Jonathan Wilson's Blog, page 62

Ruthless England’s Euros 8-0 looks less of a freak result than past thrashings | Jonathan Wilson

Huge victories do not always carry deep meaning but Norway melted when faced by the hosts’ startling aggression

Bobby Charlton was performing his national service in Shrewsbury when Manchester United played their first home European tie. He got a lift up to Maine Road (Old Trafford’s first set of floodlights was still being installed) with a Sgt-Maj White and watched enthralled as Matt Busby’s young side beat Anderlecht 10-0 to complete a 12-0 aggregate victory. In the mess the next day, Charlton found it almost impossible to convince people that United had been brilliant: 10-0, they insisted, was a measure less of United’s excellence than of how weak the Belgian champions must be.

That’s the problem with emphatic victories: they can almost devalue themselves – particularly when they come in circumstances of relative unfamiliarity. Nobody doubted Germany’s 7-1 victory over the hosts in the semi-finals of the 2014 men’s World Cup was a stunning result because, however infected Brazil were by the hysteria of the occasion, however laughably they defended, they were still Brazil.

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How are Barcelona still able to buy players? – Football Weekly Extra

The day after our final live show in Glasgow, Max Rushden is joined by Barry Glendenning, Jonathan Wilson and Philippe Auclair to discuss the latest football news

On the podcast today: the panel start by looking at the latest transfer news. With Raphinha set to seal his big-money move from Leeds, we ask how Barcelona are still able to buy anyone.

Philippe reflects on the recent acquittal of Sepp Blatter and Michel Platini by a Swiss court and we talk about the latest club to get sponsorship from a potentially questionable online gambling firm.

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Thomas Tuchel must resist new Chelsea boss Boehly’s desire to reach for the stars | Jonathan Wilson

If Lukaku was too immobile for the manager’s system, there is no way Ronaldo let alone Neymar can be the answer

It is still relatively early. There is still a month before the Premier League begins again. There is plenty of time for a club to make signings. Chelsea began from a position of unusual chaos. There is no reason to panic yet. It might all be fine. But equally it may not and it’s fair to say that if you’re planning a major overhaul of your squad, it’s easier if you haven’t just lost a load of leading figures from the recruitment department.

Perhaps it is unreasonable to expect too much this summer, so soon after the removal of Roman Abramovich. Todd Boehly didn’t formally complete his takeover until 30 May. As others began to land long-term targets, Chelsea began to shed executives. Bruce Buck stood down as chairman, Petr Cech left his role as technical and performance adviser and, perhaps most significant of all, Marina Granovskaia, who had in effect run the club for Abramovich, resigned. None of that was particularly alarming – indeed it may have been a necessary part of the club’s de-Abramovichisation – but it has made recruitment more difficult.

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Could England go all the way and win Women’s Euro 2022? – Football Weekly

Max Rushden, Barry Glendenning, Jonathan Wilson, Mark Langdon and Faye Carruthers discuss the Euros and recent transfer news

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On the podcast: the panel talk to Faye Carruthers, who presents the new Women’s Football Weekly show, about what chances England have of winning the imminent Euros.

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Cristiano Ronaldo’s departure will hurt but now Manchester United can move forward | Jonathan Wilson

Erik ten Hag could not have accommodated an ageing forward whose decision to leave should aid a huge rebuilding job

Ralf Rangnick had been Manchester United manager for two days when he observed to a colleague that he couldn’t play with Cristiano Ronaldo, but he certainly couldn’t play without him – and that is the dilemma any manager of United will have.

There remained at times something vaguely glorious about Ronaldo last season. He was still capable of narrative-shifting late goals. He still looked the same, a little slower perhaps, but his body was evidence of a lifetime’s dedication. Though much had been lost, much abided; it was still at times possible to believe that some noble work could yet be done.

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Cashing in on Phillips and Raphinha gives a club like Leeds no guarantees | Jonathan Wilson

Outside the elite, eventually the best players move on and even with money to spend fresh recruits remain gambles

The good news for Leeds is that last season’s injury crisis means they have had plenty of practice playing without their stars. The bad news is that this time it’s permanent. Kalvin Phillips and Raphinha are both on their way and so Leeds, suddenly but not unpredictably, are cast in the familiar position of a club on the rise seeing their greatest assets are stripped away and needing to rebuild. The inevitability of the pattern is one of the great sadnesses of the financial structures of modern football.

Phillips is 26. He was born in Leeds. He is a Leeds fan. He joined the academy when he was 14. He has played more than 200 league games for the club. But not even the most blinkered Leeds fan could realistically blame him for accepting an offer from Manchester City. He will make far more money, play under one of the greatest coaches ever and be in contention for the most prestigious prizes. Leeds, in fact, may think themselves lucky they were able to keep him for so long.

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Has Raheem Sterling reached his ceiling? What Manchester City need is certainty | Jonathan Wilson

For all his goal scoring ability, Pep Guardiola cannot trust his forward to deliver at clutch moments in the biggest games

Raheem Sterling made a dart in behind Vincent Kompany to receive an angled pass from Luis Suárez. His first touch, with the outside of his right foot, took him outside the line of the right-hand post, some 12 yards from goal, with Kompany and Joe Hart between him and the net. He turned back inside, opening an angle to curl a left-footed finish between Hart and Pablo Zabaleta into the bottom corner. Hart shuffled and Kompany closed in, only for Sterling to jink back and roll the ball through an implausibly large gap into the right side of the goal.

That was the opener in Liverpool’s 3-2 win over Manchester City in April 2014 but what makes it memorable was not just that it was a vital goal in the title race, rather the way Sterling conjured space where none had seemed to exist. It was that goal, more than anything, that led to the inflated expectations on Sterling going into the World Cup.

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Super-subs are back and Jack Grealish can set benchmark as a game-breaker | Jonathan Wilson

Now the Premier League permits five substitutes, the use of specialists against tired opponents will become more common

It is, of course, essential that we draw the positives. In the modern age that is all you can ever do after defeat, look for learnings to be enacted moving forward. Although it almost seems distasteful to point out something that went right for England after a dismal Nations League campaign that culminated in their worst home defeat since 1928, there was, in the fatigue and the frustration, one vague sliver of a silver lining. It’s not just that Jack Grealish dragged England back into the game away to Germany, it’s that his performance in Munich hinted at a new way of conceptualising the game.

Grealish is one of those players who, for 18 months or so, has come with a clamour. There is a constituency within the England support and punditocracy that demands his inclusion. He is a smart, bright player who seems somehow normal; if he didn’t happen to be a supremely gifted footballer, he would be watching matches and necking Jägerbombs in a beer garden. He has an unaffected niceness that makes it almost impossible not to warm to him. But can you trust him to track his man, to close down the passing lanes, not to lose the ball with one gauche trick too many?

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Forget the thrill of the chase, only rarely do football’s biggest signings work out | Jonathan Wilson

Examine the 20 biggest deals and it is clear money is best spent on rising stars rather than off-the-shelf celebrities

The Nations League drags on, a good idea cheapened by circumstances as weary fans and weary journalists try to summon the will to care about weary players playing out what numerous managers have admitted they’re treating as World Cup preparation, wearily. Who can summon the energy to care about who might be England’s third-choice right-back? Who can be bothered to watch another VAR replay of two feet coming together? If a player wonders whether yet another forward surge to block a passing lane is worth it, who can blame him?

It’s getting so bad that even adding up the combined age of Belgium’s centre-backs is beginning to lose its lustre. It’s not just that the compression of the calendar because of Covid, the November World Cup and greed has left everybody fatigued, it’s that the Nations League is eating into the most wonderful time of the year: the transfer window.

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Tears and cheers as Wales’s World Cup wait is ended – Football Weekly

Max Rushden is joined by Elis James, Troy Townsend and Jonathan Wilson after Wales beat Ukraine to qualify for their first World Cup since 1958

Rate, review, share on Apple Podcasts, Soundcloud, Audioboom, Mixcloud, Acast and Stitcher, and join the conversation on Facebook, Twitter and email.

On the podcast today: Wales make the World Cup in Qatar with a 1-0 win over Ukraine. Heroics from Ben Davies and Wayne Hennessey helped get them there – what does it mean for the fans? Where will Gareth Bale and Aaron Ramsey play next season to ensure they stay fit?

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