On paper, a continental trip to Legia Warsaw in Poland should be considered a positive – after all, there are tougher and more storied clubs you can be drawn against in European competition. But so hostile is the atmosphere at Legia’s Marshall Jozef Pilsudski Stadium that the home players are given a boost before a […]
Given the demanding nature of professional sport, it’s perhaps good when a footballer has confidence to spare. It means that they can insulate themselves from poor performances and criticism, believing in their talent to the point that they feel a return to form is just around the corner. There’s confidence, there’s hubris and then there’s […]
Monday March 10, 1905. Okay, so it’s a date that probably won’t mean much to you. But that was the fateful day that Chelsea FC was formed. Fast forward 120 years and much has changed, with the club boasting a billionaire American owner and a trophy cabinet that is fit to bursting with major silverware. […]
If you have aspirations of being one of the biggest football clubs in the world, there’s a few things you need to have. A wealthy owner is a good start, which is music to the ears of Chelsea fans with Todd Boehly at the helms, as is boasting a world-class head coach and players… perhaps […]
When you spend as much as Chelsea have on players over the past two decades – and turn over your squad at a rate of knots – there’s always likely to be an expensive flop or two along the way. That likelihood has intensified in the Todd Boehly era, with the Blues owner only too […]
Chelsea’s ladies team made history in January by breaking the world record transfer fee for a female player. Naomi Girma has made the move from San Diego Wave to London for a fee of £900,000… and the first time in history that the $1 million ceiling had been broken in the women’s game. The previous […]
Although football has a myriad of statistical categories and data definitions these days, for attacking players there’s still only two outputs that are truly measured and treasured: goals and assists. Once upon a time, they were treated separately: midfielders and wingers would be tasked with creating the assists, while strikers were charged with getting on […]
FIFA, never shy of seeking ways to make more money, are gambling on a revamped version of their Club World Cup to help bring in the bacon in the off-years of their international edition of the tournament. The revamped Club World Cup has been expanded to 32 teams and will be played in the summer […]
There’s a bit in seminal sitcom I’m Alan Partridge where the eponymous TV presenter and radio DJ refuses to downsize his car to a Mini Metro. When erstwhile assistant Lynn claims that it’s actually been upgraded as the Rover Metro, Alan replies, ‘they’ve rebadged it, you fool!’ All of which brings us nicely to the […]
Cole Palmer is no ordinary footballer… and at the age of just 22, he could go on to break all sorts of records for Chelsea and the Premier League as a whole. Incredibly, Palmer has already broken one long-standing EPL record already in 2024/25, while closing in on a club landmark that hasn’t been matched […]
With the 2024/25 season now well underway, things are looking pretty rosy for Chelsea. Enzo Maresca has got the Blues playing winning football again, and a solid start in the Premier League suggests that a top-four finish – if not a title challenge – could be in the offing. That would be a satisfactory outcome […]
At the time of writing, Raheem Sterling has played more than 80 games for England and has made almost 400 Premier League appearances (split between Liverpool, Manchester City and Chelsea). At the age of just 29, Sterling is widely considered to have plenty to offer… but perhaps that opinion is not shared by the current […]