Jonathan Wilson
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Articles by Jonathan Wilson
Brentford capitalise as Nottingham Forest’s attacking struggles continue
Poor Nottingham Forest. And, especially, poor Nikola Milenkovic. It would be unfair to say that Brentford fluked a win in the 100th Premier League game at the Getch Community Stadium but Forest had 15 shots to their six and have every right to wonder why luck has deserted them so absolutely this season. Only one of Brentford’s goals went down as an own-goal, but both went in after hefty deflections off Milenkovic.
High Lines & Counters: The Tactics That Could Decide Liverpool v Manchester City
The Guardian: LONDON, England, By Jonathan Wilson – Núñez and the high line… Pep Guardiola sides have always had a vulnerability to balls played in behind their defensive line. It is inherent in the high press that makes his teams so good at regaining possession: you cannot have one without the other (which is one of football’s enduring strengths as a sport: no positive comes entirely without a negative; there is no “best” way to play).
Ange Postecoglou’s charisma and risk-taking have Tottenham dreaming
How good could this get? What is the realistic ceiling of Tottenham’s aspirations now? After one of the most unexpected and dramatic days of Premier League football in recent memory, almost unnoticed amid the fury over Luis Díaz’s incorrectly disallowed goal and the two Liverpool red cards, Spurs lie second in the table, still unbeaten.
Liverpool May Be Approaching the End of the Jurgen Klopp Era Original
What’s strange is how quickly the feeling has grown that Liverpool might be entering the Jürgen Klopp endgame. Even a month ago it seemed all but unthinkable. Liverpool had not played well this season, but the victory over Leicester City at the end of December made it four wins in a row in the league and the sense was that form was improving, just as it had in 2020-21 when Liverpool, after a midseason slump, recovered to take fourth place.
Man City Flexes World-Class Depth to Prolong Chelsea’s Blues
View the original article to see embedded media. Two games from the halfway point of the season, the gap at the top of the Premier League is down to five points and Manchester City is once more looking ominous. The timing of the World Cup perhaps has skewed perceptions, but there is still an awful long way to go. What Thursday’s 1–0 win at Chelsea showed above all else is just how deep City’s squad is. And that is not something the league leader Arsenal can say.
This is Anfield? This is Manchester City’s vulnerability to the counter, actually
Photograph: Phil Noble/Reuters Night. The man looks back over his shoulder, mouth open in horror. Too numb to offer more than token resistance, he acquiesces as his assistant ushers him away. “Forget it, Pep,” he says, “It’s Chinatown.” Streetlights flare as the camera pans back. A policeman shouts. As sirens wail, a mournful saxophone tremors through the darkness.
Super-subs are back and Jack Grealish can set benchmark as a game-breaker
It is, of course, essential that we draw the positives. In the modern age that is all you can ever do after defeat, look for learnings to be enacted moving forward. Although it almost seems distasteful to point out something that went right for England after a dismal Nations League campaign that culminated in their worst home defeat since 1928, there was, in the fatigue and the frustration, one vague sliver of a silver lining.
Foden, the flanks and key battles that will decide Manchester City v Liverpool
Photograph: Peter Byrne/PA No manager has beaten Pep Guardiola as often as Jürgen Klopp, although the balance is swinging the Manchester City manager’s way, with one defeat in nine meetings since the Champions League quarter-finals of April 2018. Theirs is one of the great rivalries, a meeting of two coaches who have done more than anybody else to shape the tactical landscape of modern football.
Toxic endgame looms for José Mourinho as doom cycle comes round ever quicker
Photograph: Vassil Donev/EPA After his Roma side had lost 1-0 at Bologna, José Mourinho pursued the referee Luca Pairetto down the tunnel, enraged at the bookings that meant Tammy Abraham and Rick Karsdorp would be suspended for last weekend’s game against Internazionale. “I’ll have to invent the lineup on Saturday,” he later told the media. “Luckily, I replaced Gianluca Mancini.
Lionel Messi is well past his best but this seventh Ballon d’Or feels right
Photograph: Franck Fife/AFP/Getty Images Prize was not earned in domestic competition or Champions League but in his spectacular Copa América domination And so it was Lionel Messi again, for the seventh time and, barring the most extraordinary of all career finales at the World Cup in Qatar, surely the last. Whatever the idiosyncrasies of the Ballon d’Or, Messi’s excellence has been both absurdly consistent and absurdly resilient, and those seven titles since 2009 are some reflection of that.
Euro 2020 final - Gareth Southgate due a little faith to amend England approach for Qatar after Italy defeat
In the end, Gareth Southgate could not do it all. He had made England tactically flexible. He had made the experience of playing for England enjoyable. He had fostered the sort of togetherness England have perhaps not demonstrated in half a century. He had even generated a decent relationship with the media.
Euro 2020 - Wilson: How 'accidental hero' Gareth Southgate has gone from strength to strength in England role
The nadir came on 27 June 2016. I’d covered Italy’s victory over Spain at the Stade de France that afternoon. I watched the first half of England’s defeat to Iceland in the media room there, then went to a nearby bar for the second half. As the mood grew heated with Brexit argument after the final whistle – the referendum had been held four days earlier – I left with two other journalists and took the train back into Paris.
Euro 2020: England defeats Croatia in World Cup semifinal rematch
For England, it was a job done. It wasn’t the prettiest win, and there are areas that will require significant improvement if Gareth Southgate’s side is to progress deep into the Euros, but a 1–0 success against the World Cup finalist is never something to be dismissed—particularly given this was the first time England had ever won its opening game in a European Championship. Certainly there was far more for Croatia to be concerned about.
Harry Kane's Tottenham transfer request isn't so straightforward
It was the news that everybody at Tottenham or who supports the club must have been dreading, but it can hardly have come as a surprise. Harry Kane had made clear earlier in the season that he wouldn't necessarily want to continue at Tottenham if the club failed to qualify for the 2021–22 Champions League.
Man City-Chelsea Champions League final symbolic amid Super League
In 1986, Manchester City scored three times in the final five minutes but still lost the Full Members’ Cup final 5–4 to Chelsea, an occasion that, if nothing else, suggests just how much football has changed in the 35 years between that and the clubs' meeting in the Champions League final at the end of the month. To begin with, there is the status of English football.
Roma Will Attract Attention With Mourinho, but What About Success? Original
When José Mourinho was at his most successful, it was because of his pragmatism, and while that side of his personality may be increasingly difficult to discern in his coaching, it remains at least in his choice of career path. Now that the very biggest clubs are beyond him, it makes sense to pursue those clubs one layer below the very elite. Others may have been too proud, may have held out for better, but not Mourinho. And so, after Tottenham follows Roma.
Jose Mourinho's Tottenham firing a surprise for its timing only
José Mourinho’s departure from Tottenham may not have been a surprise, but the timing of it was. The biggest question must be, why now? Have things really gotten so bad that Tottenham’s hierarchy believes it is more likely to win this Sunday’s League Cup final without Mourinho than with him? Mourinho was always a slightly odd appointment.
Messi, Ronaldo bow out of UCL; Is it Haaland, Mbappe's time?
The sun, slowly, is setting. That Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi are not what they once were is not news, but with each passing month, it feels like there is another landmark in their long, slow farewells. Barcelona’s Champions League exit was confirmed by Wednesday’s 1-1 draw at Paris Saint-Germain, which, after Juventus’s exit on Tuesday, means that for the first time in 16 years neither Messi nor Ronaldo will play in the Champions League quarterfinals.
Young pretender Nagelsmann gunning for Klopp, his mentor of the gegenpress
Football, Brian Clough used to complain, is not a world that ever lets you enjoy your success. There’s always another match, another season, another threat. The past three seasons at Liverpool have been a story of remarkable achievement: a Champions League final, then Champions League success, then the end of the 30-year league title drought. But the fireworks had barely dimmed in the sky over Anfield before Jürgen Klopp found new opponents rising against him.
Thomas Tuchel is brilliant but not being a true Chelsea Blue could be his biggest hurdle
It’s never just a club. It’s never just about the players and whether they can put the ball in the net more times than their opponents. Your football club is always something else. Perhaps it’s a repository for nostalgic memories of childhood or home. Perhaps it’s a symbol of defiance against the establishment. Perhaps, particularly for top clubs who have the luxury of thinking about more than mere survival, it represents a way of playing.
Liverpool resisted trend for change, so are they back in the groove now?
© Provided by The Guardian Photograph: Tom Jenkins/The Guardian Is it done? Have Liverpool, after 40 days without a Premier league win, returned from the wilderness with Thursday’s 3-1 victory over Tottenham? Is that it, doubts over, confidence restored?
Thomas Tuchel: What Chelsea is getting in its new manager
Since Roman Abramovich bought Chelsea in 2003, the club has been engaged in a constant search for an identity. Abramovich invested in football after being thrilled by Manchester United’s 4–3 Champions League victory over Real Madrid and, even in the days of success under José Mourinho, was said to be underwhelmed by the relatively cagey football on offer. Since then there have been flirtations with a range of styles and philosophies.
Frank Lampard fired: Chelsea left with no choice but to sack coach
Eighteen months after it began, Frank Lampard’s career as Chelsea manager is over with former Borussia Dortmund and Paris Saint-Germain manager Thomas Tuchel lined up as a probable replacement. Lampard, fired Monday, leaves with the club ninth in the Premier League table, 11 points off the top, with the lowest win percentage of any permanent Chelsea manager in the Roman Abramovich era other than Andre Villas-Boas.
Messi's Barcelona future and deciphering his La Sexta interview
In roughly six months, Lionel Messi’s contract at Barcelona will expire. On Friday, he can legally begin negotiations with any club outside Spain that fancies picking him up on a free transfer in the summer. That is, in reality, a largely symbolic deadline, and if there is a serious prospect of Messi leaving the only club he has ever played for as a professional, then feelers would have been put out long ago.
Football tactics take a step back amid pandemic's pressing concerns
© Provided by The Guardian Photograph: Glyn Kirk/Reuters For football, this was the year evolution went backwards. It began with further victories for the high press, with Hansi Flick’s Bayern Munich surging to the Champions League and the Bundesliga, and Jürgen Klopp’s side giving Liverpool their first league title in 30 years, but it ended with a widespread reversion to a more cautious style.
Diego Maradona's genius came at a terrible price, but in his suffering he found greatness
Over the course of his career, Diego Maradona won only three league titles, two domestic cups, a UEFA Cup and a World Cup. True, those two league titles were the only ones Napoli have ever won, and, true, his performance in winning that World Cup was the greatest individual performance at the tournament in the past 50 years. But still, that is a meagre haul for somebody of such extraordinary talent. But then true greatness, perhaps, cannot be measured in silverware alone.
Measuring Maradona's Greatness and the Foundation of His Legacy
What is greatness? If it is ability, Diego Maradona, who died Wednesday of a heart attack aged 60, had it in abundance. He had extraordinary technical ability, a majestic left foot, supreme balance and tactical awareness. He was a player who elevated others alongside him. But greatness is also narrative. Lionel Messi is probably as talented as Maradona, and he will, over the course of his career, have won more titles, scored more goals and produced more consistently at the highest level.
As Germany Hits a New Low, It's Clear Its Direction Must Change
Perhaps the worst that can be said of Germany’s 6-0 defeat to Spain on Tuesday, its worst result since 1931, is that it didn’t come entirely as a surprise. Germany’s form since winning the Confederations Cup in 2017 has been wretched, but this is a humiliation for which the roots stretch back far further. Joachim Low has become the problem German football can no longer ignore. Low, of course, led Germany to the World Cup title in 2014, but the game has moved on.
Neither Barcelona Nor Juventus Looks Particularly Primed for UCL Glory
No president, no problem. Those seeking symbols of a brave new world for Barcelona after the resignation of Josep Bartomeu on Tuesday will perhaps find it in the club's first victory at Juventus. And it is true Barcelona was probably more dominant than the 2-0 scoreline in Wednesday's Champions League triumph might suggest. But what was most striking about a meeting of two of the giants of European football, two clubs who would be guaranteed a place in any super league, was just how poor it was.
The Motivation Behind the Plan to Help England's Struggling Tiers is Greed
Football in England below the elite level is in crisis. Bury went out of business last season even before the pandemic, and Macclesfield was tipped over the edge last month. Estimates vary but, without their major sources of income–match-going fans–as a result of COVID-19 restrictions, it’s thought that around a quarter of professional clubs below the Premier League level are in serious financial straits.
Mourinho, Moyes already feel pressure to start Premier League season
The offseason may have been shorter than usual, but it has been long enough for the narratives that seemed to be emerging at the end of last season to be forgotten. Both José Mourinho and David Moyes ended 2019–20 with a sense of well-being, with Tottenham having gone unbeaten in six games to qualify for the Europa League and West Ham having stayed up after just one defeat in its last seven.
Messi Says He Wants Out, but Is This More of a Power Play Against Barcelona?
Early on Tuesday afternoon, Barcelona received the burofax it had been dreading. It came from Lionel Messi and it confirmed he wanted to exercise the clause in his contract that allows him to leave the club on a free transfer. It was a piece of news that has simultaneously been half-expected and yet came as a major shock. Messi has, after all, been at the club for 19 years. Barcelona acted promptly to claim Messi’s right to exercise that clause expired June 10, after the scheduled end of the season.
Manchester United transfer priorities: Sancho, other top targets
This is the fourth in a series assessing Premier League teams and their transfer priorities for the summer. Read more on Arsenal and its progression under Mikel Arteta, how Tottenham must rebuild on a budget under Jose Mourinho and why Chelsea has the look of a team going all in. Manchester United finished the season third in the table. It qualified for next season's Champions league and is the odds-on favorite to win this season's Europa League.
FA Cup semifinals: Competition carries renewed significance
When the football season resumed in England, it was already obvious Liverpool would win the Premier League title. Nobody quite knew if or when the Champions League would resume. And it rapidly became apparent that amid a glut of games of questionable value, the FA Cup had fresh allure. There were still team changes for the quarterfinals–old habits and the relatively meager financial rewards available still play their part–but amid what remains of the season, it’s the Cup that stands out.
Arsenal, Tottenham have fallen behind; How can they contend again?
It’s amazing how quickly perceptions in football can change. In the first two games after lockdown, Arsenal looked almost farcically bad, the defeats to Manchester City and Brighton a distillation of all the problems that have plagued the club for much of the past decade. First there was the timidity away at a high-class opponent, studded with defensive ineptitude, then there was a collapse following a moment of controversy that led to accusations of arrogance and entitlement.
Premier League return plan set: Clubs agree on dates, schedule
Premier League football will return on June 17, so long as all safety requirements are in place, the clubs decided at a meeting on Thursday. That a resumption was imminent and had been expected after Wednesday’s vote to allow full-contact training, but the later meeting confirmed plans. All 92 remaining games will be broadcast in some form, including at least 29 on BBC and Sky, shown free-to-air.
The World Cup That Set Argentina's Template for an Unfulfilling Decade
This story is part of our series looking back on the 2010 World Cup and its biggest moments and themes with a decade's worth of perspective. For more, read about the lasting legacy of the competition in South Africa, the long-tail impact of Frank Lampard's ghost goal vs. Germany, how France's debacle planted the seeds for its 2018 success and whether Luis Suarez's controversial handball was really all that evil. Conversations about who was greater are often futile.
Missing football? Read these seven books during coronavirus lockdown
Written by Nimish Dubey | Published: April 26, 2020 9:03:16 pm ‘Angels With Dirty Faces’, ‘The Mixer’, ‘Fear And Loathing In La Liga’. (Source: Collected) The lockdown has taken a particularly heavy toll on football followers. With virtually no football being played anywhere in the world, football followers have had no choice but to go through highlights and replays of old matches or play footie-related games. And even the appeal of those can begin to wane after a while.
Johan Cruyff's legacy? The whole of modern football
Johan Cruyff invented modern football. He was a beautiful, brilliant and inspirational player and that alone would have placed him firmly in the pantheon, but what he did as a coach is unparalleled. When he took over Barcelona in 1988, they had won two league titles in 28 years. Crisis had followed crisis. In the 27 years since, they have won 13 league titles and five Champions Leagues.
El Clásico: Real Madrid wins sloppy affair over Barcelona
Advantage Real Madrid. El Clásico was a disjointed affair, but Madrid came out on top and the 2-0 win took it top of La Liga by a point ahead of Barcelona. Given the fallibility of both sides, nobody would suggest this settles the title race – although it might have had Barca won to go five points clear. But beyond the specifics of the result and what it might mean in the title race was a more general sense that this is a fixture whose status is in serious decline.
Premier League: Jose Mourinho, Tottenham top Manchester City
Some of the old magic yet remains. Jose Mourinho may not press like the modern greats. He may not construct fluent attacking moves. But give him a match to spoil, especially one against his old rival Pep Guardiola and the spirit still moves in him.
Pep Guardiola, Jose Mourinho rivalry lacks its usual ferocity
Pep Guardiola vs. Jose Mourinho. For almost a decade, it was a rivalry that defined football: possession against anti-possession; beauty against expediency–or sanctimony against pragmatism depending which side of the line you stood; two men who, for two years in Spain, were part of perhaps the most bitter and compelling soap opera the sport has known. And yet when they meet on Sunday as Tottenham hosts Manchester City, there will be an inevitable sense of anti-climax.
Arsenal's Promise Under Arteta Palpable After Inspired Win vs. Man United
LONDON – A first victory for Arsenal under Mikel Arteta brings with it a profound sense of relief. Other results earlier on New Year's Day meant Arsenal began its match against Manchester United just four points above the relegation zone, with the club having won just one of its previous 15 games in all competitions. A threat that even recently had seemed so remote it could safely be joked about had started to become worryingly real. What if Arsenal did become involved in a relegation battle?
International, club soccer in 2010s: Best teams, players, coaches
The 2010s were loaded with international competitions, outlandish transfer fees and a rise of the superclubs across Europe, and as the decade comes to a close, it's time to look back and filter out the best of the best in the men's game. There were three World Cups, all won by European nations (Spain, Germany, France), with the Germans breaking through for the continent on South American soil.
'Big Six' Vulnerabilities Open Door for EPL's Middle Class
Everything is permanent–until it isn't. Twenty years ago, English football had a Big Two of Manchester United and Arsenal. Then it had a Big Four that incorporated Chelsea and Liverpool. This all made a certain sense: there were four Champions League qualifying slots: so long as the big four kept occupying them, their hegemony was self-perpetuating. But then came Manchester City and Tottenham, the Big Four became a Big Six and self-perpetuation became much tougher.
Boxing Day review: Liverpool pads lead; Arteta, Ancelotti debut
Liverpool’s lead at the top of the Premier League table is now 13 points after it thoroughly beat second-placed Leicester City, 4-0, at the King Power Stadium on Thursday to cap a loaded Boxing Day slate. Manchester City can close that gap to 11 points, having played a game more, if it beats Wolverhampton on Friday, but the victory, secured through two Roberto Firmino goals, another from Trent Alexander-Arnold and a James Milner penalty, gives Jurgen Klopp’s side a comfortable cushion.
How Manchester City tweaked their tactics to counter Liverpool threat
By Jonathan Wilson/The Guardian Football changed in 2008: Pep Guardiola became the manager of Barcelona. Football had been evolving anyway. There had been amendments to the laws to encourage more technical, attacking football (the backpass law, the liberalisation of offside, the crackdown on intimidatory tackling). There had been changes to the economics such that the gulf between rich and poor had grown.
Messi returns for Argentina but can he realise his dreams?
By Jonathan Wilson/The Guardian Last weekend, Lionel Messi hit a high even in the context of his ridiculous career, his name chanted by opposing fans after another astonishing hat-trick. This week, it’s back to an environment that has never been so happy for him, back to the one area of his career in which there is a sense still of something missing: Argentina. Debates about who is or was the greatest are futile. There are too many different variables at play.
Argentina faces last chance to rectify horrid World Cup qualifying campaign
It may be that next week Argentina looks back on this qualification campaign and regards it as a painful but necessary process. The national team now has, in Jorge Sampaoli, the coach it probably should have had all along and, provided it does reach Russia, the means by which it got to that point may in time come to seem largely unimportant. But it may be that in a week, Argentinian football is trying to come to terms with its first failure to qualify for the World Cup in 48 years.
Don't blame Hodgson, don't blame the players: England's problem is culture of fear and failure
Another England exit, more howls of outrage and anguish, tempered only by the knowledge that in the context of the previous four days, going out of Euro 2016 to a nation of 330,000 probably isn’t that big a deal in the wider scheme of things.
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