English Premier League: Player of the week.

After the failure of the English National team at the Euros, Raheem Sterling seemed to bear most of the brunt for the team's woeful outing.

The former liverpool man was in fine form against West Ham United at the Ettihad stadium on Sunday.

Heavily cricitised by some sections of the English fans notably liverpool, since demanding a move to Manchester City, the young lad's form has steadily declined so much that he struggled throughout last season and at the Euros that you would wonder if this was the player Manchester City saw and coughed up £50 million or his incarnate.

Fast-forward three weeks into the season and he's a completely different player courtesy the arrival of Pep Guardiola at the Ettihad who has given him the confidence he needs to find his groove again.

The England International is now enjoying his game again. His double strike plus all round play to help his side secure the three points against West Ham United, makes him our player of the week.

Other notable mentions are Eden Hazard, Alexis Sanchez, Shay Given and Danny Drinkwater.

Who is your player of the week?

NBA: Today has been declared "Kobe Bryant Day" in the City of Los Angeles.

Five-time NBA Champion Kobe Bryant.

With today being the 24th day of the 8th Month of the year - August, the City of Los Angeles has decided to honour Kobe Bryant for all the accolades and fame he has brought throughout his NBA career that spanned 20 seasons, all with the LA Lakers by declaring this Wednesday as "Kobe Bryant Day".

The honour, which was announced in a statement on Monday, falls on a day that commemorates the two jersey numbers that Bryant wore during his Lakers career: 8 and 24.

Kobe Bryant delivered five NBA Championships to the City of Los Angeles plus other numerous accolades. Also, he will be honoured for his philanthropic work.

In a statement made by LA City Councilman Jose Huizar:

"For 20 years, we were all beneficiaries of Kobe's incredible talent and legendary work ethic, and on 8-24 we'll gather to say 'Thank you, Mamba'".

The Former NBA All-Star player will be honoured at the Los Angeles City hall.

English Premiership: Dugarry is next to throw a jab at Ibrahimovic.

It looks like Zlatan Ibrahimovic does enough to attract criticism just like bees get attracted to honey.

Does Christophe Duggary have the right to take a swipe at Zlatan Ibrahimovic in terms of career achievement?

Former French International Christophe Dugarry is next in line to throw them at Ibra by proclaiming that Ibrahimovic is doing nothing unexpected at Manchester United.

Dugarry insists that the doubts around Ibra always centered on his struggles in the Champions League with PSG.

In his words,

"He has a quality team around him. So, he will score goals".

"But we waited for Zlatan at a very high level in the Champions League and we never saw him. The advantage is that Manchester United is not playing in the Champions League this year".

Recently, Eric Cantona's words to Ibra:

"There can be only one King in Manchester. You can be the prince if you want to".

And Ibra swiftly responded:

"I will be God at Manchester".

Expect the Swedish International to hit back as he is very good at responding to them.

WWE: Bayley makes her debut on Monday night Raw.

Hello people, Bayley is now on the Raw roster. Sure you are excited as I am with this development. 

Bayley was defeated two nights ago by Asuka for the NXT Women's Championship.

Since watching her take on Nia Jax on NXT some weeks ago, I just became enchanted by her charisma. Although, She is quite adorable. 

Couldn't really understand how she got exempted from the WWE roster that was drafted into Raw and Smackdown about a month ago. Guess the waiting was worth it.

The former NXT Women's Champion was drafted into Raw two nights after an emotional NXT Women's Championship Match against Asuka by General Manager Mick Foley. And guess what??? The WWE universe went into delirium.

Upon her debut, she immediately filled the void left by the injured Sasha Banks, defeating Charlotte's protégé - Dana Brooke to position herself in the running for the WWE Women's Championship while The Boss recuperates and waits for her rematch promised by Mick Foley.

Everyone, expect to get a big hug from the former NXT Women's Champion every Monday night.

Click play to view Bayley's debut on Raw.

NBA: Swaggy P on shaky grounds in Los Angeles Lakers.

Rumor has it that Nick Young nicknamed "Swaggy P" may be on as his way out of LA Lakers as the franchise seeks a new era following the retirement of Kobe Bryant from the NBA last April.

This past season may be Nick Young's last with the Lakers.

With Kobe no longer around, the Lakers have acquired a young coach in Luke Walton from Golden State Warriors and with a plethora of exciting young talents like Ingram, Nancy Jr, Clarkson, Randle and D'Angelo Russell, now seek a fresh start, and it appears Nick Young will be let go one way or another with a trade very likely during the NBA offseason according to a Bleacher reporter Kevin Ding.

"I would frankly be surprised if Nick Young is on the Lakers roster at the start of the season. They have been trying to trade him for a while. They are still trying to trade him. They are willing to even buy him out to move on."

Although, Young recently admitted to trying to work things out with D'Angelo Russell after he snitched on him about cheating on his girlfriend but the issues will linger as long as Young is still a Laker plus the fact that age isn't on his side and has been inconsistent in his game.

D'Angelo Russell may be the next torch bearer in LA Lakers.

It seems the Lakers franchise is set to move on with D'Angelo Russell as their next superstar after the retirement of Kobe Bryant. The young point guard was very impressive during the NBA Summer League in Ohio state where he averaged 21.8 points, 6.3 rebounds and 1.5 steals per game. With his emergence as a potential new torch bearer , Nick Young's future in the team could get complicated and his status in the team could be based on his relationship with the young point guard.

English Premiership: South African ace Steven Pienaar joins Sunderland.

Steven Pienaar retired from International football in Oct 2, 2012.

Following Steven Pienaar's release from Everton, the midfielder has joined Sunderland on a one-year deal and could move straight into the squad for Sunday's derby against Middlesbrough.

The move means the former South African International, is reunited with his ex-Everton manager David Moyes at the Stadium of Light.

The 34-year old was deemed surplus to requirement following the arrival of Ronald Koeman from Southampton.

He made over 200 appearances in the colors of Everton scoring 24 goals.

Pienaar began his career with Ajax Cape Town in South Africa before he moved to Dutch club Ajax and Borussia Dortmund before moving to Everton.

Also, he played for Tottenham in between his spells at Everton.

In 2010, he credited the goal he scored against Arsenal as the best goal of his career.

Click play below to view the goal.

English Premiership: What we learnt from the FA Community Shield.

Hey folks, the English Premiership 2016 - 2017 season officially kicked off on Sunday with the traditional curtain raiser - The FA Community Shield played at Wembley Stadium.

The game usually is played between the Premiership Champions and the FA Cup winners. In this case, it was between Leicester City and Manchester United.

Well, the match panned out just like I posted on an ESPN article which previewed the FA Community Shield, that stories like Leicester City's fairytale of last season happens once in a blue moon.

Here are what we learnt from the Community Shield contest.

• Ibrahimovic will deliver the goods this season.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic celebrates scoring the winner.

Ibrahimovic is a proven winner as he has won 30 titles in his footballing career prior to the Community Shield. In his debut, he scored an audacious scissor-kick just inside four minutes in their 5-2 victory over Galatasary and on Sunday, in his first competitive match, he scored the winner in the curtain raiser. That goal was trademark Ibra. 

Expect more of such goals this season from the Swedish International as the Red Devils compete in four competitions.

• Manchester United are title favorites.

The Red Devils are title contenders.

What better way to announce your title aspirations than defeating the Premiership Champions in the curtain raiser plus the imminent arrival of Paul Pogba from Juventus to an already star-studed squad.

These two teams played out a score draw in both fixtures last season. A win in the Community Shield indicates Manchester United mean business this term.

All of England, BEWARE!!!.

• Riyad Mahrez may be affected by transfer speculations.

Is Riyad Mahrez thinking of leaving the foxes?

The Algeria playmaker who won the PFA player of the year award last season has been repeatedly linked with a move to Arsenal but Claudio Ranieri has consistently rejected such speculations.

Never really understood what was happening to Mahrez. Kept expecting him to make plays but he looked anonymous throughout the game except when he was about to take the corner-kicks. His decision making in the game was really poor, kept dribbling himself plus couldn't make those tantalizing crosses that were reminiscent of his game last season.

• Leicester City will miss N'Golo Kante.

Will the foxes miss N'Golo Kante?

We can't certainly say that had N'Golo Kante remained a Leicester City player that he would have prevented Jesse Lingard from running through the defence. But, the pint-sized midfielder specialised in breaking up attacking forays of opposing teams with reckless abandon.

In the match, Andy King started in his role but isn't as bullish as the French International.

We hear Nampalys Mendy is the natural heir. Well, the season will certainly tell us.


Click play to view highlights of the match.

ICC: What we learnt from Barcelona vs. Leicester City.

A very entertaining match with both teams refusing to hold back ended in a six-goal thriller as Barcelona came away with a 4-2 victory.

Here are four things we learnt from the Catalan giants victory over Leicester City.

• Ahmed Musa's pace will cause havoc against defences.

The Nigerian international signed this summer from CSKA Moscow for a club record £16.6 million was introduced into the game before the commencement of the second half and took his chances with composed finishing.

The first goal was just trademark Musa. Using his pace to move pass two Barcelona defenders leaving them in his wake before finishing with precision. The second goal just shows his threat in the penalty area, one touch, one shot and a goal.

Expect him to pepper defenders this season with his pace plus the fact that he fits into the counter-attacking style of Claudio Ranieri.

• Leo Messi hasn't lost his mojo after Copa America disappointment.

After the disappointment of failing in the final of the Copa America Centanario with Argentina this summer and subsequently retiring from International football, one would have been expecting a hangover.

But the Argentine maestro was all smiles as he took to the field and captained Barcelona on the night. His all round play was excellent as he set-up Munir's first and Suarez's goal. He also has a hand in the third.

• Leicester City get a foretaste of Champions League at ICC.

Heading into this season as Champions of England and having automatically qualified for the Champions League group stage, it's only befitting that Leicester city got a foretaste of the Champions League by participating in the International Champions Cup.

And boy, it has been anything but rosy, trashed by PSG 4-0 and Barcelona gave some footballing lessons in the first half.

When the competition kick-offs in September, hope Leicester City wouldn't be overwhelmed by the occasion.

• The gulf in class between the top teams in Spanish La Liga and English Premiership is much.

This was a match billed as the Champions of Spain against the Champions of England. But the manner in which FC Barcelona raced into a 3-goal lead in the first half, lives questions about the quality of the Premiership.

Also, remember how Real Madrid romped to a 3-goal lead in the first half against Chelsea FC.

These results still proves the La Liga's dominance over the Premiership teams.


Click play to view highlights of the match.

WWE: Randy Orton slithers into Raw to hit RKO on Brock Lesnar.

After the WWE roster was drafted into Raw and Smackdown about two weeks ago, it didn't take long before one Superstar crossed enemy lines. In this case, it was Randy Orton.

However, not many would have expected this to be at the expense of the Beast Incarnate - Brock Lesnar.

Remember those words by Orton on Chris Jericho's "The Highlight Reel" at Battleground on his return? It may take fifteen, twenty or twenty-five suplexes to get to suplex city but it will take one RKO to get to viperville.

On this Monday's Raw, The Viper lived up those words as he slithered in on Raw through the crowd to hit an earth shattering RKO outta nowhere on Lesnar.

People, the war is on.

Will their be consequences for the Viper crossing enemy lines? Will Brock Lesnar reciprocate on Smackdown to deliver his signature maneuver F5 on Orton?

NBA: Another mistake from Draymond Green, it's one too many.

Draymond Green our NBA star, is making the news again for the wrong reasons. He is slowly creating a reputation of being the 'Judas' among the Golden State Warriors 'disciples'.

Early this morning, it was reported that he posted a picture of his penis on snapchat which he deleted after 10 minutes.

When quizzed about it, he apologised and said it wasn't meant for everybody but by pushing the wrong button, everybody could see it.

During the just concluded NBA postseason, he made the news after hitting the groin area of two NBA players, Steve Adams and Lebron James. He did escape punishment from the league board in the incident with Steve Adams but eventually incurred the punishment of the league by earning a game suspension after committing the same crime on Lebron James.

In some quarters, it is thought that Green cost his team the NBA title after his presence was missed in the Game 5 of the NBA Finals which could have been the clencher for the Warriors but it became the turning point for Cleveland Cavaliers.

About three weeks ago, he was charged with assault for slapping a Michigan State player which incurred the penalty of $500 fine and $60 jail restriction fee.

We are all humans which makes us prone to making mistakes but when it becomes one too many, questions will certainly be asked about our personality.

As an NBA All-Star and a franchise player of Golden State Warriors, he is seen as a shinning light to many.

Therefore, he has to acquit himself like a man before he sends his NBA career tumbling.

ICC: What we learnt from Real Madrid vs. Chelsea.

Chelsea FC lost 3-2 to Real Madrid after a poor first half showing in an International Champions Cup match on Saturday. The result only became respectable after most of the Madrid starters were substituted.

Here are four things we learnt from Chelsea's loss at Michigan stadium in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

• The defense is still shambolic.

The type of shambolic defending witnessed in the first half of the game is reminiscent of what we saw throughout the entire campaign of last season. Marcelo sliced through the defense like hot knife in butter to score his second goal of the night. Such kind of defending will never bring silverware to Stamford Bridge.

• Eden Hazard could play as one of two strikers.

Eden Hazard is clearly intent on getting last season's disappointments behind him and letting his football do the talking. The former PFA player of the year award winner chipped in two goals with both looking like a striker's finish. 

With manager Antonio Conte opting for a 4-4-2 or 4-2-4 formation, he will surely thrive in any of the roles upfront either as a supporting striker or as the main striker.

• Diego Costa injury problems still persist.

After being left out of the squad that competed at the Euros for Spain, the striker had the whole summer free of football but it appears that Spanish international problems are deeper than we think. Nagging injuries have prevented from taking part fully in Chelsea's pre-season schedules.

Could this be the trend when the season eventually kicks-off?

• Team yet to get Conte's football philosophy.

Antonio Conte's philosophy about football is centered on teamwork, compactness and hardwork. These are the traits he built into the Italian National team that lost in the quarterfinals of the Euros to Germany. It appears that the players are still coming to grips with his ideas as none of it was evident in the loss to Real Madrid especially in the first half.

Conte has said that for Chelsea to become Champions again they need to play as a team on and off the pitch.

Click play to view highlights of the match.