Jonathan Wilson's Blog, page 90
December 24, 2020
Tackling your questions in a Christmas special – Football Weekly Extra
Max Rushden is joined by Barry Glendenning, Jonathan Wilson and Lars Sivertsen for a special Christmas Q&A edition
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Max Rushden, Barry Glendenning, Jonathan Wilson and Lars Sivertsen get together for a special Christmas edition, answering listener questions and tackling everything from Ireland at Italia ‘90 to anti-dandruff shampoo.
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December 19, 2020
Chris Wilder’s Sheffield United are stuck in same spiral that doomed Sunderland | Jonathan Wilson
On one point after 13 games, Blades look set to repeat the lows of Kevin Kyle’s humbling relegations at the Stadium of Light
For Kevin Kyle, the nadir came in his kitchen. The Scottish striker was boiling the water to prepare his baby’s bottle when it kicked out at the pan, soaking his tracksuit bottoms and scalding his scrotum. “When it first happened,” he says, “it was just a shock, but then I got to hospital and they didn’t have the drugs to take the pain away. When something like that happens you start to feel everything’s stacked against you.”
Related: Manchester United and Rashford repeat comeback trick at Sheffield United
Related: Premiership: Sunderland 2-1 Fulham
Continue reading...December 17, 2020
Mourinho's firing of darts shows he believes Spurs can win the title | Jonathan Wilson
Comments at Liverpool indicate manager sniffs weakness in Klopp but game raised questions about his own tactics
In its own way, the post-match interview was a classic of its type. There was José Mourinho, rumpled, bestubbled, firing off his darts. The headline claim, perhaps, was that he thought Tottenham had been the better team in their defeat at Liverpool, but there was also the suggestion of a conspiracy against him, poor, misunderstood, put-upon José, and with it a jibe at Jürgen Klopp. And that was when it occurred that Mourinho means this: he is mobilising; he thinks Tottenham could actually win this.
As yet Klopp v Mourinho has been a rivalry that hasn’t really ignited. That could be about to change – and, for all that the world had begun to tire of the Mourinho mind games, that could be fascinating. Until this season, Klopp had largely avoided the wars of words that have been such a key part of the Premier League soap opera. But in the past few weeks, another side of Klopp has emerged. Injuries and some tight VAR decisions going against Liverpool seem to have rattled him, as witnessed in his spikiness in interviews, most obviously to BT Sport’s Des Kelly after the draw at Brighton, and the unseemly and largely pointless running battle with Chris Wilder.
Related: Liverpool's Curtis Jones enjoys the midfield battle and comes of age | Barney Ronay
Continue reading...December 14, 2020
What has gone wrong at Arsenal and Sheffield United? – Football Weekly
Max Rushden is joined by Barry Glendenning, Jonathan Wilson and Paul MacInnes to discuss the weekend’s Premier League action including the demise of Arsenal and the potential of Mikel Arteta getting the sack, while we ask Jay Socik exactly what’s gone wrong at Sheffield United
Rate, review, share on Apple Podcasts , Soundcloud , Audioboom , Mixcloud , Acast and Stitcher , and join the conversation on Facebook , Twitter and email .
Max Rushden is joined by Barry Glendenning, Jonathan Wilson and Paul MacInnes to discuss the weekend’s Premier League action including the demise of Arsenal and the potential of Mikel Arteta getting the sack, while we ask Jay Socik exactly what’s gone wrong at Sheffield United.
Continue reading...December 13, 2020
Pep Guardiola's turn to pragmatism leaves Manchester City's aura fading | Jonathan Wilson
City may be in transition during a season in which cagey draws have greater value, but their flatness is still a surprise
A familiar trope of the classic ghost story involves an encounter with a stranger that appears entirely normal until it’s suddenly realised that while the protagonist has made distinct footprints in the sand or dust or snow, the stranger has left no trace at all.
Saturday’s Manchester derby felt similar. A lot of people will feel they watched it, although none of them were actually there. Some will even claim to have played in it. Many newspapers carried the score and vague slightly hallucinatory reports, paragraph upon paragraph about nothing. And yet go back, examine the scene, and it turns out it left no trace whatsoever.
Related: Lukewarm anti-derby lacks spectacle but will satisfy Ole Gunnar Solskjær | Barney Ronay
Related: Paul Pogba claims he 'will always fight for Manchester United' after derby draw
Continue reading...December 12, 2020
From Aubameyang to Kane, forwards today pose strikingly different threats | Jonathan Wilson
Top finishers are a varied bunch, from classic or false 9s to target men and wide-rangers who cut in to score – and adapting teams to match their gifts is what makes the best sides tick
As Arsenal’s rebuild under Mikel Arteta has stalled over the past few weeks, one of the most common quick-fixes suggested has been to move Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang from the left into the middle. He’s a goalscorer, runs the argument, so you need to put him in the middle, nearer the goal. Which, frankly, is the equivalent of those Victorian doctors who believed malaria was caused by the bad air around swamps – the theory isn’t entirely unrelated to the reality, but a series of vital stages have been missed out.
Related: Mikel Arteta stands by Aubameyang amid Arsenal captain's barren run
Robert Lewandowski remains probably the best centre-forward in the world while resembling nobody so much as Ian Rush
Related: In this strange season, Harry Kane and Son Heung-min put Spurs in title mix | Jonathan Wilson
Continue reading...December 7, 2020
Liverpool's rediscovered relentlessness is ominous for their title rivals | Jonathan Wilson
The perception remains that this has been a difficult season for Liverpool – but all the signs suggest they are finding last season’s form despite their injury absentees
Between a quarter and a third of the way through the season the table is, at least, beginning to take on some sense of normality. Tottenham are first and seven points separate the top half, so it’s not entirely normal. But as a vaccine is approved, fans are allowed back in limited numbers and a return to something approximating to what we knew before can be imagined, so familiar tropes return to football. Manchester City are casually dismissing lesser sides at home, West Ham are losing leads, Everton are flaky and Liverpool are overpowering opponents at Anfield. Welcome back, normality, we’ve missed you.
Within that sense of the plates settling, of everything calming down, though, Liverpool’s situation still feels odd. The perception remains that this has been a difficult season for them. The early part of their campaign was characterised by wild football, by the 4-3 win over Leeds, the 7-2 defeat at Aston Villa and the 2-2 draw at Everton, the repercussions of which continue to be felt. There has been a raggedness to some of their play and, the win away to Atalanta aside, their Champions League form has been no better than it needed to be.
Related: Liverpool plan to reward 'untouchable' Fabinho with new contract
Continue reading...A Mourinho masterclass and depressing scenes at Millwall – Football Weekly
Barry Glendenning, Jonathan Wilson and Jamie Jackson join Max Rushden to discuss the weekend’s talking points - including wins for Spurs, Manchester United and Chelsea. The latter of which re-ignites the ongoing debate about whether Marcelo Bielsa is as good as Jonathan Wilson paints him out to be. The panel also address the demoralising scenes from Saturday, when some fans at Millwall booed their players for taking a knee
Much from the Premier League to discuss as Spurs comfortably win the North London Derby and Manchester United fightback once again to overcome a wasteful West Ham. The panel discuss whether Marcelo Bielsa is all that good after being outwitted by Frank Lampard and ask whether Christian Benteke is back.
Plus, the panel discuss the depressing scenes at the New Den as some Millwall fans booed players taking a knee before their home defeat by Derby on Saturday. The Premier League’s £50m bailout for League One and Two clubs is also on the agenda.
Continue reading...December 6, 2020
Papa Bouba Diop’s winner against France was Senegal's Maradona moment | Jonathan Wilson
There are a handful of goals that are universal, that resonate with almost everybody who follows the game
There are a handful of goals that are universal, that resonate with almost everybody who follows the game. Diego Maradona scored two of them in the space of five minutes against England in the World Cup quarter-final in 1986 – goals much better remembered, in Argentina, in England, everywhere, than either of his brilliant goals in the semi-final or than any of the five goals in the final. What makes a goal indelible is far more to do with context and narrative than the quality of the strike or even the stage at which it is scored.
There are very few truly universal goals. How many, really, could you mention to a fan in Beijing or Baltimore, Jakarta or Johannesburg, in the realistic expectation they could describe it? Maybe it is a facet of ageing, but as the volume of football on television has increased, such strikes seem to have become fewer and further between.
Related: Papa Bouba Diop, Senegal's World Cup hero and FA Cup winner, dies aged 42
Related: Italians mourn death of Diego Maradona, the 'naughty rascal' of Naples
The goal beat the world and European champions and made people, perhaps for the first time, take notice of Senegal
Continue reading...November 29, 2020
N'Golo Kanté is back where he belongs as Chelsea's Pac-Man in midfield | Jonathan Wilson
Gobbling up possession from a holding role is what the Chelsea midfielder does best, as he showed against Tottenham
A run of just two goals conceded in nine games is some riposte to the doubts about Chelsea’s defending. Some doubts remain, but given how exposed Frank Lampard’s side were to the break last season, when they had the worst defensive record of any Chelsea team in 23 years, stifling Tottenham, the kings of the counterattack, is not an achievement to be underplayed.
Related: Tottenham return to top of table after José Mourinho frustrates Chelsea
Related: Diego Maradona's personal doctor denies responsibility for death
Continue reading...Jonathan Wilson's Blog
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