What is Paul Ince’s legacy? Why England’s first black captain is football’s forgotten man
Loathed by Manchester United fans and unloved by Liverpool supporters, Paul Ince never really found a football home. There’s something about that that doesn’t…
Legends
267 articles
Legends
Remembering just how unplayable Didier Drogba was for Chelsea in 2009/10
Didier Drogba was arguably the most complete centre-forward in European football at his best, a signing who redefined expectations for players in his position.…
90s Hitmen: Romario, a Brazilian goalscoring genius
Faced point-blank with the barrel of a gun and asked to provide one footballer to convert a goalscoring chance, you would be hard pressed…
Iconic Duos: The Tank and The Rolls Royce, Vidic and Ferdinand
“Attack wins you games, defence wins you titles.” Those are the words of Sir Alex Ferguson, a man who became the most successful coach…
Midfield Magicians: The dreadlocked dynamo, Ruud Gullit
The principles of Total Football are centred around fluidity and flexibility, the overriding concept that each player is interchangeable and capable of operating elsewhere…
Midfield Magicians: Guti, undisputed king of assist porn
It’s fair to say you don’t spend over two decades of association with world football’s biggest club without talent and in José María Gutiérrez…
Iconic Duos: The prototypes of the modern full back, Cafu and Roberto Carlos
It’s said that good things come in threes. Whilst that may occasionally be true, in the world of football it is often twos that…
Midfield Magicians: The Greatest Showman, Jay-Jay Okocha
According to the popular terrace chant from fans wowed by his showmanship style, Jay-Jay Okocha was “so good they named him twice”. Okocha’s outrageous…
90s Hitmen: A left-footed force of nature, Rivaldo
The connotations of Brazilian football is perhaps of the sport in its most joyous and unadulterated form, the South American nation held in a…
90s Hitmen: Christian ‘Bobo’ Vieri – Il Toro
Christian Vieiri earned the nickname Il Toro during a career of huge highlights in Italian football. Translated as ‘The Bull’, it is a fitting…
Karim Benzema – The stats behind his iconic Real Madrid career
Karim Benzema has called time on his career at Real Madrid and departs the club as one of the most decorated footballers of all…
Iconic Duos: Del Piero and Trezeguet, Juventus’ potent partnership
Criticism, injury and relegation – iconic Juventus duo Alessandro Del Piero and David Trezeguet stuck it out together through thick and thin. In the…
90s Gold: How Newcastle United went from Keegan’s Entertainers to Dalglish’s Dad’s Army
When putting together a series lauding the most cherished Premier League sides from the ‘90s it would be entirely remiss to overlook Kevin Keegan’s…
Midfield Generals: Claude Makelele – So good they named a position after him
For all that individual quality can make an impact, football is fundamentally a team game in which each of the components must work together…
Iconic Duos: Sir Les and King Al
“We thought we had the best centre-forward at the time in Les Ferdinand, who got the Player of the Year award the season before.…
Remembering just how special a 22-year-old Cesc Fabregas was in 2009/10
Arsene Wenger’s faith in emerging talent saw several stars flourish under his guidance, with the former Arsenal boss having been insistent that his side…
Golazo Merchants: Chelsea’s beast of a striker, Didier Drogba
The history of Chelsea football club was forever changed following the takeover of Roman Abramovich almost two decades ago, the Russian’s decision to take…
90s Hitmen: Juventus’ perfect number 10, Alessandro ‘Capitano’ Del Piero
The nineties was an unforgettable period in the landscape of Italian football, the nation becoming the stage on which the game’s greatest footballers demonstrated…