By the time we reach the knockout stage of Euro 2020, there will have been seventy-two group stage matches. All but eight of the twenty four teams will proceed. Combined with the ever decreasing importance and quality of international football, it would be fair to describe each of these games as low stakes events. Against … Continue reading The Meantime
When the Premier League was founded in 1992, Sky threw money at its founder members. The clubs in turn spent swathes of money luring players from other European leagues, especially Serie A which, with its money, glamour and high-level competition, was the Premier League before the Premier League. Many of the players were names – … Continue reading Stars and Decency: Why Solskjær’s Work is Underrated
With the appointment of a new manager, Arsenal once again look to the future. First, they should look back and ask themselves how in the hell they got here. An episode of The Simpsons comes to mind. Homer has taken Marge’s rainy-day fund and ‘invested’ it in pumpkins. The basis of his decision? A chart showing massively … Continue reading Arteta Inherits a Castle Made of Sand
Last summer, early in his mixed reign as Chelsea manager, Maurizio Sarri was asked about the World Cup. His response was illuminating and damning. He said that he hadn’t watched it and that international football could teach him nothing. He was right. The best football has long been played in the latter stages of the … Continue reading Race, Pain & Hate: Home and Away
Supporting a football team is often a tense and unrewarding business. Even when your team is leading there is still the muscle-knotting fear of conceding a goal, of drawing, of losing. Just occasionally though, all tension is removed and replaced by loose, unburdened joy. For Aston Villa’s fans last week’s 5-1 win at Norwich was … Continue reading Wheat that Springeth Green
There’s a line in a Tom Waits song which Arsenal fans must hope is true: ‘If you get far enough away, you’ll be on your way back home’. In a characteristically limp display against Watford on Sunday, during which they conceded 31 shots, 23 in the second half alone, they had their statistically worst defensive … Continue reading If you get far enough away, you’ll be on your way back home
We are frequently reminded that the FA Cup is the world’s oldest domestic cup competition. Nostalgia abounds around The Cup; Sir Stanley Matthews’ late career vindication, Trevor Brooking’s header in the 1981 final, players worrying about getting their teeth back before receiving their medals in the 1930s. Yesterday’s coverage on the BBC deliberately harked back … Continue reading City’s Meaningless Treble: An Indictment of the Ethics of Modern Football
As the season draws to a close, focus switches back to the great pre-occupation in English football – transfers. Manchester United, the country’s biggest club, takes more than its fair share of headlines. Who’s in? Who’s out? Success or failure next season is pegged entirely on getting the right players in and pushing the wrong … Continue reading Everybody’s Free!
In football, there are few moments headier than those after a goal which seals an improbable comeback victory. Last night the effect was amplified by coming back to beat an historic team, with the world’s best player, in a stadium steeped in history, by a club with glorious European memories. A castrato would struggle to … Continue reading Show Me What You Got!
‘How’s it feel to be small?’ A rhetorical question Arsenal fans used to sing to celebrate the club’s signing of Mesut Özil and the departure of Gareth Bale from Tottenham. It hasn’t been heard recently. The final days of the summer and winter transfer windows are two of the biggest days in the English footballing … Continue reading Can’t Buy Me Love
Fioruisce 