“Did the Premier League season pass you by? Can you barely remember what took place before the World Cup? Are you a bit unsure of what happened with Bournemouth? It’s difficult to describe a 380-game campaign concisely. But here is an attempt: all 20 Premier League teams’ seasons summarised in 10 choice matches… ”
The Athletic – Michael Cox
Barcelona fans during the Champions League semi-final against Real Madrid at Nou Camp in April 2002
March 2023. “It is close to midnight on the Travessera de les Corts and there is a reluctance to let go of the day. Thousands remain under the glow of Camp Nou’s floodlights and opportunists sell cans of Estrella, the local beer, out of rucksacks to meet the demand of those unwilling to head home. There is a hum of happiness. A new working week can wait. The drama of an hour before had seen to that. Franck Kessie’s match-winning goal in the second minute of injury time had triggered a noise to wake the dead at the vast cemetery next door. Not only had Barcelona taken a giant leap towards the title in La Liga, they had done so by leaving Real Madrid, their despised rivals, crestfallen at their feet. …”
The Athletic
“The 2022-23 season has come to an end, with Manchester City winning the Premier League title for the seventh time in the last 12 seasons – five of those coming in the last six campaigns. Pep Guardiola has now won the title in 11 of his 14 seasons as a top-flight manager across spells in charge of Barcelona, Bayern Munich and Man City, with Arsenal forced to contend with second place despite spending 248 days atop the Premier League table – the most by a side not to win the title in English top flight history. With the curtain fully closed on the campaign, our data experts at OptaJoe have picked their Premier League Team of the Season for 2022-23 based on the data. …”
The Analyst
“Time-wasting. By all accounts, a massive waste of time… or a means to an end by which a football team can win a match. There have been several high-profile examples this season of what has felt like inexorably painful bouts of time-wasting. Players dropping to the ground one, two, even three at a time in the closing stages of matches, ‘keepers taking an age with goal kicks… it’s felt extremely common. Because it is common. It basically happens in every single match — and that’s nothing new. …”
The Athletic
“In the lead-up to the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, discussions around the U.S. men’s national team centered on potential. The squad that qualified for the World Cup was the youngest in the world, by average age. They were the second-youngest team at November’s tournament. Over the next three years, however, that narrative will shift and the team will no longer be judged on potential. Many young stars will enter their primes. A home World Cup will increase expectations. …”
The Athletic
“Football has a money problem. Rather than being shaded by money trees, the health of the modern game is being antagonised by the very fabric of its ecosystem. Footballers, fans and clubs are all pawns in the money plays of billionaires and nation-states, attracted by the cash flow of the industry. Without them, without their money, this sport which we schedule our lives around looks like a stranger. …”
Football Paradise
Scissors Kick 