When England’s most recognised centre forward announces that he “couldn’t say yes, couldn’t say no” as to whether he’d spend the rest of his career at Spurs, you know football’s biggest clubs are going to take notice. It was bland and seemingly innocuous, but the message was clear and can you blame Kane? Spurs regressed after reaching the Champions League final and he’d be right to wonder if that was a high point.Manchester United are England’s biggest and, from Michael Carrick to Dimitar Berbatov, Tottenham have lost some of their greatest players to United, usually after a transfer wrangle involving Daniel Levy. The dynamics have changed, though. Tottenham reached the Madrid final last season, they play in a superior stadium...
Arsenal's icons tend to fall into one of two categories: they either win a tidy stash of silverware while with the club, or they embody the Gunners' once-famed and revered team spirit. A select few players fall into both camps. The much-loved David Rocastle, who died from cancer 19 years ago, is one such figure.'Rocky' broke into the Arsenal side against Newcastle in September 1985. The first in a line of youth team graduates - including Martin Hayes, Niall Quinn and Martin Keown - to be blooded by under-pressure manager Don Howe, Rocastle made an immediate impact on the right-wing, jinking infield and showing selflessness in bringing his team-mates into play.Not even Rocky, though, was able to pull that underachieving...
This article first appeared in the April 2020 issue of FourFourTwo magazine. Subscribe now and get the first five issues for just £5Hands up if you grew up wanting to be a full-back. Us neither.A goal-hungry forward? Definitely. A chalk-on-your-boots winger, tying opposition defenders in knots? Sounds like fun. Even a centre-back who sweats blood and spinal fluid for the cause? Well, it’s part of English football’s warrior DNA. But full-back? That’s for the Sunday League clogger who turns up every week despite being severely deficient in basic co-ordination, let alone footballing ability.At professional level, too, there has always been an element of the unfashionable to full-backs – particularly the doughty, diligent types who wouldn’t venture past the halfway line...
Lately, I find myself using the phrase “the modern game” a lot and nearly always in a disparaging way. Whenever an article touches on ticket prices, the behaviour of players, or even just the texture of contemporary sport, there it is.“The modern game.”That’s particularly true at the moment. The Premier League is not handling the coronavirus pandemic well. In fact, it’s carrying itself with great vulgarity, reinforcing the pejorative stereotypes that it has spent the last 28 years attracting and accumulating. As this article by David Ornstein revealed last week, the competition’s level of self-importance is quite staggering. In particular, the anecdote about the private jets reeks of the social detachment contemporary sport is often accused of having. In a...
Ten minutes on the clock, 60 clubsto guess.Remember to tweet your scores@FourFourTwoand send to some friends!NOW TRYQuiz! Can you name the Premier League top scorers from 2000 to 2009? Some say he's one of the greatest defenders that Europe has ever seen. Others believe he's a dirty little so-and-so.You either love Sergio Ramos or despise him with a passion, but no one can ignore him. Especially not referees. He's seen red in his time more than a Spanish bull.As we found out on Saturday during our 3pm watchalong, the Madrid captain has mastered the dark arts of the game - so much do that he's been booked or sent off against 60 clubs. Three divisions' worth of sides. Incredible, really.Big...