Size matters – Pulis likes his players big, Guardiola prefers small
October 31 – Big is beautiful if you are West Brom, but small is more perfectly formed if you are Man City, Barcelona, Real Madrid or Olympique Lyonnais.
Performance
England storm past Brazil to set up all-European U17 World Cup final with Spain
By Samindra Kunti in Kolkata
October 26 – England made history by reaching their first ever U-17 World Cup final as Rhian Brewster broke Brazilian hearts with a hat-trick in a commanding 3-1 semi-final victory. The Young Lions will face European champions Spain, who eliminated Mali with the same scoreline.
Real Madrid top player training rankings, Man Utd 5th, Man City nowhere to be seen
October 25 – Real Madrid and Barcelona top the ranking of Big-5 clubs that have trained the most footballers playing in the Big-5 European leagues on October 1. Manchester United rank 5th while PSG come in at 14th.
Bolt takes aim at a career in football
October 23 – Retired Jamaican sprint legend Usain Bolt says he wants to pursue his dream of playing professional football but admits he will not “embarrass” himself.
Everton are the dirtiest Premier League team ever, Chelsea are second dirtiest
October 20 – Everton are the dirtiest team to have played in the Premier League since it was formed in 1992. The Merseysiders have collected more ‘dirty points’ that any other club and are almost 700 points ahead of second placed Chelsea.
Napoli top shot ranking; Man City, Barca, Bayern and Real Madrid in leading 10
October 18 – Napoli, out gunned by Manchester City in the Champions League last night, nevertheless lead a ranking of European clubs for the highest figures for shots on target per match this season.
Have Leicester’s Thai owners out-foxed themselves by ending Shakespeare’s play?
By Andrew Warshaw
October 18 – Just how short-sighted can you get? If ever a club was the victim of its own success, that club is surely Leicester City. The season before last, Leicester upset every prediction in the book by famously coming from nowhere to win the English Premier League, perhaps the greatest miracle in team sport.
India crash out of U17 World Cup as England, France, Brazil and Germany dominate
By Samindra Kunti in New Delhi
October 16 – Hosts India were eliminated from their first World Cup on home soil following a 4-0 trashing by Ghana. England, France, Brazil and Germany marched into the knock-out phase with ease.
Strachan departs Scotland after failure on the big stage
October 13 – After yet another bitter Scottish disappointment, Gordon Strachan has stepped down as manager of the national team after their failure to qualify for the playoffs of the World Cup.
Multiple concussions linked to mental health issues, finds FIFpro report
October 10 – Professional footballers and other athletes who have suffered from concussion are more likely to get depression and other problems including sleep disturbance when their playing careers end, according to new research carried out by FIFpro.
Chelsea head Big 5 club rankings with 90.4% of matches played by non-English players
October 10 – The epithet that the English Premier League is a league that just happens to be played in England is reinforced by the latest stats ranking from the CIES Football Observatory that show 12 of its clubs in the top 100 in Europe according to the percentage of domestic league minutes played by expatriates since the start of the season.
Wembley woe: Glenn said England had ‘mental frailty’, but didn’t he mean ‘marketing’
October 6 – England may have qualified for next year’s World Cup finals but that should fool no-one and their chances of success are next to nil judging by reaction to the last-gasp win over Slovakia that sealed their place in Russia.
PSG hammering ends Ancelotti’s reign at Bayern
September 29 – German giants Bayern Munich have sacked coach Carlo Ancelotti following the club’s crushing 3-0 defeat to Paris St Germain in the Champions League.
China buys VAR system as it seeks to boost league with roster of foreign referees
September 29 – The Chinese Super League is taking further steps to boost the quality of its league saying that it will likely bring in experienced referees from Europe and America for the 27th round of the current league competition. The CSL has already committed to bringing in video assistant referees (VAR), now scheduled for the 28th and 29th rounds.
Celtic are champions of Europe’s possession stats
September 26 – Possession stats have become a staple of the TV presentation package and an indication of how games are progressing – generally winning teams have the majority of possession. Celtic top a ranking of European clubs this season, with a thumping 70.8% of ball possession.