Welcoming players back from Qatar now may provide a crucial advantage when the hectic domestic schedule restarts“If they all go out of the competition early and can train with us, that would be absolutely outstanding,” Jürgen Klopp joked of his Liverpool players before the World Cup. The German was lucky that just seven of his squad were called upon to travel to Qatar, although only Darwin Núñez has exited before the quarter-finals. The Uruguayan is one of 73 Premier League players no longer involved in the World Cup, leaving 61 in Qatar for their managers to worry about.Many clubs have enjoyed warm-weather training, and have played or are still to play friendlies to prepare for the Premier League’s Boxing Day...
There is no more elegant pivot than moaning about the World Cup in Qatar to begging a Gulf state to come and buy your club“When I want a peerage,” sniffed Alfred Harmsworth (later Lord Northcliffe), “I shall buy one like an honest man.” So yes: I want to begin with an apology for a ridiculous statement in my most recent column, which held that David Beckham’s mega-lucrative Qatar promotional deal meant he has been “wearing the face of a man who knows he is never going to get his knighthood now”. This was obviously wrong. Having been paid a reported £150m for his work shilling for the Qatari regime, David is in fact even better placed to buy a knighthood...
Better owners work to understand the institution they own and try to work with the cultural groove of the clubAfter 17 years, Manchester United are finally on the market and the roundly detested ownership of the Glazer family appears finally to be coming to an end. But what does a good, and realistic, outcome for United supporters look like? What can a football supporter reasonably expect of an owner of their club in 2022?The simpler days of the local businessman (always a man) chairing the board, putting their hand in their own pocket to build a new stand, or to sign a new player, compares favourably in fans’ minds to a world of sovereign-wealth funds, oligarchs or American “sports entrepreneurs”....
It is hard not to conclude that this – and Liverpool being up for sale – is related to failure of the European Super LeagueHow can you sell something you never actually paid for? How is it possible to make profit without risk or jeopardy, or indeed any sign of expertise along the way? What is this miracle commodity, this blend of metal, plastic, turf and other people’s monetised joy?Welcome to football capitalism 101 and the metaphysical puzzle of the Glazer ownership of Manchester United. No wonder they call leveraged buy-outs the beautiful game. It is, in the end, one you just can’t lose. Continue reading...
Defender was said to be too short to be a world class centre-half but showed against West Ham he has the quality to succeedFirst Gianluca Scamacca shot from 10 yards and Lisandro Martínez’s body was in the way, then the two darted for the looping ball, the Italian with a raised right boot and the centre-back head first. The Argentinian won the race to end the attack. His reward was a boot in the race, not that he cared, having completed his job of stopping a goal. A clean sheet is the most important thing, regardless of the personal cost.The final moments of Manchester United’s 1-0 win against West Ham were a scrap, a concept in which the hosts have...