“How badly did German football need last season? New champions for the first time in 11 years and a story, in Bayer Leverkusen, that managed to exist independently from Bayern Munich. It brought fresh eyes to the Bundesliga and set an important precedent. How can 2024-25 follow that? Early signs are promising — the challenge is broader at the top of the table and there will be no procession for anyone. St Pauli and Holstein Kiel have been promoted to the top flight, rival chief executives are already rattling sabres in the media and Deutsche Bahn, Germany’s much-criticised rail network, has promised to get everyone to the stadiums on time. …”
NY Times/The Athletic
Bundesliga season preview: Bayern Munich the underdogs, and can anyone beat Bayer Leverkusen?
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“What I remember the most about my visit to the ruins of the Pontiac Silverdome in 2016 is how the place sounded. The way the wind played with the tattered roof panels and whipped past the support cables of the dome, playing them like guitar strings. As I walked across the playing field, I’d occasionally hear bits and pieces of metal hardware falling from above and hitting the ground around me. It was a little unnerving. The stadium in the northern suburbs of Detroit, Michigan, had been disused for years by the time I arrived with my camera. A snowstorm in 2013 had torn the roof to shreds. A year later, much of the equipment was auctioned off, leaving the place an empty shell. At that point, the once-sterile, polished stadium had begun to fall back to nature: I remember gazing downwards at my feet and seeing tiny shoots of natural grass pushing their way up through the artificial turf. …”
“What do Pep Guardiola and Enzo Maresca have in common? Coaches wedded to a certain style of football? 
“The most popular soccer league in the world returns on Friday at the Theatre of Dreams as Fulham visits Manchester United. If it feels like the soccer season is never-ending after the 
“Maybe we should have known right from the start that this was going to take a while. Panathinaikos’ Argentinian midfielder Daniel Mancini stepped up to take the first penalty of their shootout against Ajax, the Greek side having scored a late equaliser to force the 
“The 
“Before an unforgettable footballing adventure had even begun, a nation had one man to thank. Such was the magnitude of 
“It was in the House of Commons eight years ago that Justin Madders, the Labour MP for Ellesmere Port and Bromborough, spoke of his concerns for football’s long-term health. A private members’ bill put forward outlined the case for reform long before the notion of an independent regulator for the English game began to crystalise in 2021. There was a proposal to add a levy to all transfer fees to aid the grassroots game and another to offer matchgoing supporters greater protection against rescheduled TV fixtures. Madders also warned of what he called a ‘demographic timebomb’. The 
“We are just days away from the 
“The map is a basic location-map, with an inset map of Greater London. Also shown are small labels which point out both the three promoted clubs (Leicester City, Ipswich Town, Southampton), and the three relegated clubs (Luton Town, Burnley, Sheffield United). And there are three charts… The Attendance chart, at top-centre of the map page, shows 4 things for each of the 20 current Premier League clubs…A) 2023-24 finish (with promotions noted). B) 2023-24 average attendance [from home league matches]. C) Stadium capacity [2023-24]. D) Percent-capacity [2023-24]. At the right-hand side of the map page are two more charts. The chart at the top-right shows Seasons-in-1st-Division for the 20 current Premier League clubs. …”
“Welcome to the latest edition of the Transfer DealSheet, your weekly guide to what is happening in the summer window. Our team of dedicated writers, including Adam Leventhal and David Ornstein, will take you inside the market to explain the deals being worked on, the players who could arrive and the ones who are on their way out across the 
“There is no escaping the cult of the manager in English football. From Busby to Ferguson, from Chapman to Wenger, from Shankly to Klopp, from Revie to Clough, from Mourinho to Guardiola, it sometimes feels like one of the last bastions of the 19th-century ‘great man theory’ — as if, to bastardise the words of Thomas Carlyle, the history of English football is but the biography of great men. Some of the greatest are commemorated with statues outside their clubs’ stadiums: Herbert Chapman and Arsene Wenger at 
Members of barras bravas are scattered between the flags that they deploy. In the picture, 
The Barras brava section of the stadium is recognizable for their flags, a characteristic unrivaled by other areas of the stadium has more quantity or density of such. In the picture, La Banda de Fierrois an organized supporter group of 
“‘We’ll see beautiful, days kids, we’ll see sunny days.’ This isn’t the kind of song you’d expect to hear chanted at a football game, let alone by one of the most respected groups of ultras in the world. But this group have defied expectations and baffled social commentators for years. 
“How was Euro 2024 for you? 
“There was a chaotic end to the Olympic men’s football match between 
“… This summer marks the 30th anniversary of the backpass law being introduced, following FIFA’s successful experiment in Italy a year earlier. It is arguably the most significant — and the best — rule change in the modern game. The mindnumbing sight of goalkeepers rolling the ball out to defenders, receiving it back, picking it up and holding it in their hands to kill games, was gone. …”
“It was in the autumn of 2017 when goal kicks first started to become viewed as a legitimate attacking instrument. After signing from Benfica, it soon became clear that the left leg of 
“It was the morning of 
“The 
“
“The black gates at the southwest entrance of Hard Rock Stadium had been closed for one hour and 45 minutes when a young child was hoisted on a guardian’s shoulders amid the crush of people waiting to get in for the 
“The Copa America final could not have been set up any better. Defending champions 
“There are only two matches left of 
“The showpiece final of this summer’s 
“What should have been a showpiece game in the semi-final of the 
“A late winner from England substitute Ollie Watkins against Netherlands put Gareth Southgate’s team into the final of Euro 2024, where they will face Spain. The 
“The 
“
“Watching 
“By this point, it’s time to accept that 
“Sometimes it happens. High stakes, growing tension, a sheer desperation not to lose — the biggest games can light a fire within compulsive competitors that catches too quickly, spreads across the pitch, and burns any sense of spectacle to the ground. Uruguay’s Copa America quarterfinal clash with Brazil fell foul to that intensity: an ugly collision of arms, legs and bodies constantly interrupted by the referee’s whistle. By the time Dario Herrera signalled for the end, it felt as if the contest had barely been given the chance to begin. …”
“Under Luis de la Fuente, 
“Despite having an array of attacking talent at his disposal, not one of Deschamps’ players has scored a goal from open play during Euro 2024. And yet his team are through to a semi-final against 
“The entire NRG Stadium in Houston, Texas gasped. The whistle blew and 
“It was a surprise to hear 
“One of the wonders of the human brain is how it translates words into experiences, sounds and images. The notion, which is called semantic processing, is how our brain understands what we read by searching for associated words, sounds or images in our memory. Try reading the following words: Spain national football team. …”
“Didier Deschamps is a glass-half-full sort of fella. 
“A generous estate agent might describe the two-up, two-down terraced houses on the cramped side streets that lead towards Gillingham’s Priestfield Stadium as ‘snug’. On this warm day, the windows of several are open and the smell of frying mince and onions hangs over the turnstiles in the Brian Moore Stand, an open ‘temporary’ structure held together by scaffolding that has now been in place for more than 20 years. …”
“This always promised to be one of the more frenetic nights at Euro 2024 — and 
“The 
“For just over six minutes, it looked as though the 
“As the game moved into its 120th minute, it was so obvious 
“
“It turns out Murat Yakin wasn’t lying in 2022. He was just one tournament early. ‘I think we are the best Switzerland national team that has ever existed,’ said their coach prior to the World Cup. He promised their best-ever finish at an international tournament but did not deliver — 
“
“England edged past Slovakia to reach the Euro 2024 quarter-finals, but only after staring a humiliating defeat in the face. Anyone hoping for an improved version of England in the knockout stages was left sorely disappointed during a disjointed and dispiriting first half. Sloppy defending from Gareth Southgate’s team let Slovakia in on several occasions in the first 20 minutes, a foreshadowing of the opening goal from Ivan Schranz on 25 minutes — the 30-year-old taking advantage of acres of space to slot past Jordan Pickford. …”
Scissors Kick 