With an £800m stadium to build and a low wage ceiling Spurs face a challenge to upgrade their team even with £50m from the imminent sale of Kyle WalkerOf all the tributes to Daniel Levy and his iron-fist-in-the-iron-glove negotiating style Sir Alex Ferguson’s is surely the most memorable. Dealing with the Tottenham Hotspur chairman, Ferguson recalled, “was more painful than my hip replacement”. It should be noted, too, that Ferguson got what he wanted from Levy. Despite all the agonies he was able to take the striker Dimitar Berbatov from Tottenham to Manchester United in 2008.Many people in the game do not get what they want from Levy. The very mention of his name can have agents and players letting...
Premier League sides have struggled to impose themselves in Europe in recent years because the domestic competition is seen as an obstacle to successNext season, assuming Liverpool can negotiate the play-off round, there will be five English clubs in the Champions League. That is a large number, though it does not necessarily follow that a greater representation will lead to a better chance of English success. Premier League sides have been struggling to impose themselves in Europe in recent years. From a position a decade ago when finals were being reached on a regular basis and Uefa had genuine concerns when two English clubs faced each other in Moscow in 2008, the strength of the Premier League now seems to...
It used to be seen as domestic football’s Everest but the modern domination of a handful of clubs has made winning the Premier League and FA Cup a much less remarkable featAntonio Conte is on the verge of winning the Double in his first season in England. That sounds a remarkable feat and actually it will be as Chelsea will have disposed of Manchester United, Tottenham and Arsenal in the FA Cup should they be found running round Wembley with the trophy on Saturday evening, though there can be little doubt the Double is a somewhat devalued currency these days. Related: It was Arsenal’s day in 2002 – but it has mostly been Chelsea’s ever since | Amy Lawrence Related:...
The 2016-17 season still had its drama – moments of brilliance and booming narrative arcs to be resolved – but it was less title race than well-ordered title jogFarewell, then, to the year that almost was. This was a Premier League season that sparked with a controlled excitement, never quite caught fire but still dished up another digestible slice of high-end product.Things kept on almost happening. Leicester City almost completed the most dramatic title-plus-relegation act of all time. But then it was all sort of OK. Marco Silva almost pulled off a minor managerial miracle – but somehow not quite. To great fanfare Tottenham Hotspur pulled to within one victory of being quite close to creeping up on Chelsea’s shoulder at...
John Terry will say goodbye to Chelsea with the title, José Mourinho will pick his weakest team yet and Manchester City should tread carefully at WatfordThe best team in the league face the worst team in the league in a match that will be played in a carefree atmosphere by everyone except John Terry, whose 717th and final Chelsea appearance will end with him – together with Gary Cahill – lifting the Premier League trophy, followed by a teary-eyed farewell speech to the fans. Sunday is the end of an era for Terry, his club and their opponents Sunderland, relegated at last after 10 successive top-flight seasons. Terry’s beer-glass-emptying, disabled-bay-filling, rival-abusing, full-kit-wearing past means he gets little love from rival...