6 Comments

This is my favourite sort of post, regardless of author.

Later edit: I recently read Hal Johnson's book Impossible Histories, which reaffirms my view that alternate histories are the best sandbox for skilled writers - so much space for fun and style, but all within the scope of intelligent ideas about causality. Perhaps a fun variation on your world cup retrospectives would be alternate versions - What If 2008 Spain lose in the quarters and Russia win the whole thing? What if Monaco had won the 2003 UCL and humiliated Mourinho?

(There was an unusually bad example of this kind of thinking in the Graun letters page blaming Nick Clegg for Trump, which is the opposite of what I love)

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The only thing you got wrong in the fantasy retelling of history is that Ajax wins the Champions League in 2019. They dispense with Mourinho's Madrid the same way they did at the Bernebau that season. In the final against Barcelona, Frenkie de Jong gives a masterclass in MF management against his team to be, assisting on two goals and Barca are totally confused on defense, not knowing how to handle Dusan Tadic as the false 9.

To this day I think Ajax would have defeated Liverpool that year had it not been for Lucas Moura. Dreams die hard.

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Hi, do you listen to the Totally Football Show podcast? You get mentioned on it nearly every week. There was one in today’s episode, and a big shout out from James Richardson last week.

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Not every week but I'm an occasional listener. I'll check it out, thanks.

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I think it was about a tweet about defensive midfielders getting booked and the one that Liverpool had just bought.

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I like that you gave the concept a go. Not ‘doing it’ for me personally.

The takeway for me is that football is full of sliding doors and the butterfly effect.

Reminds me of dice football games me and my friends played growing up and writing your own season nativities as a result.

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