Christian Pulisic is better than Landon Donovan. That’s not my opinion — that’s Landon Donovan’s. At the age of 22, Pulisic has established himself at Chelsea. Donovan, at 22, was experiencing one of his least productive MLS seasons with an average San Jose Earthquakes team.
James Rodríguez is injured again and once again there is anguish in Everton and in the Colombia national team. When it's not his calves, which afflict him often, it's the consequences of the fouls he receives, kicks, some of which seems to have become recurrent.
On Sunday, he received one of those, and it was so relentless (straight to the left ankle) that he was immediately taken out of the match against Fulham.
While the Premier League is ascribed to be the most talented league in the world, the EFL Championship might be as difficult, if not more so, than the English top flight.
In terms of talent, the Championship is just a small step below the Premier League and there is little disparity between the top and bottom of the table. 23rd place Birmingham has beaten second place Brentford and fifth place Reading this season, while Derby County beat Norwich then went winless for two months and dropped to the bottom of the table.
LONDON - West Ham United moved into the top four of the Premier League standings after an efficient 3-0 home win over bottom side Sheffield United at the London Stadium on Monday.
Declan Rice's 41st-minute penalty had the hosts in front at halftime. Issa Diop added a second in the 58th minute with a header and Ryan Fredericks scored with the last kick of the game.
Looking for a new ball after this hellish cold snap eventually gives way to springtime? Look no further because both Nike (2020-21 Premier League) and adidas (2021 Champions League Final) have released new balls celebrating the business end of their respective competitions.
To celebrate the final third of the 2020-21 Premier League, Nike has released its third ball of the campaign. As darkness gives way to light and frost yields to regrowth, so to is the Premier League’s yellow Hi-Viz ball giving way to the latest Nike Flight creation.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang gets the headlines after netting his first Premier League hat-trick in Arsenal’s 4-2 win over Leeds United at the Emirates on Sunday, but the goal that best highlighted the Gunners’ superiority was scored by Héctor Bellerín with must-see contributions from Bukayo Saka and Dani Ceballos.
BIRMINGHAM, England - An out-of-sorts Manchester United could only draw 1-1 at struggling West Bromwich Albion on Sunday, leaving them second in the Premier League but seven points adrift of Manchester City.
West Brom, who need a remarkable turnaround to avoid relegation, stunned their visitors with a second-minute goal from on-loan Senegalese striker Mbaye Diagne who beat defender Victor Lindelöf to head home.
After watching his club blow a lead by allowing three goals in seven minutes to lose 3-1 to Leicester City on Saturday, Liverpool coach Jürgen Klopp was asked if he was conceding the Premier League title this season.
“Yes,” he replied. “I can’t believe (it), but yes.”
BERLIN - Liverpool coach Jürgen Klopp will not be able to attend his mother's funeral in Germany's Black Forest region due to COVID-19 travel restrictions, he said on Wednesday.
Klopp, who led Liverpool to the English league title as well as the Champions League crown in the past few seasons, said due to the restrictions and quarantine rules in England and Germany he would not be able to attend the funeral.
His mother Elisabeth had passed away last month.
With soccer tactics constantly changing, certain types of players are not always accommodated.
Roles like the libero, trequartista, striker partnerships and burly center backs have become, or are quickly becoming, outdated in modern football. Other roles like ball-playing goalkeepers, false nines and wingers that cut inside onto their stronger foot have become very trendy.
This often leaves current players wishing they had played in a previous decade and former players wishing their career had started a little later. Ah, what could have been.