All About The Beautiful Game
PSG have long been criticized for their transfer and recruiting strategies. Some of France’s top talent in recent years have come through PSG’s academy, yet very few of them end up playing for the club. Instead, promising talents have been pushed further and further down the ranks, while expensive superstars have failed to earn PSG … Read more
Recently, Napoli president Aurelio De Laurentiis made headlines after declaring he wouldn’t sign any more African players. The Italian, seemingly forgetting that many of his best players in recent years are African, stated that it was ridiculous that he paid their wages and they left in the middle of the season. De Laurentiis further stated … Read more
In 2021, French side LOSC Lille stunned the world. The club, located in northern France, had gone a decade since their last league title — stuck behind heavyweights PSG and Monaco. This changed two seasons ago — Lille’s smart recruiting saw them finish first in the league, beating PSG and clinching Champions League football. However, … Read more
Schalke 04 have one of the best academies in the world. Over the past few years, many of Germany’s top names have come from their academy: Manuel Neuer, Leroy Sané, Ilkay Gündogan, Julian Draxler, and more. Mesut Özil joined the side at a young age, while US international Weston McKennie did the same. Despite this, … Read more
Australia is heading to their fifth consecutive World Cup, having bested Peru on penalties earlier in the year. Unfortunately for the Aussies, they also have struggled at the tournament: five total appearances and they’ve made it out of the group stages once. That was in 2006 when they promptly lost in the Round of 16. … Read more
The US national team has upgraded substantially over the past few years. Christian Pulisic, Weston McKennie, Tyler Adams, Brenden Aaronson, and more have all demonstrated the increase in development that the US’s federation has emphasized. However, there’s one position where the team is unclear: striker. In the US’s last ten games, four different strikers have … Read more
For the second consecutive time, Italy will not be heading to the World Cup. This is no recent development: they’ve known since March’s loss to North Macedonia in qualifiers. However, a lot has changed since this occurred, particularly an important—and brutally honest—complaint from Italy coach Roberto Mancini directed at the lack of young players and … Read more
Author’s Note: Since this article was published, Bordeaux have been reinstated in the second tier, rather than the third. Not long ago, Bordeaux were one of France’s elite teams. The likes of Zinedine Zidane, Didier Deschamps, Bixente Lizarazu, and more played for the six-time French champions. In 1996, they reached the final of the UEFA … Read more
Brazilian side Palmeiras are one of South America’s top sides. They’ve won the Libertadores three times, the Sudamericana once, and the domestic league ten times. One of the ways they’ve sustained their success is player sales: developing top talent, then selling them for profit in order to bring in new players. Gabriel Veron is the … Read more
Barcelona’s academy has always been special: the likes of Lionel Messi, Xavi, and Andres Iniesta graduated from the legendary La Masia. Just look at some of their academy prospects in 2016: Ansu Fati, Eric García, and Nico, among others. However, even with academies as good as Barcelona’s, sometimes talents slip through the cracks. One that … Read more