Quad Kicks

How can you improve a team which dominated the whole league last season? If we look at Liverpool’s team, there is a gaping hole in midfield. They are in dire need of a creative midfielder.  If you watch any of Liverpool’s matches you’ll make out that Liverpool have only one plan. With two energetic full backs running down the wings providing crossing. The wingers Salah and Mane move inwards with Firmino dropping deep. But, they do not have a plan B. If a team plays a low block then they can give Liverpool a hard time.    They have Naby Keita as a creative midfielder and although he has performed well at the end of the season his form isn’t anywhere near what he showed at Leipzig. Liverpool don’t have a back-up in this position. The biggest problem is that he gets injured far too often.  Here, we can suggest an alternative in Thiago Alcantara of Bayern Munich. For £30 million he would be a steal. The best thing is that he would be an upgrade on Naby Keita and he doesn’t get injured as o

The season was much longer than expected and with the conclusion of the Champions league we now look forward to the next season with bated breath. Before moving too forward,  let’s have a look at the players who impressed straightaway in their debut season.    Bruno Fernandes His inclusion in this list was never in doubt, given his outstanding performance ever since he placed his foot on the Premier League. Manchester United were at 5th place compared  to Leicester’s second and 14 points separated them when Bruno had arrived, fresh from his consistent exploits at Sporting Lisbon and now he has propelled them to 3rd place leapfrogging Leicester who finished at 5th. Be it banging goals or creating them, his involvement and dedication  to the game was the highest and indeed brought out the best from his teammates.   Erling Braut Haaland At some point or the other, he made us believe that goalscoring was a piece of cake for him.  Goals came thick and fast for the tall Norweigan. The teenag

  The transfer market opened on the 27th of July and since then, there has been one team which has strengthened itself and will have a totally different look come next season. Frank Lampard’s Chelsea backed by Roman Abramovic’s cash have upgraded in almost each position where they seemed lacking last season.  Let us start with their weaknesses last season. Their most obvious problematic area was their defence. Apart from Reece James and club captain Azpilicueta, the others had a season to forget. Chelsea needed a new centre back and a left back at the minimum. Then, they lacked a creative midfielder. Although Mount was there, he wasn’t consistent enough. Willian and Pedro were amazing servants for the club but they had to be upgraded as they were getting older.    So, first let us look at centre backs. Chelsea signed Paris Saint Germain captain and Champions League finalist Thiago Silva on a one year deal. They also signed upcoming French defender Malang Saar from Nice on a free and ga

  Now that there are now not many games round the corner, we decided to take a glimpse at the history of the Community Shield. The Community Shield is played between the winners of the Premier League and the winners of the FA cup of the previous season and marks the first trophy of the long season that is to be played ahead.  Well if both are triumphed by a single club, the runner up in the Premier League happens to be the opposition. It is more charity oriented rather than just business as the game proceeds are distributed to the charities and community initiatives. The history goes back to 1898 when it was first played between the professionals and the amateurs. The first official match was played between Manchester United and the Queens Park Rangers where it was known as the Sheriff of London Charity Shield.     While you may wonder that rules must remain the same, yeah they are except for a few exceptions like the teams are allowed a maximum of 6 substitutions in a match, 3 more

  The FA Community Shield marks the beginning of the new season in England. It is a match played at Wembley between the winners of the Premier League and the FA Cup of the previous season. Liverpool steamrolled the Premier League last season while Arsenal capped off a poor season with the FA Cup trophy. They will face off on the 29th of August, with the first title of the season at stake.  PLAYERS TO WATCH OUT FOR ARSENAL Pierre Emerick-Aubameyang Arsenal’s Gabonese superstar will look to find the back of the net in yet another final. He has been the shining light for Arsenal and has stepped up in big games. At his brilliant best, he is unstoppable. He will look to start the season with a bang.       Kieren Tierney The Scottish left back was signed last season. His impressive performances at the end of the 19-20 season have made him one of the most consistent players for the Gunners. He has proven to be very solid defensively, somewhat fixing a leaky Arsenal defence. He is decent goin

Messi caused a stir in the footballing world, no not this time for any out of the world goal scored but his future surrounding him after he let know his feelings to the Barcelona board that he no longer wishes to be a part of his boyhood club. Apart from Messi leaving Barcelona, let’s have a look at the ongoing crisis scenario at FC Barcelona. MESSI Well no player is bigger than the club which we always get to see in the football fraternity unless you have a certain Argentine magician in your ranks. Such has been his command in this Barcelona setup. Fans gathered outside the Camp Nou pleading to resign Bartomeu, the club president. While it looks like Bartomeu isn’t going anywhere but what looks more likely is Messi heading in some other way. Yes, he is every right to leave and enjoy his game elsewhere wherein he will not have the burden to drag his team every time. We all saw this decision coming but it has come so thick, fast and quick that it has flabbergasted us. Now what lies ahea

  UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin has stated his belief that the current one - legged knock-out format of the Champions League's quarter finals and semi-finals should be considered as a full-time fixture in the competition as it is, in his opinion, “more interesting” Are one-legged knockout matches the future? Is hosting a mini-tournament at the end of every season a viable option? Let us discuss the possible options -  Advantages of one-legged knockout ties   The main advantage of a one-legged tie is that it makes the competition unpredictable. How many of us would have predicted that Paris Saint Germain would make the final, RB Leipzig, Lyon would reach the semi-finals? Probably, not many. Manchester City may not have lost to Lyon if the game was played over two legs. For underdogs to win a two-legged tie, it would take a lot of effort. But for them to win one game, it is much easier.  Advantages of two-legged knockout ties  The home and away games have been a feature of Euro

The UEFA Europa League campaign finally comes to an end, with Sevilla FC claiming the title for the sixth-time. Here is our attempt at making the Europa League Team Of The Year. Narrowing down to 11 players was a tough job. So there were some omisions, players who might have made headlines, but didn't get a place in our eleven. Comment down to let us know your changes for our team. GOALKEEPER: SERGIO ROMERO (MANCHESTER UNITED) The Argentine goalkeeper was impressive this season, just conceding 2 in his 9 Europa League appearances. With that he kept 7 cleansheets  and claimed the Golden Glove award, just ahead of Sevilla's Yassine Bounou. DEFENDERS: RIGHT BACK JESUS NAVAS (SEVILLA FC) Navas has been deadly in the right flank throughout the campaign for Sevilla. The 34 year old defender made 6 Europa League appearances, providing twice. His tireless runs along the flank and sheer commitment were noteworthy. The Sevilla skipper has always been leading from the front! CENTRE-BACKS