The problem with Brexit is that reality keeps on breaking through No sooner had former Army officer and Conservative MP Bob Stewart announced that, in the fantasy combat scenario he’d dreamed up in his head, Boris Johnson was the man he’d trust to lead a platoon into battle than the reality of a conflict situation […]

7 years ago

When Alex Ferguson announced his plans to retire as manager of Manchester United in 2001, a family intervention at Christmas persuaded him to change his mind. “In the kitchen a mutiny was brewing,” he wrote in his autobiography, published in 2013. The kitchen mutiny ensured that Manchester United was held together. In an interview he gave […]

8 years ago

When the picture emerged from the G7 summit last month of world leaders standing around Donald Trump, it was generally agreed that this perfectly framed shot resembled a Renaissance painting in its study of character. But, for some us, it resembled the work of a great 20th century artist, an artist who would have embraced […]

8 years ago

As England prepare for a World Cup semi-final on Wednesday, the weekend saw the latest laments that Gareth Southgate is now the only leader the country can rely on. Southgate, it was said, was redefining what Englishness means, an urgent enough task given the havoc wreaked by English nationalism in recent times, particularly in England. […]

8 years ago

Against Nigeria, Lionel Messi demonstrated that, if anything, like The Beatles, he is underrated

8 years ago

It was late in the night in St Etienne when the players finally emerged. One by one, they took to the stage and talked through the game. Initially, they answered the questions in a standard manner but soon the giddiness in the air reached the stage and this press conference appeared to transform into a […]

8 years ago

In April 2010, Liverpool’s then chairman Martin Broughton offered what were reported as “detailed reassurances” to the Premier League. The reassurances did not concern the club’s disciplinary record or some other everyday football matter. The detailed reassurances the Premier League sought concerned the club’s future. The Premier League wanted guarantees that the club could fulfil […]

8 years ago

In injury-time at Anfield as a final Roma attack broke down, a voice in the crowd cried out with some urgency, “Come on Liverpool, a sixth.” This is where Liverpool had found themselves, somehow making an anti-climax out of an annihilation in a Champions League semi-final, somehow needing a sixth goal to feel confident of […]

8 years ago

When my son was born, I was sure I wouldn’t push him towards football. I knew I wouldn’t push him towards anything, but sometimes I thought he might even be better off without all the clutter that football brings. He would be better off without obsessing over the fitness of a full back, better off […]

8 years ago

For 45 minutes, Manchester City were merciless. Pep Guardiola had reverted to first principles at the Etihad, essentially selecting a team of midfielders, with Kompany and Aguero left out. In doing so, he ensured Liverpool would suffer, not through the aggression of Kompany or the goals of Aguero, but through the endless, sadistic movement of […]

8 years ago

“Mourinho, in his defenders’ eyes, is no longer a Master of the Universe but Old Gil from The Simpsons, a forlorn and desperate figure, buffeted by the wind and at the mercy of greater forces”

8 years ago

“So, while the daughter who found herself surrounded by two immature men deserves all our sympathy, some of us will extend the sympathy to ourselves if Carragher’s suspension is made permanent and he is replaced by one of those anodyne careerists whose mission statement is to say nothing.”

8 years ago

One year on

9 years ago

As Theresa May spoke in Florence on Friday, as she threw around upbeat words like ‘creative’, ‘vibrant’, ‘ambitious’ and, most optimistically, ‘this will not go on forever’, it was possible to see what was taking place. Brexit is now entering development hell, the place films go when they find themselves in a limbo between the […]

9 years ago

So Roy Hodgson returns to south London even if he is a man who, in some fundamental way, never really left. Wherever he has gone in the world, Hodgson has carried with him the look of a stressed commuter perpetually anxious that the 7.38 from Norwood Junction will be delayed by forces beyond his control. In […]

9 years ago

“This was a hard lesson today”

9 years ago

Liverpool had already hinted at familiar vulnerabilities

9 years ago

For a long time, some of us observed Boris Johnson’s public experiences with the same sense of bewilderment we feel when, say, a seagull lands on centre court at Wimbledon and refuses to fly away. On those occasions, as the crowd rises up as one to acclaim the hilarity of the bird, it seems as […]

9 years ago

We can all agree that the world will end very soon so it was important that we had a deadline day to remember during the brief time left. Any day now a dark cloud will spread across the earth as the planet becomes a frightened, less joyful place with people wondering if this is what […]

9 years ago

There was unity from Arsenal at Anfield – from top to bottom they were a shambles

9 years ago

The Philippe Coutinho saga is the real evidence of Liverpool’s status

9 years ago

“We’ve fucked it all up.” The man sat outside a restaurant in west London on Monday night and everything felt wrong. The city had been good to him, but now something was changing. Less than a mile away Grenfell Tower, black and full of unknown dead, stood as the exclamation to finish his point. The […]

9 years ago

If you believed Brexit would involve chaos and anarchy, if you felt it was a cranks’ obsession disguised as a peasants’ revolt then, on the anniversary of the referendum, you might be experiencing a feeling of satisfaction. If Brexit equals confusion, disorder and despair then Brexit certainly means Brexit. If, on the other hand, you […]

9 years ago

“People saw and heard things on a scale they have never seen before”

9 years ago

Theresa May has found out that the old games are over for good

9 years ago

‘There’s something happening here, what it is ain’t exactly clear’

9 years ago

On to the next one

9 years ago

In the astonishing opening to this incredible final, Real Madrid had seemed liked a bewildered bystander. Juventus had begun with a purpose which suggested that all the lost finals and all those regrets would be forgotten. Cristiano Ronaldo was appealing to the referee for fouls, but he looked like a man who lived under a […]

9 years ago

Why music, sport and solidarity matter at a time like this

9 years ago

Breaking the chains of the past

9 years ago

There is a certain sadness in realising that many of the things we used to get from football are now being provided by politics. For many years, politics has been a time-consuming irrelevance. As Bob Dylan put it in 1963, “there’s no black and white, left and right to me anymore; there’s only up and […]

9 years ago

If we have learned anything from Manchester United this season, it is that Jose Mourinho fears everybody

9 years ago

Theresa May has doubled down on exploiting people’s fears – the strategy is paying off

9 years ago

“We’re trying to raise awareness, it’s trying to get our message across.”

9 years ago

It’s always about Jose Mourinho. But it’s getting tired. Very tired…

9 years ago

Britain’s real gamble may be to discover what taking back control really means

9 years ago

Football is a contact sport, but it is also a game which depends on players remaining aware of the consequences of their actions

9 years ago

Some people seemed to get upset that Owen – a former Real Madrid player – was celebrating a Barcelona victory, but that was entirely unimportant

9 years ago

A selfless act…

9 years ago

There is only one way to break the cycle

9 years ago

Are English clubs beginning to inhabit a domestic bubble?

9 years ago

If Wenger leaves this summer then his achievements won’t be forgotten.

9 years ago

Today provided a lesson in why Chelsea are on course for glory.

9 years ago

Arsenal being Arsenal

9 years ago

Klopp still possesses the key ingredient

9 years ago

“This has been a disastrous week for Liverpool.” Steve McManaman’s remark during Liverpool’s defeat to Wolves on Saturday captured the sense of despair enveloping Anfield after another Cup exit. Some, however, might disagree. They might think the domestic cup competitions are, depending on the circumstances, primal scream therapy, a safe place for angry fans to […]

9 years ago

Patience is not something Pep is known for.

9 years ago

He was the crucial difference yet again for United

9 years ago

Footballers like Costa understand the realities of football.

9 years ago

More disturbing pictures of Gazza emerged over the weekend

9 years ago