24 h. ago Playing loose with virtue wins no hearts, and Arsenal should know better | Jonathan LIew

There were plenty of legally unproblematic options available to the club before their former midfielder was charged with rape “We are courageous in the pursuit of progress.” “We champion our community and each other.” Continue reading...

Politics

24 h. ago Playing loose with virtue leaves questions for Arsenal to answer over Thomas Partey | Jonathan Liew

There were plenty of legally unproblematic options available to the club before their former midfielder was charged with rape “We are courageous in the pursuit of progress.” “We champion our community and each other.” Continue reading...

Politics

34 h. ago Tension and tedium: welcome to the Wimbledon press conference room | Jonathan Liew

Anyone can ask any question of the players, leading to absurd inquiries, but it can sometimes serve a useful purposeTo spend even a little time at Wimbledon is to drown in the sheer scale of things. This is a place of mind-boggling numbers: the 40 miles of racket string, the 55,000 balls, the 300,000 glasses of Pimm’s, the 2.5m strawberries. But Wimbledon’s true staple good is none of these. The most abundant product every Wimbledon fortnight is the word. And even on a rain-affected, slow news day, the words must keep coming.As with everything else, Wimbledon procures its words with a suitable reverence. Post-match interviews, in contrast to the more informal on-court setup at Melbourne and New York, are conducted at a respectful distance in front of a microphone stand, as if Jannik Sinner were actually a high-school student about to spell a very difficult word. But of course the majority of Wimbledon’s bluff and bluster takes place in a small windowless upstairs chamber that most t...

Events

3 d. ago Raducanu justifies primetime billing even as Sabalenka’s superpower wins out | Jonathan Liew

Britain’s No 1 was outpointed when her opponent raised her game but showed why she merits the hype and spotlight that surrounds herIt’s a little after 8pm by the time the first ball is tossed. Karen Khachanov has just beaten Nuno Borges on No 3 Court and so even before it has started Emma Raducanu v Aryna Sabalenka is the last game on anywhere at Wimbledon: a standalone attraction, the roof not so much closed as hermetically sealed. We are locked in, under these hot lights, until nightfall.And of course this is not simply a third-round game. At the behest of the broadcasters this is also a primetime television product, an item of light entertainment. Raducanu isn’t just battling the world No 1 here, she’s up against Gardeners’ World on BBC Two. The hill is packed. Brian Cox and Mary Berry in the Royal Box are transfixed. And to think Roland Garros would probably have put this match on in mid-morning. Continue reading...

Politics

5 d. ago Carlos Alcaraz shakes off Tarvet from his back without inhibitions or regrets | Jonathan Liew

Defending champion is essentially a magic-eye puzzle you can read any way you want but has the inconsistency all but one of his rivals would dream ofThere were negatives, of course. Shall we focus on the negatives? Shall we dwell on the frailties a little? The uncharacteristic errors, the double faults, an occasional scruffiness at the net, the frequent slumps in intensity? Shall we marvel at the fact that the lowest-ranked player in the tournament earned more break points (11) than one of the greatest players of his generation (10)? Shall we warn, in a tone of affected sternness, that the defending champion will have to raise his game on this evidence?Of course we shall, because this is Carlos Alcaraz, and because there is an entire cottage industry built around maintaining the idea that Alcaraz is in a state of crisis at all times, a state of crisis so acute that it is necessary to feign round-the-clock concern for him. We just want to see all that rich talent fulfilled. That’s al...

Politics

2 w. ago Delap is Chelsea’s shiny new toy but uncut gem Jackson offers rare point of difference | Jonathan Liew

While battle lines are drawn between the two strikers with very different journeys to the top, there is a way both can thrive“They are quite similar,” Enzo Maresca said last week of Liam Delap and Nicolas Jackson, but of course nobody wanted to take any notice of that bit. Already battle lines are being drawn, positions entrenched. Delap or Jackson. Jackson or Delap. One must survive. One must go reluctantly on loan to Serie A. Those are just the rules.On these terms alone, it’s been a very good week for Delap. Against Flamengo in the Club World Cup on Friday, he was preferred up front, and played with bristling, controlled aggression for more than an hour before making way for Jackson. He then watched as his replacement lost possession with his first touch, went studs‑up with his second, was sent off and scapegoated for Chelsea’s 3-1 defeat, and later issued a grovelling apology on social media for his actions. Continue reading...

Politics

4 w. ago Ange Postecoglou’s triumphant sacking holds the key to modern football | Jonathan Liew

The Australian’s fluctuating fortunes at Spurs expose how much the game has become an act of persuasionEnjoy your launch. And for Ange Postecoglou, who always bristled at the idea that his wealth of coaching experience had somehow been earned in inferior competitions, perhaps his departure from Tottenham really can be a kind of springboard: to one of these prestigious, equally demanding leagues he keeps talking about. Maybe the struggling Gamba Osaka. Perth Glory could well have a vacancy soon. Motherwell are still looking. A step down? That’s just your old-world, Eurocentric, Prem-brained snobbery showing right through there, mate.And so to Postecoglou’s many rhetorical elisions can be added another: the triumphant sacking. Perhaps it was only in this universe – the post-truth universe – that such a feat was even conceivable. Along with the Europa League trophy he so stunningly spirited to north London, this may turn out to be the defining legacy of the Postecoglou interregnum. The...

Politics