The podders preview England v Germany in the Euro U-21s. Plus, the latest Confederations Cup news and all you need to know about Mauricio PellegrinoOn today’s Football Weekly, AC Jimbo is joined by Simon Burnton, James Horncastle and Nick Miller to talk about the hottest happenings on Planet Soccerball.First up, we hear from Rafa Honigstein about England’s chances against the Germans in the U-21 European Championship semi-final. Will this be revenge on Stefan Kuntz and his charges for Euro 96? Continue reading...
The podders discuss the rumours surrounding Ronaldo’s future in Spain. Plus, VAR controversy at the Confederations Cup; Sunderland’s search for a manager continues; and a bumper weekend for Craig DavidAC Jimbo is joined by Barry Glendenning, Simon Burnton and Sasha Goryunov for this second post-season special edition of Football Weekly.We begin with the Confederations Cup, which has churned out a couple of surprisingly entertaining games but also a fair bit of controversy with all this VAR business. Continue reading...
The Swede has gone from Benfica reserve to hot property in 18 months but his leadership and coolness under pressure marked him out from a young age and he and Eric Bailly should form a partnership reminiscent of Vidic and FerdinandWhen Luisão says that there have been times when he has mistaken Victor Lindelof for a player in his 30s, the gnarly Brazilian who has never held back in his role as the leader of Benfica’s defence is paying his young colleague the highest possible compliment. Although it could be mistaken for a dismissive observation about Lindelof’s cumbersome movement, instead it is Luisão’s way of expressing his admiration for a blossoming defender whose eerie composure explains why José Mourinho was...
Eyebrows were raised when Liverpool paid £7.1m for two centre-halves in 1994. This week they were ready to shell out £60m on Virgil van Dijk and the record fee for a defender looks set to be smashed this summer“I was in demand,” remembered Phil Babb. “I was on holiday and every other day I was reading the papers and I was going here, there and everywhere.”Back in 1994, the player who was once rejected by his local club Millwall appeared to have the world at his feet. Fresh from his exploits for Republic of Ireland at the World Cup in the United States, Babb joined Liverpool on 1 September for £3.6m – a then British record fee for a defender....
At 23, the signing from Benfica is short on top-level experience but he is tipped to be Brazil’s next No1 and is comfortable with the ball at his feet – if occasionally a little overconfidentEderson made sure he left Benfica for Manchester City with a bang. In the goalkeeper’s penultimate league match for the Portuguese champions, not only did he keep his 17th clean sheet of the season, he also got an assist.A goal-kick from the 23-year-old led to Benfica’s second goal in a 5-0 defeat of Vitória Guimarães. It was a kick that found the forward Raúl Jiménez on the edge of the Vitória penalty area, the Mexican controlling it with his feet before turning it into the goal...