France’s next generation is here: Olise, Cherki, Doué, Barcola, Akliouche. The ammunition is there for Mbappé and co to run riot in the US - but will Deschamps finally take the handbrake off? My latest piece: substack.com/home/post/p-...

Deschamps set to name a totally different starting XI for the game in Azerbaijan tomorrow. Rest for Saliba 🙏 #LesBleus #Arsenal

Latest podcast is LIVE: I'm joined by @andpscott.bsky.social & 'the French Peter Dury', Julien Brun 🙌, to discuss the big #Ligue1 stories: 🤨 Familiar problems for Monaco ⚽️ Next steps for Paris FC 🕺 Beye bounces back in Rennes 😍 Love for Lille's Bouaddi ❓ PSG/Bayern trivia 🎙️ tinyurl.com/63fb5w58

‘Racism or not, Dönnum deserves lengthy ban.' My latest Ligue 1 newsletter on the ugly spat between Toulouse's Aron Dönnum and Simon Ebonog of Le Havre, Rennes' Lepaul-inspired revival, & 'ugly wins' for front-runners PSG, Marseille, Lens & Lille. open.substack.com/pub/mattspir...

Vitinha's caviar, Thauvin's café crème, Abline's patate 🔥 Food expressesions aplenty in this week's 'Across the Channel' with @tomwfootball.bsky.social & Karim Baldé 🤣 More seriously, why isn't the mayonnaise thickening in Rennes & are the carrots cooked for Beye? www.youtube.com/watch?v=xfP6...

1-0 Arsenal. Another goal from a set piece, another rock solid defensive display, another win. George Graham, present in the stands, must have been impressed by that #AFC

'Have Chelsea signed the wrong striker?' My latest piece looking at Argentinian striker Joaquin Panichelli who has made such a brilliant start at Strasbourg, it's not clear if Emegha is even getting back in he side. substack.com/@mattspiro/n...

8 out of 15 goals scored by French players in the 3pm kick-offs. Do we still need to call it the English Premier League? 😉🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿🇫🇷

French players bossing the 15:00 kickoffs in the Premier League. Ugochukwu, Kroupi and Mukiele the goalscorers so far. Who's next? Mateta or Rutter?

Strasbourg 3-1 up at PSG!! Rosenior's young team superb so far at Parc des Princes! They'll go top if they win this

Episode 9: Les Bleus falter, Zaire-Emery in the doghouse, Pocognoli's Monaco mission 🎙️ @andpscott.bsky.social joins me to discuss France 🇫🇷 games vs Azerbaijan & Iceland, and reflect on an exciting start to Ligue 1 season: Link: shorturl.at/xtg7w #Ligue1 #LesBleus

Bad night for William Saliba in Iceland. At fault for both goals in 2-2 draw. L’Equipe have him on front page, ‘America will wait’, and give the #Arsenal man 3/10, same mark as Upamecano and Koundé. A good night for the injured Konaté

They say football’s a young man’s game - but don’t tell that to Florian Thauvin (32), Riyad Mahrez (34) or Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (36), all dreaming of a World Cup swansong. My latest piece: mattspiro.substack.com/p/florian-th...

'Underperforming Hutter set for Monaco exit' ✅Monaco seeking new coach ✅Ethan Mbappé haunts PSG ✅Rosenior's five-star Strasbourg ✅Marseille have a defence at last Free weekly Ligue 1 newsletter + podcast: 📩 open.substack.com/pub/mattspir...

Good interview with Wilson Isidor in L’Equipe. Striker puts Sunderland’s great start down to the quality of their summer recruitment, citing Granit Xhaka (‘he’s brought winning mentality’) and new head of performance Shad Forsyth (‘he’s changed so much in training’) as key additions #SAFC

Bournemouth fans, what are you making of your Ligue 1 boys so far? Petrovic & Truffert both solid buys, Diakité a superb player 💪 #AFCB are good in French market. And not only through their owner’s Lorient link, which helped for Ouattara & more recently Kroupi Jr, another exciting signing

Nicolas Pépé looks like he’s aged 20 years (I’m hoping it’s just the photo), but pleased to see him getting man of the match award for Villarreal in Champions League against Juventus

PSG win at Barcelona (without Dembélé, Doué, Neves, Kvara & Marquinhos) 💪💪💪 Marseille crush Ajax 🔥🔥 Monaco hold Man City 👍 Farmers League just keeps on ploughing through Europe 😜

Aubameyang puts Marseille 4-0 up over Ajax after another lightning counter. Paixao gets an assist to add to his two goals. Vermeeren - a surprise starter - impressive in midfield. De Zerbi’s side starting to look like a serious team

Time to get your passport & hop ‘Across the Channel’. Our latest episode is out and it’s a good’un! @tomwfootball.bsky.social & Andy Scott join me to chat all things #Ligue1 😍 🎧 Listen to here 👉 Apple: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/a... Spotify: open.spotify.com/episode/1IXa...

Lacklustre Nice compound Ratcliffe’s misery' 😬 ❌ Poor results ❌ Incoherent recruitment ❌ Homophobic chants ❌ Disillusioned fans Manchester United aren’t the only club struggling under INEOS ownership… #OGCN #MUFC 📩 Free weekly Ligue 1 newsletter + podcast: open.substack.com/pub/mattspir...

All French journalism schools unite to ask for the liberation of football journalist Christophe Gleizes, who has now been imprisoned for three months by the Algerian authorities, who accuse him of "glorifying terrorism" among other trumped-up charges. #FreeGleizes

Is this referee a fucking towel monitor too?!

Vitinha subbed seemingly as a precaution vs Auxerre. But Kvaratskhelia has picked up a thigh problem at end of first half. PSG 1-0 up, but their injury list is starting to look like a Ballon d’Or vote: Dembele, Doue, Neves, Marquinhos, Kvara (Barcola fit enough for bench tonight) #PSG #ligue1

Does Jim Ratcliffe still prefer watching United to Nice? (Nice are also pretty shambolic, so im assuming he does)

Here’s the Ballon d’Or vote from Scotland’s representative John Greechan. Got to admire the patriotism (if nothing else!) 1. McTominay 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 2. Hakimi 🇲🇦 3. Salah 🇪🇬 4. Yamal 🇪🇸 5. Dumfries 🇳🇱 6. MacAllister 🇦🇷 (Ps hoping he didn’t vote Dumfries as it’s a Scottish town, and McAllister a Scottish name)

🚨 This week's podcast is out 🚨 We talk Ballon d'Or, le roi Ousmane, Marseille's big win, Thauvin magic & Strasbourg win in silence 🤫 Join me, @jonlegossip.bsky.social & George Boxall 😍 Across the Channel Ep06 🎙️ Spotify: open.spotify.com/episode/5Ih8... Apple: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/a...

🚨This week's Across the Channel podcast is out🚨 We talk Ballon d'Or, le roi Ousmane, Marseille's big win, Thauvin magic & Strasbourg win in silence 🤫 Join me, @jonlegossip.bsky.social & George Boxall 😍 Spotify: open.spotify.com/episode/5Ih8... Apple: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/a...

Not a good result for #Arsenal but that’s a massive goal. Two defeats so early would’ve put a lot of pressure on the Gunners. Great pass from Eze and a top class finish from Martinelli, who’s had a good week. Work in progress but so important not to have lost that #ARSMCI

Really think Marseille/PSG should be played tomorrow weather permitting. That’s the rule and it shouldn’t change because of a Ballon d’Or ceremony (that Dembele can attend anyway as he’s injured). Ligue 1 needs to stop pandering to PSG.

Marseille/PSG postponed due to storms. Which is especially annoying to find out when you’re on train to Marseille 😫 The rules state the game should take place tomorrow evening. But… that would mean playing at same time as Ballon d’Or ceremony, which heavily involves PSG 🤔

Barcola ruled out of tonight’s Classique, joining Dembélé and Doué on the sidelines. Injuries starting to take their toll as PSG’s relentless schedule catches up with them. Marseille might not get a better chance to beat their rivals #OMPSG

Who was it that decided that Petrovic wasn't Chelsea's best goalkeeper and should be sold to Bournemouth? He was so impressive at Strasbourg last season #CFC

There’s something so beautifully brutal about Kvaratskhelia when he decides he really wants to hurt the opposition. That goal was savage #PSGATA

My goodness, this is total bloody football from PSG. Defenders popping up in attack, midfielders interchanging constantly. 1/0, should be 4. Ten minutes gone. Atalanta heads spinning #PSGATA

So, Luis Enrique really isn't a fan of Gonçalo Ramos... Dembélé missing, but instead of the Portuguese striker, it's teenage midfielder Senny Mayulu who leads the PSG attack tonight - flanked by Barcola & Kvaratskhelia - against Atalanta #PSGATA

Apparently Medina’s hand wasn’t in a natural position when he slid in & won ball cleanly off Vinicius. The question is: what is a natural position for a defender doing a sliding tackle? Ridiculous decision. Madrid deserve to win but shame this terrific game to be decided by that #RMAOM

A masterclass in play-acting from Geronimo Rulli ensures Carvajal is sent off. The Marseille goalkeeper went down like he’d been shot after Carvajal’s head brushed his face. Real Madrid down to ten men for last 20 minutes. Still 1-1. What a chance this is for Marseille to get a result #RMAOM

This game is mad. Aubameyang misses a one-on-one. Then Rulli makes his ninth (!!) save of the evening to deny Mbappe. 40 minutes gone. 1-1. Could easily be 3-3 #RMAOM

Good goal from Marseille!! Greenwood takes advantage of a mistake by Guler, surges forward, times pass to Weah perfectly, and Weah finishes superbly. 0-1 #RMAOM

Absolutely hapless start this from Marseille. Real Madrid could have been four up inside ten minutes

Very enjoyable chat with @tomwfootball.bsky.social & @andpscott.bsky.social for Across the Channel podcast 👍👍 We talk Marseille's Bernabeu challenge, PSG's injuries, French refs 🤨, Strasbourg's Emegha protests, Ethan Mbappé, Tyler Morton and much more 😍 open.spotify.com/episode/1Jbd...

Emegha’s Chelsea transfer sparks Strasbourg fan revolt substack.com/@mattspiro/n...

Tyler Morton nominated for @Ligue1_ENG player of the month for August alongside Joao Neves (PSG) and Ilan Kebbal (Paris FC) 👏👏 Deserved accolade for the England U21 midfielder who has been superb since joining Lyon from Liverpool #LFC #OL

Mitigating circumstances I know (change of coach, tough opponent etc) but I find it amazing that a club can spend €237m on new players and still produce as little as Nottingham Forest have today #ARSNFO

This may be the worst time to play Forest. The players will be desperate to make a good impression in Ange’s first game… and Ange hasn’t yet had time to implement his suicidal approach, so they’ll still be largely a well-organised Nuno team #ARSNFO

Gaël Clichy believes Ryan Cherki can have a similar impact to Kevin De Bruyne at #MCFC: ‘If Pep can improve his play without the ball, he could have stats like De Bruyne. I’ve never seen a player like him, so easy with the ball,’ Clichy, who coached Cherki at France U21s, told RMC

Another great Across The Channel episode in the books - shorturl.at/VhGtN - I joined host @mattspiro.bsky.social & special guest Ricardo Faty to chat about Les Bleus. We also touched on Olise, Kone & Clairefontaine, debated peak Henry, Benzema & Mbappe’s merits & more 🇫🇷

Latest 'Across the Channel' podcast is out 🎙️ We're joined by ex-Strasbourg, Nantes & Roma midfielder Ricardo Faty to talk all things #LesBleus. Some fascinating insight on life at Clairefontaine, dual nationality, Manu Koné & Michael Olisé 🤩 Apple: shorturl.at/XUiA4 Spotify: shorturl.at/TLNN9

Scenes at the Parc des Princes! Iceland make it 2-2 in last minute!! Kids with Iceland facepaint celebrate wildly in stands… this is the greatest night of their young lives!!!! Then VAR decides otherwise, chalks goal off for an iffy/minor (non existent?) foul. As you were #FRAICE