Political Opinions, Football Analysis And Entertaiment talk

When it comes to consistency of goals scored, no other striker delivers like Manchester City superstar Erling Haaland. The Norwegian's an extraordinary player, a poacher of goals that should be the model for future strikers.  The Norwegian star is currently the quickest player in Premier League history to score 50 league goals, shattering Andrew Cole's previous record by 17 games after scoring the opening goal in Manchester City's 1-1 draw with Liverpool.  His conversion rate is bone chilling and definitely worrisome for opposition coaches who always seems confused on what must be done to stop Haaland. Stopping the 23-year-old is hard but possible.  Fact; Haaland do not score goals outside the 18-yard box. Since joining Manchester City from Borrusia Dortmund, Haaland has only managed to shoot 10 times outside the box and scored just once.  Why? He is an instinctive goal poacher whose short burst opens up space for him to shoot accurately to goal. His biggest strength...

The highly anticipated clash between Manchester City vs Liverpool has sent purse racing, bookies predicting, coaches' strategizing and players practicing various systems to outmaneuver the opposition.  Liverpool star Dominik Szoboszlai is optimistic of beating Manchester City and feels him and his team has what it takes to win at the Etihad Stadium.  Although, beating Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium won't be easy. City are the reigning European, Premier League and FA Cup champions.  They achieved that fate by playing some of the best football in the world and scoring goals when it really matters. The club's goal-getter Erling Haaland should've won the Ballon d'Or having helped Manchester City win their first ever European trophy while scoring 54 goals in 55 games.  This season, Haaland has hit double figures in goals even in the absence of Kevin De Bruyne which proves he is a world class striker.  City are a world class team, Szoboszlai knows that, but he ...

Knowing the history and reputation of Manchester United, a 9th defeat in 17 matches is difficult to swallow. A club once modeled as the best run club in the world and envied by the perennial champions league based in Spain.  Manchester United are now repeating the same faith as Liverpool, who, after dominating English football in the 1980s and early 1990s, fell into mediocrity. It's been ten years since Manchester United won the Premier League, and there is a strong possibility that it will take much longer to do so.  Manchester United, however, can achieve great heights by continuing to be led by Erick Ten Hag. In time, United will struggle to compete against established clubs of the present era and its managers must be patient in introducing their ideas into the squad.  What the manager currently needs now is less media attention (consistent talk of sack by pundits and journalists) and players off- field antics (unnecessary interviews due to less game time, snitching an...

Another game, another frustrating afternoon for the Reds fans who watched in horror as Darwin Nunez kept shooting in anticipation of a goal only to miss and bolster the confidence of the opposition.  The striker attempted nine shoots on target without scoring- a record attempt in Premier League history. and 3 close call shoots that left Klopp venting with his staffs.  No doubt, Nunez is very talented striker and has proven it this season by scoring two exceptional goals against Newcastle United and then one of the best goals of the season against Bournemouth in the Carabao Cup. But Liverpool needs more than that to stop Manchester City from winning the Premier League title for a 4th consecutive season. They honestly need an instinctive goal poacher whose positioning is second to none and bullish in front of goal.  A player like Erling Haaland is rare but Liverpool due have a unique goal scorer in Cody Gakpo. He is capable of helping Liverpool mount a serious title challen...

Manchester United are reportedly planning to part ways with Erik Ten Hag after witnessing little or no progress in the team on field activities. The current team is disjointed, relies on individual brilliance to win games and lack ideas to open up teams.  The manager's confrontational style of management has done more harm than good to the team and stipfle the progress of the younger players. Top players seems to be protesting with thier instant drop in form.  United at the moment are way off the pace to compete for the Premier League title and already looking ill-equipped to win a domestic cup after suffering a 3-0 defeat to Newcastle United in the Caraboa Cup.  Ten Hag though believes he could still turn things around and gave a defiance speech when asked if his time is running out.  Irrespective of what he said, Manchester United legends like Gary Neville and Paul Scholes both feels its time the club find a good manager that could get the team back on track before...

Mason Mount is on the verge of joining a list of players who have failed to survive outside their comfort zone. At Chelsea, Mount had it all. The team played the sort of football he loved; the managers gave him more chances than he deserved, and the fans always got his back whenever things aren't going his way.  But deciding to ditch that comfort zone for Manchester United in a  £ 60m deal is a mixture of bravery and lack of foresight.  To ditch Chelsea is understandable. The club has digressed to a pitiful state and Mount was brave to leave them now for greener pasture. But to join Manchester United who are no different from Chelsea makes no sense- both teams can't win the Premier League title.  At Manchester United, Mount has failed to register an assist or goal in any of his appearance for the club, probably the reason why Manchester United have scored just 11 Premier League goals and now sit 8th in the table, 8 points from 4th placed Liverpool and 11 points from ...

 After leading Argentina to their second World Cup title, Lionel Messi is on the verge of becoming the first player in history to win the Ballon d'Or eight times. An accomplishment Messi thanks the high heavens and his teammates for helping him achieve.  But does he really deserve to win this year's Ballon d'Or? Of course, not but Messi's is a marketable player with millions of fans who are then backed by some of the biggest sponsors in football, including FIFA itself. To dampen the crescendo of noises already calling for the Ballon d'Or to be canceled since its dubious and insincere. The Host Committee has tabled three criteria that must be met by the player before he or she wins: For the whole season, a player must be outstanding, Messi was bang average for PSG but brilliant for Argentina.  Secondly, a player must show respect and solidarity to the opposition team, Messi was rude and disrespectful to the Netherlands national team, especially to Louis van Gaal. Thi...

 Another game, another goal, Mo Salah is becoming the best Liverpool Striker of all time. There is a strong chance that Salah will become Liverpool's highest goal scorer after having scored 201 goals in four seasons at the club.  It will be a great achievement to achieve that destiny, but it might damage the team's overall goal in terms of actualizing this dream. Salah still remains Liverpool's major source of goals and without him, the club won't be contemplating finishing in the top 4 talk more of winning a trophy.  Over relying on a single player always comes at a cost. Although, Liverpool is no strange to this sort of situations. In the past they've relied heavily on Michael Owen, Sami Hyppia, Steve McManaman, Steven Gerrard, Xavi Alonso, Javier Mascherano, Fernando Torres, Luis Suarez and the most recently Phillipe Coutinho.  Apart from Coutinho, the departure of some of the aforementioned players massively affected the progressive of the team.  But wi...

Manchester United have won their first Champions League match of the season thanks to a towering header from Harry Maguire to put United in front and a stunning save from Andre Onana to deny Jordan Larsson from the 12-yard-box.  Onana's catlike reflex paid dividend as he guessed the right way and dived perfectly to twat Larsson mistimed spot kick. In winning the game, Manchester United's last-minute save has proven to be a deciding factor. In the past, both players have been mocked for their shortcomings at United. Pundits mocked Maguire as a joke, Manchester United fans made caricature of him and later, he was demoted by the manager. To further complicate issues, Maguire was stripped off the captain armband and demoted to fourth choice defender. But instead of leaving Manchester United because of endless gossip, backbiting or mockery from fans and commentators, Maguire stayed back to fight for his place and prove to his countless doubters that he is still an A-list defender....

Six wins, 2 draws and no defeat after 8 games played, Tottenham Hotpsur are living the dream and slowing turning doubters into believers. When Tottenham lost their best player to Bayern Munich, nobody would have imagined they'd go on a serious pursuit of the title.  But it was a huge blessing in disguise for him to leave. Now there is a shared responsibility among the players to score goals.  With Harry Make gone, everyone is accountable for each and every decision they make on the pitch and must prove to their manager Ange Postecoglou that they deserve to be in the team. That added pressure coupled with the manager's tactical innovation has made Spurs a far better to watch and much more difficult team to beat.  Fulham will be tough to beat but Spurs will win the game. Presumptuous you might think but from the evidence on display, 'not through VAR though', it shows that Spurs are the real deal. Spurs can actually be champions.  It's understandable if you are doubtin...

What could have been...?? The tree dotted line and question marks are there for you to ponder a future of Neymar actualizing his potentials and reaching the top of the game.  Neymar had it all to become the greatest player of all time if only he listened to the late Pele who saw similarities with him and urged him to work much harder and party less.  Rather than listen to late Pele who is without doubt (the greatest player of all time and still the only player to have ever won three World Cups), Neymar dabbled from one controversy to other, suffered avoidable injuries and then made decisions that will stagnate his promising career.  His craziest decision was to ditch Barcelona for the riches of PSG. That disastrous move ensured he will never be deemed good enough to win the FIFA World Best Player or the Ballon d'Or.  Off course, the wages been offered to him was insanely high but, similar offers were made to Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi and even Luis Suarez which ...

The evenly contested match between Scotland and Spain seems to have created a big problem for Liverpool football club whose fans and manager watched as Andrew Robertson trudge out of the pitch with his arm cradle in shirt after a horrific challenge with Spain goalkeeper Unai Simon.  The marauding left back has dislocated his shoulder and is now set be sidelined for two months. His absence will be certainly felt by Jurgen Klopp and his coaching staff who rate him highly. Why?  Robertson is the Premier League's most creative fullback (with 54 assists- a Premier League record).  Trent Alexander Arnold might edge him with freekicks, long diagonal passes and long-distance shoots on goals but defensively, Robertson is far superior. With Robertson expected to be ruled out for two months, Liverpool must now depend on Kostas Tsimikas to fill the void.  The self-proclaimed 'Greek Scouser', does possess the prerequisite skillsets to rival any left back in the world but his majo...

It's over, after a failed and awful campaign with Real Madrid, Eden Hazard has retired from football. His time at Real Madrid was marred with injuries, fitness issues and inconsistencies which sadly that forced Carlo Ancelotti to bench the Belgium captain more often than he would like.  Hazard never envisaged in his career that he would go on from been the Premier League's best player to an average bench warming player at the Santiago Bernebau. He would never have believed that Real Madrid will strip him off his confidence, force him to both physical and mental rehabilitation and finally, retire him.  But Real Madrid aren't to blame solely for Hazard's demise, the diminutive playmaker was also at fault for his own pathetic display.  Arriving overweight - Cristiano Ronaldo once said: "Talent without consistent hard work is nothing. If you don't work hard, your talent will go to waste". That statement was a warming to Hazard.  His decision to skip the hard y...

Juventus have reportedly notified Paul Pogba that his current earning will be splashed from  € 10m-a- year to just  € 2000-a-month. Pogba failed a drug test and was subsequently banned for all sports related activities as investigation on goes.  The ban was further increased after the B sample he provided following a Seria A game with Udinese on August 20 also come back positive.  Sadly, there's a growing possibility that Juventus who just sent Pogba a letter informing him of his reduced wages might terminate his contract if found guilty of doping offences at a sporting trial.  But in-spite of the troubling waters, Pogba is still confident that the ban will be reduced because the substance he tested for is not testosterone itself, but rather the testosterone-boosting hormone DHEA.  What really happened to Paul Pogba?  Since leaving Manchester United in an unceremonious way, Paul Pogba has massively struggled to play consistent football.  His form ...

There's a reason why Cristiano Ronaldo is regarded as one of the greatest players of all time, some ardent fans of his even believe he is far superior to a particular Argentinean based in America.  Ronaldo's achievement is unmatched, he has won the biggest trophies in history, created over 173 individual records and leads the race in the number of goals scored in both local and international football. A player of such remarkable qualities should never be compared to a kid.  Comparing him to Jude Bellingham is unfair to the English starlet who is beginning to discover another facet of his game which is scoring goals on a consistent streak. Jude has found the net in 10 consecutive games in his first 10 matches for Real Madrid.  What a way to adjust a super talented team.  Jude goal scoring prowess was made possible by Carlo Ancelotti who saw other managers failed to see in him, which is his instinct to score, good positioning in front of goal and good dribbling skills ...

Who signs Kylian Mbappe next will certainly be signing a fully established superstar capable of scoring 50 goals a season with the right service. The 24-year-old is similar to Erling Haaland when it comes to timing, positioning and finishing but far superior in terms of speed, dribbling skills and versatility.  A complete striker you might assume but, signing him won't come cheap. PSG will only sell if any club can offer $200m or more for his service.  Real Madrid still remains the firm favourite to sign the attacker but for one reason or the other PSG turns down their bids; reach a compromise with Mbappe and then he extends his contract. Staying back at PSG looks like a good decision on Mbappe's path having watched Eden Hazard crumble over the weight of expectation and now close to retirement. In addition to that, Mbappe will have to compete with Vinicius Jr for the left forward position.  With Real Madrid ruled out for the meantime, Kylian Mbappe will likely be joining ...

Manchester City have been knocked out of the Caraboa Cup by Newcastle United, a front-page headline that will certainly get the attention of the football world and a retraction from City fans. Losing to Newcastle United was forthcoming, Pep Guardiola played cautiously and refused to introduce his super striker Elring Haaland who certainly would've scored or created spaces for others to score.  But knowing how fiercely contested the match was, bringing him in could end catastrophically. The City's season will be interrupted in a matter of minutes by an injury to Erling Haaland.  The Norwegian's so good, Manchester City won't be in a position to reach the maximum of two goals per game without him. Haaland has scored 55 goals in 54 games, a frightening statistic that is about to get even more terrifying with Kevin De Bruyne's return from his lengthy injury. Like the rest of his injured teammates, De Bruyne is currently suffering from an exploit from last season. Manche...

Chelsea is in total disarray under Mauricio Pochettino who seems to have forgotten the basic of coaching and instilling a distinctive style of play to his very good squad of players.  The club spent over a billion in recruiting some of the finest players in Europe and what is expected from them, and the manager is to win games. The American owner Todd Boehly has good intention for the club and has publicly spoken of his desire to return Chelsea to pinnacle of football.  He wants to rival Manchester City for both domestic and European trophies and will sign players no matter what they cost to achieve that fate.  Sadly, that dream of trying to revolutionize Chelsea seems to be fading away with each passing week. Chelsea are 14th in the Premier League table, 14 points off Manchester City who leads the table and 4 points off relegation.  Fixing this calamity falls on Pochettino who act fast to arrest this decline or face the possibility of been sacked soon. He must make ...

Over the years, Manchester City have proved themselves to be among the most successful teams in Premier League history. The club is coached by one of the best coaches in history in Pep Guardiola whose charisma, style of play and innovative approach is unmatched by any manager.  No doubt, Pep Guardiola is a serial winner with impeccable record, but it seems this season will be different. The revival of both Tottenham Hotspur and Liverpool have caught everyone by surprise especially Guardiola.  He is fully aware that both teams are yet to lose a game this season and are fast proving that they've what it takes to break into the top 4.  Liverpool meanwhile should be biggest concern for Guardiola knowing they stopped him once and came close to stopping him twice.  To further strengthen their course to be Premier League and domestic cup champions, Liverpool have developed a new habit of conceding the first goal only to comeback in emphatic style and win.  Secondly, th...

The pulsating match between Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur has just ended in a draw. But teams were on top of the game from the kickoff and created lots of goal scoring chances to put pressure on the opposition.  Arsenal might have taken a fortuitous lead after Saka's shot was inadvertently deflected off Christian Romero to send the keeper flying the wrong direction. The Gunners lead ensured their incredible record of never been beaten in 38 Premier League games when they scored the opening goal (won 34, drawn 4) since they suffered a 2-1 defeat to Manchester City in January 2022 remained intact.  Incredible the record might seem but Spurs under the leadership of Ange Postecoglou looks far better than previous season.  Spurs equalized in the 42nd minute after James Maddison cut back found the unmarked Son Heung-Min. The Korean restored parity with a venomous shoot.  The first half did end in 1-1 draw but, the second half saw Arsenal score earlier on after the referee ...

6 wins in a row, Manchester City are bulldozing their way to a fourth consecutive Premier League title with grit and style. The club might be struggling with injuries and fatigue after playing over 63 matches last season with little or no time to rest but on current form, City is just too good.   Against Nottingham Forrest, City dictated the tempo of the game; pressed incessantly to win the ball back, carved out openings to shoot and then scored with aplomb.  Even with a man down, City outclassed and outmaneuvered Forrest which should be a cause of concern for Premier League hopefuls- Arsenal and Liverpool.  Arsenal came close to winning the Premier League title last season, but lacked the leadership and cohesion needed to nick the title from City. Liverpool meanwhile have stopped City once and twice lost out with just a point.  Realistically, both teams have what it takes to rival City for the title, but it won't be easy knowing there's a certain striker who lo...

Lionel Messi is arguably one of the greatest players of all time, some even believe he is the greatest footballer to ever exist. His reputation precedes him, and it seems it counts a lot when it comes individual trophies like the Ballon d'Or.  Having played an integral role in the end of Argentina's 37 year wait to win the World Cup, he is undoubtedly the favorite to win the Ballon d'Or in 2023. But when it comes to determining who's deserving of the Ballon d'Or, winning the greatest individual award should not be used as an index and there are reasons for that: 1. Previous players that won the World Cup were never considered for Ballon d'O r- Apart from Fabio Cannavaro who captained Italy to the 2006 World Cup, no other World Cup winning captain or player have been deemed good enough to win the Ballon d'Or.  Since Italy, the World Cup has been won by Spain, Germany and France but none of their players were chosen to win it. Shamefully, Ronaldo was given the...

Manchester City legend Sergio Aguero has called on Pep Guardiola to consider coaching the Argentine national team which will see him reunite his former protege Lionel Messi.  Messi and Guardiola conquered La Liga and Europe with Barcelona by winning 16 trophies along with 2 Champions League medals. From 2008-2012, Barcelona was the most dominant team in the World and their style of football was reflective in the way Spain played and won the World Cup (2010) and two European Championship (2008 and 2012).  Pep Guardiola left Barcelona to join Bayern Munich where he was highly successful before landing a top job with Manchester City. With City, he won their first ever Champions League trophy along with the FA Cup and a record 3rd consecutive Premier League title.  Although, Aguero can't see Guardiola leaving club football or Manchester City to coach the Argentina national team because he won't have enough time to instill his style of football in just a week or two.  The...

What a season Jude Bellingham is having at Real Madrid after securing a $103m move to the Santiago Bernebau from Borrusia Dormtund. The 20-year-old has adjusted perfectly to Carlo Ancelotti team and has now scored 6 goals in 5 games of which 3 of the goals were late winners.  His impressive display can be credited to Carlo Ancelotti who moved him closer to goal as a No. 10 or 8 to finish of his chances. That positional switch has seen his goal tally improve remarkably.  Back in Dortmund, Bellingham scored 12 times in 3 full seasons in the Bundesliga but at Real Madrid, he has scored 6 goals in 5 games which has enabled him to join the likes of Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Cristiano Ronaldo and Cesc Fabregas to have scored in their first four La Liga games.  His impressive goalscoring stats are incredible feat and should be applauded. But that is not all he offers to Real Madrid, he is tenacious, combative, fantastic with ball on his feet when dribbling past bone crushing tackles a...

 In the midst of adversity, there's always hope at the end of the tunnel and in case of Manchester United, the season will only get better despite the slow start. Manchester United are in 13th place, 9 points behind predestined title holders Manchester City and 7 ahead of their rapidly improving rivals Arsenal. The fact that this season has been a bad start could be attributed to organizational errors, players' lack of trust and the keeper who is widely regarded as one of the main problems. Andre Onana was signed to replace the departing David De Gea who over the years have proven countless times that he is a world class keeper who in his day is impenetrable irrespective of the defenders in his front. Unfortunately, for lack of distribution he has not been given credit for his heroics between posts.  The modern keeper has to be excellent in distributing the ball from the back and not just shot stopping. Andre Onana those fits the bill but, he just needs time to adjust to fast ...

Over $400m have been spent in revitalizing Manchester United under the watch of Ten Hag but it feels the club is sinking to oblivion rather raising to prominence.  After five games played, United are in 13th position and 9 points behind defending champions Manchester City. You could presumptuously rule Manchester United out of the title race so early in the season. Pep Guardiola's burst of laughter after been asked of Manchester United during a press conference says it all about the club and its ambition. Guardiola is not threatened by United- not now or in the future. Why? Manchester United are miles away from Manchester City in terms of management, coaching, scouting, players and even the quality of the stadium.  So, who are we to blame for this gulf in class? Gary Neville rightly points the owners- The Glazers- for failing to invest properly in the club. Ironically, the owners have invested over $1.2b in the club to get them back on track but nothing seems to work out....

The season has begun, and the matches are fast approaching. Liverpool's proven itself to be the best in terms of quality, aggression, precision finishing and above all that it can compete with Manchester City. organization. Witnessing the Reds comeback wins against Newcastle United with a man down and their excellent display against Bournemouth is fair to say Liverpool will be closet rivals to Manchester City. In some quotas it is true, but false in the calculation of risk. Is this season's Liverpool squad really deep enough to win a championship? They're not. No, they're not.  If Mac Alister and Dominik Szoboszlai were to get hurt, which would rule them out for two or three months, the midfield could be revamped, but what happens? The Reds will lose the speed, aggression, confrontationality, creativity and goal threat they offer in an instant.  No doubt, Gravabech and Endo can offer some respite in attack and defense, but they're not title winning players. On defen...

The injuries, fatigue, tiredness, the lack of financial backing from management, loss of form suffered by players and so on. To justify Liverpool's current failure and the manager's inability to get the best out of the player, you could pick up a lot of excuses.  Jurgen Klopp's fisting pumping parade has ended, now he begs for mercy over his team's catastrophic display which sadly has become a norm this season. How did it change, you can ask?  Well, Sadio Mane has left. Most of Liverpool's games have been architected by a Senegalese. His aggressive press, fantastic dribbling skills, vision to pick out Mohamed Salah in good position and off course, his goal has alluded Liverpool this season.  Without him drifting in and out of the left flank and most times centrally, it has subdued Andrew Robertson from going forward and putting in those crosses. Jurgen Klopp bears much of the blame for Mane's unfortunate departure. Shamefully, the manager fought hard to improve ...

Another game, another defeat, a fate Graham Potter is desperately trying to avoid. But why the chaotic scenes at Chelsea, a club labelled by many as the best team in London over the past 20 years and currently, the only club in that area of London who have won the Champions League.  It's easy to blame the manager, his coaching staffs or even one or two players for the misfortune of the team. But the truth has to be told, Chelsea's problem is a collective one not a personal one. Nobody should be blamed for it.  Here are the five reasons why Chelsea are struggling:  1. Injury to top players-  This season have been really tough for Potter and his team. The club are currently nursing 10 players back to fitness. The manager is forced to play players who were mainly set aside for Caraboa or FA Cup matches.  2. Tactical maneuver and adaptability-  Potter system requires a lot of tactical awareness, pressing, good passing rhythm and off course defending. Chelsea's ...

21 goals in 16 game, Erling Haaland is banging in the goals from all corners and breaking old records. But come to think of it, that could've been Cristiano Ronaldo. The striker Pep Guardiola really wanted to lead his attacking lines two seasons ago.  Guardiola knows Ronaldo's prowess in front of goal and felt his phenomenal abilities will suit Manchester City perfectly.  Ronaldo won't have to press form the front, join the team in counter press or even drop deep like Firmino's or Harry Kane's to orchestrate the tempo of the game from the middle.  All he had to do was stay upfront and finish off the move.  De Bruyne, Mahrez, Silva, Grealish, Foden's and other creative players will find him with killer passes to score. He would've been contesting for the Ballon d'Or and not giving out endlessly interviews.  But to choose to call Sir Alex Ferguson who will certainly say no! Ronaldo ended what would've an era defining career. All he had to do was shut u...