Jonathan Wilson's Blog, page 98

Don't be tempted to think Klopp's blueprint has superseded Guardiola's | Jonathan Wilson

Liverpool’s relentless machine has proved superior to Manchester City’s but it would be unwise to assume they have found a way to dominate their rivals in perpetuity

It is a measure of what an astonishing season this has been from Liverpool that if Manchester City had won every match they played since 8 October, when they lost 2-0 at home to Wolves in their eighth game of the season, they would still have been second right now.

Jürgen Klopp’s side have maintained their extraordinary form of last season when they finished a point behind City with the third-highest total in history, perhaps even improved; City have not. The danger is to become numb to such relentlessness, to think it is normal. It is not, not even as football’s self‑destructive economics stretch the gap from the top of the table to the bottom.

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Published on June 26, 2020 07:13

Everton's Michael Keane flicks in to plunge Norwich closer to relegation

Greater escapes have happened. Teams have pulled back from grimmer positions than this. Two factors continue to play in Norwich’s hands: their run-in is, relatively, gentle and three of the other strugglers have returned from shutdown with the haunted look of the doomed. But still, after the great reset, if you were planning to stay up you probably wouldn’t start this final quarter of the season with a pair of home defeats against Southampton and Everton.

All teams will have their tales of woe, their theories as to how they were the ones who really suffered from lockdown and the absence of fans, but Norwich’s perhaps rings truer than most. All five of their scheduled home games after the restart were against teams currently in the bottom half of the table; the loss of home advantage perhaps has afflicted them more than most. It’s hard to claim a 3-0 defeat by Southampton would have been different with fans but this might have been. Drab games have sputtered along in front of the most passionate crowds, but this was one of those matches that felt like it needed something, anything, to shake it from its drift.

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Published on June 24, 2020 12:02

Liverpool unable to hit the heights in Merseyside derby stalemate | Jonathan Wilson

They are a point nearer the title but Jürgen Klopp’s side failed to find their rhythm in the derby at Everton

When in 20 or 30 years Liverpool fans settle down to revel in the great side that ended the 30-year drought, it’s probably not this game they’ll be watching. The 19th league title, the first since 1990, will come and there may yet be further wonders to garnish the final weeks of the season, but the derby was not a game to dispel fears that what should be one of the most glorious seasons in the team’s history will end in anticlimax.

The ceiling that’s almost painted when the gloss runs out. The anecdote that’s almost told when the waiter arrives to take the order. The run that’s half-complete when you bump into a colleague. The poem dreamt up in an opium-induced sleep that’s part-transcribed when the visitor from Porlock turns up. Everybody has had a project they’ve almost finished and then been interrupted. Some are able to return to it with renewed vigour, others muddle to a conclusion, some let it slide altogether. Liverpool seem to have taken up the brush with a sense of dutiful weariness.

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Published on June 21, 2020 13:42

Liverpool will deserve full measure of praise despite the empty stands | Jonathan WIlson

When the leaders finally end their much-delayed pursuit of the Premier League title in a stadium without fans, the unique circumstances will not diminish their achievement

So, where were we? Ah, that’s right. An all-conquering Liverpool were just about to wrap up the Premier League title, with every chance of exceeding 100 points and so setting a record.

The memories flood back. The commanding figure of Virgil van Dijk at the back. The focused energy in midfield. The full-backs tearing up the wings at every opportunity. That lightning fast and deadly front three, so artfully put together with the pace and threat coming from wide as Roberto Firmino drops off to create space. Remorseless winners who … lost four of their last six games (including three in cups) before the shutdown.

We have no idea how Liverpool, or anybody, will respond to the 100-day lay-off

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Published on June 21, 2020 00:00

The Premier League returns and Sir Marcus Rashford – Football Weekly Extra

Max Rushden, Barry Glendenning, Jonathan Wilson and Jordan Jarrett-Bryan on return of the Premier League, goal-line technology and David Luiz. The panel also talk about Marcus Rashford, the Coppa Italia final and preview the weekend

We start by dissecting the opening two games of the restarted Premier League season. Aston Villa and Sheffield United may have conjured up a fairly mundane 0-0 draw, but the real talking point was the failure of goal-line technology to award the Blades a perfectly good goal after Ørjan Nyland fell into his own net with the ball in his hands. We also look at Manchester City’s win over Arsenal, and David Luiz’s wretched cameo.

In part two, we talk about Marcus Rashford and preview the first full weekend of the restarted Premier League season. The main attention is on the race for fifth and to avoid relegation, with a number of teams in contention for both. We also ask how many Liverpool defeats would there need to be before panic sets in up on Merseyside.

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Published on June 18, 2020 08:48

Will home advantage really vanish when the Premier League resumes? | Jonathan Wilson

Since the Bundesliga began again behind closed doors, the home side is half as likely to win as it was before

And so, we’re back. The Prince (an awkward embodiment of financial necessity and the perceived need for a circus to entertain the frustrated masses) has woken Sleeping Beauty (the Premier League) from her slumbers with a kiss and their fairytale romance will be consecrated at a lavish ceremony on Wednesday (Aston Villa v Sheffield United).

Cynicism is easy and to an extent justified, but this is probably a good thing. People like football and jobs depend on it, and national re-engagement in the grand distraction feels a significant moment in the return to something a little nearer normality. It is not, though, normality, either in society as a whole or on the pitch. So what can the Premier League expect on resumption?

Initially German sides struggled with defensive organisation. Break the routine of training and coordination is broken

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Published on June 13, 2020 12:00

Paul Pogba's marriage of convenience with Manchester United may get unlikely spark | Jonathan Wilson

New reality caused by pandemic means a move away is unlikely and with the arrival of Bruno Fernandes the future looks much brighter for United

Last summer, as Manchester United toured Japan, Paul Pogba was openly talking about seeking “a new challenge somewhere else”. Frustrated at United’s failure to qualify for the Champions League and with the general sense of drift at the club, and in the expectation of a lucrative move, it made sense for him to be considering his future. A year on, it seems increasingly probable he will stay at Old Trafford. If Pogba does stay United will, for the first time since Alex Ferguson left, have a squad that looks vaguely coherent.

Nothing in football is certain – particularly where Mino Raiola, Pogba’s agent, is concerned – but the sport’s new economy militates against a move. Pogba’s contract expires next summer but United have the option of triggering an additional year. With advertising and sponsorship down, no immediate prospect of fans returning and a more general sense of uncertainty, it’s difficult to see any club being prepared to pay the sort of fee United would demand or the wages Pogba (and Raiola) would expect, particularly given he has managed five starts in the league this season because of an ankle injury. Even if a super-club does feel an urge to splash out, younger and more appealing talents have emerged to tempt them. Such is the fickle nature of these things.

Fernandes has been revelatory since his arrival – he appears the tactical key that makes everything else make sense

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Published on June 06, 2020 12:00

Bundesliga may have pressing problems but it's at the tactical forefront | Jonathan Wilson

The rustiness on display in Germany since play restarted shows how valuable regular drilling is but Dortmund v Bayern was an overtly modern game of exceptional quality

All sporting events have their myths, the useful narratives hung on them as the flags are lowered on the final day and we have to work out what the past month, all that effort, all that emotion, all that money, was for. Remember how the 2012 Olympics in London brought us together as an open, multicultural nation inspired to a more active future? The 2006 World Cup, we were told, was about the patriotic celebration of a new Germany. And perhaps it was.

However immersion in the Bundesliga over the past three weeks suggests the most tangible legacy was the wholesale adoption of pressing.

International teams almost never have time to gain those levels of mutual understanding

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Published on May 30, 2020 12:00

Haaland, Ronaldo, Streltsov and the miracle of simplicity | Jonathan Wilson

Erling Braut Haaland’s ability to make the game look so easy is reminiscent of the Brazilian and Russian prodigies, whose cautionary tales show talent should not be taken for granted

Of course it was Erling Braut Haaland who scored the first Bundesliga goal after the resumption. Who else could it have been? Nobody else in the modern game seems to play with such a disregard for complication. Nobody else seems to treat the basic problem of getting the ball from his foot to the back of the net with the brusque clarity of Alexander contemplating the Gordian Knot. Nobody else seems such an embodiment of tomorrow.

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Published on May 23, 2020 12:00

Illicit haircuts, Celtic's title and lifting morale – Football Weekly Extra

Max Rushden, Barry Glendenning, Jonathan Wilson and Jonathan Liew discuss the Premier League’s return to training, rogue trims, Celtic being crowned champions of Scotland, the future of women’s football and plenty more

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Max, Barry, Jonathan Wilson and Jonathan Liew discuss the latest news surrounding the return of football in Britain, with Celtic crowned champions and a rift growing in England’s lower leagues.

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Published on May 21, 2020 09:29