40 h. ago Marinakis calls the tune at Nottingham Forest – but what is his endgame? | Jonathan Liew

The very public face of his club has shown disdain for football’s structures, from the Premier League to VARI feel a rush everywhere when I see you You become a silent scream In the mind, in the body, in the secret momentsAnd in the lost logic In your kiss, in your embrace In the curse and the blessing We will all burn togetherExapsi (Excitement), vocals by Natasa Theodoridou, lyrics by Evangelos Marinakis. Continue reading...

Politics

5 d. ago Forest target Fulham’s Marco Silva, Liverpool v Manchester United build

⚽ Buildup, news and discussion before Sunday’s action⚽ Postecoglou could be least effective PL manager ever ⚽ Slot gambling on more Wirtz and less Salah | Mail us hereYou could cast Anfield today as flop striker Alexander Isak versus flop striker Benjamin Sesko, if you wanted. Jonathan Liew would rather you didn’t.Frank Lampard’s Coventry, to give them their legal name, are flying. The thought of them back in the top division is rather stirring to those of a certain age. Continue reading...

Events

6 d. ago Benjamin Sesko is latest player damned by a pitiless conveyor belt of takes and memes | Jonathan Liew

Manchester United’s striker is a topic of context-free condemnation as social media’s sluice of aggravation sinks us allThe first thing you need to do is find a photo of Rasmus Højlund looking happy in a Napoli shirt. There you are. Now you find a photo of Benjamin Sesko looking sad in a Manchester United shirt. Like he’s just missed an open goal. No, obviously you don’t need to find a photo of him missing an open goal. The less context here, the better. Now pop the photos side by side. Overlay the goal stats in big buffoonish font. Don’t forget the emojis. Post to all social media channels.Will you mention that Højlund’s tally includes goals in the Champions League while Sesko is not competing in Europe at all? You will not. Nor will you mention that four of Højlund’s goals have come against Belarus and Greece, or the fact that Denmark are a much better team than Slovenia and create many more chances. You run socials for a big media brand, pure liquid engagement is what puts food o...

Sport

2 w. ago England beware: terminally obsessed Marnus Labuschagne has gone back to basics | Jonathan Liew

Australian batter, an evangelical Christian who believes this is all written out in advance, may force his way back for the AshesMarnus Labuschagne carefully spreads butter on both sides of a slice of white bread. “That’s the key,” he tells the camera as he brings down the lid of his sandwich grill. “Boom. Then you get it crisp on both sides.” He lifts the lid to reveal a golden square of pure toasted goodness, the melted cheese happily bubbling away inside. “So this is the trick of the trade,” he announces. At which point, he does something horrific and unspeakable.Already, I sense, a glaze of ennui is beginning to form across your eyes. The red lights of sportswriting pretension are flashing wildly. You’re probably aware that Labuschagne scored 160 for Queensland this week and is being feverishly talked up for an Australian Test recall before the Ashes. Continue reading...

Events

3 w. ago West Ham tumble in modern football’s vortex, with home now a distant memory | Jonathan Liew

A feeling of loss and dislocation surrounds the East End club, which has never been part of tourist or establishment LondonGraham Potter still turned up for work on Saturday morning, even though there was no work left for him to do. A team meeting was arranged, at which Potter announced to general bewilderment that he had been sacked. Potter left. Training was delayed because nobody was available to take it. Eventually the new coach, Nuno Espírito Santo, arrived on site and hastily began preparations for the Everton game on Monday.Perhaps on reflection it was inevitable that West Ham United’s big set-piece appointment went the same way many of their set pieces have gone this season. “We’re not West Ham any more,” disgruntled fans have been chanting at recent protests against the club’s ownership, but consider the evidence. A bungled sacking. A fiesta of contradictory leaks and briefings. Chaotic performances on the pitch. A vacuum of leadership and direction. Catastrophic recruitmen...

Politics

4 w. ago Ageing revolutionary Guardiola is waging war on his own tactical orthodoxies | Jonathan Liew

What is the City manager’s new faith? Punting for territory and bypassing the midfield combat zone often entirelyForgive me father, for I have sinned. This is my first confession.Thirty-three per cent possession against Arsenal. Five shots. Gianluigi Donnarumma getting more touches than Phil Foden. And at this point, we have to acknowledge that Pep Guardiola is one of the principal reasons this kind of possession pornography exists in the first place: a serendipitous consequence of reinventing the game at exactly the moment we could start measuring the ways in which he was reinventing it, and exactly the moment we could beam it around the world in meme-sized fragments. Continue reading...

Events