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• Coach talks up desire for development over management
• Harry Kane fit for Finland after missing Greece defeat

Lee Carsley goes into the Nations League tie against Finland in Helsinki on Sunday with serious doubts emerging as to whether he wants the England manager’s job on a permanent basis.

The 50-year-old has stepped up from his role in charge of the under-21s on an interim basis until November to take in all six of the seniors’ Nations League group games, winning against Republic of Ireland in Dublin and Finland at Wembley in September before a chaotic home loss to Greece on Thursday.

Legal battle between Manchester City and the Premier League highlights the game’s existential crisis – is it too late to save it?

Don’t look up! As the families of Westeros squabble, the undead gather beyond the Wall. As senior monks jockey to be the new abbot, viking longboats mass on the horizon. As the left bicker interminably over infinitesimal doctrinal differences, right-leaning billionaire tech-bros fund the march of quasi-fascistic populism.

The problem with existential threats, from the climate crisis to Conquistadors to Covid, is that they always seem distant, somehow unreal. People are always predicting the end of the world, which makes it easy to dismiss the doom-mongers. When we’ve had so many warnings of the apocalypse, why should anybody listen now? But some day one of those prophets is going to be right. Nothing is eternal.

In an exclusive interview the Brazilian teenage sensation talks about moving to London next summer and his aim to become the best footballer in the world

Estêvão didn’t think twice about how to celebrate his move to Chelsea. As soon as he had signed from Palmeiras in a deal that could top £51m, the Brazilian decided to honour Cole Palmer and usher in what could be a new era for the English club.

“When I signed for Chelsea, the next day I scored a goal and celebrated like Palmer. His celebration was trend, very popular,” says Estêvão before discussing his first interaction with the England forward. “We talked on social media, I tagged him on Instagram, he called me a star, I said he’s a star too. He said we’re going to do a lot of great things together for Chelsea.”

This may sting Steve Clarke more than Scotland’s humbling at the hands of Germany to open Euro 2024. Events in Zagreb might hurt the Scotland manager more than the insipid loss to Hungary that ended involvement in the same competition.

With the Scots so desperately in need of hope, they believed they had snatched a 95th-minute ­equaliser in the Croatian capital. Clarke ­celebrated in a manner far from typical for a man of his stoicism. Enter the video ­assistant referee, who determined Ché Adams was offside before his shot flicked off Kristijan Jakic and into the net. It was the final act of the game and the latest dent to Clarke’s morale. The extending of a run to one win in 15 would have been gleefully accepted had Adams’s intervention stood. Scotland arguably deserved a draw. All of this felt irrelevant as the bones of another defeat were being picked through. They remain without a point in Group A1 and winless in nine ­competitive outings.

Jonas Eidevall said he “fully understands” the disappointment of Arsenal fans after two goals in 12 minutes did the damage in a loss against Chelsea that gave the Gunners a mountain to climb in a crunch game at the Emirates.

“I fully understand that people are disappointed when we don’t win football matches and we are also really disappointed,” he said, in response to some fans booing when the side conceded their second.

It was a little late and a little lucky too, but the European champions did eventually get the goal that completed their homecoming. Kasper Schmeichel had resisted for 79 minutes but then Martín Zubimendi, who Liverpool couldn’t convince and whose coach calls the second best midfielder in the world after the man he came in to replace, hit a volley that squirmed beyond the Denmark keeper and into the net. Just when it seemed that they wouldn’t get a goal to go with the Henri Delaunay trophy, 29,870 people erupted in Murcia, Spain’s party ending rather well after all.

Twenty-four shots it had taken, a deflection too. It also took a long VAR check to confirm it, with Denmark’s caretaker coach, Lars Knudsen, saying that the Joselu challenge which saw the ball fall to Zubimendi “didn’t look like shoulder to shoulder to me”. And yet the selección deserved the win that took them top of the group. Schmeichel had made five saves until then, two of them one-on-ones with Álvaro Morata, but ultimately carried some of the responsibility for defeat.

The manager’s front-foot style of play has excited fans despite a tendency to fade in the second half of matches

When Craig Bellamy talks, you listen. He can command a touchline, a dressing room, the deepest of auditoriums, a gaggle of journalists in a bunker of Laugardalsvöllur stadium. Presumably one of the reasons Wales’s players so quickly bought into his ideas is that he is such a compelling orator and, consequently, he is easy to believe.

So when he was at pains to amplify the pluses of throwing away a two-goal lead in Reykjavík on Friday, it was hard not to take him at face value. In fairness, the positives were there: Bellamy is the first Wales manager to avoid defeat in his first three competitive matches and unbeaten at the halfway stage of the Nations League.

With almost a fifth of the campaign in the bag, we cast an eye over the top-rating players who moved in the off-season

By Ben McAleer for WhoScored

Right-back was an area Erik ten Hag sought to improve upon over the summer, and Noussair Mazraoui has made the starting spot his own at Manchester United. Indeed, the Morocco international ranks seventh for tackles (21) in the Premier League this season. While United’s summer signings have struggled, the former Bayern Munich man has slotted in well enough under Ten Hag at Old Trafford. They’ll miss Mazraoui during his time on the sidelines.

This squad cries out for a coach who could imbue a sense of purpose that goes beyond simply wanting to win something

There is perhaps a certain bitter comic timing in the fact that England’s next opponent is the country serially ranked as the happiest on earth. Prosperous, equal, well-educated, socially supported and with few delusions of global grandeur, Finland offers our own disgruntled and perennially troubled nation an abundance of useful life lessons, most of which you can guarantee will go unheeded.

And so to Helsinki, where Lee Carsley apparently has only three games left to save the job that was apparently his after two games, slipping away after three games, and which he does not actually appear to want anyway. Perhaps it was inevitable, given our evident lack of enthusiasm for the Nations League format in general, that English football would use this autumn lacuna as an opportunity to turn entirely in upon itself, to give full rein to its rolling psychodrama, an extended Lee In/Lee Out referendum campaign.

Visitors’ late 2-1 win must be put into perspective for American owners who are changing course of club

Gillingham’s American owners have ridden meteorological and ­metaphorical storms this week, on either side of the Atlantic.

So the ­miserable north Kent drizzle and Dara Costelloe’s devastating injury-time winner that dampened the end of Brad and Shannon Galinson’s visit to the UK must be put into some sort of perspective.

Liverpool defender and fan is living her dream and hopes to help take points from in-form Manchester City on Sunday

Growing up in Glasgow in a family that adored Kenny Dalglish, Jenna Clark has ardently been supporting Liverpool since she was a young child without ever getting the chance to soak in the atmosphere at Anfield.

The closest the defender ever got to the Kop was a stadium tour, a Christmas present, before she signed for the Merseyside club from Glasgow City on a two-year contract in 2023.

• Striker scores 133rd international goal in 3-1 victory
• Northern Ireland held to goalless draw by Belarus

Cristiano Ronaldo was among the scorers as Portugal beat Poland 3-1 in their Nations League clash in Warsaw. The 39-year-old put the visitors two up in the 37th minute, following up to convert after Rafael Leão burst forward and fired against the post, taking his record haul of international goals to 133.

Ronaldo had earlier flicked an effort against the bar, before Bernardo Silva gave Portugal the lead with a 26th-minute finish. After Piotr Zielinski pulled a goal back for Poland in the 78th minute, a late Jan Bednarek own goal gave the Portuguese their third.

• Another injury worry for Gunners as Saka stays home
• Jones also misses trip to Finland as squad of 22 fly out

Arsenal’s Bukayo Saka has been ruled out of England’s Nations League trip to Finland and sent back to his club for assessment on an injury picked up in the defeat to Greece.

Saka played 51 minutes of England’s 2-1 defeat at Wembley before being replaced by Chelsea’s Noni Madueke.

From Antonio Nusa to Mathys Tel, we pick 60 of the most talented players born in 2005. Check the progress of our classes of 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015 | 2014

• Twenty of the best Premier League prospects from 2022

• Cameroon player calls time on career at 33 after injury
• Defender played 201 times for Reds under Jürgen Klopp

The former Liverpool defender Joël Matip has retired from football at the age of 33. The Cameroon centre-back made 201 appearances for the club after arriving from Schalke in 2016, winning a host of honours at Anfield including the 2019 Champions League and 2020 Premier League, and also won 27 international caps.

He suffered an anterior cruciate ligament injury against Fulham last December, which turned out to be his final game for the club, whom he left at the end of last season.

Dons’ 1984-85 triumph under Alex Ferguson was the third year running that Celtic or Rangers had failed to finish top

By Steven Pye for That 1980s Sports Blog

There are places I’ll remember, all my life though some have changed. Some forever, not for better, some have gone and some remain. Sometimes it is difficult to start a new blog, but for some reason the lyrics of Lennon and McCartney sprung to mind when choosing to look back at Aberdeen winning the 1984-85 Scottish Premier Division.

At the time, Aberdeen’s fourth top flight title seemed to be the continuation of a new chapter in Scottish football. Never before had the championship remained out of the clutches of the Old Firm for three consecutive seasons. Between 1983 and 1985, the New Firm of Dundee United and Aberdeen had changed the footballing landscape.

An indulgent attempt to reinvent England backfired and the harsh reality is that the FA already has a decision to make

This is the moment for the Football Association to be proactive. John McDermott, the technical director, cannot stray into complacency and ignore the evidence from England’s shambolic defeat by Greece. This was more than a one-off night. Some performances are too disastrous to file away as one of those things and, after seeing Lee Carsley’s attempt to mark himself out as a tactical innovator backfire so spectacularly, the FA must be prepared to acknowledge some cold, hard truths in its quest to find England’s next permanent head coach.

Forget about a smooth transition of power. Those lofty aims of promoting from within, of drilling into the St George’s Park pipeline, are looking impossible to sustain. This was no isolated blip. This was an inexperienced manager tying himself in knots – first when Carsley named a starting XI so bold it almost resembled a parody of the internet team, then when he struggled through a bizarre press conference and said he would “hopefully” be going back to the under-21s when his interim stint ends next month – and it is up to McDermott to respond accordingly.

From ‘the next Alphonso Davies’ to Dortmund’s Moukoko, we pick 60 of the most talented players born in 2004. Check the progress of class of 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015

• Next Generation 2021: 20 of the best Premier League talents
• Support our journalism from as little as £2 a month

The ‘Tanzanian Mbappé’ and the next Kai Havertz are among our players born in 2003. Check the progress of our 2019 selection | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015

• Support our journalism from as little as £2 a month

The two Americans were on our list five years ago but their paths show the professional game is rarely straightforward

Career paths are rarely straightforward, whether in football or any other area of life. Circumstances often change. Injuries and illnesses happen, there are often changes in leadership which have an impact on the individual while personal lives also play a part.

Career paths are therefore very difficult to predict. Looking down the list of our 2019 Next Generation, which we have now followed for five years, there were no guarantees any of the players would become household names. OK, Alex Holiga, who covers the Balkans for us, was confident that Josko Gvardiol would make it big – which he has – but apart from him, and perhaps Ansu Fati, Eduardo Camavinga and Jérémy Doku, there were no certainties.

A remarkable year for the youngster. Made his Bundesliga debut on 18 January and has not looked back since. He now has 23 first-team appearances and has established himself as a starter and one of the most talented young players in Europe. “I’m still learning a lot tactically,” he said in August. “There is a very big difference between youth and professional football. Making the right movements and creating space for myself and others is what I still need to learn the most.

A tumultuous year for the young American who was caught in the crossfire of a feud between his own family and the USMNT coach, Gregg Berhalter, after the World Cup, during which he played a mere 52 minutes of the US’s four games. Injuries have once again hampered him but he is back to full fitness now and a US return seems likely too after talks with Berhalter.

From Warren Zaïre-Emery to Endrick, we select some of the best players born in 2006. Check the progress of our classes of 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018

• Next Generation 2023: 20 of the best Premier League talents

Spain’s cult hero on the injury layoff that revived his career, not taking football too seriously and Chelsea’s resurgence

“Before it was Ronaldinho and now it’s people like … well, me,” Marc Cucurella says, and then there is laughter. With him there is a lot of laughter. All of a sudden the Chelsea defender is a European champion and cult hero, and you can see why. There’s the hair: massive, as the song says, and in the right light still a bit red, celebratory dye not entirely washed out three months after Spain won Euro 2024. There’s the playing style that helped take them there, “one people empathise with”. And there’s the personality. What was it Erling Haaland said? “He’s a funny man.”

A very funny man.

Arne Slot’s Liverpool are flying and top of the Premier League after 10 games. But can they last the course?

By David Segar for Opta Analyst

Many said it would be an ‘impossible job’. Manchester United and Arsenal both dipped after the departures of Alex Ferguson and Arsène Wenger, so obviously, the same would happen to Liverpool when Jürgen Klopp stepped aside, right?

Well, 10 games into the Arne Slot reign at Anfield and Liverpool are in the fourth round of the Carabao Cup, have maximum points in the league phase of the Champions League and sit top of the Premier League. Slot is the first Reds boss to win as many as nine of his first 10 games in charge of the club.

Who is going to start taking responsibility for protecting women’s safety after football games? Stop viewing us as secondary people in a male space

Last month I took the overground to sit in my season ticket seat at the best football club in the country, in my home of north London. I sat with the middle-aged men I’ve learnt to love over the past three seasons, watching a team I’ve loved since I was a child and celebrated a buoyant 3-1 win over Brentford under the sunshine.

So how come, 30 minutes after the final whistle, I was surrounded by police officers, sobbing my eyes out in a Transport for London office at Seven Sisters?

Interim England manager went full-on roar ball for the people but Greece claimed a shock win at Wembley

Lee Carsley achieved something at Wembley that might have seemed impossible just a few short weeks ago. On a thrilling, almost entirely shapeless night of international football Carsley made Gareth Southgate look as though, actually, just maybe, he might have known what he was doing, laying on a performance and tactical plan that it was in its own way a wonderfully selfless tribute to his oddly maligned predecessor.

Ok, Carsley seemed to be saying here. The people want full-on, brakes-off, English roar-ball. Let’s see what that actually looks like. And the answer, of course, in any version of the real world, is... well, what exactly? Like a collapsed wedding cake rolling down an ornate set of stairs, while a football match takes place nearby. Like confused talented people running strangely. Like watching someone trying to construct a dinghy out of only liquorice, diamonds and vibes. At some point you will need some twine and a bit of driftwood. But carry on. It’s kind of mesmerising.

Former Arsenal midfielder hopes to share the experiences of her journey to the all-time WSL appearance record with the next generation

Jordan Nobbs was the new kid on the block when the Women’s Super League started in 2011, surrounded at Arsenal by icons, from Faye White, to Rachel Yankey, to Katie Chapman. Fast forward nearly 5,000 days and Nobbs stands alone as the WSL’s record appearance maker, after playing in her 193rd match last Sunday.

Such has been the playmaker’s longevity that her Aston Villa manager, Robert de Pauw, likened her to “a little Modric in midfield”, especially as she now enjoys a slightly deeper-lying role. “I’m going to write that down and keep it for ever,” Nobbs says, laughing.

Lee Carsley said that England's 2-1 defeat against Greece would have 'almost no impact' on his chances of becoming the permanent England manager. He said: 'My remit was to do the three camps and then to hand over.' The caretaker manager decided to play without an out-and-out striker, instead playing Jude Bellingham as a false nine. The decision didn't pay off as Greece scored two goals either side of Bellingham's equaliser. It was the first time Greece had won at Wembley and they could have scored more but for three disallowed goals. It was also the first time Greece have beaten England on a historic night for the visitors.

• Lee Carsley ‘hopeful’ of return to England Under-21s after defeat

Greece asked Uefa to postpone their Nations League game with England after the death of George Baldock. Greece beat England 2-1 at Wembley and held up Baldock's jersey in a tribute after the game after his death in Athens earlier this week. The midfielder Dimitrios Pelkas said: 'When these things happen in life, the football is in the second part'

• Greece did not want to play against England after George Baldock’s death

Jürgen Klopp took to Instagram to announce his new position as the new head of global soccer at Red Bull. 'I want to share my experience, which I collected over the years, and we all know there are much more successful managers out there. But in my career, I fought for promotion, I fought against relegation, I fought for titles, and I fought for trophies. Sometimes we failed, sometimes we succeeded. And dealing with that is not easy, but it's possible' Klopp said. 'I want to see and feel and figure out what is useful for football. So, developing football a little bit as well. I'm really looking forward to it'.

• Jürgen Klopp returning to football as Red Bull’s ‘head of global soccer’

When asked if he regrets throwing a ball at Gabriel Magalhães's head during Manchester City's game against Arsenal, Erling Haaland simply replied: 'I don't regret much in life.' During an intense clash between the clubs in September Haaland collected the ball from the net after John Stones's late equaliser and threw it at the back of the Arsenal defender, who was looking the other way. When asked if he condoned the behaviour in hindsight, Haaland said: 'It was in the heat of the moment, and a lot of stuff happened in that game. Things that happen on the football pitch stay there, and that’s how it is.'

Former Barcelona and Spain midfielder Andrés Iniesta asked the audience to 'please allow me to be a little emotional today' as he announced his retirement after a trophy-laden career spanning 24 years. Iniesta, who most recently played for Emirates Club in the United Arab Emirates, told a press conference: 'I never thought this day would come. I never imagined it. Yes, all these tears we have shed these days are tears of emotion, of pride. They are not tears of sadness.' The technically-gifted Iniesta made 131 appearances for Spain, scoring the only goal of the 2010 World Cup final. He also played a key role in Spain winning the 2008 European Championship to snap a 44-year drought and was named player of the tournament when they successfully defended the title in 2012.

• Tearful Andrés Iniesta announces retirement after trophy-laden career

RCD Espanyol players lined up with rescue dogs instead of mascots for their game against Mallorca. The club were raising awareness of their campaign, ‘Los pericos no abandonen!’, which translates to, ‘The parakeets don’t abandon!', which helps abandoned dogs to find new homes. Last season the initiative resulted in 11 dogs being rescued from the streets and more than 2,000kg of food and materials, such as towels and blankets, donated

• Spain captain reveals mental toll of his playing career
• ‘You have another person inside that you have to fight’

Álvaro Morata says he has experienced depression and panic attacks as a result of being a professional footballer, to the point that he feared he would not be able to play in the European Championship last summer.

Spain won the tournament in style, beating England in the final, with Morata the captain and focal point of Luis de la Fuente’s attack. But the 31-year-old says he has suffered as a result of the consistent criticism he has received during his career and became “embarrassed” to be seen in the street with his children.

• Australia get Tony Popovic-era off to winning start with 3-1 victory
• Lewis Miller, Craig Goodwin and Nishan Velupillay goals seal points

Australia’s World Cup 2026 dream is alive after a come-from-behind 3-1 win over China in Adelaide on Thursday night.

At 1-0 down nearing half time the Socceroos stared into the abyss, the very real prospect of World Cup failure staring back at them. But goals by Lewis Miller and Craig Goodwin either side of half time, and a stoppage time effort from Nishan Velupillay, rescued a valuable three points in Tony Popovic’s first outing as Socceroos manager.

The next entry in the series takes on the tricky task of selecting the best players to turn out for the Viola

By Giancarlo Rinaldi for The Gentleman Ultra

Imagine the scene at your local gym if these guys rocked up in their trainers to play. All of them at the peak of their powers, what a joy it would be to watch them waltz around you. Even with their goalie outfield, they would still give you a hammering.

Fiorentina have been blessed with some great individuals despite winning very few trophies. This side is, for me, a mix of nostalgia, adoration and entertainment. If they were playing on the wooden floors of your old high school, everyone would be pressing their noses to the glass to get a glimpse.

The summer signing is billed as Napoli’s wildcard whose versatility could upgrade a modest hand into a winning one

Scott McTominay will need to study Italian a while longer before he can understand all the lovely things being written about him in the nation’s newspapers, but if he were to thumb through the sports pages from the past few days he might pick out one familiar word. Journalists scrambling to define the Scotsman have referred to him repeatedly as Antonio Conte’s “Jolly”.

These are not remarks on the player’s outlook, though they could be. “My biggest dream as a person is to be happy,” said McTominay in an interview for Napoli’s in-house channels last month. “Happiness is the best thing in life, and that is the only thing I concentrate on: try to be happy, with my family, my friends, my girlfriend … when you have a smile on your face you play better at football as well.”

Former Manchester City winger is yet to reach the heights of last season where he led the Saudi league with 13 assists

It’s been a difficult second season in Saudi Arabia for Riyad Mahrez. After moving from Manchester City to Al-Ahli in August 2023, the Algerian topped the assist charts in the Pro League with 13, as well as scoring 11 goals, helping his team to finish third, which for a newly promoted team was as good as could have been hoped for.

When this season kicked off in August, the remit was a title challenge and for the Greens to lift a trophy by the Red Sea. A few weeks in, neither is looking likely. A home defeat in the King’s Cup, the premier domestic tournament, to a team struggling at the bottom of the second tier was a genuine shock. Worse is the league form. Only seven points from the first six games means Al-Ahli are already 11 points off the pace. Matthias Jaissle, the manager, went into the international break with some trepidation.

Goalkeeper was central to one of Australian sport’s most dramatic moments but has more to achieve with the national team and a new club side

She was a leading figure in one of Australian sport’s most irresistible moments, but the Matildas goalkeeper Mackenzie Arnold hopes there are more high points to come. The self-described late bloomer was the hero of Australia’s shootout victory against France in the quarter-finals of last year’s World Cup, and her biography released this week is subtitled, “My story so far”.

That choice of words required some workshopping, and she hopes there will be enough material for a sequel. “We actually did put ‘My story’ for one bit, but it didn’t feel right. [In] 2023, I feel like I just got started, and we’re only in 2024 so it was like, I’m not going to really end it there,” she says, less than two months after joining Portland Thorns in the USA’s NWSL from English club West Ham United. “But the thought process [was] as well that I’m starting at a new team, I’m in a new country, we still have another World Cup, Asian Cup, but I think there’s a lot of possibilities to happen.”

Girona’s goalkeeper, once of Gillingham, saved three penalties against Athletic in a game that defied belief

“I don’t remember a game like it,” Paulo Gazzaniga said. And nor does anyone else. Nobody had done done what he had just done: not his brother Gianfranco, not his dad Daniel, goalkeepers like him, not anyone, not here.

“Incredible,” Michel Sánchez called it; Ernesto Valverde went for “farcical”. When Girona and Athletic’s coaches embraced at the end of a sunny Sunday afternoon, the last of 27 shots having finally settled a chaotic game in Catalonia, a 99th-minute winner from the best striker Montilivi has seen still overshadowed by three that didn’t go in, Valverde wore a shrug and a smile that said silly, innit. Which is was. It was also brilliant. And bad. And fun, which football’s meant to be.

Have the club gone far enough backwards to warrant hand-wringing? On the basis of their last five matches, perhaps

By Eric Devin for Get French Football News

Of the three times Paris Saint-Germain have failed to win the title in the QSI era, it has taken an incredible achievement by another side to pip them to top spot.

The first instance of this was in 2012 when Montpellier – inspired by Olivier Giroud – won Ligue 1 as the capital side’s new owners were still getting their feet under the table. Then, five years later, it was Leonardo Jardim’s dashing Monaco side who came to the fore with Kylian Mbappé, Bernardo Silva and Fabinho among those taking the plaudits. Finally, 2020-21 produced the tightest Ligue 1 title race in recent memory, Lille eventually prevailing thanks to a surprisingly strong campaign from Burak Yilmaz.

These clubs are authors of improbable rises up the levels of German football, albeit with key differences in their details

“Many people here,” asserted Frank Schmidt, “don’t even know what my team achieved here today, playing for a result until the end against a Champions League participant. I would like to encourage everyone to look at their performance a little. It was sensational.”

RB Leipzig emerged victorious from this Sunday meeting of European competition recoverers in southern Germany which, in context, had no business being as satisfying and as enduringly interesting as it turned out to be. Yet here was coach Schmidt feeling he had the unusual task of defending his team after a historic week in Heidenheim’s history, which almost had an even better ending.

Often painted as an anti-corporate good guy, the former Liverpool manager was never anything of the sort

Jürgen Klopp could not be more excited. Jürgen Klopp’s passion for football is as strong as it ever was. Jürgen Klopp wants to work with incredible football talent. Jürgen Klopp is joining Red Bull as their head of global soccer. One of these sentences, clearly, is not like the others.

Which is not to impugn the sincerity of the official statement issued jointly by Klopp and the world’s stickiest energy drink on Wednesday morning, announcing his new role with the corporate giant. On the contrary: this is a job that positively exudes passion, excitement, connection. Klopp tearing through the boardroom after delivering a successful seminar. Getting mobbed by delirious data scientists. Firing up the Microsoft Teams call with his famous fist pumps.

Club’s relentless railing against organisations that challenge them helps rally fans but do they really have an alternative?

Manchester City pulled no punches in describing the failings of their opponents. “The decision contains mistakes, misinterpretations and confusions fundamentally born a basic lack of due process”, they argued in a vituperative assessment. “There remain significant unresolved matters raised by Manchester City FC as part of what the Club has found to be a wholly unsatisfactory, curtailed and hostile process.” Where do you go after that?

Well, five years on from the above remarks, issued in response to charges from Uefa alleging breaches of financial fair play (FFP) rules – charges that were found proved but then overturned on appeal – City are still angry, but this time with the Premier League. On Monday their chief lawyer, Simon Cliff, took the liberty of writing to the 19 other clubs in the top flight to tell them not to trust the organisation’s word. According to Cliff, the league’s summary of the outcome of the arbitration brought by City over associated party transaction (APT) rules was “misleading and contained several inaccuracies”. The league’s plans to update their rules, meanwhile, were “an unwise course [which] would likely to lead to further legal proceedings with further legal costs”. The league should change tack, Cliff argued, as “it is critical for member clubs to feel that they can have trust in their regulator”.

His talent, skill and character make him one of his country’s all-time greats, but ‘Grizi’ still suffers from a lack of appreciation

Not all of the beaten Bleus headed for the tunnel of the Parc des Princes at the final whistle of France’s 3-1 defeat by Italy on 6 September. One of them, Antoine Griezmann, trotted around the whole periphery of the pitch on his own to applaud the crowd. We did not know then, as he must have done, that his 136th appearance for Les Bleus – there’d be a 137th three days later in Lyon, an 11-minute cameo against Belgium – was his last chance to say adieu in the French capital. There was no need for fireworks. No video of his finest moments in blue would be shown on a giant screen, no memento would be given to him in the centre circle. All he desired was a last, private moment of communion with a French public to whom he’d given so much, but which is only starting to appreciate how good he was. No, not “how good”. How great.

This will seem absurd. France have taken part in three major finals over the past eight years, and Griezmann could lay a claim to have been the best player – not just for France, but overall – in each of these tournaments. Yet fewer French people than you think would put him in the top five of the men who put on the blue jersey. Zinedine Zidane would be fighting for top spot with Michel Platini, which seems about right, given how both came to be associated with the first triumphs of the national team they captained. Qatar 2022’s Golden Boot winner Kylian Mbappé, though still only 25, would be a natural choice for younger fans.

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First off, an apology. Around this time yesterday, Football Daily may have suggested that while the Nations League was a tournament devised to eliminate pointless one-sided international friendlies and instead pit national teams of similar ability against each other, the England team was far too good to be muddying their spats in its second tier. The impression that we expected them to swat a distracted and distraught Greece team aside, in the process boosting Lee Carsley’s chances of being offered the role of full-time manager, was conveyed. In the face of incontrovertible evidence presented over 95 minutes at Wembley, we are happy to concede that we were wrong on both counts and would like to unreservedly apologise to readers for these errors in judgment. In our defence, however, we would like to point out that unlike assorted others, our nonsensical ramblings were written and published before the game.

Max Rushden is joined by Barry Glendenning, Pien Meulensteen and John Brewin as England lose 2-1 to a superior Greece side

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On the podcast today: Greece get the ball in England’s net five times on a night to forget for Lee Carsley. How much will this hurt his chances of the job and can the experiment of England playing without a recognised striker already be deemed a failure?

As trouble continues at Old Trafford, our cartoonist takes a look at what the process behind the scenes might be

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Norwegian champions have momentum and stability going into their first ever group stage game, against Juventus

The first time only ever happens once. It is both a time to celebrate the hard work that got you here and an opportunity to build a platform for the future. For the Norwegian champions, Vålerenga, their first ever Champions League group stage match, against Juventus, is one of those moments.

When their manager, Nils Lexerød, watches his side walk out in front of the home support at the Intility Arena in Oslo on Wednesday evening, history will be made and a long-term objective of the club finally realised. “The Champions League group stage has been the club’s primary ambition and our main goal since we started working together in January 2022,” he says. “This objective has driven us from day one. Everything we’ve done has been with the aim of reaching this milestone. To be here now is a major achievement for everyone involved – players, staff and supporters alike. It marks a proud moment in the club’s history.”

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Plus: winless quintets this far into an English top-flight season, more unlikely tattoos and first-half shellackings

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“Jay Dasilva got 63 under-age caps for England before playing for the Wales senior team. Has any player got more under-age caps for one country before they changed allegiance? And who amassed the most under-age caps without ever playing senior international football?” tweets Oscar Felix Ramirez.

At the age of 26, Dasilva made his international debut in June, playing for Wales in a friendly against Gibraltar. Before that, at least according to Wikipedia, he had represented England 63 times, most recently against Romania at the 2019 Under-21 Euros. Here’s the full breakdown:

Under-16 4 caps

Under-17 21

Under-18 4

Under-19 15

Under-20 6

Under-21 13

Faye Carruthers is joined by Suzanne Wrack, Tom Garry and Sophie Downey to discuss the weekend’s WSL action and look ahead to the WCL

On today’s pod, the panel reflects on an action-packed weekend, with Everton maintaining a compact defence to take a point from Arsenal. How problematic is this for their title challenge? In ‘the game of the weekend’, Brighton impressed with a 4-2 win over Aston Villa, with Nikita Parris scoring her first goal for Brighton. They also evaluate Liverpool defeating Spurs thanks to a contentious penalty, and a Marie Höbinger masterclass. Is it too early to call her a Liverpool legend?

The panel also celebrate Jordan Nobbs – or should we say Jordan Modric? – as she makes history, proving that experience is as vital as ever.

Ederson is showing his worth to Manchester City and Everton’s Jordan Pickford silences the boo-boys

After Ederson made several vital saves to deny Fulham – and particularly Adama Traoré – Pep Guardiola revealed that summer interest from Saudi clubs for the Manchester City No 1 was never firmed up. “He knew from day one I didn’t want it, we didn’t want it,” said the City manager. “But the offer didn’t come – the real offer. Because they [Al-Nassr] made an offer, but for the keeper, for the team who won four Premier Leagues in a row, he has a value, a price. Otherwise, he cannot leave.” Guardiola praised the Brazilian for regaining his focus after the uncertainty. “Ederson is so strong: in one second, he says: ‘OK, I’m here, I’m going to do my best.’” Guardiola also believes the presence of Stefan Ortega has pushed his first-choice keeper. “Sometimes Ederson has to have the feeling that he has to perform well, otherwise Stefan can play. And this healthy competition, because they respect [each other] and have an incredible relationship, makes our team better.” Jamie Jackson

Match report: Manchester City 3-2 Fulham

Match report: Aston Villa 0-0 Manchester United

Match report: Arsenal 3-1 Southampton

Match report: Chelsea 1-1 Nottingham Forest

Match report: Brighton 3-2 Tottenham

Jordan Nobbs gives Aston Villa’s coach Modric vibes, Crystal Palace have liftoff but attacking statistics damn Arsenal

The Aston Villa midfielder Jordan Nobbs became the Women’s Super League’s all-time leading appearance maker when she played in her 193rd WSL match, an entertaining 4-2 loss at Brighton. The Villa manager, Robert de Pauw, said: “The energy and the experience she brings on the pitch, I know she’s one of the older players on the team, but good enough is old enough, like a little [Luka] Modric in midfield. If I compare it to one player it would be him. I have all the respect in the world for what she’s doing and the level that she brings.” The 71-times capped England international is being deployed in a deeper, holding role by De Pauw, rather than as the No 10 she became known as earlier in her career, and De Pauw said of the 31-year-old former Arsenal player: “If you read the game well like Jordan, then you can play in both roles.” TG

While Johan Cruyff is the philosophical lodestar of Dutch football, his teammate was also hugely influential

Johan Cruyff called the Netherlands’ 2-0 win over Brazil in the second group phase of the 1974 World Cup the truest example of Total Football there had been. Johan Neeskens was knocked out during it, floored by a punch from Brazil’s captain Marinho Peres. That felt typical. Neeskens was always the physical one, a hard, angular midfielder with unnervingly blue eyes. Sublimely skilled as that Dutch side were, they were also more than capable of looking after themselves and when it came to mixing it there was no one better than Neeskens.

But Neeskens also scored the Dutch opener in that game, receiving the ball halfway inside the Brazil half, pushing the ball to Cruyff on the right then continuing his run to sweep in a first-time finish. Perhaps there was an element of fortune in the loop of the ball over the goalkeeper Émerson Leão, but the key to the goal was his dart in front of Luís Pereira to meet Cruyff’s pass, the awareness of where Cruyff was going to deliver the ball, the instinct to time his movement, and then the technique to guide the ball on target. In a brilliant and brutal game, it was Neeskens, their most brutally brilliant player, who shone.

After more than 1,000 matches across 22 years, midfield maestro brings down the curtain on his playing days

“It has been like a story that starts on the playground in Fuentealbilla,” Andrés Iniesta said, and now this was The End. In the auditorium in Barcelona’s old port where he had just announced his retirement on Tuesday afternoon, there was a lot of applause, some tears and a request, delivered softly, almost apologetically, like everything he says. Could his family come down, Iniesta asked, shielding his eyes from the spotlight? And could that picture go back up? As they made for the stairs, on the screen above he appeared again, the way he was. A tiny boy, about four, in a red jumper and blue dungarees, foot on the ball.

For that boy, Iniesta said, one night in Belgium would have been enough, but there were 1,015 more of them, across 22 years. They were the best nights of his life and the lives of many others too, which is what gave them meaning, what gave all of it meaning. He was 18 when he played his first professional game, a 1-0 win at the Jan Breydelstadion in Bruges at the end of October 2002. He was 40 when he played his last, a 3-2 defeat at the Khalid Bin Mohammed Stadium in Sharjah in June 2024.

Twelve goals, multiple mistakes – we assess the goals let in by Ten Hag’s team this term and the lessons unlearned

Thursday’s 3-3 draw at Porto means Manchester United have conceded 12 goals in the opening nine games of the season, and there are recurring themes: the scorer allowed a lot of space in the box, defenders not being aggressive enough, crosses being a particular problem. We analyse every goal and give each one a rating out of five for awfulness. We’ve not included the Community Shield as that was only partly competitive. You might want to look away, Erik …

There may not be wholesale reform but ruling by court of justice of the EU over transfers makes change more likely

It feels as if we have been waiting for ever for another legal ruling that would not only change the face of football but be synonymous with a single professional player. At long last we might have a new Bosman. The verdict delivered by the court of justice of the European Union (CJEU) on Friday – AKA the Lassana Diarra ruling – will almost certainly lead to significant change in the game.

This legal process, which started nine years ago, is still not finished. Ultimately, it will be up to Belgian courts to rule whether key Fifa laws relating to the transfer market are a going concern. But given these final considerations must be made within the jurisdiction of EU law, and that the EU’s top court has said that Fifa’s rules “in several respects go beyond … in some cases well beyond … what is necessary”, we can assume that the status quo may well be on its last legs.

Erling Haaland has been voted the best player in the world for 2023 by our 218-strong panel, with Jude Bellingham finishing second

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The Norwegian is only 23 but his devastating goal record has seen him voted as the No 1 player in the world by the Guardian’s expert panel

When Pep Guardiola tearfully claimed Manchester City could not replace the departing Sergio Agüero in May 2021, he didn’t just create a meme. Guardiola was soft-launching a global audition for his team’s new attacking talisman. An unsuccessful pursuit of Harry Kane in the summer of 2021 came between two title-winning seasons where Ilkay Gündogan (13) and Kevin De Bruyne (15) were the club’s top league goalscorers. Guardiola’s slick creative machine needed a new front man, and they found him in Erling Haaland.

Like Agüero before him – and in contrast to many of City’s most successful Pep-era signings – Haaland arrived as a bona fide superstar, a plug-and-play addition to an already stellar lineup. Whether he was a bargain is another question. The release clause paid was €60m (£51.2m), but some reports suggest Haaland’s five-year deal could cost the club in the region of £300m. And while there was an ominous logic to the move for City’s rivals, questions remained.