Retro world football writing and nostalgia. Part of The Guardian Sports Network. Sister account @Brut_Football
Joined July 2012
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9,248 Photos and videos
Superstars at Barca, PSG & Bayern Munich press like demons because that's the modern game in which every player has to contribute, on and off the ball. Florentino Perez indulges his stars & the team suffers. What's Mbappe really going to go if he's told to work harder - leave?
Players across Opta’s top 20 leagues who average more defensive contributions per 90 than Kylian Mbappé:
🏴 Premier League — 336/336
🇩🇪 Bundesliga — 297/297
🇪🇸 La Liga — 343/343
🇮🇹 Serie A — 338/338
🇫🇷 Ligue 1 — 280/280
🇧🇷 Série A — 330/330
🇧🇪 Pro League — 240/240
🇵🇹 Primeira Liga — 288/288
🏴 Championship — 369/369
🇦🇷 Primera División — 442/442
🇩🇰 Superliga — 193/193
🇵🇱 Ekstraklasa — 285/285
🇳🇴 Eliteserien — 261/261
🇭🇷 HNL — 152/152
🇹🇷 Süper Lig — 292/292
🇪🇨 LigaPro — 270/271
🇨🇴 Primera A — 316/316
🇳🇱 Eredivisie — 292/292
🇵🇾 Primera División — 205/205
🇺🇸 MLS — 514/514
Total — 6,043/6,044
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Last call on the site: Through the Lens of Henk Blansjaar. Portrait shots of the players of Dutch team Be Quick 1887 from the 60s by the cult photographer.
wp.me/p1LMjB-3WD
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Do these idiots deliberately post miles -off stats as they know they’ll get more engagement that way from people telling them they’re wrong? Is this good social media strategy these days?
Top 10 Teams with the Most Champions League Final Defeats
10. Valencia 🇪🇸 - 2 Finals Lost
9. Manchester United 🏴 - 2 Finals Lost
8. Inter Milan 🇮🇹 - 2 Finals Lost
7. Dortmund 🇩🇪 - 2 Finals Lost
6. Atletico Madrid 🇪🇸 …. look down
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This week on BTLM: Through the Lens of Henk Blansjaar. Portrait shots of the players of Dutch team Be Quick 1887 from the 60s from the cult photographer.
wp.me/p1LMjB-3WD
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On BTLM: Through the Lens of Henk Blansjaar. Portrait shots of the players of Dutch team Be Quick 1887 from the 60s.
wp.me/p1LMjB-3WD
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This is the sort of take I did not know I needed in my life until now.
Italian top coaches switching jobs between the same few top Italian teams is hilariously similar to 14th century mercenary commanders in Italy switching allegiances between the same small pool of powerful states in the peninsula.
The 14th Century condottieri carousel:
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Genius!
Anthony Gordon after doing 7 kick ups at his Barca unveiling in the July sun.
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The most flattering adjective I could come up with for Rayo Vallecano tonight is earnest.
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This Final is following the same pattern as last year in which the non-English team puts so much into the game for a half or an hour to stay with the English team, then tires and gets galloped all over the top of.
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Absolutely nothing against Palace here, but this competition needs a non-English winner to properly land.
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Today on BTLM: Through the Lens of Henk Blansjaar. Portrait shots of the players of Dutch team Be Quick 1887 from the 60s.
wp.me/p1LMjB-3WD
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As much as I miss the old days of the European Cup, that eastern European clubs ceased to be competitive is down to huge geopolitical changes post 1989, not the Champions League.
Steaua and Red Star were the pinnacle. Every country had fantastic clubs. Now its utter garbage
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New on BTLM: Through the Lens of Henk Blansjaar. Portrait shots of the players of Dutch team, Be Quick 1887 from the 60s.
wp.me/p1LMjB-3WD
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It happened three times in the 1930s and early 40s, but post war there have only been three seasons when neither Milan nor Juventus have finished in the top four places in Serie A - 1965/66, 1984/85 and this one.
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Risible nonsense. Claims to not remember anything about how his crash came about, suggests the car was not right then, comically, speaks of a recurring dream he subsequently had in which a white van swerves in front of him causing the crash, offering this as a potential reality
May 22
⚽ My bulky leg absorbed the crash. It's probably what saved me
In an extract from his new book, Michail Antonio opens up on the December 2024 car accident that almost killed him, and the toll it has taken ⤵️
thetimes.com/sport/football/…
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They said Pep's love wouldn't pay the rent
Before it's earned, Man City's money's never came close to been spent
May 18
They said he’d struggle in English football.
He won the league with 100 points.
They said he couldn’t win it back to back.
He won the Domestic Quadruple.
They said he’d never win the European Cup, he’d never win 3 leagues in a row and he’d definitely never win the Treble.
He did all three in one season.
He then did the unthinkable and won 4 leagues in a row.
The greatest manager of all time.
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Beyond The Last Man retweeted
May 19
Appeal. Hire 20 of the world's top lawyers. Delay. Escalate costs. Terrify the league. Will be fine
May 19
An Independent Disciplinary Commission has today expelled Southampton from the Sky Bet Championship Play-Offs after the Club admitted to multiple breaches of EFL Regulations related to the unauthorised filming of other Clubs’ training.
In addition, the Club has received a four-point deduction that will be applied to the 2026/27 Championship table.
The effect of today’s order is that Middlesbrough are reinstated into the 2026 Play-Offs and will proceed to the Play-Off Final against Hull City. The final remains scheduled for Saturday 23 May, with the kick-off time to be confirmed.
📘 efl.com/news/2026/may/19/efl…
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Someone explain to me why Chelsea's repeated financial fraud over numerous years is not worthy of sporting sanction and yet this big sack of nothing is?
May 19
🚨 OFFICIAL: Southampton have been EXPELLED from the Championship play-offs.
Middlesbrough will now be the finalists against Hull City on Saturday at Wembley as Southampton have admitted to multiple breaches of filming other clubs’ training.
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They're so blindly entrenched in their paranoid victim mentality that they cannot even begin to comprehend that they represent the modern establishment.
May 17
The sheer scale of the venom being directed at Celtic and their fans is more than just about football. It is rooted in Scotland's baleful legacy and history of anti-Irish Catholic racism and bigotry.
We were on our knees as a community when Celtic was established in 1888. In 2026 we stand tall.
And the reason we do stand tall is largely because of Celtic, and how the club has provided us with a sense of pride in an identity that is rooted in defiance not compliance.
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Yep - Rangers, Celtic and Partick Thistle.
May 15
Kenny Miller?
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