Ianis Hagi21-year-old Ianis has represented Romania at every youth level, from U15 to U21, and now the senior team - it perhaps wasn't difficult to scout such a talent though. His father Gheorghe is widely regarded as one of the greatest talents ever from Romania, and set up his own youth academy. Now at Rangers on loan from Genk, Ianis has notched his first goal in Scottish football. The Hagi story continues.Justin KluivertOne of the brightest talents in recent years to come from the fabled Ajax academy, Justin Kluivert - son of legend Patrick - was snapped up from Roma in 2018. He's still only 20 and could have a bright future ahead of him.Still, he'll have a job emulating...
The table lies. Obviously the literal points tally is true enough, but, contrary to popular belief, the table does lie – about how good or bad each team really is. Also, Santa isn’t real. Sorry.xG, as you probably know by now, refers to expected goals. It’s a metric that analyses the quality of shots taken by each side in a match and, using tens of thousands of simulations, calculates a probable scoreline on the basis of those goalscoring chances. Here, read this if you like.As xG has become better-known, to the unfettered rage of Craig Burley, Jeff Stelling and your dad (assuming neither of those is your dad), its use has spread. Using xG and xGA, which analyses the scoring...
Ten minutes are on the clock and there are 28 playersto guess - that's 11 in 2004, plus three substitutes, and 11 in 2010, plus three substitutes.Remember to tweet your scores@FourFourTwo, and challenge some friends while you're at it.THEN TRY:Quiz! Can you name the 30 most successful clubs in world football? Arrogant? Perhaps. But at least FourFourTwo cover star Jose Mourinho has backed his Jupiter-sized ego with two Champions League trophies.He's in an elite gang. Only Jose, Carlo Ancelotti, Ernst Happel, Ottmar Hitzfeld and Jupp Heynckes have won the biggest prize in Europe with two different clubs - and perhaps Mourinho's are most impressive.In 2004, Mourinho's Porto side - which consisted mostly of homegrown talent - defied the odds to...
Not everything works out the first time around. With the right attitude, application and ability, however, you might just get the second chance you deserve.That’s certainly the belief at ProChance, whose mission is simple: getting talented young players into professional football by offering them invaluable opportunities they might have otherwise lost for good.The fledgling project was set up by head coach Liam Sutcliffe in 2019, but has already arranged professional trials in England and Scotland for a clutch of its brightest stars.Between March and August 2020, ProChance are holding six one-day showcases for out-of-contract, undiscovered talents in the key age groups of U15 to U19. There, players will have the chance to impress in front of key decision-makers from pro...
Mendy played under the highly-rated Bielsa at Marseille, where the Argentinian manager coached for just over twelve months between 2014 and 2015.Bielsa had an immediate impact during his first few months at OM, taking the French club to the top of Ligue 1 at Christmas 2014, but his side finished the season in fourth place after collapsing during the second half at the season.Both Mendy and Bielsa now find themselves in English football - Mendy is with Premier League champions Manchester City, while Bielsa now coaches promotion-chasing Leeds United in the Championship.Bielsa has been the focal point of a controversial 18 months at Elland Road, most notably when he held a press conference to the media outlining his managerial and...