Following their loss against Queens Park Rangers on Monday, Derby County has been relegated to League One. While many relegated teams suffer their fate through poor performances, Derby County’s demise occurred for a special reason.
In December, Manchester City demolished Leicester City 6–3 to enter the New Year eight points clear of Liverpool. After scoring 17 goals in three games, it looked like the gap would continue to widen. However, following their draw against Crystal Palace on Monday, their momentum and point advantage to win the league have tremendously declined. As it stands, Liverpool will be a point behind them if they win their next game against Arsenal. Manchester will need to find their form if they hope to take home the Premier League title.
While the game is played with a ball on a field and two goal posts, soccer transcends the events within the pitch. Following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the demand for peace throughout Europe's top five leagues illustrated the binding effect of soccer. In the Premier League, fans and players stood behind banners calling for anti-war. Manchester City and Everton donned Ukrainian flags to show solidarity.
After being postponed by a year, the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations finally began in January 2022. The tournament brought many memorable moments from heated arguments breaking out between referees and players to upsetting wins by underdogs.
The Premier League is about a third of the way finished, and about six managers have been fired, with the last one being Manchester United’s club legend, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. His team was underperforming, and the argument for his sacking is convincing — Solskjaer won only three out of his last ten games in all competitions. Moreover, Manchester United lost abysmally to its rivals Liverpool and Manchester City. Both games also echoed a discouraging view of the future as both Liverpool and City outplayed and tactically asserted their dominance over Solskjaer’s team. Although it is difficult to defend a manager with such a record, the sacking is frustrating since Manchester United appeared to have finally gained a stable leadership and an attacking playing style.
On Oct. 7, 2021, multiple newspapers and sports channels confirmed that the Public Investment Fund, a Saudi Arabian wealth fund, had bought the English football team Newcastle United. The $400 million deal makes Newcastle United, nicknamed the "Magpies" by local fans, the richest football club in the world.
There’s something I need to get off my chest. Players’ transfer fees should not be used to assess the quality of a soccer player in modern soccer. Here’s why.
The Major League Soccer playoffs began on Nov. 21, 2020. The first game of the playoff featured Orlando City SC and New York City FC.
One of the most exhilarating leagues in the world has returned and has already produced potential goals of the season and video assistant referee drama within a month and a half. Sitting atop the league so far is Everton and although it is early to give a verdict on the end of the season standings, the dazzling performances of Everton, Aston Villa, and Leeds makes them the teams to keep an eye on.
