Heimir Hallgrímsson had said in the immediate aftermath of Ireland’s World Cup elimination in Prague on Thursday that “our job is to pick ourselves up tomorrow when we wake up and start again”. This is simply the duty of a professional. But sometimes even the most professional of us feel like calling in sick. A … Read more
In the aftermath of Ireland’s elimination in Prague it felt as though the future had been cancelled. But tomorrow the future arrives in the form of our partners in suffering, North Macedonia. Football is telling us that the future is happening, whether we like it or not, so it’s time to start getting our heads … Read more
The Metamorphosis, by Franz Kafka, has the most famous opening line in Czech literature. The wording in English varies according to the translation, but it goes something like: “One morning Gregor Samsa woke in his bed from uneasy dreams and found he had turned into a large verminous insect.” On Friday morning, thousands of Irish … Read more
Kepa Arrizabalaga was always going to start the League Cup final. He’d played every game in the competition up till then. This is the deal a lot of clubs make with their backup goalkeeper. Still, the thought of betraying Kepa and picking David Raya must have haunted Mikel Arteta in the days leading up to … Read more
If you want to analyse how things are going at Liverpool, you don’t even need to watch what’s happening out on the field (and don’t worry, you won’t miss much). Just listen to the crowd. The atmosphere at Anfield was comparable to what you might experience if you spent your Sunday afternoon walking around a … Read more
Last Tuesday, Fabrizio Romano posted a video extolling the virtues of Saudi Arabia’s King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Centre. Romano droned on for a couple of minutes about how the Saudi charity initiative had helped to clear landmines, treat blindness and deafness, separate conjoined twins, etc. With 13.2 million views on X by Sunday … Read more
In 25 days, Ireland play their biggest match in a decade – a World Cup qualification playoff that was secured thanks to two of the most beautiful victories in the history of the national team. It is sadly typical of today’s football that what should be a time of excitement and anticipation has instead been … Read more
If Arsenal do go on to win the Premier League title then Declan Rice should probably win Player of the Year. If it’s Manchester City, then it will be hard to look past Erling Haaland. Haaland, though, will probably finish out the season without experiencing the misery Rice must have suffered in the middle part … Read more
Arsenal against Manchester United was one of the greatest Premier League games of all time. Not so much because of the football that was played, but because of the story that was told. It doesn’t happen very often that Manchester United find themselves cast as the Ewoks against the imperial storm fleet, but here we … Read more
People have lately taken to calling it the season of the underdog, but in the end the top five of the 2024-25 Premier League had a reassuringly familiar composition: two American-owned sports-groups, two clubs owned by Gulf states, and whatever the hell Chelsea are. Coming up behind them a couple of maverick oligarchs, followed by … Read more