64 h. ago Liverpool have been utterly dominant. But cracks are starting to emerge

Arne Slot’s team will almost certainly win the Premier League this season but there are welcome signs that talent in England may be becoming more dispersedSign up for Soccer with Jonathan Wilson hereIt wasn’t supposed to be that straightforward. Newcastle United have suffered so much disappointment at Wembley that the assumption had been that the end of a domestic trophy drought that stretched back to 1955 would be fraught, that they’d have to drag themselves over the line, nails bitten to the quick, the countdown to the final whistle having to be earned second by painful second.As it was, although there was some anxiety after Federico Chiesa’s injury-time effort for Liverpool was ruled onside by VAR, Newcastle seemed to have the game under control from the start, and never really looked like surrendering the advantage given them by Dan Burn’s magnificent header. His story, the local lad rejected at the age of 11 by the club he supported, losing a finger, transforming himself from g...

Politics

4 d. ago Manchester United’s new field of dreams at risk of repeating the Tottenham trap | Jonathan Wilson

Like their rivals, the problem is not the rise in revenue that a new home offers but that so little of it ends up being spent on playersBuild it and they will come – but you should be aware that you will be left with significant debt repayments, an element of the story to which Kevin Costner took a characteristically cavalier attitude. Which may be why Field of Dreams was about building a baseball stadium in Iowa for Shoeless Joe Jackson and the ghosts of the 1919 Chicago Black Sox rather than, say, Daniel Levy constructing a football stadium in Haringey for Vincent Janssen and the remnants of the 2019 Tottenham Hotspur team.In the past week, Manchester United have revealed plans for a new £2bn stadium, capacity 100,000, next to Old Trafford, while Newcastle are reported to be looking to move from St James’ Park to a 65,000-capacity stadium on Leazes Park. Everton will move into a new stadium at Bramley-Moore dock next season. Wrexham are building a 5,500-capacity Kop. New stadiums ...

Events

7 d. ago Aston Villa earn shot at greatness after setting up historic PSG showdown | Jonathan Wilson

In reaching the Champions League quarter-finals, Unai Emery’s side have taken a step closer to being immortalisedGlory comes in many forms. Perhaps the best Aston Villa could hope for on Wednesday was a game of little drama. They had in effect won the tie in Belgium last week; the last thing they wanted was to have to win it again. And yet, straightforward as it was, this was glorious, a night that in its outcome, if not the precise details, was epochal, marking Villa’s return to the European elite. Perhaps that will be a long‑term state, perhaps fleeting; either way, it is significant.There is a tide in the affairs of clubs which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune. For Villa this was one of the nights fans yearn for, a night of destiny, a night to be spoken of for a long time to come. Even five years ago it would have seemed absurd that all that they had to do to reach the Champions League quarter-finals was avoid a two-goal defeat against the Belgian champions. Continue read...

Culture

9 d. ago How modern football’s exploitation model brewed fan resentment | Jonathan Wilson

Supporters have marched in protest at a number of Premier League grounds. It’s not hard to see why they believe their game is being taken awayOn Sunday, thousands of Manchester United fans marched in protest at the club’s ownership. The week before last, there was a (much smaller) march against their club’s owners by fans at Chelsea. A couple of weeks earlier there were protests at Tottenham. Fulham fans are deeply unhappy. There have been grumblings at Manchester City. In total, at roughly three-quarters of the Premier League clubs, there is significant supporter discontent.In some ways, the protests are distant background noise. Television viewers could quite easily have watched United’s 1-1 draw with Arsenal on Sunday and not known about the march. How big a deal is it, anyway, that around 5,000 people walked about a mile from a pub to a stadium, with most wearing black and chanting? The demonstrations are often incoherent. The one at Chelsea featured chants for Roman Abramovich,...

Sport

9 d. ago Manchester United under pressure to stay in Europe, admits Christian Eriksen

Europa League last-16 return with Sociedad is ‘massive’Backs compatriot Rasmus Højlund to end goal droughtChristian Eriksen has admitted that there is “massive pressure” on Manchester United to beat Real Sociedad on Thursday in order to keep alive their hopes of playing European football next season.United enter the Europa League last-16 second leg at Old Trafford with the tie poised at 1-1 after last week’s game at the Anoeta Stadium. After Sunday’s 1-1 draw with Arsenal in the Premier League United are 14th on 34 points, 11 behind Aston Villa in seventh – the last place that may earn a Europa Conference place, depending on who wins the domestic cups. United are out of both. Continue reading...

Events

2 w. ago Manchester United’s collapse leaves the FA Cup nearly free of superclubs

Exiting the FA Cup on penalties at home to Fulham is a new low in a season full of them for Ruben Amorim’s sideSign up for Soccer with Jonathan Wilson hereWhat links Jack Robson, Lal Hilditch, Herbert Bamlett and Ruben Amorim?They’re the only permanent managers in Manchester United history with a career negative goal-difference. Other than Amorim, the other three worked between 1914 and 1931. Sunday’s FA Cup exit against Fulham, admittedly, did not contribute to that. It was possible, even, in the aftermath of a penalty shootout defeat, to argue it had been one of United’s better recent performances. They’ve only lost two of their previous eight games. But it’s also just 3 March and United already have no chance of winning any domestic competition this season. Continue reading...

Politics

2 w. ago Manchester United’s collapse leaves the FA Cup nearly free of superclubs | Jonathan Wilson

Exiting the FA Cup on penalties at home to Fulham is a new low in a season full of them for Ruben Amorim’s sideSign up for Soccer with Jonathan Wilson hereWhat links Jack Robson, Lal Hilditch, Herbert Bamlett and Ruben Amorim?They’re the only permanent managers in Manchester United history with a career negative goal-difference. Other than Amorim, the other three worked between 1914 and 1931. Sunday’s FA Cup exit against Fulham, admittedly, did not contribute to that. It was possible, even, in the aftermath of a penalty shootout defeat, to argue it had been one of United’s better recent performances. They’ve only lost two of their previous eight games. But it’s also just 3 March and United already have no chance of winning any domestic competition this season. Continue reading...

Politics

2 w. ago All played out: Raheem Sterling in startling decline after hitting the fateful 500 mark | Jonathan Wilson

The Arsenal forward, once England’s key player, is only 30 but his confidence is shot and his career on a downward curveIn Rafa Benítez’s first season in English football, he rested Steven Gerrard for an FA Cup tie at Burnley, who were in the Championship. When Liverpool lost, there was a predictable backlash and, from certain quarters, derision as Benítez explained his rotation policy and the need to manage the number of minutes each player played.Social media being in its infancy, it wasn’t quite the culture war that it would have become today, but certain old-school football men clearly felt that players should just get on with it: hard work never hurt anyone. But at the same time a piece of ancient wisdom kept surfacing, usually from elderly coaches who had spent a lifetime in the game: as a rule of thumb, however much they play, whatever age they start, a player has 500 games in them. Continue reading...

Events

3 w. ago A sense of acquiescence has pervaded Arsenal’s stuttering title challenge | Jonathan Wilson

Mikel Arteta’s team have suffered unfortunate injuries but they also have far less self-belief than a Liverpool side who look destined to win the Premier LeagueSign up for Soccer with Jonathan Wilson hereAnd with that, surely, the title race is over. Liverpool had drawn four of their previous eight games which had created an opening. Had Arsenal beaten West Ham and Liverpool lost at Manchester City this weekend, the title would have been in Arsenal’s hands, at least to the extent that they would have won it if they had won every game they had remaining this season, including away at Liverpool. But, after Arsenal limped to a 1-0 defeat, Liverpool produced their best performance in weeks to win 2-0. The gap is 11 points and, even though Arsenal have a game in hand, it’s very hard to imagine either Liverpool dropping sufficient points or Arsenal winning enough for that to be overturned.Arteta described himself as “very, very angry” after his side’s defeat, admitting they were “nowhere ...

Sport

3 w. ago Liverpool and Manchester City renew rivalry in a much more vulnerable era | Jonathan Wilson

Sunday’s clash between declining champions and their likely successors is a far cry from recent title battlesThere has been something pleasingly old-fashioned about the Premier League title race this season. It may be a modern phenomenon that the side top of the table have lost only one of 26 games, and that the side in second have lost two, but after the years of champions habitually racking up 90 points and more, the general fallibility has been refreshing.Liverpool are still on course for 89 points but they are not implacable, remorseless winners in the way Manchester City so often were. They reached a peak in their 2-0 home win over Real Madrid at the end of November and, although they were comfortable winners over City the following Sunday, there has been a sense since of a side, if not quite clinging on to the mountain top, then at the very least not striding quite so confidently along the ridge. Continue reading...

Politics

3 w. ago Liverpool legend Robbie Fowler pulls no punches with assessment of Darwin Nunez's costly miss

Darwin Nunez missed a brilliant opportunity to earn Liverpool three points against Aston Villa and the Reds had to settle for a single point after the striker missed an open goal

Events