Leicester City were supposed to go down last year. For 29 games, they simply weren’t Premier League quality. They only won 20 points from those 29 games, and of the 8 previous teams to do so before them, all 8 finished at the very bottom of the table.
Despite his status as one of the most celebrated young players in the world, Chelsea's Eden Hazard still fights his own mental demons.
In a recent interview with Sport / Foot Magazine, Hazard opened up about what he sees as the difference between him and modern day legends of the game like Messi and Ronaldo:
Wayne Rooney had a bad game against Swansea this weekend, and Manchester United lost 2-1.
Rooney has been much maligned this season, and, aside from a hat-trick against Club Brugge in a Champions League qualifier, hasn't done much of anything on the field.
He has, however, made one of Swansea's mascots' days infinitely better. It's hard to hate on Rooney when he inspires this type of reaction from children.
Face it, you will probably never have this reaction to anything in your life.
While Wayne Rooney was not exactly having the game of his life in Swansea, his family was in Barcelona on holiday. Rooney's son Kai got to take a break from the usual crew at Manchester United and hang out with a different collection of footballers than normal, the likes of Neymar, Messi, Suarez and Gerard Pique.
Roman Abramovic didn't become an oligarch by making bad financial decisions; his business savvy, along with shrewd political connections and a healthy moral deficit have allowed him to amass a personal fortune of around $8 billion.
Mario Balotelli is moving from Liverpool to AC Milan on a season-long loan. This seems like a good deal for the striker, who gets a chance to redeem himself after an awful year in the Premiership.
Balotelli has a reputation for being a bit of a headcase, and AC Milan were well aware of this when they agreed to take him on. As such, they've included some extra special provisions in Balotelli's contract that probably won't be found anywhere else.
Michael Oliver is a Premier League referee, so it was odd to see him running the sidelines at an Arsenal womens game. Turns out, he didn't start out the night indentding to ref.
HomeMichael Oliver is in the crowd tonight. Weird to see him in civilian clothing somehow.....
— Tim Stillman (@Stillberto) August 27, 2015
These days, one needn’t rely upon calendars, atomic clocks or tidal flows to gauge the dwindling of summer; the stench of panic emanating from Ed Woodward’s corner office is guidance enough.
Earlier this summer, Louis van Gaal hinted that Manchester United would bring in a "mystery striker." He was, obviously, very mysterious about who it would be. There were rumors about Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Neymar, Edinson Cavani and Cristiano Ronaldo, among others.
Exeter City's David Wheeler owes his girlfriend some flowers and chocolates and other assorted gifts for what happened this weekend before, during and after Exeter's League Two match against Northampton Town.
Wheeler sent an errant warm-up shot into the stands, where it hit his girlfriend, Alice Woodyatt, breaking her wrist.
Here's the crazy part: she stayed to watch the whole match before going to the doctor.