Matt Jones

There are few players in European soccer that have both the ingenuity and industry to immediately improve this current Chelsea team. After all, Jose Mourinho is a manager who boasts very bespoke principles and for the Blues to stumble across a talent of that calibre in January is something of a rarity. But as Andre Schurrle […]

The top two sides in the Premier League and the Bundesliga will go head-to-head this weekend in their respective divisions, providing a perfect beginning to what should be an engrossing weekend of soccer. German top flight football gets back underway after the festive hiatus and the league leaders visiting the team in second place represents […]

When supporters lambast the unrelentingly tiresome antics of modern day footballers, Manchester City’s legendary goalkeeper Bert Trautmann is held up as a pillar of spirit and resilience. During the 1956 FA Cup final City and Birmingham City, Trautmann was involved in a sickening collision with opposing forward Peter Murphy with the score at 3-1 in […]

Deloitte’s annual investigation into the world’s wealthiest soccer teams revealed those lucky enough to be at the pinnacle of the game are making more money than ever. Real Madrid, Manchester United, Bayern Munich, Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain all secured revenues in excess of €450 million, tangible monetary gains that will surely be invested into the […]

Amongst all of the FA Cup shocks that have occurred down the years, there are few more unexpected that Wrexham’s 2-1 win over Arsenal back in 1992. The Gunners were the reigning league champions at the time, while the Welsh outfit were far away from their very best form having finished bottom of the Football […]

As difficult as it may seem with Hungary currently on the periphery of European soccer's elite, during the 1950s the country produced one of the finest teams in the rich annals of football history, "The Golden Team." In 1954, the leading domestic side in Hungarian football was Budapest Honved and on December 13 that year, they rocked […]

The FA Cup fourth round will see the Premier League temporarily put on hold, but there are some tantalizing ties to savor from this weekend's games. Two of our selections come from the world's oldest soccer competition; in addition we've got Dutch football's biggest rivals coming head-to-head, a clash between two giants of Italian soccer and […]

On Monday night, the Goodison Park crowd roared as a couple of excitable figures on the field put in an effervescent effort. It was a noise befitting of the old stadium's revered atmosphere and arguably the loudest din to emit from the fans in attendance in what’s been an unrelentingly moribund season for Everton. But […]

For all the discussion that’s raged in perpetuity when it comes to Arsene Wenger, there’s little denying that in the most recent years of his distinguished tenure, the Arsenal boss has point-blank refused to learn from his mistakes. The club finally ended their silverware hiatus last season after winning the FA Cup, but that was […]

Amidst a build-up of confusion and controversy, the 2015 African Cup of Nations is set to begin in earnest this weekend in Equatorial Guinea. The revised host nation stepped in in November to take over the mantle from Morocco after fears surrounding the spread of the Ebola virus. But the convoluted preparation period and hurried […]

The league leaders from France feature in the best five of the weekend for the very first time this season. And while they may be playing a team struggling for form, such is the quality possessed by this vibrant young side, they fit firmly into the bracket of “must watch”. In addition, the Premier League’s […]

While Southampton’s astonishing rise this season can be attributed to a plethora of different qualities—defensive fortitude, astute management and astounding togetherness, to name but a few—there are few players in the current squad that embody the positive strides made by the club than Dusan Tadic. The effervescent Serbian midfielder scored the winning goal in a […]

That’s right, for Everton—who have lost four consecutive Premier League games—a match against Manchester City—the in-form, reigning champions—is the ideal game to breath some life back into their stuttering campaign. Still with me? As is obvious already, the aforementioned premise isn't based entirely upon recent tangible evidence. The Toffees have been abject in their league […]

Barcelona's final day La Liga decider with Atletico Madrid was one of the highlights of 2014 and the two sides will meet again this weekend for the first time since that encapsulating afternoon. In addition to that enticing clash, we've got two fascinating matches from Italy to savor and a look at both Manchester clubs […]

Gripped by the elation of a late Romelu Lukaku goal, the humdrum of Everton supporters slinking out of Goodison Park at the end of their third round FA Cup tie heralded a significant moment. It'd be naive to brand it as a turning point and it certainly won't be a recipe for quick fix, but the […]