Saturday, May 31, 2025

The Latest Football News and Opinions From 90 Minutes Online

Italian Serie A review – Mourinho sent-off and Beckham scores

Saturday evening’s fixture saw Inter dislodged from the top of the table for the first time in three months as Juventus beat Fiorentina in Turin. The 1-0 victory  came courtesy of a Claudio Marchisio goal but was largely thanks to Alessandro Del Piero.  

 

Although simple in execution, the move had the mark of genius as Del Piero cut inside from the left drawing in three defenders and slid a through ball that bisected two more. During 5 seconds on the ball Del Piero had nullified five members of the opposition defense and laid the ball on a plate for Marchisio to slot home. 

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The Aston-Filla

Emile Heskey at Aston Villa (via Talksport)Apparently Emile Heskey is the man to secure Champions League football in the midlands according to Martin O’Neill. 'Big’ John Carew and Marlon Harewood must be quaking in their boots at the prospect of another technically inadequate lump joining the club. This signing only underlines Villa’s method of progress: replacing one injured skilless wreck for another. 

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The curious case of Mark Goldberg

Mark Goldberg made a fortune in the dot-com bubble at the end of the nineties. Following the sale of his IT recruitment consultancy, Goldberg, then 33, became a multi-millionaire and decided to fulfill his boyhood dream of buying his beloved Crystal Palace.  

 

At the time Palace were floundering at the bottom of the Premier League, and the price he paid - roughly £25m, which crucially didn’t include the freehold of Selhurst Park - was widely regarded as overblown for a club that were odds-on to go down. 

 

Goldberg’s first move as Palace chairman was to relieve Steve Coppell of managerial duties and appoint Atillio Lombrado and Tomas Brolin as joint player-managers; no matter Lombrado didn’t speak any English and Brolin was by now a very poor player and slightly unhinged.  

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English Premier League review - Headless horsemen & Matrix glitches

Of course I don't think my beloved Aston Villa have a hope of winning the Premiership. Of course not. The bookies odds of us still at 50-1 before the weekend reflect the unlikelihood of this occurrence and they tend to know what they're talking about.

 

However, it is great to be in the mix. I never really thought we would be again in the current climate, especially with the woeful duo of Doug Ellis and David O'Leary running the show a few years back. Randy Lerner's cash and Martin O'Neill's brilliant management have put us right in amongst the big boys and even though we probably won't last the pace, I can dream.

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Ronaldo, Kaka, Messi, Torres, Xavi - Say cheese!

Taken last week at the FIFA World Player of the Year awards here we have ‘officially’ the five best players in the world, standing arm-in-arm, casually decked out for the occasion.                     

 

It can be disconcerting to see people you are familiar with in a professional capacity outside of work. Like the time I saw my old school teacher in the frozen-food aisle at ASDA with his mildly attractive younger wife. Something about the whole situation just wasn't right. 

 

And there's something unerring about this picture. I think it's that outside of their usual context footballers are an odd bunch.

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