Author: Conal

He’s won more than 20 trophies – including five Champions Leagues – yet Casemiro still ran around Wembley like a hungry dog… his arrival at Man United felt like an expensive gamble but his winning mentality has proven to be priceless. It was late in the game at Wembley when substitute Jacob Murphy stole a yard in the Manchester United penalty area and thought he could salvage something for Newcastle. He could not. United midfielder Casemiro saw to that. Briefly, after he had closed Murphy down like a hungry dog and blocked the shot, Casemiro looked as though he may struggle to his feet.…

Inter Milan chief Beppe Marotta has confirmed Romelu Lukaku will return to Chelsea this summer, but claims the Belgian striker wants to make his loan deal permanent. The 29-year-old was sent out on loan to Inter last summer after enduring a miserable first season back at Stamford Bridge despite returning for a club-record £97.5million. His loan return to Inter has been marred by injury this season, meaning he has been restricted to just 14 appearances so far. ‘Lukaku to stay also next year? It’s too early to decide, he will return to Chelsea and we will see what’s next,’ Marotta told Sky. ‘Lukaku wants to stay at…

Lionel Messi, Erling Haaland and Kylian Mbappe were among those named in the Best FIFA men’s XI of 2022 on Monday. A plethora of stars were on show at the award show in Paris, with several accolades handed out during the evening. Three defenders made the team, alongside four midfielders and four forwards. Also in the team were Manchester City’s Kevin de Bruyne and Liverpool’s Virgil van Dijk. The selection was chosen by players themselves. Several stars of world football were present in Paris at the BEST FIFA awards on Monday night Virgil van Dijk (L), Lionel Messi (C) and Kylian Mbappe (R) were named in…

Arsenal are reportedly keeping an eye on Chelsea winger Raheem Sterling with Mikel Arteta a fan of the player from their time together at Manchester City. The high-flying Gunners know they will need to bolster their squad in the summer as they prepare to make their long-awaited return to the Champions League. And 90min claim Sterling is on their radar with Arteta interested in a reunion. Sterling and Arteta worked together for a number of years while the Spaniard was Pep Guardiola’s assistant at City. His ability to play across the front three is one of the biggest factors in any potential move. Arsenal are reportedly…

Lionel Messi did his Paris Saint-Germain team-mate Kylian Mbappe no favours as he voted for Neymar and Karim Benzema ahead of the French superstar at The Best FIFA Football Awards. Messi was named the best men’s player in the world at the ceremony in Paris after seeing off competition from second-placed Mbappe. Given his status as Argentina captain, Messi was permitted to vote and he elected for Neymar as his first choice ahead of another of his PSG team-mates in Mbappe – who didn’t get a vote as he is not France’s captain. Votes were cast by supporters, national team captains, national team coaches…

The potential exists for Hulk. The door is open for six huge Hulk fights to eventually happen in the MCU’s future. Having battled foes like Thor, Abomination, Thanos, and Iron Man, Hulk has already gone up against a handful of major MCU characters. That being said, Marvel still has quite a few powerhouses who have yet to be tested in combat by the Hulk. In Marvel Comics, it’s become a bit of a tradition for heavyweights like Thor, Hulk, and Hercules to be pitted against each other in epic slugfests, even when it means making fellow heroes fight each other. During the Infinity Saga,…

Many of the over 500 “unidentified aerial phenomena” appear to perform maneuvers that are highly advanced. National security agencies are studying hundreds of new reports of UFOs, including many that appear to perform maneuvers that are highly advanced, the nation’s top intelligence official reported on Thursday. In total, 510 “unidentified aerial phenomena” observed in protected airspace or near sensitive facilities have been compiled as of August of last year, according to the report to Congress from the director of national intelligence. Of those, 366 were gathered since a preliminary assessment was published in 2021 — an increase attributed to a…

FRISCO, Texas – While the Cowboys have announced a couple of changes already this offseason, the entire staff of assistant coaches were announced on Tuesday. Among the changes were additions to the quarterback coach, running back coach and offensive line coach. Veteran coach Mike Solari will coach the offensive line. In fact, Solari has been coaching the NFL for 35 years and got his start with the Cowboys in 1987-88, spending two years on the final two seasons with Tom Landry as head coach. Solari was an assistant offensive line coach and special teams coach for those two seasons. Since then,…

Blues fans have found a new way to show their frustration towards Graham Potter after losing 2-0 to Tottenham in the Premier League on Sunday afternoon. A petition from Chelsea fans to see Graham Potter sacked has now passed more than 10,000 signatures as fans show their anger at the recent run of form. Stretching back to November the Blues have won just three of the 16 games played. It’s not just been the results that have led to dissatisfaction within the supports though as only six goals have been scored in that time, a number more than trebled by…

One of them has made barely 70 appearances in four seasons. Another has only recently clocked up 100 senior games. Four have already moved on. Welcome to football’s £1.25billion club. The 10 most expensive players of all time, who were bought to guarantee success but merely prove what a risky business the transfer market can be. The Champions League should be their ultimate stage yet of that 10, only two – Paris Saint-Germain duo Neymar and Kylian Mbappe – are even guaranteed starters. At £361million for the pair of them, you would think that was the minimum requirement. Yet glance at the list a…

World Cup foes Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappe inspired Paris St Germain to a 3-0 win at bitter rivals Olympique de Marseille on Sunday to extend their Ligue 1 lead to eight points. Mbappe, who bagged a double, was set up by Messi for both his goals, and repaid the favour by laying on another for the Argentine forward as PSG, who were without the injured Neymar, moved to 60 points from 25 games with second-placed Marseille on 52. France forward Mbappe, who was on the losing side against Messi’s Argentina in the World Cup final, became PSG’s joint record…

A great migration from the north east of England had colonised the centre of London on Saturday night. The Geordie invasion had overwhelmed Trafalgar Square at the heart of the capital and then on Sunday morning, it had moved north and west to the outskirts of the city. In this football era of creeping corporatism, the hunger and the fervour of Newcastle’s support felt like a throwback to a different age. Inside the stadium, the hordes raised their black and white flags in giant stripes at their end of Wembley. After so many years in the wilderness, they had convinced…

Gabriel Martinelli’s goal against Leicester City was the 200th we’ve scored in the Premier League under Mikel Arteta. The very first was scored by Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, in a 1-1 draw against Bournemouth on December 26, 2019 – the boss’s first game in charge. The double century was brought up in Arteta’s 120th game in the competition, at a rate of 1.66 goals per game. Bukayo Saka is the leading scorer in the league games under the boss with 26, he recently overtook Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (25). Alexandre Lacazette is next with 22, Gabriel Martinelli has now moved onto 19 and Martin Odegaard…

Scarlet Witch, aka Wanda Maximoff, has become a popular staple of the Marvel Cinematic Universe thanks to Elizabeth Olsen, who was critically praised by fans and critics for her performance. The character has so far appeared in over seven projects in the MCU, including Avengers: Age of Ultron, Avengers: Infinity War, and the Disney+ miniseries WandaVision. After being last seen in 2022’s Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, where she took a villainous turn, fans have been wondering about the Scarlet Witch’s current status in the MCU, whether she is alive or dead, and whether or not Olsen will return to reprise the role in…

A stray Moscow pup traveled into orbit in 1957 with one meal and only a seven-day oxygen supply. With a pounding heart and rapid breath, Laika rode a rocket into Earth orbit, 2,000 miles above Moscow streets she knew. Overheated, cramped, frightened, and probably hungry, the space dog gave her life for her country, involuntarily fulfilling a canine suicide mission. Sad as this tale is, the stray husky-spitz mix became a part of history as the first living creature to orbit the Earth. Over the decades, the petite pioneer has repeatedly found new life in popular culture long after her death and…

Funny how what goes around comes around… Lionel Messi’s contract renewal at Paris Saint-Germain is being a real headache for PSG, for the board of directors and also for the fans, who have no guarantee of being able to count on their player for a long time. The curious thing is that at the beginning of the year, the feelings about Lionel’s renewal were positive, however, according to ‘Le Parisien’, everything would seem to indicate that the Argentine is not completely convinced and that the conversations between his father and the board, they would have stagnated. As if that were not enough drama in the…

WHAT HAPPENED? PSG superstar Kylian Mbappe continues to smash records. This time, he’s equalled Uruguayan legend Edinson Cavani’s scoring record for the French champions, after putting away his 200th goal against Marseille. Racing into the penalty area and catching a beautiful dinked assist from Lionel Messi to strike home, Mbappe demonstrated all the attacking skills that have helped him blow Ligue 1 to pieces over the past few seasons. THE BIGGER PICTURE: Since signing for PSG permanently in 2018, the French international’s scoring record has been simply phenomenal. His goals against Marseille are his 16th and 17th of the season in Ligue…

Enzo Fernandez urges Chelsea to sign Joao Felix on a permanent basis from Atletico Madrid. Enzo Fernandez has urged Chelsea to sign Joao Felix on a permanent basis. Felix joined Chelsea from Atletico Madrid for a loan fee of £9.7million in January, with Fernandez describing his team-mate as ‘a great player’. So far Felix has scored one goal in four appearances for Chelsea, and Fernandez believes that there is more to come from the 23-year-old. Fernandez, who also arrived at Chelsea in the January transfer window, told The Guardian: ‘He called me when I got here to ask if he could be any help. When you…

They say it’s best to strengthen from a position of strength and Arsenal are reaping the rewards of an excellent January transfer window. The league leaders didn’t sulk after missing out on Mykhailo Mudryk and Moises Caceido, they went straight to Plan B and brought in Leandro Trossard and Jorginho who have made significant contributions already. I thought Trossard was brilliant as a false nine at Leicester today. He won’t be as direct an attacking threat as Eddie Nketiah but he’s an intelligent footballer and helped Arsenal to control the game by knowing when to drop deep. He set up the winning goal and…

Manchester United beat Newcastle 2-0 in the Carabao Cup final and pictures of their changing room celebrations have been released. Alongside a guest appearance from Sir Alex Ferguson, the United team posed for pictures with the trophy as champagne flowed. Ten Hag’s side took command of the Carabao Cup final when Casemiro headed in a brilliant Luke Shaw cross to give Manchester United the lead. An own-goal courtesy of Sven Botman doubled United’s advantage and put them in complete control as they saw the game out. The win ended United’s six-year trophy drought and all involved with the club seemed to enjoy getting their hands on…

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly of the pre-MCU. Do you recall what Marvel movies were like before Disney took over? Let’s look at it this way. Critical reception to the latest MCU release, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, has been average at best, currently rocking a Rotten 48% on Rotten Tomatoes. Even a low score like that tops pre-Disney Marvel films like Howard the Duck (14%) or 2003’s Daredevil (43%). Generally speaking, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania’s critical reception is not the norm for the MCU, with the derided Eternals the only MCU film to score worse, so it can safely be said that Disney righted the ship for…

FRISCO, Texas — There have been plenty of all-time great players that have come through the Dallas Cowboys organization since their inception in 1960. The franchise has produced five Super Bowl titles and 20 Pro Football Hall of Famers and most recently – four Walter Payton Man of the Year winners. Of course, Roger Staubach was the first player to win the award in 1978, followed by Troy Aikman in 1997 and then Jason Witten in 2012. The latest addition of the honor went to Dak Prescott in early February of this year at the NFL Honors. Fittingly, Witten held his annual…

Paris Saint-Germain is going through a more than delicate moment in the season, for various reasons. The first and most worrying, the low level of performance of the team during the matches, since they lost three consecutive times before beating LOSC Lille. Also, Bayern Munich beat them in the UEFA Champions League and gave them a reality check. Later, the renewal of its three stars is also being a headache for the Parisian board, since it seems that Lionel Messi’s renewal has stalled, according to Le Parisien. Besides, Kylian Mbappe always threatens to go to Real Madrid. Messi’s case is complicated, because according to the aforementioned media outlet, Jorge Messi’s conversations with Paris…

Former Chelsea star Oscar left the club to ply his trade in China. For several years Oscar was an important cog in the Chelsea side alongside Eden Hazard, Frank Lampard and John Terry but left for China during his peak years as a footballer and left many Blues fans wondering what could have been if the Brazilian remained at Stamford Bridge. Chelsea paid around £25million to sign him from Internacional and he enjoyed four-and-a-half fruitful years at the club before surprisingly deciding to move to China in 2016. During the Chinese Super League boom, Shanghai SIPG paid £60m to take the Brazil international to…