Oliver Kay

This is about how the English game lost control by not caring who bought clubs in the 2000s.

The fact that the Premier League now finds itself at war with its dominant club of the last decade — a club effectively owned by one of the UK's most important investors and allies — is the logical (or crazily illogical) conclusion of that free-market anarchy

nytimes.com/athletic/76753…

This is about the football food chain @Carra23 spoke about. It's very real and, regrettably, it has made upward mobility almost impossible (except by rule-breaking on an industrial scale, of course).
Even for a club of Aston Villa's size and historic pedigree, with a brilliant coach, to talk of challenging that mega-rich elite — protected by rules reinforcing the huge financial divides that have opened up over the past two decades — causes a welcome jolt. "What, you're actually going to try to challenge for the biggest prizes? You're actually going to try to break into that group over the long term?"
#AVFC should be applauded for trying to do that. It's important to spell out what they're up against. Even in these glory days under Emery, they haven't come within 20 points of winning the Premier League. It's incredibly hard to get for anyone outside that mega-rich elite to compete — particularly when those clubs keep coming for your best players.
A new deal for Emery will send out a powerful "Hands off" message to #MUFC and anyone else. But the food chain is real, as are the obstacles that Villa and any other would-be challengers face

nytimes.com/athletic/77600…

Cristiano Ronaldo has retired from international football after 234 appearances and 146 goals. Hard to see either of those records being broken.

His Portugal career ends in familiar acrimony, but his legacy won’t be defined by that or by his disappointments on the World Cup stage.

He’ll go down as one of the all-time greats — not the greatest, and not the greatest of his generation, but an undisputed legend of the game, one of the greatest we’ll ever see 🇵🇹

nytimes.com/athletic/74265…

Apart from being tone-deaf, this is just plain wrong from Avram Glazer.

Yes Manchester United enjoyed a brief commercial boom as on-field results plummeted post-Ferguson — reflecting a change in the club's priorities — but since then commercial income has flatlined in an era of huge growth elsewhere (e.g. Liverpool and Arsenal). A failing #MUFC still holds great commercial appeal, obviously, but a successful #MUFC would bring in far more revenue, commercially and otherwise.

Does Avram Glazer really believe what he's saying? Surely not. Although it would explain a lot ...

t.co/LIw661XtpS

Yes the Ballon d'Or is a distraction in a team sport, but when the Premier League had loads of nominations in mid/late 2000s, very few in early/mid 2010s, loads in late 2010s & early 2020s, it was a true picture — as is shortage of PL nominees this year and last.

Best league in the world? Yes, but genuine star quality is lacking right now while others (including Kane, Bellingham, Gordon) are thriving and truly enjoying life elsewhere

nytimes.com/athletic/77197…