“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)
Liverpool’s 2019-level pressing intensity might well be back
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“There were two key questions around 
“When 
“You imagine when Channel 4 secured the UK broadcast rights for Nations League football, they had high hopes for its showpiece. The 2023 edition came to a climax last Sunday with the final in Rotterdam, 120 minutes of Spain and 
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“It ends, like it almost always does, in the familiarity of defeat. What else would you really expect when, in the only occupied stand, there is a group of fans named Brigata Mai 1 Gioia? Translation: the ‘Never One Joy Brigade’. When you are a supporter of San Marino, officially the worst international team in the world, it can be useful to have a sense of humour. …”
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“Kylian Mbappé has outgrown Ligue 1. It’s been evident for a few years now, to be honest. So, it wasn’t all that surprising to hear the news that he isn’t planning on extending his Paris Saint-Germain contract beyond 2024. … The 24-year-old has already achieved more than most will in their whole career. After helping Monaco to the Ligue 1 title in his first full season as a professional in 2016-17, he moved to PSG, where he has won the league in five of his six seasons, only failing to do so in 2020-21. …”
“Footballers don’t tend to indulge in comparisons, but it’s hard not to reminisce when Martin Zubimendi has the ball. His position holds a special place in the history of Spanish football, his subtle technique evocative of the best. Quietly composing each and every move, floating across the pitch, speeding things up and slowing them down, he’s the calm, collected controller of the quintessential Spanish midfield. At 24 years old, his emergence feels timely. Sergio Busquets has bowed out at Barcelona, while Rodri has reached the pinnacle with Pep Guardiola by his side. …”
“It was 5.30am and the sun was already rising by the time the last of 
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“Nike gloves. Vapors. Socks pulled above the knee. It’s a look ingrained in millennial culture by Thierry Henry, circa 2003-04, whose on-pitch style personified ‘va va voom.’ You knew you were in trouble if you were faced with an opponent sporting this triple threat. Until then, football socks were very much rolled once at the knee, but Henry’s stylistic tweak gave license for players at all levels of the game to pull them as high as possible. …”
“Chances are you’ve watched a football match or two in your life. Sophisticated and stunningly handsome subscriber to The Athletic that you are, you’re probably pretty good at it. There’s no wrong way for anyone to enjoy the sport. But when it comes to understanding what you’re looking at, it turns out that trying to follow 22 people all doing a hundred different things to influence which way a ball bounces around the pitch is really hard. Coaches and players (and, in our own dumb way, even journalists) spend whole lifetimes learning to watch games better. Maybe you want to, too. …”
“At the start of Pep Guardiola’s managerial career, he seemed intent on creating the type of team that would have suited him as a player. A slender, technical midfielder who lacked physicality but could spread play calmly, Guardiola’s playing career ended prematurely because football no longer suited his type of player; defensive midfielders at the turn of the century were supposed to be about power and ball-winning ability. …”
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“Things could go spectacularly well for 
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“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. …”
“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 
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