Bit of a weird one, Mbappe was recently asked on French TV show 'The Bridge' about his favourite memes which he mentioned - some about Henry, and some depicting himself as a dictator, including one showing him as Chairman Mao. The original video has now been removed from the shows Youtube channel but has already circulated on social media.

Today several Chinese brands have cut ties with Mbappe as they see it as mocking political figure Mao Zedong, who is revered by their communist party. Even China's foreign ministry spokesperson Lian Jian has weighed in. Neither Mbappe nor The Bridge have commented yet.

I didn't have a meme with Mbappe causing an international incident with China on my bingo card but here we are.

*La Liga president Javier Tebas has now made a statement, also coming out from La Ligas corporate account, damage control time.

Mbappe has now publicly apologised for his comments.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cv62yg0erp8zo

they're one of the 5 youth sports coins to be released next year in the US, any thoughts on the design? (screenshot from yt)

Barcelona have been fined £503 for contacting Atletico Madrid striker Julian Alvarez without first informing the club in writing. Alvarez stayed at Atletico and has apologised to fans after saying he dreamed of playing for Barcelona.

I see many of current generation culers have no idea what or who Cryuff was i am posting a bit about him and you guys who know other stuff about him pitch in to make this post complete.

Hendrik Johannes "Johan" Cruyff (25 April 1947 – 24 March 2016) was a Dutch professional football player and manager, widely considered the single most influential figure in the history of modern football. While legends like Pelé, Maradona, and Messi are celebrated for their playing brilliance, Cruyff is uniquely revered for revolutionising the sport twice: first on the pitch as the conductor of "Total Football", and later on the touchline as the tactical architect behind modern possession-based football.

Making his first-team debut in 1964, he partnered with coach Rinus Michels to pioneer Total Football (Totaalvoetbal)—a revolutionary tactical system where no outfield player was fixed to a nominal position; if one player moved out of position, a teammate seamlessly filled the space.

He led Ajax to three consecutive European Cups (1971, 1972, 1973) before moving to FC Barcelona in 1973 for a world-record transfer fee. In his first season in Spain, he helped Barcelona win their first La Liga title in 14 years (including a historic 5–0 victory over rivals Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabéu).

After retirement he was no less of a manager than any other, Cruyff returned to Barcelona in 1988. He overhauled the club, leading them to four consecutive La Liga titles (1991–1994) and their very first European Cup in 1992 at Wembley. That's only a half of why he is most goated manager of Barca.....

The Famous La masia- he wanted the Barca way of football into players right from young age that's why

Cruyff insisted that every youth team at Ajax and Barcelona play the exact same 4-3-3 attacking, possession-focused system as the senior squad. He prioritized technical intelligence, quick passing, and spatial awareness over physical size—a philosophy that later produced players like Xavi, Andrés Iniesta, Sergio Busquets, and Lionel Messi.

Random - he also mentored Pep which built a foundation for his extraordinary managerial career.

I remembered once houllier became the joint manager of liverpool together with roy evans. thought it was pretty weird. it didn't last long.

but it's 2026, maybe it's time to start having 2 coaches or managers? one can be man management. the other can be tactics. and the rest can split. and one can be the bad cop, and the other can be the good cop. what do you all think?

i am 193.5 cm and i am am fat i have mobility ,stamina and back issue how do i resolve it i can play on both foots i am almost 200lbs i am still growing so i might cross 2 meters but i want to make it pro while being defender pls guide me i want to defend like vvd!! i am 17

I mean, given the tactical direction football is taking, I think it's clear that football is definitely going to change. Nowadays, everything is about analyzing things and then putting that analysis into practice. Pressing has reached unimaginable levels. Nowadays, most teams use man-oriented pressing, and playing out from the back as well as maintaining possession is becoming increasingly difficult (with counter-pressing too). Space is also overanalyzed, and I think all of this has several consequences.

First of all, I think football is going to become a sport that's less and less suited to television (as a spectator sport). Secondly, players are clearly being affected by a process of robotization. They have to operate (primarily, but not exclusively) according to the manager's tactics, which, like football itself, are constantly evolving through new innovations and so on. Players are still human, so certain player profiles will disappear because they won't be productive enough anymore, making way for other profiles. And above all, players are going to suffer more and more injuries (far more than they do now), and they're especially going to retire much earlier.

So either we inevitably continue down this path, or football is going to change. That's why I think the game is bound to change.

I'm not saying that everything I've mentioned is necessarily going to happen, but that's the direction things are heading in...

Edit:By the way, I didn't specify this, but when I talk about changes, I'm thinking of things like the length of matches, for example, although plenty of other things could change too.