Helenio Herrera Herrera is regarded as one of the greatest exponents of “catenaccio”, the technique that emphasises maintaining a solid shape without the ball in order to limit the opposition any room to manoeuvre and create goalscoring chances. However, there was more to Herrera than just defensive football. In one of the great managerial evolutions, the Argentine who earned renown ...
Read More »Monthly Archives: October 2016
Five great players who became great managers
Not many great players become great managers. There certainly isn’t a correlation between the two. Some of the greatest managers of all-time have never been top professional players. However, great players do get a head start through their experience of having been in the shoes of their players. Johan Cruyff Cruyff is regarded as one man who has had the ...
Read More »5 players who retired early from football
Eric Cantona Many consider Cantona to be the player that fired Manchester United to the top of English football in the Premier League era. In just five years at Old Trafford following his transfer from Leeds United in 1992, the Frenchman fired the Red Devils to four league titles and two FA Cups. However, he hung his boots at only ...
Read More »5 players who have statues erected in their honour
Sir Stanley Matthews The first ever football knight is the greatest player to have turned out for Stoke City. He played close to 20 years for the Potters over the course of his long and distinguished career during which Matthews came to be regarded as the greatest player England has ever produced. Upon his death in 2000, a permanent statue ...
Read More »5 players who played for more than one national team
Luis Monti The midfielder, whose extensive coverage of the pitch earned him the nickname ‘double wide’ remains the only footballer in the world to have played two World Cup finals with two different national teams. Monti was part of the Argentina national team at the inaugural World Cup in 1930 in Uruguay when La Albiceleste finished on the losing side ...
Read More »Greatest XI to never win the Premier League
Shay Given The former Republic of Ireland goalkeeper has spent over 20 years in the Premier League and has played for several clubs but a league winner’s medal has eluded him. The closest he came to winning the coveted title was with Manchester City during his 2009 to 2011 stint at the club, but they won it a year after ...
Read More »Five Ballon d’Or winners who were not from top four European leagues
Josef Masopust (1962) The former Czechoslovakia international was plying his trade for Dukla Prague, one of the most dominant teams in the Czechoslovak league during the 1960s and 70s, when he became the first player from outside of the top four European leagues to win the Ballon d’Or. Masopust helped his national team reach the final of the 1962 World ...
Read More »5 great players who never played in World Cup
George Weah The Liberia international was one of the most feared strikers of his generation and went on to win a Ligue 1 title with Paris Saint-Germain as well as two Serie A titles during his time in Italy. He first burst on to the European football scene under the stewardship of Arsene Wenger, who was at the helm of ...
Read More »Top 30 Quotes on Brazilian Ronaldo by legendary players and managers
When Zlatan Ibrahimovic is your fan boy, then there is no need to explain why you’re one of the greatest players of all time. Ronaldo Luis Nazario de Lima was a true great, arguably the greatest striker to grace the football pitch. Also known as ‘Il Fenomeno’, Ronaldo had feet like a ballerina, he was strong like a bull and ...
Read More »Sir Alex Ferguson and four other great managers who earned knighthood
Sir Matt Busby The legendary Manchester United manager left an indelible mark on the Red Devils during his 25-year reign at the club. Regarded among the greatest managers of all-time, Busby went on to became the first manager to win the European Cup with an English team and quite remarkably, he did so having re-built a new team within years ...
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