Author Archives: 1960s: Days of Rage

About 1960s: Days of Rage

Bill Davis - 1960s: Days of Rage

Victor Osimhen calls time on TikTok saga but Napoli cannot set clock back

Victor Osimhen bellows in frustration after missing a chance

It has been a troubled week for Victor Osimhen after the Napoli forward was mocked by the club’s TikTok account.
“By full time, it was tempting to believe that Napoli’s troubles had all been an illusion. After 24 hours of accusations and legal threats resulting from videos that the club’s TikTok account posted of striker Victor Osimhen, the Partenopei had come back to their home stadium and thrashed Udinese 4-1. The Nigerian played the first hour of the game, scored the second goal and continued to cheer his teammates after being substituted in the second half. …”
Guardian

How Spurs’ excellent Udogie recovered from his early struggles against Saka

“Fourteen minutes into the north London derby on Sunday, Destiny Udogie flew into a tackle on Bukayo Saka. It was a genuine attempt to win the ball, but it was late and an obvious yellow card. For the next 75 minutes, Udogie had to face arguably the in-form winger in the Premier League in the knowledge that another foul could be the end of his match. After Tottenham team-mate Emerson Royal’s daft dismissal in this same fixture last season, it seemed history might be about to repeat itself. …”
The Athletic – Michael Cox

How Football Works: Third-man combinations in the double pivot

“When Xabi Alonso played for Pep Guardiola’s Bayern Munich, he usually operated as a lone defensive midfielder, presumably because he was so handsome that team-mates were too intimidated to stand next to him. Not many clubs play that way now. A decade of increasingly sophisticated pressing has forced sides that want to build up through the middle (as opposed to going over or around the other team) to put two bodies on their defensive midfield line. … Their secret weapon was third-man combinations in the double pivot. …”
The Athletic (Video)

Liverpool’s new system is blunting Andy Robertson – but there could be a solution

“There were five minutes of normal time remaining at Molineux when Andy Robertson found himself storming forward into the Wolverhampton Wanderers box. He found Mohamed Salah on the edge of the penalty area, took the Egyptian’s return pass in his stride and stroked the ball into the net for the goal that completed Liverpool’s comeback and set them on their way to three more precious points. …”
The Athletic (Video)

Germany: 2023-24 Bundesliga – Location-map, with 3 Charts

“… The map page shows a location-map for the 18 clubs in the 2023-24 Bundesliga, with recently-promoted and -relegated teams noted. (Promoted in 2023: Darmstadt, Heidenheim; relegated in 2023: Schalke, Hertha [Berlin].) The map also shows the 16 Federal States of Germany, and the 14 largest cities in Germany, with 2021 population estimates listed at the the top of the map. …”
billsportsmaps
2023-24 Bundesliga

Bin Salman’s sportswashing quip reflected growing power but was perhaps a mistake

“Crown prince Mohammed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia gave the impression of having swallowed a spreadsheet during his midweek interview with Fox News. Every answer he gave seemed to have a statistic attached. He reeled off figures comparing the economic growth of his country and South Korea. He estimated the level of annual profits in the global esports sector. …”
Guardian (Video)

Rotherham’s Millmoor: The mystery of the unused ghost stadium

“You can see the floodlights as you come off the motorway, just before reaching central Rotherham. Turn onto Masbrough Street and the stadium reveals itself on the left, halfway up the hill and just before Coronation Bridge that goes over the train line. If you just went past with not much more than a glance, Millmoor would look like any other lower league football ground: old, could do with a little care and attention, but identifiably a football ground. Until, perhaps, you caught sight of the barbed wire. …”
The Athletic (Video)
W – Millmoor
YouTube: Abandoned Millmoor Football Stadium Exploration 15:53

The De Zerbi tweak that saw Brighton outwit Ten Hag and Manchester United

“Tactical changes are often associated with switches in shape — a back three becoming a back four, say, or a midfield three turning into a diamond. However, it’s not exclusive to that. Shapes are a way of explaining the positioning of the players on the pitch in simple terms. The dynamic of how a team operates within a given shape is another dimension — two identical formations could attack and defend in different ways depending on the movement of the players concerned with and without the ball. …”
The Athletic
The Athletic: Erik ten Hag’s Manchester United are no longer improving
Guardian: Manchester United had sights set on title charge – but right now it’s chaos

FC Barcelona: Entertainers again at last

“So that’s what it is all about. Having fun watching football. The crowd at Montjuic stared incredulously up at the scoreboard and down at the pitch. They had practically forgotten this feeling. Barcelona had won La Liga last season, yes. But at Barcelona, it’s not just about winning, you also have to entertain a public with an exquisite palate, who demand excellence incessantly, even at times when they are aware that the club’s current squad doesn’t have it in them. …”
The Athletic

The €437m worth of players that PSG let go

“PSG have, in recent years, built a team of superstars. But by including Mbappe, Neymar and Messi in the same team, they’ve had to say goodbye to many young and homegrown players. Over €400million worth of young talent in fact. They’ve sold so many players, they could theoretically field a team capable of competing at the top level. These are some of those players. Written by Seb Stafford-Bloor, illustrated by Craig Silcock.”
YouTube

Klopp moving Szoboszlai was key to Liverpool’s second-half turnaround at Wolves

“The Liverpool fans at Molineux saved their final song — ‘I’m so glad that Jurgen is a Red’ — until the 99th minute, which was fitting for more than one reason. Jurgen Klopp has let his feelings be known about the premature nature of chanting in his direction before the job is done, so with 99 minutes on the clock and Liverpool 3-1 up against Wolves, it felt like the perfect timing. …”
The Athletic

Not in my name: are we so blinded by tribalism that we can’t see the real issues? Jonathan Wilson

“It’s a strange world that makes you yearn for the days of Ted Croker, Bert Millichip and Gordon McKeag. Football seemed so simple then. And to think that they once seemed absurd in their pomposity, with their velvet bag in the wood-panelled Football Association committee room at Lancaster Gate. The draw for the Champions League group stage, though, was something else, a festival of glitzy vapidity in which we had to be told over and over again how exciting it was that we were about to learn which pot-four side would be getting hammered by Manchester City. …”
Guardian

Selling Saudi Soccer, One Like at a Time

“Neymar’s endorsement was not, perhaps, the most ringing. Back in Brazil to play for his national team this month, he had been asked — not for the first time — to address the lingering suspicion that, in leaving Paris St.-Germain for Saudi Arabia and Al-Hilal, one of the finest players of his generation might not have chosen the most challenging coda to his career. Neymar’s immediate instinct was to dismiss the premise. …”
NY Times

Tactical Analysis: Napoli 1-2 Lazio

“After stringing together eight consecutive league wins, Napoli entered March in sensational form and the heavy favorites to pick up a victory at home against Lazio featuring a former player in Elseid Hysaj and a former manager in Maurizio Sarri, who spent three years in charge at the Partenopei and took them within touching distance of the Scudetto on multiple occasions, only to fall at the last hurdle to Juventus. Lazio took the lead within 67 minutes via Matías Vecino and prevailed 1-0, going on to finish second in their second full season under Sarri, a mere 16 points behind Napoli. …”
Breaking the Lines (Video)

The art of publicly criticising players: Why do managers do it and does it ever work?

“… One way to look at things is Ten Hag was simply answering a question honestly and straightforwardly. Another is that the United manager saw a passing bus and chose to throw Sancho under it, that he could quite easily have fobbed the question off with benign platitudes and avoided potentially alienating one of his squad. It does raise the question: is it ever justified for a manager to single out an individual player for public criticism? What purpose does it serve? Is it just the boss lashing out in frustration, or is there a more deliberate purpose to it all? Does it actually work? …”
The Athletic

Aaronson brothers on different routes to same Bundesliga destination

“… Once he arrived in Austria, Brenden thrived in the youth development focused environment in Salzburg, first under Jesse Marsch and then in tandem with Marsch’s successor as head coach, the highly rated Matthias Jaissle. The Medford Messi (a reference to the New Jersey town 40 minutes west of Philly where the brothers grew up, it was a nickname used more and more after his winning goal in a friendly against Barcelona in summer 2021) was a runaway train. …”
Guardian

Scotland v England in 1872: The story of football’s first international

“England’s Harry Kane, fresh from his gentle pre-match warm-up, which essentially involved smoking a pipe, is running slightly uphill on a field wearing white knickerbockers. Bukayo Saka, Marcus Rashford, Jack Grealish and James Maddison are all running closely behind him. The four players are shadowing their captain’s run to try to deflect a challenge from Billy Gilmour, who is doing his best to marshal Scotland’s defence in their bold 2-2-6 formation. Gilmour’s hat falls off and he is briefly distracted, allowing Kane to aim a shot that is about to hit the tape fixed between two posts before goalkeeper Angus Gunn catches the ball and runs with it in his hands to the halfway line to start a Scotland attack. …”
The Athletic

Investigation: The football club owner with four names believed to have been convicted of fraud

“With the cupboards bare, bills to pay and another relegation looming, Scunthorpe United fans were holding out for a hero. Then David Hilton arrived. The Nottingham-born businessman bought the club from the deeply unpopular Peter Swann in late January, clearing a six-figure tax bill and pledging to take Scunthorpe back to the English Football League. …”
The Athletic

Barcelona’s dramatic end to the transfer window – and how Joao Felix was signed

“On Monday last week, four days before transfer deadline day, Eric Garcia entered Xavi’s offices at Barcelona’s Joan Gamper training ground and told the manager he wanted to leave the club. Garcia had received an offer to go on loan to Girona, with the promise of more regular game time. Xavi tried to talk him out of it, insisting the defender was part of his rotation plans, that he was a valuable asset to the team. …”
The Athletic
W – João Félix

The secret world of football boots

“Anti-clogs. Blackouts. Mixed soleplates. Customised conversions. To the uninitiated, that will sound like gobbledygook. To the modern-day professional footballer, it’s the language of the dressing room and the tools of their trade. We are talking about football boots, in case you were wondering, and Jon Tootle’s garage — now converted into a workshop — is full of them. A garish pink pair on the workbench — Nike Air Zoom Mercurial Vapor, for those of you who know your ‘cleats’ — belong to one of last season’s leading Premier League goalscorers. …”
The Athletic

Liverpool’s 2019-level pressing intensity might well be back

“Liverpool’s win against Aston Villa resembled an Anfield performance from 2019-20. That season, Liverpool won 18 of their 19 home league games en route to lifting the Premier League trophy. They were wins characterised by four trademarks: three of those being fast starts with them usually ahead by half-time, set-piece goals (because many opponents defended deep to limit open-play opportunities) and Mohamed Salah scoring in front of the Kop. All three happened in Sunday’s win. …”
The Athletic (Video)

Tactical Analysis: Arsenal 3-1 Manchester United

“In the vast theatre of human endeavours, where the pursuit of meaning often reveals itself in the most unexpected of places, we find ourselves drawn to the sacred cathedral of football. In this timeless ritual, where passion transcends reason, and the spirit of camaraderie meets the cruelty of fate, a tapestry of narratives unfurls. Picture, if you will, the canvas of a stadium – a canvas that bore witness to a spectacle of Shakespearean proportions. It was a game that encapsulated the very essence of existence–the agony and the ecstasy. …”
Breaking the Lines
YouTube: Tactical Analysis : Arsenal 3-1 Manchester United | Arsenal A Cut Above

Union Berlin, RB Leipzig and the 15 minutes the drums fell silent

“In East Berlin on Sunday, the Stadion Alte Forsterei hosted one of the Bundesliga’s most complicated fixtures. Union Berlin against RB Leipzig ended in a 3-0 win for the visitors. In itself, that was remarkable. It was Union’s first defeat in 24 matches at home and the culmination of a game full of wonderful goals, bad fouls and high drama. All of which was secondary to the main issue. …”
The Athletic (Video)

Bitcoin football: the story of Real Bedford FC

“Football has become the establishment. Thirty years since the publication of Nick Hornby’s Fever Pitch, the gentrification of professional football in England is no longer confined to the executive suites. Where once the middle-class enthusiast—like Hornby—was an exotic presence, now the entire culture of the game is awash with the instincts of the bien pensants. Whatever demotic power football had in the 1970s and 80s has completely dissipated. Like Glastonbury Festival or the Labour Party, Premier League football has mostly decoupled from the affiliations, tastes, and preferences of the everyman. …”
Football Paradise

Are Manchester City stronger or weaker this season?

“You might look at Manchester City, the treble winners sitting top of the table with the only 100 per cent record as they try to win their fourth Premier League title in a row, and think, ‘What could possibly stop them?’ Maybe the answer is: Manchester City. That’s because there are plenty of City fans who worry that the squad is weaker after the comings and goings of the transfer window. …”
The Athletic

The Business of Football: Rubiales under fire, Haaland celebrations, Saudi sceptics

“The last thing UEFA wanted to talk about at the annual launch of its club competitions this week was the only thing everyone else has been talking about. So, you could argue it was a case of mission accomplished for European football’s governing body in Monaco, as nobody — not with a microphone, anyway — said ‘Luis Rubiales’. But it would equally be true to say that the fate of the Spanish FA chief was the first topic of every conversation. …”
The Athletic

Arsenal 3 Manchester United 1: Rice delivers, VAR controversy, Hojlund’s lively cameo

“Arsenal’s meetings with Manchester United always tend to deliver drama and this latest instalment in one of the Premier League’s longest-running rivalries did not disappoint. Some fine goals, a late controversy involving the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) and Declan Rice’s stoppage-time winner… it all added up to another memorable encounter. …”
The Athletic

The last minute drama of Harry Kane’s transfer

“Harry Kane became the most expensive player in Bayern Munich’s history, when he moved from Tottenham Hotspur in the summer of 2023. Although the move wasn’t a great surprise by the time it was finally completed it had survived meddling executives, prankster journalists and a dramatic late crisis. Charlie Eccleshare explains, Craig Silcock illustrates.”
YouTube

Judge Vacates Convictions in Bribery Case Over Soccer Broadcast Deals

Federal prosecutors had said that the Argentine sport marketing firm Full Play Group paid bribes for the rights to multiple World Cup qualifiers, exhibition matches and tournaments. A judge acquitted the firm on Friday.
“Less than six months after a federal jury convicted a former Fox employee and an Argentine sports marketing company of participating in a scheme to pay bribes in exchange for lucrative soccer broadcasting contracts, a judge in Brooklyn vacated the convictions on Friday. In a 55-page ruling, the judge, Pamela K. Chen, concluded that the federal wire fraud statute under which the defendants had been convicted did not apply to their actions. …”
NY Times

European roundup: Barcelona edge past Osasuna, PSG thrash rock-bottom Lyon

Robert Lewandowski (centre right) celebrates with Ferran Torres after his match-winning penalty.
“Robert Lewandowski’s late penalty earned Barcelona a hard-fought 2-1 La Liga win at Osasuna on Sunday evening. Lewandowski converted from the spot in the 85th minute after Alejandro Catena grabbed the Poland forward’s right arm inside the penalty area. The defender was shown a red card for the last man-foul, before Lewandowski scored with a tidy finish to the goalkeeper’s left. …”
Guardian

Champions League 2023-24: Ten players to keep an eye on in the group stage

“For those longing to hear the melody of the Champions League anthem again, fear not. European football’s top club competition is back for one last season in its current guise. The group-stage draw was made on Thursday and there are some mouthwatering games in store when it all kicks off in just over two weeks. …”
The Athletic

Luton’s Kenilworth Road… A Premier League stadium like no other

“A 20-minute walk west from Luton train station takes you to one of the most peculiar stadiums in England. As you approach the four streets Kenilworth Road occupies, in what seems to be a quiet, residential area, it is remarkable that you find a football stand located in between a row of terraced houses. The location is unlike any other and feels like a secluded area that is separated from the rest of Luton. …”
The Athletic

Ryan Gravenberch Could Be the Perfect Player to Conclude Liverpool’s Midfield Rebuild

“Last summer, reports suggested that Liverpool wanted to sign Ryan Gravenberch from Ajax, along with several other big clubs. Ultimately, the young Dutchman chose Bayern Munich, and Liverpool didn’t sign a midfielder until a panic loan deal for Arthur Melo on deadline day, which worked about as well as you would expect. …”
The Analyst

Ten years on from The Fellaini Window, United’s age of waste goes on

“Manchester United’s official Twitter account kicked off its feed on Monday morning with a quietly coy assessment of the week to come, described through a haze of robotic corporate optimism as “an intriguing seven days”. May you live in intriguing times. Although perhaps not, for the sake of everyone engaged in following this great creaking, wheezing ghost ship through the entropy of the late Glazer age, as intriguing as this. …”
Guardian

Qatar’s World Cup FIFA Bribe Documents Exposed

La’eeb, the mascot of the 2022 FIFA World Cup, at Al Bayt Stadium in Al Khor, Qatar…
“The moral and legal compromises FIFA and the Qatari government made to hold the 2022 World Cup in the Doha metropolitan area range from tolerating the host country’s ban on homosexuality to deadly abuses of migrant laborers at stadium construction sites. According to documents submitted to the record of a lawsuit in federal court late this afternoon, the road to the first Middle Eastern World Cup also began with a series of straightforward bribes. …”
Table

Girona: Fearless, free-flowing and La Liga’s unlikely entertainers

“The Europa League winners played host to a recently promoted side in La Liga this weekend. As expected, the clash of identities was clear. Sevilla’s swashbuckling style under Jose Luis Mendilibar has been a breath of fresh air: direct, uncomplicated and intense. But as they fell to a third-consecutive defeat to open the new campaign, flinging 50 crosses into the penalty area along the way, they were made to look like the flailing underdogs by the side that could well be coming for their top-seven spot. …”
The Athletic (Video)

Dortmund still looking limp, Harry Kane’s double and Alonso’s Leverkusen purring

“If you wanted some kind of positive take, it was probably this: by treating Saturday’s 1-1 draw with Bochum and a fourth point from two matches like a minor catastrophe, Borussia Dortmund proved that they are making up some ground on Bayern Munich, in terms of attitude and aspiration at least. BVB’s actual football, however, was once again so lacking in structure that talk of a meaningful title challenge feels ridiculous right now. …”
The Athletic

How Brighton are spending Chelsea’s money

“Chelsea have been Brighton’s biggest fans in recent years. With the London club gaining the services of Moises Caicedo, Robert Sanchez, Marc Cucurella and Graham Potter – they have paid the seaside club £225 million in the process. But with this massive amount of money invested – just how are Brighton using the cash? Written by Andy Naylor and illustrated by Marco Bevilacqua”
YouTube

Girona: Fearless, free-flowing and La Liga’s unlikely entertainers

“Lucas Chevalier is at the forefront of the next generation of French goalkeepers — a generation emerging at just the right time. Some context: 36-year-old Hugo Lloris, the former French national team captain, announced his international retirement after last year’s World Cup and is still expected to leave Tottenham Hotspur this summer. …”
The Athletic (Video)

Newcastle 1-2 Liverpool: Darwin’s double, Alexander-Arnold’s nightmare start, Gordon shines

“Newcastle and Liverpool served up a typically thrilling game at St James’ Park on Sunday afternoon, with Jurgen Klopp’s team — down to 10 men for much of the match — somehow turning defeat into victory and extending their unbeaten league run against Newcastle to 14 games. Here, our writers break down the key moments of the match as it unfolded. …”
The Athletic (Video)
The Athletic: Anthony Gordon was terrorising Liverpool – taking him off cost Eddie Howe dearly (Video)
Guardian: Núñez, Liverpool’s king of chaos, proves a fitting master of the mayhem – Jonathan Wilson
BBC – Newcastle 1-2 Liverpool: ‘Agent of chaos’ Darwin Nunez turns Reds saviour

The Evolution of the Ball-Playing Goalkeeper

“It may always look like the same sport to the naked eye, but football is constantly evolving. No, we don’t mean the shape of the ball, or the goal for that matter. Tactical trends come and go as coaches and managers seek the marginal gains that can transform a poor team into a good one, or a great team into the best. One of the most significant shifts this century has related to goalkeepers. Once, they were arguably seen as little more than the person who attempts to keep the ball out of the net and then hoofs it up the other end, as far away from danger as possible. …”
The Analyst

Burnley will pose a better barometer of Aston Villa’s rapid rise under Unai Emery – Jonathan Wilson

“… Brighton came sixth despite losing 5-1 at home to Everton. There may still be a stigma to a heavy loss, but it is perhaps not the indicator of fundamental flaws it once was. Still, it was intriguing to hear Sir Alex Ferguson say that Aston Villa had played “fantastic football” in their 5-1 defeat at Newcastle on the opening weekend of the season – even if there was immediate apparent vindication as they beat Everton 4-0 in their next game. …”
Guardian – Jonathan Wilson

Bundesliga 2023-24 Season Predictions

“We tasked the Opta supercomputer with simulating the 2023-24 Bundesliga season 10,000 times to see how it believed the campaign may pan out. Across those results, 11 of the 18 Bundesliga teams won the league title at least once – but it won’t surprise anyone to hear that record champions Bayern Munich won it in over half of those simulations. Mainz and Stuttgart fans can dream. Yes, you both won the Bundesliga once across our 10,000 pre-season simulations. …”
The Analyst

Lost talents rediscovered as Roma and Juventus kickstart Serie A season

Roma’s Andrea Belotti celebrates after scoring the first of two goals against Salernitana.
“… His team had not even played that badly, losing 2-0 away to an Inter team who ended last season in a Champions League final. The Nerazzurri were superior throughout, yet the result was not settled until Lautaro Martínez bagged his second goal in the 75th minute. If Monza had reacted more sharply to Yann Sommer wafting a cross into the middle of his area just after half-time, it could have been a different story. …”
Guardian

Monaco look revitalised under the smart management of Adi Hütter

“Monaco winning their first two matches of the season is not a total surprise. But their performances in the 4-2 victory against Clermont on the opening weekend and their 3-0 win against Strasbourg on Sunday suggest their reboot is coming together apace, especially given that other putative European contenders have stumbled out of the blocks. …”
Guardian

Italy: Serie A, 2023-24 season

“The map page has a location-map of 2023-24 Serie A, along with 3 charts. The location-map features each club’s home kit [2023-24]. The map also shows the 20 Regions of Italy. And the map also shows the 11 largest cities in Italy (2020 metropolitan-area figures) {Metropolitan cities of Italy}. The cities’ population figures can be seen at the top of the location-map. Also, the map shows the locations of both the 3 promoted clubs and the 3 relegated clubs from 2022…Promoted to Serie A for 2023-24: Cagliari, Frosinone, Genoa; relegated to Serie B for 2023-24: Spezia, Cremonese, Sampdoria. …”
billsportsmaps
W – 2023–24 Serie A

Mason Greenwood and Manchester United: The U-turn – what happened and why

“In February 2022, less than a month into Richard Arnold’s tenure as Manchester United chief executive, he addressed an all-staff meeting from the club’s Old Trafford stadium. The executive showed a video celebrating United’s on-pitch goals and success from years gone by before urging staff to stand on the ‘shoulders of the giants of this club and continue their legacy’. …”
The Athletic
Guardian: Manchester United’s lack of moral leadership on Greenwood is depressing

Christian Pulisic begins life in Serie A with a goal and a renewed sense of purpose

“As AC Milan’s bus wound through Bologna, passing the porticos and red and orange buildings, the colour of the fat and tomato of the ragu that make this city world famous, Christian Pulisic prepared for his upcoming debut in Serie A. When the Stadio Renato Dall’Ara’s iconic brick tower came into view, the American could have been forgiven for thinking it was one of the fortresses that make the region of Emilia Romagna feel like one of those far off lands in Game of Thrones. …”
The Athletic

Behind the scenes of the Saudi Pro League: What really awaits stars like Neymar

“Outside a stadium in Riyadh stands Abdullah in a white thob, his team’s flag in his hands, a grin on his face. ‘We will be one day like England,’ he says. ‘We will have the big stars.’ He is talking about the latest news from the rampant Saudi Pro League: Neymar, who still holds the record as the most expensive footballer ever, has signed for Al Hilal from Paris Saint-Germain. Regardless of which team they support, Saudis are revelling in the kingdom’s new role in global football. …”
The Athletic

Barcelona fume at ‘disgrace’ after 116 minutes of pure Bordalásball

Fans attempt to get their shots of Xavi.
“It’s back: La Liga, home of the beautiful game. Land of Iago Aspas, Pedri and Antoine Griezmann, of Jude Bellingham too. Of Isinho, Iker Muniain, Gerard Moreno, and Darderismo. Of Papu Gómez, the man who says ‘a dribble opens a new world’ and follows the referee, because there’s no one better positioned, see? Of Youssef En-Nesyri’s leap, the outside of Luka Modric’s boot and Isco’s dancing feet. Feel the quality, the intelligence, the touch, the technique, the fantasy, the … Oh. That. Yep, that’s back too. Bigger than ever before. One hundred and sixteen minutes of pure Bordalásball. …”
Guardian
The Athletic

Time-wasting in football is ugly, maddening – and absolutely vital

“It was a bright, clammy afternoon in August, and the clocks were striking one hundred and thirteen. Midway through the second half at Stamford Bridge on Sunday, with the score 1-1, Chelsea engaged in a spell of concerted forward thrust, and with Liverpool adjusting to a double substitution, Trent Alexander-Arnold pressed the damper pedal for a moment. …”
Guardian

How Inter Miami Signed Lionel Messi

“In September 2019, Inter Miami owners Jorge Mas and David Beckham met with Lionel Messi’s father in Barcelona. This was before Messi’s move to PSG. The seed was sewn. Four years later the relationship between Miami and Messi had flourished. This is the story of massive global commercial deals, future security and how Messi plans to change the MLS for good. Written by Paul Tenorio, illustrated by Craig Silcock.”
YouTube

A Premier League Love Story Has Heartbreak Ahead

Luton Town’s home, Kenilworth Road, is not your usual Premier League stadium.
“Within a few days of Luton Town’s promotion to the Premier League in May, the construction crews were moving in and the scaffolding was going up at its stadium, Kenilworth Road. The club’s first home game in English soccer’s top flight since its money-spinning, supercharged rebrand into the richest, most popular league in the world was not quite three months away. There was an alarming amount of work to do, and not nearly enough time to do it. …”
NY Times

Will Spursiness stop Harry Kane winning at Bayern Munich?

“There is a profound force that has shaped German soccer for decades. Even before economic factors elevated Bayern to a position of unhealthy dominance over German soccer, they had ‘Bayern-dusel’ – Bayern-luck. Again and again things would go their way just when they needed them to, a sense that manifested most obviously in the number of last-minute winners they always seemed to score. …”
Guardian – Jonathan Wilson

David Silva – The Sorcerer in Plain Clothes

“On a December evening in 2010, Andy Gray was in a studio, possibly somewhere in London, discussing Manchester City’s recent defeat against Everton at home. It was brought to Gray’s notice that Lionel Messi had, as was usual then, turned on the magic for Barcelona. His response is now part of football folklore. It is a genius statement – irreverent, filled with equal amounts of comic intent and pure English hubris. …”
Football Paradise

The Premier League Bad Predictions Amnesty 2023-24

“The Premier League is back tonight, promising thrills, spills and all manner of footballing chaos. Our team of writers at The Athletic have gone to great effort to make some sensible predictions and season previews for 2023-24. But for those who want their football forecasts to talk about xVibes more than xGOT, this week has brought a return of our Bad Prediction Amnesty. …”
The Athletic (Video)

Premier League hope-o-meter 2023-24: How every club’s fans are feeling

“If you think you’re excited about the start of the new Premier League season, you should speak to an Aston Villa fan. They’re about ready to pop. All of them. Well, almost all of them. In a survey conducted by The Athletic this week (before the developments on Thursday and Friday which brought the transfers of Moises Caicedo and Harry Kane closer to being completed), we asked how supporters of each of the 20 teams are feeling about the new season. Ninety-nine per cent of Villa respondents said ‘optimistic’, making them the most positive bunch in the division. …”
The Athletic (Video)

American Revolution: will the power of US money change soccer forever?

“From the curtains of rain at his unveiling to the flawless top-corner winner in the final minute of his debut off the bench and the video-game soccer on display in his first start in flamingo pink, Lionel Messi’s beginnings in Miami have seemed providential, almost biblical. Messi is not, of course, the first aging superstar to put himself out to pasture on the gentle greens of US soccer. Pelé set the precedent, and many will follow once Messi has gone. But to choose America now? In this economy? With Saudi Arabia’s gushing riches within reach, and the lure of nostalgia calling him back to Barcelona? Surely that says a lot. …”
Guardian

Klopp’s ‘LFC reloaded’ need return of sharp pressing of opposition and of manager – Jonathan Wilson

“On the opening weekend last season, Liverpool went to Fulham and, after twice falling behind, drew 2-2. Coming a week after the Community Shield win over Manchester City, the positive impression of Darwin Núñez seemed to be confirmed but the broader feeling was of doubt. Liverpool just didn’t look at it. They didn’t overwhelm Fulham physically as they had so many teams previously. Fabinho looked off the pace. …”
Guardian

2022–23 Ligue 1

Le Havre
“The 2022–23 Ligue 1, also known as Ligue 1 Uber Eats for sponsorship reasons, was the 85th season of the Ligue 1, France’s premier football competition. It began on 5 August 2022 and concluded on 3 June 2023. As the 2022 FIFA World Cup began on 20 November, the last round before the break was held on 12–13 November. The league subsequently resumed on 27 December. … Paris Saint-Germain were the defending champions, and they won a record-breaking eleventh title with one match to spare, following a 1–1 draw against Strasbourg on 27 May. …”
W – Ligue 1