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How Aston Villa’s John McGinn was reborn under mastermind Emery

by Sam Tighe at Wednesday, Nov 29 2023 14:35
How Aston Villa’s John McGinn was reborn under mastermind Emery Perhaps no player exemplifies the Unai Emery effect at Aston Villa better than (Super) John McGinn.A year is a very, very long time in football, but it’s odd to think back to last autumn, to the final days of Steven Gerrard’s reign in B6, and recall that McGinn was in a rough place. That...
Categories: Player Focus

Why Gavi's absence will be a huge test for Barcelona

by Sam Tighe at Tuesday, Nov 21 2023 13:59
Why Gavi's absence will be a huge test for Barcelona It’s tough to watch any player succumb to major injury in football, but when one as young and as prodigiously talented as Gavi falls, it stings that little bit more.The 2022 Golden Boy winner, not yet turned 20, has been a fixture in Barcelona and Spain’s first-teams for just over 2 year...
Categories: Player Focus

How rejuvenated Everton are getting the best from Vitalii Mykolenko

by Sam Tighe at Thursday, Nov 16 2023 09:34
How rejuvenated Everton are getting the best from Vitalii Mykolenko “Vitalii Mykolenko needs to get better in attack”“Vitalii Mykolenko needs to be more of a factor going forward”“We need more from Vitalii Mykolenko in the final third”He heard you.Early this month the Ukrainian scored his first Everton goal for 18 long months - an...
Categories: Player Focus

How Chelsea cast-off Ruben Loftus-Cheek helped AC Milan destroy PSG

by Sam Tighe at Wednesday, Nov 8 2023 11:27
How Chelsea cast-off Ruben Loftus-Cheek helped AC Milan destroy PSG The frenzied nature of the UEFA Champions League’s simultaneous action has the ability to create a bit of a footballing blur, where so many things happen, and so many storylines unravel, that it’s hard to focus on just one.Occasionally, though, someone delivers a performance so overwhelm...
Categories: Player Focus

How Dominik Szoboszlai is powering Liverpool's surprise title challenge

by Sam Tighe at Thursday, Nov 2 2023 14:25
How Dominik Szoboszlai is powering Liverpool's surprise title challenge Dominik Szoboszlai is the definition of an all-action footballer.There was justifiable hype around his £60m transfer to Liverpool over the summer, though given the volatile record of recent attacking signings from the Bundesliga, many understandably preached caution and warned of a potential s...
Categories: Player Focus

Time for Moyes to switch up his West Ham way

by Sam Tighe at Wednesday, Oct 25 2023 08:30
Time for Moyes to switch up his West Ham way Shoulders slumped a touch, David Moyes addressed the media after West Ham’s 4-1 loss to Aston Villa on Sunday and picked his explanatory strategy very carefully.I hope I'm not disrespecting them in any way, he began, but Aston Villa are just behind the top three or four big-name teams in the P...
Categories: Team Focus

Why Tottenham maestro Maddison is the early contender for Player of the Season

by Sam Tighe at Thursday, Oct 19 2023 10:15
Why Tottenham maestro Maddison is the early contender for Player of the Season If the Premier League Player of the Season award was handed out today, there’s a strong case to be made that it belongs in the arms of James Maddison. The 26-year-old has played a major role in transforming Tottenham Hotspur, leading them to the top of the Premier League after eight games. Thi...
Categories: Player Focus

How Joao Felix rediscovered his best form at Barcelona

by Sam Tighe at Thursday, Oct 12 2023 15:02
How Joao Felix rediscovered his best form at Barcelona Joao Felix made a stunning bet this summer.I’d love to play for Barça, he told Fabrizio Romano in July. If it happens, it will be a dream come true for me.Openly flirting with a top three LaLiga rival, whose finances were - and still are - so disastrous they had to scratch around for &e...
Categories: Player Focus

Why Armando Broja's return is such a huge boost for Chelsea

by Sam Tighe at Thursday, Oct 5 2023 12:12
Why Armando Broja's return is such a huge boost for Chelsea No injury, just a precaution after being out so long.Rarely has such a mundane, matter-of-fact injury update provided such relief among a fanbase, as when Armando Broja stepped off the Craven Cottage pitch alongside a physio on Monday night, Chelsea fans were probably thinking here we go again.The c...
Categories: Player Focus

Why Neto's 'X-Factor' will secure Wolves' survival

by Sam Tighe at Wednesday, Sep 27 2023 14:26
Why Neto's 'X-Factor' will secure Wolves' survival There’s no doubt about it, Pedro Neto is back.The dazzling Portuguese winger is once again the driving force of the Wolverhampton Wanderers attack. He has five direct goal contributions already this season (one goal, four assists), an incredible feat considering we’re only six games in a...
Categories: Player Focus