The World Cup may well be the grandest stage of them all (at least in footballing terms) but you don’t usually find yourself glued to the screen on only the second day of the tournament. After Uruguay and Iran secured respectable victories earlier in the day, Spain and Portugal both now look like two of the best sides in the tournament after their Group B clash will likely be looked back on as one of the best games of the tournament. After Julen Lopetegui’s sacking a mere 48 hours earlier, the media was always going to be looking at Spain’s performance with great interest and uncertainty. It almost seemed that the worst was about to unfold as Portugal dominated the Spaniards in the early stages, going 1-0 up after 3 minutes thanks to Cristiano Ronaldo’s well taken (albeit generously awarded) penalty. After suffering that initial shock, Spain managed to bring themselves back to their best, much to the delight of their quickfire replacement coach Fernando Hierro. The virtua...

Despite the result finishing in England’s favour, Saturday’s win over Nigeria was nowhere near as complimentary to the Three Lions as the 2-1 score line suggests. While England had a respectable first half, during which they scored both their goals, Nigeria totally commanded the second 45 minutes, as England’s tenacity seemed to dissolve like a wet tissue. The incessant need to faff around with the ball on the halfway line exemplifies how any urgency to put the ball into dangerous areas is stretched far too thinly across Gareth Southgate’s squad. England completely dominated the passing statistics, but that is not a statement full of praise. Their best passers were their back three, with Stones, Cahill and Walker completing more passes than any other player on the pitch. Of the 554 passes England attempted, over half were aimed at the midfield and only 170 of them were aimed at the final third. That is worryingly low.  Compare this to Nigeria’s best pass...

Earlier today, reports surfaced stating that Shahid Khan, owner of Championship side Fulham, has made an attempt to buy Wembley Stadium from the FA. Khan, who also owns NFL side Jacksonville Jaguars, reportedly lodged an £800m bid to bring the stadium back into private ownership. Whilst the notion of selling one of the most iconic stadiums in British football to a private company seems like a bad idea (at face value), you have to think about the pros and cons of the potential scenario. The obvious starting point is that Wembley is costing the FA a lot of money, with reports back in January stating that it would take another six years for the FA to completely pay off the £757m it cost to re-build it back in 2007. If you remove that debt, it gives the FA the ability to put much more money into grassroots football, a notion that Khan himself cited as news of his bid came about earlier today. It has also been reported, via the Guardian , that the FA will look to inc...