The Daily Football Briefing

England are two from two in the Nations League, which makes it a pretty decent start for interim boss Lee Carsley, anthem nonsense notwithstanding. Michael Bailey tells us what he made of a wet night at Wembley. It’s not a new start for Germany boss Julian Nagelsmann, but so many key players retired in the summer that it sort of feels like one, Seb Stafford Bloor was watching that one. And what’s got Kevin De Bruyne so riled up? Find out right here, right now, no delays, press play immediately. Need something to read? In light of what’s happening at Chelsea, Simon Hughes discusses the weaknesses of a shared ownership model with reference to Hicks and Gillette, remember them? It is, as you would imagine from as fine a writer as Simon, absolutely marvellous and the link is in the description. https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5747279/2024/09/10/chelsea-owners-civil-war/ Presenter: Iain MacintoshWith: Seb Stafford Bloor and Michael BaileyProducer: Lucy Oliva

Didier Deschamps was not messing around. After France’s defeat to Italy on Friday, he rang the changes. Eight of them, in fact. And, after a wobbly start, he was rewarded with a comfortable 2-0 win. Italy are top of Group A2 though, they beat Israel 2-0 and have maximum points. But the real question today is: What’s going on at Chelsea now? The Athletic reports that the relationship between key shareholders has completely broken down and they’re trying to buy each other out! Liam Twomey is back to explain more.   Need something to read? Remember that boy who could balance the ball on his head like a seal? Kerlon the Brazilian? He’d vanished off the face of the earth, no-one knew where he was. Jack Lang found him and got himself a lovely interview, treat yourself and click the link in the episode description. https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5739187/2024/09/09/kerlon-seal-dribble-interview-brazil/Presenter: Iain MacintoshWith: Liam Twomey, James PearceProducer: Lucy Oliva

He’s done it again. Just as Scotland dared to believe they could take a point from Portugal, up pops You Know Who with goal number 901. It was a tough break for Scotland, though they should be used to that by now. They deserved more than to end this international week empty-handed.Spain put in a fine performance in a soggy Geneva, they were reduced to ten men early on, but rallied to beat Switzerland 4-1. Also, we’re lobbying for 20 year jail sentences for people who run onto the pitch to try to get a selfie with Ronaldo. Need something to read? Matt Slater’s Business of Football column is always excellent, lots of stuff about ticket prices, player welfare and why PSG signing up with Pernod Ricard is such a controversial move. The link is in the description. Read more here: https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5749876/2024/09/08/uefa-ticket-price-cap-player-rest/ Presenter: Iain MacintoshWith: Jack Pitt-Brooke, Seb Stafford Bloor, Paul TenorioProducer: Steve Hankey

Yep, we all laughed at him and so obviously he went out and scored. Cristiano Ronaldo helped Portugal beat Croatia 2-1 and, in doing so, broke the 900 barrier. Lionel Messi’s on 865, by the way. Sigh. Spare a thought for Scotland. They were so much better against Poland than they were in Germany during the summer, but they still ended up getting beaten after giving away a 96th minute penalty to Poland. And congratulations to San Marino, victors in a competitive game for the first time ever. Nicko Sensoli will never have to pay for a drink again.  Plus, why haven’t the USMNT completed the appointment of Mauricio Pochettino yet? And what are the USWNT going to do without Alex Morgan. Paul Tenorio and Meg Linehan join us with their thoughts.And it wouldn’t be a Daily Football Briefing with Liam Twomey telling us something about Chelsea. But have they just done something…smart? Got something to say to us? Oh, please say it, it’s international week and we need the content. Post it on the app or send me an email (imacintosh@theathletic.com) or, you know, write a review on Apple.Need something to read? Try Matt Slater’s explainer about Leicester, PSR and the Twilight Zone. The link is in the description, but if you prefer to read with your ears, there’s a special Athletic FC podcast out today on the same subject. https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5742838/2024/09/04/leicester-city-psr-premier-league/Presenter: Iain MacintoshWith: Liam Twomey, Paul Tenorio, Meg LinehanProducer: Lucy Oliva 

Behold the new Nations League! Come on, it actually sounds like it might be fun. And anything’s better than an interminable stream of friendlies, right? The new structure means that every position in the group means something different, which means that there will be something on the line in every match. And that’s got to be good. Tomas Hill Lopez Marcheno drops in to let us know if Spain are still likely to steamroller everyone.Plus, Steve Bruce is back! But is he ready for League One? And while we’re on the subject of old football managers, you’ll be needing one of those this Autumn because the new Football Manager has been delayed.  Got something to say? Oh, please say it, it’s international week and we need the content. Post it on the app or send me an email (imacintosh@theathletic.com) or, you know, write a review on Apple.Need something to read? There’s a tremendous interview with Brighton owner Tony Bloom on The Athletic, really fine work from Andy Naylor and, well, with that Football Manager news, you may as well start a new save for the next three months, and this will give you food for thought.  Presenter: Iain MacintoshWith: Tomas Hill Lopez-Menchero Producer: Ben Green

The late, great Eric Draven used to say that it can’t rain all the time. Manchester United supporters may disagree. It’s been another bad start to what might be another bad season, but Carl Anka isn’t so sure. He’s here with lots of reasons to be at least sort of optimistic about the future. Can Everton be optimistic about anything? They’re the real crisis club in England. We’ve borrowed Matt Slater from The Athletic FC podcast to assess the situation.   Got something to say? Oh, please say it, it’s international week and we need the content. Post it on the app or send me an email (imacintosh@theathletic.com) or, you know, write a review on Apple.Need something to read? Jay Harris, the aforementioned magnificent centre-back, has written all about Ivan Toney and the unsatisfying end to his incredible story at Brentford. Presenter: Iain MacintoshWith: Carl Anka, Matt SlaterProducer: Abi Paterson

Well, sort of. He’s certainly got the lowest goal per shot ratio across Europe’s five biggest leagues. But then again, he does take a lot of shots. And now he’s got his eye in and he’s broken his duck, we can expect those numbers to change. Plus, who won the transfer window? Tim Spiers is here and what he says may startle and alarm you. Because he’s been quite kind to Manchester United.On that note, UEFA have done something good and constructive. And I, for one, am startled and alarmed. Got something to say? Oh, please say it, it’s international week and we need the content. Post it on the app or send me an email (imacintosh@theathletic.com) or, you know, write a review on Apple.Need something to read? Oli Kay is always excellent, but his column on the messiness of the transfer window is essential reading and the link is in the episode description. Presenter: Iain MacintoshWith: Tim SpiersProducer: Abi Paterson

For their supporters, the most galling aspect of Manchester United’s heavy defeat to Liverpool will be the suspicion that this wasn’t even Liverpool at their best. It really could have been much worse. So where do they go from here? Carl Anka was at Old Trafford and needs a hug. Kylian Mbappe has opened his account for Real Madrid, his brace against Real Betis gave his new team a confidence building result, but they’re still four points behind Barcelona.And Bayer Leverkusen’s long unbeaten Bundesliga run is over. Seb Stafford Bloor is back to tell us why they shouldn’t be too concerned about what happened on Saturday. It’s all in the Great Big Monday Round-up, everything you need to know from the ten biggest leagues in the world. Well, it’s the ten leagues that I run on my FM games anyway. Need something to read? Phil Hay’s moving tribute to Sol Bamba is, well, as wonderful as you would expect. The link is in the description and the thoughts of everyone at The Athletic are with Sol’s friends and family.  https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5737310/2024/09/01/sol-bamba-leeds-cardiff-ivory-coast/Presenter: Iain MacintoshWith: Carl Anka, Seb Stafford BloorProducer: Lucy Oliva

We’ve been quite critical of the new-fangled Champions League here and a lot of that criticism still stands, but…did anyone else watch that draw and think, “Well…it’s not perfect. It might not even be good. But it does look a bit more fun than the old way.”Plus, how did Chelsea get on against Servette? And what on earth happened to Real Madrid when they went to the Canary Islands? Got something to say? Post it on the app or send me an email (imacintosh@theathletic.com) or, you know, write a review on Apple.Need something to read? Try Jack Pitt-Brooke on the new era of Lee Carsley at England. https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5728690/2024/08/29/england-carsley-gomes-grealish/Presenter: Iain MacintoshWith: Liam Twomey, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Aleksandr Čeferin Producer: Steve Hankey

A shock in the League Cup and Atletico Madrid drop more points.Poor old Ipswich. Dealt a horrendous pair of opening Premier League fixtures with Liverpool at home and then Manchester City away, they must have been looking forward to their little trip to fourth division AFC Wimbledon. Abi Paterson was there for this cruellest of blows. Nottingham Forest met Newcastle and one Sandro Tonali in the glamour tie of the round. Guy Clarke was watching that one for us. Atletico Madrid spent big this summer, but they’ve dropped four points from three games and, despite racking up an xG of 2.71, they just couldn’t break down Espanyol. All that, the League Cup third round draw, the last Champions League qualifiers and the latest transfer news. How do we get all of this content into just ten minutes of high quality audio? Simple. I scream at people until they get it right. Got something to say? Don’t keep it to yourself. That’s how ulcers develop. Post it on the app or send me an email (imacintosh@theathletic.com) or, you know, write a review on Apple.Need something to read? Here’s that Champions League draw article that you absolutely must read. https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5716629/2024/08/28/uefa-ucl-europa-draw-swiss/Need something to watch? Here’s that Bernal video I mentioned from JJ Bull.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pp8ajQgfMQgPresenter: Iain MacintoshWith: Abi Paterson, Guy Clarke, James Pearce and Neil Mellor  Producer: Steve Hankey