The English Football Thread

[guddy6969 199]

On 05/07/2025 at 14:54, KEVINAA said:

Kurt0411 from Malta who supports Inter Milan just posted his analysis on how Chelsea will look in 2025/26

Just uploaded 18 minutes long

That's good.. Really interesting 

[ahmedou 188]

London teams tweets 😉

[Atomiswave 6,117]

On 15/07/2025 at 01:30, ahmedou said:

 

They cant stand us these cunts. If it was city or stinkking pool they would rave about it till judgement day comes.

[Vesper 30,081]

16 minutes ago, Atomiswave said:

They cant stand us these cunts. If it was city or stinkking pool they would rave about it till judgement day comes.

or Manure

[Vesper 30,081]

Premier League beware – Gianni Infantino and the Club World Cup are coming for you

Fifa president realising global super league dream would sound death-knell for either domestic competitions or Champions League

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2025/07/14/premier-league-threat-gianni-infantino-club-world-cup/

As Enzo Maresca basked in the afterglow of victory on Sunday, the Chelsea manager declared unexpectedly that one day the Fifa Club World Cup would be bigger even than the Champions League, just one more bold statement in another bizarre 24 hours in Fifa world.

 

The Chelsea captain Reece James would say much the same later. Both parts of Chelsea’s American ownership consortium have long been committed to the Club World Cup and would have approved. It will have been just what Gianni Infantino wanted to hear. But what does it mean for football and the English game, which has the world’s most lucrative domestic league?

 

Infantino wants the Club World Cup to be the club game’s most prestigious trophy – overtaking the Champions League and its regional equivalents. Yet the Fifa president has not said where the next tournament is taking place or how soon it will come around again. Will it be 2029, or perhaps 2027 on a two-year cycle? Will Saudi Arabia again pay for it, as the state has done with the $1 billion stake in broadcaster DAZN in February via an investment that effectively financed this summer’s competition?

 

How many times must the Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman place the resources of the state at the disposal of Infantino in return for the 2034 World Cup finals, already delivered to Saudi Arabia by decree of a Fifa Congress? It would be hard to argue that this summer’s Club World Cup has supercharged interest among broadcasters. Interest was so low originally that licensees were offering DAZN zero-pound contracts to show it.

 

The game is at a crossroads. Infantino must keep the Club World Cup alive long enough to establish it as the standard-bearer for his vision of a globalised elite. In Europe, Uefa’s prize is the Champions League which pays for everything and was expanded and recalibrated post 2024 to go head to head with Fifa’s offering. Meanwhile, the Premier League is among 39 domestic leagues, along with players’ union Fifpro which is taking legal action against Fifa. It believes that the calendar is at breaking point – and domestic football under serious threat.

 

Industry insiders say that only two of the three tiers – global, continental and then domestic competitions – will survive in their current state. It is not hard to see why the Premier League is so worried at the plans Infantino has to make sure his competition becomes pre-eminent.

 

The Club World Cup is the 2021 Super League in a different guise. It was notable that this morning, the only major football figure to issue the conventional public congratulations to Fifa and Infantino on completion of the tournament was Real Madrid president Florentino Pérez. Real commended Fifa’s “brilliant organisation”. Pérez, of course, remains a Super League extremist, still committed to the idea and its associated corporate entities.

 

 

He remains at odds with Uefa president Aleksandar Ceferin and La Liga – which makes Pérez a very useful ally for Infantino. Nevertheless, at 78, the Real president will not go on forever. His successor will be courted by both sides.

 

There is another part of the game which has a major stake in this and has so far said little or nothing on the subject. That, of course, is the national associations affiliated to Fifa, and especially the English Football Association and its western European counterparts. In her role as a member of the Fifa Council, FA chair Debbie Hewitt was at the MetLife Stadium for Sunday’s final.

 

Yet the day after the conclusion of the most controversial and disruptive tournament ever launched by a Fifa president, none of them said anything. The FA’s official England account on Twitter/X posted congratulations to Chelsea’s England contingent, and that was it.

 

The FA is the only English football institution that has a vote at Fifa – worth not much when Infantino has so much of Africa and south and central America tied up. But at the very least it is the conduit by which Fifa communicates with English football on official terms. Yet the FA knows nothing as to when the next Club World Cup might be, how many teams might play in it and where – and most importantly – what its effect might be on the global calendar.

 

The FA did mention the Club World Cup very briefly in its annual report, published in April – although only as an example of the challenges new tournaments presented to the structure of the game. It touched on the welfare of players but there was no detailed reference to the tumultuous consequences a reordering of the game might have for domestic English football. The FA has designs on hosting the 2035 women’s World Cup and must weigh its words carefully.

 

The Premier League cannot speak directly to Fifa – certainly not officially. That is why it, along with others, has had to take the Swiss organisation to court. In the meantime, surrounded by powerful club owners, and even more powerful heads of state, Infantino seems to be auctioning off parts of Fifa to interested parties.

 

The 2034 World Cup finals have gone to Saudi. The United States got the Club World Cup, financed by Saudi Arabia. What comes next is not clear. But the silence from the national associations from the big European nations – England, Germany, France and the rest – is quite telling. They feel impotent in the face of these geopolitical negotiations done in their name.

 

 

Infantino has impeccable contacts in the ownership of English football clubs – Todd Boehly was by Infantino’s side at the trophy presentation and the Fifa president attended a game at Manchester City this season. When Infantino took power at Fifa in 2016 he was backed, rather incautiously, by an English FA that at the time was just delighted to see the back of Sepp Blatter.

 

But now the future looks ever more uncertain. Infantino has now had his moment with Donald Trump on the pitch in New Jersey on Sunday. The Saudis are on board, at least until 2034.

 

The Premier League and other domestic leagues are heading to court with Fifa and the whole calendar seems to be up for grabs. Let us not forget that Infantino has promised a women’s Club World Cup too, although what year that will be and where in the calendar it will appear is, as with many of these things, as yet unclear.

 

Will the Club World Cup be bigger than the Champions League eventually, as Maresca thinks may yet be the case? It certainly will need another generous backer to get it through its next iteration – whenever and wherever that might be – but Infantino is unlikely to let it fade away now. He has too much personal capital tied up in it for that. And no one in his own Fifa family is offering any discouragement.

[ahmedou 188]

Who won the game???

How is this a real graphic...

[Fulham Broadway 17,299]

 

[Vesper 30,081]

4 hours ago, Fulham Broadway said:

 

Fact Check: Video does not show Man City boss snubbing Israeli representative

https://www.reuters.com/fact-check/video-does-not-show-man-city-boss-snubbing-israeli-representative-2024-05-29/

A video of Manchester City Football Club’s manager Pep Guardiola walking by an English former soccer manager without shaking hands after a match is being falsely described online as Guardiola ignoring an Israeli representative.

Edited footage of Guardiola bypassing a man, who is circled and tagged with an image of the Israeli flag, before receiving a runner-up medal following City’s Football Association (FA) Community Shield defeat to Arsenal has been shared widely, opens new tab on social media.

 

One X post, now viewed 7.5 million times, captioned the video: “The famous Spanish coach Pep Guardiola refused to shake hands with the Israeli representative.”

Reuters Image

However, the person in the video whose hand Guardiola failed to shake after the August 2023 match was English former soccer manager Alan Smith, not an Israeli representative, Smith told Reuters.

Smith said via direct message that he was not and has never been an Israeli representative and that he attended the game, which took place at London’s Wembley Stadium on August 6, 2023, as a guest of the FA.

The ex-Crystal Palace boss added that Guardiola being distracted could have been a reason why they did not shake hands. Smith said that he maintains a positive relationship with Man City officials.

 

The incident, on which Guardiola has never publicly commented, was reported by, opens new tab media outlets, opens new tab at the time.

It also predates Israel’s retaliatory invasion of Gaza following Hamas’ surprise Oct. 7, 2023, attack by almost two months.

Manchester City Football Club and its holding company City Football Group Limited did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

VERDICT

False. The video does not show Pep Guardiola refusing to shake hands with an Israeli representative.

This article was produced by the Reuters Fact Check team. Read more about our fact-checking work.

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

[Fulham Broadway 17,299]

1 hour ago, Vesper said:

Fact Check: Video does not show Man City boss snubbing Israeli representative

https://www.reuters.com/fact-check/video-does-not-show-man-city-boss-snubbing-israeli-representative-2024-05-29/

A video of Manchester City Football Club’s manager Pep Guardiola walking by an English former soccer manager without shaking hands after a match is being falsely described online as Guardiola ignoring an Israeli representative.

Edited footage of Guardiola bypassing a man, who is circled and tagged with an image of the Israeli flag, before receiving a runner-up medal following City’s Football Association (FA) Community Shield defeat to Arsenal has been shared widely, opens new tab on social media.

 

One X post, now viewed 7.5 million times, captioned the video: “The famous Spanish coach Pep Guardiola refused to shake hands with the Israeli representative.”

Reuters Image

However, the person in the video whose hand Guardiola failed to shake after the August 2023 match was English former soccer manager Alan Smith, not an Israeli representative, Smith told Reuters.

Smith said via direct message that he was not and has never been an Israeli representative and that he attended the game, which took place at London’s Wembley Stadium on August 6, 2023, as a guest of the FA.

The ex-Crystal Palace boss added that Guardiola being distracted could have been a reason why they did not shake hands. Smith said that he maintains a positive relationship with Man City officials.

 

The incident, on which Guardiola has never publicly commented, was reported by, opens new tab media outlets, opens new tab at the time.

It also predates Israel’s retaliatory invasion of Gaza following Hamas’ surprise Oct. 7, 2023, attack by almost two months.

Manchester City Football Club and its holding company City Football Group Limited did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

VERDICT

False. The video does not show Pep Guardiola refusing to shake hands with an Israeli representative.

This article was produced by the Reuters Fact Check team. Read more about our fact-checking work.

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

He still thinks they're cunts though

Pep Guardiola speaks out on Gaza and 'refusing to be silent when it matters most'

Man City boss Pep Guardiola warned 'the next kids will be ours' as he spoke about the Israel-Gaza war

Guardiola spoke of 'boys and girls of four years old being killed' during his acceptance address at Whitworth Hall to the University of Manchester. He referenced his own three children as he told of seeing news about 'infants' in Gaza everyday.

He concluded: "In a world that often tell us we are too small to make a difference, that story reminds me the power of one is not about the scale. Is about choice. About showing up. About refusing to be silent or still when it matters most."

"Maybe we think that we see the boys and girls of four years old being killed for the bomb or being killed at the hospital because it's not hospital anymore, it's not our business. Yeah, fine. We can think about that. It's not our business. But be careful. The next one will be ours. The next four, five year-old kids will be ours.

Manchester Evening News

[guddy6969 199]

16 minutes ago, Fulham Broadway said:

He still thinks they're cunts though

Pep Guardiola speaks out on Gaza and 'refusing to be silent when it matters most'

Man City boss Pep Guardiola warned 'the next kids will be ours' as he spoke about the Israel-Gaza war

Guardiola spoke of 'boys and girls of four years old being killed' during his acceptance address at Whitworth Hall to the University of Manchester. He referenced his own three children as he told of seeing news about 'infants' in Gaza everyday.

He concluded: "In a world that often tell us we are too small to make a difference, that story reminds me the power of one is not about the scale. Is about choice. About showing up. About refusing to be silent or still when it matters most."

"Maybe we think that we see the boys and girls of four years old being killed for the bomb or being killed at the hospital because it's not hospital anymore, it's not our business. Yeah, fine. We can think about that. It's not our business. But be careful. The next one will be ours. The next four, five year-old kids will be ours.

Manchester Evening News

Good.. I wish more people would speak up about the genoside 

[Vesper 30,081]

15 hours ago, ahmedou said:

Who won the game???

How is this a real graphic...

4 nil

means Celtic won 4 nil

which they did

[LAM09 7,043]

6 hours ago, guddy6969 said:

Good.. I wish more people would speak up about the genoside 

Those who do seem to get silenced. 

Anything Palestine related seems to get shutdown. Did you even know that only two players scored a hattrick at the most recent CWC & one of them was Palestinian? FIFA wouldn't even highlight the fact.