Messi vs Ronaldo as Ballon d’Or top 30 nominees includes Vardy
October 25 – Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo will once again go head to head to win the Ballon d’Or after both were named in the list of 30 nominees for the 2016 award.
Performance
Real Madrid, Dortmund, Leverkusen and Spurs bank on buying young
October 26 – Bayern Munich chief executive Karl-Heinz Rummenigge said at the weekend that his club would not “want to bring some 10- or 11-year-old to Munich like the English do…You could almost speak of kidnapping with them and I would have moral reservations about that.” For Bayern it seems that recruitment begins at 24.8 years old.
China call on Lippi in last minute bid to turn World Cup qualifying around
October 24 – In its determination to become a serious force on the world football stage, China have appointed Italy’s World Cup-winning manager Marcello Lippi to become its new national coach.
Rummenigge finds a new ‘moral’ compass and says Bayern will not be ‘kidnappers’
October 24 – Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, German head of the European Clubs Association, has accused English clubs of taking on players far too young saying he would have “moral reservations” about doing the same thing at Bayern Munich where he is chairman.
Right manager, wrong players? Barca spotlight Guardiola and Man City’s challenge
By Andrew Warshaw
October 20 – He may be regarded as one of the most sought-after and tactically astute modern-minded club coaches in world football but for all his achievements and aspirations, Pep Guardiola, perhaps for the first time, is having to swallow his fair share of disappointment to maintain his remarkable record of success.
Teqball makes debut with Ronaldinho inviting Messi and Ronaldo to play
October 18 – New football-based sport Teqball was officially launched today in Budapest. The table-based game has already signed a number of ambassadors, including Brazilian Ronaldinho, who was present at the presentation.
Man Utd: big buyers or smart selectors? Stats suggest transfer policy should work
October 18 – Spending money on hordes of new players does not make for a winning team. The teams that are the most successful have the most continuity in their playing squads, recruiting the fewest number of new players.
From dark to light. Tite’s Brazil return to top World Cup qualifying table
By Samindra Kunti
October 12 – Brazil have moved top of the South American qualifying group for the Russia 2018 World Cup with a 2-0 win over Venezuela. Manchester City’s Gabriel Jesus and Chelsea’s Willian were on target.
Rooney dropped to bench as England seek a new path
October 11 – It’s been on the cards for a while and now the decision has finally been made. England captain Wayne Rooney, his country’s most-capped outfield player with 117 appearances, has been dropped for tonight’s World Cup qualifier against Slovenia.
English players in England’s top league have become an endangered species
October 10 – The number of national qualified players playing in the first teams of the top league in their country is often said to dictate the health of national team. If that is true then England’s 1-0 loss to Iceland at the Euros might have actually been a good result for the country.
Bradley takes over at Swansea with a US point to prove
October 10 – Bob Bradley, the first American appointed to coach a top-flight European team, says he aims to disprove those who believe he will find the Premier League too hot to handle.
Pique not feeling the love, saying he will end his Spanish career at Russia 2018
October 10 – Spanish international defender Gerard Piqué says the 2018 World Cup in Russia will be his final tournament with the national team because he feels he is no longer wanted.
Age is just a number. Celtic debut their 13-year-old Dembélé in U20s
October 7 – If they’re good enough, they’re old enough goes one of football’s well-known sayings.
My ball, my game. Barca have possession, and they intend to keep it
By Samindra Kunti in Amsterdam
October 5 – FC Barcelona ooze football. They are full-circle precision. Their style has been emulated across the globe with varying success and is the template for possession-based football. In his role as head of the club’s methodology department, Joan Vila Bosch has been at the heart of the Catalan supremacy.
AVB reflects on his time at Chelsea, but blasts Spurs boss Levy
By Samindra Kunti in Amsterdam
October 4 – Portuguese coach Andre Villas-Boas has admitted that managing Chelsea “was too much too soon.” He also blasted Tottenham Hotspur chairman Daniel Levy as an “expert in sacking managers.”