The Hollywood Pass
Lois Openda walked off the pitch with his head down. Marco Rose, the RB Leipzig coach, held out his hand to shake the substituted Belgian striker’s hand. Openda shook it perfunctorily and turned to Rose to voice his dismay at something that had happened on the pitch. Rose vigorously patted Openda’s torso, cradled the 23-year-old’s […]
With less than 2 minutes to go till the end of stoppage time at the BayArena, Bayer Leverkusen were leading VFL Bochum 4-0. Leverkusen had already been crowned winter champions of Germany, thanks to a 4-point lead over second-placed Bayern Munich before the Bundesliga paused for a 3-week winter break. Manuel Riemann, the Bochum goalkeeper, […]
Otto Rehhagel, 59, grinning from ear to ear, scuttled across the Olympiastadion upon hearing the final whistle. When he passed FC Kaiserslautern players on the way, he gave them a slap on the back to congratulate them, but kept running. The flask in his hand was spilling almost all of its water across Bayern Munich’s […]
Patrick Vieira made his debut for Arsenal at the old Highbury stadium against Sheffield Wednesday on September 16, 1996. “The first time he played, he came on in the first half, it was a shock to people,” recalled Arsene Wenger, who signed Vieira for Arsenal from AC Milan. “He was like a genie from the […]
Johan Cruyff received the ball outside the penalty box at Westfalenstadion, West Germany, on June 19, 1974. The Netherlands captain, clad in the black shorts and orange jersey that would become iconic after the 1974 World Cup, was being marked by Jan Olsson, a 32-year-old Swedish defender. As Olsson rushed to the edge of the […]
Manchester United’s season roared into life following their 3-2 win over Nottingham Forest on Saturday, during which they came back from being 0-2 down inside 4 minutes. After 2 uninspiring outings against Wolverhampton Wanderers and Tottenham Hotspur in their first 2 matches of the new campaign, Erik ten Hag’s men finally showed the mettle of […]
Bayern Munich, Germany’s serial champions, got off their 2023/24 Bundesliga campaign to a fine start with a 4-0 win away at Werder Bremen on Saturday. However, the victory was far from straightforward, and had some interesting plots that deserve to be looked at deeper. Let’s get right to it. HARRY KANE HAS ARRIVED The last […]
Sunday’s Premier League match at Stamford Bridge between Chelsea and Liverpool, the pick of the new 2023/24 season’s first round matches, offers us some interesting insights into the new Chelsea being constructed under the ownership of Todd Boehly and co. After a disastrous 12th place finish last season and no European football this year, the […]
Pep Guardiola neared Mikel Arteta, put one arm around his shoulder and gave the Arsenal manager an affectionate smack on the jaw. Guardiola smiled, while Arteta grinned. Then master and pupil pulled away. Arteta put his hands in his pocket, staring straight ahead and started leading his team from the tunnel and on to the […]
In May 1977, Bob Paisley was in his third season in charge of Liverpool. He had already led the Reds to 4 trophies, including a ‘double’ of the First Division title and the UEFA Cup in the 1975/76 season. The 1976/77 season would see Paisley help Liverpool to another special achievement, this time a double […]