Stories By Harry De Cosemo
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Sport
Should Portugal drop Ronaldo for the round of 16?
When Portugal dropped Cristiano Ronaldo and beat Switzerland 6-1 in the last 16 at the 2022 World Cup, it felt like a seminal moment. Fernando Santos, the manager at the time, replaced him with Gonçalo Ramos, who scored a hat-trick to justify the decision.
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Sport
Nico Williams is one of the players to watch this summer
Before the start of Euro 2024, while everyone was doing their pre-tournament predictions, one of the key topics was who would be the breakout star. The name of Athletic Club’s Nico Williams was on a number of people’s lips; the 21-year-old has enjoyed a superb season at club level, and this summer the Euros in Germany offered him an excellent springboard to improve.
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Sport
Bakayoko will be key to Belgium’s Euro campaign
For the first time in a decade, Belgium are going into a major international tournament without the pressure of being among the favourites. Football is cyclical, and the Red Devils have reached the end of theirs.
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Sport
Kroos has been one of the greatest players of his era
Toni Kroos is the forgotten member of the greats in this generation of midfielders. The German, 34, played his final game for Real Madrid on Saturday, his final game of club football in fact. It just so happened to be the Champions League final, and Madrid’s win, their 15th in all, gave Kroos a sixth career crown.
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Sport
Football is entering a new era of unproven managers
We know that football moves in cycles and trends, be it culturally or tactically. Different players, formations and styles come into fashion, and that can begin to impact what is truly important to football clubs, even when they are run like businesses.
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Sport
Selling Guimarães or Isak would be a step back for Newcastle
Bruno Guimarães donned a Newcastle United bucket hat and roared towards the away end at the Gtech Community Stadium. He’d just scored the fourth goal in the Magpies’ win at Brentford, confirming the three points that all but secured European qualification, unless Manchester United beat neighbours Manchester City in the FA Cup final next weekend.
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Sport
It finally feels like Mbappe’s career at the very top can begin
Last week, football’s worst kept secret was revealed. Kylian Mbappe, France’s superstar and arguably the best player on the planet, announced he would be leaving Paris Saint-Germain in a video message to his fans.
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Sport
Rosenior has a strong career ahead of him despite Hull sacking
There aren’t many more impressive young coaches in England than Liam Rosenior. His work at Hull City, taking them to the brink of the Championship playoffs in his first full season in managment was remarkable, and received a deserved nomination for Manager of the Year.
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Sport
Havertz is a shining ray of hope for struggling players
When Arsenal signed Kai Havertz from Chelsea last summer for £65m, a fee that meant the Blues made just a £7m loss, they were ridiculed. The Gunners have a long recent history of signing players Chelsea no longer want, such as David Luiz, Petr Cech and Yossi Benayoun.
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Sport
Southgate should not overlook Eze for his Euro 2024 squad
England manager Gareth Southgate has a lot of tough decisions to make with his squad ahead of Euro 2024. The debate over who is best placed to play a supporting role to captain Harry Kane up front is perhaps the most prominent, but arguably selecting playmakers will be the biggest challenge before the squad fly out to Germany in June.
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Sport
FA Cup changes favour elite clubs over lower leagues again
Over recent years, football’s divide between the elite and lower leagues has only grown. From the European Super League, to ‘Project Big Picture’, when the top club’s in England attempted to radically alter the power structure in the game during the COVID pandemic, there are far too many examples of the game losing what it was created with in the first place: a fierce community spirit.
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