Cultured Football #208
The Italian Cobra. Wrexham Myth. PSG Remodeled. Roadrunner at Palace. Hansi Flick
How Giovanni ‘The Cobra’ Sartori Earned his Nickname with Fairytales at Chievo, Atalanta and Bologna
By Alasdair Mackenzie for Destination Calcio
You probably haven’t heard of Giovanni Sartori but you’ve definitely heard of his work. For he is the man who masterminded Chievo Verona’s unlikely rise to the Serie A, Atalanta’s elevation to Serie A challengers and, most recently, Bologna’s Champions League qualification. And, in an era where data seems to be everything, he still insists on doing things the old way.
The Myth Of The Wrexham Model
By for
If you’ve been following football as long as I have, it is hard not to feel good for the Wrexham fans who are finally seeing their club on the up after decades of struggles. Yet their success is bringing in a lot of people who are still new to the sport who feel that it is something that can be easily replicated. The kind of people who you could, unkindly, describe as having more money than sense.
Bonus Read: Birmingham City promoted from League One under Chris Davies
[Adam Bate x Skysport]
Whilst it is still unclear where Wrexham will be playing next season, there are no such doubts for Birmingham who have run away with League 1. And that, they say, is just the start.
A New Direction: Analyzing PSG’s Shift in Recruitment Strategy
By Edward Stratmann for Hudl
Few sides have dazzled this season as much as PSG. Which, as quite a few people have pointed out, interestingly came after they ditched the superstars. But have they really done so? What’s so new about their recruitment strategy?
Bonus Read: La Belle Époque: OGC Nice & the INEOS Sabbatical
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Whilst PSG dazzle, the rest of Ligue 1 isn’t doing as great. Especially if you are OGC Nice where your owner is clearly more interested about what is happening elsewhere.
By Ryan Benson for The Analyst
Full-backs are modern football’s new stars. They have inherited the mantle of wingers and are now looked at to create as much as they are to defend. There are some full-backs who are allowed to move into centre-midfield and dictate play from there. And yet, even though full-backs are big news, no one is talking about Crystals Palace’s Daniel Munoz. Even if, going by the numbers, they shouldn’t be talking about anyone BUT him.
Bonus Read: ’If I could go back in time I would change a lot of things about my time at Man Utd... everything happened so fast'
[Jack Kenmare x Sports Bible]
Speaking of players who seem to have come out of nowhere, few can match Bebé who was plucked from obscurity by non-other than Sir Alex Ferguson’s Manchester United. As his career winds down, he has done more than enough to prove that the talent was there. Even though he has his regrets.
Hansi Flick at Barcelona: A great coaching return
By Kalika Mehta for DW
Hansi Flick is a coach who thrives when he is expected to fail. At Bayern Munich he came from nowhere to win the club a treble. Now, having disappointed at the helm of Germany’s national team, he risks doing the same at Barcelona despite massive pre-season doubts.
Cultured Football Shorts: The Unlikeliest Debut
A lot has been written about Dan Burn who, at 32, became one of the oldest men to make their international debut. But, remarkable though that was, his was not the unlikeliest first start of the most recent international break. Not even close.
Cultured Football Shorts are quick reads initially shared as Notes on the Cultured Football feed.
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: 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.