Over 5,000 virtual match tickets sold! Thank you all involved especially the kind supporters of @SpursOfficial 🙌

Time to give our virtual ticket holders a match preview of our team and tactics! Don't tell anybody!

Open Letter: “Is this Nate?”

It’s sizzling in my chest, so here it is. I don’t want to hurt the poor guy who called me—probably forced to call me—but it needs to be said. Yesterday, at about 11:00 at night, I got a call from a representative of the Governor’s office.

A nice guy. But last night, this guy wasn't so nice. He told me, with profanity and threatening piñache, that he’s, “not f##cking happy” about a tweet that I sent out. I didn't even know what Tweet he was talking about. But it turns out, he was mad that I criticized the . . .

Governor’s plan to go to the Bills game because only 6.500 people were allowed to go and I felt it reinforced the belief—incorrectly or correctly—that the #COVID restrictions do not apply to elites. Pretty mild, but I’m a team player. If this man had just called me . . .

and told me that I misunderstood the facts, got it wrong, I would have taken the Tweet down. But again, he called me at 11:00 at night. Swearing. Keep in mind, at this point, I’m just a taxpayer. I’m not running for office. I have no more connection to the Governor than you ...

Please put yourself in my shoes. An emissary for one of the most powerful politicians in America called me, late on a holiday evening, looking to take my head off. Disturbing. This isn’t the first time some elite Democrat called me—either directly or indirectly—over the past...

The thing about cricket in Australia is that it’s very white. I know, I know, I say that about everything (true but!) Just stick with me here. Cricket is verrrrrry white. More-so than other (well-loved) sports in this country.

Yes, it’s played in South Asia and the Caribbean (which is a thread in itself!) but I’m talking about cricket specifically here in Oz and more specifically in Sydney communities.

For some context. I grew up in Western Sydney and I have Lebanese heritage. This is important to note because growing up I didn’t know a single Lebanese-Australian person - kid, adult, man or woman - who played, watched or talked about cricket. ZERO.

Cricket was never on in our home (several reasons for that) and nor was it ever on in the homes of anyone I ever visited. EVER. This is not an exaggeration.

To give you an example of how much I did not know about cricket, I only heard of Richie Benaud when he died. (To be fair, I knew Steve and Mark Waugh because they were from Bankstown and sometimes in the local Torch newspaper. Also, I knew Shane Warne because of hair-loss ads).

A thread on Thomas Tuchel - As described by himself and those who have worked with him.

This should be helpful to those who are unfamiliar with his methods and will hopefully help clear a few misconceptions.

Tuchel on his style of play — Creating a fundamental framework within which all players operate while also giving them the freedom to come up with their own solutions.



Tuchel on youth development — Young players need to face obstacles and come up with solutions to truly develop as players. Not everything should be taught or handed out on a silver platter.



Tuchel on his training methods — Repetition alone is not enough for players to become better. They need to face a series of different challenges and solve the accompanying problems. Thinking for oneself is very important.



Tuchel on managing players — At a club like PSG or Chelsea, you're likely to see some of the most promising attackers on the planet. Instead of remote-controlling them on the pitch, it is better to give them a basic framework followed by freedom.

The U.S.-China Rivalry

The US and China are the 2 greatest rivals in the 21st century. It’s American democracy vs Chinese socialism at the level of Roger Federer vs Rafael Nadal in the 2008 Wimbledon Men’s Final. Who’s the better player? American democracy or Chinese socialism?

2/Probably no people have scrutinized American democracy more than China has, the world’s oldest civilization. “American exceptionalism” is under Beijing’s microscope. American democracy has catapulted the US into becoming the world’s greatest superpower in less than 200 years.

3/China, whose momentum will overtake the US in GDP by mid-century, has the same drive as Nadal (who proclaimed Federer was “the greatest player in the history [of tennis]") going against Federer at Wimbledon Final in 2008. Ever cautious, patient and wise, China respects its

4/opponent (as did Nadal) for its achievements. In order to better the US Beijing knows it must be more competitive, up its game and improve its skills. The US-China rivalry is one wherein “iron sharpens iron”. Yet whereas Beijing views American democracy thru an objective,

5/ideologically unbiased lens, the same can’t be said of US Congress, many of whom fear/think China wants to “take over the world” (to wit SoS Mike Pompeo) to “spread communism”. Having 5,000 years of culture, including Confucianism, China has the clearer and more objective view

Analyzing Manchester United’s stalemate draw over Liverpool in the Premier League through data and tactical analysis: a thread.

MUFC’s plan was to bypass Liverpool’s high press through vertical *quick* passes and long balls to exploit their lack of senior CB’s but — execution was lacking.

An improvement in presence came came from progressing the ball wide but the final ball was still poor.

Taking a look at the flow of passes:

➾ Manchester United had a higher concentration of passes in their own half and posed little to no threat — but built out the back well under pressure.

➾ Improvement: they were able to exploit Liverpool wide through overlaps and cutbacks.

EXAMPLE: #MUFC build out the back in a series of quick forward passes.

This came from Martial dropping deep to carry — essential. Bruno’s trademark backwards flick that takes Fabinho out of the backline and Rashford’s blindside run here was excellent.

Poor final ball.

Let’s take a closer look at the lack of territorial dominance — issues:

(A) While #MUFC were able to improve their suppression — the right flank was very poor with Pogba tucking into the half-spaces.

(B) #MUFC had poor central penetration — more difficult to score.