The Ox Hits Back at Henry & Neville

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain has taken a stab back at pundits Thierry Henry and Garry Neville. The duo had thrown shade at the winger ahead of his £35 million move to Liverpool when they said that they did not know exactly what he was good at. Chamberlain hit back at Henry and called him stupid or rather considered his criticism as stupid because the Arsenal legend claimed to have watched him for a long time but still failed to know his strengths. He however, acknowledged that he could take the criticism in terms of the finishing end where his finishing product has not been the best. He realizes that he has a lot to learn which is why he chose to move to the Merseyside club from Arsenal where he felt his career was on hold. He went on to say that it is unpleasant to hear stupid criticism from peers and people you worked with because he worked with Garry Neville at England when he was an assistant manager and Thierry for a brief stint when he was in charge of the under 18s at Arsenal.

Stoney Believes England Has a Chance

England legend Casey Stones believes that the current crop of the Lionesses are capable of challenging at next year’s Women’s World Cup which is in France and can go all the way to lift the trophy. England is a big country with big expectations and Phil Neville is ready to compete with the world’s best teams in his first competitive tournament as the England manager. The team hope to play differently from their last outing at the Euros as they were using direct play coming off of Jodie Taylor. This is because they are looking into utilizing more of their creative players all over the pitch as according to England Legend to create more opportunities to score goals and win games.

Countdown to Russia 2018

The buzz of the World’s most popular soccer tournament has already started with only a century of sleeps left before the tournament commences as the hosts, Russia face Saudi Arabia in a match from Group A. Talk has already begun on who looks set to get a call up to the squads. Fringe players have started to mount pressure on their managers and those that were not happy with their clubs have already pushed for moves in the January transfer window. England fans are already dreaming of winning the tournament which has evaded them for the longest time. About 16 teams from the 32 that are competing in this year’s World Cup have already released their kits. What about the famous VAR? Is this technology ready to be implemented in such a tournament?

Di Maria Up For Madrid

The Argentine wing wizard has been a consistent performer for the Parisians prior to the arrival of the most expensive teenager, Kylian Mbappe. Angelo Di Maria relishes the opportunity to showcase his talent against his former club in Real Madrid. He is almost guaranteed a start since Neymar is injured and Mbappe would likely move to his favorite position on the left to make up an attacking trio with Edinson Cavani. Di Maria lost his place in the starting 11 but that does not mean that he is less of a great player because he has shown what he is capable of whenever the starters are rested. This opportunity to take part in a huge game has come at the expense of his teammate but the winger will most likely take it with both hands and make the most of it. The club need to overturn their 3-1 defeat and the Argentine is the perfect replacement for Neymar as he will be extra-motivated to perform at the big stage against his former club.

Ronaldo Gears Up For UCL

Cristiano Ronaldo scored his 300th La Liga goal in a 3-1 win against Getafe. The striker scored 2 goals after Gareth Bale had scored the opener. Portillo scored the consolation goal for Getafe as he placed a 65th minute penalty beyond Keylor Navas. Ronaldo won the man of the match award ahead of a PSG test who are still moaning over the loss of their star player Neymar who got injured in their game against Marseille. The season for the Portuguese looked like it would be one of his worst worst as he was not scoring as many goals as usual but his performances in the last couple of games prove that the player is geared and ready for a title push in the last stage of the season. Can he inspire Madrid to a 3rd Champions League in a row?

Xhaka a Flop?

Granit Xhaka arrived from Borussia Monchengladbach in a £35 million transfer back in 2016. He was one of the best defensive midfielders in Germany at the time and Wenger opted to sign him over N’golo Kante formerly of Leicester after he had helped his team to win the English Premier League in a fairytale season. Xhaka has failed to provide the cover to the backline that the Arsenal team needed ever since the departure of Patrick Vieira. He has often been left exposed especially in big games because he does not have assistance in his role. Most of the players he plays with in midfield are attack minded and are even allowed to roam around the pitch which allows the opposition to counter Arsenal. Would it be a fair assessment that he has flopped even when the team is not playing to his strength and often isolates him? Some Arsenal fans think that the player can still be good but that the manager needs to be changed and bring in someone with fresh ideas because they have not progressed from their last campaign.

Africa’s Best Footballing Moments in 2017

Cameroon wins bragging rights at AFCON 2017

The African cup of nations(AFCON) kicked off in Gabon with 16 finalists battling it out for one prize. Ivory Coast were holders of the trophy heading into the tournament and clearly one of the favorites alongside Gabon, Senegal, Algeria and Egypt. (change nations to reflect thes player changes). These nations are historically revered for their experience and star studded line ups with players lighting up the world’s major football leagues such as Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Sadio Mane, Riyad Mahrez, and Mo Salah. We also saw some of the continents young starlets getting their feet wet in the competition with the likes of Wilfried Zaha, Keita Balde, and Christian Bassogog getting their AFCON debuts. But ultimately none of that mattered, as it was Cameroon’s time to steal the headlines. Hugo Broos fielded a young side who went past Burkina Faso, Senegal and Egypt to be crowned Africa cup of nations winners for the fifth time. The Indomitable Lions certainly redeemed their big brothers who failed to win a single game in the 2015 tournament. The next African champions are scheduled to be crowned in Cameroon 2019.

North Africans bossed the year

It certainly was the year of the Arabs on the continent who showed signs of revitalizing their place as Africa’s elite. It kicked off with 7 time African Champions, Egypt becoming 1st runners up in the AFCON finals after their latest appearance in the tournament dated back to 2010. Morocco’s Wydad Casablanca then won the CAF Champions League in an all North African final against Egypt’s Al Ahly for the first time in 25 years. The year capped off with North Africans winning 3 of the 5 spots to represent the continent at next year’s World Cup finals in Russia. Tunisia, Egypt, Morocco, Nigeria and Senegal make up the list with notable absentees such as Ghana and Ivory Coast losing out to Egypt and Morocco in the group stages.

The emergence of Mo Salah

What a 2017 it was for Mohamed Salah! The Egyptian arrived at the Merseyside club, Liverpool for a record transfer for an African player of 42 million euros which was then eclipsed by the same club for the signature of Guinean ace, Naby Keita. Mo Salah had scored 34 goals and 24 assists for Roma in the 2015/16 and 2016/17 season, and scarily, his form has only improved. In a league considered the world’s toughest, he has scored 20 goals in all competitions at the half mark of the season, only Harry Kane is above him in the Premier League goals tally and Salah is not even an outright striker, as Klopp usually deploys him on the left side of Liverpool’s front three. His impact also spread to his national team, as he  helped the Pharaohs of Egypt reach the world cup finals for the first time since 1990 and was named BBC’s African Footballer of the year. He is also part of the 3 finalists for the CAF Best Player to be crowned in January 2018 together with teammate Sadio Mane and Pierre Emerick Aubameyang. With such a pedigree, it is understandable when rumors linking Mohamed to clubs like Real Madrid surface.

TP Mazembe gives DRC something to smile about

DRC might be war torn because of the long standing dispute between the controversial president, Joseph Kabila’s government and rebels for the country’s rich mineral resources but its football stars certainly give the citizens something to cherish. The national team did put up a good show at the AFCON finals making it to the knockout stages and also in the world cup qualifiers where they finished second in a group marginally won by Tunisia. The Congolese scored the most goals in these qualifiers more than any other African team. They eventually got some silverware for their all-round performances in the CAF Confederation finals, a tournament for domestic club cup winners on the continent. TP Mazembe beat South Africa’s high flying SuperSport United in a thoroughly entertaining two-legged final to win the cup in two consecutive years. A lot of things might not be right on the continent but football certainly plays a huge role in healing nations.

George Weah wins Liberia’s presidency in a historic democratic election

The only African player to have won the much coveted Ballon d’Or (1995) and FIFA’s award for World Best Male player in the same year, 1 Champions League title, 2 Italian Serie A titles, a Ligue 1 title and now Mr. President! The Liberian is now undoubtedly one of the most influential men in football history. You don’t want to miss this full feature about Mister George here on FT Football.

Special

Ronaldo equals Messi’s record

The Portuguese star beat Lionel Messi and Neymar to the 2017 Ballon d’Or award equaling Messi’s record of 5 recognitions as the best player in the world. Christiano Ronaldo also won the inaugural FIFA BEST player award ahead of Messi and Neymar. Ronaldo helped Portugal win their first European title in 2016 and won 5 trophies with Real Madrid including the Champions League trophy, Club World cup and Spanish League gold. Messi and Ronaldo have officially dominated the football world for the past decade.

Kaka hangs his boots

“It was much more than I could ever imagined. Thank you!” he said. “I’m now ready for the next journey. In Jesus’ name. Amen.” – Kaka

On Sunday, the 17th of December 2017, the world woke up to this news on Twitter. The 35-year old Brazilian announced his retirement after a career that most people will remember. He joined AC Milan from Sao Paulo in 2003 where he spent six years where he helped Millan to Champions League success in 2007, scoring 10 goals in the process. He then transferring to Real Madrid for then record transfer fee of 56 million pounds. He won Spanish League title and the Copa Del Rey cup before returning to Millan in 2013 and then finishing his career in MLS at Orlando City.

Kaka is the last player to have won the Ballon d’Or in 2007 before Messi and Ronaldo took over the show. He now plans to return to AC Milan for an off the pitch role.

The Brazilian Magician might have not won as many individual trophies as Messi or Ronaldo but he certainly is a footballer that everyone will remember, not only for his immense skill, but also for his humility and influence off the pitch.