James Nalton

Paxten Aaronson created eight chances for Colorado in this game.

Colorado 2, Portland 0, 82 mins played, scoreline graphic from FotMob

Looks like Matt Wells' Colorado Rapids will win this latest battle of the English managers in MLS, vs Phil Neville's Portland Timbers.

So excited for anyone who doesn’t know today’s scores and sees Burnley v Brentford is first up on Match of the Day.

What a match. What a deciding frame. Viva Lisowski. Viva snooker.

ICE OUT NOW.

ICE OUT NOW #mnufc

Don't know much about this award or what specifically it's for, but some of the High Flying Birds stuff is really good, songwriting wise. Each album has a few really good songs.

Adri Mehmeti heatmap vs New England. Coverage throughout midfield. Graphic from FotMob

New Yorker Adri Mehmeti was named the Man of the Match per @fotmob.com ratings in New York Red Bulls' 1-0 win vs New England Revolution.

Mehmeti is the real deal. Only 16 and running the midfield for New York Red Bulls in MLS. Gets an assist here from a header at a set piece. Mentioned in my @fotmob.com roundup last week, and no doubt mentioned in many more of my articles going forward!

Thomas Scoffin with a beautiful little hack weight takeout through the hole for Yukon for 4 points

Morning Star newspaper page with the headline "win transforms British politics" on the Green party win in Gorton and Denton by-election

This weekend's Morning Star front page

FIFA in December 2025: "FIFA awards the 2025 FIFA Peace Prize to Donald Trump in recognition of his exceptional and extraordinary actions to promote peace and unity around the world."

Trump in February 2026: "Bombs will be dropping everywhere."

Here is the USL's statement in response to the USLPA's strike authorization vote:

Union set to shape US soccer more than Messi or World Cup TWO things will dominate American soccer in 2026. The World Cup and the continued presence of Lionel Messi playing his club football in the region.But it’s an ongoing collective bargaining agreement i...

Sharing this weekend's column early following news of a possible player strike in USL (article written prior to that breaking). A look at how the USLPA have shed some light on USL's suitability to run a Div I league and pro/rel. morningstaronline.co.uk/article/unio...

The ramifications of the USL model are an important topic on their own, and they’re impossible to extricate from the strike authorization we saw from the USLPA today.

I dig in here.

Here is the news on the possible strike bsky.app/profile/jeff...

The article contains elements of the ideas from this 👇 I started working on last year but wasn't able to publish due to Forbes' cutting freelancers. It includes the current situation and wider context, but the league structure issues are key. bsky.app/profile/jdna...

Union set to shape US soccer more than Messi or World Cup TWO things will dominate American soccer in 2026. The World Cup and the continued presence of Lionel Messi playing his club football in the region.But it’s an ongoing collective bargaining agreement i...

Sharing this weekend's column early following news of a possible player strike in USL (article written prior to that breaking). A look at how the USLPA have shed some light on USL's suitability to run a Div I league and pro/rel. morningstaronline.co.uk/article/unio...

At the level of capitalism top-tier football operates, it'll be difficult to find one that isn't in some way.

Inside Everton's Friedkin revolution - and their bold new transfer plans The Toffees are close to agreeing record sponsorship deals with major recognised brands thanks to business savvy owners and a transformative new stadium

🚨 EXCLUSIVE: Inside the #efc off-the-field Friedkin revolution

🤝 Club close on 'major' front of shirt deal
🏟 'Every penny earned' to fund summer transfer drive
🏆 Ambition to bring European club final to HD stadium

Read (only £1 to subscribe) 👇 inews.co.uk/sport/footba...

CIES Football Observatory ranking of teams according to the level of pressure exerted on opponents. Calculated using Impect data: distance from own goal of presses applied, speed of interrupting opponent possessions, frequency of defensive actions with respect to passes conceded, and propensity to commit fouls in the final third when not in possession. This table shows non-European teams only. Link to full data in a follow-up tweet.

Since game-by-game pressures data was taken away from us, it's interesting to see something like this from CIES, looking at teams that consistently put their opponent under pressure, how high, etc. Table below shows non-Euro teams, with Philadelphia Union the MLS leaders for pressing.

We're surely getting closer to the dream CB pairing of Jarrad Branthwaite and Jake O'Brien.

Pome: You Can Feel The Death Of The World In venues that sell something else

open.substack.com/pub/jamiejac...

The full table can be found here football-observatory.com/WeeklyPost535

Here are the top 20 pressing teams from the "big 5" European leagues, per this CIES ranking / Impect data.

CIES Football Observatory ranking of teams according to the level of pressure exerted on opponents. Calculated using Impect data: distance from own goal of presses applied, speed of interrupting opponent possessions, frequency of defensive actions with respect to passes conceded, and propensity to commit fouls in the final third when not in possession. This table shows non-European teams only. Link to full data in a follow-up tweet.

Since game-by-game pressures data was taken away from us, it's interesting to see something like this from CIES, looking at teams that consistently put their opponent under pressure, how high, etc. Table below shows non-Euro teams, with Philadelphia Union the MLS leaders for pressing.

This continues to be incredibly useful as a fan of an MLS club to keep up with other clubs and happenings. I'd have no idea about non-#NYCFC stuff without something like this.

YouTube video by InsideAmericanSoccer Top-5 MLS Players Who Need to Impress Pochettino, and The Next Step for U.S. Soccer's Evolution

Inside American Soccer! This week me Tab talk about what happened *after* the great 1994 World Cup, wonder if we've already lost @tombogert.bsky.social's kid to hockey, and list our 5 MLS guys who've got to turn on the juice and impress Poch.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=aVHr...

Keep this #EFC

Shaun Murphy: "That's the best performance in a best-of-seven match I've ever seen. If that were Ronnie O'Sullivan or Judd Trump, it would be on the news."

Shaun Murphy v Chang Bingyu on BBC Wales.

The performance of the season from Chang Bingyu to defeat Shaun Murphy 4-0 in the first round of the Welsh Open. Even stopping to tie his shoe laces didn't break his concentration. Rare 100% pot success. Murphy applauded his opponent at the end. #snooker