During his time at Manchester City, Kelechi Iheanacho showed flashes of brilliance in his limited on-field action. He made 64 appearances for City, but only started 20 games as he found himself backing up Sergio Aguero.
When it comes to data and analytics in football, most people prefer looking at the statistical relationship between goals/assists and how that’s going to influence the performance of this goddamn Fantasy Premier League team that’s been tanking since December.
Just captain Harry Kane and be done with it.
But there’s an overlooked statistic that jams well with probability theory, namely, the player with the most nutmegs in Europe this season is probably the greatest footballer alive.
There was a time when Christian Pulisic’s rumored destination from Borussia Dortmund was Real Madrid. With Gareth Bale fading and Lucas Vázquez not offering as much of a threat, it wasn’t just a fancy of The18 that Pulisic make his way to the Santiago Bernabéu — He Who Must Not Be Named (Florentino Pérez) wanted it.
The rise of social media has been incredible for sports fans for a variety reasons, most notably the ability to stir up memories of obscure players randomly making exceptional plays.
This network of nostalgia is great for the soul, but the consequence is that players with a catalog that includes a couple of great goals suddenly become hyped beyond belief — which in turn often causes us to forget truly how great the top players were.
Porto scored the goal of the competition during Tuesday’s UEFA Champions League quarterfinal second leg. If you’re looking for the other Chelsea vs. Porto highlights, I’m afraid to tell you that there isn’t much to see.
The Blues advanced to their first Champions League semifinal in seven years despite Porto winning 1-0 on the night. Chelsea advanced 2-1 on aggregate.
To provide a taste of how riveting the affair was, here’s a highlight of the first shot on target … in the 64th minute.
Something we often forget about professional footballers is that unlike most of us, they actually have pretty lousy job security. A manager will bench a player who is playing poorly without any second thought because the success of the team is more important than any individual player.
Of course, the starting lineup is always fluid, but players have to fight every week to make the starting XI, even when it seems like their position is secured. And eventually, every player will be replaced; it is only a question of when.
Not long ago, Bayern Munich goalkeeper Manuel Neuer appeared to be entering the twilight of his career.
After missing nearly all of the 2017-18 season due to a fractured foot, Neuer returned the next season and played the worst football of his career. The German allowed 5.5 more goals than expected, ranking 32nd out of 37 qualified Bundesliga keepers.
With Manchester City reaffirming its Premier League dominance after a "down year" (if 81 points and a +67 GD can be considered a down year), it appears that Pep Guardiola is on his way to a fourth EPL crown. The big question is: How soon can Man City win the league?
El Clasico is the biggest rivalry in sports, featuring the biggest stars in the biggest venues with some of the biggest prizes in soccer generally on the line. So who are the El Clasico top scorers, the players who shine when the lights are brightest and the pressure is on? We made a list, and it has some pretty impressive names on it.
France’s Ligue 1 has given by far the most opportunities to Under-21 players this season, while German side Borussia Dortmund are the club to have handed out most minutes to youngsters.
A review of the top-five leagues by soccer statisticians Opta showed that Under-21 players have enjoyed a collective 62,046 minutes of game time in the French top flight in 2020/21.
The German Bundesliga is second with 34,993 minutes, while England’s Premier League (29,172), Italy's Serie A (23,225) and Spain’s LaLiga (22,893) round off the list.