In 2012, there was Anfield cat: a feline that rose to international fame by invading the pitch during a Premier League match between Liverpool and Spurs. It happened again at Anfield in 2014 (and previously way back in 1964), but now we have evidence that there is also an Everton following amongst the cats of Merseyside, as well.
During Everton’s FA Cup third round match against Dagenham and Redbridge, a cat invaded the pitch and evaded Everton keeper Joel Robles’ attempt to capture it.
Liverpool visited League Two side Exeter City in the third round of the FA Cup and like Liverpool players’ hamstrings these days, the accommodations were tight. So tight, in fact, that Jurgen Klopp had to give his pre-match interview in the tea room, giving us the delightful image above.
At the end of the discussion on his side’s injury problems and rag-tag starting XI (look at these squad numbers!), Klopp lamented the fact that there was no cup with his name on it.
Yaya Toure won the African Player of the Year award four years in a row and after winning the Africa Cup of Nations with the Ivory Coast for the first time in 2015, he thought he was a lock to make it five in a row. But he didn’t. Instead, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and his fabulous lapels became the first player from Gabon to claim the award for his incredible play with Borussia Dortmund.
In an effort to improve on his underwhelming free kick conversion rate, Cristiano Ronaldo decided to have a little (very little) competition with his son in their backyard.
Using a miniature ball and goal, the two Cristianos set up a wall of toys, including an Incredible Hulk (the green guy, not the Brazilian footballer) figure and a penguin. After bouncing his first attempt into the wall, big Cristiano ended up winning (although, the Hulk had fallen over, so it probably shouldn’t have counted). Naturally, he celebrated by doing that “SIIIIII!” thing he did at last year’s Ballon d’Or gala, which is apparently a thing he’s still doing.
Maybe if he just imagines a wall made of penguins he’ll have more success with free kicks at work, too.
LAFC are set to join MLS in 2018, but until now, all they had were roughly eight million celebrity part-owners. All that has changed, however, as they have unveiled a rather gorgeous crest and Will Ferrell as celebrity part-owner No. eight million and one.
First the crest…
Back in November, we here at Dirty Tackle, your foremost source for serious and deeply researched journalism, reported that Jurgen Klopp was rejuvenating Liverpool with his powerful hugs. We now accept that this assertion could not have been more wrong and we regret the error.
After enduring a full year in which they were banned from making new signings by FIFA and, as a result of that devastating punishment, only won five major trophies, Barcelona were finally able to resume their transfer market wheeling and dealing with the opening of the January window. So they immediately made up for lost time by signing all of the players. All of them (77 to be exact).
Everyone not named Louis van Gaal is unhappy with Manchester United’s style of play and that includes Adidas, who began a record £750 million deal this season to be the club’s kitmaker. They’ve got absolutely no problem with the sweet, sweet cash they’re generating together, though.
A little more than two months after he said he wasn’t yet ready for the job, Zinedine Zidane has been named Real Madrid manager with Rafa Benitez getting sacked in the middle of his first season. The continuation of Real Madrid’s constant state of trophy producing turmoil by throwing an inexperienced manager in at the middle of a season is seen by many as problematic. With that in mind, the following is just one iteration of the worst case scenario that might unfold.
Anticipation can be a powerful thing. And when the anticipated event doesn’t play out as expected, it can be difficult to adjust on the fly. This is the situation Barnet’s Andy Yiadom found himself in during a League Two match against Northampton Town.
Yiadom was a member of the wall on a Northampton free kick. He was determined to charge the ball and attempt to block whatever Northampton tried to do with it. But when the first player to make a run at it proved to be a decoy, Yiadom found himself in no-man’s land with a decision to make: either keep running past the ball or to kick it and chest bump an innocent bystander. He chose the latter option. This earned him a yellow card.
