Corner Flag Talk

Every rope has an end. Every drama has a conclusion. Everything has an expiry date. After (practically) a year, the TTFA-FIFA impasse is finally over. On November 19 th , 2020, the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association’s ban was lifted by FIFA as T&T’s football body met FIFA’s requirements for re-instatement when the general membership formally accepted the authority of FIFA’s normalization committee and closed all legal cases initiated by, now, former president William Wallace against the global body. Poetically, one of T&T greatest wins aligned with one of their most painful heartbreaks – the infamous World Cup qualifying loss to the USA at home on November 19 th , 1989. The decision was made by the Bureau of the FIFA Council, led by president Gianni Infantino, and hastily communicated to the FIFA-appointed normalization committee chairman, Robert Hadad. FIFA General Secretary, Fatma Samoura stated, “TTFA’s representative and club teams are again entitled to take part in i...

This summer, Chelsea have made a number of high-profile signings after being on a transfer ban for the entirety of last season. They have brought in several new players who have shown their quality and will be integral to Chelsea’s success this season as well as roughly the next 5 seasons. Names such as Thiago Silva, Edouard Mendy, Hakim Ziyech and Ben Chilwell have all displayed the kind of output that Frank Lampard has been craving from his team. Out of all the signings that Chelsea have made, there is none more in the spotlight than Timo Werner. Werner was purchased from RB Leipzig for a fee of £ 47.6 million (according to ESPN) in the summer, transfer window and since the transfer there have been high expectations for him. Frank Lampard has said that he was always impressed with Werner by not just his goal returns but also his versatility in the forward line. Werner has been placed on the left-hand side of the attacking 3 for most of the season while occasionally playing through th...

  10) Dominic Calvert-Lewin – Last month’s top performer in our power ranking comes in at 10 th in our October edition. Calvert-Lewin has continued his fine goalscoring form at the start of this season and has maintained his spot atop the Premier League goalscoring charts. His only blank performance came in the surprise 2-0 loss to Southampton in game week 6. However, the striker is still averaging a goal every 76 minutes of league action with 8 goals in 7 matches (3 in 4 during the month of October).   9) Ollie Watkins – Aston Villa appeared to strike gold with summer signing Ollie Watkins after he starred in their jaw dropping 7-2 victory over the defending champions with his hattrick and further assist to Jack Grealish. However, his performances dipped in the next two fixtures where the young English striker missed two big chances for his team before bouncing back with a late penalty goal vs Southampton. These performances were enough to bag him the 9 th spot on our secon...

My windows have been boarded up, house armed with garlic and wooden stakes and my neck draped with a rosery as I prepare for droves of Juventini who undoubtedly are going to perceive this piece as an attack to football religion. With all that’s been going on in Turin since the end of last season, some could argue an insight into their current position and performance is long overdue, while others would insist it’s too early to judge Juventus. Regardless, the Old Lady remain the most intriguing and noteworthy story on the Italian Peninsula and with some footballing decisions, seemingly coming back to haunt them, now is the perfect time to do an early revision on the Old Lady.     FIRST ACT – Pirlo the Protagonist The genesis of this story actually starts on before the season began, with the appointment of the Maestro himself, Andrea Pirlo on August 8 th and continued throughout the transfer window. Sarri had lost the dressing room and his most important players and was sacked ...

  Yes, you read the title correctly. No, there was no typo. According to ESPNFC’s twitter account, round 4 was the first time since 2012, that AC Milan had ended a matchday in sole possession of 1 st place. To say that this comes as a surprise to even the most faithful Milan fans is an understatement, but if the unpredictability of 2020 is any indication, then Milan’s position at the top of Serie A follows the script precisely. Chalking up the Rossoneri’s success solely as 2020s doing seems a bit harsh however, discredits all the hard work Maldini and Co. have been   doing since the last year, not to mention the fastidious work of both coach Pioli and his players. In short, there’s more to Milan’s position than the aberration that is 2020. With that said, let’s delve into 3 key reasons for the Rossoneri’s early success in Serie A.     BROKEN CLOCK FINALLY PROVING RIGHT In 2017, Milan’s then directors, Marco Fassone and Massimiliano Mirabello, spend over 200 million ...