Uefa’s craven failure to stand up for the game’s values has left clubs on the brink

In a mailbag edition of his newsletter, Jonathan Wilson answers your questions on the multi-club model, how Kylian Mbappé will fit at Real Madrid, and VAR

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What are your thoughts on the multi-club model? It seems a shame that community clubs become branches of the European elite. On the other hand, you have Bordeaux going bust, where the only real option to save the club seemed to be to fall under the ownership of Liverpool’s FSG . – Declan

It’s scandalous and should never have been allowed to get this far. Why should great clubs who have a proud history and identity – in Bordeaux’s case for well over a century, in which they’ve won six French league titles – become nurseries for bigger clubs? I don’t know what Bordeaux fans think, but certainly in the UK, I think a lot of fans would rather their club went bust and started again lower down the pyramid than lose their independence and their identity. I’m a Sunderland fan and would far rather we were playing in the sixth tier as ourselves than effectively as Manchester United’s fourth team. One of the great lies about fandom is that it’s about winning; far more important is being – and representing – who you are.

This is an extract from Soccer with Jonathan Wilson, a weekly look from the Guardian US at the game in Europe and beyond. Subscribe for free here. Have a question for Jonathan? Email soccerwithjw@theguardian.com, and he’ll answer the best in a future edition

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