England will face Slovakia in a World Cup qualifier on Sept. 4 in a game that doubles as Big Sam Allardyce's debut as England manager. Let's take a look at the 23 players Allardyce has picked for his squad.
For many, Bastian Schweinsteiger will always be synonymous with the new German side that dazzled at the 2006 World Cup with childlike enthusiasm. The 21-year-old's performance, along with the likes of Philipp Lahm and Lukas Podolski, foreshadowed a period of German brilliance that would reach its zenith at the 2014 World Cup.
The 2016-17 Premier League is the “Year of the Manager.” Some of the world’s most famous, eccentric and respected managers have come to England in search of glory. Pep Guardiola, Jose Mourinho, Antonio Conte, Jurgen Klopp and Arsene Wenger are all elite level managers who have won major trophies throughout Europe. Through tactics, man-management and mind games only one deserving manager will lift the Premier League trophy in May.
Or maybe none of the aforementioned managers will lift the trophy.
DeAndre Yedlin isn’t the finished product yet. If DeAndre Yedlin were in the life cycle of a concept, he’d still be in the incubation period — all uncontrollable pace and athleticism, alerting investors to his undoubted physical talents, but still offering no end product and no defensive consistency.
The alarm clock sounds — it’s your favorite tune, “Macarena” by Los del Rio. You get dressed and admire your floppy hair and manicured beard. As you drive to the stadium, the anger in your belly slowly grows stronger.
You take to the pitch and wait for the whistle, just about ready to unleash your rage. Your opponents become victims to your endless tackles, kicks, grabs and taunts.
Burnley’s a beautiful little market town in Lancashire, England with a population of around 70,000. The UK Government awarded the town the title “Most Enterprising Area in the UK” back in 2013, so Christian Benteke’s initiative in announcing his move to ‘Burnleyl FC’ via Twitter should come as no surprise.
Things got a little out of hand during an English League One match between Oxford United and Peterborough United on Saturday. With neither side enjoying the finest of starts in England’s third tier, the awarding of a penalty in the third minute of second-half stoppage had major implications with the scores level at 1-1.
Jurgen Klopp is the most delightful manager in the Premier League and here's why:
From the BBC:
"Alberto could have done better but I don't really understand what we are talking about," Klopp said.
"I cannot be interested in criticism from other people."
In a rambling interview that managed to steer clear of the cliche while touching on everything from Paul Pogba’s relationship with Alex Ferguson to brilliant impersonations of Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Patrice Evra, Thierry Henry and Pogba shared a throughly enjoyable interview on Sky Sports.
Some of the highlights of the eight-minute clip include Pogba revealing that he’ll debut a new celebration this season (“New team, new things.”) and that he had a Thierry Henry poster in his room growing up.
"Before winning the 2012-13 league title, we were getting ready to play against Lyon," Marco Verratti said. "Carlo Ancelotti was a bit tense, so Ibra approached him and asked him if he believed in Jesus. Ancelotti said yes, so Ibra told him: 'Good, so you believe in me. You can relax!' Zlatan is like this.”
Verratti’s little story is as good as any when used to describe the kind of figure that Zlatan Ibrahimovic is.