Tim Spiers Football’s dark arts. You may have read, heard or watched a bit about that subject this week. Wind-up merchants, rule benders, injury fakers, divers, pinchers, medical staff who love running on the pitch, time-wasters… every club has them, but how dark arts-y is your team? We can — and will — use metrics […]
The Athletic UK Staff The Premier League squads for the new season are out — a month after the campaign began. While the timing may be tardy, there were some intriguing sub-plots around who did — and did not — make the cut. The full squads can be found on the Premier League website, but […]
The Athletic UK Staff Nothing heralds the beginning of autumn more than people stating that it is “too early to look at the league table”. Listen to some and you might be convinced there was once a glorious era when those interested in football didn’t even glance at the standings until eight, 10, maybe even […]
Jacob Whitehead The summer 2024 transfer window is over and Premier League clubs must finalise their squads for the first half of the season before this weekend’s matches. There is a lot of seriousness at this time of year. Predictions are treated as if they are contracts written in blood or whips poised to provide […]
Tim Spiers What’s in a nickname? That is a question The Athletic will be answering this week as we trace the origins of football clubs’ monikers in England, Germany, Italy, France, Spain and the rest of the world. First up, England… English football has a rich and varied history when it comes to nicknames, most […]
Elias Burke When Chelsea announced the signing of Jadon Sancho on Saturday afternoon, it marked the end of a summer transfer window dominated by profit and sustainability rules (PSR), Erik ten Hag’s attempts to build an Eredivisie superteam at Old Trafford, and Chelsea’s attempts at playing real-life Football Manager (again). To coincide with the opening […]
The Athletic UK Staff Premier League managers are judged by how their teams perform on the pitch, but the language they use off it can also play into how they are perceived by supporters, players and the media. From Ange Postecoglou’s many uses of “mate” to the importance Sean Dyche places on “hard yards”, managers […]
The Athletic Staff Not all signings work out, but a few go on to become key parts of their team or even club legends and record-breakers. The latest example of a signing gone very right is Cole Palmer at Chelsea. There was a lot expected of the 22-year-old when he joined from Manchester City — […]
Duncan Alexander, Carl Anka and more The October international break, also known as the Premier League’s sacking season. Enough time has elapsed for owners to get twitchy, yet plenty of matches remain to make things right. The 2024-25 campaign may only be seven gameweeks old but loads has happened — that draw between Manchester City […]
Matt Slater Something happened in Luxembourg on Friday that will either bring an end to football’s transfer system as we know it, make the stars even richer, jeopardise player development and ruin hundreds of clubs across Europe, or it will make FIFA rewrite a couple of sentences in its rulebook. As Sliding Doors moments go, […]