Ken Early: Football more important than life and death? Clearly notWith disbelief suspended football really feels like it matters right up until point that it doesn’tMon Jun 14 2021 - 05:00
Ken Early: Never mind Euro 2020’s quality, feel the marketingThat fame trumps sporting excellence is good news for international tournamentsFri Jun 11 2021 - 16:45
Ken Early: Southgate’s toughest task will be harnessing England's attacking talentAll the tournament-winning sides of recent years have had a clearly defined structure and identitySat Jun 05 2021 - 07:00
Ken Early: Covid, maths and luck help Chelsea triumph in EuropeTuchel’s champions showed how best teams have integrated set-pieces into open playMon May 31 2021 - 01:00
Ken Early: When the dust settled, the four richest teams were topFinal day marks Leicester’s card: second again suggests project has plateauedMon May 24 2021 - 06:00
Ken Early: A cold anger fuelled Alex Ferguson’s unparalleled success‘Never Give In’ traces Fergie’s formative years in Glasgow through to the TrebleMon May 17 2021 - 06:30
Ken Early: Chips are down for sorry Sergio AgueroThat City’s great striker felt obliged to apologise for a missed penalty was sad and absurdMon May 10 2021 - 06:00
Ken Early: Anti-Glazer protests a sign that fans have figured out how to say noManchester United under Glazer ownership are like a race car dragging a parachuteMon May 03 2021 - 07:42
Ken Early: Arrogance of owners is most galling aspect of Super LeagueIt seems strange that the Glazers did not inform even Ed Woodward of the plansMon Apr 26 2021 - 06:00
Ken Early: Super League’s naked power-grab aims for permanent aristocracyBreakaway attempt is a gamble on the nature of fandom across the worldMon Apr 19 2021 - 07:54
Ken Early: It’s time for Alexander-Arnold to move to the middleLiverpool and England fullback might be too good to spend his career on the right flankMon Apr 12 2021 - 07:28
Ken Early: Haaland’s date with City pits the system against the individualWhen you have been scoring goals at a faster rate than any striker in Champions League history, you expect to keep playing in itMon Apr 05 2021 - 06:00
Ken Early: Theatrical displays of outrage to Luxembourg defeat will get us nowhereInstead of raging at losing to Luxembourg we should be reflecting on what we can learn from themMon Mar 29 2021 - 06:15
Ken Early: Ireland need to figure out how to sustain this kind of effort for 90 minutesStephen Kenny’s 3-5-2 looks to have more potential than the lifeless systems tried thus farThu Mar 25 2021 - 06:00
Ken Early: Harry Kane likely to be stuck at Spurs for the rest of his peak yearsPlayer must live with terrible career decision of signing for six years in summer of 2018Mon Mar 22 2021 - 06:00
Ken Early: Arteta looks more likely to deliver success than MourinhoSpurs suffused with gloom while Arsenal feel like they might finally be getting somewhereMon Mar 15 2021 - 06:33
Ken Early: Klopp all at sea as Liverpool continue to flounderManager long recognised extraordinary demands of season but has struggled to adaptMon Mar 08 2021 - 06:00
Ken Early: Referees and VAR now thrust to centre stageThe Premier League title race is effectively over so conspiracy theories about decisions will fill the voidMon Mar 01 2021 - 09:01
Ken Early: Erling Haaland is not the type of superstar we are used toMbappe looks the more complete footballer but the Norweigan has one key advantageMon Feb 22 2021 - 06:00
Ken Early: Super league may be best option for Europe’s bill-laden top clubsBarcelona’s ballooning debt in the billions just one example of clubs’ strugglesMon Feb 15 2021 - 06:00
Ken Early: Liverpool not just out of luck - they need a rebuildHave the champions just been really really really unlucky or what has gone wrong?Mon Feb 08 2021 - 06:00
Ken Early: Tuchel’s influence apparent as players adapt to new eraFrank Lampard was never likely to be given time to learn on the job at ChelseaMon Feb 01 2021 - 09:03
Ken Early: Mesut Özil a symptom of Arsenal’s stagnation not a causeArsenal gave him a huge contract because they were scared how it would look if he walked awayMon Jan 25 2021 - 08:34
Ken Early: Liverpool have crumbled without Virgil van DijkLiverpool have to be more cautious without defender, leading to a system breakdownMon Jan 18 2021 - 08:27
Ken Early: Duff’s decision to walk away the last thing Kenny neededIt’s been a tough enough start for the new Republic manager’s regime without this latest setbackMon Jan 11 2021 - 06:00
Ken Early: To fix Chelsea’s problems Frank Lampard should look at himself firstDelusional to think that manager can metamorphose into a Klopp or a GuardiolaMon Jan 04 2021 - 06:00
Ken Early: Importance of bravery is lost on MourinhoRather than gripe, the Tottenham manager should ask why Klopp is getting the plauditsMon Dec 21 2020 - 06:00
Ken Early: Manchester stalemate a peculiar relief for both sidesUnited’s counterattacking credentials ensured City opted for discretion over valourMon Dec 14 2020 - 09:21
Ken Early: Taking the knee is not just an empty gesture – it never wasBooing Millwall fans remind everybody what the knee protests are actually all aboutMon Dec 07 2020 - 06:00
Ken Early: Maradona’s wonder goal a monument to lost freedomWe should be grateful that in 1986 there was no video pedant ordering a free kick to EnglandMon Nov 30 2020 - 06:00
Ken Early: Roles have reversed for Guardiola and MourinhoTottenham showed an intensity in their victory that Manchester City could not matchMon Nov 23 2020 - 06:00
Ken Early: Latest blank has Kenny guessing at numbers and figuresIreland’s goalless run reached farcical levels in Cardiff but remember this too will passMon Nov 16 2020 - 06:28
Ken Early: Grealish walks the walk as Kenny’s wait drags onEngland’s former Ireland underage midfielder makes his presence feltFri Nov 13 2020 - 07:30
Ken Early: City and Liverpool draw shows exhausting toll of Premier LeagueExcitement in short supply as teams run out of steam in second half and settle for a drawMon Nov 09 2020 - 06:00
Ken Early: Hectic pandemic-era schedule bound to take a toll on playersManagers united in condemnation of decision not to persist with five-substitute ruleMon Nov 02 2020 - 08:00
Ken Early: Project Big Picture endangers cushy position of ‘bottom 14’Contingent of Premier League clubs know leaked plan would come at their expenseMon Oct 19 2020 - 06:00
Ken Early: Worst thing about watching Ireland has been listening to Mick McCarthyFormer Ireland manager fails to follow Jack Charlton’s example while on co-commentary dutyThu Oct 15 2020 - 06:00
Ken Early: Ireland a work in progress on and off the fieldTwo games into this triple header, Ireland have lost 12 players to Covid-19, close contacts and injuryMon Oct 12 2020 - 08:19
Ken Early: Fiasco of Aaron Connolly’s absence adds to painSay what you like about the FAI, they keep finding ways to amaze youFri Oct 09 2020 - 06:22
Ken Early: Solskjaer and United seem to be making it up as they go alongManager continues to contradict himself and there seems to be no set plan at the clubMon Oct 05 2020 - 06:00
Ken Early: Handball ‘crisis’ a timely distraction from the grim bigger pictureFootball in eerie, empty grounds has been reduced to a parody of its former selfMon Sept 28 2020 - 06:00
Ken Early: Kai Havertz already a conundrum for cautious ChelseaFrank Lampard has to play attacking football and must find a way for German to thriveMon Sept 21 2020 - 06:00
Ken Early: Aggressive paranoia pushed by Mourinho doesn't foster creativityEverton should finish ahead of Spurs based on performance of Ancelotti’s new midfieldMon Sept 14 2020 - 06:30
Ken Early: Shane Duffy has a month to adapt to defending a high lineStephen Kenny’s grand ambition to change Irish football’s image won’t happen overnightMon Sept 07 2020 - 06:00
Ken Early: New era begins with oldest of old-school equalisersShane Duffy left it late to make up for his role in Bulgaria’s goal in SofiaThu Sept 03 2020 - 23:00
Ken Early: Questions for Messi – Why leave? And why City?If anyone can maximise Messi’s strengths while covering his weaknesses, it’s Pep GuardiolaMon Aug 31 2020 - 06:54
Ken Early: all those millions and PSG beaten by one of their ownHansi Flick sticks to his tactics and is rewarded but Bayern Munich ride their luckSun Aug 23 2020 - 23:03
Ken Early: Sad truth is Messi has become a problem for BarcelonaAllowing the wonderful but slow star to set the tempo for the club has been a disasterMon Aug 17 2020 - 05:00
Ken Early: PSG would be sensible final move for RonaldoPortuguese star could win another title and concentrate on Champions LeagueMon Aug 10 2020 - 06:00
Ken Early: Frank Lampard’s problems start at number oneArrizabalaga has endured a nightmare season behind a clearly suspect defenceMon Aug 03 2020 - 06:00
