Ken Early: Clasico defeat lays bare Barcelona’s reluctance to learn from their mistakes
Real Madrid demonstrate oddly casual approach to set-pieces but prevail largely thanks to the clinical finishing of Mbappé
Ken Early
Columnist
Ken Early: Stumped Arne Slot must face up to a radical decision
It seems Liverpool’s players don’t know how they’re supposed to fit together - and neither does their coach
Ken Early: Despite Ireland’s win, it’s probably best to hold off booking flights to America
Heimir Hallgrímsson’s decision to go with a 5-4-1 formation when a win was required made no sense
Ken Early: Portugal flexed their star power and the referee duly obliged
Ireland can’t realistically outplay Portugal, but they proved they could at least make them anxious
Heimir Hallgrímsson seems like more of a bystander than the actual Ireland coach
As Ireland face Portugal, the team are still haunted by the shambolic defeat in Yerevan that cost any realistic chance of World Cup qualification
Ken Early: Is it time for Arne Slot to drop Mo Salah?
New signings Florian Wirtz, Alexander Isak and Hugo Ekitike are too big – and expensive – to fail. Will Arne Slot pay the price?
Ken Early: What the hell is going on at Manchester City?
Guardiola’s system disintegrates but Arteta fails to learn from his mistakes
Ken Early: Manchester United have become the Republic of Ireland in club football form
Parallels between Premier League side and Irish national team are uncanny, not least their capacity for self-delusion
Ken Early: Ireland’s defeat to Armenia was an utter farce
If there’s one thing this team has taught us over the last 20 years, it’s that things can always get worse
Ireland v Armenia: Time to be aggressive - passivity has become a real problem
Slow starts, at the beginning of both the first and second half, have been hampering Heimir Hallgrímsson’s team
Ken Early: Ireland’s second-half siege of Hungary felt like something from Jack Charlton era
Adam Idah's late equaliser provided relief but only a fool would dismiss debacle of the first 15 minutes
Ken Early: Jack Charlton would not have been surprised by what Heimir is asking of Ireland team
Republic of Ireland team are now more in line with modern game ahead of World Cup qualifier
Too little, too late from overly defensive Arsenal at Anfield
‘Arsenal’s regrets can all be traced to the “first, do not lose” mentality of their coach’
Newcastle only have themselves to blame for farce over wantaway Alexander Isak
Striker is determined to join Liverpool, but Magpies can hardly complain when they have botched the whole affair
New season, same glaring weakness: how have Man United allowed this issue to persist?
After almost half a billion spent over three transfer windows, Casemiro remains at the heart of midfield
Ken Early: Liverpool’s summer changes leave Mo Salah looking lost
You can’t drop a performance like this as one of the best-paid players in the league and expect not to be criticised
Newcastle’s struggle to attract players is one of the stories of this summer
Champions Liverpool spend big to consolidate position as Arsenal and Manchester United attempt to take giant leap
Ken Early: Heimir Hallgrímsson’s plan very nearly pays off in Ireland’s solid performance against Senegal
Manager Heimir Hallgrímsson put a lot of store into the set pieces at Friday night’s friendly against Senegal, and they very nearly paid off
PSG’s costly failures entertained Europe for years, but now they could be on the brink of an era of domination
Enrique’s brilliant Paris Saint-Germain triumphed in most one-sided final in Champions League history
Ken Early: Emi Martínez commits one of the most expensive mistakes in Villa’s history
Aston Villa rue what might have been, Manchester United notch up unenviable record and Alexander-Arnold signs off at Anfield
Crystal Palace beating Manchester City in the FA Cup let us see the real purpose of football
The way football has gone has made moments of true joy and celebration so rare
Ken Early: Trent Alexander-Arnold could improve shambolic Real Madrid, but can Xabi Alonso?
While Liverpool fans were venting bitterness at Alexander-Arnold, Barcelona may have done him a favour by humbling Madrid
Ken Early: Declan Rice should concentrate on playing to his strengths
Arsenal and England require something different from Declan Rice
Ken Early: Arne Slot’s remarkable debut season at Liverpool helped by no-shows from title rivals
Slot is the model of the modern football coach: collaborative, egoless and technically-minded
Ken Early: The future of Real Madrid is suddenly uncertain
Since Madrid have spent the last decade getting so used to victory they should thank Arsenal for reintroducing them to disappointment and humiliation
Mohamed Salah and Lewandowski show that football is increasingly a country for old men
We have seen a trend where players continue to excel at ages when their equivalents of the past were already running pubs
Manchester United’s problem has been too much Milton Friedman
All systems went awry at Old Trafford when the club’s owners lost sight of Alex Ferguson’s will to win
Manchester City’s 2024-25 season is a textbook study in burnout
A potential $150m payday from the Club World Cup risks creating an injury nightmare for Pep Guardiola
Ken Early: Evan Ferguson gives Ireland fans a glimpse of the player they dream he will become
A fourth win in eight games under Heimir Hallgrimsson gives us something dangerous – hope
Ken Early: The Bulgaria game went to plan and a coach cannot ask for much more
Ireland’s methodical diagonal switches and deep far-post crosses eventually pulled apart the Bulgarians as they had the Finns
Ken Early: League B of this silly competition won’t be seeing the last of Ireland just yet
Nations League: Troy Parrott shines as Heimir Hallgrímsson’s side enjoy rare comfortable second half
Newcastle were perfectly primed to surprise a tired Liverpool in Carabao Cup final
Arne Slot’s reluctance to trust in his extended squad left his side vulnerable to a chastening final defeat
Arsenal’s season of regression puts pressure on Mikel Arteta
Manchester United need new players and an unlikely summer encounter
Ken Early: Watching Messi in Miami, it’s clear that a sixth World Cup is possible
I was one of the people paying way over the odds to see Messi play for Inter Miami against New York City
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