Aston Villa have signed Brazilian international Philippe Coutinho on a loan deal until the end of the season from Barcelona, the Premier League club said on Friday.
He will be reunited with former captain Steven Gerrard, with the pair playing together at Anfield from 2013-15 and Gerrard now managing Villa.
Welcome, Philippe Coutinho!
There was but one major global international soccer tournament in 2021. For some reason, the coach who inspired an underdog victory in that competition wasn’t deemed worthy by FIFA to even be a finalist for the organization’s FIFA Best Coach of 2021 award. Not that we’re the least bit surprised; we’ve long learned to expect the worst from FIFA.
A ridiculous Tottenham own goal helped Chelsea to a 2-0 victory in the first leg of the Carabao Cup semifinal. Ben Davies is the unlucky fellow credited for the own goal. There wasn’t much he could do after his fellow defender Japhet Tanganga headed the ball directly into Davies before nestling into the Tottenham net.
A crazy own goal.
Tottenham fans, look away now ♂️ pic.twitter.com/Ix6I7wqfxj
It's now early January, which means the busy holiday fixture list gives way to the equally lively middle rounds of domestic cup competitions.
The early rounds of domestic cups are frenzied affairs, with obscurely named sides earning rare upsets but more frequently earning massive defeats. The later rounds are more sanitized, with top-flight sides dominating the proceedings.
Since the advent of the sport in the 1800s, England and football have been intrinsically linked. This bond started with schoolboys on muddy fields, with the objective to get the ball from one end of the field to the other by any means necessary — no rules, no limit on numbers, only brute force.
Football has now evolved into an organized game; manicured, well-lined pitches, tidy uniforms, and 11 players on each side. Kicking the opponent was outlawed and shinguards were installed should a stray boot make contact with the tibia.
Few footballers captivate the planet like Phil Jones.
It all began back in 2013, when, at the age of 21 and having recently arrived from Blackburn, Sir Alex Ferguson said that Jones had the potential to become the greatest player in Manchester United's history, and it continued over the years as the defender smashed his face into every orifice in which a face does not belong.
Liverpool raced to a 2-0 lead after 26 minutes at Stamford Bridge on Sunday, only to watch Mateo Kovačić and Christian Pulisic bring Chelsea level before halftime in a match that finished 2-2 and gave Manchester City a 10-point lead at the top of the Premier League.
Such has been City's relentless pace that both Chelsea and Liverpool entered knowing that a draw was as good as a defeat, and the Reds had to navigate the match without Jürgen Klopp on the sideline because of COIVD-19.
LONDON - Chelsea striker Romelu Lukaku was left out of the squad to face Liverpool at home on Sunday after saying he was dissatisfied with his role at Stamford Bridge.
The 28-year-old, who signed from Inter Milan in the close season for a club-record $132 million, told Sky Italy recently that he was unhappy with manager Thomas Tuchel's system. Lukaku also said he would like to return to Italy at some point in his career.
Asked about the Belgian international's comments ahead of the Liverpool game, Tuchel said they were "not helpful."
Raúl Jiménez goza de un momento lleno de efervescencia en su vida. Completamente recuperado de la fractura de cráneo que nos puso el alma en un hilo, el delantero anunció en la transición del 2021 al 2022 que será padre por segunda vez.
Jiménez dio a conocer la noticia junto a su pareja, Daniela Basso, en redes sociales y con un bello cuento dedicado a Arya, su primogénita.
While not quite as bad as 2020, 2021 was not exactly a great year. The Covid-19 pandemic still rages, providing daily disruptions to our lives, politics remained fucked as ever, preventing any real progress on issues of climate change or equity, and my favorite soccer teams all still suck. But an Instagram post featuring Christen Press and Tobin Heath may have just made the entire year worth it.