Cultured Football #10

Mourinho, Mumbai, Wirtz, NFT, Romario

Mar 20, 2021

What looked like being another week of occasionally good European football took a dark turn on Thursday evening when Slavia Prague’s Ondrey Kudela approached Ranger’s Glen Kamara and clearly told him something more disturbing than what the Czech player himself is claiming. Kamara has since released this statement and expressed his hope that UEFA acts. Sadly, we all know what little likelihood of that there is.

Never mind Spurs, how about saving the soul of Jose Mourinho

In one of the many interviews he gave after his dismissal from Manchester United, Jose Mourinho mentioned that his next club would be one where he could lay foundations and build it from ground up. Viewed in that light, the Tottenham job seemed perfect for him. Yet less than two years down the line, there are very few signs of things going his way and the feeling is that time is already running out.

Mumbai triumph enhances City Football Group brand but clashes loom

Whilst Manchester City are the undoubted top club, the City Football Group owns or has a stake in nine other clubs and each one is aiming to be as successful as possible. That might soon be causing problems especially in Asia as the CFG owned clubs begin coming against each other in continental competitions.

The inside story of Florian Wirtz: Bayer Leverkusen’s teenage sensation

Although they weren’t happy to lose their star player, Bayer Leverkusen knew that it was a good deal. Not only were they aware that they wouldn’t be betting more than the €50 million Chelsea were offering (in a flat market) for Kai Haverts but they felt that they had a replacement already lined up. Seventeen year old Florian Wirz is an exceptional talent who has stepped in for Haverts and left people with very little doubt that he could become a world beater.

Would you pay £47,000 for an Mbappe digital trading card?

I don’t understand NFT beyond the basics and certainly cannot see the allure of owning digital cards, so perhaps that is why this article on the rise of virtual rival to physical cards.

The making of Romario: Five electric years at PSV

To get a feeling of just how good a striker Romario was, all you need to do is look at the numbers. When he broke through at Vasco da Gama, he scored 74 goals in 47 games. At Barcelona, he scored 55 times in 46 games. Even as a 36 year old with Fluminense he still managed 34 goals in 60 games. And yet Romario never seemed to establish roots at any clubs, often moving after one or two seasons. The only exception was PSV Eindhoven the club that launched him in Europe and for whom he scored 165 goals in 167 games. What a player!

Last Week’s Most Read

Fernando Torres celebrated his fortieth birthday this week so it is somewhat fitting that the most read article from the last issue was the one looking at his partnership with Steven Gerrard. Here’s another chance to read it.