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...

Fair warning: Depending on your personal affinities, the following exercise may be either painful, hilarious or offensive. OK, now let's quickly go through all of the once-in-a-lifetime incidents that happened in last year's Champions League final between Liverpool and Real Madrid.

First, Mohamed Salah, he of the 44 goals and 16 assists in his debut season with Liverpool, badly injured his shoulder after a (pick your adjective of choice) collision with Sergio Ramos. He was subbed off in tears...

Football is very good at comparing young footballers to previous greats -- there's a desperation to look for the next Diego Maradona, the next Thierry Henry, the next Cristiano Ronaldo.

But what happens when a footballer comes along who doesn't quite fit an obvious template? Well, the simple answer is that such players' talents aren't always appreciated.

Step up Alex Iwobi, Arsenal's Nigeria international who isn't really a winger, a central midfielder or a No. 10 and isn't particularly prolific...

Since the formation of the Premier League in 1992, various different formations have dominated.

The 4-4-2 has long been considered English football's default system, although there was a brief craze of 3-5-2 in the mid-to-late 1990s. Jose Mourinho's impact in the mid-2000s meant many sides shifted to 4-3-3, before 4-2-3-1 started to become the most common system in the early 2010s. A couple of years ago, 3-4-3 became suddenly popular after the brief dominance of Antonio Conte's Chelsea.

One...

As we hit the peak of the festive season and approach the start of the January transfer window, now is a good time to take a look back at the Premier League. The competition is hitting its halfway point after 19 matches, and following a suffocating performance from Manchester City last season, the race between City and Liverpool (with Tottenham Hotspur on the outside) is shaping up to present the most exciting second half of a campaign since Leicester claimed the title in 2016.

Today, I'm going...

The Premier League currently finds itself with the most impressive array of managers in its 27-season history, and the eclectic cast includes three managers who have contributed significantly to the evolution of modern football.

The first is Manchester City's Pep Guardiola. His hugely successful Barcelona side repopularised possession football across the continent before he became an increasingly flexible manager during his period in the Bundesliga with Bayern Munich. The second is Liverpool's Jurgen...