Football journalist. Contributor to the likes of FourFourTwo, BBC and several national newspapers. Author of How to Win the World Cup.
Midlands
Joined June 2011
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The new and updated version of How to Win the World Cup hits the shelves today.
Packed with even more insight, interviews and tips for Thomas Tuchel et al ahead of this summer's tournament, it's worth adding to your World Cup reading list.
Really sad to see this. I bumped into Mark as he ate lunch once. I was with a kids' birthday party. Nobody bothered him, but he noticed the parents recognised him.
Before he left, he offered to pay for the kids' lunches - a great mark of his character. I hope he gets better soon
Chris Evans retweeted
🍒 Europe? That’s the Cherry on top
Bournemouth play the first continental fixture of their history tonight – we spoke to key figures at the club to find out how they’ve climbed to greater heights than ever before... 🧵👇
😞 Heads bowed, Bournemouth’s players were distraught. Trudging back to the Goodison Park dressing room in July 2020, they knew a 3-1 win over Everton wasn’t enough to save them.
🧚❌ Six days later, Eddie Howe stepped down. The fairytale appeared to be over.
🎭 Six years on, July 2020 was merely the end of the first act.
🫨 A return to the Premier League, one of the country’s best recruitment models, a 6th-placed finish, and Europa League qualification have replaced relegation distress with pure euphoria.
🧭 It wasn't simple. After a playoff semi-final loss in 2021, Scott Parker guided them back to the top flight in 2022.
🗣️ "The second season was really big for us," vice-captain Lewis Cook told FFT. "If we hadn’t gone up that year, it would have been tough."
🇺🇸 Repromotion paved the way for American investor Bill Foley & Black Knight Football Club to buy the Cherries for over £100m.
🤝 Foley promised an “always advance, never retreat” mindset—pledging money for a top training ground, squad depth, and the women's team.
🗣️ "Everybody has to buy into what the club is about," club legend Steve Fletcher told FFT.
🗣️ "Whether you’re a chef, groundsman, accountant, or part of the first team, everybody is pulling in the same direction—for the club to do well."
🔎 Recruitment transformed, too. Sitting in Foley's multi-club network (Lorient, Moreirense, Auckland FC), Bournemouth bought raw talent like Dango Ouattara, Antoine Semenyo, and Illia Zabarnyi—later turning a £105m+ profit on the trio.
🗣️ "It’s an incredible place for players to come and develop," defender James Hill tells us. "For some players, this might not be the end point, it could be the beginning of their journey towards bigger things."
🇪🇺 After Gary O'Neil, Andoni Iraola took over in 2023. Despite failing to win his first 9 games, Iraola's high-pressing style eventually yielded 12th place with a record Premier League points total, followed by a charge towards Europe the next year.
☄️ The turning point? Antoine Semenyo's iconic final kick before joining Man City—a 95th-minute 25-yard winner vs Spurs.
💪 Bournemouth didn't lose another match all season, beating Liverpool, Arsenal, and Newcastle along the way.
🎟️ A 1-1 draw with Man City in their penultimate game officially sealed European football.
🗣️ "To celebrate on the pitch with everyone was incredible," says Fletcher. "The magnitude of what the club and that team achieved will live forever."
🌹 Now, Marco Rose leads the Cherries into the Europa League.
🏟️ Four European nights will take place at the 12,357-capacity Vitality Stadium—likely the smallest home ground of any English club ever to play in major European competition.
🗣️ "There will be a lot of emotion when we play that first game in Europe," says Fletcher, who scored the goal to keep them in the Football League in 2009. "I’ll probably shed a tear."
⤵️ Read the full story by @ChrisEvansWrite
📚 fourfourtwo.visitlink.me/sBt…
Bournemouth play their first match in European competition this week - the latest in a long list of headline-making moments in the club's recent history.
I spoke with Lewis Cook and James Hill for @FourFourTwo ahead of what really is the cherry on top of an amazing story 🍒
Chris Evans retweeted
🍒 Cherries head to Europe
For the first time in their history, Bournemouth will compete in Europe. It is some journey for the club and fans as they nearly went out of the Football League less than two decades ago. With new gaffer Marco Rose replacing Andoni Iraola he will lead the club on their first European adventure.
✍️ @ChrisEvansWrite
fourfourtwo.com/team/new-iss…
Does Solskjaer get an unnecessarily bad rep?
Things ended badly (they do for most managers), but it's a bit unfair that he's always cited as the risk United took by hiring Michael Carrick
OGS finished second and reached a Euro final in his time as United boss. Hardly hopeless.
Really like this from Xavi upon getting the Netherlands job.
Always a bit cynical about how much a non-native can truly feel for an adopted national team's identity, but those Barca links just make this feel like a good fit.
Klopp calling Germany the "pinnacle" of his career is a fascinating shift in perception of national team managers.
Of course he's got to say that. But now with Klopp, Ancelotti, Tuchel and Pochettino in international jobs (and Pep courted for others), they've become a lot sexier
For all the criticism thrown at Thomas Tuchel on Wednesday, it's hard to imagine an England side defending as resolutely for as long as Argentina have against Spain here.
Scaloni going for his second World Cup as manager tonight. Since Pozzo, only Carlos Bilardo (in 1990) and Didier Deschamps (in 2022) have taken a team to a second World Cup final after winning the previous tournament.
Mario Zagallo the only other World Cup-winning manager to reach a second final after leading a team to victory - although he waited 28 years between winning in 1970 and taking Brazil to the 1998 final.
If Scaloni emulates Pozzo's record tonight, his story won't have half the story of the Italian.
From working for Mussolini and fascist salutes to conspiracy theories aplenty, Pozzo's is fascinating tale.
Worth a listen to this pod I did with @YBTAHOAB
podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcas…
A brilliant piece by Philipp Lahm, looking at how the most successful ideas at this World Cup have flourished and grown roots in certain nations.
share.google/hmDIPQag3hYe6sQ…
Chris Evans retweeted
*Deep breath* 🧵
I’ve re-watched game from 56mins to clear my heads on the different thoughts from varying voices + work out whether this was psychological meltdown that is on the players (English DNA)? Or was it Tuchel (TT) losing the plot? Or maybe a mix?
Big thanks to @wearetrackradio for having me on (again) to talk about the World Cup final and the secrets that turn contenders into champions.
And when @Russw777 asked me to name my tip to win on Sunday, there was only one I could choose... Spain 🇪🇸
Chris Evans retweeted
A list of all those ‘defensive’ Southgate substitutions I’m reading about today…
The reality is that Tuchel made questionable tactical changes against Croatia and Norway before finally muddling through to find the answers. He didn't have the same allowance to do that last night, but it wasn't a one-time thing. That's why there should be questions.
Chris Evans retweeted
Let's be clear: that was tactical cowardice. It takes guts to defend deep but more to back yourself to keep going. That Konsa-Gordon sub will live in my head until the Euros. Don't tell us that it will be different if you're going to make exactly the same mistakes.
Chris Evans retweeted
Small thing as well maybe but at HT Anthony Barry said England wanted to show there’s no inferiority complex, but I feel like if that’s even a consideration, you know you’ve got an inferiority complex. And then I’m sure the subs made it feel like that to the players anyway
