This weekend, as the top two teams in the Premier League meet, Frank Lampard is set to return to Stamford Bridge for the first time since joining Chelsea's title rivals Manchester City. Are they ready to welcome him back?
With an horrifically busy schedule of three hours training a day, and just six shopping days to go until Christmas, professional footballers’ personal assistants are, as we speak, desperately loading up Maybachs with designer velour tracksuits, Jeroboams of Cristal and any other tat expensive enough to justify the effort. So without further ado, welcome to the Game Day 17 Premier League preview.
Will Liverpool Waste Yet More Money On A Goalkeeper This Winter?
“We play with 11 men, other teams play with 10 men and a goalkeeper.” – Brendan Rodgers.
Plus: United’s Human Wall, Wilfried Bony’s Bass and Sheikh Mansour’s Middle Finger
In this week's Premier League review, we look at what's eating Diego Costa (and, more importantly, what other clubs should do about it), why Brendan Rodgers is feeling “absolutely incredible," how to interpret claims of a resurgent Manchester United and more.
We’re about a year and a half removed from Neymar’s dazzling performance at the 2013 Confederations Cup, which saw the then-21-year-old score four goals in four matches to secure the Selecao their 4th pre-World Cup tournament title. Since then, the new number 10 for Brazil moved to Barcelona on a $74 million transfer fee and led the 2014 host country to the semifinals of the World Cup before a back injury ended his (and his country’s) run.
It’s a game that is dear to every soccer player: the crossbar challenge. If you've ever played the world's game, then you probably participated in some form of the crossbar challenge. In fact, you can go on YouTube and watch hundreds of videos of players showing off their crossbar challenge skills.
The18 considered titling this article “The Master vs. The Apprentice,” but, knowing what an avid reader of ours he is, we feared Jose Mourinho would spectacularly lose his sh*t at even the mildest suggestion of deference towards Louis van Gaal. Neither man, however, could quibble at being labelled a Super Ego: how else are we to describe two managers who refer to themselves without the slightest hint of irony as “The Special One” and “The Best Coach in the World?”
Yesterday, we wrote about our predictions for the coming weekend of match play in the Premier League. Today, we drill down into the particular dramas to look out for in the coming days.
1. Chelsea To Keep A Clean Sheet (For The Sake Of Jose’s Mental Health)
After what was an interesting transfer window that saw several big name players on the move, here at The18 we wanted to go over the top things we learned following the expensive window in the the Prem.
We all have our favorite players within our favorite clubs. Normally, the player’s personality, playing style and achievements form a perfect cocktail of love that ferments over a number of seasons. So what are fans to do when that player, whose kit you own and have cherished over so many Saturday and Sunday morning pints, does the unthinkable and moves to a rival club?