sports’ Monday Night Football a few weeks ago that he is ready to take on a new project.
-
Sport
Nicolas Pepe running out of chances at Arsenal
Not since the defeat to Manchester City on the 17th October had Nicolas Pepe started a Premier League match for Arsenal. By the time the Gunners arrived at Elland Road Sunday to face Leeds United, Mikel Arteta’s preference of Willian over the Ivorian winger had been well established.
-
Sport
New Pep Guardiola contract won’t stop replacement talk
The start of the 2020/21 season saw Pep Guardiola pass a significant milestone. Not in the Catalan’s career as a manager had he embarked on a fifth season at a club before. At Barcelona, he lasted four seasons in charge before departing due to exhaustion.
-
Sport
Ronaldo next club: where could he go after Juve?
There had been a growing sense that Cristiano Ronaldo might force his way out of Real Madrid, so it wasn’t a great surprise when the Portuguese forward signed for Juventus in the summer of 2018. Two years later, there are similar noises coming out of the Ronaldo camp.
-
Sport
Leicester have put top four disappointment behind them
Leicester City didn’t allow the disappointment of missing out on a top four finish to linger for long. Having been in the Champions League places for the majority of the season, Brendan Rodgers’ side missed out on qualification on the final day of the campaign, losing at home to Manchester United to finish fifth.
Loading...
End of content
No more pages to load
