I remember the good old days when you had to rely on Ceefax. Now we’re subjected to blow-by-blow accounts of every dealHave you ever wondered how long Richarlison’s legs are? It’s something I confess to spending very little time considering until this week, when Spurs tweeted out a five-minute video of the Brazilian’s first day at the club.We begin with him walking into the training ground flanked by an entourage of three. He gets a half-hearted welcome from Ivan Perisic and we’re into the physio room for his medical. Is this his real medical or his show medical? A man checks his legs can bend at the knee and goes full shipping forecast, “45 internal, approaching 90 external”. It cuts...
Outside the elite, eventually the best players move on and even with money to spend fresh recruits remain gamblesThe good news for Leeds is that last season’s injury crisis means they have had plenty of practice playing without their stars. The bad news is that this time it’s permanent. Kalvin Phillips and Raphinha are both on their way and so Leeds, suddenly but not unpredictably, are cast in the familiar position of a club on the rise seeing their greatest assets are stripped away and needing to rebuild. The inevitability of the pattern is one of the great sadnesses of the financial structures of modern football.Phillips is 26. He was born in Leeds. He is a Leeds fan. He joined...
Examine the 20 biggest deals and it is clear money is best spent on rising stars rather than off-the-shelf celebritiesThe Nations League drags on, a good idea cheapened by circumstances as weary fans and weary journalists try to summon the will to care about weary players playing out what numerous managers have said they’re treating as World Cup preparation, wearily. Who can summon the energy to care about who might be England’s third-choice right-back? Who can be bothered to watch another VAR replay of two feet coming together? If a player wonders whether yet another forward surge to block a passing lane is worth it, who can blame him?It’s getting so bad that even adding up the combined age of...
Striker will shortly leave the club after a memorable eight-year spell there that is also a source of pride in his native BelgiumA little while after Liverpool had lifted the Premier League trophy at a near-empty but electrified Anfield in July 2020, ending that 30-year wait for the title, something caught the attention of observers inside the ground. All players and staff had departed down the tunnel before one suddenly reappeared: Divock Origi. He walked towards the centre circle and, amid the ticker tape, put his arms behind his back and fixed his gaze on the Kop. It was a curious sight but also, it felt, a telling one – this was the Belgian’s way of saying goodbye.If it was...
After eight glorious years at the serial Bundesliga champions, the upright striker is at the mercy of his club’s roughshod waysThe big problem for Robert Lewandowski is that he is a professional. He has one year left on his contract at Bayern Munich and he wants to leave, but nobody believes he will down tools and create a fuss if they choose to hang on to him for another year. He likes his job. He likes his colleagues. He has a level of self-respect that means he will carry on diligently even if his bosses are treating him outrageously. He doesn’t want to let anybody down, least of all himself.This, after all, is a forward so dedicated to his trade...