Eyes down for another tilt at glory The World Cup has barely ended but for most of football fans, the attention now turns to the real business - the return of the domestic programme. Saturday sees the start of the campaign with the Carabao Cup taking up the mantle as season curtain-raiser a week ahead of a full EFL programme in the Championship and Leagues One and two. The Premier League's stars gets a extra week on the beach before they get going the following weekend (Augus

By Alessandro Schiavone in Eindhoven No wonder Arsenal have temporarily cooled their interest in Dutch whizkid Kees Smit and instead gone all-out for proven Premier League estrella Bruno Guimaraes. The Gunners saw their opening bid for the Newcastle star knocked back today, but should they eventually be forced to explore back-up options, Smit's name is unlikely to shoot back to the top of Mikel Arteta's shortlist any time soon. The AZ Alkmaar prodigy has been admired in north

By Alessandro Schiavone A former teammate of Christos Tzolis has backed the new Arsenal winger to come up trumps in English football. Premier League champions Arsenal nipped in to nab the Greece international for £34m as a replacement for Besiktas-bound Leandro Trossard last week. And the incoming Club Bruges starlet has what it takes to take centre stage in the Premier League thanks to his ambidexterity, ability to combine with teammates and knack for goals. Tzolis made 40 g

Spain celebrate after winning the World Cup for a second time: Picture from Wikimedia Commons/The White House Has there ever been a more universally welcome outcome in a World Cup final? Has a result ever felt more just? We all feared the worst when referee Slavko Vincic failed to yellow card Liverpool's Alexis Mac Allister early on for a typically savage challenge on Dani Olmo, and it looked like the gruesome Argentinians were going to get carte blanche to go about their sor

By Alessandro Schiavone His name is steeped into the club’s history, and more than a quarter of a century later, Arsenal fans still carry a torch for him. For many, the void he left has never truly been filled. Despite the arrival of Declan Rice. He combined grace, tactical literacy, physicality and, of course, goals. No matter the occasion, he never flinched or shied away. He was a key figure as Arsenal emerged in the late 1990s to break Manchester United’s stranglehold on B

Photo by Alessandro Schiavone By Alessandro Schiavone While Spain reached the final of the FIFA World Cup courtesy of a convincing 2-0 win over France in Dallas yesterday, one particular detail may have been lost on Tottenham Hotspur fans: Pedro Porro's strike pulled their club level with Chelsea on three goals in World Cup semifinals. Up until yesterday’s clash between the neighbouring countries, the Blues were 3-2 ahead in these London charts thanks to Oscar (1) and Schurrl

Mikel Merino in the red of the national team : Picture from Wikimedia Commons The World cup's final chapters are about to be written - with London players still very much involved in the chase for sporting immortality. The tension that is about to grip the nation on Wednesday as England take on Argentina in Atlanta will be underscored by the subtext of a north London confrontation between Tottenham's Crstian Romero and soon-to-be club team-mate Marcos Senesi for the world cha

wikimedia commons By Alessandro Schiavone Rafa Leao showed Premier League clubs that he’s far from being a fading force after setting up Gonçalo Ramos’ winning goal against Croatia in Toronto yesterday. In extra-time, the mercurial Portuguese maverick star looked up and picked out his new AC Milan teammate Ramos with an inch-perfect delivery into a crowded box. During the game he was a real handful for Croatia’s defence, who just couldn’t live with his darting runs and bursts

That was the season that was : Picture by @YTJourno AFC Wimbledon 4 Not the greatest of seasons for the Dons, who fell too close to the trapdoor for comfort towards the business end of the season. Johnnie Jackson's men finished only two places above the dotted line after losing nine of their last 11 matches and they managed only two goals in their last eight games. Only Marcus Browne (with 12) managed to get into double figures for goals. And home form was a concern, with onl

Pre kick off at the Puskas Arena ; Picture by @YTJourno Champions League Final Arsenal (1) 1 Havertz 6 Paris Saint-Germain (0) 1 Dembele pen 65 After Extra Time PSG win 4-3 on pens Oh the torment. Undefeated for an entire season of Champions League football, only to have the kick in the teeth of having a penalty decider at the 'away end' with the added pressure of taking the second kick. That seldom ends well and so it proved as Ebe Eze and Gabriel fired wide to kill off hope