Christian Pulisic is better than Landon Donovan. That’s not my opinion — that’s Landon Donovan’s. At the age of 22, Pulisic has established himself at Chelsea. Donovan, at 22, was experiencing one of his least productive MLS seasons with an average San Jose Earthquakes team.
While the Premier League is ascribed to be the most talented league in the world, the EFL Championship might be as difficult, if not more so, than the English top flight.
In terms of talent, the Championship is just a small step below the Premier League and there is little disparity between the top and bottom of the table. 23rd place Birmingham has beaten second place Brentford and fifth place Reading this season, while Derby County beat Norwich then went winless for two months and dropped to the bottom of the table.
LONDON - West Ham United moved into the top four of the Premier League standings after an efficient 3-0 home win over bottom side Sheffield United at the London Stadium on Monday.
Declan Rice's 41st-minute penalty had the hosts in front at halftime. Issa Diop added a second in the 58th minute with a header and Ryan Fredericks scored with the last kick of the game.
Liverpool manager Jürgen Klopp on Monday shot down speculation that he could leave the Premier League champions amid a dismal run of form and said he was determined to turn around their flagging fortunes.
Saturday's 3-1 defeat at Leicester City left Liverpool in fourth, 13 points behind leaders Manchester City having played a game more, and led to rumors that Klopp could walk away from the club.
Fans showed their support for the 53-year-old German by unfurling a 'Jürgen Klopp YNWA (You'll Never Walk Alone)' banner outside Anfield.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang gets the headlines after netting his first Premier League hat-trick in Arsenal’s 4-2 win over Leeds United at the Emirates on Sunday, but the goal that best highlighted the Gunners’ superiority was scored by Héctor Bellerín with must-see contributions from Bukayo Saka and Dani Ceballos.
BIRMINGHAM, England - An out-of-sorts Manchester United could only draw 1-1 at struggling West Bromwich Albion on Sunday, leaving them second in the Premier League but seven points adrift of Manchester City.
West Brom, who need a remarkable turnaround to avoid relegation, stunned their visitors with a second-minute goal from on-loan Senegalese striker Mbaye Diagne who beat defender Victor Lindelöf to head home.
BERLIN - Liverpool coach Jürgen Klopp will not be able to attend his mother's funeral in Germany's Black Forest region due to COVID-19 travel restrictions, he said on Wednesday.
Klopp, who led Liverpool to the English league title as well as the Champions League crown in the past few seasons, said due to the restrictions and quarantine rules in England and Germany he would not be able to attend the funeral.
His mother Elisabeth had passed away last month.
An FA Cup last-16 tie between Premier League leaders Manchester City and Championship promotion hopefuls Swansea took on significant importance stateside on Wednesday as USMNT No. 1 Zack Steffen started in goal for City while Seattle Sounders loanee Jordan Morris got his first Swansea start and D.C. United loanee Paul Arriola made his debut off the bench.
With soccer tactics constantly changing, certain types of players are not always accommodated.
Roles like the libero, trequartista, striker partnerships and burly center backs have become, or are quickly becoming, outdated in modern football. Other roles like ball-playing goalkeepers, false nines and wingers that cut inside onto their stronger foot have become very trendy.
This often leaves current players wishing they had played in a previous decade and former players wishing their career had started a little later. Ah, what could have been.
Ole Gunnar Solskjær is in hot pursuit of his first trophy as Manchester United manager after the Red Devils tepidly advanced to the quarterfinals of the FA Cup following a 1-0 extra time victory over West Ham.
United couldn’t generate a whole lot with Fred, Nemanja Matić and Donny van de Beek handed the keys to midfield, but West Ham failed to land a shot on target until the 114th-minute.
The opening half produced this nice Zidane turn from Marcus Rashford…