Matt Jones

There’s an ominous aura that accompanies Chelsea and their illustrious manager at this stage of the season. The Blues’ 2-0 win over Tottenham Hotspur in the League Cup final was quintessential Jose Mourinho, as the Stamford Bridge outfit bolted the back door shut before nicking two scruffy goals. It was a display we've seen repeated […]

From the second he put pen to paper on a bumper contract with Barcelona last summer, Luis Suarez will have been aware that he was going to play a secondary role at the Nou Camp. The mercurial Lionel Messi is a deistic figure in Catalonia after all and the Uruguayan—nor would any player on this […]

The Premier League takes a backseat this weekend, as the eight remaining teams in the FA Cup look to book their spots at Wembley for the semi-finals. Some intriguing quarter-final matches were plucked out of the hat too. Two of the most illustrious names in English soccer will go head-to-head in the tie of the weekend, […]

Liverpool’s thrilling run to the finish line in last season’s Premier League was indisputably the highpoint of the campaign. While the Reds were knocking around in the upper reaches of the table during the early exchanges, their spellbinding streak of victories during the run-in—including a whopping 11-game winning run—took them to within an inch of the […]

The display turned in by Manchester City skipper Vincent Kompany against Manchester United during a 4-1 win last season at the Etihad Stadium is not one you forget in a hurry. At the heart of Manuel Pellegrini’s back-four, the Belgian was an indomitable presence, shutting out the Red Devils forwards with athleticism, intelligence and an array […]

The UEFA Europa League is a competition that gets a lot of stick, but the last-32 of the tournament did plenty to endear itself to the watching soccer stratosphere. And the draw for the last-16 of the tournament has stirred anticipation once again, with some intriguing ties plucked out of the hat in Nyon, Switzerland earlier […]

One thing that stood out when tuning into the UEFA Champions League matches over the last couple of weeks was the thunderous atmosphere conjured by a plethora of sides involved. Teams like Bayer Leverkusen, Juventus, Schalke, Paris Saint-Germain and Shakhtar Donetsk—at a stadium that wasn’t even their own, no less—were afforded a stellar backdrop to […]

When it comes to Romelu Lukaku, the narrative amongst many supporters and pundits reads that he isn’t having a good time of things at Everton since his £28 million move from Chelsea last summer. On the back of a disappointing World Cup for the burly Belgian, in the early stages of the Premier League season Lukaku […]

In amongst the carnage of Arsenal’s loss to Monaco in the UEFA Champions League, one curious facet of their display was the cameo appearance of Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain. The England midfielder was brought on in place of Francis Coquelin at the base of the Gunners’ midfield with the Gunners chasing the game. By no means is […]

The destination of the first piece of domestic silverware in English soccer will be decided this weekend with the League Cup final set to be played at Wembley on Sunday. That clash between two local rivals is just one of a surfeit of cracking games to savor this weekend. In Italy, the top two sides go […]

Manchester City looked as though they’d turned a corner in the Stadio Olimpico during their 2-0 win against AS Roma. Manuel Pellegrini and his team were happy to relinquish some initiative against a fine Giallorossi side, remained compact and when their opportunities arose, they seized them with a forensic incision; it was a long overdue, […]

When the draw for the UEFA Champions League last-16 was made, the tie between Juventus and Borussia Dortmund is one that immediately stood out for a plethora of reasons. Not only is this a game that harbors some historical significance—these two teams contested the 1997 European Cup final—but both sides are in intriguing predicaments coming […]

There seems to be something quite taboo when it comes to dropping high-profile players in the current age. The power players have in the game means the slightest discrepancy or disagreement can prompt some unrest, a few public quotes and eventually maybe even a transfer away. Throughout his career at Everton, Tim Howard hasn’t ever […]

The Premier League takes center stage once again this weekend and there are three standout matches to sample. While the race for the title in England’s top flight is becoming increasingly one-sided, there’s still an outside chance of a fightback. But the chasing teams face a difficult challenge in front of their own supporters this […]

A quick look at the teams involved in the knockout stages of the UEFA Europa League this season and you’d be forgiven for thinking this was a Champions League draw. While the top tier of European soccer will rightly hog the spotlight in the days to come, the Europa League represents an intriguing sub-plot. And although […]