The Fußball Chatter

Gerard Pique has announced his international retirement following a recent conservation with Spain coach Luis Enrique. The 31-year-old decided not to return to the Spanish setup with the former Barcelona manager after nine in the Spanish set-up. Speaking in a recent press conference for the Spanish Super Cup between Barcelona and Sevilla, Pique stated “I have had a really good time, with a European Championship and a World Cup, but that story is at an end.” He later added, “It would make sense to leave it after the World Cup. It has been a wonderful time and I have experienced amazing things, but sometimes you have to end cycles and you have to do that in the right fashion.”  Pique joins former teammate Andres Iniesta, who also announced his international retirement after Spain’s penalty shootout defeat to hosts Russia in the Round of 16 of the World Cup. Pique has won 102 caps for La Roja making his debut in February 2009 against England. Pique was part of Spain’s successful do...

The Premier League is now up and running with seven games played already from the opening game on Friday. Manchester United started their campaign with a win against Leicester City with Paul Pogba scoring the first goal of the league season from the penalty spot. Chelsea and Spurs both started off their season with a win away from home while the promoted teams (Wolves, Fulham and Cardiff) were unable to get a win in their first game in the top-flight. 19 goals were scored from the seven with four clean sheets. Here are five things learned from the Premier League games on Friday and Saturday. Shaw answers to the critics Luke Shaw has had a difficult time at Manchester United. Since arriving as a highly rated teenager in 2014 from Southampton, Shaw hasn’t been able to put a foothold in United’s XI following injuries and questions of his fitness by Jose Mourinho. However, Shaw finally answered his doubters following United’s 2-1 win against Leicester City on Friday. The full-bac...

The Transfer Window for the Premier League was shut last night. The league campaign starts this weekend with the first game being tonight when Manchester United face Leicester City. There was little time for teams to do their business with the World Cup and the transfer window closing early. While some teams managed to make smart signings or getting things done early, some teams struggled with their dealings and will have to wait for the winter window in January. Here are the Winners and Losers from the Transfer Window in the Premier League. Winners: Liverpool Liverpool have made some smart signings this summer that has improved their squad in terms of quality and depth. Naby Keita finally joined the club after the deal was done last year but stayed at Leipzig for another season. They beat Manchester United to signing Brazilian midfielder Fabinho from AS Monaco for £40 million as well as Chelsea in signing Alisson from AS Roma for £67 million. Xherdan Shaqiri adds dept...

The Premier League returns on August 10th after a periodic summer break which saw the World Cup and teams building up for the season with transfers. Last season, Mohamed Salah tore the Premier League scoring a record 32 goals. Kevin De Bruyne was the catalyst to Manchester City winning the title, David De Gea with his saves helped Manchester United to their best league finish since Sir Alex Ferguson left the club, Harry Kane continues to be one of the best strikers around, etc. While many of the players on this list are recognizable, it is exciting to see how they will adapt in the Premier League this season and how successful they will be this season. Here are the 10 players to watch this season. Ruben Neves Ruben Neves' move to Wolves from FC Porto last season for a club record 15.8 million pounds was the oddest transfer that season given the reputation the young midfielder has already received in Portugal. Nevertheless, Neves flourished at the Championship, scoring si...

Chelsea have finally gotten their number one with Spanish goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga signing for the Blues from boyhood club Athletic Bilbao. Chelsea have been looking for a goalkeeper with current first choice Thibaut Courtois looking to move to Real Madrid and have been linked with a number of goalkeepers throughout the transfer like Alisson, Jack Butland and Jordan Pickford. The deal was concluded last night signing a seven-year contract and will make his debut against Huddersfield on Saturday. Speaking on the Official Chelsea website,  the 23-year-old stated: "It's a very important decision for me, for my career, and for my personal life." "So many things attracted me to the club, all the titles the club has won, the other players, the city, the English Premier League. It's an accumulation of things, and I am very glad Chelsea has decided to trust me and to take me in as well." The director of Chelsea Marina Granovskalia also had some words to say...

The Premier League will make its return on August 10th when Manchester United face Leicester City at Old Trafford. It will be another nine months of football that will have stories, twists and turns for all the twenty teams involved. The attention will no doubt be on the Top 6 (Manchester City, Manchester United, Liverpool, Chelsea, Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur) so this preview is exclusively on those six teams and seeing what we can expect from them with the changes they've made for the coming season. Arsenal This will be the first time in 22 years that Arsenal will not have Arsene Wenger at the dugout. Unai Emery was appointed as his successor and has already stamped his authority. Arsenal finished sixth last season, their lowest finish under Wenger. Emery has made signings to improve their defensive spine with Bernd Leno, Lucas Torreira, Sotkratis Papastathopoulos, Matteo Guendouzi and Stephen Lichsteiner. Arsenal have let go of fan favourites Jack Wilshere and San...