A top conductor gets the best out of his players and can turn a good performance from an orchestra into a great oneJosé Mourinho prowls the touchline at Old Trafford. Skulking, swearing, coat fully zipped against the dirtiest weather Manchester can throw at him, he glares at the pitch. Arms raised in shrugging disbelief, shoulders high, kissing his ears, then suddenly outwards, pointing with purpose, finally thrust deep into his pockets in high dudgeon. What do the players think? Do they care? For all the histrionics, he is essentially helpless, a puppeteer whose strings have been cut for 90 minutes, his one power the threat of substitution.Not far away, at the Bridgewater Hall, Omer Meir Wellber stands in front of...
Russia’s equivalent of Grimsby Town overcome odds with the help of some powerful friends but crowd-pleasing morality tale is not quite what it seemsThe second-division team from a distant and ill-favoured coastal town are in the cup final. They’re playing in a big stadium against the country’s most glamorous and history-laden club. They go two goals down, and a pall of inevitability settles over the match. But then, suddenly, they start to score. The first goal receives applause. The second gets a cheer. When the third goes in, the place erupts. Related: ‘This debt must be settled’: IAAF extends Russia’s doping ban Continue reading...
As a Manchester City supporter it’s impossible not to take some pleasure in the documentary but it pulls its punches, fails to probe and is nothing but a gloriously glossy club commercialWhy am I so reluctant to watch All or Nothing: Manchester City? The eight-part Amazon documentary series covers my team’s season mirabilis – 2017-18 when we won the league with record points, wins and goals, playing the beautiful game more beautifully than it’s ever been played in the Premier League. Fellow fans tell me it’s incredible and rivals say it’s a must-see. Even non-football fans are waxing lyrical. Perhaps that’s part of the problem. Related: Football transfer rumours: Keylor Navas to Manchester City? Related: How Lazio’s ultras must wish...
Billie-Jean King’s match against the 1939 men’s Wimbledon champion in 1973 provides the main thrust of a new film but like other sporting movies the facts are often massaged to augment the storyAfter the credits finished rolling at the end of the Battle of the Sexes, the new cinematic re-creation of the events surrounding the famous tennis match in 1973 between Billie Jean King, the world’s No1 female player, and Bobby Riggs, the Wimbledon men’s singles champion of 1939, I asked myself if the staging of the event could really have been as preposterously over the top as it is depicted in the film.The answer, after consulting an eyewitness, was that, for once, Hollywood might have underplayed the reality. Related:...