England

As much of a cliché as this sounds, England is very much a team that is greater than the sum of its parts.

This isn’t to say England has bad players — Fran Kirby and Lucy Bronze are among the best in the world at their respective positions. Yet it would be hard to say the Three Lionesses are the best in the world in any one particular area. There are better passing teams, better possession teams, better defending teams and quicker and stronger teams.

But when England puts it together, there might not be a better team.

Chelsea has made its first, and probably only, move while serving a two-window transfer ban (this summer and next January) by permanently signing the previously on-loan Mateo Kovačić from Real Madrid for a fee that could approach nearly $57 million.

The 25-year-old just completed his first season with the Blues, and with plenty of unforeseen circumstances ahead, Kovačić had to be brought back.

Manchester United looks to be wrapping up it’s second signing of the summer transfer window. After a poor season with an obvious lack of quality in an aging squad, Ole Gunnar Solskjær has identified younger targets with potential for long-term improvement. Recently signing 21-year-old Daniel James from Swansea City, United turned its attention to its defensive targets. While it seems pretty clear that Matthijs de Ligt will not be moving to Old Trafford any time soon, Crystal Palace’s Aaron Wan-Bissaka looks primed and ready to sign a contract with the northern giants.

It was recently announced that Rafa Benitez will be leaving Newcastle when his contract expires on June 31.

This is a huge loss for the Magpies, unquestionably. With Mike Ashley still at the helm of the former Premier League title challengers, Benitez was rarely supported in the transfer window, and had to do his best with the players that he had.

The Telegraph has reported that Qin Liang, the England vs Cameroon referee, twice ignored VAR advice in order to prevent the Cameroonian team from walking out during the game.

The first instance was Fran Kirby’s penalty appeal, in which Kirby was taken down with a high challenge in the box by a Cameroonian defender.

One of the major criticisms Chelsea consistently has taken over the past few years is its inability to break youth into the first team. While the Blues have one of the best academies in English soccer, they consistently loan out their best products and are never heard from again.

But with the year-long transfer ban stopping Chelsea from buying more players to fill the holes in its roster, it will have to rely on its youth products to step up.

One such player is Tammy Abraham.

Newcastle United fans were sad to hear this morning that manager Rafael Benítez would not be re-signing with the club for the 2019-20 season.

It is with disappointment that we announce manager Rafael Benítez will leave Newcastle United upon the expiry of his contract on 30th June 2019.

England’s 3-0 defeat of Cameroon in the Women’s World Cup Round of 16 today will live long in the memory for all the wrong reasons. The match threatened to descend into chaos on a number of occasions, and it left the players and managers of both nations fuming, albeit for very different reasons.