Cultured Football #76
Cultured Football #76
Brendan Rodgers' Excuses, Short Centre-Backs and more...
The women’s European Championship reserved some real thrills this week, with the competitive grit of tournament football contrasting greatly from the stilted nature of pre-season men’s football. There is a dose of women’s football in this week’s Cultured Football that, as always, is a whole bag of great articles.
Chips and Jupiler in Anderlecht
By Amos Murphy for The Culture Division
Towards the end of last season, Amos Murphy spent a day and a half in Brussels during which he took in a game at Anderlecht’s Constant Vanden Stock Stadium. It turned out to be one of the final games of Vincent Kompany’s time in charge there.
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We all hear you on transfers, Brendan – but the public reality check is doing no one any favours
By Joe Brewin for The Fosse Way
Brendan Rodgers is a fine manager. He did a good job (for the main) at Liverpool and a great one at Swansea, Celtic and Leicester. Yet there is also the ever lingering feeling that the most important aspect for Brendan Rodgers is Brendan Rodgers. It seems even more so when you look at his recent comments about the prospects at Leicester which, for some fans, seems aimed at managing expectations (and the potential negative fallout which might hit Rodgers himself).
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Why I'm still not convinced about short centre backs in the Premier League
By Grace Robertson for Grace on Football
It might be slower than what he probably would have liked but Erik Ten Haag is bringing in the players he feels Manchester United need to progress. One of these is Lisandro Martinez, his centre-back at Ajax. As with anyone linked with a big club, plenty has been written about Martinez but every single article pointed at the fact that he will be one of the shortest central defenders in the Premier League. Will this work? Not everyone thinks so.
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Meet the amateur team helping South Korea break out of its old prejudice and embrace women's football
By Gawon Bae for CNN
In South Korea’s rather conservative society, there are many parents who refuse to let their daughters play football. It would be easy to rail against such mentality but various groups of young women have adopted different ideas to help break down the barrier.
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The story of Panyee FC: Thailand’s floating football club
By Robin Mumford for the Football Pink
Although development has eaten away at the empty spaces where impromptu football games used to be held, most kids still have plenty of options if they want to have a kick-about with their friends. Most but not all: the football crazy kids of the Thai fishing village of Koh Panyee didn’t have any open space they could use. So they decided to build it themselves. The result was a floating pitch that, although rudimentary, allowed them to play and develop their skills. Initially derided for their crazy idea, the kids of eventually became the heroes of their village.
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Something Else We Loved This Week: Football She Wrote [Book]
It shouldn’t take the Women’s European Championship to notice female commentators and writers, but still it is a great opportunity to highlight them. You can read the work of some of the best writers (who happen to be women) grouped together to pen the excellent anthology ‘Football, She Wrote’.
From the book blurb: “From the doyenne of football writing Julie Welch's brilliantly illuminating story of the first women's international match after a 50-year ban to the madcap tale of two black radio rookies in China... From the trials of covering the soap opera that is Newcastle United to the glamour of establishing Real Madrid TV... From the making of the magnificent Emma Hayes to the equally amazing Mums United FC... FOOTBALL, SHE WROTE is a first: a unique collection of 20 women's voices on the game they love. Penned by a group of experienced and new writers, and embracing memoirs, profiles, interviews and talking points taking in sexuality, diversity and inclusion, it is an anthology to make you think and feel, laugh and cry.”
Last Week’s Most Read: Our Common Future: On Football and Climate Change
By Sushain Ghosh for First Time Finish
It might be entertainment that brings joys to millions every week but football cannot shirk its responsibility towards environmental sustainability. And here’s how it can do so.