Oliver Kay

Senior football writer @TheAthleticFC @TheAthletic Author of Forever Young: The Story of Adrian Doherty @ForeverYoungAD

[Oliver Kay @OliverKay]

This is about how the English game lost control by not caring who bought clubs in the 2000s.

The fact that the Premier League now finds itself at war with its dominant club of the last decade — a club effectively owned by one of the UK's most important investors and allies — is the logical (or crazily illogical) conclusion of that free-market anarchy

https://t.co/uj5k2ZgBOK

[Tom Bogert @tombogert]

🚨🇺🇸 Sources: U.S. Soccer is expected to make Pep Guardiola a top target to become next USMNT head coach.

Obviously the pursuit would not be straightforward nor easy. But likely to start with call to Pep.

w/ @PaulTenorio @HenryBushnell
https://t.co/zHaggH9J7i

[Oliver Kay @OliverKay]

Column on the prospect of Mauricio Pochettino taking over at Manchester United, which seems a reasonable idea rather than the kind of inspired, transformative appointment he could have been if they had turned to him much earlier, when his stock was so high after his excellent work at Southampton and Tottenham.

The PSG-Chelsea-USA years have been slightly meandering for Pochettino. For #MUFC, aside from a few mini-revivals, those years have been awful, struggling to shake off the grip of decline under ruinous ownership. Maybe this comes at the right time for both of them, but the road back to the top has never looked so long and difficult
https://t.co/fjOARuJWkU

[The Athletic | Football @TheAthleticFC]

The state of dysfunction at Manchester United is arguably greater and the league position certainly more perilous than at any stage in 13 mostly miserable years since Sir Alex Ferguson stood down.

But the truth is that the job remains one of the most alluring in world football.

It is nothing like as alluring as it should be — they have 21 years under the ownership of the Glazer family, not helped by two years of Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s questionable influence, to thank for that — but alluring nonetheless.

The stars have aligned to make this union possible, so can Mauricio Pochettino succeed where so many others have failed?

Is Manchester United a poisoned chalice or dream restoration job?

📝 @OliverKay

https://t.co/8ZzEpBi824

[Oliver Kay @OliverKay]

Interview with Joe Hart about goalkeeping, punditry and the value of genuine insight — particularly regarding the most misunderstood position on the pitch — at a time when the demand for "clippable content" so often feels like a race to the bottom

https://t.co/BHbmDXTMI6

[David Ornstein @David_Ornstein]

🚨 EXCLUSIVE: Manchester United finalising deal to appoint Mauricio Pochettino if ultimate decision made to replace Michael Carrick. 54yo lined up & terms being done with camp. #MUFC yet to contact US but straight-forward should plan proceed @TheAthleticFC https://t.co/YTEGRxbVpF

[The Athletic | Football @TheAthleticFC]

Manchester United are finalising a deal for Mauricio Pochettino to become their next head coach, if an ultimate decision is taken to relieve Michael Carrick of his duties.

The Athletic reported on Monday that United were expected to let Carrick go, with his side in the Premier League relegation zone.

Exclusive story free to read from @David_Ornstein, @AdamCrafton_ and @lauriewhitwell here ⬇️

🔗 https://t.co/Qmb56i5EiJ

[Oliver Kay @OliverKay]

Big thank you to the Match of the Day team for showing me behind the scenes, where Joe was doing his in-depth analysis and preparation.

Is the show as central to the football landscape as it once was? No. Is it still one of the best football shows around? Absolutely @BBCMOTD

https://t.co/mxXULp3Gxl

[Oliver Kay @OliverKay]

Interview with Joe Hart about goalkeeping, punditry and the value of genuine insight — particularly regarding the most misunderstood position on the pitch — at a time when the demand for "clippable content" so often feels like a race to the bottom

https://t.co/BHbmDXTMI6

[Oliver Kay @OliverKay]

Hart also discussed some of his favourite goalkeepers in the Premier League: Raya, Alisson, Donnarumma, Suzuki, Martinez, Pickford, Trafford, Henderson.

So full of praise for Suzuki. This was before some errors over the last few weeks, but that, as he says, is "the life of a goalkeeper"

https://t.co/mxXULp3Gxl

[Paul Tenorio @PaulTenorio]

For a coach whose life philosophy has been to "dream without limits," the gargantuan task of turning around Manchester United might be too much to pass up.

On Poch, ManU and the #USMNT. My column:

https://t.co/zXF28nuWPb

[Tom Bogert @tombogert]

🇺🇸 Sources: The buyout in Mauricio Pochettino’s contract is in the ballpark of $10m.

But that figure would rise if Manchester United (or another club) also wanted to buyout Pochettino’s assistants.

More on the situation @HenryBushnell @PaulTenorio
https://t.co/ioqKfesa5r

[The Athletic | Football @TheAthleticFC]

Mauricio Pochettino, Antonio Conte, Ernesto Valverde, Unai Emery, Eddie Howe or... Vitor Pereira?

With Michael Carrick expected to be sacked by Manchester United, our writers have their say on who would be the best pick to replace him.

🔗 https://t.co/Hwur405L3O

[The Athletic | Football @TheAthleticFC]

Manchester United are expected to relieve Michael Carrick of his duties as head coach.

United have headed into the international break sitting 18th and in the Premier League’s relegation zone following Sunday’s dramatic 4-4 draw with Aston Villa at Old Trafford.

The club continue to insist that no decision has been reached but multiple sources, speaking to The Athletic on the condition of anonymity to protect relationships, indicate work has been undertaken on potential replacements and the anticipation is a change will be made before the trip to Anfield to face Liverpool in 13 days’ time.

Story from @David_Ornstein, @AdamCrafton_ and @lauriewhitwell is free to read here ⬇️

🔗 https://t.co/48aNgGg37z

[Laurie Whitwell @lauriewhitwell]

🚨 Manchester United expected to part ways with Michael Carrick. Work undertaken on successors. #MUFC insist no final decision made. Sir Jim Ratcliffe across.

Mauricio Pochettino emerging as candidate in thoughts.

w/ @David_Ornstein @AdamCrafton_ ⬇️

https://t.co/3P56wEwWwP

[Oliver Kay @OliverKay]

I know plenty about Villa, thanks. I know all about the stadium plans and everything else. Their matchday revenue is less than half Manchester United's and Arsenal's. The expansion is great, but it will only reduce that deficit slightly. Commercial revenue will grow, but at the last count it was about a quarter of Tottenham's, never mind Liverpool's and Manchester United's.

I'm not pointing this out to play down Villa's size — they're obviously a really big club — but just to spell out what they're up against and how hard it is for clubs outside of that mega-rich elite to compete

[Oliver Kay @OliverKay]

This is about the football food chain @Carra23 spoke about. It's very real and, regrettably, it has made upward mobility almost impossible (except by rule-breaking on an industrial scale, of course).
Even for a club of Aston Villa's size and historic pedigree, with a brilliant coach, to talk of challenging that mega-rich elite — protected by rules reinforcing the huge financial divides that have opened up over the past two decades — causes a welcome jolt. "What, you're actually going to try to challenge for the biggest prizes? You're actually going to try to break into that group over the long term?"
#AVFC should be applauded for trying to do that. It's important to spell out what they're up against. Even in these glory days under Emery, they haven't come within 20 points of winning the Premier League. It's incredibly hard to get for anyone outside that mega-rich elite to compete — particularly when those clubs keep coming for your best players.
A new deal for Emery will send out a powerful "Hands off" message to #MUFC and anyone else. But the food chain is real, as are the obstacles that Villa and any other would-be challengers face

https://t.co/3J3YG5SnRr

[The Athletic | Football @TheAthleticFC]

Crystal Palace are set to sack manager Pierre Sage after 16 games in charge.

Palace suffered a 3-1 defeat by Liverpool at Selhurst Park on Sunday, leaving the south London side bottom of the Premier League table for the first time after a complete round of games since December 2017.

Exclusive story from @MattWoosie ⬇️

🔗 https://t.co/D7dlk3OheG

[Oliver Kay @OliverKay]

Not sure if you can access it, but I mentioned Spurs in the comments here https://t.co/QxTwWeD3wl
By doing everything right over a certain period of time, they briefly challenged for the biggest prizes and did well enough to ensure — although even now, some would dispute it —  that a threatened "Big Five" became a "Big Six". But in terms of the food chain, they were still only ever the sixth member of that group, which is probably they would have regarded themselves as previously. Have they gone up the food chain? Within Europe certainly — because of the growth of the Premier League — but within English football, I would argue not

[Oliver Kay @OliverKay]

It's incredibly competitive in one respect; every game is a battle, which is what happens when every club has the resources to sign really good players from other leagues, which certainly wasn't the case in the much-romanticised 2000s https://t.co/TwLMr4mEmf
Competitiveness/unpredictably is also helped by e.g. Manchester United being run appallingly and Chelsea having almost nothing to show for the biggest transfer spend in football history.
But across the longer term, competitive balance is a real problem. Villa and Newcastle are said to have "broken" the dominance of the top six by breaking into the Champions League two times apiece and winning a trophy apiece, but it's two very distant fourth-placed finishes and in both cases it's not one of the biggest prizes. Nor was it when West Ham and Palace won the Conference League. The upper levels — even just *challenging* for the title — seem to be totally out of reach for those clubs, even if they do everything right. Brighton are fantastically run, but have finished higher than eighth (sixth) once. It illustrates what even clubs of Villa's, Newcastle's and Everton's size are up against

[Oliver Kay @OliverKay]

@ValKenny2 Thanks very much. Appreciated

[Oliver Kay @OliverKay]

Cheers, Stan. The legitimate complaint is about just how stratified everything has become, with unbridgeable financial divides not just between leagues but within leagues.

A club that's run as well as Brighton have been for the past decade and more should be in a position where they can at least challenge for the title, or at least get into the Champions League, but they still haven't got higher than sixth. Villa and Newcastle might feel they have broken that glass ceiling, winning a trophy apiece and finishing fourth twice, but they have still been nowhere near a title challenge and still nowhere near able to match the revenue that might ultimately help them achieve that.

And I know fans of those clubs blame the rules, but the rules would be perfectly fair if they had been brought in a time when there was a (relatively) level playing field — rather than a time at which the biggest, richest clubs had gone stratospheric. Introduce FFP/PSR in the 70s/80s/90s and you would still have had fair competition. Introduce FFP/PSR in the early 2010s and it's impossible — unless you ride roughshod over the rules, of course ...