Cultured Football #207
Marine. Thomas Müller. Weight of Penalties. Our Homes. Ballers.
Marine FC: A Journey Like No Other
By Tom Murphy on Shorthand
Few clubs have reasons to look back to the COVID era with any fondness but Marine might just be one of them. Drawn against Tottenham Hotspurs in the FA Cup, the fixture helped transform their fortunes and they haven’t looked back since even if, in reality, the key date came a couple of years earlier when they made an inspired appointment. This is a rare in-depth look at a small club’s success and the people who made it happen.
He is average. But he is Thomas Müller.
By for
Thomas Müller does not look like a player who is among the finest of his generation. But that’s what he is, looks be damned.
Can Penalties Really Decide a Title Race?
By Taimoor Chatoor on Substack
It is one of the widely accepted beliefs in football that teams which adopt a more attacking style tend to be awarded more penalties. Yet, is that truly the case? And can an imbalance in penalties awarded swing the title race in one direction or another? Lots of graphs in this one but also greatly enjoyable.
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Our Homes, Always
By Jonee João for Football Heritage
“Football doesn’t need fancy modern stadiums to be loved or cherished…Even if some cataclysmic event wiped stadiums away, as long as we could still draw lines on the ground, we’d be there to watch our teams play. But this undying love should not be abused by clubs and their boards; it should be cherished and protected. Every single club needs us, even if they act like they don’t.”
What Is This Baller League Nonsense About?
By Danny Peacock for
It used to be that famous people who also happened to be interested in football would attach themselves to some club - usually a smaller one - and try to influence its running. Now, however, they are looking to reshape the game in a manner which (apparently) is more enticing to younger audiences. Personally, I can’t get invested in a league that has teams called Yanited and N5 FC but to each his own.
Bonus Read: Baller League Will Fail And You Heard It Here First
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Even if that of Baller League is a subject that really interests you, you still shouldn’t attach yourself to it too much, at least as per this piece.
Every Saturday, Cultured Football brings you five great football articles you will enjoy reading. And you get a free copy of the book Master of the Azzurri.
Last Week’s Most Read: The Sourdough Diaries
By Steven Naismith for Nutmeg
What does a manager do after he finds himself out of a job? Bake bread, if this is anything to go by. A wonderful, fascinating looking into a football man’s life away from the game. I (genuinely) don’t know how he is as a manager but judging from this Steven Naismith is a really interesting guy.