Kylian Mbappe is on the verge of joining Real Madrid, either now or next summer while Harry Kane must wait for Daniel Levy to decide his fate for him. Read more »
Colin McGowan - Soccer Analysis
Kane, Mbappe And Their Gilded Cages
La Liga's Big Three Enter Season In Varying Degrees Of Chaos
Real Madrid have some healing to do, Barcelona are hard up for cash, and Atleti simply need to prep for the season. Read more »
The Euros As A More Generous Reading Of The Game And Its Players
Tournaments like the Euros function as an exploration of what the gifted but not quite great are capable of, when they're asked to do everything. Read more »
La Liga Ain't What It Used To Be
As ever, Real Madrid and Barcelona will decide which direction this whole enterprise goes. And Atleti will have their days, knowing that they don't run the show but do occasionally get to star in it. Read more »
The Super League Died But They're Not Through Tearing Things Down
The richest clubs in Europe were ready to detonate the sport as we know it: bleaching identities, cheapening domestic leagues, starving a great many clubs that are rich in history if not in funds. Read more »
A Modern Badge Is A Corporation's Face
What's happening at Inter is happening all over the sport. Some new badges and kits and color schemes are better than others and some old badges and kits and color schemes were pretty lousy in the first place, but everything smells strongly of disinfectant and money. Read more »
It's Getting Pretty Late For Sergio Ramos
The relationship, as productive and mutually gratifying as it's been, might be at an end. For now, Sergio Ramos will get himself healthy while not knowing exactly what he's getting healthy for. Read more »
Chelsea Hires A Real Manager With A Real Shot To Succeed
At the bleary and miserable end, there wasn't much left to recommend Frank Lampard, beyond the fact that he's one of the best players in club history. Read more »
Atleti Are Approaching A Kind Of Anti-Realization
Diego Simeone is a smart guy, but intensely stubborn, and he hasn't considered the inverse of his formulation: players dictate styles, but styles also dictate players. Read more »
Nobody Pities Pep's City Project For Their Failures Anymore
Pep Guardiola is an excellent coach, but he can't make a credible argument that his successes are not bought as much as they are earned. Read more »
Lionel Messi's Patience With Barcelona Has Finally Run Out
Lionel Messi is both demanding and passive-aggressive in the way that star athletes often are, and he's right to be upset about how Barcelona have wasted his unparalleled talents with squads that haven't worked or even made much sense. Read more »
This Champions League Will Be The Ultimate Spectrum Of Interpretation
It's unclear what this particular title is going to mean. It is certainly something, upon which we will probably never totally agree. Read more »
Fake Noise, Fake Fans, Fake Normalcy
Though the action resembles an intermittently buffering version of midseason soccer, the context in which that action takes place is noticeably strange. Read more »
What Jurgen Klopp Wants Isn't What Society Needs
Jürgen Klopp's got a great career and a lot of money. Anybody trying to cut the line- to have their concerns addressed before those truly in need- is worthy of scorn. Read more »
It's Time To Start Figuring Out Next Season
There is no good reason why leagues can't hit the ground running whenever they get the all-clear. The sooner the planning starts, the more enjoyable the soccer will be upon its return. Read more »
Atleti Beating Liverpool Defies Expectation, Explanation
Liverpool were doing what they needed to do to come out on top. Dominating possession, driving Atleti into their own box, pulling even before halftime, working Jan Oblak, finally breaking through early in extra time. It was all very intelligible. Read more »
Atleti's Capacity To Beat Liverpool Remains Largely Theoretical
In what was either a doubling or a tripling back on what they actually are versus what most people believe them to be, Atleti were impenetrable and opportunistic on Tuesday against Liverpool. Read more »
Barcelona's Empty Sanctimony
The Barcelona board are a capricious, and, going by recent evidence, not particularly competent bunch. They belong to a uniquely sociopathic rich guy strain, one concerned only with revenue retrieval, status, and success. Read more »
Paul Pogba Isn't Young Anymore But He's Still An Enigma
Paul Pogba is 26 years old and should be in his prime. Yet what he is, at present, and what he still could be, in the future, remains hazy. Read more »
Tottenham's Risky Grand Vision Replacing Pochettino With Mourinho
Whether this feeling lines up with reality or not, Jose Mourinho's hiring is the opposite of capitulation, a bet that the past year under Mauricio Pochettino has represented a step backward rather than the beginning of a protracted decline. Read more »