How much of Hatem Ben Arfa’s enfant terrible reputation is deserved? It’s impossible to say, because we don’t know the man. However, with only one-year remaining on his Paris Saint-Germain contract, it’s become clear that Ben Arfa’s exit from the French capital is going to look a lot like his exits from Lyon, Marseille, Newcastle United and Hull City.
We all know breakups can be tough. One day everything is hunky-dory, next thing you know your sweet heart leaves you and you're faced with running into them in public.
So what do you do? Greet them naturally? Pretend you don’t see them? Stare at them, tears in your eyes, for 90 minutes? Club America opted to kick their ex-star in the face.
That’s right. Former Club America star Rubens Sambueza was wildly kicked in the face by his compatriot Guido Rodriguez.
For as long as I can remember, people with absolutely zero expertise in the world of player development and zero knowledge about the overwhelming complexities of our incredibly fragmented youth system have been banging on about simply unearthing the next Lionel Messi in the face of what Top Drawer Soccer's Will Parchman elegantly described as issues of money, space and time.
On the back of Sunday’s Ligue 1 fiasco which saw Paris Saint-Germain beat a French opponent by only two goals, Edinson Cavani moved quickly to dismiss the simmering rumors of an irrevocable fallout between himself and new boy Neymar.
Let’s be honest, we’ve probably just witnessed the most calamitous weekend Paris Saint-Germain will suffer all season in France’s Ligue 1. No PSG player was able to get on the scoresheet in their match against Lyon on Sunday, but the Parisian club still managed to win 2-0 by forcing two own goals to maintain their perfect start to the season.
Part of what makes Luis Suarez so brilliant is that he’s absolutely insane. Occasionally this particular character trait can manifest itself poorly, but it’s also the same quirk that propelled him from Montevideo’s Nacional to the Camp Nou.
Suarez made his 2017-18 La Liga bow on Saturday and that insanity was on full display in the match’s final three minutes. With Barcelona leading 3-0, Suarez became hilariously incandescent with Gerard Pique after the defender scored Barca’s fourth in the 87th minute.
Ah yes, Nottingham Forest's famed City Ground, where folks clad in red gather to cheer on their plucky lads in England's Championship division. Truly, this is where the soul of football lives, away from the glitz and glamour, the flashy cars and inflated transfer fees, the private jets and inflated egos. Here, it's about one thing: the fans. Here, folks know it's the fans who make football truly special, which is why—PIE FIGHT! PIE FIGHT!
A match in Australia briefly turned into ice hockey early this morning when Adelaide United's Taylor Regan checked Melbourne Victory's Mitchell Austin nearly out of his boots. I thought Australia was a desert. How did they find out about ice hockey?
Jack Wilshere has had a rough go. Unable to cement a place in the Arsenal first team because of injuries, Wilshere spent last season on loan with Bournemouth, and now the 25-year-old has found himself playing with Arsenal's U-23s.
Evidently, he is not happy about it. He is certainly not happy about something.
Absolutely spectacular work from Jack Andrew Garry Wilshere pic.twitter.com/x8IuESm6Yq
There’s been way too much written about Nicklas Bendtner over the last decade, but it’s always worth remembering that the Danish striker once achieved a higher score than possible on a psychological confidence test.