According to multiple reports, Chelsea have dropped Diego Costa for Saturday’s match against Leicester City amidst an argument between the Spanish forward and the Chelsea training staff and a lucrative offer from the Chinese Super League.
Here's a thing the Guardian reported that caused a round of chuckling to be heard through our office. It was just me chuckling, but it could be heard throughout the office.
Using the sole of your boot, the roll over is a simple skill performed to create space, quickly vary the direction of your passing options or to take the ball around a defender's tackle. The likes of Andres Iniesta, Cristiano Ronaldo and Eden Hazard can show you how it’s done on YouTube.
But if you’re looking for a variant of the move, a sort of playground evolution to get people out of their seats and screaming “Holy s***! Did you see the tekkers on that young fella?”, then you’ll need to YouTube James Milner.
That’s right, Boring James Milner.
Liverpool lost 1-0 to Southampton in the EFL Cup Wednesday, which in and of itself is not all that surprising. Southampton are not bad and were playing at home, plus Liverpool have a huge EPL tie against Manchester United coming up.
Former Aston Villa, Watford and England manager Graham Taylor has died of a suspected heart attack. He was 72.
Taylor is best known for managing England in the 1992 Euros, in which England failed to get out of their group, and throughout qualifying for the 1994 World Cup. He also led Watford from the fourth division to the first division in just five years and made the 1984 FA Cup final.
Former Watford owner Sir Elton John paid tribute to his late friend on Instagram:
“I love West Ham. We had a fantastic season and I can’t wait to play in the Olympic Stadium. I’m 100 percent staying at West Ham, I love the club. I can tell the Hammers fans that.” — Dimitri Payet, July 15, 2016
The world's oldest active opera house, the Teatro di San Carlo in Naples, Italy, is going to host perhaps the least musical person it has ever hosted: Diego Armando Maradona.
On January 16, Maradona will paricipate in an event celebrating, um, Maradona.
As one might expect, some artsy people are unhappy about Maradona taking over an opera landmark, because he's, you know, Maradona. Diego Maradona's life seems more suited for a rave in an abandoned warehouse than an opera, but whatever.
You could be forgiven for forgetting that, at the age of 24, Juan Mata had already achieved the remarkable feat of winning World Cup, European Championship and Champions League titles. The diminutive Spaniard, now 28, manages to avoid the public eye, and the attentions of defenders, with a cerebral approach that wins plaudits without approaching the levels of adulation that his surrounding cast receives.
The rumor mill has been heating up as clubs start making moves this January. One big-time rumor that might make waves in the coming weeks, should it turn into reality, is Manchester City’s reported interest in Ivan Rakitic.
The Barcelona midfielder has been warming the bench for Luis Enrique’s side since early December, and a move to play under Pep Guardiola might prove alluring to the Croatian playmaker.
Still, how well would he fit into Guardiola’s team?