All around the world, tributes are flowing in for one of football’s most iconic managers. Sir Alex Ferguson, winner of the lion’s share of Manchester United’s 20 premier league titles, finally decided to call it a day (well, he may yet do another about-turn)
Two weekends ago Andre Ayew, Marseille’s Ghanaian forward received a red card in the dying seconds of their hard-fought 1-0 win over Lorient. He claims he had joined the melee following a slap to Mathieu Valbuena in order to calm things down
In case you thought Borussia Dortmund are intruders to the Champions League crème de la crème, think again. The recently-dethroned Bundesliga champions were the winners of the 5th edition of the UEFA Champions League 16 years ago. And guess where they trounced Juventus 3-1?
With all the talk about the shift of the European centre of gravity to Germany from Spain, you’d be forgiven for thinking that the Primera Liga big guns have won nothing in Europe for decades.
Even those who are not Liverpool fans will confess to nursing an admiration for the selfless, determined Dutchman who laboured on their right flank for six years donning the number 7 jersey that Luis Suarez seems intent on disgracing.
Consider this the second instalment of the ‘To deal or not to deal’ piece I did earlier when I compared the ROI Liverpool and the high-flying Borussia Dortmund have got on the players they’ve added to their rota in the recent past.
At 37 and 38 years of age respectively, Andrea Stramaccioni and Vincenzo Montella not only possess the striking features that have young females the world over dreaming of Italian hunks, they are among the youngest coaches the Serie A has seen in its 80 plus years of existence.
Two years ago the world watched agog as Liverpool FC forked out a staggering £35 million for the services of up-and-coming Geordie striker Andy Carroll. Much as the 1.91m youngster had ingratiated himself to Newcastle fans by scoring 17 goals in the 2009-10 season, helping the team climb back into the top flight from the championship, he was still pretty much an unknown commodity on the world stage.