#0 · 0 yrs
There needs to be a zero-tolerance approach to stealing other clubs’ secrets – Kim Hellberg’s emotional response shows just how deep this goesKim Hellberg was clearly upset and his press conference after Middlesbrough’s defeat at Southampton in the Championship semi‑final playoff second leg became unexpectedly moving as a result. In football, the Boro manager said, you accept that some teams have greater resources than others but where the coach of the less well-off team can gain an advantage is in the “tactical element”; it is in effect the only weapon he has. And if that weapon is made less effective by an opponent cheating, it is understandable that Hellberg should feel that his profession, the skillset he has developed to test himself against his peers, has been betrayed.That disgust is, no doubt, genuine enough, and it is perhaps difficult for those of us who do not work in that world fully to grasp how frustrating it must be if strategies and ploys carefully conceived and practised are rendered ineffective, not by the in-game acuity of an opponent, but by espionage. But it is admittedly hard to square that righteous anger with the image published in the Mail this week of a sheepish young man lurking behind a tree with a phone. Continue reading...
In this exclusive book extract, Rob Draper and Jonathan Northcroft reveal the remarkable process which led to Thomas Tuchel’s appointment as England managerIn 2024, when the Football Association was tasked with finding Gareth Southgate’s successor, Mark Bullingham hired two external data companies who built a profile of what successful international managers looked like then tailored it to mesh with England’s player base.The top 50 coaches in the world were matched against the criteria and a shortlist emerged. “I joked with the team afterwards, because it came up with a list you and I could have come up with in the pub in 10 minutes,” Bullingham, the FA’s chief executive, says. Continue reading...
Antonio Conte claimed it was no fluke that Napoli found themselves 2-0 down against Bologna in their Serie A defeat. Napoli lost 3-2 at Stadio Diego Armando Maradona, with Jonathan Rowe scoring an acrobatic 91st-minute winner for the visitors. Rowe’s goal at 90:30 is the latest Bologna have scored against Napoli in Serie A since […] The post Conte: It´s not a fluke Napoli were two goals down again appeared first on Soccer News.
Napoli missed the chance to tighten their grip on a spot in the Champions League next season after Jonathan Rowe’s 91st-minute winner earned Bologna a 3-2 win on Monday. A victory would have given Antonio Conte’s men a six-point cushion over the chasing pack with two Serie A games left, but they instead remain just […] The post Napoli 2-3 Bologna: Rowe´s late winner swings Champions League race wide open appeared first on Soccer News.
As soccer fans turn their attention to the future of the sport in the States, we revisit four oft-overlooked moments – and one famous kick – that shaped its pastThis was originally published in the newsletter The World Behind the Cup. Sign up for it here.The last time the US hosted the men’s World Cup in 1994, many Americans viewed soccer as a game they watched their kids play on Saturday mornings, not the world’s most beloved sport. Thirty-two years later, the sport has exploded in popularity and the USA have become a regular fixture at World Cups. But many people don’t realize the US’s World Cup history extends all the way back to the first tournament staged – when the US men had their best-ever finish, reaching the semi-finals.The tale of those connected with the US team is often bleak, but it’s also more deeply rooted and richer than is often appreciated. As US soccer fans turn their attention to the future of the sport, we revisit four often overlooked moments – and one widely celebrated kick – of the USA’s early World Cup history.This was originally published in the newsletter The World Behind the Cup. Sign up for it here. Continue reading...
John Terry’s journey into the internet pipeline is by no means an isolated case – what makes footballers so susceptible?And so we ask ourselves: how did it come to this? Did we miss the signs? Were there red flags that went unheeded, cries for help that fell on closed ears, forks in the road not taken? Or ultimately, for all our best efforts, was it always going to end like this? Is it, in fact, possible that John Terry was a far-right sympathiser all along?Yes, it’s been a chastening week for those who have been fighting Terry’s corner for more than a decade. Who steadfastly defended him against the racism charges, who accepted his explanation that he was simply repeating what Anton Ferdinand had been saying to him, who turned up at his trial in full kit, who lamented his failure to land the coaching jobs he so coveted, who right to the end just wanted to believe. Continue reading...
