Off the Crossbar: Utter chaos at City

The Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) sent shockwaves through the soccer world last week when they announced that Manchester City would be banned from the UEFA Champions League for two seasons after violating Financial Fair Play rules instituted to prevent clubs from spending more money than they generate. City will appeal the decision, so it may be […]

Off the Crossbar: Young players fighting for their futures

Sander Berge shocked the soccer world late last month when, despite being sought after by many of Europe’s elite, he decided to sign for Sheffield United. A newly-promoted side, United has vastly surpassed expectations sitting in sixth place, perched in between Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United in the English Premier League standings. Breaking their transfer record to sign Berge was a real […]

Off the Crossbar: Not so far off

With Liverpool establishing itself as one of the top clubs in the world following its Champions League title last season and Manchester United in disarray, it is hard not to compare the current situation to the 1990s. Liverpool, then, was the winningest club in England, with 18 titles to its name. It would have sounded ludicrous at the time to […]

Off the Crossbar: Nurturing young talent

Just as baseball uses the minor leagues and basketball uses the G-League to develop their young players, all professional club sides in Europe have reserve and youth teams which they use to develop players through their academy system. But while basketball instated a pre-draft age limit, there are no such restrictions in soccer that prevent teams from […]

Off the Crossbar: Time for change for Spurs

After the club’s most successful season in the Premier League era, where they finished third in the league and reached the final of the Champions League, Tottenham Hotspur is in turmoil this season. The Spurs followed up a humbling 7–2 defeat at home to Bayern Munich with a dismal display in their 3–0 away defeat to Brighton on the […]

Off the Crossbar: Waning Competition

For much of the last two decades, English sides have largely been overshadowed by their neighbors in European tournaments. While clubs like Barcelona, Real Madrid, and Bayern Munich dominated the continental scene, English soccer had one source of pride — the level of competitiveness of the domestic Premier League.[…] This article first appeared on The […]