Author Archives: Urban

By Urban Newton (@urban_newton) Defensive football is supposed to be boring. Defensive football is not supposed to be celebrated, particularly in the post-Cruyff era we are witnessing at this moment in time. The legacy Johan Cruyff has left the footballing world is one of pressing, of passing, of simply goals and entertainment. That could not …

Continue reading “Are Leicester the most exciting team in Europe at the minute?”

By Urban Newton (@urban_newton) Fifteen years ago this week, Arsenal won the last of their run of forty-nine Premier League games without defeat. Sheffield United, meanwhile, were winning 3-1 away at Gillingham in the Championship. Paul Shaw scored a brace and Michael Tonge got the other for Neil Warnock’s men. How much has changed at …

Continue reading “Stability v Chaos: Sheffield United v Arsenal”

By Urban Newton (@urban_newton) We are now eight games into the new Premier League season and matchday nine is upon us. But we are yet to see a complete performance from a single one of the division’s heavyweight centre-backs. Not one. Is this just how it is going to be now? Who are supposedly the …

Continue reading “Comment: Will the real top-quality centre-halves please stand-up?”

By Urban Newton (@urban_newton) “Chaos isn’t a pit. Chaos is a ladder,” says Petyr Baelish in season three of Game Of Thrones. “Many who try to climb it fail and never get to try it again. The fall breaks them. “And some are given a chance to climb. They refuse. They cling to the realm …

Continue reading “Chaos is a ladder that United and Arsenal cannot get off”

By Urban Newton (@urban_newton) Brighton and Hove Albion are currently 15th in the Premier League table. They have six points, with only one win. Yet they are a side in transition. Graham Potter is leading a revolution to make the Seagulls one of the most attractive sides in the division. It began with that 3-0 …

Continue reading “Early signs show Potter’s Seagull revolution will work out”

By Urban Newton (@urban_newton) It is now exactly nine weeks since Newcastle United appointed Steve Bruce as their new head coach. The replies to the club’s announcement on Twitter were not exactly positive. “Managing Newcastle has never been my dream,” was a quote someone had pulled from the Sunderland Echo during his time on Wearside. …

Continue reading “No need to panic about Bruce’s Newcastle… yet”

By Urban Newton (@urban_newton) Defending is a collective effort. Too often we compare and contrast individuals that are tasked with stopping opponents from scoring. Liverpool’s Virgil van Dijk and Manchester United’s Harry Maguire, for instance, are constantly lauded for their individual ability. They have supposedly single-handedly improved their respective side’s back four. Manchester City yesterday …

Continue reading “Manchester City: trouble in paradise?”

By Urban Newton (@urban_newton) “Granit Xhaka,” I wrote back in July 2016. “is expected by many to play this deep holding role in the centre of midfield. His poor disciplinary record is supposed to get Arsenal fans excited. “”Hooray! A maverick! A hard-man at last!” But Xhaka will find it difficult to play this role …

Continue reading “Granit Xhaka’s faults are simply part of the new Arsenal”