
THE appointment of Thomas Tuchel as manager of the England men’s team has caused a stir.
It has been criticised as an abandonment of English football identity. A betrayal of St George and the English DNA forged at his football Park in Staffordshire.
Such criticism forgets how football developed as a global game in the first place, and national team football has always been open to positive international influences and the sharing of ideas beyond borders.

Palestinian football has been decimated, its players killed, its stadiums reduced to rubble. Yet the global game has looked away silent in the face of genocide, and will remain a stain on the sport, writes JAMES NALTON

The Red’s title defence is built on clever recruitment, long-term planning, and data-led strategy. In contrast, the Magpies are falling behind — and blaming the wrong things, writes JAMES NALTON

With climate change, commercial overload and endless fixtures, footballers are being pushed to breaking point. It’s time their unions became a more powerful, unified force, writes JAMES NALTON