The yearly center-back crisis at Manchester United has arrived. A couple of seasons ago, in spite of having five center backs in Chris Smalling, Phil Jones, Jonny Evans, Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic, Sir Alex Ferguson was forced to deploy Darren Fletcher and Michael Carrick in central defense. For that reason, Manchester United has grown […]

Surely, Louis van Gaal and Alex Ferguson have many qualities in common. But their approach to soccer is also fundamentally different. The most obvious similarity is that they are both proven winners. The Dutch began his managerial career at Ajax in Amsterdam, the country’s most prestigious and traditional club, and he continued his learning curve […]

It hasn’t really gone to plan for Manchester United has it? Unwanted records are being broken and despite spending a vast sum in the summer transfer window and shipping out a number of players too, the squad still looks unbalanced. In amongst the gloom though there have been some signs of encouragement. United’s sharp-shooting attackers […]

Manchester United's 5-3 defeat to Leicester City on Sunday was the latest setback in what has been a twelve month long period of difficulty for the twenty time English champions. The appointment and subsequent dismissal of David Moyes after just 10 months was the start of a steady decline with experienced Dutchman Louis van Gaal […]

The new Premier League season is only two weeks old and Manchester United under Louis van Gaal are already playing catch-up. The pre-season tour feels like a very long time ago now. The Red Devils have placed a significant number of eggs into an Ángel di María-sized basket and the spending may not end there […]

During the World Cup 2014 at Brazil, millions of soccer fans and thousands of experts saw the renaissance of the 3-5-2, the classical continental formation of the 1970s and 1980s. Louis van Gaal, who throughout his managerial career has stood by a philosophy akin to the Dutch “Total Football” but been highly flexible in terms […]

Anyone remember a player by the name of Teeratep Winothai?  Yes? No?  David Moyes may not recall him but Winothai scored the winner for the Singha All Star XI as Manchester United succumbed 1-0 in the Scot’s first game in charge of the Red Devils. Though the result seemed harmless enough, it was nonetheless an […]

With David Moyes finally getting the chop at Manchester United, the search for Sir Alex Ferguson’s successor goes back to square one. Since taking over from Ferguson last summer, Moyes has never looked entirely comfortable at the helm and his sacking almost feels like an act of mercy. He always seemed to be a temporary […]

It seems incredible now when we view some of the impressive grounds that make up the home stadia of the Premiership clubs that in just 17 years how many of them have changed beyond all recognition from those far away days of the Premierships beginning. Looking back, the speed that some of the grounds changed […]

From humble beginnings, Cristiano Ronaldo has become to be regarded by many as the best footballer in the world. He was born Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro on February 5th, 1985. Cristiano was the youngest of four children. His mother Maria Dolores dos Santos Aveiro was a cook and his father José Dinis Aveiro, a […]

The first time I heard about the movie Control, about the life of Joy Division lead singer Ian Curtis, was three years ago after I just finished "Touching From A Distance," the excellent book by his widow Deborah Curtis. When the movie was finally released in 2007, I agonized over the fact that it was […]