Premier League

After the embarrassment of being knocked out by Iceland at Euro 2016, and the immediate standing down of former coach Roy Hodgson, the Football Association will reportedly name 61-year-old Sam Allardyce the next England manager.

Allardyce performed a small miracle with Sunderland last season by keeping the Black Cats in the Premier League. He was appointed with the club languishing in 19th place in October, but he managed to steer them above the drop zone.

The Premier League has a strict message for those confronting officials with disrespectful behavior and language: cut the s***.

The PL, English Football League and Football Association have declared player behavior in England as “intolerable”, and they’re sick and tired as all h*** of it.

We here at The18 love a good conspiracy theory. We especially love it when conspiracy theories turn out to be grounded in truth, as is apparently the case with a Chesterfield FC fan promotion that went awry.

Note: please read the below thread while listening to this song. It will set the mood.

Have you ever watched three pre-season friendlies in a row? I have. I don't recommend it. You come away from them with conclusions like "Ben Woodburn is the best footballer there is, has ever been and ever will be. That's what happened when I watched Liverpool vs. Wigan on Sunday. Like I said, I don't recommend it.

Cristiano Ronaldo made his Manchester United debut on August 16th, 2003. He came on as a substitute for Nicky Butt in the 60th minute of United’s Premier League encounter with Bolton Wanderers.

Superstar striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic is headed to Manchester United this season, a move that prompted one of my Manchester-supporting friends to assure me they will win the Premier League this season.

Ibrahimovic is known for his ability on the field and his ego off of it, and he may have finally met his match, ego-wise, a man who can stand toe to toe with Zlatan in the self-confidence arena: former Manchester United striker Eric Cantona.

I love center back highlight videos. I am not sure why this is, but I can't get enough.

This one is perhaps my favorite. It depicts Martin Skrtel and Mamadou Sakho as a pair of warrior gods who defend Liverpool's goal and honor against all comers and defeat them with ease.

In hindsight, Leicester City’s €15.5 million purchase of French defensive midfielder Nampalys Mendy was an exact like-for-like replacement for the eventual sale of breakthrough star N’Golo Kante.

Not that Leicester City supporters will be okay with seeing Kante leave, especially to EPL rival Chelsea.

Pre-season friendlies present an odd contradiction. They make us hate ourselves when we watch them. We have so many better things we could be doing. So many. But we can't look away. We are drawn to bad pre-season friendlies featuring 16-year-old academy players against fourth-division teams like moths to the floodlights at the Stade de France because we are soccer fans, and therefore we are masochists.

LeBron James became an investor in Liverpool FC in April of 2011. His passion for the club was once again demonstrated on Tuesday when he took to Facebook to offer his support to coach Jurgen Klopp and the rest of the squad. He also offered his services to Liverpool should they ever “need a walk on”.