Liverpool have run out of steam. But Klopp’s legacy is already cemented


“And so there will be no glorious farewell for Jürgen Klopp. Saturday’s 2-2 draw with West Ham, coupled with victories for Manchester City and Arsenal, means any realistic hope of a second Premier League title is effectively over. Klopp is exhausted, his team is exhausted and the manic emotional energy that gripped the side during the League Cup final and immediately after has dissipated.  …”
Guardian – Jonathan Wilson
The Athletic – Liverpool squad audit: Who could be the winners and losers under Slot?

How Inter Milan Returned to the Top of Italian Football Under Simone Inzaghi

“In the summer of 1999, Simone Inzaghi left boyhood club Piacenza and joined Lazio, where he would enjoy a fruitful first season by winning the Coppa Italia as well as their first Scudetto in 26 years (and their last to date). He would spend the following decade at the Biancocelesti before hanging up his boots, quickly transitioning into coaching with Lazio’s youth sides and eventually taking the reins as Lazio manager following Stefano Pioli’s sacking. Inzaghi’s interim spell in charge would last just a couple of months, but after his replacement Marcelo Bielsa walked away after less than a week at the helm, the Italian became the club’s permanent manager. Over the next five years, Inzaghi would lead Lazio to two trips to the Coppa Italia Final, winning the 2018/19 edition and coming away with the Supercoppa Italiana on two occasions. …”
Breaking the Lines
W – Simone Inzaghi

How Football Made the Working Class


8th April 1950: Boys playing football in a residential street in London.
“… In A People’s History of Football, French climate journalist and Le Monde diplomatique correspondent Mickaël Correia argues that things have not always been this way — or at least not to such a grotesquely indefensible extent. The world’s most popular sport has an alternative, ‘antiestablishment’ history, which Correia seeks to uncover and defend. Though he dwells on the ‘subversive aspect’ of football, Correia is hardly a romantic. ‘Globalized football,’ he reminds us in the very opening of the book, ‘has become . . . the very embodiment of unbridled capitalism’s worst excesses.’ …”
Jacobin
amazon: A People’s History of Soccer

The French clubs being bought – and distorted – by Premier League teams


“The message from the Tribune Ouest, home of the self-styled Ultra Boys 90, is loud and clear. Half an hour into Racing Strasbourg’s home game against OGC Nice, a huge banner is unfurled: ‘Non a la multipropriete”’(‘No to multi-ownership’). One of the Ultra Boys, Strasbourg’s most vocal supporters, grabs a megaphone and issues an impassioned diatribe against multi-club ownership — his message reverberating all over the Stade de la Meinau as the match is going on. …”
The Athletic (Video)

The Demise of Dutch Football

“After another embarrassing failure from the national team, Dutch football has plummeted to a new low that marks a spectacular fall from its golden days of club and international glory. The 2-0 win over Sweden in their final qualifying game on Tuesday couldn’t prevent Netherlands missing out on the 2018 World Cup, but the country had given up hope long before then. After reaching the finals and semi-finals of the last two World Cups, Oranje find themselves the laughing stock of Europe and the latest slip leaves the country wondering once again where its national game is headed. …”
GOAL

Tottenham 2 Arsenal 3: Quick start key again? What is Havertz? How unlucky were Spurs?


“The title race remains on. Arsenal made sure of that at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. For Spurs, though, the race for a top-four spot looks less likely to be won after a chastening defeat to their north London rivals. This derby victory put Mikel Arteta’s side four points clear at the top of the Premier League before second-placed Manchester City’s match against Nottingham Forest. City’s victory means there is now one point between the top two, with City having a game in hand. …”
The Athletic
The Athletic: Nottingham Forest 0 Man City 2: Haaland’s impact? Champions League exit benefit? – The Briefing

Gernika Club, Picasso’s painting and Spain’s flawed reckoning with its traumatic past


“‘Franco burned Gernika… but Franco, for me, was Spain’s saviour from everything.’ Rafael Madariaga is talking about the bombing of the northern Spanish town of Gernika on April 26, 1937, during the country’s Civil War. Carried out by the air forces of Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini at the behest of Spain’s dictator, General Francisco Franco, it was one of the first aerial bombings of a civilian population — and it inspired one of the world’s most famous paintings: Pablo Picasso’s Guernica. …”
The Athletic
W – Gernika Club

How Arne Slot plays football – and can it work at Liverpool?


“Arne Slot is set to become the next man in charge at Anfield. On Friday night, Liverpool agreed a compensation package with Feyenoord that will allow the 45-year-old to become Jurgen Klopp’s successor following the conclusion of the current season. Slot’s pedigree has grown across European football in the past 18 months after he led Feyenoord to only their second Eredivisie title in 20 years last season, losing just two games in the process. …”
The Athletic

West Ham 2 Liverpool 2 – Quansah lesson? Soft goal problem? Diaz the trusted forward?

Liverpool were held to a 2-2 draw by West Ham United on Saturday afternoon. West Ham took the lead when Jarrod Bowen rose highest from a corner and headed past Alisson in the Liverpool net. Shortly after the break, though, Andrew Robertson curled the ball in to level the game. Liverpool went ahead in the 65th minute courtesy of a fortunate goal, which saw the ball ricochet off Alphonse Areola and into the back of the net. But Michail Antonio levelled the game for the hosts with 77 minutes on the clock. …”
The Athlete

How long do you give a ‘project manager’?


“When asked at which point a club gives up on a ‘project’, a mixture of current and former directors at Premier League clubs tend to arrive at the same answer. ‘When the fans say so,’ says one of them, who would like to remain nameless because he does not really want to admit publicly that, in the past, he has helped pull the trigger because of the pressure he and his colleagues were under. …”
The Athletic

Everton 2 Liverpool 0: Klopp’s first-ever Goodison defeat all but ends title dream – The Briefing


“Wednesday evening’s Merseyside derby was as intense as so many of its predecessors. As they have so often in recent weeks, Jurgen Klopp’s team began the game sloppily, handing Everton the advantage in a crucial game for both sides. VAR ruled out an early penalty for the home side for offside but one of the most slapdash goals of the entire Premier League season put Everton into the lead midway through the first half. Liverpool fought back, but their other constant current issue — wayward finishing — ensured Sean Dyche’s team led at half-time. …”
The Athletic (Video)

Slot, Amorim, Lopetegui; Liverpool, Bayern – which managers are going where?


“The transfer window for players will open when the season ends but the movement of managers has no deadline — anyone can switch roles at any point. Jurgen Klopp’s announcement in January that he would be leaving Liverpool at the end of this season after nine years at Anfield kicked off speculation over who would replace him. Soon after, Xavi said he would be stepping down as Barcelona head coach this summer before Bayern Munich joined the party in February by confirming they would be parting ways with Thomas Tuchel, leaving three of the biggest jobs in European football open for applications. However, Xavi has now reversed his decision and will stay on at Barca. A disappointing season for Manchester United, meanwhile, has also led to questions over Erik ten Hag’s future and a potential vacancy at Old Trafford. So who are the managers expected to be on the move in the coming months and who is staying put? …”
The Athletic

Martin Odegaard and Kai Havertz as a duo of No 10s is different… and devastating


“In modern football, you don’t really get classic strike partnerships any more. Few teams at the highest level play 4-4-2, or any other formation that features two out-and-out strikers. Today, attacking is about pushing multiple players into attack, surprising the opposition with a variety of threats. Arsenal are the best example of that. Eight sides in the Premier League this season have a single player on 15 or more goals. Arsenal are not among them, but Mikel Arteta’s team have still scored more goals than any other side. …”
The Athletic – Michael Cox

Inter’s Serie A win and second star is the realisation of a dream – and a nightmare for Milan


“Not this. Anything but this. It can’t happen. ‘It won’t,’ AC Milan’s captain Davide Calabria reassured the supporters. The thought of hosting a party for Inter Milan’s 20th scudetto sent shudders through the Milan fanbase. ‘They’ll win the league, but we’ll do everything to win the derby,”’coach Stefano Pioli said. It did not inspire confidence. Ever since Pioli got the scudetto tattooed on his wrist to celebrate winning it at Inter’s expense on the final day two years ago, Milan have lost every single derby. Five in a row for the first time in their history. Five, like the number of goals Inter put past them in September. It was the heaviest defeat Milan had suffered in this rivalry for almost half a century. By inflicting it, Inter sent a powerful message. …”
The Athletic (Video)

The way to sum up every Premier League team’s attacking style – how they get the ball into the box


“There are many facets of a football team’s tactical identity, but perhaps the most instructive element is also the most basic part of football strategy — how is a side trying to get the ball into a dangerous position to score a goal? Imagine a particular team’s attacking style and you’re often visualising how they get the ball into the box. But between which players are the crucial passes made? Here, we have depicted each Premier League club’s most common passing combination into the opposition penalty area. You might expect some kind of general pattern or uniform approach, but the striking thing is how many different styles there are. …”
The Athletic – Michael Cox

Many Premier League champions have ‘choked’ – the true test is can you recover in time


“Fred Done had been a bookmaker for more than three decades, with more than 100 betting shops across the north west of England, before he unwittingly stumbled upon a brilliant but expensive way to make more people aware of his brand. In March 1998 he announced he was paying out early on the Premier Leaguetitle race. Manchester United were 11 points clear of second-placed Blackburn Rovers and 12 points clear of third-placed Arsenal. Both of the chasers had games in hand — three in Arsenal’s case — but, as far as the bookie was concerned, it was all over. …”
The Athletic (Video)

The power of Barcelona’s La Masia youth academy – and why for years it was ignored


“The Catalan word ‘masia’ is usually translated as ‘farmhouse’ — and that’s not far wrong. A better catch-all description might be a rural dwelling particular to the east of Spain, including Catalonia. When Camp Nou was being constructed in the late 1950s, architects working on Barcelona’s new ground turned a traditional old cottage close by into a convenient working space. …”
The Athletic (Video)

Erling Haaland is not in crisis – but the Man City striker is human after all

Erling Haaland is not in crisis. Let’s not be silly here. He’s the odds-on favourite to win the domestic double and the Premier League Golden Boot for the second season in a row, a feat not even Thierry Henry managed to pull off. If Antonio Rudiger’s final shootout penalty for Real Madrid this week had hit the post one more inch to the left, Manchester Citymight still be favoured to make it back-to-back trebles. …”
The Athletic

Facing Arsenal: Managers, analysts and players tell us about ‘the toughest test’


“‘The first half was brutal. When we’re struggling, the staff can usually see a couple of solutions, even against the top teams, but they were so aggressive with their pressure that I remember being on the sideline finding it really difficult to think of one,’ a Premier League coach (Coach A) tells The Athletic. He is speaking about his experience of facing Arsenal this season and, like others in this article, doing so anonymously to protect his position. …”
The Athletic

Liverpool’s failure to keep clean sheets is proving deeply damaging


Liverpool’s defending was indefensible against Atalanta. Conceding three times left hopes of winning the Europa League dangling by the thinnest of threads and also brought to the forefront bigger problems that could derail their Premier League title challenge too. European comebacks are a Liverpool speciality, including incredible nights under Jurgen Klopp. Yet, if his side have a chance of turning around the 3-0 deficit, they will probably need to keep a clean sheet. After the 3-0 defeat to Barcelona in the 2019 Champions League semi-final first leg, Liverpool famously won the second leg 4-0 to go through. Despite being ridiculed after the game, the Spanish side’s tweet below was valid. …”
The Athletic
Guardian – ‘This must feel bad and it does’: Jürgen Klopp rues Liverpool’s mental fatigue

Liverpool’s threat from corners has increased and could help turn their season around


“As Kostas Tsimikas placed the ball on the edge of the corner arc, the Anfield crowd held their breath. With 88 minutes on the clock and the scores level against Ajax in their second Champions League group match, having lost the opener badly, Liverpool needed a winner from their 10th corner of the night. The delivery was excellent, as it was all game, and Joel Matip rose highest to head the ball home. Cue bedlam. To coin a Football Cliches classic, it had been coming. Jurgen Klopp’s side were a constant threat from corners and had already forced a number of saves from Remko Pasveer. …”
The Athletic

From Salt River to the sea


“As the fans streaming toward Athlone Stadium in Cape Town were greeted by vendors selling Palestinian flags, it became clear the match about to take place would be as noteworthy as it was unusual: the Palestinian Men’s National Team, fresh off their surprising success in the AFC Asian Cup (where they had reached the knock-out stages before losing to Qatar) were to play a ‘South Africa XI’ in front of a large crowd. Organized by an ad hoc group calling themselves Football 4 Humanity, the match was the second of two ‘solidarity matches’ held a week apart at Athlone Stadium in the middle of February as a show of support for the Palestinian people in the midst of the genocide in Gaza. …”
Africa Is a Country

PSG 2 Barcelona 3: The tactical to-and-fro, a glimpse of Barca’s future and Mbappe quelled


“It turns out the thrills and spills of this week’s Champions League quarter-final first legs were not reserved for the Bernabeu or Emirates stadium. Paris Saint-Germain and Barcelona played out another mesmerising tie at Parc des Princes with the visitors, inspired by Raphinha’s first goals in the competition, recovering their poise magnificently after a brutal opening to the second half to claim a lead to take back to Catalonia. …”
The Athletic

Should Bayern Munich have had a penalty for Arsenal’s Gabriel picking up the ball?

“As the final whistle blew on an action-packed 2-2 draw at the Emirates Stadium last night, many of us reached for our smartphones to check social media. … The decision not to award a penalty left Rio Ferdinand, a pundit for TNT Sports, the British broadcaster of the Champions League, in ‘disbelief’. However, Arsenal legend Ian Wright later argued on X that he agreed with Nyberg’s decision, sparking a debate. …”
The Athletic

Manchester United 2 Liverpool 2: More Mainoo, more chaos, Klopp’s side made to pay


“Three weeks on from their seven-goal FA Cup classic, Liverpool and Manchester United met again — and again, we were entertained. Though this contest resulted in only four goals, Liverpool could have had significantly more in the first half alone, missing several chances while United failed to take any sort of attempt at Caoimhin Kelleher’s goal. …”
The Athletic
Guardian: Ongoing sense of shambles at Manchester United is unsustainable – Jonathan Wilson
The Athletic – Virgil van Dijk criticises ‘wasteful’ Liverpool: ‘It’s our fault again’

How Arsenal’s wide overloads cut Brighton to ribbons


“Chance after chance, Arsenal’s varied attack stormed Brighton & Hove Albion’s defence. ‘The understanding between the attacking players today was superb,’ said Arsenal’s manager Mikel Arteta after an impressive 3-0 victory away to Roberto De Zerbi’s side. ‘They had real purpose and connection, and a lot of clarity where to attack.’ Purpose, connection and clarity are three words that can easily be linked to Arsenal’s chance-creation from set pieces, their knack for playing the ball behind Brighton’s defence, attacking on the transition, or through wide passing combinations in the final third. …”
The Athletic

Roma now come to play as well as fight – a team in the image of Daniele De Rossi

“When Lorenzo Pellegrini first wrapped the captain’s armband around his bicep, he presumably did not expect one of his leadership duties to include lending a team-mate a pair of shorts so he could keep his dignity in a post-match interview. Roma’s match-winner in Saturday’s Derby della Capitale, Gianluca Mancini, had ecstatically tossed his pantaloncini into the Olimpico’s Curva Sud stand as a memento for some (un)lucky ultra. …”
The Athletic

Football’s elite are tightening up – and Arsenal lead the pack


“Tho said football was supposed to be fun? Sunday’s meeting between Manchester City and Arsenal was billed as an epic showdown between sorcerer and apprentice that might decide the league title. It produced a total of three shots on target – which is to say as many as Brentford had against Manchester United between the 53rd and 55th minutes. Admire the tactical machinations if you like, the levels of concentration and the planning that went into it, the obviously refined level of the lack of action, but this was shit on a stick for the TikTok generation. ….”
Guardian – Jonathan Wilson

Will modern man Motta do an Alonso and stick with Bologna over Juventus?


Thiago Motta’s tactical innovations have transformed his players’ careers and taken Bologna to the heady heights of fourth in Serie A.
“The calendar showed 1 April, but there was nothing fishy about a league table that showed Bologna in fourth place. Thiago Motta’s side have held that spot for more than a month, even if it was striking to see after Monday’s 3-0 win over Salernitana that they had closed to within two points of Juventus in third. The gap was 20 at the start of February. April Fools’s Day in Italy is known as Pesce d’Aprile – April Fish. The tradition is for children to stick paper pesci on people’s backs and see how long they go unnoticed, but journalists have been known to mark the occasion with made-up stories, as happens in other countries. Bologna supporters must hope the headlines now linking their manager to Juventus turn out to be fake news. …”
Guardian

Why Fenerbahce voted on whether to leave the Turkish Super Lig


“Thousands of Fenerbahce fans arrived at their Sukru Saracoglu Stadium, on the Asian side of Istanbul, on Tuesday afternoon and took their seats in the stands. Music pumped out of the speakers. The crowd sang. Banners were displayed. None of this is unusual, except for the fact that they weren’t there for a game. Instead, the assembled fans were in attendance for something more remarkable than a standard fixture. This was an extraordinary general assembly of the club’s members who had gathered to hold a vote, the outcome of which could have resulted in them withdrawing from the Turkish Super Lig. …”
The Athletic (Video)

Why Mac Allister and Bradley are integral to Liverpool’s reimagined right-sided triangle


Liverpool’s right-sided triangle was synonymous with their 2019-20 Premier League title win. Mohamed Salah coming inside from the wing, Trent Alexander-Arnold pushing on from full-back and Jordan Henderson rotating wide to cover — Liverpool won 21 of the 22 league games the trio started together. Among the 21 was a 2-1 defeat of visitors Brighton & Hove Albion in November 2019. But since then, Brighton have been a bogey team for Jurgen Klopp’s side — with three Brighton wins and four draws in the nine matches before the two sides met at Anfield again on Sunday. …”
The Athletic
The Athletic: Immense Mac Allister is providing the calm and control that Liverpool need right now

Kounde was one of Barcelona’s worst performers this season – but now he’s turning it around


Jules Kounde left the pitch looking relieved. The defender had played well – again. Things seem to be returning to normal for Barcelona — who beat Las Palmas 1-0 at home on Saturday in their first La Liga game since the international break — and for him. It has not been an easy season for the Frenchman but his performances are returning to the level that he and the club know he is capable of. …”
The Athletic

Manchester City 0 Arsenal 0: Defences on top as title rivals cancel each other out – The Briefing


Manchester City versus Arsenal was one of the most anticipated games of the Premier League season but its sheer importance in the title race — and how equally matched the two sides are — resulted in a cautious and goalless first half. The energy and aggression were dialled up after the break but chances remained at a premium. After we witnessed 99 touches in the penalty area in Brentford’s game with Manchester United yesterday, this was a very different sort of game. Technical, tactical, tense. …”
The Athletic

Appointing a Liverpool manager: A guide to the dos and don’ts

“To understand how Liverpool are going about hiring their next manager, it’s worth reviewing how they appointed the current one almost nine years ago.  Ian Ayre, who was the club’s chief executive, made first contact with targets. Two of those conversations produced interviews, the first with Carlo Ancelotti and the second with Jurgen Klopp. Both men flew to the United States, where Liverpool’s owners Fenway Sports Group (FSG) are based, following dialogue instigated by Ayre.  …”
The Athletic

The Premier League, where scoring first doesn’t matter anymore


“It takes commitment to support Norwich City. There’s the flitting between the Premier League and the Championship. There’s your arch-rivals becoming very good at football. There’s competing in a financial world that feels increasingly distant from Carrow Road. And speaking of distance — the travel distances from East Anglia make every away day an odyssey. …”
The Athletic

The affective politics of AFCON


“The dust is settling on the training pitches and stadiums of the 2023 edition of the African Cup of Nations (AFCON), as Morocco gears up to host the next tournament in 2025. To be sure, it was a spectacular AFCON. Not only did the host nation’s team make quite the comeback—deemed by some to be a resurrection—but the performance of other teams as well, which sent some of the most revered giants of African football home earlier than expected, was nothing short of astounding. This AFCON absolutely delivered on plot twists. It also delivered on fun and banter or, to put it more succinctly in Nouchi, an Abidjan urban vernacular, on enjaillement. …”
Africa Is a Country

Ten Hag’s job is not safe, but Liverpool win will resonate for decades


“And in the next round, Mark Robins. Football has found itself assailed in recent years by states, oligarchs and private equity, the concentration of resources at a handful of clubs in a tiny number of western European countries destroying the balance that once sustained it, the potential of its soft power meaning that it has been preyed upon by regimes desperate to launder their image and secure influence. But, despite all that, the sport has retained its mischievous sense of humour. …”
Guardian – Jonathan Wilson
The Athletic: Angry Klopp, a ‘dumb’ question and when managers lose their cool (Video)

Ex-La Liga ref Iturralde: ‘Nobody in football really wants justice, they all want benefits’


“Iturralde was a referee for 31 years, working in La Liga from 1995 until his retirement in 2012. Now a regular on Carrusel Deportivo, Spain’s most popular football radio show, he is an outspoken defender of his former colleagues. Match officials here have a challenging role at present, with faith in Spanish refereeing arguably at an all-time low. …”
The Athletic

Nottingham Forest’s points deduction explained and what it means for Everton and Man City


“For the second time this Premier League season, a points deduction for breaching its profit and sustainability rules (PSR) has dragged a club down the table and into the relegation zone. First it was Everton, whose initial 10-point penalty last November was recently reduced to six on appeal, and now it is Nottingham Forest. A four-point deduction, confirmed by the Premier League on Monday has pushed Nuno Espirito Santo’s side from 17th to 18th, suddenly a point adrift of safety. Here, The Athletic analyses the 51-page verdict of an independent commission that has heightened Forest’s fears of relegation to the Championship after two seasons back in the domestic elite. …”
The Athletic

Cheick Tiote’s magic to ‘Crystanbul’ – our writers’ favourite comebacks


“As surprise results go, Bournemouth beating Luton Town at home would not usually register, but Andoni Iraola’s side became just the fifth side in Premier League history to come back from being 3-0 down at half-time to win, securing a 4-3 victory. The match was not broadcast live in the UK, but the result will live long in the memory of those who witnessed it at the Vitality Stadium. With that in mind, we asked our writers to pick their favourite comebacks they have seen live. It features EFL play-offs, Champions League and World Cup games and plenty from the Premier League. You can comment below, adding your favourites and debating where Bournemouth’s comeback ranks among the best ever… …”
The Athletic (Video)

Champions League quarter-final draw: Predictions, tactics and players to watch


The Champions League quarter-final draw is complete — and there is no shortage of intrigue. From the winners of the last two seasons (Manchester City and Real Madrid) being paired against each other to Harry Kane returning to north London to face Arsenal, or one-half of the draw opening up for one of the less-fancied teams in the last eight (something unlikely to ever happen again given the format changes from next season), the sub-plots are fascinating. The Athletic assembled an expert panel to cast their eyes over the four ties to explain where they will be decided, who they are tipping to go through and which team they are expecting to lift the trophy at Wembley on June 1. …”
The Athletic (Video)

Union takes criminal action against club for first time as footballers fight ‘widespread’ abuse of rights

“A players’ union has launched criminal action against a football club for the first time in an attempt to stop what it calls the ‘widespread’ behaviour of alleged bullying and intimidation of players. The Slovenian players’ union (SPINS) has filed a criminal complaint against national champions Olimpija Ljubljana, who won the Slovenian domestic double in 2022-23 and stand accused of alleged ‘bullying, harassment and humiliation”’of four players. SPINS has filed criminal charges against the club and its management, accusing them of leaving the players out of training sessions or camps in an attempt to get them to leave or sometimes to sign new contracts. Olimpija has yet to respond to the complaint. …”
The Athletic

Liverpool vs Manchester City: This is what a Premier League classic looks like


“Jurgen Klopp summed it up perfectly: ‘What a game, what an atmosphere, what an afternoon.’ Even his wife enjoyed it. ‘She was completely buzzing,’ the Liverpool manager said — and just about everyone inside Anfield must have felt the same. It ended with the points shared: Liverpool 1-1 Manchester City. In that respect, perhaps the biggest beneficiaries were Arsenal, who remain top of the Premier League with 10 games left, ahead of Liverpool on goal difference. But it was one of those afternoons when it feels legitimate rather than trite to suggest football was the winner — another epic battle between these two teams who, in terms of speed and imagination, can give you the feeling you are watching 4D chess. …”
The Athletic (Video)
The Athletic: How Guardiola’s double substitution helped save Manchester City against Liverpool
The Athletic: Breaking down four minutes of chaos that could change course of Premier League title (Video)
The Athletic: Liverpool’s ‘exceptional’ display against Man City should fuel belief this team can go the distance (Video)

Arsenal’s rest defence: The most underrated weapon in the title race


“Attack wins you games, defence wins you titles,’ is the famous quote from former Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson. This season, that mantra might need revising to ‘Attack wins you games, rest defence wins you titles’ because of Arsenal. Rest defence is a term referring to the principles, positioning and structuring of defenders while their team are attacking. It originates from German and Dutch phrases which translate literally as ‘remaining defence’, and is all about how sides prepare, around and away from the ball, to counter-press. …”
The Athletic (Video)

The Premier League Title Race Hasn’t Been This Thrilling in Years


“… And, of course, there’s the three-way ongoing slugfest in the English Premier League. Ahead of Man City and Liverpool’s consequential matchup on Sunday, the Reds are top of the table with 63 points, while City, the reigning champions, are on 62 points and third-place Arsenal have 61 points—each with 11 games left to determine who will lift the Premier League trophy in May. …”
The Ringer

Euro 2024 state of play: How the eight favourites are shaping up with 100 days to go


“Do England have enough cover at centre-back to be contenders? Will Kylian Mbappe’s reduced minutes at Paris Saint-Germain as his summer exit looms have an impact on France? What about the Euro 2024 hosts — can Julian Nagelsmann settle on a system and starting XI with only 100 days to go until Germany kick things off against Scotland in Munich on June 14? And, most importantly, will Italy’s players be allowed to play Call of Duty between their games? Our experts look at how the eight favourites are shaping up ahead of this summer’s tournament…”
The Athletic

Derby days, Prague: Sparta vs Slavia


“The Athletic is attending some of the most ferocious derbies across Europe, charting the history of the continent’s most deep-rooted and volatile rivalries. The series began last season, covering 10 combustible fixtures from Athens to Anfield. We attended De Klassieker and the Derby della Capitale, the Eternal Derby and the Old Firm. We resumed our journey with trips to CopenhagenSalzburgLisbon and Belfast this season. We were in Ipswich and Zagreb in December, then in Sunderland for Newcastle’s visitand at West Bromwich Albion versus Wolverhampton Wanderers, both in the FA Cup. Now to the Czech Republic and the fixture that divides Prague… “
The Athletic

Inside Liverpool’s commercial strategy: Blue-chip deals, U.S. focus and closing Man City gap


“The battle off the field in the Premier League is as keenly contested as the one on it. Liverpool’s recently published accounts for the 2022-23 season showed that commercial income had risen by £25million to £272m ($345.5m at the current exchange rate) – moving above broadcast and other media revenue to become the club’s biggest source of cash. That figure has almost doubled in the space of five years but they are still playing catch-up on two of their domestic rivals. Manchester City lead the way with annual commercial revenue of £341million, followed by Manchester United on £303m. …”
The Athletic

Goal kicks: How does each Premier League club take them?


“An outfield player taking a goal kick used to be a rare treat, a sign that the goalkeeper had pulled a muscle and needed a willing team-mate to launch the ball towards the centre circle. But since a tweak of football’s laws in 2019, the once-humble goal kick has become an increasingly integral part of how a club chooses to build up play. Some teams choose to have a defender pass the ball laterally to the goalkeeper, some ask the goalkeeper to play short to team-mates in the box, while some still prefer to go long and direct. …”
The Athletic

Matteo Guendouzi: ‘When I was losing a game, I was always screaming – this is my mentality’


“Matteo Guendouzi is only 24 but, playing for his fifth club in a fourth country, he already feels like he’s grown up. The Frenchman, who came to prominence at Arsenal under Unai Emery, says the mistakes he made during his time in north London had turned him into a better man and footballer. Guendouzi has been a key player for Maurizio Sarri’s Lazio this season while on loan from Marseille and is now looking ahead to his side’s Champions Leaguelast-16 second leg away at Bayern Munich. Lazio travel to the German champions holding a 1-0 advantage. …”
The Athletic

How a Small-Time Soccer Team Draws a Crowd: With Its Activism


“In the back room of the threadbare offices of the Irish soccer team Bohemians, the printer clunks and chugs and whirs incessantly, spitting out a cascade of shipping labels. Some of the addresses bear the names of nearby Dublin streets. Others are from farther afield: across Ireland, across the Irish Sea, across the Atlantic. Each label will be affixed to a package containing a Bohemians jersey. And these days, the club sells a lot of jerseys. The appeal is not rooted in any of the traditional drivers of soccer’s merchandise market: success, glamour, a beloved star player. Daniel Lambert, the club’s chief operating officer, loves both Bohemians and the League of Ireland, the competition in which it plays, but he is under no illusions about the reality of either. ‘We’re a small team in a poor league,’ he said. Instead, fans are drawn to Bohemians by the jerseys themselves; or, rather, what the jerseys say, both about the team and the customer. …”
NY Times

Nottingham Forest 0 Liverpool 1: Was this the kind of win champions deliver? – The Briefing


“Somehow, Liverpool keep finding a way. An afternoon which looked certain to finish in frustration ended in frantic, joyous celebrations as Darwin Nunez’s header in the last minute of stoppage time secured a 1-0 win at Nottingham Forest. It extends Liverpool’s lead at the top of the table to four points ahead of Manchester City’s game against Manchester United tomorrow and Arsenal’s at Sheffield United on Monday. We dissect the main talking points of another remarkable day. …”
The Athletic
The Athletic – Explained: Liverpool’s winner, a drop ball, angry Marinakis and a vocal Clattenburg cameo

Napoli suffer as Claudio Ranieri’s Cagliari strike again in ‘zona Cesarini’


“In Italy, the final moments of a football game are known as the zona Cesarini: a reference to Renato Cesarini, the former Juventus midfielder who cemented his reputation for late goals with a 90th-minute winner for the national team against Hungary in 1931. The term has long since passed into general use, describing anything from political deals brokered right before a vote to homework assignments handed in on deadline. Perhaps it is time for an update. …”
Guardian

The new-manager bounce is alive and well in Ligue 1


“Ligue 1 has been no stranger to managerial changes this season. Marseille and Lyon alone have churned through six permanent appointments between them. Sacking and replacing managers is often the work of rash or poorly organised clubs, but could this be a campaign in which those changes bear fruit? This weekend saw positive results for all four of the sides who have changed managers this season. …”
Guardian

Cádiz break their long drought to secure a point that means everything


Cádiz had tried everything. They had changed the coach, changed the players and even changed their shirt. They had tried free transfers and free tickets too. They had hosted Valencia, Athletic, Real Sociedad and Betis, been to Pamplona, Villarreal, Vitoria and Granada, and it didn’t do any good. They had been through all the centre-forwards they have, and that’s a lot, but it wasn’t happening. They hadn’t scored in five matches, soon to be six; they had got just one in eight, and that was a penalty in a pasting. They hadn’t won in 21 league games, nearly six months. They were done. And then someone had a bright idea. Have you tried just hitting it? …”
Guardian

Erik ten Hag is imagining bad faith from Jamie Carragher. Perhaps he senses the ground shaking


“As Erik ten Hag addressed reporters in a media suite at the club’s Carrington training ground, he opted for the oldest trick in the book of any Manchester United manager: go after a man from Liverpool. Sir Alex Ferguson was never shy in reminding the BBC how many former Liverpool pundits the national broadcaster had on its books. In 2012, Ferguson accused the ex-Liverpool defender Alan Hansen of criticising United publicly as a favour to his friend and then Liverpool boss Kenny Dalglish in a bid to rile United before a cup tie between the two clubs. …”
The Athletic

How Football Works: The triggers, traps and tempo of pressing


“Even the best defences don’t press high all the time. Sometimes they hardly do it at all. Like a veteran boxer backing against the ropes, a lot of the best pressing sides spend long stretches of the game crouched in a mid-block, tightening ranks in midfield while they wait for the right opening to come out swinging. Players watch for a ‘trigger’, their cue to burst forward and catch the team in possession off guard. They may plan to spring a ‘trap’, luring the ball toward some designated area where the defence will snap shut on it, but the most important principle in pressing tactics is an underappreciated third T: tempo. …”
The Athletic

The Bayern Munich contradiction: Vast, invulnerable, deeply troubled and fixable


“On Saturday night, at the end of a long week full of dark clouds, drizzle and reflection, Bayern Munich won for the first time in four games, beating RB Leipzig and ending their worst sequence since 2015. Bayern’s decision to announce that Thomas Tuchel will be leaving the club in the summer was intended to quieten the noise and liberate the players. But while the form has changed, the page is yet to turn. They won late at the Allianz Arena, with the second of two ruthlessly well-taken Harry Kane goals giving them a 2-1 win, but it was a bloodless game, full of inaccuracy and nerves, and played in front of an agitated crowd. …”
The Athletic

The first African diaspora


Cabo Verde vs Ethiopia, January 2022.
“Football, at times, can be an emotional catalyst, and is capable of uniting the hearts of an entire population. Particularly, if this population is made up of barely a half a million people distributed over seven habitable islands of an archipelago nation. The islands of Cabo Verde sit a little bit more than 500 miles off the coast of Senegal in West Africa. Their independence, conquered after years of armed struggle in the forests of Guinea [Bissau], came in 1975. The leader of this liberation movement, called the PAIGC (Partido Africano para a Independência da Guiné e Cabo Verde), was Amílcar Cabral, one of the most important names of African liberation. …”
Africa Is a Country

Introducing the 8.5, the hybrid role that is shaping the Premier League title race


“This season’s battle for the Premier League title is now unquestionably a three-horse race. In May, Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City will become the first side in English football history to win four titles in a row. Or Jurgen Klopp will win his second Premier League title before departing Liverpool. Or Mikel Arteta will lead Arsenal to their first league title in two decades. Whichever outcome transpires, the victorious side will have depended on a player who has fulfilled an unusual role this season. …”
The Athletic – Michael Cox