According to former Premier League great Sami Nasri, two players had more natural potential than Messi and Ronaldo. According to the Frenchman, Brazilian duo Ronaldo and Ronaldinho were more gifted and may have been more successful had they taken their careers more seriously. The last twenty years have seen Messi and Ronaldo rise to the […]

In this week’s edition of Premier League Tactics Corner, we analyze Diego Costa’s movement and pressing, as well as Stoke City’s defensive tactics against Manchester City. Chelsea’s Costa Costa does three things really well. He presses, he uses his speed, and he finishes. He’s as old school as center forwards come and as simple as […]

In the 52nd minute at St. James' Park, the inevitable happened. Arsenal scored. Not many would have banked on the rejuvenated Laurent Koscielny to break the deadlock in such a fine fashion, putting his team firmly in the driving seat after a well taken half-volley, but it was no surprise to see another Wenger team […]

Merry Christmas one and all and welcome to Gameweek 19. Blackpool Vs Liverpool faces a late pitch inspection, otherwise it looks set to be a full line up over the festivities. There will be plenty of action to enjoy as you tuck into your Turkey sandwiches and polish of the last of the sherry. Tottenham […]

First against third will take place on Monday when Arsenal travel to Old Trafford to take on Manchester United in what will be a fitting end to an exciting weekend. Arsenal lead United by the slimmest of margins, just a point, due to United missing out on league play last weekend against Blackpool because of […]

The funny thing about the Premier League is that you never quite know how things will turn out until matters play out on the pitch. Before the weekend, many were waxing poetic on Chelsea's very realistic chance of thrashing Sunderland by four, maybe five to Sunderland's sad nil. Sunderland failed to get that memo though […]

As much as I do enjoy the off the field entertainment associated with football in England, early Saturday kickoffs are always a welcome relief to the insanity of contract negotiations, rumors and managerial master classes. While topics concerning the week that was have been written on at length, it's now time to get back down […]

"That's where I play best, that's how I was formed. In every age group at youth level, I often played through the middle. I've been playing out wide for two years with Arsenal but feel more at ease in the centre of the pitch." These words were recently uttered by the only person on the […]

If, as is his reported wish, Cesc Fabregas is sold back to Barcelona, it would without doubt be a sad moment for the Premier League. Not only would it be a damning indictment of 'The Best League In The World Ever' ™ that influential players from three of the traditional Big Four had gone to […]

There's no doubt that the Premier League season is heating up. The last few weeks have been extremely entertaining. And, for the casual observer, it's wonderful to see the Big Four teams getting beat. But there were two incidents on Saturday that I found deplorable. The first was Javier Mascherano's horror tackle on Portsmouth's Tal […]

Joey Barton is never far from controversy and such was the case today when the Newcastle midfielder returned to professional football. In his game today for Newcastle, he only touched the ball once during the three minutes he played. In those three minutes, he commited a controversial tackle, showed little respect, was purposefully tripped by […]

Deals are heating up on the eve of the Euro 2008 tournament so let's dive straight in and get caught up. This morning's big news is that Mexican striker Giovani dos Santos has left Barcelona to sign for English club Tottenham Hotspur after the two clubs agreed an initial £4.7m fee which could rise to […]

If the papers were to believed, Arsene Wenger would have a Solomonesque Harem of young studs at his disposal.  However, the rumors of OM star Samir Nasri moving on up to the Emirates seem to have some juice. Nasri, 20, recently signed a four-year deal with Marseilles.  But, the deal contains a £13.5 million buyout […]