Istanbul. It’s not just the home of Turkey’s most famous clubs but a city whose very name carries huge historical weight for football supporters far and wide.

Aston Villa joined their ranks in May. Mention Istanbul in earshot of a Villa supporter now and their mind will instantly conjure up memories of Besiktas Stadium, Freiburg, the Europa League final and a first European trophy for 44 years.

Two of Villa’s scorers in their 3-0 win have been sold in the last week. Youri Tielemans, whose thumping volley broke the deadlock, is now a Manchester United player. Morgan Rogers prodded in Villa’s third and has since signed for Chelsea.

Why are Villa signing Alejandro Garnacho?

Tielemans’ departure was lubricated by a £35 million release clause. If Villa had any choice in the matter, it was when the Belgium captain signed rather than when he was sold.

Rogers attracted a British record transfer fee of £117 million. For a club in dire need of a windfall to help ease the pressure of complying with financial regulations and their agreement with UEFA, the practical reality of a boost like that speaks for itself.

No sooner had the sale of Rogers been confirmed than speculation about a loan deal for Chelsea winger Alejandro Garnacho crystallised. It’s understood that Villa have agreed terms with the Blues for a season-long loan with a conditional obligation to buy him at the end of the season.

That wording is important. Under UEFA transfer regulations, a permanent transfer for Garnacho would be considered as a swap deal if it were agreed in this summer transfer window and within 45 days. In this case, those criteria are one and the same.

By agreeing an obligation that will be triggered somewhere down the road, Villa and Chelsea hope to avoid the Rogers and Garnacho transfers being linked. There’s no guarantee they will succeed.

Reporting around the Garnacho agreement has referred to the positive relationship between the two clubs and the implications are obvious, but none of the neatly tied-off ends answer the biggest question. Do Villa actually want Garnacho?

To say Garnacho will arrive at Bodymoor Heath with some baggage would be an understatement.

The 22-year-old played 144 times for Manchester United but was effectively exiled under Ruben Amorim, joining Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho, Tyrell Malacia and Antony in the so-called Bomb Squad.

Could Garnacho be the ultimate Emery project?

He will become the third of those players to link up with Unai Emery and Villa on loan. Rashford and Sancho were brought in with question marks over their professional suitability and both left having answered those doubts.

Rehabilitating unwanted Man United wingers is an unusual hobby, but Emery is an unusual manager. Garnacho wouldn’t be a Villa player without his blessing.

There will be expectations on Garnacho at Villa that he’ll have to grow up to meet. After a brief layover at Stamford Bridge, the Argentina international has been deemed talented enough to warrant the risk.

Loans for Rashford, Sancho and Garnacho aren’t examples of Villa seizing on opportunities to bring in players they wouldn’t ordinarily be able to attract, but gutsy statements that Emery believes he’s a better manager than Amorim and Michael Carrick.

Almost every player who’s pulled on a Villa shirt since Emery was appointed in 2022 has improved and the manager clearly fancies himself to do what United and Chelsea couldn’t.

Garnacho’s reputation suggests he could be Emery’s greatest loan challenge yet, notwithstanding last season’s Harvey Elliott debacle.

Villa have a robust dressing room culture capable of keeping troubled and troublesome younger members in check but Tielemans, Rogers and Lucas Digne were respected leaders in the squad.

Their departures have already presented Emery and Villa with a test of their substance at the same time as rebuilding the team without stopping. Throwing Garnacho in at the same time is bold, to say the least.

In FourFourTwo’s opinion, the best-case scenario is worth the effort. If Emery can Garnacho playing at his best, he’ll offer something Villa need in wide areas but haven’t had for some time.

In Emery’s two-man midfield and line of three behind a striker, Villa are morphing into a new proposition; Johan Manzambi and Joao Gomes are different than the players they’ll succeed.

An unpredictable, incisive, fiery winger looks like an exciting addition on paper. Emery’s job is to make sure that the ‘Garnacho’ on the back of his shirt doesn’t still imply in May what it does in July.

The World Cup treated us to historical moments, unbelievable matches and some incredible stadiums across Mexico, Canada and the USA. It was a dream come true for me to travel around presenting games for the host broadcaster, Fox Sports, and covering the matches in Mexico was an experience I’ll never forget. The fans, stadiums, culture and atmosphere encapsulated everything the tournament is about.

I was lucky enough to see multiple matches in all three of the Mexican host cities – Guadalajara, Monterrey and of course Mexico City. Each was completely different to the other, but all had one thing in common: passionate, emotional and seriously loud Mexican fans at the very heart of them.

From the moment you landed in the country, green shirts were everywhere you looked. Men, women, kids, babies, dogs and even ducks were all wearing the jersey. Mexican players’ faces were on billboards on the street, on juice cartons and sweet packets in the shops, and there was World Cup signage around every corner. It’s a football-mad country – the atmosphere was infectious and brilliant.

I got the true taste of what football means to Mexicans by working on all of the games there with Javier ‘Chicharito’ Hernandez, who still holds the record as the country’s all-time leading goalscorer. In a nation that treats football like religion, Chicharito is revered as a god.

Around Europe I work with some of the biggest names in the game and fans get excited when they see them. Many ask for selfies, autographs, or just stop to say hi. But getting around Mexico with Hernandez was something from another planet. Peter Schmeichel was also with us, and even he said, “You never see this in England.”

Fans would chase Hernandez down and scream his name when they saw him, all desperate to get as close as possible to touch him or get his signature. Moving around the stadiums, a police escort was required to get us from A to B. I’ve never seen anything like it before, but that’s how much football means to Mexicans; it’s everything to them. Their passion was contagious and they were a true example of a 12th man for their team.

Then there were the stadiums. The Azteca is iconic. As you approached the area in Mexico City, you could see it rising up in the distance. Its bright colours stood out, yet it was imposing – old but grand. The area was gritty, which gave it an edge, and the streets were lined with taco vendors.

There aren’t many stadiums that you can walk into and feel an atmosphere, even when it’s completely empty, but the Azteca had a rare, magical feeling when you stepped inside. Fill it with thousands of Mexican supporters and the noise was indescribable. When a goal was scored, you were lucky if you weren’t completely drenched in beer! It was wild and crazy – exactly how football should be enjoyed.

When you looked around, you could picture the historical moments – Pele and Carlos Alberto, plus Diego Maradona’s Hand of God and his incredible solo goal that followed. I was there for three games, including the tournament’s opening match, and no other stadium topped it throughout my travels. It had already hosted the 1970 and 1986 World Cup finals, and would have been a deserving setting for this summer’s showpiece as well.

Estadio Guadalajara was unique. It was built to almost look like a volcano, the external walls covered with grass up the sides making it appear as if the stadium was growing out from the ground, but then with a large, futuristic ring for its roof. Picturesque from the outside and spectacular within.

Monterrey was simply exquisite – the pictures don’t do it justice. The whole area surrounding the stadium is a postcard backdrop of green mountains. Not only was it a modern arena on the inside, if you were lucky enough to have a seat on one side of the stadium, there was the most stunning view of the mountains through the roof. Even in person, it didn’t look real.

After Mexico’s games, the street parties filled with thousands of fans were some of my greatest images from the World Cup. There were cars driving past and feeding passers-by with tequila out of the window, loud music blaring from bars and a party atmosphere into the early hours of the morning.

Football is deeply rooted into the culture of Mexico and the country fully embraced its role as one of this year’s hosts. They made it a special, unforgettable experience.

When referee Slavko Vincic blew the final whistle at the World Cup on Sunday evening, it didn't just signal the end of one of the worst tournament finals in living memory, it also signalled the end of a competition that has met, and in many cases exceeded, a whole host of pre-tournament worries.

While there have undoubtedly been some great stories on the pitch, they are very much outweighed by the negatives that this tournament has produced, with controversy and allegations of corruption at the heart of a World Cup like no other before, and one that could have set football down a worrying path.

Though it seems churlish to rain on Spain's parade quite so immediately, there are a number of issues that have been dragged up at this World Cup that simply cannot be ignored.

Gianni Infantino, Donald Trump and FIFA's problematic relationships

Chief among those issues is the amount of power seemingly being given to external influences like U.S. President Donald Trump, who was able to persuade FIFA to have Folarin Balogun's suspension magically suspended, despite all of the game's rules and laws stating that it should not be permitted.

Not only did this bring FIFA's increasingly problematic governance into sharp focus, but it also put the US Men's National Team and Balogun himself at the heart of a controversy they didn't ask to be a part of, eradicating any of the positivity they had earned through their impressive performances. Their humbling at the hands of Belgium was seen as a karmic realignment by most neutral fans, and though it was difficult not to smile as the USMNT spectacularly crashed out, FIFA and Gianni Infantino still have yet to sufficiently answer questions surrounding their contribution to what is arguably the most overtly grim moment in modern World Cup history.

It sadly came as no surprise either, with Infantino showing early on at the tournament that he was more or less completely unable to influence the competition he was supposed to be in charge of in any meaningful way.

Somali referee Omar Artan should be heading home today, proud of having performed his duties on the biggest stage possible. Instead, he was embarrassed and barred entry for some fairly flimsy reasoning and forced to watch from home like most others.

He wasn't the only one to have problems getting into the country, either. Fans had visas rescinded at late notice, the Iranian team had to leave games in the USA immediately after they had finished and relocate to Mexico, while other supporters had to use life savings to pay exorbitant ticket prices.

All Infantino could muster when asked about these issues was to tell people to "relax and chill" before doing seemingly nothing to address any of these concerns as the tournament went on.

Should these issues be forgotten, or if people simply move on from this, then it sets a dangerous precedent. Infantino already has the backing of more than 200 FIFA members for re-election at the upcoming presidential vote in March, which shows just how willing to forget about these incidents FIFA members are. Hoping for any reform seems beyond naive at this point, and this tournament has only served to prove that he needs to be held to account externally, because internal repercussions are unlikely to ever arrive.

Away from these obvious failings, the tournament itself was also riddled with problems caused simply by poor choices.

The expanded team format was fun for a while, but eventually wore thin, meaning that fans had grown weary of the number of games by the end of the tournament. It seems, however, that this is only going to go one way, with a 64-team World Cup already proposed for the near future, with decision makers seemingly incapable of doing things that are genuinely in the best interest of the sport.

What's more, the fact that the MetLife Stadium was selected over options like the Azteca, or Sofi Stadium as the venue for the final is a borderline dereliction of duty, with the New York/New Jersey-based stadium unable to hold a candle to the history and reverence of the Mexico City arena when it comes to football.

The spectacle inside was dismal as well, in particular the half-time show, rightly panned as "crap" by Wayne Rooney and something that should never be a feature of a World Cup final ever again.

Yet, with Donald Trump eyeing up further hosting duties in the future, stating "we will be requesting it again immediately" after the final had ended, it's not hard to see a world where FIFA hands it to them on a retainer and Shakira and Justin Bieber become as synonymous with World Cup finals as Maradona and Marco Tardelli. It doesn't even seem that farfetched a suggestion at this point.

Such nonsense had begun long before half-time at the final, prior to which, actor Tom Cruise bafflingly told us all that football "brought the world together". Yet, this was arguably the most divisive tournament in history, turning participants against the hosts, splitting fan groups into those who could and couldn't afford to attend and treating some people entirely differently to others based on little evidence or reasoning.

This is not what a World Cup should be. We should expect better, and it shouldn't be too much to hope that the game respects everyone involved. Instead, we were served pantomime theatrics, watered down quality and a complete misunderstanding of the game by a governing body that time and time again is incapable of understanding what is right for the game. We deserve much, much better, but I fear things will only get worse from here.

Arne Slot, prior to his sacking, spoke about Liverpool’s upcoming summer and anticipated the squad undergoing “another little transition” but “probably not as drastic as it was last summer.”

Last summer, the Reds spent over £400 million, twice breaking their club record transfer fee, adding eight players to the first-team squad and seeing five first-team players depart.

The departures of Trent Alexander-Arnold and Luis Diaz, two players who made 75 starts between them in the title-winning campaign the year before, only became more apparent as the season progressed.

Key replacement

Replacing Alexander-Arnold and Diaz is something that, over a year on, the Reds have still not been able to do.

And now, new head coach Andoni Iraola not only seeks to replace those two key players but also Mohamed Salah, Ibrahima Konate and Andy Robertson.

That’s five of the starting XI that won the title 15 months ago gone from Anfield, plus Diogo Jota, Darwin Nunez, Jarrel Quansah and Caoimhin Kelleher, with Curtis Jones and Harvey Elliott potentially adding to the departures this summer.

Welcome to Liverpool, Andoni. No wonder owners FSG warned the incoming Spaniard that “everything is not perfect” during initial talks, with an admission that he would face “some challenges.”

Those challenges are clear. Liverpool’s squad, and coaching staff, has been completely dismantled in the last year. There hasn’t been a period of transition so deep as this in a long time.

Liverpool’s Squad Situation

The squad that Iraola inherits is one that certainly doesn’t look capable of challenging for the title.

“We need more players. We know this,” admitted Iraola at his first press conference. “The club is working on this.”

The Spaniard also arrives with five players unavailable due to long-term injuries; Hugo Ekitike isn’t expected to be involved this side of Christmas, Conor Bradley won’t be available any time soon, centre-back Giovanni Leoni isn’t back from an ACL injury, and youngsters Stefan Bajcetic and Jayden Danns remain out with hamstring issues.

Jeremy Jacquet, the £60m signing from Rennes, is a vastly inexperienced replacement for Konate, having played fewer league minutes in his young career so far than his fellow Frenchman played in the Premier League last season alone.

Victor Munoz is a similarly inexperienced signing. The 23-year-old has never played in European competition and his natural position on the left is one of the few where Liverpool actually have some depth in Cody Gakpo and Rio Ngumoha. Continued links to Bradley Barcola add to the puzzle, with the PSG winger also most comfortable on the left.

It’s on the other side of attack where Liverpool lack any clear first-choice winger following Salah’s departure. “It is clear we need a player there, I wouldn’t say to replace Mo Salah, but we need one more winger,” outlined Iraola

As Liverpool fly to Chicago, where they’ll be based during their pre-season US tour, Iraola’s options for the right wing are Harvey Elliott, Jeremie Frimpong, Federico Chiesa or a youngster such as 16-year-old Josh Abe.

Given that Frimpong is the only right back in the squad, he’ll be needed there during the early friendlies, with the Reds taking on Sunderland in Nashville, Wrexham in New York, and Leeds in Chicago.

Chiesa is the only first-team centre-forward on the tour, so he’ll be needed there. Beyond him, with Danns still sidelined, 18-year-old Will Wright, a £200,000 signing from Salford last summer, should get plenty of opportunity.

Abe, meanwhile, is a prodigiously talented winger who could have an Ngumoha-like breakthrough in the next two seasons. Still, having just turned 16, he isn’t a solution for Iraola’s debut season.

It’s clear that a right-sided attacker is Liverpool’s clear priority this summer, with Yan Diomande having been the first-choice target but he seemingly prefers a move to Paris over Merseyside.

“It is not easy; it has to be players who have shown a good level,” says Iraola, who has the unenviable task of replacing Salah’s output, with the Egyptian contributing 22 goal involvements despite a poor final season.

From the title-winning squad of just over a year ago, 81 goals have been removed with the loss of Salah, Diaz, Jota, Nunez, Alexander-Arnold and Konate.

What Liverpool Need This Summer

It’s clear that right wing is the priority, by a distance, but there are other areas of huge need for Liverpool to address.

Of course, much depends on whether Iraola can get more from the current options than they performed last season, but Liverpool’s midfield looked incredibly open throughout last season.

Most supporters would like the club to add a true No.6 to finally replace Fabinho, who left three years ago and whose arrival transformed the midfield under Jurgen Klopp. A player whose primary role is to protect the defence and has instincts to do so is missing in this squad.

Slot changed Ryan Gravenberch’s role last season, encouraging the Dutchman to get forward more, which only led to bigger gaps in midfield and less protection for a defence that conceded a whopping 78 goals in all competitions.

Adam Wharton was linked and seemed like a strong candidate, but links to the Crystal Palace man have quietened since Slot’s sacking and he isn’t exactly a combative player with defensive instincts.

Meanwhile, right back was a problem position last season, with Frimpong proving to be far from an adequate replacement for Alexander-Arnold. Most fans aren’t sure where the Dutchman fits in; he isn’t a full-back, but equally he isn’t a right winger. That’s the problem you get when you sign a wing back for a team that doesn’t play with wing backs.

Frimpong, Bradley, Szoboszlai and Jones all played right back, with Szoboszlai arguably the best of the lot but the Hungarian clearly isn’t happiest playing there and wouldn’t be expected to do so under Iraola.

Bradley, even if able to return from his serious injury, won’t be in a position to play every week. A robust, reliable solution is needed.

And yet, there are few credible links to right backs so far. Given that three of the regular back four from 16 months ago have left, you’d expect it to be a priority to get a right back in sooner rather than later in order to build some sort of relationship with Jacquet.

Iraola may opt for a more solid right back, given Kerkez’s attacking qualities on the other side. A player like Brentford’s Michael Kayode would have been ideal, but he signed a new contract. Marco Palestra was also linked before he moved to Chelsea.

And while Jacquet, Leoni, Joe Gomez and Van Dijk make four centre backs; two of them (Jacquet and Leoni) have never played in the Premier League, Leoni has been out for 10 months with an ACL injury, Gomez cannot be relied upon to remain fit, and 35-year-old Van Dijk just played the most minutes of his career, clocking over 6,000 minutes for club and country.

An experienced centre-back would surely be advantageous, reducing the reliance on Van Dijk and also not needing to rush Jacquet and Leoni. Marcos Senesi seemed an ideal candidate, leaving Bournemouth on a free transfer, an experienced Premier League player who knows Iraola’s methods, capable of stepping into Van Dijk’s role when the Dutchman leaves next summer. But he moved to Tottenham, who also have Jan Paul van Hecke and Micky van de Ven. Such strong options are something Liverpool would dearly like.

It could be that Liverpool look to a versatile option capable of playing more than one position in defence. There’s also an argument that Kostas Tsimikas, who is returning from a disappointing loan spell at Roma where he started just six league games, isn’t of the quality required.

Then there’s the centre-forward conundrum, with Ekitike’s injury meaning only Alexander Isak can be considered as a first-team No.9 - and the Swede’s injury record doesn’t exactly instil confidence.

As things stand, beyond Isak, Liverpool’s options going into the season would be Chiesa (should he not leave), and youngsters Danns and Wright. And Danns isn’t currently fit.

Again, a versatile option might be the solution; somebody can play wide and also through the middle in attack. But it would surely be a risk to go into the new season with the current central options.

All this, without mentioning the effect that the loss of the experienced trio of Salah, Robertson and Konate will have around the training ground, plus a change in goalkeeper coach for the third summer in a row and a new coaching staff for the second time in three years.

Interestingly, Iraola says “we are here to solve these kinds of problems and to try to maximise what we have” - possibly hinting at in-house solutions to the problems he inherits.

“I trust myself a lot, and I’m ready for the challenge that I know is very big,” says the new head coach.

The challenge is certainly bigger than many may realise.

If the summer of 2024 was a 'Brat Summer' inspired by Charlie XCX's album then the summer of 2026, it was a case of it being 'New York or Nowhere'. Anything and everything was happening in the Big Apple.

From The Knicks winning their first NBA title for 53 years, July 4th being the 250th anniversary of American Independence, Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce tying the knot at Madison Square Garden, Jay Z’s residency at Yankee Stadium and of course the small matter of the World Cup.

I was fortunate enough to be based in New York for the duration of the World Cup and the questions I was asked more than any other from people back home was: “Do the Americans ‘get’ the World Cup? Are they buying into it?” Well the answer was a resounding 'yes'.

New York is a sports-mad city, although the start of the World Cup coincided with the NBA Finals – the New York Knicks were going for their first championship since 1973 and so understandably everyone was gripped by it - the World Cup definitely cut through in a city where there is a lot going on.

New York’s sports fans had been starved of recent success. The Yankees have not won the World Series since 2009, the Mets have gone even longer with their last triumph coming the year after Live Aid in 1986. The New York Giants last won the Super Bowl in 2011 and the New York Rangers last lifted the Stanley Cup in 1994 - coincidentally when the USA last hosted the World Cup.

In fact, the last sports team to win a major title was New York City FC when they won the MLS Cup in 2021.

So when the Knicks went into Game 5 3-1 up and knowing they were one win from history it is understandable that New Yorkers focused on their team.

The reaction was like nothing I’ve ever experienced before. Cars, buses, lamp posts… nowhere was safe from celebrating fans. The NYPD closed down the streets surrounding Madison Square Garden for fear of overcrowding, and used horses to break up large groups of fans. An estimated two million people descended on the streets of downtown Manhattan for the open-top bus parade days later. And so for the first week the World Cup took a back seat.

That passion then spilled across into football. Every bar, barber shop and bodega had the football on the TV, and New York had five official fan parks, one in each borough. All were packed. Further giant screens around the city showed every game.

New York is a hugely diverse city and Queens is known as the ‘World’s Borough’ – I watched Colombia play in a Colombian bar in Jackson Heights, Ecuador in Little Ecuador in Corona and Argentina in the Boca Juniors steakhouse in Elmhurst - each an experience I will never forget and all with extremely knowledgeable and passionate fans.

The Boca Juniors steakhouse was wrapped in a giant Argentina flag and I was in there when Lionel Messi scored twice against Austria to break the World Cup goalscoring record and the celebrations and happiness in the building was unlike anything I have ever experienced when watching football.

In Times Square, right at the heart of Manhattan, billboards delivered a sensory overload dominated by the World Cup. Messi promoting Michelob Ultra lager, Christian Pulisic flogging deodorant and Argentina players fronting a campaign for prediction market company Kalshi. One night, a barge carried a 50ft cutout of Lamine Yamal down the East River between Manhattan and Brooklyn, to promote the newest pair of Adidas boots.

Shop after shop had football shirts – real and fake – for sale. In any 10-minute period, you could walk the streets and see jerseys of all 48 nations at the tournament.

Times Square became the unofficial home of fan takeovers. If a country was playing at the MetLife Stadium, a few miles away in New Jersey, fans would descend on the intersection, singing and dancing. In the group stage alone, Brazil, Ecuador, France, Norway and Panama all turned up in numbers. The Norwegians even did the Viking Row.

American supporters were just as passionate. I witnessed the USA’s last-32 clash with Bosnia in a new Brooklyn bar called Socceria, and New York mayor Zohran Mamdani even turned up to watch. He was one of the biggest winners of the tournament, by doing a deal to provide cheaper tickets for locals.

When there were big VAR calls, bars would fall silent as people waited to hear the decision, this was a nation of sports fans gripped by the World Cup. When the USMNT were eventually knocked out by Belgium it did feel like someone had let the air out of the balloon, but the fans picked themselves out and got stuck into the rest of the tournament.

Even right at the end of the tournament, the 'game of shame' or Bronze medal match between France and England - with a 6-4 scoreline to the Three Lions was one of the games of the tournament - and one of the city's most popular haunts to watch the World Cup, Houston Hall, was packed with fans watching on a Saturday evening.

The city’s famous landmarks leant themselves to the World Cup. Classic Football Shirts took over the Empire State Building with an exhibition, the Atlas statue outside the Rockefeller Centre replaced the globe with a giant adidas football to promote the final ball. A giant lego replica of the World Cup trophy stood where the famous Rockefeller Christmas tree usually stands, I watched Spain beat Belgium on the Top of the Rock and Netherlands vs Japan under the iconic Brooklyn Bridge. While fans packed into Central Park to watch Spain beat Argentina in the final.

Shop windows were dressed in World Cup memorabilia. Ahead of the final, drones lit up the Manhattan skyline with the World Cup trophy. The city gave itself to the World Cup and the world came to play in New York City.

There was plenty not to like about this World Cup - unnecessary advertising hydration breaks, dynamic ticket prices, political interference and a half time show at the final. But when it came to the fans adopting football, there was not a better place to be than America and New York.

So don’t be fooled by people saying that America didn’t ‘get’ the World Cup. I spent six weeks there, and can confirm they absolutely did and there is nowhere I would rather have experienced it than New York.

If one good thing emerges from the inaugural World Cup final half time show, I hope it is that it is a one-off, confined to the history books and never seen again.

It was odd, completely out of place at a World Cup final and more than anything else it was boring.

Ahead of the game, the media, stadium workers and volunteers queued for up to three hours in the baking sun to get into the stadium due to additional security checks because of President Trump’s attendance. And that painful process was more enjoyable than whatever that halftime monstrosity was.

Madonna spent the majority of her performance in the bowls of the stadium, only appearing on the side of the pitch towards the end of her song Music flanked by Brazilian duo Ronaldo and Ronaldinho in what looked more like a scene from the new Ali G film than a live performance. Even then she only bowed. Odd.

Which aside from being a strange decision for what was supposed to be a spectacle, it was more suited to those watching at home on TV rather than those in the stadium who had paid upwards of $4,000 to be there.

Shakira and Burna Boy then performed the official World Cup anthem Dai Dai, which if you have not heard it, is exactly how you would imagine a FIFA commissioned song to sound. And then K-pop band BTS performed their hit Dynamite, which was not my thing, but no notes.

But then things got strange again when Justin Bieber was subbed on by Ted Lasso - a nice plug for the new series - and then proceeded to sing his acoustic song Everything Hallelujah which was dull and tedious. He did change the words to ‘It's the World Cup, Hallelujah’ but that did not make it any better. It was still slow and monotonous.

If the half time show was supposed to get people up and off their seats and dancing a long to then Bieber got his song choice all wrong. It was more likely to send fans to sleep than get them out of their seats.

To be fair to Biebs his performance did see him make more entries into the penalty box than Lionel Messi in the first half.

During the whole half time show I kept asking myself ‘who is this for?’ It was certainly not for football fans. Football fans want a p*ss and a pint at half time, not a weird pop medley that makes the Eurovision Song Contest look vaguely entertaining.

Then there was Pele on the big screen from his New York Cosmos days talking about ‘Love’ and then we were subjected to children on the pitch waving flags and displaying the word ‘LOVE’ in yet another completely pointless act.

The whole thing felt like a weird fever dream combined with an episode of Lip Sync Battle rather than the live extravaganza it was billed as.

All the bookings felt odd and didn’t seem to fit or work together. Earlier in the World Cup Bon Jovi’s hit Livin’ on a Prayer was played during the hydration breaks. And fans were genuinely clapping and singing to the chorus. Given Bon Jovi are in the middle of a nine night residency at Madison Square Garden, they would have been a far better booking than what we were subjected to with this peculiar series of acts..

The only part of the ‘show’ that had some participation was when Seven Nation Army by The White Stripes was played, and that was 'performed' by Kermit the Frog, Miss Piggy and Animal, because, why not? At least they know they are Muppets.

Comparisons between this half time show and those at the Super Bowl were made beforehand. But the Super Bowl half time shows are slick and entertaining, they have become ‘must watch’ moments in sport and entertainment. Whatever this was, was not that. Well not for any good reasons anyway. It was neither slick nor entertaining. It was confusing, dull and pointless.

After 20 minutes of watching it, I was left scratching my head wondering what I had just witnessed and why I had witnessed and again the great unanswered question, 'who is this for?'

FIFA must have been delighted when Argentina made the final and not England, because you can be sure of one thing, just like Mexican Waves, the England fans would not have stood for this nonsense and would no doubt have booed the whole farce.

Whoever had the bright idea to introduce this to the world’s biggest sporting event has some questions to answer, because in my opinion this was a poorly judged and poorly executed waste of time. But it will no doubt be lauded a success by FIFA supremo Gianni Infantino and the suits in Zurich.

And let’s not forget the players in all this. For all their careers footballers have trained and played on the basis that there is a 15 minute break for half time and yet on the biggest stage of all they are made to wait longer and their bodies would have cooled down and heightened the risk of injury - when the football did finally resume.

The World Cup in the United States, Canada and Mexico has been an undoubted success but that is in spite of FIFA and not because of them. Hydration breaks, dynamic ticket prices, political interference and now this half time show have no place in football.

Let the game flow and let the fans enjoy the game - stop trying to force fun onto them.

Picture this: England are one of the last teams playing in the World Cup. It’s third against fourth in the world rankings, and the Three Lions have raced into a 4-0 first-half lead against one of the pre-tournament favourites.

A one-man Declan Rice band is putting France’s midfield to shame, Bukayo Saka is farming TikTok comp clips from the right flank, and Kylian Mbappe can’t make a dent in a Dean Henderson-shaped wall.

Life's good, right? No, it’s bloody awful.

England so strong, yet so painful

That’s because this is, of course, the dreaded third-place play-off game, the prize being a bronzed box on your nation’s World Cup Wikipedia page.

Former England international and BBC pundit Danny Murphy argued before the game, through gritted teeth, that a win in this Miami meeting could potentially be “a tiny consolation” for crashing out in the semis against Argentina.

I’d have been minded to agree before the first whistle blew, fully expecting Mbappe’s Golden Boot campaign to reach a dubiously successful conclusion - and it still did, but that didn't account for SIX England goals.

As Rice, Ezri Konsa, Jude Bellingham and Saka (thrice) whistled the ball past Mike Maignan, all I could muster was a bitter chuckle. Nothing about this was consoling.

I didn’t think the bronze-medal battle could get any worse, until I saw it go well.

Where was this version of Rice, the one we all know, in the previous rounds? How does Saka look like he’s never been scathed by injury in his life? Why have we saved this for the world’s most pointless fixture? And how are we pulling it off without Harry Kane or Jude Bellingham (for most of it, at least)?

Yes, okay, I concede we may not have witnessed a vintage Les Bleus, who no doubt would have presented a more lethal version of themselves had the trophy been on the line, but if we can make the 2018 victors look like minnows, in Didier Deschamps' farewell ceremony, what more were we capable of?

Watching Marcus Rashford fire off rockets incumbered by pressure, seeing Eberechi Eze glide across the pitch picking up pockets of space as he does so well, and witnessing Djed Spence shuttle up and down like an Avanti West Coast train, I think I know the answer. And that’s why this performance, which should ordinarily be a disposable, forgettable game, feels so painful.

All the parts might have been there; we just didn’t put them together.

One glimmer of hope comes courtesy of the age of many of those involved, who will be hitting their prime as the 2030 edition rocks around, but forgive me for postponing that sober analysis for now.

It crossed my mind, ever so briefly, that I might be spending my Sunday evening watching England in the final of the World Cup.

Wednesday’s semi-final was already into the last 10 minutes and England were about to reap the rewards of freezing in the headlights of Argentina. They were still 1-0 to the good when the daydream was pushed from my brain by the realisation that England weren’t just going to concede – they weren’t going to make it as far as extra time.

So brief was the moment in which I dared to believe that I’ll be tucking into my Sunday dinner of football with the same enthusiasm as I would have if England had been knocked out weeks ago.

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ITV and BBC are sharing the World Cup Final and I’ll be watching both

Choosing which channel to watch for the most important game in football is usually an easy decision.

For better or worse, I simply prefer my television coverage without advertising. There are lots of reasons for that but let’s say for now that it’s primarily about the interrupted flow of ITV’s presentation.

Consequently, BBC Sport has been my selection for one World Cup after another, for as long as I can remember.

Truth be told, I don’t remember ITV’s meme-ready World Cup foibles all that well. The pub where I watched England vs United States in 2010 didn’t have ITV HD, so I didn’t even miss Steven Gerrard’s goal.

It’s different this year. ITV’s coverage was preferable from the off, not so much because they were on the ground in Brooklyn while the BBC stayed home, but because of the knock-on effects of that fact on their respective presentations.

There’s more to it than location. ITV Sport has been pilloried over the years, often without any real justification, but the vast majority of the matches they’ve covered at World Cup 2026 have been part of coverage worth tuning into in its own right.

ITV’s coverage gathered steam in the depths of the group stage, where hardened viewers and their messed-up body clocks were treated to the tactical interludes of USWNT head coach Emma Hayes. As she found her groove, so ITV edged further ahead of their rivals.

They handpicked their studio pundits perfectly. Patrick Vieira, Juan Mata and the eminently listenable Ange Postecoglou and Duncan Ferguson have been laced through ITV’s match coverage.

Jobi McAnuff and Bradley Wright-Phillips have brought good stuff to the screen, a mainstream promotion for McAnuff and an unexpectedly positive introduction from the former New York Red Bulls striker.

But it’s the big hitters, the quartet lined up for Sunday’s final, that elevate the aggregate beyond the BBC’s studio offering.

Change the channel! Change the channel!

I’d be lying if I said I much cared which presenter is in the big chair – BBC’s anchors are tremendous broadcasters – but Mark Pougatch will be chatting with Karen Carney, Roy Keane, Gary Neville and Ian Wright on Sunday, and that’s a combination that caters to my tastes better than the trio joining Gabby Logan on BBC One.

The BBC panel has lots to offer but it’s ITV serving up the punditry crew I want talking me through the pre-match on Sunday night.

I like their insight, their chemistry, their rhythm, but I think the big difference, over and above personality, is the sense of ease among an ITV group that speak with depth but in a way that makes me feel as if I’m sitting up there with them.

Yet as soon as BBC’s mics are closed on Wayne Rooney, Joe Hart and Micah Richards and the show is handed over to the commentary team, I’ll be dropping down a couple of channels to join Guy Mowbray and Alan Shearer.

As excellent as ITV’s coverage has been this summer, my preference for Carney and Keane over Rooney and Richards is nowhere near powerful enough to watch the World Cup Final with Sam Matterface, the top-ranking commentator in ITV’s inexplicably upside-down pecking order, and co-commentator Lee Dixon.

They’ll be joined by the rather more excitable Ally McCoist on Sunday but we all have our limits. In fairness, Shearer has matured into an exceptional pundit and co-commentator anyway and I really like Gladiators.

Just like the studio choice, my commentary decision is no contest. ITV might be the better represented in the pick ‘n’ mix cup of my 104-match World Cup television viewing, but I’ll still be digging into the old favourites come kick-off time.

Did no one at The FA think to flag how much Thomas Tuchel’s head resembles a certain vegetable? A bad omen if ever there was.

However, with the inquest in full swing, I feel it’s important not to rest the blame solely at the feet of the German while others choose to set pitchforks alight. England came into the tournament with some of the purest quarter-final vibes I can ever recall, but were handed a winnable game in the last eight which they won, after extra-time.

The semis felt like nosebleed territory for this team and a final would have certainly been a game too far and not nearly as close as the Euro 2024 final turned out to be.

Hard to get excited about England in 2026

In seven games at World Cup 2026, we saw two good halves of football from England: The second vs Croatia and the first vs Mexico. Apart from that, it was hard to get excited about this team.

The main difference between Tuchel and Gareth Southgate seemed to be their approach to media interviews. Southgate, the politician, Tuchel, the irritable stepfather.

“Sloppy, a lot of technical mistakes, not fast enough, not repetitive enough,” was his assessment of England's victory vs Norway. Hard to imagine Southgate even thinking in that manner, never mind saying it out loud on live television, but such is Tuchel’s style. You presume that was the thinking behind his hiring. To not be Southgate. To be different.

Tuchel’s point on technical deficiencies is as valid as it is concerning, particularly in midfield. Where Porro, Cucurella, Ruiz and Rodri tik and tak, England’s equivalents swash and buckle. That’s not the fault of Tuchel, who took over at the top of English football two years ago. That issue lies a couple of decades back, when Tuchel was coaching Stuttgart’s U19s, having been working as a bartender just a few years before that.

Tuchel arrived as England manager ready to issue the b*llockings he had become famous and successful for. It raised eyebrows, it demanded egos be left at the door.

At one stage, Jude Bellingham looked like he might be left at home. Trent Alexander-Arnold was. Tuchel was bold with his handling of personnel, and the hope was that he would follow suit tactically.

He largely did until 70 minutes into England’s semi-final vs Argentina. After Anthony Gordon scored England’s first and only chance of the game, England and Tuchel entered sliding doors territory.

At this stage, it would’ve been worse not to score a second than to concede a first. Against Mexico, England were forced into low block mode by Jarell Quansah’s sending off. But vs Argentina, it was a choice. Ezri Konsa came on for Anthony Gordon, a move straight out of the Southgate playbook. England fans were reacquainted with sinking feelings experienced during second-half capitulations vs Croatia in 2018, and Italy at Wembley in 2021.

England 2.0 would, you think, have introduced Marcus Rashford for Gordon at this stage and maybe even Bukayo Saka on the right wing to increase the sense of dread among Argentina players and supporters. Swapping both wingers is something Tuchel has done consistently during games this tournament.

But Tuchel knows this team better than anyone and knows they aren’t Spain. Has England ever really looked in control of a game apart from in the second half against a distinctly average Croatia team? Against Messi in a World Cup semi-final is an entirely different dimension.

Have you ever had the feeling England could push on and add to a lead? They had 7 touches in the opponent's box the entire game vs Argentina who had 28 in England’s. Their xG was a paltry 0.53.

They didn’t look like a team that could score again, but as we saw vs Mexico they had proved they are a team that can defend a lead, so Tuchel went with that. You can at least see where he was coming from with a place in the World Cup final at stake.

Ultimately: wrong decision. We will also never know if Rashford/Saka would’ve been the right decision, but after 2018 and 2021 England fans this morning would’ve rather gone out knowing.

Thomas Tuchel shouldn’t be sacked; he should be given the opportunity to learn from this error. If he ever finds himself in this exact situation again (like Southgate was in the Euro 2020 final) he will act differently.

Until now, Lionel Messi and England had appeared destined to remain star-crossed.

The prospect of the greatest player in a generation, if not all time, and the birthplace of football never tangling threatened to go down as one of the game's biggest unknowns before they were finally brought together for Wednesday's World Cup semi-final.

Fate, or rather foolishness, conspired against Messi and England doing battle over two decades earlier as he missed their balmy 2005 friendly through suspension after picking up a red card just two minutes into his international debut.

But while good things come to those who wait, this long-awaited and much-sought contest may feel like a potentially unfair fight with the eight-time Ballon d'Or winner facing a resurgent Three Lions while hurtling towards the wrong side of 40.

The Inter Miami star, however, is in the form of his international life as the prospect of immortality as the first successive World Cup-winning captain since 1962 stands tantalisingly close - if he can overcome the might of Harry Kane and Jude Bellingham.

He is football's very own Benjamin Button; defying the sands of Father Time to break records which will outlast even some of the bona fide greats of the 'beautiful game'.

This summer has been no exception with eight goals and two assists putting him clear of Kylian Mbappe as the World Cup's new all-time top scorer even before the France captain bowed out against Spain.

Messi, unlike his longstanding nemesis and fellow World Cup elder statesman Cristiano Ronaldo, has disproved the theory that a 'Last Dance' automatically equates to slowing his role despite walking 47% of his distances covered at the tournament.

Less is officially more where the 39-year-old is concerned as evidenced by a combined 54 chances created to date - matching Diego Maradona's exploits in 1986, when the Albiceleste put England to the sword en route to glory at Mexico's Estadio Azteca.

Since the 2014 World Cup, his attacking prowess has risen incrementally with his current touches in the opposition's box now averaging 6.28 touches per 90 minutes.

Thomas Tuchel's side will also have their work cut out shackling a player who has 16 goals and seven assists in his last 15 World Cup outings while forewarned is not necessarily forearmed for the Premier League players he has routinely tormented.

He may not have realised the oft-quoted cliche of hacking it on cold and rainy night in Stoke but Messi has been the bête noire of the English top flight's traditional 'big six' clubs with 33 goal involvements - 27 goals and six assists - in 36 meetings overall.

Only those capable of suffocating the spaces which Argentina's talisman looks to exploit in games were able to cut off his supply, as Liverpool successfully did in Barcelona's infamous Champions League semi-final capitulation back in 2019.

Yet Messi's ability to lull opponents into a false sense of security before flicking a switch means he can never truly be counted out of any game, as Egypt discovered to their peril.

It evokes a memorable line from The Simpsons about the little guy who hasn't done anything yet but he's going to do something and you know it's gonna be good.

Atlanta's air-conditioned stadium may not be the Potteries but Messi can finally show England why their date with destiny was more than two decades in the making.

When Bruno arrived on Tyneside in January 2022, four months into the Saudi project, there was a quiet sense that Newcastle had acquired something more than a midfielder.

Before the project had hardened into process, before the future of the club could be rendered as a consultant’s slide deck in Riyadh – strategic pillars, global tours, and upward arrows pointing to 2030 – Bruno made it feel tangible.

He gave flesh to what was otherwise an abstraction: a state-backed takeover, a distant ownership structure, a set of ambitions too large and too awkward to fit comfortably inside ordinary football language, let alone inside a club that has always understood itself less as a brand than a civic institution.

Newcastle can no longer match the ambitions of their captain and best player

At £40m, and with two Brazilian caps under his belt, he was the first genuinely glamorous signing of the Saudi era, striking a shrewd balance with Kieran Trippier: one a highly experienced hand, the other a glimpse of the kind of player Newcastle had spent years watching other clubs sign.

His talent was immediately obvious – little swivels under pressure, still a relatively exotic concept in recent Newcastle midfields; passes struck with the casual cruelty of a teacher correcting your posture and your entire understanding of where you are supposed to stand; the way he could receive even a square ball from Ciaran Clark as if it had arrived silver-service. The Angel of the North meets Christ the Redeemer: arms out, chest up, demanding the ball.

But, it was not simply talent that has earned him legendary status in Newcastle.

It was attitude: a refusal to show any opponent the proper level of deference; the sense that he had wandered into English football and found most of it in need of correction while still somehow looking like the most grateful man to be on the pitch.

That mattered because the early Saudi project required translation.

It needed something warmer than statements about ambition, investment and growth. Bruno provided it. He was the point at which the whole awkward arrangement could be experienced not as geopolitics, not as a moral argument, not as a sovereign wealth fund acquiring emotional real estate in the north-east, but as football: a great player in a great stadium, making people believe slightly unreasonable things.

And now, perhaps, Arsenal. As with Gordon, Real Madrid or Barcelona would have been easier to process, the old aristocracy doing what the old aristocracy does, floating across Europe with a velvet rope, self-important slogan and a chequebook.

Arsenal are different; they are the domestic benchmark that Newcastle were supposed to be chasing five years into the project: coherent, modern, upwardly mobile and perhaps close enough for the comparison to sting.

Rival fans have duly assembled online to gawp at another Tyneside doom spiral: Gordon, Tonali gone; perhaps Bruno next. There is a particular pleasure in watching another club’s grand ambitions meet the blunt end of the transfer market.

The strange thing is that many Newcastle fans understand it. Some may even feel a bleak sense of gratitude it has happened cleanly, honestly, without the long theatre of solitary fitness work at a former club and agent-polished farewell notes.

He will leave, if he does leave, as a club legend, having upheld his side of the bargain better than most modern footballers are ever required to do, and will likely win the trophies Newcastle haven't been able to deliver as of yet.

And yet the sadness among the supporters is not quite the whole story. Above it hangs the darker question about what Newcastle are becoming. Losing one beloved player is football. Losing several in the same summer can be dressed up as strategy or squad evolution. But losing the player who made the strategy look believable raises a more uncomfortable question: once the initial rush of acceleration has gone, what exactly are Newcastle asking supporting to believe in now?

Perhaps this is not the Saudi project failing, but entering its coldest phase: normality. The early years were about seduction: noise, flags, Champions League nights, the intoxicating sense that Newcastle had been lifted out of the food chain at last.

This summer suggests something more complicated. Supporters feel the rush of possibility; players confront the pace of progress; owners think in assets, timelines and portfolios.

Bruno made that arrangement feel like love. His departure would make it look rather more like business.

Christian Pulisic has been the face of USA soccer for nearly a decade. He has produced memorable moments, scored dozens of goals and featured regularly for some of Europe's biggest clubs.

Clearly, Pulisic ranks among the greatest American players ever. It is time, however, to have a conversation about what he is and what he is not.

If the USMNT's underwhelming 2026 World Cup proved anything, it is that Pulisic is not the type of player who can consistently define matches. Yes, he remains a talented attacker capable of creating magic, but is not the type of game-changing alpha who can consistently lift his team to a higher level.

Pulisic has scored one goal in eight matches across two World Cups

The Americans had long hoped Pulisic would develop into that type of difference-making lead man, but the 27-year-old veteran's showing this summer — in what should be the prime of his career — made crystal clear that he is not cut from that cloth.

Not only did Pulisic suffer his latest niggling injuries, but he also failed to find the back of the net in four appearances that ended with him being substituted in the lopsided Round of 16 loss to Belgium due to an ankle problem.

The AC Milan star did deliver an assist in the scintillating 4-1 win over Paraguay in the USMNT's tournament opener, but that was as good as it really got, and Pulisic's overall body of work made it abundantly clear he is more sidekick than superhero, more Robin than Batman.

That conclusion does not stem solely from the 48-team edition of the international competition. Pulisic has produced just one goal in eight matches across the two World Cups he has featured in, a paltry return for a player long expected to deliver defining moments on the sport's biggest stage.

His unfortunate post-game interview last Monday with US broadcast rights holder Fox Sports only further drove home the point that he does not carry himself like the ruthless, demanding driving force so many Americans expected him to be when he arrived to the senior national team scene in 2016.

"It is just frustrating to end like that, of course, but now I get time to rest," Pulisic said of his ankle injury. "Hopefully it will be okay."

While Pulisic's answer was human, it made him sound more like a player focusing on getting through another physical setback rather than one seething over a missed opportunity to write USMNT history in a once-in-a-career World Cup played on home soil.

That may or may not be fair to him, but that response coupled with his decision to skip last summer's Concacaf Gold Cup only reinforced the perception that he's not the type of player who naturally commands a team either by performance or personality.

Truthfully, Pulisic has never looked fully comfortable with the role of talisman. It has felt more often than not as though the responsibility chose him rather than the other way around, which says as much about the state of the USMNT over the last 10 years as it does about Pulisic.

His international career might come to be defined in part by that criticism, but plenty of stars have thrived in complementary roles. Just ask Angel Di Maria or Antoine Griezmann, two elite players who produced brilliant moments for their respective national teams without ever serving as the singular focal points.

Di Maria might just be the best example. Argentina never needed him to be Lionel Messi. Argentina just needed Di Maria to be a quality partner for Messi, someone who could punish defenses that overly focused on stopping the central figure.

None of that is to say that Pulisic is at the level Di Maria was previously at — especially given the former's unspectacular Serie A season — or that the USMNT has a Messi-like player in its pool. Rather, it is to highlight the type of supporting role that might better suit Pulisic's strengths.

For years, the Americans have hoped that Pulisic could be a transformational star much in the same way Messi is for Argentina, Kylian Mbappe is for France, and Erling Haaland is for Norway.

The evidence for Pulisic at both club and country suggests, however, that may have been the wrong approach. Pulisic might just be better when he is asked to be one of the guys, not thee guy.

Of course, time is running out for Pulisic. He will be 31 at the next World Cup, likely young enough to still contribute but probably old enough to have lost a step or two.

Monaco striker Folarin Balogun, 25, could be one of those players that helps Pulisic carry the attacking burden after scoring three goals at this summer’s tournament. Another possibility is Diego Luna, the 22-year-old Real Salt Lake attacker that was axed from this year's final roster.

Regardless of who it is, the USMNT will require more than just Pulisic. Not only to try and advance beyond the Round of 16, but also to help Pulisic deliver the type of strong World Cup that has eluded him so far.

Maybe then Pulisic will finally be judged for the player he actually is rather than the one so many hoped he would become.

Newcastle United fans' general enthusiasm for the new season is dwindling with every major player sale. I’m a Newcastle United fan myself, but if Bruno Guimarães follows Anthony Gordon, Sandro Tonali and Kieran Trippier out the exit door this summer… I think all of those sales could prove to be good decisions, even though some were forced upon the club.

Kieran Trippier’s departure was inevitable, and possibly 6-12 months later than it could have been, while Anthony Gordon and Sandro Tonali’s body language in the last six months did nothing to hide their desire to leave Tyneside.

In the case of Gordon, an untenable apathy had crept in from both his side and that of supporters unhappy with his inconsistent attitude and lack of league goal contributions. Tonali never felt like he wanted to be here, despite the swathes of affection that reigned down on him from the stands, which he might not get at Tottenham.

Guimarães’ situation is different. The club captain has just turned in his best season in a Newcastle United shirt, in spite of the club’s poor league performance and gruelling schedule. He scored nine Premier League goals – two more than any other season – all while playing 800 fewer league minutes than in the previous two campaigns. Had he managed to play more than 29 Premier League games, Newcastle would have almost certainly finished higher than the disappointing 12th position they managed.

Guimarães is 28, has two years left on his contract and was a bright spark among an average Brazil team at the World Cup (Norway penalty miss notwithstanding). As such, his value has never been higher (£70m-£100m).

The offer of a new contract in January wasn’t possible with Champions League football looking so unlikely, and it proved unachievable. It was probably futile regardless. Realistically, Newcastle can’t pay close to what a club like Arsenal can more comfortably afford. Neither can Newcastle offer European football or the potential of a title-challenging season.

Furthermore, putting Guimarães’ salary up (he’s already one of the top earners at the club) will send him so far clear of anyone else in the dressing room that it risks destabilising the squad at a time when unity is an essential commodity.

Digging their heels and forcing Guimarães to remain will result in a key player, also their captain, likely harbouring resentment towards the hierarchy and would nullify his USP: that unique ability to bring players together, inspire them via performances on the pitch, and his attitude and enthusiasm off it. The dressing room's power supply would be flat.

Yes, letting Guimaraes and Tonali leave in the same window is far from ideal, but keeping unhappy players on big wages is less preferable. You can't have the most important player not firing on all cylinders as his value plummets with every passing window, while potentially earning a dressing-room-damaging wage.

So much can go wrong playing Premier League chess. It won’t be lost on Newcastle that they did at one stage possess what is probably the perfect combination of midfield three in the Premier League right now: Elliot Anderson, Sandro Tonali and Bruno Guimaraes. That hurts.

The news that Bruno Guimaraes has told Newcastle United he wants to leave broke yesterday, but I wouldn’t be surprised if he actually signalled this intention as early as the start of the year, knowing that this summer would mark the two-year countdown on his deal. That courtesy will have at least allowed Newcastle to begin getting their ducks in order, which it looks like they are doing, rather than scrambling madly as they did during last summer’s Alexander Isak saga.

This is a reset summer and a reset season. A lack of European football will help them in this respect. Funds generated from assets they have grown and sold will give them a big opportunity to build the proper foundation they have been missing.

They are already making decisive moves in the market, £60m+ has been spent on goalkeeper Ewen Jaouen and forward Bazoumana Toure (both 20 years old). In terms of midfielders, deals for Johan Manzambi (20) and Sean Steur (18) are in motion, while The Athletic also report Monaco’s Lamine Camara and Auxerre’s Kevin Danois (both midfielders, both 22 years old) are being closely tracked. Though not headline names, that’s a large enough pool of midfielders to suggest they are coming in as replacements, rather than supplements.

Newcastle United must to do three things if they want to make Guimarães’ exit successful: secure market value (nothing less than £70m upfront, ideally closer to the Tonali price of £100m) sign a replacement, or replacements, before Guimarães leaves, and lastly (a point as difficult to guarantee as it is crucial) ensure those signings have the talent, temperament and potential to eclipse what Tonali and Guimarães brought to the club when they arrived, both as relative unknowns, particularly in the case of Guimarães.

This is a highly sensitive deal for the fans and the player. Guimarães is beloved by Newcastle supporters, and the feeling is genuinely mutual. Therefore, it is important to put yourself in the player's shoes. He is 28, and he has just impressed on the world stage. He had no loyalty to the club when he arrived, and while he has built affection and love in the four and a half years he has been here, it’s probably asking too much of him to dedicate the rest of his career to Newcastle United.

He has given incredible service and will at least double the £35m paid for him if sold. He lifted the club’s first domestic trophy in 70 years, started a family in Newcastle, embraced the culture, simultaneously picking up English (and Geordie) overnight, and raised the standard of the team significantly.

He can double his money and double his chances of winning medals by securing a move to a club like Arsenal. It’s unlikely the opportunity will exist beyond this summer.

Sadly, his ambitions and talent have overtaken the club, and Newcastle United have to accept that. This point shouldn’t sit easily with the club. The sales of Gordon, Tonali and, potentially, Guimarães rightly shine light on comments by CEO David Hopkinson, who on two occasions last season said publicly that Newcastle United will be “in the debate” about being the top club in the world by 2030.

Newcastle fans should be excited by such bold comments, but equally, Hopkinson will be aware that he will be judged on them. Perhaps he is trying to manifest that type of success by putting it on record. Equally, it’s a dangerous line in the sand.

Though bold, Hopkinson is possibly learning the hard way, that CEO media appearances in England aren’t exactly taken with a grain of salt, like they can be in North America, and it wouldn’t be a surprise if we see and hear less of him this season. The talking is over, there is lots of work to be done, starting with the handling of the Guimarães situation.

Make no mistake, Guimarães himself will be heartbroken, but he knows that it is the right call. Newcastle United fans owe it to him to recognise that and wave him off with thanks.

At 7.05pm on July 11, 2018 moisture filled the air across England, and it wasn’t low pressure from the North Atlantic sweeping in to ruin yet another English summer.

No, Kieran Trippier had just scored a freekick to put England in front vs Croatia in the semi-finals of the 2018 World Cup and large portions of the 26.6 million people watching indulged in a new craze sweeping the nation: pint chucking.

I was watching in Central London at Flat Iron Square, arguably the birthplace of the football pint chuck. The casual food and drink venue was transformed into a World Cup bearpit during the summer of 2018, and it was absolutely fantastic.

The setup was perfect: space, food stalls, transport links, multiple bars, multiple screens, including a giant one in front of an open-air space that allowed for maximum orbit when launching your pint.

But why would anyone launch a full pint? Especially in London, where the price continues to creep worryingly away from £5, and closer to 10.

Read on for my theory...

The day before England played Panama in their second group game at World Cup 2018 a heatwave hit Britain. Average temperatures were the highest on record.

Technology was advancing at breakneck speed: the concept of high definition had leapt from the living room to the outdoor screen, meaning you could visit a fan park and watch football on a giant screen, with audible commentary, and the picture didn’t resemble EA Sports FIFA ‘98 Road To The World Cup.

Promoters and venues took advantage of this. Little did they know they would hit upon a business model where people would pay in, pay for drinks, throw them in the air, then promptly order more.

Plastic glasses have always been a thing, but they play an important role in the phenomenon of England game pint chucking. Watching football en masse necessitates the plastic glass, for obvious reasons.

Still with me? Just a few more factors to run through.

Social media. Images and footage of fans throwing pints during Russia 2018 went viral. They were in the news, on Twitter, Instagram, WhatsApp groups were full of them. The England team's official social media account shared them. England players in Russia were shown them.

Fans around the country who were gathered in similar Fan Parks wanted in on the fun. When England scored at the 2018 World Cup and you were watching at a busy Fan Park, the thought crossed your mind: “Harry Kane could see this”. Before you knew it, you were drenched in Heineken.

To recap the formula: hot weather, high definition big screens, the safety net of plastic glass, social media. Now for the secret ingredient: euphoria.

Prior to England’s 2018 World Cup run, there hadn’t been anything worth chucking a pint in the air for when watching the Three Lions at a major tournament.

Maybe Daniel Sturridge’s injury-time winner vs Wales at Euro 2016 (but Gareth Bale and co very much had the last laugh that summer), Raheem Sterling ‘scoring’ at Brazil 2014? (Replays showed he hit the side netting). There was nothing good to pint lob over at Euro 2012, or South Africa 2010. In 2008, England didn’t qualify; Germany 2006 was a huge let-down. You have to go back to a pre-social media era to find a moment at a summer football tournament worth losing a pint over.

Not much can match the euphoria of celebrating an important England goal, knowing most of the country is doing the same thing. Add in friends, family and balding strangers, and you can really lose control. When it happens, you hold on until the tremors stop. You need both hands. A cup of liquid is the last thing you need. It had to go, and in the summer of 2018, it did. High, with pride.

Kieran Trippier, over the wall

By the 2018 semi-final, people were showing up to fan parks in those disposable waterproof ponchos, such was the volume of aerial lager. Looking back at footage of fans celebrating Kieran Trippier’s early semi-final goal, it doesn't look real. It feels staged.

But it was very real. It's comical how many plastic cups fill the air. But that was the new norm, the cameras were ready, pointing at the crowd for that exact moment. It was wet and wild – a new craze was born.

No other fan base chucks fans like England. A strange thing to type. But like it or not, pint chucking is officially ‘a thing’.

Read more England stories

I was at Netherlands 2-0 England in 1993 - and it was one of the maddest Three Lions away days of my life

Le Tournoi, 27 years on: When England last won a tournament

Punditry can be a tough gig. Who among us would like to go on live TV and talk about football to be eviscerated by an entire nation on social media?

Still, there are some whose insight and personalities we have enjoyed more than others.

So here we go: all the pundits from this year's World Cup, ranked from worst to best. Fine if you disagree, it's all a matter of taste.

29. Olivier Giroud (BBC)

We couldn't help but put him bottom of the pile, but we actually feel a little bit sorry for France's former all-time leading goalscorer.

A French-speaking friend tells us that Olivier Giroud is much more eloquent in his native tongue, so there is a degree of benefit of the doubt to be given.

But throughout his time in the BBC studio this summer, Giroud has often struggled to find the right words to express his point - and just as you think he's about to find it, he gets wound up by the presenters or interrupted by another pundit. It's very frustrating to watch even with our sympathetic goggles on.

28. Scott Brown (BBC)

Often insightful and straightforwardly honest when covering Scotland in the group stage, as you might expect, but has been of limited utility to the BBC beyond that.

The main revelation really is that he has a fine head of hair and that his decision to go full skinhead during his Celtic days was an active choice - which, to be fair, is in keeping with how he played.

Still looks like he might own an illegal dog, though. We're not saying he does though, lawyers.

27. Ashley Williams (BBC)

He's broadly fine, and if you get him into his lane talking about defending, Ashley Williams can be genuinely insightful.

The main knock against him is going to become pretty familiar over the next few entries, particularly when it comes to the BBC's form of presentation: we just don't see very much of his personality on show.

He glitched early in the tournament when he said of Messi, after Argentina's opening game, "Are we looking at the greatest player, ever? It's possible. It's definitely worth the debate." We've been having the debate for about 15 years, Ash.

26. Darren Cann (BBC)

Bless him, he is trying, but former linesman Darren Cann is exactly the BBC version of an refereeing analyst.

That is to say: he is safe, he gives his views, but he seems always to feel the need to couch even the criticisms he strongly disagrees with by giving the officials a bit of a 'but I can see why they've given it that way'.

It's tough to judge Cann too harshly given how little airtime he gets, but we'd be interested in getting a little bit more of his own view on certain rules and interpretations, and where he sees problems in them.

25. Cesar Azpilicueta (BBC)

Cesar Azpilicueta approaches punditry exactly how he used to approach playing the game: very solid, fairly unspectacular, easy to overlook at first glance, and a safe pair of hands.

He is particularly good on Spain and explaining defensive shape, as you might expect.

But he's also quite quiet and passive in the studio. You don't want pundits talking over each other all the time, but there is such a thing as patiently waiting your turn to the point you never actually say anything unless prompted.

24. Lucas Leiva (BBC)

You know what we're going to say, don't you?

The former Brazil international has been a useful selection for the BBC thanks to his globetrotting playing career and ability to talk about what it's like to play for one of the big boys.

On the downside... he's kind of just... been there, sitting and smiling politely and offering 'say what you see' as his main mode. The man was born to wear a quarter-zip fleece, though, we'll give him that.

23. Benni McCarthy (BBC)

An exception to the 'bland BBC pundits' rule, at long last.

Benni McCarthy has been refreshingly willing to speak his mind and was particularly critical of the tournament format, feeling that Ecuador and Germany had settled for a result that suited them both.

You do sometimes get the impression that he has an idea in his mind that he is so keen to get out that he doesn't quite think through how to express it - but we'll take that over filling airtime saying nothing particular.

22. Theo Walcott (BBC)

We know what we're going to get from Theo Walcott at this point in his career: a lot of 'nice, intelligent, polite boy' energy.

The England winger hasn't featured too often on the BBC's coverage, and indeed was not even announced as part of their lineup on their initial promotional materials for the tournament.

Again, though, there is a tendency towards safe and sterile, particularly when he's partnered by pundits of a similar temperament... and the Beeb just have too many of those. Put him with someone more dynamic or tactical, and he comes into his own a lot more.

21. Duncan Ferguson (ITV)

Our first ITV entry. We were looking forward to seeing what Big Dunc had to offer. The results have been mixed.

The problem, we think, is that the Everton icon seems to have been cast by the producers in a bit of a 'banter merchant' role, which is nice - you need a bit of levity at a summer tournament, and it would be a bit rich for us to criticise it having been harping on about the BBC being too boring so far.

But there have been times when we would have liked to have heard a bit more of his trademark bluntness. He's been better used on the behind-the-scenes stuff on ITV's Instagram account than on TV, we think. Other tastes might have him higher, which is absolutely fair enough.

20. Bradley Wright-Phillips (ITV)

Bradley Wright-Phillips would feel like a bit of a rogue choice in almost any other context - but in the early days of the tournament, in particular, he proved to be a canny pick-up for ITV.

His on-screen reunion with his father, Ian Wright, (apparently they hadn't seen each other in person for a year), was a genuinely lovely moment, for starters.

More importantly, though: after his long and successful career in MLS, Wright-Phillips has been uniquely placed to act as a bridge between UK viewers and US soccer culture.

19. Juan Mata (ITV)

The former Chelsea, Manchester United and Spain playmaker has played all over the globe and won virtually everything there is to win.

As with Lucas for the BBC, that makes Mata very valuable to ITV as a solid all-rounder, particularly covering some of the less glamorous sides in the group stage.

He does feel a bit like an ITV pundit in BBC clothing at times, though, and is a bit prone to sitting back in the cut when he's alongside some of their more forceful personalities.

18. Gael Clichy (BBC)

We wonder if, in hindsight, the BBC might have left the incredibly handsome Giroud at home and just stuck with Clichy for their Francophone perspective.

The former Arsenal and Manchester City left-back has been a thoughtful presence, and when he has had things to say, they have generally added to the conversation.

But he suffers a little bit from the same problem as Williams, Walcott and Azpilicueta: he often needs to be invited in rather than volunteering himself. Again, we must stress this may be a production issue more than a problem with the pundits themselves - but it would just be nice to see them loosen things up a bit from time to time.

17. Micah Richards (BBC)

Now look. We know Micah Richards is a very Marmite taste. But some people bloody love Marmite. Besides, given the rest of the BBC line-up, he at least makes for a change of pace.

We really like Richards when he's in serious tactical mode, and his rather distinctive career trajectory means he is better than some of his colleagues at telling the viewer what it's like both when you're in a team that's flying and when you're struggling as an individual.

There's always been more than a touch of Ian Wright's early broadcasting career about Richards, though: he's good at playing the clown, and so he gets asked to do it far too often. We'd love someone to [Gary Lineker face] have a word with him and tell him he can be even more valuable as a serious voice; his charisma and charm will still come through, and may be less grating for his detractors.

16. Karen Carney (ITV)

We're very much moving now into the 'very solid pro' lane of pundits.

Karen Carney has been on our screen for years at this point, and it shows: she comes across as comfortable in her role, and is more than happy to take the hospital pass of talking about a fairly dull game and trying to make it interesting.

The only real downside is that Carney can get a bit lost in the shuffle at times, particularly when ITV have a more extended panel. She's better in a two than a three or four.

15. Steph Houghton (BBC)

Very much a BBC counterpart to Carney, in that Steph Houghton has plenty of experience doing this now and knows what the gig is about.

Predictably, the former Lionesses captain particularly shines when it comes to discussing defensive organisation, which is curiously a bit under-represented at this tournament.

She does not jump off the screen, but with her experience of international tournament football, we expect Houghton to come into her own even more as the knockout stages wear on

14. Thomas Frank (BBC)

A bit more like what we actually want our BBC pundits to be like: a bit professorial, worldly wise, and capable of explaining tactical concepts to the uninitiated.

As in life, Thomas Frank suffers a little bit from comparisons to Ange Postecoglou, who is doing the same thing with a lot more personality over on ITV.

But like with Houghton, we're keen to see what Frank can do when he's given a clash between two heavyweights to pick apart in the later rounds.

13. Thomas Hitszlsperger (BBC)

A very amenable presence indeed, Thomas Hitzlsperger might be rated in the beige category were he not just so bloody charming.

The former Germany international was particularly good value during Germany's round of 32 defeat to Paraguay, going on a roller-coaster ride from optimistic before kick-off, to putting on a brave face at half time, to the horrible realisation he had just seen his country go out on penalties for the first time ever.

He knows his onions when it comes to midfield play, too, which certainly doesn't hurt.

12. Wayne Rooney (BBC)

The BBC's big cause celebre of the last year.

Inconsistency goes against Wayne Rooney a little bit, because there are times when he can lose his thread slightly and the words seem to be coming out as he thinks of them.

But few hit as hard or accurately as Rooney when you get him on a topic he feels strongly about - particularly as it pertains to England. His 'been there, done it' credentials carry weight.

11. Jobi McAnuff (ITV)

Here begins the "actively good" section. As staunch EFL viewers, we are long-term admirers of Jobi McAnuff, who very clearly never turns up to the studio without having done a tonne of research on the game he's about to watch. You'd hope that would be the minimum you might expect, but sadly it isn't always.

Chances are you won't have seen much of McAnuff unless you've been living on West Coast time and staying up to watch the very, very late kick-offs on ITV.

But actually, we don't mind that at all. ITV have cannily realised nobody who is keen enough on football to stay up until 3am to watch a game is going to be interested in empty soundbites, and McAnuff is the perfect pick for a bit of a deeper dive into two sides you may not be that familiar with.

10. Ellen White (BBC)

Always eloquent and confident in putting forward her views, Ellen White knows what it's like to be a star striker in the biggest stage, and puts that experience to good use.

The former England centre-forward is particularly excellent when it comes to discussing movement in the number 9 role.

Unlike some of her BBC colleagues, she isn't afraid to drop the odd joke or wry observation here or there, either. More than just a good, safe pair of hands

9. Christina Unkel (ITV)

We can't rate Christina Unkel any higher purely because of just how limited her role is, but we think she's great.

The former referee is unbelievably authoritative both on the letter of the law and its interpretation, and has a real knack for communicating it all within the few seconds of airtime she is given for each game she covers. Even when we don't like a decision, she is always able to explain the rationale in a way that makes you go 'hmm, yeah, fair enough'.

It's genuinely refreshing for a broadcaster to have that as part of their coverage... particularly ITV, who at previous tournaments have been particularly eye-rollingly tedious in the length and volume of talking about 'controversial' moments in games.

8. Rachel Corsie (BBC)

The closest thing the BBC have to Jobi McAnuff, and we mean that as a compliment.

You can stick former Scotland star Rachel Corsie on a relatively unglamorous fixture, and she will have done her homework immaculately. She has been excellent on tactics, the role of analytics, and fitness considerations.

Corsie's assuredness makes us wonder if somebody might have her in mind to make the Gary Lineker/Alex Scott switch over to the other side of the studio at some point, even if it would be a bit of a shame to lose her insight.

7. Gary Neville (ITV)

Full disclosure: we think Gary Neville is much better covering the Premier League on Sky than he is covering major internationals on ITV, where he often ends up defaulting to being the grumpiest man in the room for some reason, particularly around England and refereeing decisions.

Still, there's no doubting the quality he can bring, and he particularly came into his own at the beginning of the tournament as he excoriated FIFA for their extortionate ticket prices.

Cheer up a bit, though, eh, Gary.

6. Joe Hart (BBC)

Now, a few years into the punditry gig, Joe Hart is only getting better as he loosens up and builds his confidence in the role.

His natural tendency towards 'goalkeepers' union' thinking has been made fun of on a few occasions, but that only makes it hit harder when he does criticise one of his fellow glovesmen. He was also quicker than most to identify how this tournament's ball was affecting goalkeepers when it comes to powerful long shots.

His earnestness is not to everyone's tastes, but he is a very good, detailed all-rounder, and for our own money, the best of the BBC's high-profile pundits at this World Cup.

5. Patrick Vieira (ITV)

There are no other pundits at this tournament who have had both a high-profile playing career and a high-profile managerial career, putting Patrick Vieira in a unique niche.

A World Cup winner with France in 1998, Vieira is not outstanding at any one part of the punditry game, but we've got him this high simply because he is good at all of it.

He can do banter with Roy Keane, he can think like a manager on tactical changes, and he puts his former standing as an absolute elite-tier midfielder on show just enough.

4. Roy Keane (ITV)

The anti-Ian Wright, in that Roy Keane has become far more enjoyable to watch over the years, now he has realised he does not have to just be sneering and biting at all times. Having watched him for years, we all now know that there is a mischievous side to him that can be very funny when it surfaces.

There is nobody better for a wry one-line putdown that sums things up perfectly - but Keane has added different gears to his game now, and is genuinely entertaining without straying into tedious blokey nonsense nearly as often as he did a decade ago.

When he's on, you turn the volume up, and we really look forward to seeing him in the studio now – we wouldn't always have said that.

3. Ange Postecoglou (ITV)

It's a cliche at this point to say you'd love to go for a pint with Ange Postecoglou... but for good reason.

The former Tottenham boss has been given a real mix of big boys and minnows to analyse so far this summer, and has had plenty of interesting things to say about all of them. His CV lent to a lot of the interesting nations at the tournament like Japan, England, Scotland, and of course Australia.

His level of detail is brilliant, but never overwhelming thanks to his easy, laid-back style. Knowledgeable and likeable.

2. Ian Wright (ITV)

Get you a man who can do it all. Ian Wright can, and we went back and forth multiple times about whether or not to upgrade him to top spot.

Wright's passion still shines through, and that can cut in both directions, from infectious enthusiasm to making proper, serious, well-considered points articulated to perfection. His monologues are so good you wonder if he brings a scriptwriter with him.

Wrighty is genuinely superb at talking about the actual football, too. The undisputed king of pundits... but there is a queen too...

1. Emma Hayes (ITV)

We want to be Emma Hayes when we grow up.

The USA and former Chelsea manager has made the hydration breaks must-watch TV for every game ITV have put her on, which is an unbelievably high compliment. In less than a minute, she can tell you why the game is unfolding the way it is in ways you hadn't considered before using little more than a bit of chalk, some magnets, and her vast football brain.

But as with Big Ange, she's also a big personality. Pointing directly into the camera before embarking on one bit of analysis and declaring "I know you're up late, so try to pay attention" during one 2am kick-off was an absolute baller move.

The Premier League is about to enter a new era – one without Pep Guardiola. After 10 trophy-laden years, the legendary manager has said goodbye to Manchester City, leaving behind a legacy that may never be surpassed, or even matched.

When Pep made the move to Manchester in 2016, he initially signed a three-year contract, but no-one could have predicted what was to come during his tenure.

Departing as the club’s most successful manager of all time, he led City to 20 trophies, including six Premier League titles, three FA Cups, five League Cups, one Champions League and the Club World Cup.

Guardiola is also the only manager in English top-flight history to win four successive league titles, between 2021 and 2024. It’s so difficult to win anything at elite level, so imagine how much harder it is to keep on winning, again and again.

Among his standout achievements were the Treble-winning campaign of 2022-23 when City clinched the Premier League, FA Cup and Champions League, the domestic treble of 2018-19, and the record-breaking 100-point tally the season before.

The Catalan possesses the personality, persistence, drive and ability that kept him innovating, finding new ways to win at such a high standard for so long. Having the opportunity to try and understand one of the greatest brains in football in countless interviews over the years has been a privilege.

I remember the first time I was given the task to sit down and chat with him for TNT Sports. I walked into the stands at the Estadio Ramon Sanchez-Pizjuan, the home of Sevilla, who were City’s opponents for the opening match of what would become their Champions League-winning season in 2022-23. When Pep arrived, he shook my hand and commented on how nice the Spanish weather was.

I had no idea what to expect on that day – fast forward several years and I can confirm that in any interview with Pep, you never know quite what you’re going to get! He is an emotional character with an aura that’s difficult to describe. Pep has found the right balance of being professional, intimidating, yet still warm and polite. He can also be no-nonsense when he wants, and that’s all part of what makes him a great manager.

In his final year at City he became nostalgic, and quite sarcastic and humorous with the media. Perhaps he always knew he was going to leave at the end of the campaign, but it made for some of my favourite interview moments.

When I spoke to him after City won the FA Cup at Wembley in May, it would be the last chat we had after his final trophy with the club. I asked whether he would be back in 2026-27 to defend City’s FA Cup, to which he responded, with a smile, “Bye bye!” Clearly not wanting to directly address it at the time, but I think we all had a sense that his exit was imminent

One of the telling signs was when he visited Stockport’s League One game with Port Vale in April, on the same night as a Champions League classic between Paris Saint-Germain and Bayern Munich. It felt like he was ticking something off the list he had always wanted to do while he still could. It showed his deep love for English football, which has left its mark on Pep as much as he’s left his own on it.

It’s hard to imagine Manchester City without him in charge. Manchester United and Arsenal are proof of how difficult it is to replace a legendary manager. United’s dominant era ended after Sir Alex Ferguson’s retirement in 2013, and the club are still searching for consistent success more than a decade later.

Arsenal have finally won their first league title under Mikel Arteta, something they had to wait 22 gruelling years for – with the stability they’ve now established, they look well placed to defend it when 2026-27 begins.

Guardiola will be a near impossible act to follow, but he’s left City with a young, hungry and very talented squad that aren’t far off becoming title winners again.

Pep joked that he would be up in his newly named Pep Guardiola Stand at the Etihad, still controlling the team in the future. It was said in jest, but in reality, his presence will be long felt in Manchester and beyond.

A Premier League icon, and one of the greatest managers to ever grace the game, the league won’t quite feel the same without him

in 2026-27. It’s often difficult to measure the success of a legend in the present. Perhaps the real impact of Pep’s extraordinary achievements may take some time to be truly appreciated.

Mario Gotze was horizontal when he connected with that ball. Night was about to fall; the setting sun balanced on the head of the Christ of the Redeemer, Rio's most famous icon – aside from perhaps Romario or Garrincha – resembling just another Brazilian on the beach. And yet this was a night won not with flair at all, but with hard work thawing German hearts: a country reunified in the 90s, re-energised in 2006, with a fourth star – a first as one nation, one Germany – stamped by a son of post-Cold War Bavaria.

Whatever the cliches may claim of Germany's sense of humour, you'd have been met with stony faces had you told anyone in white that night in the Maracana to wait at least 16 years to win another World Cup knockout fixture. Imagine telling them that night, Das Defining Deutsch side of its time – its Krooses, Lahms and Neuers, Jogi Low overseeing with his furrowed frown and haircut ripped from a Jungle Book vulture – that they would stand tall across the world for one night only. Success in Brazil. But no more.

In 2017, it seemed even less likely than three years prior. Low regenerated his warriors for the Confederations Cup, made Julian Draxler captain, blooding young talents in Timo Werner, Joshua Kimmich and Leroy Sane. They walked it. The future was distinctly German.

Yet a year later, Sane didn't even make the squad. He'd just come off the back of a 100-point season with Manchester City and was arguably the Premier League's most devastating talent at the time – arguably, too, the only player Die Mannschaft had capable of running beyond a full-back. He was shunned. Perhaps he didn't fit in with the system. He wouldn't be the last.

It felt like a stunning decision at the time. It looks even worse now. 2014's vintage won the biggest trophy of all with a group at the very top of their game, arguably the best manager of all time coaching the lion's share of them. Seven of Bayern Munich's spine were selected for the squad; four were competing opposite them at Jurgen Klopp's Borussia Dortmund. Another four were picked from the cream of the Premier League. This was a side used to winning: they had reached a peak individually and as a group.

In 2018, it felt very different indeed. Another seven came from Bayern, but this time, only one from Dortmund. Bayern had won all four titles in the interim, the chasm ever-widening. RB Leipzig's Werner led the line, this his baptism with only the Confed Cup as a medal in the back pocket. Ozil had sat most of Arsene Wenger's final Arsenal season on the sidelines, while Reus returned, a secret weapon semi-firing; Kimmich, Brandt and Goretzka hadn't achieved much yet.

Fast-forward to 2026. Germany's titans of the last few years feel a world away from Rio. German football is alien to that landscape. Neuer is the last man standing from the team that defeated Messi, clinging onto top-level football at 40. Kai Havertz is adored by every manager he works with; Florian Wirtz has overcome injury hell to reach immortality. All three have had uneven seasons, one way or another; Gundogan and Kroos left for the sunset a while ago. And that's it, really. The rest are either prospects, potential or still-as-yet fully unrealised world-beaters.

Since 2014, only one team other than Bayern have won the Bundesliga: Wirtz played in that team, and no one else from Xabi Alonso's Invicibles made the cut, his Leverkusen legends made up of Nigerians, Spaniards, Dutchmen, and Swiss, among others. Four players come from Stuttgart, who won the Pokal in the last couple of years: they have fewer than 30 caps between them. It's not entirely unfair to suggest that the Dortmund quartet in this squad haven't achieved anything, really, at BVB: somewhere on that spectrum of equity, one may suggest they're simply waiting for a move to Bayern themselves.

Yep, Bayern broke the Bundesliga, and in turn, it broke the German national team. This was a one-and-a-half-team league, up until the point where Pep Guardiola came along. Yes, the Salatschussel often ended up in Bavaria – but perhaps the yo-yo counter-attacks and physicality gave this league the illusion of being competitive. But no more.

Pep inverted his full-backs to stem the transitions. Where he saw chaos, he replaced it with control. Since then, the title has belonged in Munich, and as a result, German football has suffered. Bayern themselves have even recognised it, moving away from purchasing the best of the Bundesliga – and getting beaten to it, on occasion – first by plundering the Eredivisie, then assembling a world-class front three from Premier League talents.

The very view of a German footballer has altered into something rather Spanish, too. Think of a German player, and you used to conjure a Klinsmann, a Neuville or a Matthaus: now, you think of Jamal Musiala, Kimmich or Wirtz. Neat, tidy, intelligent. Excellent in close spaces. Pass-happy, secure on the ball. Ironic, as Germany scored with a header against Paraguay, when the chips were firmly down.

That used to be what Germany were all about: yet the god-like chance creation of Ozil, the dynamism of Schweinsteiger, the battering ram of Podolski, the inevitability of Muller has deserted them. They've been overengineered, and Julian Nagelsmann has been left with a mood board squad. Great ideas on paper. Unicorn profiles. A metronome in midfield, Kimmich, who seemingly couldn't pick his way through a defence all month, while club-mate Michael Olise did it for fun for France. Security in possession with Wirtz, who was left recycling the ball with Musiala. The former has struggled at Liverpool; the latter is yet to explode consistently quite like teenage pal Bellingham on the biggest stages (there's still time). He's one of the best players in the world, sure, but not with a crowning moment in front of the world to his name yet.

Even Germany's strikers these days – Havertz and Woltemade – are target men with the brains of midfielders. It's simply a collection of footballers who looked useful in their respective academies: 20-odd players each with an interesting attribute, but none of them fully rounded as a player. Yet for all his detractors, trolls and critics, Havertz has been there and done that already, with two Champions League final goals. He showed that drive in North America. Where were his equals?

Germany aren't alone in post-Pep confusion, but they are taking it the hardest. Spain, too, haven't won a knockout game since lifting the trophy but have supplemented the tiki-taka that keeps letting them down with the brute force of Mikel Merino and directness of Nico Williams. Dean Huijsen is a beautiful footballer on paper, but the game's played on grass, and he's not won anything on there yet. England have brilliant technicians in Wharton, Foden and Trent, yet chose the mentality of Rogers, Bellingham and Rashford instead. France, too, have a one-team league, yet only really plundered Paris Saint-Germain's frontline for their spine, with Didier Deschamps looking to the Premier League and getting a few of the old band back together.

Nagelsmann, meanwhile, went for parts that fit together in theory. A left-footed centre-back here, a no.10 capable of wriggling out of a paper bag, there. An AI-generated XI without the hunger of a Schweinsteiger or the battle scars of Per Mertesacker to make this team a little uglier, angrier, grittier. Weaker on paper, but with blokes you'd actually seen run through brick walls for the flag.

Perhaps it says a lot that Denis Undav was arguably his best player all month – and yet he didn't have anywhere for him. Where Low made concessions for Muller to be a raumdeuter and Ozil to play on his unfavoured flank, Nagelsmann made concessions to bring back 40-year-old Neuer, seemingly, merely for the aura.

Of course, it had to happen on penalties. The nation's brot und butter to display its steely mentality, now, the loose cord in their parachute.

And in his post-match conference, Nagelsmann stressed how young this group was. They need patience, he suggested. He's right: Angelo Stiller, for one, is a talent; Nat Brown can hold his head high for his performances.

But that's half the story. That's not the crux of what lifted the ice in 2014. 12 years ago, iron sharpened iron. Where's the iron in this German side?

Good things come to those who wait, and that proved to be the case for me in Texas today en route to the World Cup Round of 32 match between Brazil and Japan. Whilst it only took me two minutes to get from my hotel to Houston Stadium, it took me more than an hour to find my way past the hordes of supporters and navigate the labyrinth of a stadium.

After trekking around the entire venue and asking dozens of volunteers and horseback policemen for help, I finally arrived with just under a half-hour to go before kickoff, trading oppressive Houston heat for overpowered air conditioning inside the press box.

There, I found a complimentary buffet loaded with Brazilian fare like feijoada (a rich stew made with black beans, pork and beef) as well as local options like green beans. I also found an incredible viewing area, with a steep perspective enabling me to see the entire field. Unlike some venues, like New York/New Jersey, the window panes were removed, allowing journalists to actually hear the cacophonous crowd noise.

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Brazil take major step towards winning their first World Cup in 24 years

More importantly, however, the game itself actually surpassed expectations. Brazil started off the stronger side, heaping pressure onto the opposing defence and banging on the door for the opening goal, only to be denied by Japan's last-gasp rear guard.

But Japan rode the storm and eventually struck first blood, via Kaishu Sano capitalising on a careless giveaway from Casemiro and taking aim from distance to put the Samurai Blue in the driving seat.

The last time they played in October, Brazil entered halftime with a 2-0 lead before conceding three goals in Tokyo. This time, however, they completely flipped the script, with the halftime substitution of Endrick for Lucas Paquetá working like a charm.

With two attackers up top, Brazil started to congest the Samurai Blue deeper into their own half. In contrast to the first half, when they dominated possession but were still vulnerable to transitions, there was no such threat in the second 45 minutes.

It seemed only a matter of time before they equalised, and it was Casemiro who atoned for his error with a trademark headed goal in the 56th minute. Not to rest on his laurels, Carlo Ancelotti subbed on Gabriel Martinelli for Matheus Cunha, whilst Hajime Moriyasu made a string of defensive substitutions.

Japan were hanging on, relying on the shot-stopping heroics of Zion Suzuki to keep Brazil's overpowering attack at bay. Brazil, however, started to play the kind of football that saw them dominate the sport and win a record five World Cups.

Japan began to retreat into their shell, showing Brazil too much respect without ever making them wary of their transitional threat. In the very last minute, this came back to bite them as Bruno Guimarães squeezed in a super, deft pass (his fourth assist of the tournament) for Martinelli, who struck home the winning goal.

It was yet another heartbreaking defeat for Japan after their late collapse vs. Belgium in 2018 and their penalty shootout defeat to Croatia in 2022. But whilst Japan are still waiting on their first-ever knockout round win, Brazil find themselves three games away from their first World Cup Final since 2002.

There are still a number of concerns from Brazil, like their careless giveaways in midfield, their lack of quality at the fullback positions, as well as their vulnerability defending transitions. One narrow win vs. Japan doesn't change that.

But whilst they may not be favourites like Argentina or France, this Brazil team has proven that they have the quality and the mental fortitude to go far. With Vinícius Júnior and co. wreaking havoc in attack and the rest of their players starting to click on all cylinders, there's every reason to believe that Brazil can make it all the way and win a record-extending sixth World Cup.

Who else? Jude Bellingham came to England’s rescue again.

They lacked inspiration, precision and a finish until Bellingham intervened after just over an hour's laboured performance against opponents ranked 40th in the world and with a population of 4.5m - half that of London.

Bellingham scored one, a difficult finish under pressure, and created the other, a historic one for Harry Kane.

Jude Bellingham provides England spark once again

Bellingham is only 22, playing in his fourth major tournament, and comes under intense scrutiny. He takes it in his stride, and delivers. He was comfortably the best player on the pitch.

Thomas Tuchel withdrew Bellingham towards the end, protecting him for the round of 32 test in Atlanta, probably against Senegal. Bellingham still had the energy to run 70 yards to do his TV interview after the final whistle.

Down the other end, Bellingham’s team-mates were being serenaded with “Wonderwall” by their fans. Kane smiled at all the joyous faces. He and Bellingham are England’s most important players. Maybe? Definitely.

This was a reminder of the importance of Bellingham, the ridiculousness of some of the excessive criticism of him, and also the importance of the right delivery from the wide areas.

England’s first goal came from a corner, the second from a cross. Kane’s 11th World Cup goal was a well-taken header created by Bellingham. It took Kane to 11 World Cup goals, an England record, moving him clear of Gary Lineker.

England will need to match Bellingham’s levels. From the start he looked the right mix of fired up and focused. England fans sang about returning here on July 19. The final.

Given the quality of teams elsewhere in the tournament, England know they have to raise their game, certainly on the first-half evidence. Only Bellingham and Marcus Rashford impressed.

As it stood at the break, England were playing Portugal on Thursday in Toronto in the round of 32. Cristiano Ronaldo again? Gelsenkirchen revisited, twenty years on. Not the winker again? England had to shake things up.

For 45 minutes, Tuchel’s players were too ponderous to elude their opponents’ mid-block. Panama’s five-man defence looked to catch Tuchel’s attackers offside and were effective.

England were also vulnerable to the occasional counter. Marc Guehi twice, and Ezri Konsa, reacted smartly to close down threat emanating from Tomas Rodriguez, the point of their 5-4-1 formation.

The bright spark amidst the gloom in the scoreless opening 45 was Bellingham. Usually at 10, Bellingham adapted easily to the No 8 role in the absence of Declan Rice. Tuchel sensibly protected Rice, who was a booking away from suspension for the round of 32. Bellingham was quickly at home in this box-to-box role.

When Bellingham was 13, his coach at Birmingham City’s academy, Mike Dodds, told him he could play any midfield role, 4, 8 or 10. Bellingham proved adept at all of them, and so wore No 22. It added up. He showed his tackling abilities here as well as his passing, and linked up promisingly with Marcus Rashford on the left.

Not a lot was happening on the field and the camera strayed from the action to the stand, picking out some familiar football faces in the crowd. Not the usual Hollywood celebrities that the US broadcasters devour but the FA’s Dan Ashworth talking to Juan Mata, and David Dein sitting alongside Tyrone Mings. Quite the quartet.

England sloped off at the interval to a few boos. It was all so different to eight years ago in Nizhny Novgorod in Russia; Gareth Southgate’s side were 5-0 up then.

England finally took control just after the hour mark and inevitably it was Bellingham the catalyst. Bukayo Saka swept a corner over from the left and Bellingham was too clever and strong for the Jorge Gutierrez. The Real Madrid player snaked his left foot around the defender, connecting with the ball and sending it from seven yards past Orlando Mosquera.

Bellingham set off in celebration to the corner where England fans punched the air, partly in relief. No Ronaldo. Now they were heading to Atlanta to face probably Senegal, possibly DR Congo. Now they were seeing England play with more finish. And belief. Within five minutes, England were further clear.

Their fans could never relax, but here was a moment for exhaling deep. England were two up. Bellingham played the creator this time, taking his time, letting Kane make his move, before lifting the ball in left-footed. Kane wanted the ball more than Andres Andrade. He rose and steered his header powerfully home.

The half was not without cost. Jarell Quansah, deputising at right-back, got injured, and needed to depart after the first goal. His replacement, Djed Spence, now looks the last fit England right-back in the US. Oh, and Lee Dixon, who is on TV duty here.

Noni Madueke came on for Saka as Tuchel continued to ring the changes. Bellingham was replaced by Eberechi Eze, then Jordan Henderson arrived to play in his seventh tournament as Tuchel gave Anderson a breather.

Ollie Watkins sprinted on as Kane was withdrawn to prepare him for the knock-out rigours to come. With Bellingham in this form, England have a good chance of progressing further.

When EA Sports and FIFA went their separate ways in 2023, gamers immediately began to speculate what the next game carrying the FIFA name would look like – and on the evidence of FIFA World Cup Launch Edition, which you can now play on Netflix, FC 26 has absolutely nothing to worry about.

To be fair to FIFA, the game is incredibly easy to play. If you’ve got a Netflix account you can get it up and running on your TV or laptop in a couple of minutes; you just need to download the Netflix Controller app to your phone and you’re good to go.

The game only has three modes: Kick-Off for one-off exhibition matches; Tournament, which lets you play through a full World Cup finals as one of the 48 qualified teams; and Penalty Shootout, which does exactly what it says on the tin. That ‘Launch Edition’ suffix suggests there might be more on the way eventually, but for now, that’s your lot.

Early warning signs

The benefits of that FIFA licence are immediately obvious. The line-up graphics include real photos of the players, all the official kits have been recreated, and every stadium is present and correct. On commentary you get FIFA alumni Clive Tyldesley and Andy Townsend, which is probably the first warning sign.

The generic duo were axed from EA’s series almost a decade ago, but much of FIFA World Cup Launch Edition feels even more dated than that.

Each Tournament match you play begins with a fairly detailed pre-amble from Tyldesley. The veteran commentator has plenty to say about each host city and stadium, and he nicely outlines the qualifying campaigns and recent World Cup history of the two teams, but play just a handful of games and you’ll hear the same phrases over and over again.

Lines of commentary are sometimes even repeated twice in a row, and the names of the teams were clearly recorded separately and inserted afterwards, which is intensely nostalgic for anyone who played football games in the ‘90s, but not great for one released in 2026.

On multiple occasions, Tyldesley had embarked on one of his scene-setting monologues when a goal was scored, but he was so caught up in detailing the team’s pedigree that he failed to respond until long after the game had kicked off again, doing so as excitedly as if the goal had only just gone in.

Using your phone to navigate the fairly basic menus is slick, but if you’ve never played a game using a touchscreen instead of an actual gamepad (which isn’t supported here), it might take a while to get the hang of.

The controls are simple enough though. The left-hand side of the screen controls movement, while tapping, swiping and holding the right-hand side allows you to pass, shoot, tackle and sprint. At least, that’s the idea – there’s often a general sense of disconnection between what you’re doing with your hands and what happens on the pitch, particularly when it comes to defending.

On the default difficulty setting it’s not a major hindrance; the AI-controlled opposition isn’t proficient enough to cause you any real problems. But winning every game comfortably is no fun.

Take the difficulty up a notch and even with an England side packed with midfielders, gaps the size of the Grand Canyon would often appear on the pitch. Defenders tend to have all the urgency of a glacier, tackling is vague and imprecise, and the game frequently changes the player you’re controlling at the worst possible time, allowing opposition attackers to saunter through and take a free shot on goal. Considering attempts from outside the box seem to go in about 90% of the time, that’s a fairly major problem.

It feels a bit better if you get the ball at your feet and run at the opposing defence. The touchscreen means you can make some fairly exact adjustments with your left thumb to scamper down the touchline, but often the players move with all the agility and grace of a paddle steamer. Even when you hold the screen to sprint, you have to wait two to three business days for the player to pick up the pace.

Then there are the graphical glitches. The very first goal I scored in the game saw the ball go right through the back of the net; players sometimes just skate across the turf without moving their legs; and even when they do work the animations make even a 20-year-old Pro Evo game look cutting edge.

To be fair, the big-name players are generally recognisable, although it does look like Instagram’s Badly Drawn Footballers was responsible for drawing their faces. This game’s version of Harry Kane wouldn’t get much work as a lookalike, but I do like how much Anthony Gordon looks like Rambo.

It’s all just so rough around the edges, with each half ending incredibly abruptly, sometimes even as a goal-bound shot is about to cross the line. Fortunately, though, there are no hydration breaks. You’d think FIFA would insist on including them in order to shoehorn in a few adverts.

I’m not hugely surprised that FIFA World Cup Launch Edition is so underwhelming. It is, after all, a free-to-play game on Netflix, not a big-budget alternative to FC 26, but it’s still disappointing.

The conscious uncoupling that occurred between EA and FIFA should have presented football’s all-powerful governing body with an opportunity to go away and, with the huge resources it has at its disposal, fund the creation of a game worthy of the World Cup name.

Instead we have a half-arsed game that plays like something that was released more than two decades ago. Perhaps that’s why the soundtrack includes Blur’s Song 2, which famously featured on FIFA ‘98, and should act here as a warning to anyone expecting something more modern than that.

It’s all over bar the shouting. Senegal’s 5-0 win over Iraq in Toronto on Friday was the result that dropped Scotland out of the top eight third-placed teams, shifting them from theoretically in World Cup 2026 to theoretically out of it.

Scotland have no control over what happens now. They’ve been relying on results above and below them in the third-placed ranking since full-time against Brazil, knowing they conceded too many in that match and scored too few in their only win against Haiti.

There will be teams that go through with three points, but Scotland’s group stage goal difference left them vulnerable. Senegal’s win took them past South Korea, too. Like Scotland, their hopes are winking out in the dusk of the group stage.

The World Cup draw puts teams at a disadvantage before a ball is kicked

Expanding the World Cup to 48 teams has various consequences. One of the most important is that 48 teams divided into groups of four amounts to 12 groups. Another is that 24 or 36 teams can’t populate a round of 32 or 16 without serious compromise.

The inelegant solution, itself fraught with widely documented issues, is to send the top two teams from each group through and rank the 12 third-placed teams to identify the other eight teams to make up the 32.

Every team knows the deal at the outset so scandalous it is not, but the effect of putting some third-placed teams through and knocking others out is that there is cross-contamination of groups and, consequently, a clear competitive difference between teams whose records are directly compared.

It’s summed up thus: Senegal won 5-0 to bump Scotland out of the top eight on goal difference two days after Scotland had a chance to do anything about it.

There’s no sense in looking for excuses for Steve Clarke’s team. They left themselves in that position, and nobody else is to blame for it, but their example does highlight an inequity in a competition that’s supposed to be pure.

The only third-placed teams with three points in the completed first half of the group stage – Groups A to F – are South Korea in Group A and Scotland in Group C.

Bosnia and Herzegovina, Paraguay, Ecuador and Sweden all collected four points to avoid the silent impurity of the format.

If it’s not square, can it really be fair?

The last uneven World Cup was in 1994, last time it was hosted in the United States.

From six groups, two third-placed teams were eliminated: Russia from Group B and South Korea from Group C, albeit the United States went through in third place in Group A, and two of the three teams that went through playing after Russia and South Korea already had what they needed after two matches.

The first 24-team European Championship in 2016 saw Albania (Group A) and Turkey (Group D) eliminated, while the Republic of Ireland (Group E) and Portugal (Group F) achieved the results they needed in their last games.

Group B and E sent third-placed teams home from Euro 2020. In Euro 2024, Hungary (Group A) and Croatia (Group B) were the two third-placed teams eliminated from the group stage.

There’s no smoking gun, no unimpeachable body of evidence that teams drawn into the early groups have historically been hurt by later teams knowing that a draw or a win or a certain number of goals will reel them in, at least not yet.

There have been too many teams fall backwards into the knock-out rounds or pick up perfectly normal results at the end of the group stage to draw the conclusion that there’s a measurable disadvantage simply to being drawn in Group A or B or C.

But in FourFourTwo’s opinion, there’s a layer of unnecessary doubt that’s been introduced into tournaments by both FIFA and UEFA that makes the picture much clearer for teams in Senegal’s position than Scotland’s.

There’s no way to know how or even whether the creation of overlaps between what should be siloed groups can affect matchday three results, but even the possibility of a lopsided sporting equation would have been better avoided.

Cristiano Ronaldo is one of the most bizarre stories in football history. The Portuguese maestro has, in many ways, transcended beyond being just a player, or even a person.

He is a brand, and, above all else, a symbol to the many, many fans that flock to support him in whatever he does, wherever he goes.

If you ask football fans who they believe is the GOAT, then Lionel Messi will, nine times out of ten, be the response. But what's strange is that, the more you probe, it becomes clear that many of those people believe Messi is better, but they prefer Ronaldo. Why is that?

Cristiano Ronaldo isn't the GOAT, but his story will be remembered with more fascination than that of Lionel Messi

There's something about the Ronaldo story that, no matter how you spin it, is much more fascinating than that of his Argentine rival.

Often times, that's attributed to the classic 'Natural Talent vs Work Ethic' argument - that Ronaldo is what anyone can be if they are committed enough, while Messi is merely a one-off anomaly.

But honest football fans know that isn't true - no calibre of work ethic can magically make your vertical akin to that of an NBA player.

Finishing and ball-striking at the level that Ronaldo, perhaps the most varied goalscorer in football history, displayed... that cannot be etched into just anyone.

But there is a sense that Ronaldo was the more disadvantaged of the pair. Whether that's his own fault - the arrogance he displayed across his career is beyond that of a more timid Messi, and opened the Portuguese winger up to more scathing media treatment - is irrelevant.

At times, it does appear that his greatest rival didn't go through half as many tests as the #7 did.

Whether that's his lack of a Premier League resume, or the fact that the Argentine struggled in his only stint away from his beloved Barcelona, even with Neymar and Mbappe beside him.

Aside from early international failures, it seems that Messi got everything he craved, whereas Ronaldo will be left wanting.

Isn't it easier to picture the tragic tale of Ronaldo being remembered more than that of the man who... just won it all? With no real holes in his resume to dissect decades from now?

No, that doesn't seem right. It isn't a clear enough answer as to why so many people seem to prefer Ronaldo, even when they know Messi is the superior player.

Is it his personality? After all, this is a man who was caught on camera sulking after his Real Madrid team-mate nicked a back-post tap-in from him, walking off, head down, as his pals celebrated.

Is there a fascination with Ronaldo because of how much he needs to be the best, not wants, but requires it, just as much as we regular folk need air to breathe?

Whatever the answer, maybe the real answer lies in our inability to find a concrete one at all.

Maybe it's the fascinating, unexplainable allure of a man who stood under the brightest of lights, demanding our collective attention.

That even though he existed at a point in time where another man, one who possessed even greater gifts, was performing at a higher level, he still forced his way into the debate regardless.

That at 41, he still cries when he fails to secure silverware: a billionaire that's won it all, playing like he's broke and without a trophy to his name.

That for all of Messi's greatness, the more fascinating question actually lies in how Ronaldo was ever able to even challenge him in the debate for being the world's best, and football's greatest.

The Argentine is, without a shadow of a doubt, the best player that we will ever see touch grass in our lifetimes.

But when decades pass by and someone, because it will happen, inevitably takes the crown from Messi, whose story will be remembered with more fascination?

"Messi was an alien, son, my own father told me all about him.

"But have you heard about the man who cried tears of sadness when his own team-mates scored?"

When it comes to the sheer quantity of individual attacking talents, this World Cup is hard to touch.

Certainly, it is the most we’ve had for quite some time. Having Erling Haaland, Harry Kane, Jude Bellingham, Lamine Yamal, Vinicius Jr, Kylian Mbappe, Ousmane Dembele and Michael Olise all at the same time is an absolute embarrassment of riches, and that’s just the headline names.

But even through all that, the top scorer, and the player who is most single-handedly pushing his team to victory, is still Lionel Messi, the Argentinian legend who turns 39 on Wednesday.

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Lionel Messi's GOAT credentials can wait for another day

Football discourse has grown tediously, fatuously obsessed with ranking everything in the internet age. What was once the preserve of spirited but ultimately empty pub debate has become the dominant mode of talking about the game. You only need to consider how the Ballon d’Or has been elevated from a minor Teletext headline to all-year-round Very Serious Business to understand how the culture has changed.

But even those of us who are resistant to that way of thinking would be given pause by what Messi has accomplished, and the possibility of what he might yet go on to do this summer.

Diego Maradona was permanently installed as one of the greatest of all time when he inspired a functional but otherwise largely undistinguished Argentina side to their 1986 World Cup triumph.

Messi could yet go on to do it twice in a row, at a time of his life when most players have already graduated into the pundit’s chair, coaching careers, or occasional appearances at overwrought major tournament draws.

There has been even more of a sense of inevitability than usual about Messi so far this summer. Of course he got a hat-trick in the opening game. Of course he broke Miroslav Klose’s record in the second game with a brace against Austria. Of course those goals have put him in pole position for the Golden Boot.

For all the feints, stepovers and turns he has successfully executed in his career, the greatest trick Messi has ever pulled off is convincing us all that this is all just to be expected.

Comparisons to Cristiano Ronaldo have long since ceased to even be a debate. That’s no knock on the Portuguese, who is two-and-a-half years older at a point in their careers where that makes an enormous difference.

But it’s also a total irrelevance at this point. To define Messi purely in comparison to his greatest rival has always been reductive to them both, but especially now. Why enter into a side-argument when the greater pleasure is simply in marvelling that Messi remains so brilliant, so relevant, and such a joy to watch?

Messi is already the player our grandchildren will talk about the same way that our parents and grandparents talk about Pele. We have decades ahead of us for nostalgia, rankings, ratings, and pointlessly trying to settle where, precisely, he stands on the podium alongside the very best players football has ever seen.

But we may only have the next few weeks, at best, to regard Messi in the present tense; certainly on this kind of stage.

Luxuriate in it while you can.

The year is 2026. Cristiano Ronaldo shuffles Bruno Fernandes, Vitinha and Bernardo Silva away from a dead ball, standing over it himself; corkscrew posture, a breath deep enough to submerge himself from reality. The captain shimmies to his left a step, gallops towards the ball, and blasts it.

Of course, it floats into orbit. Nike adverts aside, every Cristiano Ronaldo free-kick you've seen has done so for at least five years.

And which one we're describing in particular hardly matters. You've seen enough clips by now of 41-year-old Ronaldo impersonating 21-year-old Ronaldo: the stutters, the stepovers, the stance a little stiffer with age. By now, it feels like the Ronaldo free-kick memes have been in power longer than Ronaldo was ever a set-piece master. For anyone who adored the version of this player in 2006, it feels a little sad.

There's no shame in ageing: the world has changed a lot in those two decades. Portugal have won their first international trophy in that time. UEFA have invented a whole new competition, which Portugal has gone and won twice. The nation go into tournaments now not as a dark horse, in the mould of a Netherlands or Belgium, but as one of the genuine superpowers in world football, considered stronger, player for player, than Brazil. That would have seemed utterly bananas even when Ronaldo made his debut.

The man himself has been busy in that time, too. He's netted over 900 career goals, won five Ballons d'Or and won a Euros. Yet, perhaps crucially, Lionel Messi has won eight, and lifted a World Cup. And so, Ronaldo clings on, like Mufasa to a rock face, until he can copy that.

The signs were always there that something like this could happen. Not celebrating team-mates' goals. Getting carried off in the Euro 2016 final, insisting on coaching the team from the sidelines, and manager Fernando Santos looking far too afraid to tell his captain to sit down. Going so far as to try and steal a goal scored by Bruno Fernandes at World Cup 2022, only for technology within the ball to debunk the conspiracy.

2026 Ronaldo is something else entirely. A man who looks like a body double. An anchor of an ego to which manager Roberto Martinez is tethering his good ship Portugal to, seemingly unaware that he can drag the crew down with him, as he has in Turin and Manchester.

Those who still back the legend point to a title win in Saudi Arabia, the glowing endorsement of Martinez – who is free to drop him at any time – and most importantly and impressively, his 13 goals since Euro 2024 ended. Now that, no one can argue with.

Cristiano Ronaldo, aged 41, they'll tell you, is your average Miroslav Klose or Davor Suker in their prime. Goals win games, and no one in history has ever delivered on the promise of that premise quite as emphatically. “Until the wheels fall off” might be some players' cue for retirement: according to the numbers on the page, the wheels are very much still a-spinning.

No, goals have not been the problem since Ronaldo left Real Madrid. Over 100 in three years at Juventus; a one-in-two return back at Manchester United. It's more of an all-round game that's the issue – and that's an issue in itself, trying to argue with cold, hard stats. But all-round game was a problem in 2022, when Ronaldo was inexplicably (to him, at least) dropped in favour of Goncalo Ramos, who popped up with a hat-trick in his absence. Ronaldo is now four years older, and arguably four years worse. It was a problem at Juve, when a dynasty died at his feet. It was a problem when Old Gunnar Solskjaer's team spectacularly crumbled after steady process, having added this particular piece to the engine.

For those with eyes to see, Ronaldo has never been a natural lone centre-forward. He was a winger, then an inside forward, and then Real Madrid boss Zinedine Zidane paired him with Karim Benzema to devastating effect. It's not just that Ronaldo doesn't press: he doesn't hold the ball up, combine, win the first ball, the second ball, drift, or have the movement of a lone striker.

Kylian Mbappe is in a similar boat. The Frenchman was at his best in a front two for Monaco, then to the right or left at Paris Saint-Germain, or alongside Olivier Giroud. As a lone no.9 at at Real Madrid, he too has suffered a similar criticism, despite the deluge of goals. And yet Mbappe is in his prime. Ronaldo's prime – depending on who you ask – was some 10-15 years ago. In that time, his ambitions have seemingly shrunk, rather than grown: he simply wants to exist in the penalty box.

Watching Portugal in their two final warm-up matches before they take to North America has been alarming. Even those who worship at the temple of Cristiano must be apprehensive: if you were being kind, you'd say he's not quite in the groove yet.

Although, let's just say criticism is loaded when it comes to CR7.

What was once a debate between the two goliaths of their generation has morphed into a philosophical question. If Messi is a socialist skipper, dropping deeper with age to supply and assist as much as he takes his own glory – as evidenced by a stunning reverse ball after coming on against Iceland in his last pre-World Cup fixture – Ronaldo is the opposite. Ronaldo is an almost neoliberal figurehead; a proud individualist, who through sheer unrelenting discipline, has overcome systemic barriers, prioritised his own output and refused to accept limits. He is not a cog in a machine: he is a hero brand, who saves the day.

But while Portugal have gone into past tournaments with similarly star-studded, Galactico-esque squads – some of them mirroring Ronaldo's own club setups with jewels plucked from Europe's finest – they head to North America with a far more cohesive collective. The midfield alone might just be the best around. Joao Neves and Vitinha rival anyone for their combination of legs and control, a double-pivot with gearstick control that arguably no one else can rival this summer. Ahead of them, Bruno Fernandes enjoyed the season of his life, racking up a record-equalling 20 league assists this season gone, before the Premier League gifted him a bonus one for good behaviour on the final day of the season.

Nuno Mendes is so far and above the best left-back in the world right now. Diogo Costa has a reputation as a penalty-saving expert. Ruben Dias and Joao Cancelo are seasoned winners; Pedro Neto, Goncalo Ramos and Rafael Leao would be the envy of plenty of nations. It's a genuinely impressive squad, without too many superstar egos. Well, aside from the obvious.

And that's a problem for Martinez, whether he realises it yet or not. When you deep it, it might actually be a problem for the sport if this side overcome all the odds – most of them stacked by their own captain.

Ronaldo was the byword for “mentality” in this game for as long as he was pitted against the so-called ‘far more natural talent’ of Messi. Not just his career path, but his body language, gestures and even smirks have been microanalysed by those craving fractions of such success. His ascension to the throne was a lesson to us all; watching him refuse to leave it with good grace should be, too.

What does it mean for us if such individualism triumphs on the biggest stage of all? Is it a good thing for Ronaldo to finally have his time in the sun?

Or is there something fundamentally odd about suggesting that the road to glory is about hanging around as long as you physically can before your fingernails are plied from the cliff face by those following suit? Is dignity as important as victory? Is legacy about what you don't do, as much as what you do, and what you continue to keep doing in front of the world when everyone wishes you shouldn't?

It's not a personal slight, but it would feel like the villain winning. It would almost feel more romantic if Ronaldo stepped aside, using his insatiable hunger to push others. His last dance could be one final twist: CR7 the super sub, coming on at 75 minutes, turning Portugal's path into a series of 15-minute shootouts, where even at 41, he could find a niche. Starting every game, taking set-pieces away from Bruno Fernandes, spurning chance after chance, surely hampers Martinez more than it helps him.

One day, we will show videos of Cristiano Ronaldo to our kids and grandkids. We will tell them of the war between ideologies, Ronaldo on one side, Messi on the other. And depending on what we show them, perhaps they simply won't believe us.

That this guy, the quadragenarian consistently teetering towards tantrum, struck the fear of the devil in just about every defender who dared to square up to him? He actually engineered himself into debates that he could be the greatest footballer who ever graced grass? There's still time for Cristiano Ronaldo to write another chapter of his story – and it might not be favourable to him or the sport.

After four years of waiting, the World Cup gets underway with a clash between Mexico and South Africa. Sound familiar?

It was only 16 years ago that these sides kicked-off the 2010 edition of the tournament in Johannesburg, when Bafana Bafana's Siphiwe Tshabalala got the party started with a 'Goal for all Africa', as Peter Drury memorably put it, before Mexican captain Rafael Marquez dampened the celebratory atmosphere with a late equaliser.

Much has changed since then. Marquez is now Mexico's assistant coach and the tournament is now 50 per cent larger, with this game signalling the beginning of the era of the 48-team World Cup and the first with three co-hosts. It also feels like politics has dominated the build-up more than ever before, but finally we can focus on the action on the pitch - with Mexico City's iconic Estadio Azteca providing the perfect setting.

Mexico target winning start to home World Cup

The 83,000-capacity Azteca will become the first stadium to host the opening match of three World Cups, with the two previous occasions - Mexico's clash with the Soviet Union in 1970 and reigning champions Italy's curtain-raiser against Bulgaria in 1986 - both ending in draws. But the co-hosts have reason to believe they can buck that trend.

The obvious benefit for Mexico is the backing of a partisan home crowd, which always gives the host nation a boost, especially in the opening game. Potentially a bigger advantage, though, is the altitude.

The Azteca stands at 2,200m above sea level and the high altitude can sap the energy of visiting players who aren't acclimatised to the conditions, potentially leaving them more vulnerable to fatigue.

Interestingly, Soccer City in Johannesburg - which hosted the opening game in 2010 - is 1,750m above sea level, so South Africa may not be as affected as players from other nations. The emotion involved in the opening game of the tournament could also be a leveller.

Even if Mexico can't rely on the altitude for an advantage, their form heading into the tournament opener should give them plenty of belief. Javier Aguirre's men are unbeaten in eight games in 2026 and thrashed Serbia 5-1 in their final warm-up game, as they overwhelmed their opponents in front of a vociferous home crowd in Toluca.

Mexico will look to Raul Jimenez for goals, although the fact that the striker is 35 shows where they may be lacking. The veteran, who is set to rejoin Wolves after leaving Fulham, scored against Serbia and has previous when it comes to the big occasion, equalising in last year's 2-1 Gold Cup final win over the USA.

Their reliance on Jimenez perhaps suggests that they won't win at a canter, but with their good form, the backing of a home crowd and the limitations of their opponents - more on that in a moment - Mexico should have enough to triumph.

South Africa are hard-working and compact defensively, so they are unlikely to be fazed if Mexico dominate possession. However, their FIFA world ranking of 60 - 46 places below their opponents - underlines their underdog status.

An excellent qualifying campaign which saw them top their group ahead of Nigeria gave way to a disappointing Africa Cup of Nations last-16 exit to Cameroon, and they have failed to win since then in games against Panama (twice), Nicaragua and Jamaica.

It could leave them low on confidence heading into the tournament and you fear for Bafana Bafana if they go behind in the cauldron of the Azteca.

FourFourTwo's prediction

Mexico 1-0 South Africa

This may not be a classic opening game, but the co-hosts should have enough to take three points.

In Season One, Episode One of The Sopranos, James Gandolfini’s legendary character, mob boss Tony Soprano, sits in a therapy session in his hometown of New Jersey and laments: “Whatever happened to Gary Cooper? The strong, silent type. That was an American. He wasn’t in touch with his feelings. He just did what he had to do."

Cooper was a laconic Hollywood movie star, famous for his understated, stoic acting, and masculinity, which becomes a recurring theme throughout The Sopranos – which is widely regarded as the greatest television series of all time. Tony develops a slight obsession with Cooper, and the idea of the strong, silent man in control of everything. A deliberate irony on the part of the show’s writer, David Chase, who has implanted a dark, impulsive nature and explosive temper in his main protagonist, making him Cooper’s polar opposite.

If Tony Soprano were sitting down to enjoy this summer’s World Cup, where the final will be held about a 20-25 minute drive (depending on traffic) from his fictional home in North Caldwell, he would have a lot of time for Carlo Ancelotti.

Don Carlo’s quiet leadership prioritises player freedom over rigid systems. Where Tony Soprano deals with rage by flipping over his therapist’s glass coffee table, Ancelotti raises his left eyebrow 20 degrees. Both actions carry equal weight.

Ancelotti’s CV commands the ultimate respect: the only manager in history to have won league titles in all five of Europe’s top divisions, the first and only manager to win five Champions League titles. A managerial career that has amassed over 30 trophies.

And now to the international stage. A return to North America, where he stood in 100-degree heat next to Arrigo Sacchi in 1994 as his assistant with Italy, and watched Roberto Baggio blaze the ball high into the Pasadena sky. Ironically (at the time of writing), Italy won’t be at the tournament.

Ancelotti’s appointment as manager of Brazil could be a masterstroke. He has healthy relationships with many of their stars and has shifted the Seleção away from its reliance on individual flair and steered them toward a more balanced, tactically disciplined structure designed to win ugly where necessary. A quality they’ve lacked in previous tournaments, but will need this summer.

"Woke up this morning... got Brazil a sixth star."

I’ll start this week with Andoni Iraola’s appointment at Liverpool. I think he’s the perfect fit, and it’s a no-brainer for me. You have to admire the way his Bournemouth teams played, the way they pressed with high intensity, and the way they go after teams. He’s now going to have even better players to work with now, and his squad will be strengthened even more in the summer.

Some people are saying he’s never managed a club as big as Liverpool before, but he’s led a team like Bournemouth into sixth, so imagine what he could do with more resources at his disposal?

Clinton was speaking on behalf of Freebets.com.

Clinton Morrison: 'Iraola led Bournemouth to sixth - imagine what he could do with more resources'

The football will be more entertaining too. I’ve heard loads of Liverpool fans screaming for Arne Slot to go ages ago and I just said: “give him time, he won you the Premier League.” However, Liverpool fans generally always stick with their team and their manager. But they didn’t stick with Slot at all, and I sensed that when I visited the ground. They were booing him when decisions weren’t coming off, and there was no way back for him.

He'll probably go on and get another job, but it was the right time for him to go. You also saw the damaging statement which Mohamed Salah made before he left, and people listen when he has something to say.

Before Xabi Alonso’s move to Chelsea, there was speculation he could be the man to replace Slot. But he's still at a huge football club in Chelsea and might manage Liverpool one day. You can't wait when a club like Chelsea come knocking on your door. Conversations regarding him taking over at Anfield probably took place, but now he’s going to Chelsea anyway, where I think he'll do a good job. He's a top manager and with the right backing, I think they'll be fine.

The other huge bit of news concerned Anthony Gordon’s £70million move to Barcelona. I understand the reasoning behind the signing, because you need to rotate players, and they can pick up injuries. However, Marcus Rashford's had a very good season and would probably have been a cheaper option. So the fact they got the Gordon deal over the line first surprised me a lot. I prefer Rashford personally. When he is at the top of his game, I don't think there are many that can match him.

But it's a great move for Anthony Gordon. Ask any youngster growing up, Barcelona and Real Madrid are the two clubs you dream of playing for abroad. He didn't play anywhere near enough games towards the end of the season at Newcastle, and Eddie Howe didn’t trust him, playing Harvey Barnes instead. So it's a great opportunity to go to a huge club with fantastic fans and showcase his ability. I do hope Marcus Rashford manages to get his move as well though.

Moving on to some more transfer news now and it appears that Manchester United will sign Ederson from Atalanta. It was massively important to sign a midfielder after losing Casemiro. I think the only other option there is Kobbie Mainoo, while Manuel Ugarte hasn't really been good enough in my opinion.

So that's why I think Man United will go and buy another central midfielder after they’ve got Ederson. They've been linked to players like Sandro Tonali, Adam Wharton, Elliot Anderson, and Mateus Fernandes at West Ham.

But the Ederson signing is a great one. If you don't watch Italian football, you need to watch him. He can do everything, gets forward and covers so much ground.

They went and got the attacking players they needed in the last summer window, which was enough to improve and to finish in the Champions League. If they can get another midfielder and a few defensive reinforcements, I think Man United could be in the hunt next season.

Looking at the more immediate future, and the focus is very much on England, who play the first of their two World Cup warm-up games against New Zealand tonight.

It's all about getting minutes into the players' legs. You don't want to go into a tournament off the back of three or four weeks without a game because match fitness is totally different. The ones who need the minutes most, are players like Gordon who didn't play much towards the end of the season at Newcastle.

John Stones is another player who needs the game time, but needs to manage his body because it feels like it keeps breaking down. We all know how good a defender he is, and the partnership with him and Marc Guéhi at the Euros was outstanding.

These games are massive for him. He needs to play against both New Zealand and Costa Rica and come away unscathed, because if he has a setback, that could be it for his World Cup chances.

If England are near the top of the list of underachieving footballing nations, then the Netherlands cannot be far behind.

There is a symmetry in their respective trials and tribulations. Each has only one trophy, despite a historic wealth in playing talent. For Charlton, Moore and the World Cup 1966, see van Basten, Gullit and Euro 1988.

Each has suffered multiple Final heartaches. If England fans think they’ve had pain in the last two European Championships, take a moment for supporters of the Oranje, who have lost in all three of the World Cup Finals they’ve reached in 1974, 1978 and 2010.

The outsiders

There have also been several narrow misses in the semi-finals for both, not to mention the respective embarrassments at failing to qualify for tournaments at all. The last two decades have seen England fail to reach Euro 2008 and the Netherlands somehow contrive to miss both Euro 2016 and the World Cup in 2018.

Yet when it gets to the imminent World Cup, the comparisons abruptly stop. Whilst England has been added to the shortlist of nations capable of lifting the trophy, the Netherlands have at best secured ‘Outside chance’ status.

When the Dutch squad was announced on May 27th by Ronald Koeman, the main reasons for such preemptive categorisation became clear. Yes, 12 years on since his breakthrough World Cup, the Dutch are still relying on an increasingly injury-prone Memphis Depay up front. And yes, you did read it correctly - Wout Weghorst, with just two league goals in 2026 for a desperately poor Ajax team, has still been selected. The loss of Xavi Simons - one of their real bright attacking sparks - is also a huge blow. The group draw has certainly not been kind to Koeman’s side either, pitting them against Japan, Sweden and Tunisia.

However, to play on the old mobile phone advertisement, could the immediate future in North America not just be bright, but Oranje?

There are certainly some reasons for Holland fans to be hopeful that this could be the year in which they finally break that World Cup duck:

A case for the defence

The football purists and highlights reel enthusiasts may not like it, but more often than not, defences win titles. And they certainly are important in tournaments. There is not much point having flashy furniture in your living room if there’s a huge leak in the ceiling.

If you scan the squads of those believed to be ahead of the Dutch in the pecking order, it’s difficult to argue that any of them have superior defensive options. One could go a step further and say that the Netherlands have the best defence in the tournament full-stop.

The likely starting back four will be Denzel Dumfries, Jurriën Timber, Virgil van Dijk and Micky van de Ven. The eagle-eyed fans will point out that three of these players are not in their natural club positions - with Timber normally at full back, van de Ven at centre back and Dumfries as an attacking wing-back. Yet all have excelled in these alternative roles under Koeman, with Timber having previously played regularly as a centre back at Ajax. Each has real physicality, aerial prowess and natural passing ability, with the pace of the respective North London players either side of van Dijk compensating for any concerns over the soon to be 35 year-old’s aging limbs.

The Dutch defensive quality is such that even with Matthijs de Ligt injured, Koeman has been happy to leave out the likes of Jeremie Frimpong, Stefan de Vrij, Lutsharel Geertruida and Sven Botman. Indeed, on paper, only seven defenders have been selected; although with Nathan Aké, Jan Paul van Hecke and Jorrel Hato in reserve, few can question the strength of the defensive options Koeman still has in his back pocket.

Rich in versatility

One of the reasons Koeman has taken one defender less is because of his confidence in Mats Weiffer, nominally a central midfielder, being able to cover at right back. And this points to another key attribute of the Dutch squad - almost all of them can play well in more than one position. This versatility is vital in tournament football.

The aforementioned Aké and Hato can play at both left back and centre back, whilst if Koeman wanted to play with extra defensive cover, Dumfries has shown the natural attacking ability at Inter Milan to play as a right winger with Timber at right back. In central midfield, Koeman has multiple players equally comfortable either sitting deep as a progressive holding midfielder or playing higher up the pitch; be it Frenkie de Jong, Teun Koopmeiners, Quinten Timber or Ryan Gravenberch. For the latter, it has perhaps been forgotten due to his reinvention at Liverpool that Gravenberch made his name at Ajax as a box-to-box midfielder more than capable of making attacking contributions.

And whilst the striker options are somewhat uninspiring - despite the performances this season of Bryan Brobbey - what the Dutch do have is a collection of wide attackers capable of playing on either flank or, in the case of Cody Gakpo and Donyell Malen, down the middle. There have been strong calls in the Netherlands for Malen to be the starting striker after netting 14 goals in 18 Serie A appearances for Roma. Although Gakpo has his detractors, he has been generally superb for his country. Meanwhile, individuals like Justin Kluivert and Guus Til may not get the pulses going but they are invaluable squad players who can play across the front line or even in attacking midfield.

If Koeman needs to respond to injuries - be it during or ahead of matches - he has a group of adaptable players at his disposal. And this extends to tactics. At the last World Cup, Louis van Gaal was hammered for his zeal for sticking with a defensive back-three wing-back system. On returning to the role of national coach, Koeman was clear that the system would revert to a 4-3-3 or 4-2-3-1 formation. However, his team still has the ability, and in some personnel the tournament experience, to change to that old shape if circumstances demand it. It was actually what Koeman used for much of the Netherlands’ Euro 2024 qualifying campaign. Not many sides at this tournament can switch so seamlessly between tactical formations.

Being able to naturally shift shape and player positions is not the golden ticket for World Cup glory - yet it is an extremely useful characteristic to have if you want to go far.

Experience and momentum

If the Premier League is widely deemed to be the best in the world, and if that league had more Dutch players (36) in 25/26 than ever before, then should we be ranking the international team’s chances a bit higher?

Over half (15) of Koeman’s 26-man squad played in the Premier League last season, a stat that includes Malen before his January move to Italy. To stretch it further, in the last 12 months, from a total of 41 international call-ups, 22 of those selected were Premier League players, including Mark Flekken, who left Brentford last summer. Performing at such a domestic level doesn’t guarantee international success, but it is nonetheless a contextual element to this Netherlands side that has been overlooked.

Yet when it comes to international tournament experience, the Dutch squad is still brimming with it, with exactly half of the group the same as the one that almost reached the Euro 2024 Final. For context, that is only one less than England. Going back further, 11 of the options Koeman has available also played in the 2022 World Cup. This continuity and understanding of the intricacies of coping on the game’s biggest stage are important.

This includes the experience of players like Depay. Although his integral role shows the persisting lack of depth at centre forward, it would be remiss to ignore his status as the Oranje’s record goalscorer and his 108 caps. Likewise, van Dijk now sits on 90 caps, whilst Dumfries (71) and De Jong (64) have vital experience. In total, 10 of the squad have 30+ caps for their country. To again give an English context, this is two more than the Three Lions.

And whilst momentum isn’t everything, it is certainly useful going into a tournament. It breeds confidence, unity and familiarity. During qualifying, the Netherlands won six and drew two of their eight games, scoring 27 goals and conceding only four. Indeed, since that Euro 2024 semi-final loss, in 18 matches the Oranje have lost only once across 90 minutes or extra-time.

A world-class midfield

Finding the right balance in central midfield is an issue many international sides struggle with. Frequently, the imbalance comes from coaches feeling they are unable to leave certain big names out in such an essential area of the pitch, even if their skillsets don’t align.

Fortunately, Koeman does not have to worry about that with Gravenberch and Frenkie de Jong. Each encapsulates all the traits traditionally associated with Dutch central midfielders - quality on the ball, an almost floating athleticism across the pitch, intelligent reading of the game and supreme passing. Each are aggressive in the tackle and happy either being the deepest lying midfielder or the one breaking forward to support the attack. In theory, they have the ability to dovetail brilliantly. Neither was seen on the pitch at Euro 2024 - de Jong was injured and Gravenberch was merely a squad player who didn’t make the bench once. Their partnership in the middle of the park is a significant upgrade and surely one of the best at the World Cup.

Ahead of them, the recent lack of gametime for Tijjani Reijnders is a frustration, but the Manchester City man will still likely be the assigned ‘number 10’ and will be fresh. He too has many of the same attributes as Gravenberch and de Jong, and with 10 goals and assists in 30 international appearances, is proven at this level. It is a midfield with real balance - an engine room and a creative platform in equal measure that could make a real impact this summer.

At the last World Cup in North America in 1994, the Dutch reached the quarter-finals. For many, this will again be their glass ceiling, just as it was in 2022. Can they go all the way? The rational judgement is no.

Nevertheless, with quality in defence and midfield, and a squad with versatility and experience, they should not be underestimated. Reach the knock-out stages again when the margins are at their finest, and these attributes could well come even more to the fore. It could be a very different type of orange person taking all the glory on July 19th.

Southampton will be playing Championship football next season despite going unbeaten in the 2025/26 play-offs.

The blame for this rests squarely upon the shoulders of first-team head coach Tonda Eckert, who, I must preface, should be applauded for fronting up to the criticism that has fallen at his door in recent weeks.

The Saints were barred from the Championship play-off final against Hull City, and replaced by defeated semi-finalists Middlesbrough, after an independent commission found the south coast club guilty of spying on Boro training in the 72 hours preceding their first leg tie.

Southampton apology video felt insincere after getting play-off boot

Since 2018, it has been forbidden for English Football League (EFL) clubs to observe opponents' training in the three-day period before a fixture.

Even before the original Spygate saga of 2018 - involving Leeds United and Derby County, which prompted a change to EFL legislation - it had always been the case that clubs should behave in good faith towards each other, so much so, that it is written into the EFL rules.

Since taking the top job at Southampton, Eckert has overseen a spying campaign on the Saints' upcoming opponents, to which the club have admitted being a party to in at least two other cases.

Eckert delivered an eight-minute video message, primarily to the club's supporters, but clearly intended for a wider audience, this week, apologising for the sins committed which resulted in Southampton receiving an unprecedented play-off expulsion.

Maintaining intense eye contact down the camera lens, almost as if he were observing a Middlesbrough training session shot on an iPhone, Eckert took his medicine and owned up to the actions that ultimately saw Saints miss out on a shot at promotion back to the Premier League.

For all intents and purposes, this seemed to be your bog standard celebrity apology video. The familiar platitudes were laid out: 'I've let you down, I take full responsibility, yadda yadda'. But, hang on, there's still four minutes of this video left.

Turning quicker than a fleet of foot intern whose stealthy plot had been foiled by Rockliffe Hall training ground staff, Eckert began explaining his actions. Hmm. The tone became much less apologetic. To the neutral, you could be excused for thinking the Saints boss didn't really mean everything he'd said in those opening four minutes.

I don't know about you, but whenever I've had to apologise for something, it's usually a brief exchange in which I take responsibility, offer restitution to the aggrieved party and don't bother with the whole, '...but, the thing is you see, I was only doing it because...'. And that's because it's not a great look - even if you still feel like you're in the right.

"When I worked in Italy for over four years, every starting lineup that we've chosen for the games was always out in the media before games," Eckert said. "And the reason is that our training sessions, especially the ones before games, have always been observed from media and opponent teams that we came up against.

"[Pep] Guardiola has spoken about this at his time at Bayern Munich that it has been common practice in Germany to observe training sessions knowing other teams would do the same. I don't want to say this to excuse what we have done, I just want to give you context in the way that I grew up in the football world.

"There's different rules in England, different rules from the EFL and I should have known them.

"The bitter irony is none of what has happened had any effect on sporting performance. I don't want to use this as an excuse.

"I have made a mistake and I take full responsibility."

Eckert had to eat this one, like a big humble parmo. He'd been caught breaking the rules and punished for it. Some might argue Southampton were sanctioned unfairly or disproportionately, but Eckert represents the club, he is the face acting on behalf of those he manages, those who support him and the team, and those he works under, in what he believed to be the club's best interests. Punishment fits the crime, I'm afraid.

But Eckert didn't eat it - and it's likely now he never will, and won't have to. The German coach keeps his job and has instilled a siege mentality at St. Mary's Stadium, based on the social media response from Saints supporters.

Most neutrals could plainly see how it was they, the fans, who were most hard done by. Not Eckert, not Taylor Harwood-Bellis, whose spying celebration in the semi-final second leg, shone a bright light on footballers' intellect once more, and not the suits in the St. Mary's director's box.

The fans will back him, he's their manager and he actually presided over a fantastic run of form to get Southampton into the play-offs in the first place. Winning is the ultimate currency in football. How much the team actually gleaned from their surreptitious activity will never be quantified but even the slimmest advantages can make all the difference in such a low-scoring sport.

So, Eckert has taken responsibility, or has he? He's been apologetic, too, but did he really apologise? Why does all of this matter?

Football clubs are the pillars of local communities and, in an ideal world, you'd like to think those leading your club are upstanding, rule-abiding members of the public. Some aren't, and unfortunately football has a way of attracting them. That is not to broadly suggest Eckert is such an individual - I have never met the man and would not cast aspersions on his character or moral fibre. But in this case, he's been found to be in the wrong.

Eckert cited previous experiences in Italy and Germany, referenced managerial great Guardiola and commented on the 'bitter irony' of spying supposedly giving Southampton no material sporting advantage, almost as if he were justifying his actions, before adding 'I want to provide context'. All it did was make his previous apology feel insincere. Apologies don't require context when they're sincere.

If spying on your opponent offers little tangible benefit, why do it? If unsure of the EFL rules on spying, why not check them? If the club did not know they were in the wrong, why did the analyst flee once rumbled? Why did he have a change of clothes? Probably because Rockliffe doubles as a golf course, so he brought a spare pair of trousers in case he got a hole in one.

If your apology requires context, it is not an apology, it is an explanation. When an explanation of wrongdoing comes from a position of power and strength, it is rarely one which serves the interests of the aggrieved, often weaker, party.

And how about apologising publicly to young intern, Will Salt, made to carry out the dirty work, whose picture was on the back page of every national newspaper? Leaked WhatsApp messages have recently indicated that interns and junior analysts, much lower in seniority than somebody in Eckert's position, felt pressure to conduct Southampton's spying missions.

"I didn't really have an option and wasn't provided an opportunity to say no. I was an intern and was doing what I was told", a junior analyst intern reportedly told peers.

There is still much that doesn't sit right, and probably never will.

At most clubs the manager isn’t the figurehead in the way in which they are at Anfield. Bill Shankly, Bob Paisley and Jurgen Klopp are a deity on Merseyside and around the world.

Rafa Benitez was similarly loved, so too Gerard Houllier. They were perceived, rightly, as being people who understood the football club, its history, its supporters, the city of Liverpool and its working-class roots.

Crucially, they immersed themselves in all aspects as Liverpool Football Club’s leader.

'One of us'

It’s the same for players. Those who go all in and embrace everything about the club are often afforded more leeway when things get difficult, and also remembered fondly for who they were rather than just what they achieved.

Take Andy Robertson as a prime example. A player who was “one of us” on the pitch, as described by The Anfield Wrap and by Klopp himself in their documentary on the departing Scot.

The Perception Problem For Arne Slot

“They (the fans) don’t care that much about the result as long as you sweat and give your blood here, they’ll love you forever,” assessed Mo Salah, quite accurately, while standing next to Robertson after their final game for Liverpool. “This is my message to you guys (other players), it’s not about talent – it’s probably why [Robertson] is loved more than anyone maybe! – you just give it all and the fans love you for that.”

A manager, though, cannot run harder or deliver on the pitch in order to prove their effort. It has to be shown in other, more subtle and often hidden ways.

One of the problems for Arne Slot in his second season at Anfield was that he, and seemingly his coaching staff, failed to understand the role that perception plays with supporters at a club like Liverpool.

When you’re winning, everything is good. But when you’re losing, and Liverpool lost 20 times in all competitions in Slot’s second season, everything is under the microscope. Explanations become excuses. Every detail is hyper-analysed and often misinterpreted.

One of the major talking points among Liverpool fans as the season continued to spiral was Slot’s decision to live close to Manchester airport, often being accused of taking days off for holidays in Ibiza and Dubai, returning for a pre-match press conference in mid-winter with a tan.

Other members of Slot’s staff also lived in Manchester City centre. As the second season struggle hit, accusations of disconnect snowballed among the fan base.

Now, the shadow of Klopp is one that Slot had to work with, but fans share stories of Klopp living alongside Liverpool supporters in nearby Formby, walking his dog and engaging in conversations, going to the local pub, playing lawn bowls, and his family all being part of the community.

It was similar with Benitez, whose family enjoyed life on the Wirral so much they still reside there now. Klopp and his staff embraced everything Liverpool, showing a true understanding of the club and its history. Supporters felt like they knew them.

Liverpool didn't hold pre-match press conferences for Carabao Cup ties under Slot, whereas under Klopp, his assistant, Pepijn Lijnders, took the opportunity to undertake media duties and get his message across to fans. You could file that under a missed opportunity for the likes of Sipke Hulshoff and Giovanni van Bronckhorst.

Slot lived in Cheshire’s so-called ‘golden triangle’ - where many Liverpool, Man City and Man United players reside. It became a talking point among fans. Does it really matter if the Liverpool manager lives on Merseyside? Probably not, but the optics aren’t great, especially when things start to go wrong. Advice to the next manager: live on Merseyside. As an aside, the club's sporting director should probably live on Merseyside, too.

In the final weeks of the season, Slot was pictured having dinner with his family, who hadn’t moved to England with him, in London on a day off. At a time when the Reds had exited both the Premier League and FA Cup in 4-0 defeats, and during a run at the end of the season that saw just three wins in 11 games, it wasn’t well received.

Likewise, his rather poorly judged photo with Wayne Lineker at O Beach in Ibiza - taken during the season but after the title was won - was now used to question Slot’s work ethic. “He never seemed to fully buy into the club,” one supporter told FourFourTwo.

Those accusations from fans have been somewhat corroborated by reporting, via journalist David Lynch, that there were concerns from academy staff that Slot didn’t ‘pay attention’ to the academy, rarely, if ever, watching Under-21s or Under-18s games, and thus frustrating staff. This, it’s now reported, is one of the reasons Liverpool made the decision to sack the Dutchman after just two seasons, with a pathway needing to be provided for youngsters from the academy.

Teenage midfielder Trey Nyoni, who was handed his debut by Klopp aged 16 and was among the subs when Liverpool lifted the League Cup in Klopp’s final season, played just 21 minutes in the Premier League this season. The reluctance to use Rio Ngumoha was also seen as a snub to the academy, while a question on striker Jayden Danns in mid-April saw Slot seemingly unaware that the 20-year-old had actually suffered another injury setback. “He’s now getting back with the U21s, getting some playing time,” he said, despite Danns having been subbed with a hamstring issue after just 22 minutes on his comeback the month before.

Head Coach vs. Manager

Perhaps the signs pointed to Slot being less involved from the off, handed the title of head coach rather than manager, wearing a tracksuit for his unveiling press conference. It gave the impression of being a coach rather than a manager; here to work on the training ground. Plus, nobody could ever repeat the all-in approach of his predecessor anyway, and even Klopp admitted he had to change his approach to training the players, admitting a “silly decision” in his second season.

“When I came here, the players had a few days off,” Klopp said. “I changed it and said: ‘How can they have three or four days off or something?’ It was a silly decision. It’s only because I was not used to it. Now we are proper English coaches, we know about the fixtures, the intensity of the next few months. Each possibility for a little break, you have to use. That's what we have to do.”

So Slot’s approach to giving players time off didn’t differ hugely from Klopp’s, but still, stories from former players of the intensity of Klopp's sessions and training in pre-season lived in the memory for supporters. Again, perception is everything, and while Klopp eventually changed to give players time off, Klopp himself didn’t take that time off; helped by his family living with him locally. When FFT asked Klopp in 2021 what he’s looking forward to in life after football, his answer was quick and strong: “Seeing the world. It’s easy (answer).” “I have no time,” he added.

Slot was actually asked about his frequent trips to Ibiza, admitting: “That’s the downside of being a Liverpool manager: if you are somewhere in public, then they can make videos.” “If the sun shines and I can be with my family, then it’s my kind of place,” said Slot, whose very first official words at Liverpool were ironically to say how energised he felt after “the holiday I had.”

Again, there’s nothing truly wrong about it, but perception is everything in football, especially for a manager, and especially at a club like Liverpool. Perhaps Liverpool’s idolisation of their manager is because the club have only had 22 of them in their 134-year history – and only two in the post-war era (Brendan Rodgers and Roy Hodgson) didn’t win a trophy. The next manager needs to ensure they don’t add to that short and unwanted list. They can learn a little about where it went wrong for Slot.

FourFourTwo met Arsenal star Eberechi Eze two days after winning the Premier League title: the feeling still fresh; the lethargy of the euphoria still lingering. He wasn't even looking forward to the battle of Budapest, but the party at the Palace.

After half a decade at Selhurst Park – followed by the dramatic Arsenal transfer, scoring against Crystal Palace, then a hat-trick in the North London Derby – to finish the story back where he began felt particularly fitting.

“Scripted,” as Eze suggested. And it certainly felt so.

Coincidence and destiny sit either side of a tightrope, after all. It can be argued, for sure, that in a world of infinite possibilities – and potentially in this one reality of infinite parallel worlds – that quirks like Ebere Eze's first season at Arsenal are simply that: a neat footnote that ultimately has little bearing, just as it was Bournemouth's no.22, Junior Kroupi, ended 22 years of hurt for the Gunners, or that “Puskas” roughly translates to “gun”; that Arsenal would dump Antoine Griezmann out of a European semi-final and ruin his farewell, just as he did the same to Arsene Wenger eight years prior, or that after West Ham United effectively ended Arsenal's title pursuit last season and proved a consistent thorn in the side of Declan Rice's new employers, a nervy 1-0 victory against the Hammers would effectively be the final major hurdle en route to the title.

Just as you can't choose your destiny, you can't pick and choose parts of a script either. If some things are written, theory dictates that surely all things are written. If Eze was meant to win the title at Selhurst Park – if Arsenal were meant to end the title drought in the manner that they did – then Budapest was surely meant to happen.

For so long, this team were labelled as bottlers – on the page, on many, many screens, and in stands up and down our fair isle. Their own individual nadirs shaped each Arsenal player.

This was a team built from the broken. William Saliba has never spoken publicly about losing a parent while living in a foreign country. Watching him claim crosses, you'd never know either that David Raya suffered a horror injury in 2018 in which his nose was described as “hanging off” his face.

Raya played non-league football after arriving in England aged 16, later claiming the weekends to be the hardest for him, as he missed his parents. Ben White played deep in the Football League after being released by Southampton, while Gabriel Martinelli was passed up on by bigger clubs while in the Brazilian fourth tier. Declan Rice was released by boyhood Chelsea. Eze, himself, from Arsenal, before rebuilding his life in League One, and suffering a ruptured Achilles before the homecoming.

Jurrien Timber tore an ACL 50 minutes into his debut for the club he'd always dreamed of representing. Riccardo Calafiori suffered a knee injury so severe that doctors compared it to a motorcycle accident. He had no right to ever play top-level football: yet he recovered, left home to develop at Basel and became a rock for his country. Gabriel, likewise, turned the heartbreak of missing out on the 2022 World Cup squad by becoming Brazil's most indispensable defender four years later.

Most famously, Bukayo Saka stood on top of the world at Wembley Stadium, and fell. Let's not sugarcoat it: the racist backlash was one of the most disgusting episodes in England's modern sporting history. He never cowered. He had the bravery to stand on the spot again, to grab both his boyhood club and his nation by the scruff of the neck.

They are led by a man who was told he wasn't good enough for Barcelona, his dream club. He forged a career, finding a home and a no.8 shirt elsewhere. On the eve of playing his first international cap, he tore his ACL. He never got to play for his country. And one day, he'd make Martin Odegaard his captain: a boy who was told he wasn't good enough for Real Madrid, before forging a career, finding a home and a no.8 shirt elsewhere.

Chelsea beat Arsenal in Arteta's first home game. COVID-19 hit. Manchester City tore them apart. Eighth place beckoned. A terrible run in the winter of 2020 followed behind closed doors. Unai Emery beat them in the Europa League semi-finals. Eighth again. No Europe.

Third-round FA Cup exits. Bullied by Brentford. Bottom of the league. The Aubameyang fallout. Suckerpunched by Spurs for fourth. Newcastle away, twice. Sporting in the Europa League. City ‘little bro-ing’ them. Aston Villa away, then at home. West Ham at home, twice. That Rice red card. That Lewis-Skelly red card. The injury crises. The “Be humble” game. The “it's not done” game. A Carabao Cup final loss in between, and another FA Cup capitulation to boot.

The lows have defined Arsenal almost as much as the highs in six years of Arteta's reign: to call them bottlers after all that – after all they've each been through – and to see their progress all the while, is banter, sure, but not wholly fair. Budapest was not to be the destiny but another marker on the journey.

2006's Champions League final defeat felt like the end of an era. This one does not. Dennis Bergkamp retired after Paris in the springtime, while Robert Pires' final Arsenal appearance lasted less than 20 minutes, the Frenchman devastatingly sacrificed after Jens Lehmann's red card. Goalscorer Sol Campbell left that summer, as did Ashley Cole; Freddie Ljungberg and Thierry Henry both had one more season in them. A whole spine of that team was ripped out within 18 months: yet 20 years later, on a blue moon in the last weekend of May, their counterparts are just getting started. Saliba, Rice, Timber, Calafiori, Lewis-Skelly, Saka, Odegaard, Eze and Havertz are all the right side of 28.

And they won the title with the very obvious feeling that there was more to give. Arteta's men are flawed champions. They have clear weaknesses to address, having squeezed opponents all season rather than steamrolling them.

Arsenal banished two domestic decades of ever-increasingly louder demons. They went an entire European campaign unbeaten up until a penalty shootout, without conceding in open play.

They kept the best team in the world – the best frontline on Earth – quiet for two hours. They didn't even give the satisfaction to Matvei Safonov of a hero moment: Paris Saint-Germain didn't save a penalty in the Puskas. Arsenal missed both of theirs. The operation was very much a success: the patient merely died on the table.

And yet Arteta will stand before the group at the start of next season and tell them they can go one better. As they have done every year: eighth, eighth, fifth, second, second, second, first, in the league. Quarter-finals, semi-finals, final, in Europe.

Chelsea needed a few deep runs before they won it; City did, too. The lesson of Liverpool under Jurgen Klopp was that if you hang around long enough at the top, you'll have your time: Arsenal have already experienced that with a trophy this season, and now is the time to exercise similar patience in Europe.

Even as he trudged away from Parisian celebrations, Ebere Eze looked inconsolable after missing his spot-kick. That's clearly not the ending he imagined to the dream first season: but he's right about the football gods, the sporting scriptwriters or, if you'd rather, coincidence and the ability for elite athletes to raise themselves from their knees.

Maybe Arsenal were meant to lose in Budapest. Maybe Eze was meant to miss. Maybe there are better things to come. The chapter is over; the story is not.

Ibrahima Konate is set to leave Liverpool on a free transfer this summer after two and a half years of contract negotiations came to nothing.

The centre-back will join Mohamed Salah and Andy Robertson in leaving Liverpool on a free transfer this summer, with Virgil van Dijk and Alisson currently looking set to join them next summer unless they are sold in the interim.

The same was true of Georginio Wijnaldum, Roberto Firmino, Emre Can, Adam Lallana, James Milner, Naby Keita, Divock Origi, and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain before them.

Where will Konate end up next?

A true Bosman was only averted with Trent Alexander-Arnold thanks to Real Madrid stumping €10m to get the deal done early so he could play at the Club World Cup.

That is a lot of value to walk out the door at Anfield without Liverpool getting a return on their investment…but how big a problem that is is a matter of perspective.

It should be acknowledged that a fair few of those players were in their 30s and had given years of dedicated and decorated service to Liverpool. Others had struggled with injuries before their departures.

That leaves only a handful who left at a decent age to recover a bit of money, the most notable of which are Wijnaldum, Keita, Origi and – if we’re going to count his sale far below market value – Alexander-Arnold.

The degree to which Liverpool actually missed those players is arguable. Wijnaldum’s exit felt very questionable at the time, for instance: he had played in every single one of their Premier League games the previous season.

But the season following his departure saw Liverpool rise from 3rd to run Manchester City extremely close in the Premier League, reach the Champions League final, and win the FA Cup and the League Cup.

The bulk of those departures also came before Liverpool’s Premier League title win of 2024/25, which was followed by an absolutely enormous spending spree last summer.

Whatever you think of the actual signings they made, the sheer amount they spent suggested Liverpool were hardly short of a few bob. That’s hardly surprising, given they were the best-performing English side for revenues in the Deloitte money league that season.

It’s not like Liverpool have not made big-name or big-money sales, either. There are some big names in there – Luis Diaz (€70m), Darwin Nunez (€53m), Fabinho (€46.7m), Sadio Mane (€32m), and Jordan Henderson (€14m).

But the bulk of them are squad players and academy graduates. €35m for Jarell Quansah. €26m for Rhian Brewster. A combined €61.8m for Sepp van den Berg, Caoimhin Kelleher and Fabio Carvalho to Brentford. €23.2m for Benn Gannon-Doak. €20m for Neco Williams. €14m for Harry Wilson. €10m for Tyler Morton. There are more than that, but we don’t have all day.

If we’re being generous, then Liverpool would seem quite happy to let some of their biggest stars run down their contracts and keep playing them until their deals expire, while topping up the coffers by selling players who were never likely to make it into their first team anyway.

Since they signed van Dijk from Southampton for a then eye-watering amount in 2018, Liverpool have tried to carve out a reputation as a side that will spend big on players they think are worth the outlay – but only those players.

From 2020 onwards, Liverpool have only paid transfer fees for 19 players, and that includes Ben Davies from Preston and Marcelo Pitaluga from Fluminese for fees that Championship clubs would happily pay, let alone Premier League clubs.

For better (2024/25) or worse (2025/26), that has given the Reds a much greater degree of stability than some of their financial rivals…and also has a side effect not enjoyed by the likes of Manchester United and Chelsea.

Simply put…Liverpool are not a club known for chucking a load of cash at players just to keep them at the club.

They could have done that with Konate if they had so desired. They could have got Salah and van Dijk sewn up much faster last year. Could they even have kept Alexander-Arnold? Who knows.

But that sets a standard. Move the ceiling up for one player, and everyone else will want their wages raised too. Not just current players, but new signings too.

From their point of view, it may be worthwhile letting the odd Konate, Keita or Wijnaldum – starters, but not megastars – get away from them if it makes clear they will not be a soft touch in contract negotiations. If they make an offer, it's because they want you there, not as a means to securing a fee. Take it or leave it.

That’s the kind version. The more damning version is that, fairly or otherwise, it is beginning to make Liverpool look more shambolic and, in the eyes of many fans, is eroding their previous reputation for savvy transfer dealings.

The Salah and Alexander-Arnold affairs, in particular, have given the club no end of embarrassment and public recrimination.

Liverpool can happily ride that out if they keep getting results, and it's no coincidence that criticism of their transfer policy is coming after a notably poor season - regardless that Konate's performances were hardly up to scratch.

In the end, their judgement will always come on the pitch. Get back to winning trophies, and nobody will care. Continue receding, and the scrutiny will only get louder.

There were almost as many contentious decisions in Thomas Tuchel's World Cup squad as decisions made.

England supporters and pundits are easy to divide and there's no better opportunity to do it than in the foothills of a major tournament summer. Tuchel isn't in the business of making choices for any other motivation than results, but one gets the impression he cares not for naysaying when it comes to his plans.

The England boss signed a two-year contract extension in February but World Cup 2026 is and always has been the focus of his appointment. The work of the Three Lions in getting to major semi-finals and finals was a big step forward and Tuchel's most attractive selling point was a ruthless knack for getting over the line.

Jordan Henderson isn't in the World Cup squad to make up the numbers

At 35 years old, Jordan Henderson has become a poster boy for England's perceived inability to move forward, to make brave and ambitious selections that leave behind the favourites of the last generation before their deteriorating legs take the choice away.

Yet there's a reason why Henderson in particular is the man first Gareth Southgate and now Tuchel have kept around. The furore of his short-lived Saudi Pro League stint aside, he is a respected elder statesman of the game behind closed doors.

It's too simplistic to look at Henderson's age, even his realistic ceiling compared to the competition around him, and write his inclusion off as an oversight or a misstep. The experience he brings, the respect he commands, can make a difference at a major tournament.

In the age of the 26-player squad, teams at the World Cup can take flyer on certain components and having a senior player who knows the score and sets an example could be among the most potent.

England supporters shouldn't take for granted a continuation of previous major tournament progress but the evidence of those since 2018 is that the Three Lions have been close.

With 26 places to play with, there's no real reason not to take a chance that Henderson's experience offers an edge worth having even if he doesn't play all that much in the United States, Canada and Mexico this summer.

There were other ways to have Henderson at the World Cup. Tuchel and the FA can populate their travelling party more or less as they please.

The idea of the veteran tagging along as a cheerleader instead of filling one of the 26 squad places has been mooted. He could have been involved in the early part of the World Cup as a member of England's additional training squad allocation.

Neither is the same as Henderson being in the squad. He is, after all, an active Premier League captain in all but name and not some ceremonial charity case. There's being there, and there's being in – the dressing room knows the difference.

Henderson is a known quantity in this regard. His advocates within the game range far and wide, and Brentford's first Premier League season under rookie manager Keith Andrews is all the evidence Tuchel could need that Henderson specifically warrants his trust.

The Bees missed out on a European place on goal difference and that, after the upheaval of last summer, is no joke. Henderson more than played his part in that.

Adam Wharton's exclusion is the most common point of opposition to Henderson occupying a place in England's World Cup squad. In FourFourTwo's opinion, the two matters can and should be separated.

The Crystal Palace midfielder is a noteworthy omission but Henderson hasn't necessarily been called up at Wharton's expense. England's straightforward options in the middle are Henderson, Declan Rice, Kobbie Mainoo and Elliot Anderson.

Could Wharton have been accommodated by reducing the number of defenders from nine? Possibly.

There might even have been a case for picking Wharton ahead of Mainoo and sure, Henderson's part of that conversation too, but these decisions and their consequences are only Tuchel's to bear.

The England manager believes his squad is better for Henderson's involvement. New contract or not, he'll be judged on that at the end of England's World Cup. Until then, it's a wasted spot, a motivational masterstroke, either, neither, or both.

I’ll start by reflecting on Pep Guardiola’s departure from Manchester City and the unbelievable job he’s done at that football club. In my opinion, there’s no question that he ranks alongside Sir Alex Ferguson as the best manager in Premier League history. He’s an incredible coach, and you cannot question how he develops players and makes them better.

It’s difficult to say where he’ll end up next, but I imagine he’ll have a bit of break and bide his time for the right job. I can see him going into international management, and hopefully it won’t be too long until he’s back in work.

Clinton Morrison was speaking on behalf of BetFinder, the new AI betting tool developed by Freebets.com.

Clinton Morrison: 'Ivan Toney's call-up was surprising - but he's been outstanding in Saudi'

Looking back on the last day of the Premier League season, and the biggest surprise was undoubtedly seeing Sunderland surge into a seventh-place finish. It’s an incredible achievement, and it’s hard to believe that Regis Le Bris was under pressure at times this season.

He’s got them into Europe in their first season in the Premier League, and I’m sure if you'd spoken to most Sunderland fans at the start of the season, they'd have just been happy to stay in the division. Le Bris should definitely be a contender for manager of the season, given what he’s achieved.

Looking ahead to the World Cup now, and the dust is starting to settle on Thomas Tuchel’s squad for the finals. I thought there were a few strange decisions, and one of the first that springs to mind is his call to leave out Morgan Gibbs-White. You want to pick players that are in form, and he certainly fits into that category. I also can’t believe Adam Wharton isn't in it either.

When you're going to places like North America in that heat, you want players who can manipulate the ball, and play passes into Harry Kane's feet. That’s why I was so surprised Wharton wasn't picked. Harry Maguire being left out too was a big call, and I don’t understand how you can leave out Trent Alexander-Arnold. His range of passing would have been a huge asset to this England team.

But one thing you have to realise about Tuchel is that he sticks with people who have done well for him previously. For example, I like Dan Burn as a character and as a player, but he shouldn't have gone ahead of Harry Maguire. And I'd even say someone like Ezri Konsa shouldn’t be in the squad ahead of Trent. That's just my honest opinion.

It's also disappointing that Phil Foden and Cole Palmer were left at home, because they're two of England's brightest attacking options. He's instead decided to go with a third striker, which surprised me. I don't think you need three strikers because Harry Kane plays every minute of every game. The only way another striker gets on the pitch is if England are chasing a game.

With that in mind, Ivan Toney’s call-up was very surprising. However, I cover a lot of Saudi games and he's been outstanding, scoring around 30 goals. Those players who have been left out will be devastated, but Tuchel is paid to make those big calls.

Looking ahead to tonight now, and there’s the small matter of the Champions League final between Paris Saint-Germain and Arsenal. If Arsenal take the lead, I think they will win it. They’ve shown how resilient they can be defensively to dig out results, and winning the Premier League will give them huge confidence going into the game.

But if PSG take the lead, it's a completely different game. Arsenal then have to come out and chase it, and PSG’s front three will just pick them off on the counter-attack. The key for Arsenal will be to score first, and I think they can do it.

If Arsenal do win, then he’ll do something which Arsene Wenger wasn’t able to do and win a Premier League-Champions League double. It would be an amazing achievement, but Wenger would still rank above Arteta in my eyes. You cannot forget what Wenger did when he arrived at Arsenal and how he changed that football club for the better.

But a win for Arteta would prove that patience can still yield results. The club’s board stuck with him during the bad times and believed in him. Whatever happens, they’ve achieved their main objective of winning the Premier League.

The strength of their squad has also come to the fore, as other players have come in and grabbed the opportunity with both hands when others were injured.

It’s fair to say there were a few fans exhibiting feelings of disgruntlement when England boss Thomas Tuchel announced his squad for this summer’s World Cup.

Manchester United centre-back Harry Maguire, for one, was left “shocked and gutted” by his omission, having been included by the German head coach for the previous March international camp.

Another eyebrow-raiser was the inclusion of 35-year-old Jordan Henderson, who has started just over half of Brentford’s games in the Premier League this season.

Adam Wharton performance raises questions for Thomas Tuchel

We all know that for a perfect international squad, a mix of experience and youthfulness is required – Henderson adding plenty of the former, with his 88 Three Lions caps – but he hasn’t appeared in a major international tournament since 2022, left out by Gareth Southgate at Euro 2024.

However, it’s less about what Henderson can offer and more about the talent that his taken seat leaves peering through the plane window.

One of the key names among the jilted crew is, of course, Adam Wharton, whose performance for Crystal Palace in the Conference League final won’t make Tuchel’s decision any easier to justify.

Across the 90 minutes at the Red Bull Arena in Leipzig against Rayo Vallecano, the 22-year-old ran the midfield, completing the vast majority of his passes – many of them into the final third – winning duels, and seeing himself dispossessed just once.

To top off a fine performance, it was the former Blackburn Rovers man who opened up the space to take a shot from outside of the box, forcing Augusto Batalla to parry into the path of goalscorer Jean-Philippe Mateta.

“That’s just part of football. It was never a guarantee I was going to go [to the World Cup],” Wharton said of his England omission after the full-time whistle. “I’m not going to sit here and cry about it.

“I don’t really dwell on them things too much. It’s not the end of the world, I’m still young. Hopefully there’s other tournaments and World Cups that I can go to in the future.”

It’s clear Wharton has taken the news better than some Three Lions supporters, but his words in that press conference were uttered with a downcast tone.

In FourFourTwo’s opinion, while on current forecasts there will certainly be other opportunities for Wharton, it does feel at present that he’d be more likely to impact England than Henderson.

It feels as though Henderson could perhaps have travelled as a coach or trainer, in a similar role to goalkeeper Jason Steele, and Tuchel could then have had the best of both worlds – presuming Henderson’s minutes on the pitch will be limited.

His contribution remains to be seen at the tournament, but if the Brentford man isn’t used, or is and doesn’t make the required impact, don’t be shocked when Tuchel has to field some difficult questions.

The Portuguese midfielder broke the long-standing Premier League assist record last weekend, with a pass to Patrick Dorgu who opened the scoring against Brighton.

Bruno Fernandes whipped in a fine corner for the Dane, who headed the ball firmly in the direction of goalkeeper Bart Verbruggen.

The ball went in, with the goal marked down as Dorgu’s, the assist tallied as Fernandes’ 21st of the Premier League season, and Manchester United now 1-0 up. But only the scoreline was correct.

Dorgu’s goal is visibly and objectively a Verbruggen own goal

One replay, discovered by a fan on Sunday evening, provides conclusive proof that Dorgu’s shot was not on target, and would have rebounded back off the crossbar if not for Verbruggen.

The ball visibly strikes the Brighton goalkeeper’s hand, ricocheting into the net and finding a home it simply would not have found without the aid of Verbruggen.

Dorgu’s goal and the 31-year-old's assist should not have counted, although, I doubt that the Portuguese midfielder or Manchester United fans will care very much… considering it did.

Indeed, the Goal Accreditation Panel has already confirmed the goal to stand as the Dane's, and therefore Fernandes' 21st assist of the campaign, despite video evidence emerging that proved otherwise the night before they reached their decision.

A lot has been made of the assist record, initially set by Thierry Henry then equalled by Kevin De Bruyne, over the years.

Prior to the 31-year-old's feat, many fans even considered it cursed due to the sheer volume of times that a Premier League player could and should have broken it, but failed to.

At the end of the day, the Portuguese midfielder may not have deserved his 21st assist, but he did deserve the record.

Fernandes recorded 33 Big Chances Created in the Premier League this season, tying Kevin De Bruyne for the most ever in an English top-flight campaign.

If that level of creative output isn’t enough to break the record, then what is?

Bruno Fernandes not hitting 21 assists would have been just as tragic of a story as when his Belgian counterpart failed to do it: one of the best creative seasons in Premier League history failing to break the record, despite doing enough individually to deserve it.

And to those who still argue against it, this record has ‘number-fudging’ history as recently as this season, created by Sky Sports.

A graph used to downplay the Manchester United man’s record, separating open-play and set piece assists, revealed that Henry’s 20 assists were all from open-play.

Yet a simple video search instantly proved this wrong, ironically found on Sky Sports’ channel, with two of Henry’s assists visibly coming from set pieces.

Therefore, the Frenchman and Mohamed Salah share the joint record of 18 open-play assists in a 38-game Premier League season.

To Arsenal fans who feel that Henry was ‘robbed’ of his record, it’s worth noting that despite conclusive proof of him not having 20 open-play assists in 2002/03, the majority of social media users still believe he does.

Football stats-heads may try to disprove these narratives using facts, but the truth is too often not objective, and instead what the greatest authority deems it to be.

And that truth is simple: Bruno Fernandes officially holds the assist record, and that is what history will remember.

Perhaps they were trying to convince themselves; The Kop attempted some reassurance that ‘every little thing is gonna be alright…’ by singing Bob Marley as Liverpool’s miserable 2025/26 season came to a close.

Having watched two players depart who played key roles in transforming Liverpool into a team that won every major honour possible in the past nine years, there was more than a little sense of the end of an era at Anfield.

Half of the squad that was left for Arne Slot just two years ago has now departed, while a handful more are expected to follow Mo Salah and Andy Robertson for the exit this summer, too.

Liverpool’s season was a complete failure

Kopites who lived through the 1990s could be forgiven for being concerned that this is reminiscent of Graeme Souness’ time in charge, when the Scot moved on most of Kenny Dalglish’s title-winning-but-ageing squad in quick succession, before being sacked himself and an era of mediocrity followed.

That certainly appears to be the concern for Salah, who has voiced his concerns publicly as the curtain closed on his nine incredible years.

Liverpool limped to the end of the season, a 1-1 draw with Brentford that secured Champions League football for next season but did very little to provide confidence that things are going in the right direction; failing to win any of the final four games of the season.

In fact, in the last 14 games in all competitions, there were just four wins for the Merseysiders.

Let’s be clear, Liverpool’s season, mitigating circumstances or not, has been an absolute failure. 60 points and fifth place is not an achievement by any means.

Last season, 60 points would have seen you finish ninth and no European football whatsoever.

The season before, you’d be seventh but again no European qualification. Three seasons ago; ninth again.

Indeed, 60 points is the lowest total to achieve Champions League qualification since 2003/04 - when Gerard Houllier mutually parted ways with Liverpool in the most amicable managerial departure in Premier League history, complete with a photoshoot on the Anfield pitch.

Slot has said that he is confident he can win back the support of fans next season, but even here as the season ended, much of the discourse among fans as they left the stadium was the Dutchman’s manner post-match.

Perhaps it was well-intentioned, giving the departing players their moment, but as Slot sat looking rather surly on the bench rather than joining in with the post-match lap of appreciation, it didn’t go unnoticed.

Likely, it was his contemplative mood and nothing intended negatively, but for supporters it again showed a lack of connection and understanding on the head coach’s behalf. The walk-around is, after all, for both parties to show mutual appreciation and thanks for the past season.

It was Slot’s opportunity to show thanks and appreciation to the fans who endured their lowest win percentage in a decade, winning just 17 league games. Instead, he sat isolated, on his own.

Meanwhile, Salah showed his understanding of the club and its supporters, telling Sky Sports: “They [the fans] don’t care that much about the result as long as you sweat and give your blood here, they’ll love you forever.”

What Salah is saying is the importance to Liverpool’s support of showing up, of giving everything; to walk through a storm - which Liverpool undoubtedly have had to following Diogo Jota’s death in pre-season - but to do it together.

Slot says injuries sum up the season - but he must be accountable, too

Speaking in his post-match press conference, Slot assessed: “If you asked me one word to describe this season, I would describe that with the word ‘injury’.”

On the face of it, it’s a fair frustration, but this is the same manager who, back in October, said of his squad size: ”This is a decision we have made together, I completely believe in this, because if you have 25 [players] it’s very hard to manage your squad.”

You can’t have it both ways. You can’t say you prefer to work with a small squad, then spend almost the entirety of the season bemoaning injuries, players adapting to playing midweek and weekend, the strength of available options from the bench, and conceding late goals consistently.

With the expanded Champions League and intensity of the Premier League, larger squads are required, surely even more so if you go into the season knowing that new signings aren’t capable of playing midweek and weekend for 90 minutes. So why was the decision made to leave Liverpool’s squad so short?

“I like my squad so much,” said Slot in October. “But we don’t have 25 or 26 [players], so if we end up with two, three or four injuries, 15 or 16 players, where Rio and Trey are two of these 15 or 16, then need to play almost all the minutes and then things can become complicated.”

Trey Nyoni, the highly-rated 18-year-old midfielder who earned his debut under Jurgen Klopp aged 16, ended the season with just 21 minutes of league football.

Federico Chiesa, who has been marginalised for another season, played 318 league minutes. Wataru Endo just 170.

Kieran Morrison, the Under-21s captain and player of the season, was a sub on 13 occasions but called upon from the bench just once - for the final five minutes of an FA Cup win at Wolves.

So Liverpool’s squad was effectively much smaller than it could have been, and in part due to Slot's faith in some of them. And that’s before you look at the farcical situation regarding Harvey Elliott and the lack of an agreement to take him back to Anfield in January when the Reds were crying out for players of quality from the bench for the entire second half of the season.

Slot’s cup exits won’t wash

Slot has been keen to point out that the FA Cup and Champions League exits, each being 4-0 losses, were to eventual FA Cup winners Man City, and PSG, who haven’t lost a two-legged European tie in two seasons now.

But that won’t wash with a fan base that have high standards and want to be competing for major honours.

Indeed, it doesn’t sit well with captain Virgil van Dijk, Robertson, Salah and Curtis Jones, who have all voiced the season being below the standards required of Liverpool Football Club.

“Being in Liverpool, winning something for Liverpool and winning games is the best thing that could happen to you all,” declared Salah in a final message to the Liverpool squad on his last day at the AXA Training Centre.

Slot, while admitting that qualifying for the Champions League is "our lowest base,” said that, referring to Chelsea and Tottenham, “big clubs are not able to qualify for Champions League or Europe [this season].”

Some supporters will see this as further evidence of a disconnect, even a lowering of expectations. Liverpool should be challenging for the biggest honours, anything less is failure - even if you exit to the eventual winners, but especially if that exit is 4-0 and amidst a run of four defeats in five games.

Liverpool’s longest unbeaten run this season was 13 games, immediately following arguably the lowest point of the season, a 4-1 defeat at home to PSV.

But even that unbeaten run itself masked huge deficiencies and poor results; drawing against Leeds (twice), Burnley and Fulham. The seven wins in the 13 games included against Barnsley in the FA Cup and a West Ham that was eventually relegated.

More ‘transition’ and an uncertain future

Much is unclear at Anfield this summer, from Slot’s future itself with one year remaining on his contract, plus the club’s decision makers, Richard Hughes and Michael Edwards, who each also have the same terms expiring next summer.

Of the squad this season, up to nine first-team players could depart; Salah, Robertson, Ibrahima Konate (out of contract), Chiesa, Endo, Curtis Jones (wanted by Inter Milan and with only a year left on his contract, highly expected to leave), Alisson (wanted by Juventus), Joe Gomez (another with one year left) and Alexis Mac Allister could be sold for the right price.

Liverpool go into next season with their current top goalscorer for the club as Cody Gakpo. Centre-back Virgil van Dijk has the second-most goals for the club.

Slot has admitted it will be another summer of a little transition, but not as “drastic” as last summer. But with so many set to leave, it looks like a lot of surgery is required, to say the least.

Kopites sang not to ‘worry about a thing,’ but plenty will be spending their summer worrying about the future of the club.

In time, Mohamed Salah will get the flowers he has so consistently been denied throughout his extraordinary, one-of-a-kind Premier League career with Liverpool.

And not the usual flowers: “I think Mohamed Salah will go down as one of Liverpool’s best ever players”, or, “Mohamed Salah gets into a Premier League all-time XI.”

We're talking about rightful recognition as not just a Liverpool legend – not “one of” in a list of almost always inferior players – but as the greatest to ever grace the English top-flight.

Mohamed Salah is the greatest the Premier League has ever seen

It's difficult to understand why Mohamed Salah’s name has seemingly been gatekept from wiggling its way into debates regarding the best-ever Premier League player.

On one hand, there’s the seemingly impenetrable fortress of nostalgia blocking any recent top-flight talents from breaking onto the list; on the other, there’s a bizarrely persistent emphasis on ‘aesthetics’ as a defining factor that eliminates Salah from the debate.

Let’s run it down. No player in Premier League history has as many PFA Players’ Player of the Year awards (three) as Mohamed Salah. No player has won more Golden Boots (four) than Salah.

No player has more non-penalty goals (31) in a single 38-game season, or as many goal involvements (47) in a single 38-game season, with both of those records coming in separate campaigns.

No player has more open-play assists (18) in a single season and, for such a historic goal-scorer, the Egyptian has taken home the Playmaker Award come the season’s end twice.

No player in football history – except for Lionel Messi – has won the Golden Boot and the Playmaker Award, being the league's greatest scorer and creator, in the same season twice… and Salah.

Not even Cristiano Ronaldo, Luis Suarez or Neymar could do it once, while doing it twice is almost incomprehensible.

Let’s continue. No player has won more points via their goal contributions in a single season than Mohamed Salah, who did so en route to an elusive Premier League title that his club had failed to win in front of fans for 35 years.

Across his first eight seasons for Liverpool in the Premier League, the Egyptian averaged 34 goal contributions per top-flight campaign. For reference, only two players in that eight-year window recorded more than 34 involvements – Erling Haaland and Harry Kane, who achieved a higher number once each.

For eight seasons, during which the Egyptian won the Premier League twice, Carabao Cup twice, FA Cup, Super Cup, Club World Cup as Player of the Tournament, and brought Liverpool to Champions League glory, Salah’s average top-flight haul outperformed the very best seasons from England’s two scariest strikers.

Statistically, there is nobody that close to Salah. Thierry Henry’s claim comes nearest – a slightly higher scorer on average than the Egyptian – but falls short when you see the disparity that exists between their assist totals.

Despite being a joint-holder of the Premier League assist record, Henry failed to record over 10 assists in six of his eight top-flight seasons, while Salah failed to do so in just two.

If we compare a single season of Mohamed Salah’s prime, his debut 2017/18 campaign, with Cristiano Ronaldo’s Ballon D’or season in 2007/08, the results are not what so many football fans would have you believe.

Salah scored more Premier League goals, tallied more Premier League assists, scored more Champions League goals and tallied more Champions League assists.

Both players made it to the biggest European final, and en route, Salah scored more knock-out goals and recorded more knock-out assists than the Portuguese icon.

But here's the kicker. For such a remarkable player to watch in Ronaldo, compared to the often described as ‘stiff' and 'robotic’ Salah, the Portuguese star completed just ten more dribbles than him across both competitions: 126 for Ronaldo to 116 for Salah.

And while some would argue comparing the statistics of a ‘striker’ in Salah to a ‘midfielder’ in Ronaldo isn’t fair, the Manchester United man scored twice the number of goals in the six-yard box as Salah, and took four times more penalties.

In fact, during 'midfielder' Ronaldo’s prime years in the Premier League, 2006 to 2009, he averaged almost six shots taken per 90 minutes, compared to 'striker' Salah’s less than 4 shots per 90 during his Liverpool career.

So, what is the difference between that version of Salah and that version of Ronaldo if not solely the team they had around them?

Because when Salah fails to be disproven statistically, the argument suddenly becomes about team trophies. Strangely, the same argument is not pitted against Thierry Henry's claim, who won the same number of Premier League titles as the Egyptian and was unable to take Arsenal to the European perch, unlike Salah.

If you point out the flawed logic in using team trophies to decide a player's greatness, because surely that would make Ryan Giggs the all-time best, then the back-up argument emerges.

“But Ronaldo won the Ballon D’or!” – which is just as odd, because we fail to see such passion for Michael Owen being the best Premier League striker ever. Perhaps those same fans would take significant offence to suggesting Rodri is a greater midfielder than Xavi, Iniesta, or Lampard and Gerrard.

They say that records are made to be broken, but it remains very likely that, in our lifetimes, some of Mohamed Salah’s records will be immortal. In time, Premier League fans will begin to wonder why those records cannot be broken.

It feels unlikely that we will see a player equal or top Salah's three PFA POTY victories any time soon, considering that nobody in the award's 60-year history could do so before the Egyptian arrived in this league.

Just as the NBA's MVP award was recently re-named after Michael Jordan, who won a still unbeaten five trophies, how long will it be before the PFA should consider naming their award after Salah?

In years to come, when every great's name that anyone can raise falls to the Salah sword, Premier League fans will slowly realise what their league had, and what their league lost.

While it's a sad day to witness the individual pinnacle of Premier League greatness leave the English top-flight, it's also a day to remember everything that he gave us.

And those memories will last forever. I have a feeling we’ll be seeing the name 'MOHAMED SALAH' in match-day broadcast graphics for years to come.

The consequences of the spygate debacle will echo around the bowels of St Mary's Stadium for generations.

Southampton missed out on the chance to win promotion back to the Premier League through the Championship play-offs despite reaching the final.

There will be no Saints at Wembley. Having admitted to a series of breaches relating to their spying outside the training grounds of three clubs including semi-final opponents Middlesbrough, Southampton were thrown out of the play-offs and their appeal quickly dismissed.

Football supporters have an important role to perform

It's easy to downplay the offences with which the Hampshire club were charged but the severity of the actions carried out in the name of the club isn't actually the point. Southampton clearly deemed it a worthwhile exercise. Middlesbrough, now reinstated, were sufficiently aggrieved to kick up a stink.

That basic foundation of the spygate fiasco is where Southampton supporters were able to choose their response. However serious the breaches are, whatever the actual damage done to Boro's preparations, the Saints faithful could be defensive and dismissive, or livid with the people who took a stupid risk in the name of their club.

Whether they like it or not, there are people at Southampton who will now be forced to reflect on their choices, on the enormous and brazen risk they took, while others who had no say in it are left to count the cost. Saints' supporters and players are the biggest losers no matter the fallout in the days ahead.

Winger Leo Scienza was among the first voices from within the club to hint at a sense of injustice pointed inwards rather than to the outside.

"What has happened over the last days is heartbreaking," Scienza posted. "For the club, for every player in this dressing room, and above all for our supporters. A moment like this should never end the way it did."

The fans, he said, deserved better. He was right. In football, most fans deserve better most of the time. They should expect and demand better, too, and their own clubs should be right at the very top of their hit lists.

Southampton supporters are no different from those of any other English club. The reaction would have been close to identical no matter where the galaxy-brained schemers in question happened to be employed.

Your club is not always in the right and some of the people there don't care as much as you

Every football club has a large section of fanatical followers who call themselves supporters but who are instinctively tribal and defensive at every turn. The mentality dictates that nothing matters if their team is winning and that the enemy is always on the outside.

Any set of supporters would have been represented by a handful of binocular-wielding bantersaurus rexes if their club had been caught spying on opponents. Their mockery, like those of the few Southampton wags who got the attention they wanted at the second leg against Middlesbrough, would have been misdirected.

This is not trivial stuff. Fans who reflexively defend their clubs acting however they please might also tend towards turning a blind eye to big financial risks inflicted on their clubs by reckless or nefarious ownership, or, say, throwing in their lot with one particular superagent and enjoying the signings but ignoring the dangers.

Criticism and doubt from outsiders isn't always malicious. Sometimes, the biggest threat to the interests of a club has a nameplate on an office door at the training ground.

Football supporters owe their clubs protective scrutiny, not blind loyalty. That's what support actually means. That's what loyalty really is.

The actions undertaken by people with southamptonfc.com email addresses in the last few months have done more damage to Southampton's players and fans than anyone else.

Southampton haven't fallen victim to the unprovoked aggression of Middlesbrough the EFL or the independent commission or anyone else. Self-inflicted isn't the word: this pain was inflicted by insiders on a club where their stay is, ultimately, a temporary one.

It doesn't seem like much to celebrate or revel in. It doesn't seem very funny now.

More Saints supporters calling out their club – as so many have in the aftermath of the charge and subsequent verdict – wouldn't have changed the outcome. Football fans don't have that level of influence and more's the pity.

Football would be a better places if more supporters saw part of their function as being a sceptical check on the owners and decision-makers at their clubs rather than poking their heads out from behind the badge every now and again just to agree with them when they're criticised and questioned.

When it comes to owners and supporters, there is more that divides than unites.

Southampton supporters are in the spotlight on this occasion and face their club's long road back to respectability. One rather suspects they'll turn their ire inwards next time their club trips itself over and as well they might.

The England World Cup squad is officially out, but the reaction was already in after it had leaked out in the press on Thursday night.

The big headlines screamed about the absence of Phil Foden and Cole Palmer – and, to a lesser extent, Trent Alexander-Arnold, whose England omission was so widely expected that it took a few outlets a moment to remind themselves he is a notable name.

Has Thomas Tuchel got the big decisions right? We can’t answer that yet, obviously. Only a gruelling summer’s work will give us the answer. But from where we sit, it all looks supremely justifiable.

Thomas Tuchel's England World Cup squad prioritises proven chemistry over hypothetical improvement

Things got a bit ridiculous during Euro 2024, when several pundits somehow found themselves essentially suggesting with a straight face that Gareth Southgate ought to find a way to play Foden, Palmer, Bukayo Saka, Jude Bellingham, Anthony Gordon, Eberechi Eze and Harry Kane all in the same side.

There was a similar phenomenon during the Lionesses’ Euro 2025 triumph, where there was a clamour for Chloe Kelly and Michelle Agyemang to be promoted from super-subs to somehow playing alongside Lauren James, Beth Mead and Lauren Hemp.

That is a transparently ridiculous way to think about the game: most sides do end up having to do a bit of defending at some point in a major tournament, after all.

But it is a reflex encouraged by the often top-heavy nature of tournament squads - particularly the 26-man sides that go to men’s tournaments.

Realistically, a squad needs at most two players for every position (three is mandatory for goalkeepers), and taking an extra defensive-minded player feels like a waste when you know those roles are likely to be relatively settled throughout the tournament.

The greater incentive, then, is to fill the remaining slots with extra attackers, just in case you might need them for a specific opponent or to replace the quality that you would lose in the event of an injury or suspension.

Tuchel’s World Cup squad is no exception to that. He is taking three no.10s, three centre-forwards, and four wingers on the plane to North America.

That is plenty – and the ‘controversial’ choices he has made are arguable, but marginally so.

Are Palmer and Foden better than Noni Madueke? Yes, we’re more than happy to say that. But they are also completely different players for different roles.

Selecting Madueke alongside Saka, Gordon and Marcus Rashford makes clear Tuchel wants direct running and natural wing play to provide threat and service. There is a specific game plan to serve, and shoehorning in ‘better’ players breaks that plan.

Foden has been granted that wing role for England for years and has never impressed. Palmer perhaps has a better chance of making it work – he mostly played off the right wing at Euro 2024 – but has played just one competitive game for Tuchel, and that was nearly a year ago, against minnows Andorra.

Palmer started at no.10 in that game and made little enough impact that he was subbed off on 65 minutes. England won 1-0. Harry Kane’s winning goal was created by Madueke.

Foden and Palmer both got a chance to make an impression in the March friendlies against Uruguay and Japan. England were poor in both games.

In between times, England rounded out a flawless qualification campaign by winning 5-0 twice, 3-0 once, and 2-0 three times. Palmer and Foden played just 53 minutes between them in those games (all Foden).

Above all else, though, Tuchel’s selection decisions in last autumn’s three rounds of qualifying games told us we should expect this kind of squad.

The manager was clearly enamoured of the side that claimed that five-goal win over Serbia – the first time his England side had really properly clicked. Tuchel more or less stuck with it throughout the next couple of months, experimented a bit in March, and has decided to stick with what he knows works.

The only two players from the 23-man matchday squad for that Serbia game who are not in the World Cup squad are Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Morgan Gibbs-White. They have been replaced, in effect, by Mainoo and Bellingham. That seems…pretty hard to argue against.

There are other valid arguments to be made with the squad. Jordan Henderson over Adam Wharton? Djed Spence over Alexander-Arnold? Jarrell Quansah over Harry Maguire? Ivan Toney over Dominic Calvert-Lewin?

But even there, we are arguing about decisions made over second, third or fourth choice players for their respective positions. In light of that, it’s hard to blame Tuchel for going with the dynamic, both on and off the pitch, for which he has the most proof that it actually works.

During his media duties ahead of Wednesday night's Europa League final, Freiburg's Maxi Eggestein told Germany reporters that the opposition supporters might laugh at the idea of losing.

Aston Villa supporters must be a new concept to the midfielder. They can be a pessimistic lot at the best of times, burdened by both a natural cynicism and the inherited knowledge that winning is possible.

There are clubs everywhere that have had a tougher time than Villa but that particular combination does at least guard against complacency. There's no historical record of the first emotional hedge bet but it was almost certainly invented in Birmingham.

Villa want, need and crave Europa League silverware this season

Unai Emery and his team don't have the luxury of taking the final Istanbul for granted either. Villa have been sublime and ridiculous in 2025-26, usually without warning, and they'll be well aware that a team of Freiburg's quality, with Freiburg's Europa League record this season, can send them packing.

The idea of losing the final won't inspire mirth in any Villa supporter. Winning silverware has become a deathly serious business at Villa Park and a failure to do so in Turkey could haunt them for years.

It's a matter of desire more than entitlement but there's a feeling among Villa supporters that Emery's Villa Park revolution must deliver a major trophy to be considered complete.

The Basque boss took a faltering Premier League team and achieved four successive qualifications for European competitions, including Villa's first two for the reconstituted Champions League.

Emery has modernised a club that often looked as if it was playing a different sport to the opposition and is revered by supporters who desperately want silverware to cap off the new Villa era.

Last week's win over Liverpool confirmed Villa's Champions League place in 2026/27, easing that particular part of the pressure, but the starting eleven at Villa Park five days ago served as a severe warning.

Emery picked his strongest possible team and was rewarded. It was also the third-oldest line-up Villa have fielded since the Premier League began in 1992. The clock on this beloved team is ticking fast.

Villa's need to sell players smartly in order to remain competitive and financially compliant is well established by now. It's exacerbated by some very questionable transfer business and the sheer number of players who can justifiably be expected to decline.

Captain John McGinn is 31 now; Victor Lindelof too. Ollie Watkins is 30. Lucas Digne and Ross Barkley are 32, Emiliano Martinez and Tyrone Mings 33.

Cup finals aren't going to pile up for these players. With Champions League money helping to prop up the next Villa incarnation – if Emery and transfer chief Roberto Olabe get it right – the club might get another crack.

Many of their players, the remainder of whom are 28 or 29 for the most part, will not.

Football needs legends and Villa supporters want this team to become theirs

For the last decade or so, Villa supporters have sung about how their club 'conquered Europe in 1982', for various reasons a historical milestone underappreciated within the walls of Villa Park and Bodymoor Heath for far too long.

Villa's true golden age was primarily a Victorian one but winning the European Cup made the likes of Ron Saunders, Tony Barton, Dennis Mortimer, Gordon Cowans, Gary Shaw and Peter Withe genuine legends.

Cowans, Brian Little and Paul McGrath are regarded as all-time greats. McGrath, the youngest, left Villa 30 years ago this autumn.

For Emery, McGinn, Watkins, Mings, Martinez and this celebrated Villa squad, losing to Freiburg would be no laughing matter. The pressure is unbearable but the prize on offer, the renown to go with the medals, is beyond anything Villa have been within 90 minutes off in the last 44 years.

When Darren England steps out at Wembley on Saturday flanked by Reece James and Bernardo Silva, he might be relieved to be out on the pitch.

The FA Cup final referee was the video assistant referee (VAR) on duty for Arsenal's win at West Ham United in the Premier League last weekend. His intervention led to Callum Wilson's equalising goal for the Hammers being disallowed and had a telling impact on the title race and the relegation battle.

Referee Chris Kavanagh scrubbed off the goal and the decision has been scrutinised and pored over relentlessly ever since. So much for VAR removing unnecessary controversy from the big decisions.

VAR and the FA Cup do not fit together

England will be in the middle for Saturday's final between Chelsea and Manchester City, with Peter Bankes picking through the details from elsewhere.

The idea of a VAR trial was always a fallacy. Its introduction was a fait accompli from day one and the process is still a total nonsense everywhere it's used even as we approach the tenth anniversary of its first match proper in 2016.

Nevertheless, England's first VAR match was designated as a 'trial' and was not in the Premier League, but the FA Cup. Brighton & Hove Albion and Crystal Palace shared that dubious honour in January 2018.

VAR has been force-fed to Premier League supporters since the start of the 2019-20 season and the FA Cup has been dragged along for the hellacious ride.

Instead of capitalising on the FA Cup's unique characteristics and complications to turn the absence of VAR into a point of differentiation, the FA jumped in two-footed and ruptured their own cruciate ligament. You'd think they would have known.

The FA Cup's deployment of VAR is farcical. For a while, it was used at Premier League grounds and in the semi-finals and final at Wembley but not elsewhere, even in the very same round. Now, it's in place in some rounds but not others.

Newcastle United's fourth-round win against Aston Villa in this season's competition was a low-point for Kavanagh, who didn't have England or anyone else on VAR to point out a couple of clangers. In the fifth round, there was VAR at Port Vale.

The FA Cup could scrap VAR and get a new lease of life

This season's FA Cup was the first to require the installation of VAR technology at grounds outside the Premier League.

It was an improvement in the sense that every match in any given round would be played by the same rules, but the difference from one round to the next is just as compelling a reason to oppose the use of VAR in the FA Cup.

The FA like to talk about the FA Cup as it should be revered: the world's oldest football competition, entered by 747 teams in England, Wales and the Channel Islands this season, all in one glorious alchemic melting pot of football heritage.

What the authorities tend not to acknowledge is that VAR and indeed goal-line technology represent the biggest split in that theoretical uniformity in the competition's 155-year history.

If VAR is used in the fifth round, why not the fourth? Why not the third?

If VAR is used after the Premier League teams join the competition in the third round, why should that be any different for the first and the second rounds?

If VAR is used in the competition proper, are the matches from November onwards more important than those played on the first weekend of August in the extra preliminary round? To whom?

Money is the answer to all of those questions but cost is no justification for some rounds of the tournament being less equal than others. The bottom line is that FA Cup can't afford VAR.

In FourFourTwo's opinion, that should have been seen as an opportunity. The FA Cup is different. It's special. Its essence is unrivalled anywhere in the football world and the organisers wasted a chance to plant their flag and say, "No, not here!" to VAR.

For all the bluster of pundits over refereeing decisions in April and May, the FA Cup is just as important in August. That's a strength, not a weakness.

In a sport weighed down by week after week of review and debate, debate and review, there could have been no finer sanctuary than its greatest club tournament. If you've ever watched months of football with VAR and then just one match without it, you'll understand.

Football's governing bodies aren't the most adept of organisations when it comes to self-reflection but the game's not yet up for the FA Cup.

Season after season fans discuss whether the magic is still there, whether the richest clubs are so powerful that their clout is distorting the perfect football competition.

The inconsistent use of replays is another bone of contention for clubs lower down the pyramid but scrapping VAR in the FA Cup entirely is the walk-back that could give it the boost it needs.

I’ll start this week by reflecting on the late drama between West Ham and Arsenal last weekend. I think that the officials got there in the end in terms of ruling out Callum Wilson’s goal, but there are still a lot of things which happened beforehand which VAR needs to sort out heading into next season.

When looking at the replay, you can see that Leandro Trossard isn't even looking at the ball when he blocks Pablo inside the box. If you're not looking at the ball and you're holding onto someone, that should be a penalty.

Clinton was speaking on behalf of Freebets.com.

Clinton Morrison: 'Man City made basic mistakes against Everton and were punished'

But fair play to Darren England and the VAR team, as they came to the right decision and determined that Pablo does catch David Raya in the face. It took several minutes for the outcome to be decided, and I'm glad it took that long because it was a pivotal decision which could have decided the Premier League title and someone's relegation.

They got it right, but the shirt pulling and grappling in the box needs to be cut out for next season. The inconsistency is so frustrating; one week it's a penalty, the next week, the exact same offence goes unpunished.

That result means it would be a huge shock if Arsenal threw away the title now, but I've been around football long enough to know there are always twists and turns. They play Palace on the final day of the season, but I’m still backing them to win at Selhurst Park because Oliver Glasner won’t be risking their key players three days before the Conference League final.

Of course, the outcome could’ve been very different had Mateus Fernandes scored when he was played through one-on-one with Raya. The title race would’ve been wide open again, but Arsenal are the favourites now.

Turning attention to matters on the west side of London, and it seems that Chelsea have started talks with Xabi Alonso about becoming their next manager.

He’s a very good manager and has what it takes to turn Chelsea into a top team. The problem is that I think he has his heart set on Liverpool. But how long do you stay out of work waiting for a job that might not come? If Liverpool stick with Arne Slot and he starts next season well, that door might not open.

So what does Xabi Alonso do? If a big job like Chelsea comes along, it's hard to turn that down. If he takes it and doesn't stay long, the Liverpool door might reopen anyway. But Liverpool fans won't take kindly to him managing Chelsea first though, given the rivalry between the two teams.

I feel like Andoni Iraola would also be a great appointment for them, even though I’d personally love to see him at Palace next season! We could end up having a big managerial merry-go-round this summer, and it’ll be interesting to see who replaces Glasner at Selhurst Park. If I had a crystal ball, my prediction would be for Iraola to end up at Chelsea and for the Fulham boss to end up at Palace – that’s what I’m hoping for anyway!

I also want to talk about the spying episode that has overshadowed the Southampton-Middlesbrough play-off semi-final. I don’t get it. Why are you spying on your opponents’ training session for a two-legged tie? You've already played Middlesbrough twice this season. And their best player, Hayden Hackney, was injured anyway.

It leaves a nasty taste. And under this cloud, instead of talking about Southampton the football team and what Tonda Eckert has done there - and it's been brilliant - we're talking about Spygate.

As for the punishment, a fine isn't enough if the EFL are looking at hitting them with a sporting sanction.

But if you kick Southampton out, you're punishing the players and fans, who've done nothing wrong. It's a mess. The EFL have to make a decision before the final on the 23rd. I don't think they'll kick them out, but Middlesbrough fans will want them gone.

The Boro manager Kim Hellberg handled the situation with total class, and he deserves better than to be part of this absolute mess of a situation.

Finishing on a lighter note, and we have the FA Cup final to look forward to this afternoon. I have to say that if Chelsea play like they have been over the last few weeks, they'll get battered. But they did turn up in the semi-final against Leeds, and showed they can raise their game on the big stage. I think it'll be a decent game of football and they'll be hard to beat, but I’m backing Man City to shade it in 90 minutes.

If Rodri is back fit and in midfield, then I think that's where the game could be won and lost. And Erling Haaland will fancy his chances against Chelsea's centre backs too. Jérémy Doku has also been outstanding recently and will fancy going up against Malo Gusto if Reece James doesn’t start. My prediction is: Man City 2-1 Chelsea.

Manchester City continued to apply pressure to Mikel Arteta’s men during yesterday’s comprehensive 3-0 victory over Crystal Palace.

Pep Guardiola’s men are chasing down league leaders Arsenal in the Premier League title race, separated by just two points with two games left to play.

Fans noticed the Spaniard speaking animatedly to various Crystal Palace players — similar to his body language during last weekend's hilarious “Come on you Irons” plea — after Manchester City prevailed over the London side, but what was he saying?

Pep Guardiola knows how to win the Premier League

Just two weeks ago, the Premier League title appeared set to be decided on goal difference and goals scored, before a Cityzen stumble at the Hill Dickinson Stadium changed the season’s course.

Manchester City will now rely on Arsenal dropping points if they wish to be crowned Premier League champions, with Mikel Arteta’s men capable of sealing it themselves if they win their two remaining fixtures.

Crystal Palace will face off against the current league leaders at Selhurst Park in Matchweek 38 — where Arsenal could lift the Premier League trophy for the first time in 22 years.

Before that, Mikel Arteta’s side will face off against an already relegated Burnley, who have conceded the most goals in the Premier League this season with 73.

While a shock Clarets upset can never be ruled out in the Premier League, perhaps Pep Guardiola knows that a London derby provides the perfect stage for an Arsenal collapse.

The 55-year-old's side currently have Arsenal pipped on goal difference, albeit by just one goal, however, even a tie in this metric would be enough to secure the Premier League title for Manchester City as they have considerably more goals scored.

Having worked together at Manchester City, it is arguable that the Spaniard knows his fellow countryman as well as anyone tactically — Guardiola gaining four points out of a possible six against Arsenal this season attests to that.

Perhaps Guardiola was briefly surmising some core weaknesses present in Arteta’s set-up ahead of their final matchday showdown, or maybe he was providing the Crystal Palace players with insight into how Manchester City beat them so comprehensively, so they could improve ahead of Matchweek 38.

In all likelihood, for a chat so brief and lighthearted, and not a fully-fledged tactical meeting in Pep Guardiola’s Manchester-based lair, the Spaniard was reminding the Crystal Palace squad that they can etch themselves into Premier League history.

While Palace have faltered domestically after an FA Cup-winning campaign last season — replaced this year by Conference League success — being the team that influences the destination of the Premier League trophy is always remembered.

Pep Guardiola, ranked at No. 5 in FourFourTwo's list of the greatest managers of all time, may still have Oliver Glasner to convince, who told reporters after his side’s defeat that he may manage his players’ workloads ahead of their Conference League final game, which arrives after the end of the Premier League season. At least the Spaniard can say he tried.

Manchester City return to Premier League action away at Bournemouth next Tuesday, after they attempt to avenge last season’s FA Cup final loss — which came at the hands of Crystal Palace — against Chelsea this weekend.

To say that Anfield’s collective patience has run out would be a fair statement, underlined by the boos that accompanied the full-time whistle after a dour performance in a 1-1 draw that gave Chelsea their first point in seven Premier League games.

Speaking after the match, Liverpool goalscorer Ryan Gravenberch told the media that “I think we don’t really deserve this [the boos] you know.”

That too is perhaps a fair statement, but it also seems to be oblivious as to where the boos were directed - to the man in the dugout, not the players on the pitch.

Liverpool fans have collectively lost faith in Arne Slot. There were angry scenes in the Kop, where the groundswell of opinion is now strongly against the Dutch coach's continued leadership of the club.

The issue isn’t just the results, although failing to win more games than you win isn’t exactly what is to be expected from a club that were aiming to win back-to-back titles. Seeing a horrendously out-of-form Chelsea arrive at Anfield, go a goal ahead early on, but then fail to press home that advantage against a vulnerable opponent, sums up why fans are so irate. It was just like Tottenham, who were on a five-game losing streak before they arrived at Anfield. Wolves’ last Premier League win? That was against Liverpool. These three results in recent months, for many, show how weak this team is.

“Hopefully in the next few games they won’t do the same,” said Gravenberch referring to the booing. With only one home game remaining, that might depend on the performance on the pitch, as that is the crux of the issue; the performances are lacking anything to get fans on side.

Fans want to see a brand of football that they can get behind, see actual progress and a clear identity. Instead, they see exceptionally slow, passive football, a lack of intensity or urgency, and very little evidence that this team is going in the right direction. Defeats or disappointing results happen; that’s football. But the manner of Liverpool’s 19 league games they haven’t won this season is what underpins the fans’ loss of faith in a manager who led the club to a league title 12 months ago.

Has any manager, at any club, recovered from this situation before?

Slot was asked whether he believes he can win fans back around, saying, “yeah, I do,” then admitting, “Not this season, by the way. This season they will have their opinion, and it will not change.” The 47-year-old added that his confidence in winning fans back around is built around what he expects to happen this summer: “If we can have the summer that we are planning to have, then I’m 100 per cent convinced that we will be a different team next season than we are now, different in terms of results, different in how things look.”

Although even that was caveated by adding: “But it’s not always that simple, because sometimes you know what you have to do, but it’s not always possible to also get exactly what you want.”

Such words have echoes of what was reported of his personality prior to his arrival at Anfield, when a deep-dive from The Athletic noted Slot’s “forthright personality” and being “used to getting what he wants.”

Slot, who was said in the same report to be “antagonistic,” seemingly hasn’t got what he wanted this season. That appears to be the point he is now making. Whether that is quite simply the results and performances he wanted, or a more pointed issue with recruitment last summer that left his squad unbalanced, isn’t clear.

The narrative in recent months, as Liverpool’s season has unravelled beyond anything anybody predicted going into the campaign, has been around this being a season of transition, with Slot last week admitting that there will be further such transition this summer, but “probably not as drastic as it was last summer.”

But a transition season should not see a club finish 20 points worse off than the season before. The Reds achieved 84 points a year ago, a total that should have been much higher if they hadn’t ended the season on a four-game winless run after winning the league. This season, 59 points is the current total, so a maximum of 65 can be achieved if they go on to win their final two fixtures against Aston Villa and Brentford, something that seems unlikely given both Liverpool’s current form and those two are fighting for European places.

For Slot, he should be thankful that such a low number of points will achieve the absolute minimum aim of achieving Champions League qualification for next season; last season, 66 points were required.

This is no longer a case of the jury being out on the manager, but the result is in. It will take a convincing argument to overturn it from here.

I’ll start this week by reflecting on Arsenal’s brilliant achievement of reaching the Champions League final. A lot of people will say they were on the favourable side of the draw, but they still managed to get the job done. They still played against some strong opposition, and beat Atlético Madrid in what wasn’t a classic, but they won’t care what anyone says. They're in the final and anything can happen.

That result came after a brilliant weekend for them after they beat Fulham and Manchester City dropped two points against Everton. I couldn’t believe the way in which City just capitulated, and if Arsenal beat West Ham this weekend, then I think the title race is over. If it's a draw, then it's back on, because I don't think City will do what they did against Everton again. I feel that this weekend could be pivotal at both ends of the table.

Clinton was speaking on behalf of Freebets.com.

Clinton Morrison: 'Man City made basic mistakes against Everton and were punished'

Everything has flipped over after everyone thought Man City were going to go on and win it. But I felt their run-in was the hardest, and they made basic mistakes against Everton and got punished. However, that Jérémy Doku equaliser could end up being a hugely important goal if Arsenal drop points this weekend.

But I can't see Arsenal dropping points. They're in good form and the Champions League result should give them real confidence going into the weekend.

It wasn’t all bad news for City though, as it seems like Phil Foden has agreed to sign a new four-year deal. He’s had a disappointing season by his standards, and I think he's in a real fight to get on the plane to the World Cup this summer with the number of players in that position who are playing well right now.

But we know Foden's got tremendous talent and he's just had a season where it hasn't gone according to plan.

Other players at City have stepped up and are playing better than him at the moment, but I understand why they're giving him a new contract.

He doesn't become a bad player overnight and will rediscover his top form. He's probably well aware himself that this season has been a big disappointment.

Antoine Semenyo has come in and done well and Foden is probably in direct competition with him. But when Foden is at the top of his game, he'll be in that Man City side — he's got too much natural ability. He just needs to keep going and rediscover what he's done in previous seasons.

It’s all very interesting down the bottom of the table too, and you have to applaud Roberto De Zerbi for the job he’s done at Tottenham in such a short space of time. He’s given the players confidence, and they respect the manager.

You can see he hasn't fully implemented his style yet — against Aston Villa, Yves Bissouma was going long from back to front, which is not what happens in a De Zerbi team. But when you're in the mire and need to win football matches, you play high tempo, press hard, and that's what they did against Aston Villa. I thought they were fantastic and to beat them 2-1 was a massive result.

But it's not over — just because they beat Wolves and Villa doesn't mean they're safe. They've got a big must-win game against Leeds and will hope West Ham don’t get anything from Arsenal to create a four-point gap.

Tottenham still have Chelsea and Everton after that, which are both hard games. So it'll go right down to the wire, and I still think there'll be plenty of twists and turns this weekend.

The race for the European places is also looking very exciting, with Brentford, Bournemouth, Brighton, Chelsea, Everton and Fulham all in the mix. Palace know that winning the Conference League would get them in as well. There's still loads to play for, and I love the fact that the title, Europe, and relegation are still to be decided.

Finally, I’ll give a shout-out to Ipswich after they made an immediate return to the Premier League. Kieran McKenna is experienced enough to know what's needed this time round, and you have to look at what Sunderland and Leeds have done — bring in players with Premier League experience. That's the model.

The gap between the Championship and the Premier League is getting bigger, but Leeds and Sunderland have proved that if you invest wisely and have a good manager, you've got a real chance of surviving. McKenna is a good manager — he just needs to go again in the summer.

Last time round, I felt there were too many players who were Championship quality but not Premier League quality. They weren't building to come straight back down — but they didn't have enough Premier League experience in the team. That was the biggest thing missing.

They were competitive, they went toe-to-toe with a lot of teams. Liam Delap also scored a lot of goals for them and they're going to need a striker like that again, while being harder to break down at the other end of the pitch. They’ll need to take advantage of free transfers, loans, and maybe a few hidden-gem signings from Europe in order to survive.

There's no getting away from Unai Emery's record in the Europa League.

The Aston Villa manager has won the successor to the UEFA Cup four times with two different clubs and has now taken another two to the final. In the space of just 12 years, Emery has become the most successful manager of the Europa League and nobody else gets close.

Villa had to overcome both the odds and the mood in the second leg of their semi-final against Nottingham Forest. The difference in form between the teams was stark and Forest had a first-leg lead to boot.

They saved their best performance of the season for the night when it was needed the most. Emery's players stood up to be counted and won 4-0, steamrolling the tie into oblivion and taking Villa to their first European final since 1982.

Captain John McGinn moved himself up a rung or two in the Villa legend stakes. Emi Buendia played his best match in a Villa shirt by far. Ollie Watkins was flawless up front, Pau Torres imperious at the back.

Forest manager Vitor Pereira spoke to TNT Sports after the second leg at Villa Park, clearly crestfallen. He criticised referee Glenn Nyberg and listed the players Forest were missing through injury.

None of it was magnanimous, but a lot of it was true. Pereira named Morgan Gibbs-White on the bench, and we'll never know if he'd have been brought on to take a penalty or not at all. There's not a team in England that wouldn't miss him.

Villa's injury problems have eased, but they were without midfielders Boubacar Kamara, who has been out since January, and Amadou Onana. Their absence became Emery's secret weapon.

Defender Victor Lindelof was selected alongside Youri Tielemans, and it proved a brilliant decision.

The Swede unsurprisingly held his own. He predictably played in midfield when Villa didn't have the ball and dropped in at centre-back when they attacked, releasing both full-backs to get forward. Emery, often, will use his right-back or left-back in a three in possession. The one kink in Lindelof's role was a big tactical win for the Villa boss. When Stefan Ortega and Forest's centre-backs had the ball, Lindelof stuck to striker Chris Wood like a limpet; road closed.

In terms of attitude, approach and application, Villa's performance couldn't have been further from the shambolic defeat against Tottenham Hotspur at Villa Park five days earlier.

Emery, who is ranked at no.9 in FourFourTwo's list of the best managers in the world right now, made seven changes to his team ahead of the Spurs match but the anaemic display they served up that night was infuriating for some supporters, given the need to get over the line in the race for a Champions League place.

Emery looked livid on the touchline but allowed the game to play out essentially without intervention. He was bullish after the fact, and there's an argument that Thursday's Europa League success was vindication for the choices he made at the weekend. He is, after all, the master of the Europa League.

To write this off as the common or garden Emery masterclass in Europe would be to overlook the precarious position Villa were in. Their progress belongs to him, certainly, but there was a huge gamble involved that was more about faith than genius. The reaction of the supporters during and after the game against Spurs wasn't without previous. Villa were out of form and they were – they are – not really in a position to allow winnable league matches to pass them by.

There's an intense yearning at Villa Park that this ageing Villa team should get its moment, for Emery, for McGinn and Watkins, for the people behind the scenes who've helped Villa from the Championship to the brink of a second season in the Champions League.

That yearning can manifest as fear and frustration, and the ability of the players to drag themselves out of the rut that was so deep against Spurs was not easy to believe in. The contrast from one game to the next has no recent precedent at Villa. It really was like watching two different teams.

Maybe Emery played the Europa League like a harpist. Maybe Villa hit the brakes just before their season dropped off a cliff.

They certainly didn't reach Istanbul the easy way, but in FourFourTwo's opinion the 'how' doesn't really matter now. Villa have two targets this season: to win the Europa League and to get back into the Champions League. Both of them are still possible and both can go to the wire if needed. It's been a remarkable season for Villa, if a slightly strange and often difficult one, and they still have work to do.

The Europa League final is a chance for Villa to make history, to become legends. McGinn has repeatedly urged his teammates to embrace the challenge and it would be the captain himself who is most deserving of lifting Villa's first trophy for 30 years.

But after Spurs, there's Burnley. Villa visit the Clarets on Sunday knowing that three points would put them within touching distance of the Champions League through their Premier League position.

If there was concern that Emery was putting all his league eggs in a single Burnley basket by disregarding the Spurs fixture, now's the time to produce the second part of the justification.

I’ll start this week by reflecting on the game between PSG and Bayern. That’s probably one of the best matches I've witnessed in a long time. No one wanted to defend, it was like a basketball match! You attack; we attack. There was great football from some of the best players in the world right now, and I can't wait for the second leg.

I do think the winners of the competition will be one of those teams, and it’s a shame that it wasn’t the final. Both teams going forward are just so electric. And looking at Arsenal - I know they're good defensively, and Atlético as well, but sometimes you just can't stop teams like that when they have those attacking qualities.

Clinton was speaking on behalf of FreeBets.com, the home of the best UK betting sites

Clinton Morrison: 'John Stones is a Rolls Royce centre-back. Chelsea should sign him'

I would have loved to have been a centre-forward in either of those teams. Harry Kane drops deep and plays brilliant passes, but I wouldn't even try to get involved in all of that. I'd just stay in the box and wait for the crosses to be delivered to me! All that aside, there was so much beauty and quality on show. That's why we love the beautiful game.

Moving on now, and the big breaking news this week concerned John Stones announcing he’s leaving Manchester City. He's won everything there and could still win the Premier League and FA Cup again this season.

Injuries have caught up with him in the last few years, and they’ve now got the likes of Abdukodir Khusanov and Marc Guéhi, so he's not going to be a regular starter. But if he's fit, I think he'll start for England this summer because I hear that Thomas Tuchel loves him.

He's been a great servant to Man City and is a Rolls Royce of a centre-back. I still think he could do a job for a Premier League team. If I were Chelsea I'd go and get John Stones - they need that experience at the back.

Another one of the big talking points this week concerned referees being able to give red cards for players covering their mouths during confrontations at the World Cup. I understand that’s it all come from the Vinícius Júnior incident. But getting a red card for covering your mouth? I think that's a bit over the top. When I was playing, you just spoke freely and there was no need to cover your mouth.

But the fact it comes down to the referee’s discretion makes it’s a recipe for disaster. Because one game someone does it and gets sent off, whereas the next game someone else does the exact same thing and doesn't. You can't have that inconsistency at a World Cup. You send someone off in a huge game and they might not qualify or lose a final due to a decision like that. If you want to experiment with rules, do it beforehand, not at a major tournament.

Looking ahead to what might happen next season now, and there are reports suggesting José Mourinho could return to Real Madrid. They’ve got some top players who want the freedom to play, and you don’t really need to coach them too much. He's won so many trophies, and is respected by so many players. So, if José Mourinho is available, why would you not take him?

He needs to evolve his tactics though — that's the biggest thing. You can say he's outdated, but he's a winner, and at a club like Real Madrid you’re expected to win things. It looks like they're not going to win anything this season, so they need a manager to go in and shake things up. He could be the perfect fit.

It'd be interesting to see how he's received by the players and the fans, but José Mourinho is a top manager.

There’s also plenty of talk about what might happen at Manchester United this summer, and whether Michael Carrick gets the job long term. He’s come in, given the players confidence and played a formation that suits the group. It's not rocket science — he hasn't signed anyone.

Ruben Amorim could have done that, but he was stubborn. He was playing Manuel Ugarte ahead of Kobbie Mainoo, which I think is ludicrous — Mainoo came into that team and he's been outstanding. He was playing Bruno Fernandes as one of two holding midfielders when Bruno is probably one of the best number tens in the Premier League or in Europe. It was all bonkers to me.

But credit to Michael Carrick — it was a hard job. Man United fans didn't think they'd get where they are, and Champions League football is almost secured for them. There was a sticky spell a couple of weeks ago, but he went to Chelsea and beat them 1-0 without any recognised centre-halves apart from young Ayden Heaven, who was outstanding. And they held on the other night against Brentford, so he's getting results.

He should get the job. But I know United will be speaking to other managers in the summer. Personally, if I'd done what Michael Carrick has done, I'd be very disappointed if I didn't get it. I understand people's reservations — like what happened with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer when he was interim, got the job, and it didn't work out. But if you're a young English manager and you don't get the job after performing that well, you think, what's the point? He deserves the opportunity.

Chelsea’s official social media accounts poked fun at Leeds United and their fans after the Blues' FA Cup semi-final win - and they were right.

The club posted an image depicting the contrasting emotions between the two sets of supporters, accompanied by the caption ‘On your big day out’. It was a big day out for Leeds, 30 years in the making, in fact.

Not since 1996 had the Whites made a major domestic semi-final, and it was nine years prior the last time they’d reached that stage in the FA Cup. And even then, that fixture in 1987 had taken place at Hillsborough, not the national stadium.

A case for keeping FA Cup semi-finals at Wembley

Historically, Wembley trips haven’t been kind to the Whites. But, gluttons for punishment they arrived in their droves. Trains packed with yellow, white and blue shirts pulled into King’s Cross on Sunday morning; many were already in the capital, intent on making a weekend of it.

Twenty-four hours earlier, Finn Azaz’s late opener in Southampton’s FA Cup semi-final versus Manchester City sent the Saints into rapturous celebration, before the inevitable sky blue comeback.

Pep Guardiola’s 33rd visit to Wembley as Man City boss drew predictable criticism for scheduling non-final matches at the country's largest stadium, but club fixtures at the national stadium still have that undeniable allure, as proven by the turnout at Chelsea-Leeds.

While England games at Wembley outside major tournaments are largely sterile affairs, matches between two club sides generate a fantastic atmosphere, especially when there are 40,000 rooting for an underdog.

There is, of course, a valid argument that Wembley should host only the biggest fixtures and that semi-finals should be played elsewhere, at Villa Park or Old Trafford, like they used to.

But a semi-final is a big day out. The Leeds and Southampton ends in particular were awash with colour in the spring sunshine. The cacophony upon alighting the Jubilee line at Wembley Park station isn’t your average noise, either.

Reaching this stage of a major cup competition is an achievement in itself, so why should attendance at the national stadium be reserved for the big clubs over and over? Because, let’s be honest, it was always likely to be a Man City-Chelsea final.

Are days out only reserved for those at the top of the footballing food chain?

There will be many supporters of the two defeated semi-finalists who subscribe to the notion of not letting 90 minutes ruin a good day out at the football. Ask those with sore heads on Monday morning whether they regretted going and the majority will tell you it was a great occasion, regardless of result, representing their team on the big stage.

Results may not have gone in their favour but it was something more than that. The football isn’t always about the football.

It’s a cliche, but never has the phrase what a difference a year makes been evidenced by the mood among Liverpool fans before their home game against Crystal Palace at the weekend, vs. the mood a year ago as the Reds confirmed their 20th league title against Tottenham.

For a generation of supporters, that sunny day last April was a day they’d dreamt about, waited and had denied for over three decades; finally getting to see, in person, their club named champions.

And they celebrated with an atmosphere that will be difficult to ever recreate; all those years of frustration, false dawns, missed opportunities, slip-ups and then to be denied ever seeing Jurgen Klopp waltzing around the Anfield pitch with the Premier League trophy by a pandemic.

“We don’t want to be doing this"

A year on, such scenes of delirium seemed like a different lifetime as fans instead spent their pre-match handing out yellow cards to raise in protest at a three-year ticket price rise. “We don’t want to be doing this,” explained one of the organisers, Gareth Roberts.

The Reds’ 3-1 win over Palace was a wholly different occasion to a year ago. On the pitch, Arne Slot’s side were looking to secure a top-five finish, something captain Virgil van Dijk has remarked as not being good enough for Liverpool.

While in the stands, instead of a sea of red and banners and flags, it was a flag-less Kop pre-match and thousands holding aloft yellow cards reading ‘Caution: Anfield’s Soul At Risk’ in the 13th minute. Certain reports had suggested it was a minority or small section of fans, but this was a visual that utterly debunked such suggestions.

At the last home game, against Fulham, a banner reading ‘No to ticket price rises’ was paraded along the front of The Kop and applauded by the entire stadium. Perhaps those who misread the room and thought it was a small section of fans unhappy with the rises didn’t see that.

They certainly couldn’t have missed it when almost the entire stadium held aloft yellow cards that had been distributed by supporters groups Spirit of Shankly and Spion Kop 1906, with chants of ‘Enough is enough’ and a huge banner telling principal owner John W. Henry to “Listen to the fans” and “Don’t Kill The Kop.”

Fans don’t want to be protesting. But they also understand the dangers of such increases, pricing out the very support that make Liverpool FC who they are. The product that is broadcast and sold around the world is evaporating as local, working-class supporters can no longer afford to go to the match. What happens for the next generation is the argument put forward now.

This is Anfield, but it won’t be the Anfield people think they are going to if, as supporters groups argue, the direction of travel continues.

To put it in business terms, which may be what’s required for owners Fenway Sports Group, Liverpool Football Club has a very unique selling point; Anfield, The Kop and its atmosphere.

Liverpool and its supporters are emotional, committed, connected. As former midfielder Thiago Alcantara recently explained: “The South American behaviour of football, it’s pretty like a religion here in Liverpool.”

There are hundreds of examples of opposition players and managers explaining the power of Anfield. The recent story of PSG manager Luis Enrique wanting to experience it shortly after he retired as a player and attending a Merseyside derby on The Kop as a fan back in 2005 is just another example of this ‘USP’.

Critics of those opposing the price rises will say that up to £1.75 extra per ticket next season is not something to be fighting against, and that inflation is rising.

However, that completely misses the bigger picture.

Firstly, ticket prices were already high for a sport that was created by and made for the working class.

Secondly, income from general admission tickets is now a vastly smaller percentage of Liverpool (and other Premier League clubs’) revenue. TV broadcast revenue has increased from £9.7m in 1992 to £263m in 2025. Commercial revenue has grown from £3.2m to £323m in the same timeframe, since the Premier League’s inception.

Supporters groups argue that there is simply no need to increase ticket prices when other areas of the club make such numbers.

Liverpool cites an 85% rise in matchday costs since 2016, but that’s slightly disingenuous, as 2016 is exactly when the new Main Stand was opened. Since then, with the expanded Anfield Road Stand, Anfield’s capacity has increased by over 15,000, with a significant increase in hospitality areas that require more staffing, utilities and overheads. Of course, costs have increased.

The cost-for-cost increase can be estimated to be nearer 30%.

However, the club’s matchday revenue in 2016 was £62.4m, while in 2015 it was £116m. A £52m increase - largely due to the increase in capacity and expanded hospitality offerings. So costs have increased, but revenue has increased by a greater percentage.

Why, then, are general admission tickets needed to be increased? If anything, they should be reduced and capped, just as away tickets are - something that can be argued is a football-wide problem, not just specific to Liverpool.

The estimated income from the increase, for a club that had a revenue of £703m last season, is £1.2m. That’s 0.17% of revenue. Is it worth it?

Is it worth further eroding the uniqueness of Anfield, the uniqueness of Liverpool’s support? For 0.17% of revenue? Fans were already concerned about the future generations of fans being priced out before the three-year rise was announced.

It doesn’t work this way, but supporters will see it as a few weeks’ wages for a player. Or an annual wage for a player who doesn’t even play for the club.

The whole situation needs to be looked out in the bigger picture, not cost-for-cost within its own revenue stream. Some areas of a business can be a loss-leader; general admission tickets should be that. Fans pay it back in other ways by helping the team on the pitch, by inspiring the next generation of supporters, by producing a product that Liverpool FC benefit from commercially around the world.

The question needs to be asked, is it really worth eroding your USP for 0.17% revenue?