Xavi left Barcelona at the end of last season having won more trophies than any other Spanish footballer in history. He could have retired as a one-club legend and gone out with a treble-winning season, but he chose to follow the money to Qatar and join Al Sadd on a multi-year deal.
Tag: Dirty Tackle
Fight against overpriced tickets finds a leader in hilarious Irish Liverpool fan
(Warning: delightfully NSFW language)
Liverpool fans staged a walkout in the 77th minute of their club’s match against Sunderland (Liverpool were up 2-0 at the time, but finished with a 2-2 draw) on Saturday to protest the news that the highest priced tickets in the new main stand next season would be £77.
Outside Anfield, YouTube fan channel Redmen TV interviewed an Irish supporter who had strong feelings on the matter. And in this interview, a new leader emerged.
“Looking at a city like Liverpool, it’s a working class city, you can’t be charging be charging £77 a ticket,” he began, calmly enough.
The more he spoke, the more impassioned he became, and the more he began to swear.
“Seventy seven pound…to watch THAT! Are you fookin’ mad?! James Milner! What the fook?! You’re mad! Jordan Henderson is your captain! Fook off! Honestly…honestly…would you pay 77 pound to see fokin’ Jordan Henderson kick a ball against a wall? NO! Foke off.”
As the Football Supporters Federation looks to organize a mass walkout at matches across the Premier League over this issue, it’s clear that this Liverpool fan is the man to lead this revolution against greed and price gouging. Not because he’d be certain to bring change, but because I just want to hear him rant about James Milner some more.
Carlos Tevez has an impressive Bombonera foosball table
We know Carlos Tevez loves Boca Juniors since he left Europe to return to the club where his career began, but it goes even farther than that. Tevez is now the proud owner of a La Bombonera foosball table that is serious business. All this thing is missing is a tiny Maradona jumping around in the stands.
Meanwhile, in a completely unrelated development, Tevez’s former teammate at Juventus, Paul Pogba, now has Pokemon hair.
The Barclays Premier League is dead
When the 2015/16 season ends, so will the Barclays Premier League. Starting next season, it will officially go by the name everyone who isn’t contractually obligated to say “Barclays” (or a corporate wonk) uses now: “Premier League.”
Napoli fans show support for racially abused player
Napoli fans showed their support for Kalidou Koulibaly during their side’s 1-0 win over Carpi after the defender was racially abused during Wednesday’s match against Lazio in Rome, which prompted the referee to momentarily stop the game.
Fans throughout Napoli’s San Paolo stadium held up photos of Koulibaly to demonstrate their love for the 24-year-old.
DT Exclusive: Eden Hazard’s apology texts to Jose Mourinho
In an interview with the Guardian, Eden Hazard has revealed that he texted former Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho to apologize for his poor form and the role it played in the Portuguese’s sacking. The following is a transcript of that text exchange.
Robert Huth scores brace in Leicester win against Man City during season that is actually happening
Leicester beat Manchester City 3-1 at the Etihad. Robert Huth had a brace. They are now five points clear at the top of the Premier League table with 53 points from 25 matches. This is real.
Leicester were in last place with 17 points from 24 matches on this day last year. In August, the odds on them winning the Premier League were 5000/1. Now they are 7/4 favorites. This is not a joke.
Their manager, Claudio Ranieri, has never won a first division title. Their top scorer, 29-year-old Jamie Vardy, who also leads the Premier League in goals, was playing non-league football four years ago. Their captain, 32-year-old Wes Morgan, is only playing his second season of top flight football. Rihad Mahrez, who scored against Man City and has been involved in more goals than any other Premier League player this season (14 goals, 10 assists) was bought for about £400,000 in January 2014. I’m serious.
Leicester City’s best ever finish in the top flight came in 1929 when they were runners-up. They have never appeared in the Champions League, which now seems certain to change next season as they are now 13 points clear of fifth-place Manchester United. You are not hallucinating this.
To repeat: Leicester beat Man City 3-1. Robert Huth has more goals than 2014/15 Player of the Year Eden Hazard this season. Leicester are in first place in the Premier League and favorites to win it. There is not a gas leak in your house, nor is it raining frogs outside.
Just to be absolutely clear: All of these words have been about Leicester City Football Club of Leicester, England in the United Kingdom on the planet Earth. The image at the top of this post has not been photoshopped. You are awake.
Indoor goalkeeper scores basket with clearance attempt, concedes goal while celebrating
A goalkeeper in an indoor football match attempted a sliding clearance, sending the ball through a basketball hoop along the side of the gym. It was a rather impressive accident, but while he celebrated the feat, the quick thinking opposition scored with his back turned (on the goal, not the basket).
This is why it’s always important to only focus on one sport at a time.
DTotD: HSV player headbutts teammate during training
A poorly timed challenge from Michael Gregoritsch on teammate Ivo Ilicevic angered Ilicevic to the point of headbutting the young winger.
Headbutt aside, Gregoritsch was the one who limped away from the challenge, apparently hurting himself more than Ilicevic. But Ilicevic’s retaliation wasn’t tolerated by manager Bruno Labbadia, who suspended him for Sunday’s match against Cologne as punishment.
Who knew headbutting your own teammates would be frowned upon?
This has been the Dirty Tackle of the Day: a chronicling of unfortunate events.
MLS finds a way to even make their shirts confusing
MLS has an endless supply of convoluted and constantly changing rules and mechanisms, but their shirts have remained largely straight forward. They’re all made by the same company. They have sleeves. Various colors. The usual shirt stuff.
In other words, their shirts were completely out of sync with how the league operates. So they’ve changed that.