Positives to take as De Bruyne and David Coote eliminate Liverpool from Carabao Cup

In a sense that was gutting. It’s better to get knocked out now rather than reaching the final and losing, but it did feel as though the winner of yesterdays match would probably go on to win the tournament. I’m gutted on a personal level as watching Liverpool win the Carabao Cup with my dad …

Lionel Messi’s moment

This has been the longest period of time without an article on my blog since the summer! Christmas socials and shopping, family and partner commitments, university deadlines etc have limited my time, hence this piece wasn’t out on Sunday evening or even yesterday. There are however some exciting announcements: my website is getting a bit …

England suffer yet another penalty heartbreak

Is there anything more English than penalty heartbreak? 1990, 1996, 1998, 2004, 2006, 2012, 2020, and now 2022 (albeit this wasn't a penalty shoot-out- but still, the big talking point is a penalty miss). It hurts for England fans, but there are plenty of positives to take. On paper, this was England's worst tournament under …

Fantastic performance sees England through to quarter final- but will they cope with the French?

That was a superb performance from England. Senegal may not have had their main man Mane, and been a little bit tactically naive, but they are no mugs. They are not Wales or Iran, yet England were just as, if not more impressive. I’ve been critical as to how Gareth Southgate sets up his side, …

The need for balance when assessing England

The discourse I’ve seen on England’s World Cup campaign seems to flick between something incredibly optimistic to something incredibly pessimistic. In reality, it’s something in between. Southgate is not a terrible manager (like Roy Hodgson was for England, for example) but he is not a great manager either; he’s average and pragmatic. England haven’t been …

England waste everybody’s time in bore-draw

That match epitomised all of my doubts about Gareth Southgate’s snoozeball tactics. Why play such defensive, conservative football when you have some of the most exciting, dangerous forward thinking players in the world at your disposal, and simultaneously, a defence that’s relatively unconvincing and prone to falling asleep? I almost fell asleep, and so did …

Upsets, added time, stalemates- rule changes needed in football?

Brazil have just quite convincingly beaten Serbia, which means every team has now played in the World Cup. There have been couple of great upsets, but also several bore-draws. Croatia against Morocco in particular was like watching your clothes go around the washing machine for two hours or so. But overall, the football has been …

England ease past shithouse-tackling Iran

The Three Lions took part in what was essentially a training session on the most part for their World Cup opening match, against an abject Iran side. You can only beat what’s in front of you, but it’s important that England don’t get ahead of themselves. I was surprised to see Gareth Southgate change to …

Who’s winning the World Cup?

This is the question I posed to everyone on my social media in the buildup to the tournament. I asked who would win, who would be top scorer, which big team would have a shocker (there’s always one!), and who the dark horses are. I’ve published my thoughts, but now it’s time for everyone else’s. …

The 2022 World Cup Preview

I’ve asked everyone for their World Cup predictions/ general thoughts, and usually when I do this kind of article, I insert everyone’s quotes and then my put my feelings at the end. On this occasion, however, I’ve written two separate articles, because while I’m not opposed to long pieces (as has been made clear) I …