There has not been a player like Kylian Mbappe — at least, not since the turn of the decade.
According to TruMedia data, which goes back to the 2010-11 season, Mbappe’s 33 Ligue 1 goals last season were the most of any player, aged 20 or under, in Europe’s big five leagues in that time period. When they were in the same age bracket, Lionel Messi topped out at 14 goals, while Cristiano Ronaldo never got above nine.
More recently, Romelu Lukaku’s 2012-13 season with West Bromwich Albion and Kai Havertz…
It sure seemed like everything changed in August 2017, didn’t it?
Before then, there was an established food chain in soccer’s transfer market: Barcelona and Real Madrid at the top, and then everyone else. Those two clubs were as rich as anyone and for the most part, it seemed like it was every elite soccer player’s goal to end up in the Spanish capital or Catalonia. Once you got there, you only left when you weren’t needed anymore.
In this century, the only star who left either club in his prime…
It’s a cliche because it’s true. With just 270 minutes (plus extra time) left to play, anyone can win the Champions League. Liverpool were in the final just a year ago and Barcelona were the last team not named Real Madrid to actually win it. Ajax and Tottenham look like the longshots but have earned their places by taking down Borussia Dortmund, Real Madrid, Manchester City and Juventus in the past two rounds. Plus, thanks to the fact that the quarterfinal and semifinal draws were made at the…
English football is bad for your health. According to a study in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, teams that play in leagues without a winter break lose players to, on average, 303 more days of injuries than their contemporaries in competitions that take time off around Christmas and New Year’s. This weekend also sees the fourth round of the FA Cup, another competition for England’s top clubs to worry about when it comes to their squads.
Given the shortened World Cup summer and the newly…