Just For Kicks

Former Chelsea, PSG and Borussia Dortmund manager Thomas Tuchel has been appointed as the new England manager, taking over from Gareth Southgate. We dissect the reaction to the appointment, as well as analyse whether he is the right man to finally take England over the line. Then, we welcome back the return of the Premier League, with Match Week 8 serving up another humdinger - Slot's Liverpool wi...

England made a commanding return to Finland, securing a 3-1 victory and redeeming themselves after a disheartening home loss to Greece. In their first trip to Finnish soil in 24 years, Lee Carsley’s squad showcased resilience and intent, with Jack Grealish lifting spirits early, netting from close range in the 18th minute. As the game neared its end, both Trent Alexander-Arnold and Declan Rice add...

Lee Carsley's audition for the full time job as England manager went horribly wrong as his side succumbed to a 1-2 loss against an inspired Greece side at Wembley. Carsley experimented with a strikerless, all-out attacking line up in the absence of star striker Harry Kane, but that experiment backfired on him as the team struggled throughout the match. We dissect what went wrong, as well as talk a...

Tottenham’s winning run came to a stunning halt as they squandered a 2-0 lead to fall 3-2 against Brighton, while Liverpool, Manchester City, and Arsenal surged to the top of the Premier League. Manchester United’s woes continued with a scoreless draw at Aston Villa, exposing their ongoing struggle for goals—their worst start in Premier League history, with only five goals in seven matches. Amid t...

It's another hectic week of football, with European midweek matches serving all kinds of fun, and shocks. Our pundits look back at these matches that include Aston Villa rolling back the years to claim a famous win against German giants Bayern Munich, while Liverpool continue their good form with Arne Slot's first European home win against Bologna. Then, they turn their focus to Matchweek 7, with...

As boos echoed around Old Trafford at full-time, all eyes were on a despondent Erik Ten Hag. A 0-3 thrashing at home by a dominant Tottenham Hotspur left Manchester United in 12th place after six games. Words like "disgusting" and "disgraceful" were among the many harsh critiques of the performance, with fans, pundits, and former players alike calling for the Dutch manager’s dismissal. With crucia...

It's a busy week of football, with midweek matches happening domestically and in Europe for some teams. Our pundits summarised the midweek games that saw Chelsea, Liverpool and Arsenal winning their matches in the Carabao Cup, while the fortunes are a bit more mixed in the Europa League, as Spurs overcame a bad delay and being one man down to win against Qarabag, while Man Utd were disappointing i...

After a heroic defensive effort with just 10 men for much of the second half, Arsenal's hopes for a monumental win were dashed by John Stones' heartbreaking 98th-minute equalizer. The substitute's late strike salvaged a point for Manchester City, keeping Pep Guardiola's home fortress intact—City haven't lost at the Etihad since November 2022. Meanwhile, in a clash of the unbeaten, Brighton & Hove...

The Champions League returns with a new format, and after the first round that saw some interesting matchups and results, including Bayern Munich winning 9-2 against Dinamo Zagreb and Monaco surprising Barcelona with a win, some of our pundits are still unsure whether it's a good format for the tournament. They discuss this, as well as the results, before focusing their attention on Game Week 5 of...

The English Premier League returns after the international break, with the North London Derby the highlight of Game Week 4. Arsenal will be raring to go again, after their early season momentum was disrupted by the draw against Brighton. But with key players either out injured or suspended, will they be able to overcome Spurs at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium? Ange Postecoglou and his boys are also...

Harimau Malaya lifted the Merdeka Cup yesterday, ending 11-year wait with a competent 1-0 win against Lebanon. Kam Raslan and the pundits assess the team's performances under interim manager Pau Marti Vicente and reflect on the final last night. Then, it's a round up of major international matches, including Lee Carsley's debut win as interim England manager, as well as another round of listeners'...

Three games in, and we now head to an international break, much to the chagrin of some EPL fans. But that's not to say that we don't have anything to talk about! Kam Raslan and our pundits use this opportunity to get to know who the current interim England manager, Lee Carsley is, listen to the woe of our Scottish pundit Craig Wilkie, after Scotland's collapse in the UEFA Nations League, and celeb...

New manager, but the same Liverpool spirit, as a double from Luis Díaz led Arne Slot's side to a commanding 3-0 win over Manchester United at Old Trafford. This victory made Slot the first Liverpool manager in 49 years to defeat the Red Devils in his debut competitive match. Slot, who had big shoes to fill following Jurgen Klopp's departure, has made an impressive start, winning all three matches...

Game Week 3 of the English Premier League is serving up another tantalising match-up between two old rivals. Manchester United welcome Liverpool to Old Trafford, hoping to immediately fix what went wrong last week against Brighton. But Liverpool, under the stewardship of the new manager, Arne Slot, are looking to continue the good momentum that they're enjoying, especially before the early season...

In an exciting GW2 of the EPL, Chelsea secured their first Premier League win of the season with a 6-2 victory over Wolverhampton Wanderers, highlighted by winger Noni Madueke's second-half hat-trick. New manager Enzo Maresca's youthful squad impressed, overcoming a resilient Wolves side after a closely contested first half. Meanwhile, Manchester City, led by Erling Haaland's hat-trick, defeated I...

It's Game Week 2 in the English Premier League, and while it's still too early to form any meaningful narrative to the season, the usual script writers are slowly crafting the story of the season. Erik Ten Hag's Manchester United travel to Brighton, hoping to capitalise on their win last week. But the Seagulls won't make it easy, with the home fans ready to officially welcome their new, young mana...

Erling Haaland's stats at Manchester City are nothing short of remarkable: 91 goals in 100 appearances. His latest contribution came at Stamford Bridge, where he opened the scoring in City's 2-0 victory over Chelsea, continuing their dominant form from last season. Meanwhile, Mo Salah reminded everyone why he’s still Liverpool's star, leading them to a 2-0 away win against newly-promoted Ipswich T...

Just For Kicks returns on the eve of the new Premier League season, with the usual early season hope and optimism of wonderful, fantastic high-quality football, and pulsating matches all year long. Kam Raslan and our usual lineup of pundits look ahead to the season and preview what lies ahead for the usual challengers, pretenders and newcomers alike. We then turn our attention to Game Week 1, anal...

A simple swipe of the foot from substitute Mikel Oyarzabal in the 86th minute was enough to give Spain a record-breaking fourth European Championship with a 2-1 win over England. 100% record for Spain winning seven games in the tournament, with the 15 goals they scored a new tournament record, surpassing the 14 scored by France in 1984. England on the other hand, rue another chance to score a majo...

The battle to be the champions of Europe has reached its pinnacle, with the team of the tournament so far and three-time champions Spain facing England in the final. The Three Lions' journey to the final was rocky, but they showed grit and resilience against the Netherlands, with Ollie Watkins the unexpected hero. So, who will come out on top on the 15th of July in Berlin? Tune in to hear our pund...

The summer football action continues in the Euros, with 8 teams now looking to slug it out. Spain vs Germany is the first match of the quarter final, and what a match up it's looking to be! Our pundits try their best to pick who's going to win this one as well as share their thoughts on whether England can finally get it going against Switzerland. They also share their picks of the other quarter f...

With just 86 seconds left on the clock, Jude Bellingham saved England with a spectacular overhead kick, followed by Harry Kane's header in the first minute of extra time, sending England through to the quarter-finals of the European Championship. Was it Southgate's strategic masterclass or a stroke of luck? Meanwhile, Spain dispatched Georgia 4-1, setting up a last-eight clash with hosts Germany,...

Just like that, we're now down to 16 teams trying their very best to be crowned European champions. Some teams went through with style and gusto, much to the admiration of many, like Austria and Georgia, while some teams slogged their way through, like England. Bob Holmes, Dez Corkhill and Keeshaanan Sundaresan join Kam Raslan to analyse England's abysmal performances so far, and look ahead to the...

The Scots huffed and puffed, but a last minute swing of the foot from Hungarian Kevin Csoboth was enough to send Scotland packing from the Euros' Championship. Not without controversy, Scotland had a huge penalty shout waved away when Stuart Armstrong was taken out in the box, which left Steve Clarke fuming on the touchline & in the tunnel. However, their tournament stats are damning - managing to...

The second round of the group matches in the European Championship is currently underway and results are getting more interesting. Tournament favourites England stumbled against Denmark with a humbling 1-1 draw, and that result has gotten a lot of people talking about tactics, player selection and many more. We join in on the conversation to predict England's chances moving forward. Spain, meanwhi...