Jonathan Liew

Jonathan Liew

@jonathanliew.bsky.social

100% pure nuance. https://www.theguardian.com/profile/jonathan-liew

32.7K followers555 following1.1K posts

Jonathan Liew reposted

Guardian Sport
@sport.theguardian.com

Chaotic state of football in Brazil epitomises a nation where greed has conquered glory | Jonathan Liew

dlvr.itChaotic state of football in Brazil epitomises a nation where greed has conquered glory | Jonathan LiewThe national game merely reflects the mood in a divided nation which is going to the polls with very little faith in the power of democracy Look, cards on the table: I don’t know for certain, and nor do you, whether Flávio Bolsonaro – the man widely tipped to become the next president of Brazil after Sunday night’s election – really did steal an island from Richarlison. There are lawyers involved, claims and counter-claims, and in any case, adjudicating land ownership disputes between right-wing strongmen and Tottenham reserve-team strikers lies very much beyond this column’s spectrum of expertise. It’s why, for example, this newspaper took no official position on the well-publicised battle between Rodrigo Duterte and Vincent Janssen over that Polynesian isthmus. According to Richarlison, a few years ago he purchased an island off the southern coast of Rio de Janeiro, and has the documentation to prove it. Richarlison says Bolsonaro tried to buy it from him, and when he refused a lawyer named Willer Tomaz simply turned up and annexed it. “These guys took the island without spending a penny, as far as I know,” Richarlison claimed in an Instagram video that has been viewed more than 31 million times. Tomaz has accused Richarlison of lying, arguing that he has a public deed registered at the notary’s office. Bolsonaro, for his part, has denied any connection with the island in question and described Richarlison’s intervention as “politically motivated”. Continue reading...

Jonathan Liew reposted

Guardian Sport
@sport.theguardian.com

Martínez has drawn back the curtain on Manchester United’s ruinous ownership | Jonathan Liew

dlvr.itMartínez has drawn back the curtain on Manchester United’s ruinous ownership | Jonathan LiewDefender may not be blameless in team’s struggles but his criticism goes to the heart of what has gone wrong at the club Heartbreaking: the worst defender you know just made a great point. And no, nobody would describe Lisandro Martínez as the ideal person to scrutinise Manchester United’s indifferent start to the season, given that his high-profile defensive errors against Fulham and Tottenham are partly responsible for it. “We’re all trying to find the guy who did this,” Martínez burbles on Amazon Prime after United’s 2-0 defeat by Atlético Madrid on Tuesday night, dressed in a hot dog costume and throwing his arms out in mock innocence. For those with no interest in engaging with what Martínez actually had to say, this alone will be sufficient grounds to ignore him. Already you can sense the squeamishness of former players for whom the violation of an omertà is the real cardinal sin here, a phantom limb that still tingles years after they last stepped into a dressing room. “Disrespectful,” reckoned Wayne Rooney. “I don’t feel like he’s got the right,” agreed Ashley Young. “These things don’t end well, man,” Rio Ferdinand observed on his podcast. Continue reading...

Jonathan Liew reposted

Jonathan Liew
@jonathanliew.bsky.social

this is not going to happen. it’s outlandish and insane. consider it less a workable solution and more a statement of principles. in that spirit: I present the case for nationalising manchester city www.theguardian.com/football/202...

theguardian.comHow best to punish City? Restitution over retribution, then hand club to the fans | Jonathan LiewThere are no real precedents and emotions are still raw, but good can come from this mess if ownership models change
Jonathan Liew
@jonathanliew.bsky.social

this is not going to happen. it’s outlandish and insane. consider it less a workable solution and more a statement of principles. in that spirit: I present the case for nationalising manchester city www.theguardian.com/football/202...

theguardian.comHow best to punish City? Restitution over retribution, then hand club to the fans | Jonathan LiewThere are no real precedents and emotions are still raw, but good can come from this mess if ownership models change
Jonathan Liew
@jonathanliew.bsky.social

you can hold food poisoning to account and still admire the lasagne

CBS Sports Golazo@cbssportsgolazo-m.bsky.social

"You can hold Man City to account and still admire what Pep Guardiola has done." @GuillemBalague weighs in on Guardiola's achievements with Manchester City as financial charges loom over the club's future 👀

Jonathan Liew
@jonathanliew.bsky.social

so good

The Guardian@theguardian.com

If you really hate it when music and film stars do politics, here’s the answer: give us politics that works | Nesrine Malik

theguardian.comIf you really hate it when music and film stars do politics, here’s the answer: give us politics that works | Nesrine MalikThe problem is not famous people speaking out, as they always have. It is the feeling that leaders have failed, obliging celebrities to fill the vacuum, says Guardian columnist Nesrine Malik

Jonathan Liew reposted

Guardian Sport
@sport.theguardian.com

Is Vaibhav Sooryavanshi a post-Test cricketer – or could he revolutionise the format? | Jonathan Liew

dlvr.itIs Vaibhav Sooryavanshi a post-Test cricketer – or could he revolutionise the format? | Jonathan LiewThe 15-year-old is tailor-made for short-form cricket, but he may just have the power to reimagine red-ball batting The ball is short outside off. Vaibhav Sooryavanshi goes to pull it, hoiks it high to deep midwicket, is out for 44 off 37 balls. Almost immediately, a portion of the 12,000 fans who have risen at dawn to queue outside the Chepauk Stadium for free tickets begin to vacate their seats. The Duleep Trophy final in Chennai between East Zone and South Zone is scheduled for five days and has been going for barely an hour. But for some, the show is already over. Of course, Sooryavanshi is part of the reason the final is taking place in Chennai in the first place. It was originally slated for the national academy on the outskirts of Bengaluru, only to be moved in order to accommodate the thousands of fans desperate to glimpse the child prince of Indian cricket in the flesh. Sooryavanshi is the hottest player in the world right now, a 15-year-old left-handed jaw-dropping genius with records spilling out of his pockets. But when it comes to red-ball cricket, the classic form of the game, he’s still – by any objective measure – not very good. Continue reading...
Jonathan Liew
@jonathanliew.bsky.social

hard to believe now, but robinson was actually averaging 31 until the murder of archduke franz ferdinand by gavilo princip ushered in a new era of seaming wickets

Will Jeanes@willjeanes.bsky.social

Ollie Robinson now has the best Test bowling average since the First World War (minimum of 100 wickets). 🏏

Jonathan Liew reposted

Max Rushden
@maxrushden.bsky.social

No plans tomorrow? Vaguely near Walthamstow? Last few tickets for @footballweekly.bsky.social Live - me @barryglendenning.bsky.social , @nickybandini.bsky.social mark langdon and @jonathanliew.bsky.social LIVE STREAM FOR THOSE FURTHER AFIELD. Tickets: www.theguardian.com/guardian-liv...

theguardian.comFootball Weekly Live in London and DublinIn January, Guardian columnist Marina Hyde wondered, why is British politics a raging bin fire? And things only went downhill from there.

Jonathan Liew reposted

The Guardian
@theguardian.com

Israeli ministers keep telling everyone their brutal plans – so why doesn’t the world take them seriously? | Nesrine Malik

theguardian.comIsraeli ministers keep telling everyone their brutal plans – so why doesn’t the world take them seriously? | Nesrine MalikSchemes to forcibly remove Palestinians from Gaza are not being promoted by fringe voices. But the international community continues to avert its eyes, says Guardian columnist Nesrine Malik

Jonathan Liew reposted

Guardian Sport
@sport.theguardian.com

Premier League paradox: midfielders are more and more expensive, yet more and more mediocre | Jonathan Liew

dlvr.itPremier League paradox: midfielders are more and more expensive, yet more and more mediocre | Jonathan LiewEnzo Fernández and Sandro Tonali had big-money summer moves, but can they hold a candle to past greats? Perhaps the only thing you really need to know about the modern midfield role is that Enzo Maresca reckons that Marc Guéhi can play it better than Mateo Kovacic. Guéhi, in reality a centre-back, started the season in midfield for Manchester City, ahead of Kovacic, the now-departed Nico González, and Matheus Nunes. In this context City’s purchase of Enzo Fernández for a club record £125m can be seen in one of two ways: either an enormous statement of intent, or a hell of a lot of money to pay for Guéhi’s understudy. We jest, of course. Fernández is in fact a very different kind of midfielder to Guéhi, largely on the basis that he actually is a midfielder. Versatile, able to receive deep from the goalkeeper or the centre-halves; capable of recycling or progressing the ball in tight spots, driving into final-third positions as a No 8, ghosting into the penalty area and offering an advanced goal threat. Like Elliot Anderson, signed from Nottingham Forest for £116m but so long ago that in transfer window time it no longer counts, Fernández is one of the new breed of Premier League central midfielders who seems to offer everything; albeit in modest qualities, and whose primary attribute appears to be the absence of exposed risk he represents. Continue reading...