Shoulder to shoulder: World Cup week (think of a number)
From Ao Tanaka labouring morning to night to Gabriel Gudmundsson shouting out the wife: it's not a normal World Cup, so it's made for Erling Haaland.
"Bearing that burden is worth far more than you can imagine" — down and out in Uruguay, Marcelo Bielsa still has his purpose
Football has no solution. It's an imperfect game about failure, and about emotions that can be bad as well as good and validate the fans either way. That's why I don't think Bielsa wants to be done with it just yet.
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The hand of Jack, 1966: Leeds at the World Cup
It might have drifted across the goal, it might have drifted into the goal, it might have dropped to one of the forwards rushing in, and Big Jack Charlton had only a split second to decide. He reached up, and punched the ball away from the goalmouth.
"Bearing that burden is worth far more than you can imagine" — down and out in Uruguay, Marcelo Bielsa still has his purpose
Football has no solution. It's an imperfect game about failure, and about emotions that can be bad as well as good and validate the fans either way. That's why I don't think Bielsa wants to be done with it just yet.
You have to work hard to be unhappy about Pascal Struijk
Too often in football nobody is happy, or only the worst people are happy, so if Pascal Struijk is happy and Leeds and Brighton and Georginio Rutter, let's just be happy too.
No Hecky, no party
Three former Leeds managers went to the World Cup, one remains. And obviously that's the irritating one. But at least Thomas Christiansen has plenty to feel proud of.
More Wilbur Cush, the talk of Sweden: Leeds at the World Cup
A Swedish fan suggested Northern Ireland get themselves ready for West Germany in training: 'To prepare yourselves for it you should collect many small boys with cow bells, cow horns and other instruments to keep up a steady racket.'
Hushing, talking and proposing
Watching Antoine Semenyo, and thinking, maybe we should have given Dave Hockaday another chance. Are these the fantasies a World Cup is supposed to give us? Maybe Leeds fans have no other kind.
Wilbur Cush, the pocket hercules: Leeds at the World Cup
Cush was an ironic new hero for the Peacocks, a 5ft 4in 'pocket Hercules' taking over from 6ft 3in 'Adonis of a youth' John Charles. But he'd caught Leeds' eye in an international for Northern Ireland, when he had tamed John Charles' attempts for Wales.
"Not doing it is worse than doing it. So we do it." — Marcelo Bielsa talking football and craft
At a Uruguayan FA summit, with five of his coaching staff on chairs and sofas alongside him, Marcelo Bielsa gave a presentation about what, he said, "we do in our free time".
Whatever happened to celebrating moments?
Gabriel Gudmundsson was asked what exactly had been wrong with him, and replied, "I don’t want to go into it. It’s better to keep it secret." Which came to my mind when Marcelo Bielsa told the press: "I believe there's a limit in terms of what we need to explain."