Best of SL
This section features the best articles written on Soccerlens. If there are articles that you think should be added to this list, please nominate them through this page.
09/10 Europa League Review
It is easy to forget that this season’s Europa League was in its inaugural year. After picking up an undesirable yet understandable reputation as the Champions League ‘sinferior little brother, Michel Platini oversaw the rebranding of what we once called, with a pejorative sneer, ‘the UEFA Cup’. The Europa League has a parallel structure to…
09/10 Bundesliga Review
For a long time, European football fans regarded the Bundesliga as the backwater home of poor defending and psychotic goalkeepers. It was a league that lived in the shadow of its more illustrious neighbours: Serie A, La Liga, and the Premier League. However, growing disillusionment with the ‘bigger’ leagues has seen the Bundesliga become the…
2009/2010 Premier League Review
Congratulations then to Chelsea, who have emerged as rightful Champions, with 27 wins, 86 points, and 103 goals in the bank. For a long time this looked like the competition no-one wanted to win, but once Jose Mourinho had robbed his former side of a shot at Champions League glory, the west-Londoners revved their domestic…
World Cup Winners: 1930-2006 – A look through history, from Ghiggia to Grosso, from Rahn to Ronaldo
Only seven countries have won World Cup titles. Seven. In 18 tournaments. Five countries have won the World Cup twice, led by Brazil’s five titles. Only three times in the last 11 World Cups has the winner been a first-time winner – England in 1966, Argentina in 1978, and France in 1998. And you have…
MLS referees don’t cut it for World Cup
FIFA released the list of 30 referees from 20 countries who will officiate at the World Cup and the United States is not represented on that list, even as an AR. Putting aside politics and questionable selections such as Martin Hansson, the Swedish referee who missed Thierry Henri’s handball, the decision is a sharp indictment…
The Shakhtar Syndrome
One year ago, an unusually reckless observer suggested that Shakhtar Donetsk, pride of Ukraine’s coal-mining Donbass region, were digging themselves into a hole at a rate which would have had Alexey Stakhanov going weak at the knees. One UEFA Cup triumph, one new stadium which ranks as one of Europe’s finest, and a raft of…
Footballers as Christmas Characters
With Christmas season in full swing and a completely, utterly depressing past few weeks of sports news for me, (Roy Halladay being traded to the Phillies, Liverpool football club as a whole, rumours of Steven Gerrard being sold) I thought it would be nice to take a step back for a second and insert some…
The Biggest Losers of 2009: Ranieri, Referees, Ireland and More!
There are winners and there are losers in football and it’s time to weed out those who suffered in 2009. But losing is not a simple concept. Some are major contributors to their own downfall and deserve the brick bats that come their way, while others are victims of circumstances and probably deserve better…..and in…
The Biggest Winners of 2009: Barca, Blanc, Benitez (?) and More
Once again it’s that time of year when we like to kick-back and ask “where did that one go?”, break out the Christmas spirit, and reflect on the football year that was. What were our highs and lows? Who stole the headlines and, more importantly, who won the prizes and is most deserving of our…
Footballers in Films
The two latest Soccerlens podcasts [1, 2] have seen Clarkey & Spraggy trying to tickle your funny bone with their suggestions for the film remakes they’d like to see football folk in. It’s been a hit-and-miss feature so far, so we’re asking you to put the dynamic duo out of their misery and come up…
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