Rory Smith
@RorySmith
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Football Correspondent, The Observer. Also: @meninblazers @podcast_libero @bbc5live’s Monday Night Club. Author of Mister and Expected Goals.
UK
Joined April 2010
Do Arsenal need to win the Premier League this season to prove Mikel Arteta is a good coach? Why is every single game a referendum on their character?@RorySmith @jonawils @MiguelDelaney put their mentions at risk on today’s Libero.
podfollow.com
The Premier League is back, and Arsenal are top of it. There are plenty of reasons to believe they can stay there, too: the deepest squad in the country, an outstanding manager, an uncanny ability ...
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As the excellent @martynziegler has reported, one of the things Uefa are considering is using the Swiss model (as in the CL/EL) for WC qualification. I think that might work. It may be better. But the motivation has to be whether it is fairer, not stopping English moaning.
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I think, for example, it would be very hard to explain to the Faroe Islands or Kosovo or even the Italians, really, that the last two weeks have been crushingly dull. https://t.co/QE10MRHQpl
observer.co.uk
The Faroe Islands prove that while qualifying may be imperfect, it remains the beating heart of international football
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Uefa have decided that international football is boring and needs a revamp. Most people in major (footballing) nations would agree. But football isn't just for people in major nations. And maybe we should tolerate being a bit bored so other countries get a chance to shine.
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England can seal World Cup qualification with a win in Riga tonight. @JackPittBrooke, @MiguelDelaney and @jonawils discussed Thomas Tuchel’s time in charge - and his dropping of Jude Bellingham - on today’s pod. https://t.co/x6V3xu6BmO
podfollow.com
Jude Bellingham is seen as England's biggest star, which is why it's very glaring that Thomas Tuchel has broken with decades of protocol and left the Real Madrid man out of his latest squad. Amid t...
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Really enjoyed doing this episode of @podcast_libero on how the Premier League is both an obvious monument to Thatcherism and a bizarrely, almost uniquely, apolitical space. @JohnBrewin_ and @JackPittBrooke particularly thought-provoking
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Hated, adored, never ignored, Margaret Thatcher is one of the most important figures in the history of the country that is home to the world's wealthiest domestic league – this cannot be a coinci...
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New Libero Is the Premier League Margaret Thatcher’s greatest legacy? @RorySmith
@JohnBrewin_
@JackPittBrooke
https://t.co/4z1Vs2iJaP
podfollow.com
Hated, adored, never ignored, Margaret Thatcher is one of the most important figures in the history of the country that is home to the world's wealthiest domestic league – this cannot be a coinci...
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Ange Postecoglou and the perils of becoming a Main Character
the-correspondent-rory-smith-newsletter.beehiiv.com
Rory Smith on Nottingham Forest's manger and his first Wrexham game.
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Brave, fearless, unafraid to speak the truth: @podcast_libero is the ONLY outlet prepared to say things like “Liverpool have had a bad week” and “maybe they should be better.” We won’t be silenced. https://t.co/vX4bSjtS4n
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Saturday brought Liverpool’s third defeat in a week, following reverses at Crystal Palace and the cauldron of RAMS Park, home to Galatasaray. If you were a football doctor and were looking to dia...
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Brave, fearless, unafraid to speak the truth: @podcast_libero is the ONLY outlet prepared to say things like “Liverpool have had a bad week” and “maybe they should be better.” We won’t be silenced. https://t.co/vX4bSjtS4n
podfollow.com
Saturday brought Liverpool’s third defeat in a week, following reverses at Crystal Palace and the cauldron of RAMS Park, home to Galatasaray. If you were a football doctor and were looking to dia...
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This isn’t just Liverpool, by the way. You get it about every club (from different fanbases). Tbh I think the default tone about all major teams now is massively exaggerated criticism in response to the merest shortcoming. Nobody gets protected.
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Like I get some of this is just about engagement and the gradual, wilful destruction of anything approaching a sensible conversation. But it’s also pretty common. If poring over every aspect of the team and club is protecting them, what would being “fair” look like?
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I don’t really understand stuff like this. The last week has all been about the recruitment, tactics and style being wrong, Wirtz being a failure and the title last year actually being about Klopp. How is this the hated media protecting anyone?
Liverpool are not a team in transition. They won the title & dropped £446.5 million on Isak, Wirtz, Ekitike, Kerkez, Frimpong & Leoni, the biggest spend of any club in history & broke the English transfer record.. twice. No club gets protected in the media like Liverpool do.
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Hard to argue with Rangers sacking Russell Martin based on results. Kind of mad the owners thought it would work in the first place. But it offers a bit more evidence that Rangers might be the hardest managerial job in the world. https://t.co/3vB8YnxkNP
observer.co.uk
Rangers manager’s methods need time but that is one thing that Glasgow’s derby pressure never allows
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Is football too online, a podcast composed of journalists who spend too much of their time on twitter asks an audience who are reading this message on twitter. Today's @podcast_libero, with the self-aware @MiguelDelaney @tariqpanja and @JamesHorncastle
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Dressing rooms sharing posts about refereeing decisions, managers complaining about their nicknames on X and social media troll campaigns, football is very online these days. Is this just another c...
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Wrote about how maybe it’s not that healthy for any team that loses a game in the PL to be in crisis. Also controversially answered the key question you should ask all prospective friends: Red Star or Partizan.
the-correspondent-rory-smith-newsletter.beehiiv.com
Rory Smith on the end of the Big Four and his favorite non-PL teams.
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This week's @MenInBlazers column is on Ryan Gravenberch, who I think showcases something quite important about how Liverpool operate in the transfer market: they don't forget. https://t.co/KkRjNkTfa2
the-correspondent-rory-smith-newsletter.beehiiv.com
Rory Smith on Ryan Gravenberch's breakout and Monchi's Vill departure.
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The Monchi myth. The great manager theory. The glum in brum and Nassef's upset tum. This week's @podcast_libero is on Villa, West Ham, Wolves and the triangle of sadness with @RorySmith and @JohnBrewin_
https://t.co/EJEviehWHZ
open.spotify.com
Libero · Episode
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P Riddy, Nassef Sawiris’ gastric trouble, Noel Gallagher, @JamesHorncastle’s anti-Monchi agenda, Jorge Mendes’ AirBnB rules, a @JohnBrewin_ impression of a Cockney Grandma I think: it’s all in today’s @podcast_libero
https://t.co/YJoevKFJtc
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What does Aston Villa’s sudden fall from grace say about the wisdom of basing a football club around one man in Unai Emery? Rory Smith, James Horncastle and John Brewin consider a club dogged by ...
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The Ballon d’Or, the World Cup, the European Cup, I think the European Championship: football as a sport has basically been invented by journalists.
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