Jonathan Liew's Blog, page 58
December 3, 2022
Five of the best sport books of 2022
A warning about brain damage, a fresh perspective on Geoffrey Boycott, and the rise and tragic demise of a great cyclist
A Delicate Game: Brain Injury, Sport and Sacrifice
Hana Walker-Brown (Hodder Studio)
Everyone knows that repeated blows to the head can cause long-term damage to the brain. The science is not ambiguous on this point. And so Walker-Brown takes us on a gripping and heartbreaking journey through the human debris of sport, from bereaved families to ex-athletes slowly losing their faculties to dementia. Along the way she asks the key question: why, in the face of such overwhelming evidence, have sports like football and rugby union proved so resistant to reform or even basic responsibility? In large part, she argues, the answers are social and cultural: sport’s sanctification of pain and suffering, frequently framed within Christian ideals of masculinity. And, of course, money has plenty to do with it. Walker-Brown is bleakly clear that there are no easy answers. But it might just help if we start asking the right questions.
A New Formation: How Black Footballers Shaped the Modern Game
Edited by Calum Jacobs (Merky)
A New Formation is not a book about racism, even if racism is a frequent theme. Nor is it a book about politics, immigration or the media, even if all feature heavily. Rather, it is a celebration of the contribution Black British footballers have made to the game, told through a series of varied and sharply written essays placing them in their social and sporting context. The story of Chelsea forward Raheem Sterling is filtered through the lens of the Windrush generation and the notion of home. There is a timely and thought-provoking reassessment of the career of former striker Andrew Cole. Most of all, it’s terrific fun, and a formidable statement of intent from Jacobs, a rising star in the world of football writing.
December 2, 2022
Uruguay leave the World Cup the same way they played in it: gracelessly | Jonathan Liew
South Americans blame officials for crashing out despite victory over Ghana but have only themselves to blame
Finally the tears came. For the closing few minutes he had managed to hold them back, as the news came through and his teammates continued to chase. But the final whistle came like a life sentence and suddenly he could hold back no longer. He buried his crumpled face in his jersey. The Ghana fans caught a glimpse on the big screen and let out their largest cheer of the night. For a few seconds the world was watching Luis Suárez crying. And the world was not – shall we say – overly uncomfortable with this state of affairs.
A revenge of sorts, then, even if nobody was much in the mood for celebrating. And for Uruguay, perhaps the final cruel twist of a strategy that seemed to be working perfectly, right up until the moment it didn’t.
Continue reading...Rip things up or keep faith? Germany hit the road and now face gamble
There are two schools of thought developing in Germany over their latest World Cup exit in the group stages
There was to be no melodrama. There were few tears and even fewer words. “Dead silence,” was how Jonas Hofmann described the Germany dressing room in the aftermath of its most pyrrhic victory, a 4-2 win over Costa Rica that still led to their elimination.
“It’s so bitter, I have no words,” said a crestfallen Serge Gnabry. Ilkay Gündogan, his belongings wrapped in a bin bag, dragged himself through the mixed zone mumbling a few things about disappointment. Kai Havertz posed with his unwanted player-of-the-match award like a man clutching his divorce papers.
Continue reading...December 1, 2022
Hansi Flick left in limbo as Germany fail to find new winning blueprint | Jonathan Liew
The great German teams could raise their games to suit the occasion, but this new side seem to do the polar opposite
Everything is connected. A whistle blows in Doha and within fractions of seconds, via a lattice of mobile phone networks and whispers and nudges, its sound has somehow travelled the 30 miles to Al Khor. And the cheer around the stadium gives the game away, and on the Germany bench Hansi Flick senses a change in the air, and he takes a look around, and he glances at his bench, and he knows, he just knows. He turns back to face the pitch. But his hands are in his pockets, and his thoughts are elsewhere.
Everything is connected. A World Cup group stage consists not simply of three discrete games but one cogent narrative, and if you don’t pay attention at the start you may well miss something that you need later. Here Germany loaded all their usual programmes, moved the ball with pace, did their jobs, scored four goals. But although they didn’t know it yet, none of it was any use to them. The game had already gone, and it had gone in eight wild minutes against Japan at the Khalifa International Stadium nine days earlier.
Continue reading...World Cup 2022: Argentina into last 16, crunch time for Germany and Belgium – as it happened
Join Martin Belam for a look back on Wednesday’s action and all the buildup to the final games in Groups E and F
Elis James has actually made me laugh out loud at my desk with the line “Unlike the writers in some other newspapers, I am able to experience two emotions at once, with neither being anger”. Here he is with his reflections on a disappointing campaign for Wales that he still feels immensely proud of:
Enormous pride that we qualified. Incredible disappointment that we are going home. But it is disappointment with context. It is far better to get knocked out of a World Cup than not to get to one in the first place. What was so frustrating about the great qualification failures of my time as a supporter – Euro 92, USA 94, Euro 2004 and Russia 2018 – was the feeling of unfinished business, a cosmic unfairness that prevented footballers who were good enough to play on the biggest stage from doing so.
Continue reading...World Cup 2022: Argentina into last 16, crunch time for Germany and Belgium – live
Join Martin Belam for a look back on Wednesday’s action and all the buildup to the final games in Groups E and F
Elis James has actually made me laugh out loud at my desk with the line “Unlike the writers in some other newspapers, I am able to experience two emotions at once, with neither being anger”. Here he is with his reflections on a disappointing campaign for Wales that he still feels immensely proud of:
Enormous pride that we qualified. Incredible disappointment that we are going home. But it is disappointment with context. It is far better to get knocked out of a World Cup than not to get to one in the first place. What was so frustrating about the great qualification failures of my time as a supporter – Euro 92, USA 94, Euro 2004 and Russia 2018 – was the feeling of unfinished business, a cosmic unfairness that prevented footballers who were good enough to play on the biggest stage from doing so.
Continue reading...November 30, 2022
Germany face questions that cut to heart of identity before Costa Rica tie | Jonathan Liew
Politicians at home are criticising the national team while Hansi Flick struggles to find a natural goalscorer
Very few Germans seemed to take much pleasure from their 2-1 defeat against Japan in the opening game of the World Cup. One notable example, however, appeared to be the country’s far-right AFD party, for whom the surprise result – coupled with the decision to make a protest in support of LGBTQ+ rights before the game – offered irrefutable proof of the team’s confused priorities.
“If you care more about woke armbands than about football, you lose 1:2 against Japan,” tweeted Martin Reichardt, the party’s family policy spokesperson. “Defeat is symbolic of the decline of Germany, where ideology takes precedence over everything!”
Continue reading...World Cup 2022: England and US plan for last 16, Australia hope to join them – as it happened
The TV numbers are in. 16.59 million people watched Wales v England last night live in the UK.
I am enjoying that for me Twitter has marked the image as “the following media includes potentially sensitive content” and when you click reveal it is just England celebrating. Maybe Twitter HQ is just trying to think kindly of the Wales fans.
Continue reading...World Cup 2022: England and US plan for last 16, Australia hope to join them – live
The TV numbers are in. 16.59 million people watched Wales v England last night live in the UK.
I am enjoying that for me Twitter has marked the image as “the following media includes potentially sensitive content” and when you click reveal it is just England celebrating. Maybe Twitter HQ is just trying to think kindly of the Wales fans.
Continue reading...November 29, 2022
Gareth Southgate has a dilemma: try dropping Foden or Rashford now | Jonathan Liew
England have shown they can win matches with different players out wide, so what will the manager do against Senegal?
You have to hand it to England, really. Few other nations can score nine goals and qualify top of their group and still provoke a debate about whether they are fit for purpose. In a way, there is a kind of genius to the perpetual dissatisfaction of the English: not so much a tyranny of expectations as a police state of expectations, a fascism of expectations.
But just for argument’s sake, let’s start with the caveats. After all, how much did we actually learn here? For all their vivid noise, Wales have essentially been gristle at this tournament: the ghosts at the edge of the photograph. There was a certain sadness in seeing the great Gareth Bale shuffled away at half‑time in what will almost certainly be his last World Cup, having tiptoed through this game the way he has tiptoed through most of this tournament, like a man going to the bathroom at 4am.
Continue reading...Jonathan Liew's Blog
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