Maradona and Messi Walk Into a Pub: The Anatomy of a Great Debate
There is no place for the Dialectical Method in football. The rabidly tribal football fanatic will, however, engage lustily in argument and lose many hours in vociferous debate. But she is, more…
Sarri and Juventus Swiped Right for Each Other. Why Did They Fall Apart?
I’m a cultural goods aficionado, including that of classical cinema. Imagine a world where Alfred Hitchcock and Marilyn Monroe made a documentary about zebras together, with Hitchcock doing the directing and Monroe…
Frank Lampard: The Player vs the Manager
There’s no denying that Frank Lampard has received mixed reviews regarding his first year in charge of his beloved Chelsea. Some argue that, considering the circumstances – including a transfer ban, the…
Standing Up ‘Cause They Crossed My Line: Parasite & Dietmar Hopp
“Protesting and I lost my sign/ standing up ‘cause they crossed my line” speaks Open Mike Eagle on his 2018 song “Happy Wasteland Day,” a ballad about a post-apocalyptic wasteland – the…
Booze and the Boardroom – Watching Messi Leave
It must be 5:00 PM somewhere in the world. That’s what I tell myself as I pour a stiff glass of whiskey over ice before the sun sets on a gloomy day…
When Everything’s Right: Looking Back on Luka Modric’s Ballon D’or Victory
In the last article I wrote, I started by shooting the bull about actor Marlon Brando, so I fancy, “Hey, what if I do that exact same thing this time as well?”…
When a Draw Is the Greatest Result in Your Nation’s History
It may seem hard to believe that Colombia used to be football minnows. Nowadays, we are used to seeing Colombians of the stature of James Rodríguez, Falcao, Juan Cuadrado and Duván Zapata…
Liverpool and Jurgen Klopp: Where do we go now?
It would be fair to say that Klopp’s ability to construct a squad of unlikely heroes into one of Europe’s most revered sides has been one of modern football’s most impressive feats.…
Tibet, Greenland, and Football’s Power of Recognition
Football has always been entangled with notions of national identity. It’s not a simple relationship, nor a consistent one, but its unitary power is a big part of what makes the international…
Liverpool 19-20: There is no asterisk next to their name on the trophy
Frank Lampard is incensed. His eyebrows are furrowing and his voice is dipping lower in pitch with every sentence. Speaking to Sky at the post-match interview, he tries his best to suppress…
Football Academy In The Andes: Redefining football in Venezuela
In South America, the world’s longest mountain range stretches 7,000 kilometres from the very bottom tip of Argentina in the south to the Caribbean coast of Venezuela in the north. When one…
Football Statues XI: Because symbolism is never out of fashion
What a kerfuffle about big bronze blokes (hardly any women) there is in Britain today. For those who don’t know, the movement to bring down statues of difficult figures of the past…
Caribbean football administration – inches from the precipice
Sporting excellence in the Caribbean could be understandably thought to lie within the domains of athletics and cricket. In the popular imagination, Jamaican athletes with Olympic gold medals or West Indian cricketers…
Man City, Sportwash, and A Battle For Equality
It seems to me that the real political task in our contemporary society is to criticize the workings of institutions, particularly the ones that appear to be neutral and independent, and to…
Antonio Conte: The Philosophy of Work
Football managers who had their genesis on the other side of the touchlines tend to mold teams into the image of who they were as footballers. In this respect, Antonio Conte is…
The postwar years: 1945 to 1947 in English football
Not many people have been bringing up the last time football had to restart after a few months of inactivity. They are far too busy speculating as to how many matches will…
The sweat of clarity – Football in Trinidad & Tobago
Football in Trinidad and Tobago has a long history of popular following in the country. Only Guyana and Haiti have older established football federations than the TTFF, established in 1910. With the…
Theo Walcott: The story of the prodigy who didn’t make it, but almost did
” What are we going to see from Theo Walcott in the second half?”, the Arsenal TV commentator asked as the winger received the ball by the touchline. Head down, ball at…
Football Fiction: Grudge Match – Part III
Read part 1 of this story here and part 2 here. Sundown was at around six-thirty in Chennai, and we usually began playing by six or so, so most of our games…
Zinedine Zidane: Understanding the unknowable
Everyone remembers where they were on 9th of July 2006. I was at home, about a foot from the TV screen, over the moon that extra time meant there was another thirty…
Playing on the left – football’s dalliance with politics
The existential contradictions between football and leftism make life as a leftist football fan a constant war with yourself. “If every rightwing thinktank came up with a scheme to distract the populace…
Manchester City: An Illustrated History
In Jules Verne’s 1874 novel, Around the World in 80 Days, protagonist Phileas Fogg wagers a hefty sum that he can traverse the globe, latitudinally, in 80 days or less. It’s a…
Russia’s World Cup: The Politics In Review, Two Years On
Nearly two years have passed since the 2018 World Cup, and establishing the overall outcome is a difficult task. Firstly, the tournament has reason to be remembered fondly by fans: exciting, attractive…
Panyee FC – When Football Challenges Nature
I was born and raised in a centuries-old slum in the heart of Cairo, Egypt, where young kids and youth did not stop playing football. I played football in a narrow alley,…