Who invented soccer or football or — the more diplomatic approach — association football (soccer for short)? It’s a history lesson that’s often summed up or bastardized with a simple answer: England invented it.
Sir Alex Ferguson, the main reason Manchester United earned the moniker the "Pride of England," spoke publicly for the first time since his May 5 trip to the hospital. The 76-year-old Scotsman underwent brain surgery and seems to have recovered just fine.
On Saturday 5 May, the football world was rocked by the news that Sir Alex Ferguson had undergone surgery for a brain haemorrhage.
The new English Premier League promoted clubs are Wolves, Cardiff City and Fulham. The three new kids on the block replace the relegated teams of Swansea City, Stoke City and West Brom. The newly promoted clubs climbed up the ranks from the EFL Championship, and we’re here to let you know what they’re all about. Plus, why you should cheer for each one.
After all, they’re playing with the big boys now.
It’s almost time for the new Premier League season to kick off. We’ve had the World Cup to fill most of the offseason, but now it’s that boring part of the summer when clubs play friendlies against considerably weaker teams. Everton won a friendly 22-0, so that’s all you really need to know about preseason.
If you want to watch something truly pathetic today, here’s Jose Mourinho, the manager of 20-time English champion Manchester United (squad value of just over $1 billion), acting scared shitless at the prospect of playing Brighton & Hove Albion (squad value of $183 million) in the second week of Premier League action because of the World Cup impact on club season preparations.
If you’ve been keeping up with the latest transfer news, you will have heard of the Richarlison Everton deal, Watford’s Brazilian forward moving in a deal worth upwards of $65 million. That’s a lot of money for a guy who has spent one season in the Premier League, is only 21 and scored a measly five goals.
If you think $65 million is way too much for Richarlison, we’re inclined to agree. What on earth compels Everton to splash out so much money on this fella?
At this point, it’s hard to imagine Mo Salah being picked last for anything. He’s already a Liverpool hero having scored 43 goals in all competitions in his first season at Anfield. And, well, Egypt is so obsessed with him after he led the Pharoahs to their first World Cup in 28 years that schools have been renamed after him. If you want to win, if you need a clutch performance, Salah is probably your first choice.
After lifting the 2018 World Cup with one of the youngest squads at the tournament (average age of just 26), there’s been a growing fear that France could turn a bit tyrannical at the international level. That fear was further confirmed today when England’s U-19s were on the receiving end of a 5-0 beatdown from their French peers.
This news flew under the radar for many fans, but if you didn’t hear, Aston Villa now has the third richest owners in all of English football. Yes, the Championship side that finished dead last in the 2015-16 Premier League season is now absolutely loaded. But how did this all come about?
Every professional footballer on the planet wants to train under Pep Guardiola (apart from Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Yaya Toure). His approach to playing the game has revolutionized football and brought unmitigated success to Barcelona, Bayern Munich and Manchester City. Now, thanks to Amazon Prime Original docuseries “All or Nothing: Manchester City”, we get a behind-the-scenes look at Guardiola and total access to City’s stable of world-class footballers.