For many, 2016 will be remembered as a year of loss. For all the remarkable gains, achievements and creations that sprung from 2016, it’s often the hurt derived from defeats and casualties that reverberates most poignantly. Here are 10 things we’ve lost in football over the course of 2016.
If there's one thing we love in life, it's laughing at Harry Kane. The man is just an easy target.
He's an even easier target than normal when he misses a penalty. Join us in laughing as Harry skies a penalty against Stoke.
#HarryKane misses a penalty. Whhhy He is my captain in #fantasyfootball.. pic.twitter.com/gN7mDBiMEi
Son Heung-min is now our favorite footballer on the planet. And with an average of a goal every 147 minutes this season, he's a damn good footballer at that.
@SpursOfficial @kevinwimmer27 pic.twitter.com/87GlYBZPHK
— . (@ned99kelsey) December 29, 2016
On Tuesday, it was confirmed that Swansea City parted ways with Bob Bradley after just taking over the team in early August. It may come as a surprise to many, taking into consideration he's only been in charge for 11 games, but it's a decision that the Swansea board felt needed to be made with the team sitting in 19th position on only 12 points.
News of Carlos Tevez perhaps becoming the highest paid footballer on the planet by earning nearly $40 million with Shanghai Shenhua ($1.25 per second) was unfathomable. That kind of total, when dissected and attempted to be understood, is like standing on the beach and trying to fathom all the individual grains of sand or staring up at the night sky and quantifying your place in the universe.
Saying the words "Adam Lallana is the key to the Premier League's most high-powered offense" feels weird. It does not roll off the tongue. You think "did I just say that?" and, after a few moments, realize you did say that, and that you meant it, because it's true.
This is not a thing that seemed like it could ever be true as recently as this summer.
Here are a couple of tweets I have tweeted about Adam Lallana:
What was truly remarkable about Leicester City’s Premier League title run-in last year was how smoothly they managed it. After a 2-1 loss to Arsenal of February 14, Leicester finished the season on a 12-game unbeaten run, winning eight and drawing four.
In those eight victories, they hammered their opponents by a scoreline of 14-1. That solitary goal was scored by Everton after Leicester had already clinched the crown. Essentially, they never slipped up; they never made a mistake.
Bob Bradley is now the former manager of Swansea City after the club announced his firing Tuesday.
Bradley, the first American to manage a Premier League club, lasted just 11 games. In those 11 games, he went 2-2-7 and gave up 29 goals, which means that another American probably isn't coaching in the Premier League for a while unless David Wagner can get Huddersfield town promoted.
If the decision to sack Bob Bradley isn’t made in the next 48 hours, as the Daily Mail has reported, it will certainly come down to Saturday’s match against Bournemouth. Bradley was only appointed on October 3, and his reign has been all of 11 matches but such is the nature of managing in the Premier League.