Jonathan Wilson
- Writer, Freelance
- Owner and Journalist, Wilson's World (of football)
- Sports Columnist, The Guardian
- Host, It Was What It Was : The Football History Podcast
United Kingdom
Football writer, author of Inverting the Pyramid, Angels with Dirty Faces and 12 other football books; editor of The Blizzard; jonawils.substack.com/
Articles by Jonathan Wilson
From W-M to the No 10, shirt numbers tell a story of football’s tactical evolution Original
From W-M to the No 10, shirt numbers tell a story of football’s tactical evolution Clodoaldo wears the No 5 shirt while playing in defensive midfield for Brazil against England at the 1970 World Cup. Photograph: /Sporting Pictures/Action Images Numbers have a fascination. The No 10 is revered almost everywhere, but perhaps most especially in Argentina, where it denotes the playmaker, the enganche, the quasi-mythical figure who links the front and back of the team.
Manchester City’s weaknesses under Enzo Maresca are being exposed
Enzo Maresca seemed, if not quite baffled by his side's Saturday defeat to Nottingham Forest, then at least a little put out. After seven straight wins from the start of the season, that's now three straight defeats, a pattern so unusual that it's been recorded only once before in top-flight English history, by Sheffield Wednesday in 1904-05. The three defeats were all different, Maresca said, although in all of them City had had more possession and more chances.
Manchester City’s weaknesses under Enzo Maresca are being exposed
Manchester City started the season with seven straight wins, but they’ve since taken three defeats in a row. Composite: Guardian Design, Getty Images Enzo Maresca seemed, if not quite baffled by his side’s Saturday defeat to Nottingham Forest, then at least a little put out. After seven straight wins from the start of the season, that’s now three straight defeats, a pattern so unusual that it’s been recorded only once before in top-flight English history, by Sheffield Wednesday in 1904-05.
Enzo Maresca rues Manchester City’s lack of desire after defeat at Nottingham Forest
Enzo Maresca blamed his side’s lack of desire and the way they were outgunned in duels for a third successive Premier League defeat. After winning their first seven games of the season, Manchester City’s 3-1 loss at Nottingham Forest extended their poor run. Jair Cunha dispossessed Josko Gvardiol to score the opener, then Liam Delap struck twice with muscular surges on the break as Forest won their first home league game since April. “Today I think [the problem] has been general,” said Maresca.
There are very few reasons for Unai Emery to leave Aston Villa for Manchester United
Unai Emery has been Aston Villa’s manager for four years, with the club thriving in the Champions League. Photograph: Alejandro García/EPA On Sunday afternoon, shortly before 4.30, Unai Emery will leave the tunnel at Old Trafford and walk along the touchline towards the bench. Will he glance around the grand old stadium – faded and leaking though it may be in parts – and think that he could have a part in restoring the club to former glories?
Delap’s Nottingham Forest stunners hand Manchester City third league defeat in a row
Liam Delap hammers in his first goal of the night in Nottingham Forest’s shock win. Photograph: Andrew Boyers/Action Images/Reuters Wait long enough, and results will come to reflect performances. Manchester City may have won their first seven games of the season, but they always looked vulnerable, and now have lost three in a row. Nottingham Forest may have been second bottom but, other than the twin curses of missing chances giving away daft goals, they seemed to be playing reasonably well.
Cristiano Ronaldo merely the latest example of a great player who couldn’t let go
Cristiano Ronaldo celebrates after scoring the winning penalty in the 2006 World Cup quarter-final shootout against England in Gelsenkirchen. Photograph: Matt Dunham/AP Nothing, perhaps, is quite so difficult for an elite sportsman as timing their exit.
Arsenal have everything they need to repeat as Premier League champions
Arsenal are three points clear at the top of the Premier League table. But given the team in second are Manchester City, who are likely to be facing at the very least a major points deduction, perhaps more significant is that they are five clear of Brighton in third. The season of domination that many anticipated from the champions appears to be coming to pass. Liverpool challenged them on Sunday.
Arsenal have everything they need to repeat as Premier League champions
Ezri Konsa, Declan Rice and Piero Hincapié and Mikel Arteta look set for another strong title challenge. Composite: Guardian Design, Getty Images Arsenal are three points clear at the top of the Premier League table. But given the team in second are Manchester City, who are likely to be facing at the very least a major points deduction, perhaps more significant is that they are five clear of Brighton in third.
If Mikel Arteta’s dossier is part of a deliberate strategy, it is a dangerous one for Arsenal
Mikel Arteta, booked here against Sunderland, received his second yellow card of the season for leaving the technical area against Everton. Photograph: Ian Hodgson/AP English football loves the word “dossier”. It doesn’t love dossiers themselves, of course; they’re for nerds – unless, that is, they’re a “secret dossier”, which have a thrilling redolence of spy dramas, invisible ink and dead drops.
If Mikel Arteta’s dossier is part of a deliberate strategy, it is a dangerous one for Arsenal
English football loves the word “dossier”. It doesn’t love dossiers themselves, of course; they’re for nerds – unless, that is, they’re a “secret dossier”, which have a thrilling redolence of spy dramas, invisible ink and dead drops. Non-secret dossiers, though, are inherently risible: call something a “dossier” in English football and you’re immediately signalling: this is absurd poindextering.
The horse that ushered in Manchester United’s 21-year tragic arc
And so here we are again, at that point as the nights draw in and Manchester United prepare to sack a manager. Autumn: season of mists, mellow fruitfulness and a crisis at Old Trafford. Sunday's 3-0 home defeat to Bournemouth, coming on the back of last week's 4-1 reverse against Como, made clear what many had feared from the moment Michael Carrick was given the job on a permanent basis: that he isn't up to it. But then, who could be?
Pierre Sage regrets ‘missed 15 minutes’ as defeat increases heat on Crystal Palace manager Original
Pierre Sage regrets ‘missed 15 minutes’ as defeat increases heat on Crystal Palace manager Pierre Sage consoles Yéremy Pino after the final whistle. Photograph: Tom Jenkins/The Guardian Pierre Sage blamed a 15-minute loss of concentration for Crystal Palace's 2-0 defeat by Newcastle and insisted he remains the right man to lead the south London club. "We missed 15 minutes when we came back from the dressing room," said the Frenchman.
Pierre Sage regrets ‘missed 15 minutes’ as defeat increases heat on Crystal Palace manager
Pierre Sage consoles Yéremy Pino after the final whistle. Photograph: Tom Jenkins/The Guardian Pierre Sage blamed a 15-minute loss of concentration for Crystal Palace’s 2-0 defeat by Newcastle and insisted he remains the right man to lead the south London club. “We missed 15 minutes when we came back from the dressing room,” said the Frenchman.
Osula and Barnes’ second-half burst sees Newcastle pile pressure on lacklustre Palace Original
Osula and Barnes’ second-half burst sees Newcastle pile pressure on lacklustre Palace Newcastle's second, scored by Harvey Barnes, killed the game as a meaningful contest. Photograph: John Walton/PA The first half was one of the worst 45 minutes of football in Premier League history. The pass completion rate was a meagre 72.8%, although it felt lower. There were only two shots on target. The sun kept popping out from behind the clouds to take a look, and then going back in again, appalled.
Why Stanley Matthews’ Ballon d’Or triumph echoes down the years for Harry Kane
An England fan holds up a sign saying ‘Harry's #1 fan’. The Bayern Munich and Three Lions striker’s consistency and longevity are compelling reasons for him to be this year’s Ballon d’Or winner. Photograph: Catherine Ivill/AMA/Getty Images Systems football began in 1963 – on the hallowed turf of Wembley – with the impact of a cynical foul by Gino Pivatelli.
Brighton are the apex B club – their next target should be a Champions League place
Diego Gómez’s wondergoal in a five-star demolition is just the latest in an impressive run of results for the south coast team For two or three years now, it’s been standard to nod approvingly at how well-run Brighton, Brentford and Bournemouth are, and to move on. What else is there to say? It’s true, of course – these are sides who have made the most of relatively limited resources.
Brighton are the apex B club – their next target should be a Champions League place
Brighton are third in the table after a successful start to the season. Composite: Guardian Pictures (via Getty / REX) For two or three years now, it’s been standard to nod approvingly at how well-run Brighton, Brentford and Bournemouth are, and to move on. What else is there to say? It’s true, of course – these are sides who have made the most of relatively limited resources.
Europe is a blast – but more a curse than a blessing if you are not a super-club
Sunderland’s Noah Sadiki celebrates scoring against Torreense. Bournemouth and Sunderland are prospering in the Europa League but the price for lively adventures abroad is high domestically. Photograph: Octávio Passos/UEFA/Getty Images The sun shone. The temperature was in the high 20s. There was a mood of great conviviality. If you were struggling with the official allocation, it turned out you could just email the president of Torreense and he’d sort you out. Were these “Nuno-tickets” real?
Winning is not enough for Manchester City to move on from this crisis
The language of football is a fine and highly nuanced dialect. The majority of people involved in the game speak it with a high degree of sophistication. Minor deviations from the familiar, almost imperceptible to outsiders, can set off alarm bells: what's really going on there? Why isn't he happy? What's she hinting at? But it's an argot developed to talk about football, and when applied to other subjects, it can sound extremely jarring. Erling Haaland is one of the brighter, more engaging players.
Winning is not enough for Manchester City to move on from this crisis
It’s not just that the club’s recent charges themselves are unprecedented – it’s the language used to describe them too The language of football is a fine and highly nuanced dialect. The majority of people involved in the game speak it with a high degree of sophistication. Minor deviations from the familiar, almost imperceptible to outsiders, can set off alarm bells: what’s really going on there? Why isn’t he happy? What’s she hinting at?
Why we’re stuck with a Premier League in the clutches of the global mega-rich
The Etihad Stadium at sunset. Manchester City’s Gulf-based owners are a world away from the local businessmen who once coveted English clubs. Photograph: Ed Sykes/Action Images/Reuters Football, the world’s most popular sport, played by laws drawn up in London in 1863. The Premier League is the UK’s greatest soft power export.
Ronaldo’s break with Portugal is sad, fitting, and long overdue
If this is to be the end for Cristiano Ronaldo at international level, at least it can be said that he left the stage as he bestrode it: with monumental self-regard. Ronaldo has always been a preening, self-absorbed player, but for a time, when he was one of the best in the world, it could be tolerated. For the past four years, though, he has actively and obviously held Portugal back. There is a great generation of technical talent here weighed down by the monstrous albatross of his ego.
Ronaldo’s break with Portugal is sad, fitting, and long overdue
Cristiano Ronaldo and Portugal coach Jorge Jesus were at odds during this international window. Composite: Getty, Shutterstock If this is to be the end for Cristiano Ronaldo at international level, at least it can be said that he left the stage as he bestrode it: with monumental self-regard. Ronaldo has always been a preening, self-absorbed player, but for a time, when he was one of the best in the world, it could be tolerated.
Let there be blanks instead of Manchester City’s name on trophies: there was no honour
Manchester City lift the Premier League trophy in 2018 after the club finished 19 points clear at the top. Photograph: Martin Rickett/PA At half-time in the 2014 League Cup final, Sunderland led Manchester City 1-0. Yaya Touré equalised with a casually brilliant 30-yard clip 10 minutes after the break, and City went on to win 3-1.
Sham City: verdict on financial breaches is damning and punishment must be severe
How bad could it be, really? How serious can a breach of arcane financial regulations be, really? Just how damning can accountancy be? Even after Friday’s revelation that Manchester City had been found guilty of all but one of the charges brought against them by the Premier League, it was perhaps difficult to grasp the scale of what that meant.
The Nations League is a welcome example of soccer done well
England's first game after the 2022 World Cup was a 2-1 win away over Italy. Their first game after the 2018 World Cup was a 2-1 defeat to Spain. Their first game after the 2014 World Cup was a 1-0 friendly win over Norway – and that was not the Norway of Erling Haaland, Martin Ødegaard and Antonio Nusa but of Joshua King, Håvard Nordtveit and Tarik Elyounoussi. The first game after the 2010 World Cup was a 2-1 friendly win over Hungary.
Ever feel you’ve been cheated? Consequences could be profound after Manchester City guilty verdict
So it turns out none of that was real. Nothing that happened in English football between 2009-10 and 2017-18 that involved Manchester City actually happened. City beating Manchester United 6-1 at Old Trafford? Fake. Sergio Agüero’s 94th-minute winner to clinch the title in 2012? A figment of the imagination. That season City reached 100 points? Bobby Ewing dreamed it in the shower.
Messi’s exit leaves Argentina with impossible task of replacing their superhero
Lionel Messi, despite his obvious limitations, was as influential as ever at the World Cup. Photograph: Jacob Kupferman/AP It isn’t quite over yet. Lionel Messi will return a week on Wednesday for his formal farewell in a friendly against Benin, but, before that, Argentina face two games when they will begin to experience a future without the most potent get-out-of-jail-free card football has known. Messi’s international career falls into two distinct halves.
The last two seasons were grim for Spurs. This is as bad as it’s ever been
Pre-season thoughts of European qualification are already beginning to look bafflingly optimistic for Roberto De Zerbi’s team In March, Tottenham, fearing possible relegation, spent big to bring in Roberto De Zerbi, who will probably never go into a negotiation with a stronger hand. There was obvious improvement and they stayed up on the final day of the season. Since then, Spurs have spent a net £175m ($234m) on improving the squad.
Zidane’s next move as France coach may reveal the wizard behind the curtain
It is hard to isolate any one moment in Zinedine Zidane’s success at Real Madrid that could definitively be assigned to his coaching genius. Photograph: Tom Jenkins/The Guardian Even in his playing days, Zinedine Zidane seemed unknowable. As a manager, the sense of distance has only grown. He won three Champions Leagues with Real Madrid without ever giving a sense of what his idea of football looked like.
Fitter, happier, more productive: Arsenal could hardly have started the season better
Three league games played, three games won. For Arsenal this season could only have started better if Manchester City, who look like being one of their two most serious challengers, had dropped points. But it's not just about results: Arsenal have been comfortably the better side in each of those three games, approaching each of them in very different ways.
Fitter, happier, more productive: Arsenal could hardly have started the season better
Fitter, happier, more productive: Arsenal could hardly have started the season better Mon, 7 September 2026 at 2:34 pm UTC Add Yahoo as a preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. Martin Ødegaard, David Raya and Kai Havertz are part of an Arsenal team who have won all three of their opening Premier League matches. Composite: EPA, AP, Getty Three league games played, three games won.
Arteta v Alonso, part one: a desire for control and the theory behind the chaos
Control v chaos. On the one hand, the forces of order, regimented, playing in precise patterns and, on the other, something darker, more visceral, a method that acknowledges the imperfection of the human soul, the unknowability of football in all its randomness; better, that second way says, to attempt to ride the fury than to believe it might be harnessed. When it began, a decade ago, that’s how the Pep Guardiola v Jürgen Klopp rivalry appeared. Apollo v Dionysius.
Emery’s new team begin to emerge as Aston Villa rebuild on and off the pitch
Nothing ever remains the same. Entropy happens. Evolution happens. People grow, people shrink. The world changes and we must change with it. Change happens. The key is to keep ahead of that change, to guide it. The problem for Aston Villa this summer is that it has felt like change has been happening to them, the understandable desire to rejuvenate the squad coinciding with players being lured away by bigger salaries at more established clubs.
Chelsea’s perfect yet unserious start to the Premier League season Original
Two Premier League games played for Chelsea under Xabi Alonso: two wins and seven goals scored. It's the sort of start that would delight many new managers – only two other clubs can boast about a six-point start this Premier League season (albeit with Arsenal to play later on Monday). Points gained in this odd transitional phase, when almost nobody seems quite ready, could prove extremely valuable come the end of the season.
Liverpool are still haunted by the mess of last summer
The good news for Liverpool is that, Arsenal aside, every other team with vague title aspirations who played over the weekend looked undercooked, and that Andoni Iraola's men did, in the end, come away from Newcastle with a point . But the vulnerability to the counter that undermined them so often last season has not gone away, and nor have they suddenly found a new creativity under Iraola. The main theme of the first three days of the new season was the value of stability.
Glaring weakness in goal remains but early signs Xabi Alonso’s Chelsea should be fun
Xabi Alonso can only have been impressed by Cole Palmer and his forward line, but Robert Sánchez remains a weak link.
Glaring weakness in goal remains but early signs Xabi Alonso’s Chelsea should be fun
After a weekend on which pretty much every potential challenger to Arsenal had demonstrated their flaws, there was a sense, perhaps even a need, for Chelsea to emerge as a serious contender – if only to prevent the title race becoming a procession. And while they were far from flawless, there were at least some indications that they could mount some kind of challenge.
Liverpool are still haunted by the mess of last summer
Liverpool are still haunted by the mess of last summer
Enzo Maresca’s Manchester City opener was startlingly bad
There are caveats. It was only the Community Shield – and no side has gone on to win the league after lifting the Community Shield since 2018. It was against the league champions, whose pre-season has involved far less strenuous travel than their own. By the time the season really gets going, there will be greater clarity in central midfield, with Rodri set to complete his move to Barcelona imminently. But this was a startlingly bad opening for Enzo Maresca at Manchester City.
Community Shield offers insight into Arsenal’s desire and Maresca’s Manchester City impact
The doubt for anyone when a long-strived-for goal has been achieved is hunger. Arsenal waited 22 years for their 14th league title and, compounding the yearning, finished second three times in a row before finally lifting the Premier League trophy in May. The physical exertions of last season were immense – as seen by Declan Rice’s clear exhaustion and Bukayo Saka’s intermittent contributions at the World Cup, where William Saliba picked up a back injury – but so too was the emotional strain.
Are Manchester United about to return to relevance under Michael Carrick?
Manchester United finally seem to have something that resembles stability in the dressing room under Michael Carrick. I feel with quality signings in defence and midfield, they could mount a decent challenge for the Premier League next season. How do you feel they will fare? – Sterling There's an odd sense that Michael Carrick's level of achievement last season was at precisely the most awkward level for the board.
Infantino’s World Cup sell-off debacle has rocked football but Fifa’s crisis has deep and rotten roots
There are decades in which nothing happens, and weeks in which decades happen, and those weeks tend to result in leaders being toppled. Not even a fortnight ago, Gianni Infantino was taking his victory lap on Instagram, attacking “those behind their pens and papers, behind their screens spreading hate and false rumours” who had dared to question elements of his World Cup, which had generated a record $15bn in revenues.
Infantino’s World Cup sell-off debacle has rocked football but Fifa’s crisis has deep and rotten roots
Gianni Infantino's plan to sell the World Cup led to a backlash which leaves him scrabbling to save his presidency.
Vinícius Júnior to Arsenal doesn’t make sense. That’s why it may work
Vinícius Júnior to Arsenal doesn’t make sense. That’s why it may work
Vinícius Júnior to Arsenal doesn’t make sense. That’s why it may work
Sometimes what is needed is something different. There is a long history in football of counterintuitive thinking being successful, of the benefits of creative tension, of adding grit to the oyster to generate the pearl, but even so, the news that talks between Vinícius Júnior and Arsenal on personal terms are progressing comes as something of a shock. Mikel Arteta’s great followers of a blueprint adding a free spirit like the Brazilian? Really?
The five big beasts are gone: who will be the Premier League’s next alpha manager?
The big beasts of the Premier League and the possible contenders to join their realm this season. Composite: Getty Images, Reuters This used to be a land of giants. This used to be a land where big men fought. This used to be a land where Sir Alex Ferguson and Arsène Wenger tussled, then José Mourinho joined the fray. This used to be a land where Jürgen Klopp made Pep Guardiola reconsider, and he changed his style and won anyway. Not any more.
Franco Baresi was not only the captain but the moral heart of great Milan team
There are very few players who become bywords for their position, who enjoy universal acclaim. But for anybody who watched football in the late 80s or early 90s, Franco Baresi was the central defender. He was unsurpassed, obviously the best in his position in the world, the definition of the art of the defending. The oddity is, he really wasn’t like very many other defenders at all. Baresi had just turned 19 when he won his first scudetto at Milan under Nils Liedholm.
Franco Baresi was not only the captain but the moral heart of great Milan team
Franco Baresi was calm personified as he marshalled defence and looked for a pass to a teammate.
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