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It’s been a good season for Miguel Layun, and Layun's top ten goals prove it. The El Tri star has been a staple of the national team and has also been on fire for his club team, Porto. Most recently assisting in the 5-0 thrashing of Boavista to keep the Dragons 4 points within striking distance of 1st place Sporting. The 27-year-old is traditionally a left-back by trade but no one would blame soccer fans if you all confused him for a winger. His ability to make drives down the wings have paid dividends for Porto and Mexico.

Ah, Google. Where any question can be asked and answered in half the time it takes to microwave pizza. If you can think it, dream it, or conceive it, you can Google it. And, thanks to Google’s auto-populating technology, you can see exactly what the people of the world desperately want to know. Which is great and equally ridiculous at the same time. Soccer is no exception. Here are nine mostly ridiculous soccer questions people ask on Google (the answers may surprise you).

It’s unlikely to have escaped your attention that earlier this week Real Madrid appointed club legend and archetypal galactico Zinedine Zidane as their new manager.

Although, during the last six weeks of 2015, Real Madrid president Florentino Perez said he supported the permanence of Rafa Benitez as coach his club, just four days into 2016 Perez changed his mind. Now Zinedine Zidane is the new man in charge of Los Blancos.

So, The18 presents 18 facts about the life of Zidane, a former excellent player who is beginning his coaching career in a difficult moment for Real Madrid. If he fails will be Benitez and Perez’s fault, but any positive result would be his individual achievement.

As perhaps the most famous face of the United States Women’s National Team today, Alex Morgan is one of the top forwards in the sport. Seeing the number 13 with the ponytail and pink headband couldn’t be more intimidating for opposing defenders – from the first time she announced her presence on the USWNT with a breakout goal versus Italy in 2010. She has an arsenal of skills to get past defenders, whether it being her speed, strength or touch.

With news emerging that Chelsea is prepared to make Shakhtar Donetsk forward Alex Teixeira the first signing of the Guus Hiddink era (Part II) for a reported £30 Million, the Blues are once again relying on owner Roman Abramovich’s checkbook to build a winning squad once the transfer window opens in January. Like any other major club, Chelsea has had its successes and failures in the transfer market.

The fans have spoken! Or, at least, all the redditors on r/soccer have spoken. A lot has happened in the beautiful game since January 1, 2015 and, thanks to Reddit, we discovered what fans consider the best photos in the last 12 months. With over 410 comments and 358 upvotes on the posting, we selected the top 20 photos submitted. If you want to see more of the year in photos, head over to the Reddit thread.

As fans of soccer, we appreciate the theater, drama and storylines that call us to develop personal opinions. The game is as much about heroes and tribes as it is about common enemies and villains. There are some things we all love to hate. If you can’t admit that, well, you’re just afraid of your own primal instincts.

How do you win a title with a centre-forward who is widely regarded as not world-class, a revolving door in midfield because of a perpetual vicious cycle of injuries and rehabilitation, a rookie full-back and a squad so shallow that every manager in the world can name the starting XI? You buy Mesut Ozil and let him get on with it; at least, that seems to be the Arsene Wenger approach.