The Bundesliga’s 2025 review. Best team, player and choreo, biggest surprise, disappointment and goal celebration gone wrong. All sorts, for @theathleticfc.bsky.social www.nytimes.com/athletic/689...

🇪🇺 EURO POD!🇪🇺 @acjimbo.bsky.social, @polballus.bsky.social, @jameshorncastle.bsky.social & @sebsb.bsky.social rounding off 2025... 🇪🇸 Alonso in... but Vini Jr out? 🇮🇹 Fiorentina! Win! A Serie A match! 🇩🇪 What more can we say about Bayern? 🌍 Pre-Xmas tidbits from across the continent pod.fo/e/36be22

Hopefully there are all sorts of people today listening to Chris Rea songs they’ve never heard before.

I don’t have a big Tottenham opinion, other than to say that football clubs need to be good at lots of different thing to perform beyond their financial station. And I’m not really sure what Spurs are good at. That’s the fix: it’s not a coach or a new player, it’s multi-department improvement.

There is currently no danger of Dino Toppmöller losing his job at Eintracht Frankfurt. There is also no plan to hire Edin Terzic.

‘Das Spiel gehört uns.’ 🤍 @gnetzer.bsky.social #booksky #footballwithoutfansisnothing

HSV stickers, out and about.

Lucien Favre has announced his retirement from coaching.

I’ve been an ardent Florian Wirtz defender, so it’s only right that his first PL assist should come against… yup.

The standard of goal in Leipzig-Leverkusen is outrageous.

Quality goal, but you can’t be a long clearance away from a one-on-one like that.

That’s a penalty.

Nobody is more offended by anything than football players are by a ball not kicked out for an injury.

What is Karim Adeyemi thinking with that touch there? Crazy football.

Re. that Julian Brandt volley. It’s got to be so tricky to time and control that, given how long the ball was in the air and how much activity there was in JB’s periphery.

19yo Japanese full-back Keita Kosugi has joined Eintracht Frankfurt from Djurgarden.

Sources 🚨 Vancouver Whitecaps have traded Jayden Nelson to Austin FC. GAM and a pick coming back per sources. Nelson wanted more playing time to have a chance to make the #CanMNT ahead of the 2026 World Cup.

Clockwise: ✨ the first piece you did in 2025 ✨ your favourite piece of the year ✨ your most popular piece ✨ your most recent piece

Second Stollen of the month. One for every Tottenham defeat. I’m going to comfort eat my way through it.

FCSP.

Barbie’s for the girls, the gays, and the theys; and football is for fucking everyone. 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️ Sign by @vivarovers.bsky.social. 🫶🏼 #forzafibres

The Martijn Kaars saga, Jobe Bellingham's first few months in Dortmund, and all sorts of brilliant goals. A Bundesliga Briefing, for @theathleticfc.bsky.social www.nytimes.com/athletic/689...

🇪🇺EURO POD!🇪🇺 @acjimbo.bsky.social, @polballus.bsky.social, @jameshorncastle.bsky.social & @sebsb.bsky.social with your weekly dose of continental action, including: 🇮🇹 Inter's turn on top 🇩🇪 Kane (87' pen) 🇫🇷 Not nice for Nice 🇪🇸 Phew! For Alonso pod.fo/e/36756d

Another one of these bad boys is on its way to County Roscommon, seeing off 2025. Wishing everyone a peaceful rest of the year. 🖤

St.Pauli win in the league for the first time since September 15th. Hard yards today: 45 mins with ten men, but over the line courtesy of some really committed defensive performances.

Officials shouldn’t have to wear shorts in the winter; it’s not like they’re going around tackling. Discuss.

I think that’s a poor decision to send Eric Smith off. There is contact and he is the last man, but it’s a dive (and 45 yards from goal).

What a magnificent half Joel Fujita has had for St.Pauli.

“Going to the World Cup” used to be something normal people did. Not with these ticket prices. @theathleticfc.bsky.social www.nytimes.com/athletic/688...

"Going to the World Cup" used to be something ordinary people did. But not with these ticket prices, writes @sebsb.bsky.social.

“Going to the World Cup” used to be something normal people did. Not with these ticket prices. @theathleticfc.bsky.social www.nytimes.com/athletic/688...

I know TV companies and stakeholders are indifferent to stadium demographics, as long as tickets are sold, but they shouldn’t be. A crowd needs to be full of as many actual fans as possible, otherwise the game suffers. It’s as important as everyone in the snooker audience knowing when to clap

Tartan Army, ask for cash for Christmas and get saving. Here’s your World Cup price list…

A graphic showing ticket prices comparisons, stage by stage, between World Cup 22 and 26. Via @fanseurope.org

Double trouble, on its way to one very stylish 11yo in Portland, OR. #protecttranskids #footballculture #forzafibres

The flu. Here we are. Feeling sorry for ourselves and loving the opportunity to do so.

As everyone knew it would, this World Cup is shaping up to be an absolutely world class rip-off.

⚫ Best-performing big summer striker signing? 🤔 ⚪ How his game has evolved 👀 ⚫ Why #NUFC were confident he'd be a success 🙌 ⚪ "So much more to come" 🔮 🇩🇪 Nick Woltemade returns to Germany, proving doubters wrong & with a new edge to his game. W/ @sebsb.bsky.social: www.nytimes.com/athletic/687...

Just keep playing Archie Gray in that position. Let him learn.

Alphonso Davies is back. www.nytimes.com/athletic/687...

Quite right, too. bsky.app/profile/jack...

Here’s this week’s cartoon for @sport.theguardian.com www.theguardian.com/football/pic...

This week's Bundesliga Briefing, in which we have a long overdue talk about Yan Diomande. Also: Giovanni Reyna finally making progress at Gladbach, and more Big Goals from Big Luka. @theathleticfc.bsky.social www.nytimes.com/athletic/687...

🇪🇺EURO POD!🇪🇺 Champions League MD6, anyone? 🏆 🍿Inter v Liverpool 🍿Real v Man City 🍿Jose v Conte @acjimbo.bsky.social, @polballus.bsky.social, @sebsb.bsky.social & @jameshorncastle.bsky.social look ahead to all the action and back on the weekend's domestic drama👇 pod.fo/e/362a3d

Saliva analysis is changing in football. It's the work of an Austrian start-up who have been partnering with Borussia Dortmund for the past year and the level of biological insight is startling. @theathleticfc.bsky.social www.nytimes.com/athletic/685...

All of Klaus-Michael Kühne’s money for a HSV centre-forward who can head in some of those crosses.

Maddening bsky.app/profile/csta...