As Steven Gerrard approached his 100th England cap, a flood of articles appeared eulogising his career. Journalists across the country took it upon themselves to praise his all-round ability yet there was a twinge of disappointment that he hadn’t quite fulfilled his potential, particularly in regard to his time with England. Even Gerrard himself only…
I am not a superstitious person: I do not try to avoid black cats, I step on cracks in the pavement, and I avoid breaking mirrors because it’s just plain impractical. If there was ever a person to make me question those beliefs though, it’s Michael Ballack. Having worn the number 13 shirt at every…
Ukraine’s opening game of Euro 2012 against Sweden was the perfect send-off for Andriy Shevchenko. Before the game Shevchenko was talked about, yet it was mostly backhanded discussion – he was one of few recognisable names on the Ukrainian roster, but debate was more about whether or not he would complete the 90 minutes than…
The recent transfer of Doni from Roma to Liverpool struck me as a bit strange. Doni isn’t a world class keeper, but he is good enough to start at a middle to top-range club, so trading the bench at the Stadio Olimpico for the one at Anfield seemed a little odd. I can see the…
Why exactly Laurent Robert failed to turn his talent into greatness could be blamed on himself, or on changes in football – for pretty much the same reasons. As a child, Robert excelled in a number of sports, but opted for football, somewhat bizarrely, “because of the team spirit factor”. It appeared to be the…
When Alan Ball took over Man City in the summer of 1995, he found a young Georgian waiting for him at Maine Road. City had narrowly avoided relegation the season before and, now the Premier League was to be reduced to 20 teams for the new season, things were about to get tougher for them.…
“Emre is the prodigy who lived up to all the hype.” A risky statement when he’s only just turned 23, World Soccer. Not unreasonable though. Despite having huge amounts of attention lavished upon him when he was still a child, Emre managed to pull through and actually come good. This kind of exposure heaps silly…
The element of timing in football shouldn’t ever be understated: the coordination of a footballer’s feet is the most important element in their career. Then there’s timing on a grander scale – in their movements around the pitch or, on a larger scale still, in their career movements. With his 36th birthday fast approaching, Juan…
Unique. Unique is the main word to describe Luigi Meroni; not just for his footballing ability, but also for his inclusion in this series. The players are included for not living up to their footballing potential – and Meroni is no exception, winning just one Coppa Italia in his career – but he’s also someone…
In this post-Calciopoli world, it’s easy to forget just how dominant Italian football was throughout the 1980s and 90s. As much as Sky try to claim otherwise, who the title of the “Best League in the World” is awarded to is pretty much splitting hairs, but for the two decades leading up to the millennium…
