Author Archives: tyduffy

In his WSJ column, Gabriele Marcotti brings up the dearth of British managers at the top of English football.  Seven of the 20 Premier League managers are foreign.  Sir Alex Ferguson is the only British manager among the so-called “Big … Continue reading →

Liverpool announced that Glen Johnson will miss at least a month after tearing a knee ligament.  It may be paradoxical to claim this for a recent £18m signing, but Johnson’s absence may aid the Reds in their battle for fourth. … Continue reading →

EA Sports’ FIFA franchise strives for realism, to approximate the experience of being a footballer or managing a club. When you see the gaudy, arcade style interface of FIFA 10 for the Wii, you realize this will be a very … Continue reading →

Sven-Goran Eriksson sparked an apparent revolution at Notts County in July. With Tord Grip and mysterious financial backing, he set off to dazzle the Football League like one of his secretaries. He signed legacy kid Kasper Schmeichel. He lured former … Continue reading →

The League Cup stinks. It’s superfluous and boring. It’s the FA Cup with neither the romance nor the tradition. It’s either meaningless adornment for big clubs or a delusion for teams not good enough to win a real trophy. Other … Continue reading →

In an exclusive interview for the Guardian, Manchester City chairman Khaldoon al-Mubarak criticized Michel Platini’s planned control of football club expenditure. He has a point. Platini wants new financial rules by 2012. Under those guidelines, Clubs would spend within their … Continue reading →

Before playing Arsenal, former Arsenal striker Emmanuel Adebayor said Arsenal supporters are “not real fans.” “What is good at City is the fans. They love you. Arsenal have a lot of fans who are not fans,” Adebayor said. “Arsenal have … Continue reading →

Paul Doyle of The Guardian once described Carlos Tevez as “the rich man’s Dirk Kuyt.” That man may be far more rich than we thought. Carlos Tevez left Manchester United for Manchester City, in a deal that reportedly paid Tevez’ … Continue reading →

It’s funny how karma works.  Chelsea took an inhumanely stern line with Adrian Mutu, and now FIFA has taken a stern line with them. The Blues have been found guilty of “inducing” French midfielder Gael Kakuta to break his contract … Continue reading →

Toward the end of his book Inverting the Pyramid, Jonathan Wilson writes about the changing nature of modern football.  A player he brings up to emphasize this is Michael Owen.  To Wilson, Owen is a relic of a previous era. … Continue reading →

Arsenal beat Celtic 2-0 at Celtic Park, all but assuring their qualification for the Champions League group stages, with two away goals.  It was not the presiding effort of their 6-1 away win at Everton, but the two deflected goals … Continue reading →

Manchester City are spending their way into the Premier League top four. Paradoxically, the club most amenable to their ambition is Arsenal, whom they wish to supplant. The Gunners sold City striker Emmanuel Adebayor for £25m. Less than two weeks … Continue reading →

UEFA will fine both Arsenal and Manchester United £5,000 respectively for fan incidents during last years Champions League semifinals.  An Arsenal fan hit Nemanja Vidic with a plastic bottle.  A Manchester United supporter hurled a smoke bomb onto the pitch.    … Continue reading →

Former England, Manchester City and Mexico manager Sven Goran-Eriksson did not become director of football at Notts County “for the money.”  Nor, apparently, did he go for the prestige or mild degree of difficulty.  Eriksson inherits a club that finished … Continue reading →