The social connection that comes from AFL fandom can help demonstrate the value of sport beyond participationCome the third Sunday of winter, Carlton had won a mere four games. Having missed finals the previous year by a single kick deep in the shade of time-on, the Blues were additional proof of history repeating itself, first as tragedy, second as farce.The previous Sunday, Carlton were the footballing equivalent of chewing black rubber in a listless six-goal loss against arch rivals Essendon. The only time the Blues struck sparks that dark night was as they scraped against pre-season expectations. Continue reading...
Victory at the Emirates will have given Mikel Arteta satisfaction as games like this slipped away from Arsenal late last seasonPerhaps the best part of Declan Rice’s day, his first big Emirates Stadium afternoon, was the fact that for the opening 95 minutes of this tight, taught, occasionally turgid game, Arsenal didn’t play that well.Rice didn’t play that well, not really, by his best, most regal, long-striding – sportswriters do love a stride – midfield standards. Instead he was tethered for long periods, ratting in the deep spaces, fighting to cover a position-and-a-half in midfield, where Kai Havertz was again a spectral entity, only partially present in the material world. Continue reading...
If I am looking for positives from poor preparation, side has stuck to a plan that the coaches believe will win matchesWhen it comes to formulating a gameplan the first fundamental question is, are you going into matches looking to be hard to beat or are you approaching them trying to win? During my time with England in the Six Nations, the approach was always to be hard to beat and, from what I’ve seen this summer, the coaches have doubled down on that for the World Cup.Whether you think that’s the right mindset or not, that’s your opinion but they’ll be banking on the fact they can stay in games and manufacture enough opportunities they can take advantage of...
Messi Mania swings through Los Angeles on Sunday night, the city where David Beckham’s leap of faith on a barely profitable league nearly two decades ago made all of it possibleOn Sunday night, Messi Mania makes its next stop when Inter Miami visit LAFC at BMO Stadium and the latest chapter of the great American soccer superstar experiment comes full circle in Los Angeles.In many ways, the latest away scene on Leo’s Magical Mystery (and Soccer Mythmaking) Tour is nothing new: an urban metropolis galvanized for a breathless, priceless night (see: Philadelphia, Nashville, and New York, er, Harrison, New Jersey, in recent weeks). Apple and Adidas marketing teams smiling once more, and over again. Continue reading...
Kai Havertz at Arsenal and Mason Mount at Manchester United are yet to fit in – but this is not a simple issue of personnelAfew years ago, the future seemed a world in which football teams would comprise 11 midfielders. Then it became 11 full-backs, at which it became apparent that nobody quite knew the difference any more. Then Pep Guardiola found his inner Tony Pulis and started fielding four centre-backs and it turned out that, while the present may be very much possession-driven, the future may not. The composition of the midfield is suddenly up for debate again.The most common setup among the Premier League’s elite remains 4-3-3 – even the 4-2-3-1 with which Manchester City have started the...