Cultured Football #58
Cultured Football #58
Crypto Kings. End of Roman Empire. Going Down. Madrid's Philosophy. Good Guys at FC Nordsjælland
Football continues to provide a welcome distraction from the horrors happening in this world. It is in that spirit that we bring this week’s top five articles.
Football’s crypto king and the missing millions
By James Corbett for Off The Pitch
Like it or not (and I’m definitely in the not liking it camp), you’ve probably heard about Socios. And whilst their attempt to ‘monetize’ fans’ interactions with clubs is disgusting, I can also understand why clubs might be attracted to it. This brilliant piece of investigative journalism, however, shows that there is more rot in this venture then first meets the eye.
Reading Time: 5 minutes
The days of sportswashing are over at Chelsea, but not in English football
By Daniel Storey for iNews
This has been quite a momentous week for English football where the man who kick-started a whole revolution when he bought out Chelsea was sanctioned and the club itself put in a precarious situation. Without wanting to moralise, this should signal that football needs to look carefully at where the money that it accepts is coming from. Sadly, it doesn’t look as if this lesson will be learned any time soon.
Reading Time: 4 minutes
Who's going down, then?
By Grace Robertson for Grace on Football
In truth, this is proving to be quite an exciting season of English football both with a breathtaking title challenge and also the number of clubs that could yet get sucked into the relegation battle. It is on the latter that this article focuses, looking at the chances of avoiding the drop of each team that is struggling too close to the wrong side of the table.
Reading Time: 8 minutes
Madrid’s philosophy is to win and Modric’s godlike dribble proved it
By Nestor Watach for Planet Football
It is not often that I’m happy for a Real Madrid win - it is hard to have sympahty with a club that have received so many tax breaks to keep on stripping other teams of best players - but I was one of the many ‘neutrals’ who enjoyed their victory over Paris St Germain. It wasn’t pretty but that never is the point with Real. For them winning is all.
Reading Time: 6 Minutes
How a forward-thinking focus on people made FC Nordsjælland great
By Toke Møller Theilade for Breaking The Lines
I realise that today’s issue hasn’t featured too many positive stories so best to close off with one that is rather wholesome. For this is the story of FC Nordsjælland who don’t measure their success in titles, but rather how many of their players go on to better things.
Reading Time: 7 minutes
Last Week’s Most Read
At just 36, Poya Asbaghi has already been the manager of Swedish giants IFK Gotheborg - whom he led to a Swedish cup success - as well as managed the Sweden U21 before taking over at Barnsley. Then again, having to flee your home country to escape persecution and just avoiding death in a plane crash probably gives you a different perspective and the desire to pack in as much life as possible.