Jonathan Liew's Blog, page 85

World Cup qualifiers, subs and the 3pm blackout – Football Weekly Extra

Max Rushden is joined by Faye Carruthers, Jonathan Liew, Rory Smith and Jim Burke to review the midweek internationals and preview the weekend

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Finally, the end of the international break! Harry Kane’s long-range effort defeats Wojciech Szczesny, but isn’t enough to finish off Poland, as one-man nation Robert Lewandowski provides a perfect cross for Damian Szymanski’s first international goal. Cue righteous fury as Gareth Southgate fails to make any substitutions.

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Lewandowski stages one-man nation routine with aplomb against England | Jonathan Liew

The Poland striker has the most thankless job in international football but earned redemption after creating the equaliser

The second most thankless job in international football is trying to steer England through a mediocre qualifying group. Draws are a humiliation, defeats a disgrace. Wins are either “dreary” or “routine”. If you won narrowly, you were dour and unimpressive; if you won easily, then you can’t read too much into it anyway because of the weakness of the opposition. In a way this is one of those rare scenarios in which neither the process nor the outcome really matters. You are dullards by default; reassessments take place every two years. Next.

So it was here for England, who in succumbing to an injury-time equaliser against Poland neither exceeded expectations nor violated them. The opening strike by Harry Kane was delightful; the patience commendable; the movement and energy impressive enough; the defending for Damian Szymanski’s 92nd-minute header shambolic.

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Ceaseless noise of judgment has dehumanised young sport stars | Jonathan Liew

The building blocks of our culture stop us seeing the famous as people. That is not the function we have assigned them

Naomi Osaka gave a press conference on Friday night. She’s started doing them again, by the way; I mention this only because after opting out of media duties during the French Open this year, lots of people immediately decided that she was weaponising her own mental health as a sly ruse to evade media scrutiny. Still, a lot of red-faced talk-show hosts and newspaper columnists got to lecture a 23-year-old woman on her personal choices, so maybe that was the most important thing.

It was a tough watch. Osaka had just lost in tempestuous circumstances against Leylah Fernandez at the US Open and, as she announced her intention to take a short break from tennis, she reflected with teary equanimity on a sport that, for whatever reason, was no longer working for her. “Recently, when I win I don’t feel happy, I feel more like a relief,” she said. “And then when I lose, I feel very sad. I don’t think that’s normal.”

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Masterful Jasprit Bumrah the true architect of India’s triumph | Jonathan Liew

The bowler who bamboozled England is one of the few players thriving in all three formats and is likely to get even better

The signs were there, if you wanted to see them. England’s batsmen emerged for the start of day five full of vigour and hope, buoyed by their unbeaten start the previous evening and a crowd that believed, against the weight of history and perhaps its own better sense. The first run was greeted like a divine blessing. The first boundary from Rory Burns was roared every inch of its way to the rope.

Meanwhile, at the other end, Jasprit Bumrah was quietly completing a spell of four overs for three runs. It was a day on which cricket’s master of disguise took on at least half a dozen guises: talisman, calm head, tail-end intimidator, new-ball craftsman, reverse‑swing guru, yorker‑summoning necromancer. All that, though, was still to come. And here, with the target still distant and the required rate rising, Bumrah was slowly, incrementally whittling down England’s chances of victory.

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England rely on Joe Root and miracles after failure to grasp vital moments

India took control of fourth Test in part because the hosts have lost the ability to apply pressure when it is urgently needed

One of the criticisms most frequently levelled at this England side is its obsession with Australia. The sense that, however stern or august their current assignment, they are always on some level looking ahead to the next Ashes tour. In this respect day four of the fourth Test was its own neat riposte: a day on which England were able to savour the unique privations of Australia without leaving their own backyard.

On a stickily warm day at the Oval Joe Root’s side could treat themselves to the full, soul-destroying, as-live Ashes experience: a chastening, back-breaking, heel-jarring day in the field; a ball doing nothing and a pitch with all the texture and variety of white noise; Moeen Ali getting through the innings without a single maiden; Shane Warne on commentary, merrily sticking the boot into England’s tactics. The plucky Shardul Thakur even did a passable impression of Mitchell Marsh, helping himself to a second rapid half-century of the match (prior first-class average: 16).

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Happy crowds drink in the Oval’s lovable old pub atmosphere | Jonathan Liew

All four results are possible as cricket and alcohol continue their long unbroken partnership despite the authorities’ wishes

Three years ago, in one of its smarter moves, the Oval did away with disposable plastic beer cups and replaced them with reusable, stackable ones that you could keep all day and then return at the close of play for a £1 refund.

Apart from the manifold environmental advantages, encouraging spectators to keep their beer cups had the pleasing fringe benefit of allowing them – and everyone else – to keep a running tally of their consumption.

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Happy crowd drink in the Oval’s lovable old pub atmosphere | Jonathan Liew

All four results are possible as cricket and alcohol continue their long unbroken partnership despite the authorities’ wishes

Three years ago, in one of its smarter moves, the Oval did away with disposable plastic beer cups and replaced them with reusable, stackable ones that you could keep all day and then return at the close of play for a £1 refund.

Apart from the manifold environmental advantages, encouraging spectators to keep their beer cups had the pleasing fringe benefit of allowing them – and everyone else – to keep a running tally of their consumption.

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England finally get a decent tune out of the their lower-order batsmen | Jonathan Liew

The art of batting down the order has always been a quick thrash or a jazzy cameo, something that had hitherto been lost under the stewardship of Chris Silverwood

Jimmy Anderson shuffles down the Oval steps with all the enthusiasm of a man boarding a rail replacement bus service to Norwich. Deep down he knows it is probably for the best, and yet the very act seems to inspire a bodily rebellion in him. These days there are few sadder sights in international cricket than watching Anderson walk out to bat, and in large part this is because you know what awaits him out in the middle.

Anderson has never been a good batter but for a long time he was at least a willing batter. He would stride out with a kind of soldierly purpose, all gallant defiance and stony concentration. But the Anderson who once went six years without a Test duck and cuffed his way to a riotous 81 against India at Trent Bridge is long gone, replaced by a sitting target whose primary objective is not to score runs but to avoid getting hurt. In the last year he averages a shade over four.

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Chris Woakes returns without the fanfare but still a very big noise | Jonathan Liew

The seamer may not have played for England for a year but his impact in the fourth Test was instant

‘From the Vauxhall End, Chris Woakes.” A ripple of applause. A purposeful, economical run to the crease. An immaculate 85mph delivery on a perfect length, challenging the off-stump, forcing the defensive stroke. Perhaps this is all the fanfare Woakes has ever demanded. Certainly, as he began his 17th crack at Test cricket, he knows not to expect anything more.

It was Woakes’s first delivery in a Test match for more than a year, and yet you wouldn’t have known from watching it whether he had been away for a year or a week. This, in a way, has been his greatest gift and his greatest curse: that sense of reliable timelessness, of comfortable familiarity, of known known. The same qualities that have made Woakes so easy to pick over the years have also made him easy to drop.

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Ronaldo and Lukaku deals show fans’ need for new signings outstrips thirst for change | Jonathan Liew

Transfer culture is a basic part of fandom and sustaining concerted opposition to owners is almost impossible

Oh! pleasant exercise of hope and joy! For mighty were the auxiliars which then stood upon our side, we who were strong in love. Bliss was it in that dawn to be alive. But to be on Fulham Road, wreathed in canisters of blue smoke, holding a home-made banner reading FANS NOT CUSTOMERS, was very heaven.

Yes: who can forget the famous European Super League protests of April 2021? They were a vibe, weren’t they? Peace and love and Florentino Pérez memes. Prince William ferrying cups of tea and bottled water out to the picket line. Gary Neville, hair wreathed in daisy chains, serenading the masses with a rendition of Big Yellow Taxi. Rival fans linking arms and bonding over the German 50+1 model. How strong we were. How right we were. How we showed them.

Related: Juventus look lost as post-Ronaldo era begins with Empoli embarrassment | Nicky Bandini

Related: Unai Emery loses plot as Atlético snatch draw after comedy own goal | Sid Lowe

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