The False Nine’s David Dodds assesses the state of the game in Ukraine and asks who can fill the shoes of the legendary Andriy Shevchenko…
Euro 2012 was a prime opportunity for Ukraine to have the international football media spotlight shined on their tantalising Premier League and the development of domestic football within it during the past couple of decades. Instead, coverage of the country was dominated by explorations, investigations and exposés of racism in their stadia. Continue reading
Sometimes football rivalry can go further than just fans’s distaste for other clubs and their traditions. False Nine Russian correspondent, Andy Shenk, looks at the Caucasus region in Russia and how the area’s recent success in football has exacerbated further tensions between ethnic Russians and their mountainous compatriots…
For many in the United States, Russia brings to mind only cold Siberian steppes and grey old women in frumpy grey overcoats. The stereotype is as propaganda-driven as Russia’s perception of America as one big dissolute reality TV show. Continue reading
Halfway though the Premier League season, Simon Smith surveys the chances of Arsenal, Everton, Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur in finishing Fourth…
At the start of the season nearly everyone predicted a Manchester top two by this point, and Chelsea looked a good bet for third after a busy summer in the transfer market to improve on a dire league campaign last season. Fourth place, just as in 09/10, 10/11 and 11/12, looked to be the position most hotly contested for a lucrative Champions League spot. At the halfway point, with so many more questions than answers, it seems a good time to review the four contenders vying for fourth place.
The False Nine’s Simon Smith looks at the curious case of the wide-forward. Why does nobody like them, and not least the players themselves?
The wide forward has long been something of a misfit within English football. They play an important role in the increasingly popular 4-3-3 formation, but don’t sit easily with the 4-4-2 we continue to think in terms of.
Are they doomed to a self-hating semi-existence?
False Nine editor, Andrew Belt, surveys the Premier League scene north of the border as embodied by the division’s most eagerly-anticipated fixture and is left dismayed by the state of Scottish football as compared to a decade ago…
The Scottish Premier League was notably absent from the roster of football fixtures last weekend.
In the second part of his Bundesliga mid-season review, The False Nine’s David Dodds looks at last season’s challengers and explores why they have been off the pace this year…
Borussia Dortmund
There’s a lot to ask from Borussia Dortmund’s manager Jürgen Klopp this season. Defending the title Bundesliga for the third time in a row, defending the league cup title and establishing the team properly in Europe has unfortunately been a tall order for him so far. Continue reading
After the notable incident involving Kevin Prince-Boateng in Italy last week False Nine editor, Andrew Belt, finds Sepp Blatter guilty of saying one thing and doing another in the fight against racism…
“There should be very strong, harsh punishment when it comes to discrimination and racism.”