“It is a staple of English football. Despite the progression in modern football tactics, it is remarkable how many managers point to a specific part of the game in their pre- and post-match interviews. The second ball. With the influx of overseas coaches over recent decades, it feels like a rite of passage to note the importance of second balls when striving to win a game of Premier League football. Most notably, early in Pep Guardiola’s first season with Manchester City, he recalled how former Liverpool midfielder Xabi Alonso had flagged their significance when the pair worked together at Bayern Munich. …”
NY Times/The Athletic
English football is besotted with second balls – but how important are they?
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“Football’s memory is short, particularly when it comes to national sides. The most successful resemble club teams in that they have a core of players and a clearly defined style of play. There’s always an in-form player around whom a clamour develops, but continuity is just as important, perhaps even more so, in the international game. But next week inevitably represents a new start as Thomas Tuchel picks his first 
“Fifteen of the 16 clubs left in the 
“Watch the video without sound, without context, and you will be forgiven for wondering what exactly is going on. 
“One-touch passes are hard. As the great Johan Cruyff once said, ‘Technique is passing the ball with one touch, with the right speed, at the right foot of your team-mate.’ The truth is first-time passes are dying out, with Premier League sides increasingly prioritising controlled possession. Manchester United playmaker Bruno Fernandes, though, has never been one to follow convention. His one-touch, no-look assist in last season’s FA Cup final win against Manchester City would surely have earned Cruyff’s seal of approval. From the edge of the box, Fernandes slid a first-time ball between John Stones and a recovering Kyle Walker, teeing up Kobbie Mainoo for the side-footed finish, as United ran out 2-1 winners, denying City a second successive league-and-cup double. …”
“As Adam Wharton turned and played a perfect through ball to Eddie Nketiah, Thomas Tuchel must have raised an eyebrow. The England head coach watched Crystal Palace from the stands for the second successive match with several players on his radar. But if there was a pass which by itself warranted an England call-up then this was it. Wharton received the ball 10 yards inside Palace’s half, surveyed the surroundings and advanced forward. He spotted Nketiah, who was through a crowd. …”
“Manchester United’s wait for back-to-back Premier League wins this season goes on after Declan Rice’s fine second-half strike earned Arsenal a point at a raucous Old Trafford. This game lacked the quality that was once associated with this fixture, with Bruno Fernandes’ goal shortly before half-time — a precise free kick from 25 yards — the outstanding moment in a poor first half. Arsenal improved after the break and levelled with Rice’s powerful long-range effort, their first goal in 257 minutes of Premier League action. And despite that shortage of quality, the closing stages had plenty of drama as both sides pushed for a win, Fernandes coming closest in the dying seconds. …”
“It has become the soundtrack to Liverpool’s potentially triumphant 2024-25 season. From Merseyside pubs to stadium concourses across the land, and from cramped away ends to the Kop, the Liverbird Upon My Chest refrain has been a consistent companion for Arne Slot’s players as they close in on the Premier League title. Yet this is not a new chant. Quite the opposite. It’s almost as old as 46-year-old Slot. And nobody is more surprised or delighted to see it making a comeback than Phil Aspinall, the fan who came up with it after watching The Green Berets, a 1968 movie starring John Wayne set during the Vietnam War, on TV the night before a match in 1984. …”
“As Arne Slot closes in on the second league title of his career, he may reflect ruefully on how it could easily have been his third. It is five years to the day that AZ’s season was effectively ended by Covid-19 after Slot’s in-form team had beaten ADO Den Haag to draw level on points with Ajax, the team they had beaten the week before, at the top of the Dutch Eredivisie. AZ had the look of champions-in-waiting, Slot having instilled such fearlessness and aggression in their football that their belief was growing with every passing week. What made this fairytale even more incredible was that Slot, in his first season as a top-flight coach, was outsmarting his rivals with a team largely made up of academy graduates. …”
“Wojciech Szczesny returns to the Estadio da Luz on Wednesday — the place where, only five weeks ago, his short Barcelona career must have flashed before his eyes. His first Champions League start of the season, in 
“… Those are the big three iconic Parisian landmarks. On Wednesday night at the Parc des Princes, Luis Enrique’s Paris Saint-Germain showed 
“Mousa Dembele was a players’ player: a rare talent whose quality is 
“Premier League clubs will already be planning who they want to bring in this summer when the transfer market reopens, but making sure they hold on to key players is also a major part of successful squad building. As 
“More than 20 games in the English Football League are underway and a cry of ‘it’s gone’ bellows from Pod J. Panic sets in. Peter Walker dashes in to check what has happened, fearing a camera has gone down in Stevenage’s home game against Huddersfield Town in League One. After a brief exchange, the panic is over. It was a false alarm. A player appeared to have an injury and the match director feared their hamstring had gone as opposed to losing a camera feed. …”
“If Liverpool’s loosely-defined ‘luck’ in the Premier League is a real thing then consider the not-so-compelling narrative in the 
“The 
“The sight of a goalkeeper gathering a simple shot, collapsing to the ground and taking an age to part with the ball is an infuriating one if your team are trailing. If your team are leading, it is a beautiful form of expressive art. The room for such theatrics is set to be squeezed, however, as the International Football Association Board (IFAB) has acted on what it sees as the rising trend of goalkeepers getting away with time-wasting. 
“Jean-Philippe Mateta had his ‘life endangered’ in a challenge from Millwall goalkeeper Liam Roberts that left the Crystal Palace striker with a head injury, his club’s chairman Steve Parish said. Mateta was given oxygen on the pitch following the challenge in Saturday’s FA Cup fifth-round tie, before being taken off on a stretcher from the field of play in a neck brace and being directly taken to an ambulance, with play stopped for over 10 minutes. Millwall’s Roberts was shown a straight red card after the video assistant referee (VAR) recommended on-field referee Michael Oliver to review the decision, after the goalkeeper was initially not punished for the incident. …”
“Last season, the
“The underdogs had held out for as long as possible but now, surely, it was over. Second-tier Dunkerque had somehow succeeded in weathering an almighty storm at Lille, but with five minutes of the match remaining, Andre Gomes had popped up to give the Ligue 1 side a 1-0 lead. The goal had been coming. This was the same Lille team who had beaten Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid and thrashed Feyenoord 6-1 en route to securing direct qualification for the Champions League last 16. …”
“You could argue that Emile Smith Rowe’s goal did not stand out in last weekend’s wider collection of finishes. Fulham ran out 2-1 winners against Nottingham Forest, with their opener coming from a well-worked sequence that saw Adama Traore cut inside onto his left foot before delivering a delightful ball for the onrushing Smith Rowe to head home. …”
“Liverpool’s tilt at the 2024-25 Premier League title is beginning to look like a procession. This trip to the Etihad was meant to be one of Arne Slot’s biggest tests but his side negotiated it with minimum fuss, closing out victory thanks to goals from Mohamed Salah (of course) and Dominik Szoboszlai to move 11 points clear at the top of the table. Our experts analyse where the game was won and lost and where it leaves the campaign. …”
Leeds striker Joel Piroe celebrates with a young fan after scoring against Hull. Daniel Farke’s side currently top the Championship ahead of Sheffield United.
“Being in the right place at the right time is a priceless skill. It is often the result of understanding space and knowing when to time your off-ball movement. In 
“The Champions League’s new format may have given every team only two possible opponents in the round-of-16 draw but that has done little to dampen the excitement now that we know the eight ties. 
“Morocco’s run in this World Cup has been exhilarating. Led by Paris-born coach Walid Regragui, who took over only three months ago, the Atlas Lions have exceeded all expectations, defeating three former European colonial powers (Belgium, Spain, and Portugal) and are now up against France. From the mass prayer sessions in Indonesia to the celebrations on the streets of Somalia and Nigeria, this team has won the hearts of millions—Africans, Arabs, Muslims, and migrants who see themselves in this team. Images that will endure: playmaker Hakim Ziyech’s light-footed turns, midfielder Sofian Amrabet—dubbed Minister of Defense—and his barreling runs, and team captain Achraf Hakimi’s post-match embrace of his mother, who worked as a domestic in Madrid, Spain, while raising her children. But for Moroccans, it’s also the Moroccan takeover of the Qatari stadiums that has captivated the world: the pulsating drums, castanets, colorful outfits, and elaborate songs. …”
“When a manager turns a match around in the second half, the logical question to ask is: what did they change at half-time? That was the first question Juventus’ head coach, Thiago Motta, was posed on television last night after his side changed the tide against Inter to earn a 1-0 Serie A home win. … Then in the post-match press conference, Motta was asked again about his half-time message, and explained that he’d talked about ‘the usual things’ alongside ‘small details’. …”
“It was a moment many watching the game may have missed — but it has become increasingly common for Andoni Iraola and Bournemouth fans. As Milos Kerkez passes backwards under instruction from Bournemouth team-mate Antoine Semenyo during Saturday’s match at the St Mary’s Stadium, Southampton forwards Kamaldeen Sulemana and Paul Onuachu start to press the intended recipient, Dean Huijsen. Centre-back Huijsen controls the ball with the studs of his right boot, then rolls it to open up his body. …”
“Gunnar Nielsen’s 
“Jude Bellingham was sent off on Saturday for swearing at a referee — but the Real Madrid midfielder insists the incident that saw him shown a red card was a ‘miscommunication’. Bellingham says his red card against Osasuna was down to referee Jose Luis Munuera Montero misinterpreting him swearing as an insult directed at the official. Carlo Ancelotti explained at full time the sending off was a mix-up over Bellingham’s use of the phrase’f*** off’, which he claims was used to voice his confusion over a decision as opposed to abuse the referee. …”
“One of the most successful and lucrative commercial rights partnerships in football is ending. On Tuesday, it was announced that 
“Lloyd Kelly’s first start of 2025? Against Bromley of League Two, English football’s fourth tier, in the FA Cup’s third round on January 12 as one of nine Newcastle United changes to their previous line-up as coach Eddie Howe fielded a largely second-string side. Kelly’s second start of 2025? Against Dutch title holders PSV on February 11 in a Champions League play-off to decide who goes forward to the round of 16 next month as the 26-year-old defender made his home debut for Juventus, 36-time champions of Italy and two-time winners of the European Cup/Champions League (among their nine appearances in the final). …”
“Football very rarely goes to plan. AC Milan’s new strike force were supposed to quickly start scoring a lot of goals. Feyenoord selling their best player was supposed to mean their season was over. Bayern Munich were supposed to crumble away from home again. Oh, and VAR was supposed to eradicate horrendous refereeing decisions. As you can see from last night’s Champions League play-off knockout clashes, the sport rarely fails to disappoint when it comes to predictability. Here Tim Spiers analyses the key talking points from Wednesday evening’s matches. …”
“Erling Haaland scored against Real Madrid for the first time in his career. And then scored another. But Manchester City still lost at home to the Champions League holders. It will have felt all too familiar for Pep Guardiola and his team as they threw away a 2-1 lead with four minutes of normal time to play at the Etihad, being stung first by one of their former players, Brahim Diaz, and then the tireless Jude Bellingham, who steered the ball home from close range in added time. Oh, and earlier in the game Kylian Mbappe had scored with his shin. …”
“Donald Trump’s inauguration as the 47th president of the US captured global attention, signaling a monumental shift in both American and international politics. Sitting among some of the wealthiest people on the planet was FIFA President Gianni Infantino, and his presence has raised eyebrows. In the weeks following the inauguration, Infantino has posted about Trump on Instagram more than any other world leader. Under normal circumstances, this might not seem unusual, given that the US is set to host the FIFA Club World Cup later this year and will co-host the 2026 FIFA World Cup alongside Canada and Mexico. …”
The fans who vanish from the terraces live on in the memories of the supporters they leave behind.
“During the 
“Pep Guardiola described it as ‘the best lesson you can take’. Abdukodir Khusanov’s language teacher might beg to differ. The Manchester City manager was talking after Khusanov endured a difficult debut against Chelsea recently, when the 20-year-old gave away a goal and picked up a yellow card inside the first five minutes. Asked whether he considered substituting Khusanov at that point, Guardiola replied: ‘Well, I have to learn Russian or Uzbek to communicate with him. He doesn’t speak English.’ On the same day, at the other end of the country, another player who arrived in the Premier League without a word of English was enjoying the best moment of his career so far. Dango Ouattara, who joined Bournemouth from the French club Lorient two years ago, scored a hat-trick against Nottingham Forest. …”
“In football the concept of a ‘trio’ is generally reserved for a group of three who play in the same department of a team. We talk about an attacking trio, a midfield trio or a defensive trio. But Arsenal’s tactical approach in their comprehensive 5-1 victory over Manchester City was all about a trio down one flank. Left-winger Leandro Trossard, left-centre midfield Declan Rice and left-back Myles Lewis-Skelly combined excellently throughout the game. Arsenal’s passing network from the game tells the story neatly. There’s almost no connection between the equivalent players on the other flank. But Trossard, Rice and Lewis-Skelly played close together, operated in each other’s zones, and spun their way into good positions in behind. …”
“Arsenal fans — or indeed, supporters of [insert team you support here] — may feel aggrieved at recent refereeing decisions, but at least you haven’t had to play against 12 men. That’s unless you’re a supporter of Dutch side Heerenveen, who were on the wrong end of one of football’s most basic rules being flagrantly breached during their top-flight match against Fortuna Sittard at the weekend. Visitors Fortuna made a late double substitution with Heerenveen — now managed by legendary former Dutch striker Robin van Persie — 2-1 up. But only one of the players getting replaced actually left the field. The match resumed, the 12 men of Fortuna won a throw-in and from that, albeit after the error was spotted and rectified, a corner which brought their equaliser, and the match ended as a draw. …”
“Liverpool this season have been very good at being good enough. There have been very few games in which they’ve dismantled the opposition. They have won fewer league games by more than three goals than Tottenham have, but ended the day nine points clear at the top with their closest rivals to play the defending champions on Sunday. If 
“The faces surrounding Cesc Fàbregas were glum, yet he spoke like a conquering general: bellowing praise at his troops as he strode among them, pointing at his eyes then pounding a fist into his open palm. ‘We devoured them! We devoured them! 
Scissors Kick 