Sports

Lewis Hamilton: 100 Races Won, Will There be 100 Races More?

CYANN FIELDING | LIFESTYLE EDITOR

It is hardly surprising, but Lewis Hamilton has hit another milestone in his career. At the end of September, Hamilton secured his 100th victory in Formula 1, snatching pole position within the last laps from McLaren’s Lando Norris. With winning a race in all 15 of his seasons, Hamilton has achieved something no other driver has managed to in the existence of the sport. But after narrowly achieving his centenary win, questions have been raised over the remainder of Hamilton’s career in Formula 1 – with many press outlets assuming the world champion is not far from his retirement.

So, if his retirement is pending, what can we expect of the Brit in the years to come? It remains clear that Hamilton’s departure is out of the picture for the next couple of years – unless something monumental happens – as at the beginning of the 2021 season, he signed a contract to drive with Mercedes until at least 2023. Whilst his retirement may not be long after his contract’s expiry, it is all-but likely that he will still be challenging for the next couple of years. However, this may be in a different position we are used to seeing the top Mercedes driver in. The season so far has been a tough one for Hamilton and his fans alike – full of feuds, crashes, and silly mistakes: it appears that the reigning champion is either not as good as he once was, or his competition has intensified. In either case, Formula 1 fans may witness his downfall from the front row over the next couple of years as the hot prospects begin to overtake the veteran. Saying this, the day will finally come where the 36-year-old decides to hang up his helmet. And whilst this may be a sad day for many, others will choose to follow his new journey outside the sport – in what should be – a success story.

Despite rumours that we could see him in the fashion industry after his F1 days are done, Hamilton will never ‘leave’ the sport completely. Speaking to Gazzetta dello Sport, he said: ‘I could stay involved in F1 after retirement and I think I want to’. Whilst he did not specify what this would be exactly, it would not be surprising to see him in the position of a figurehead, coach, or even team principal. For many, seeing Hamilton stay within the sport would be a dream. It is also obvious that having Lewis Hamilton as a part of your team would be a serious advantage, offering tutelage to the younger drivers. Even if he does not stay within the sport at all, his legacy will - all the work he has done to ensure the sport becomes more inclusive will remain, and he will always be a huge part of that.

Formula 1 is not losing its top driver anytime soon. But the next few years will be interesting for Hamilton and Mercedes as the sport evolves without him. Retirement or no retirement, it is without doubt that the Briton is the best driver the sport has ever witnessed. The question that will remain, is whether he makes the same impact outside, or still inside, of the sport when he does eventually move on.

Source: Jen Ross

Should There Be a World Cup Every Two Years?

PETER GEDDES | CONTENT WRITER

The sudden return of Arsène Wenger into the football news cycle has taken many by surprise, but in his role as FIFA’s chief of global football development, the proposal he is pushing to reshape the future of the international game is more outlandish than one might expect.

For those who don’t know, the footballing calendar is decided every ten years in a series of meetings and negotiations with all the sport’s stakeholders, and the proposals being spearheaded by the former Arsenal manager will be voted on by the end of the year.

So, what is being proposed and why? The headline is that the World Cup would be held every two years which would result in there being an international tournament every year. This will seem bizarre to many fans, but it is important to include some of the secondary proposals. Firstly, players would be guaranteed 25 rest days a year, with the qualification process taking place in a condensed tournament format over a few weeks rather than the dispersed international break format that has been used for years. International friendlies would be eliminated in principle, with other ‘meaningless games’ (presumably UEFA’s Nations League) also being done away with. The motivation behind this plethora of changes has already been highly contested with opponents of the proposals claiming that it is essentially a money grab by FIFA, who don’t have the yearly income that UEFA has from the Champions League and its other tournaments. Money is obviously an element of the picture, and FIFA and Wenger will claim that more cashflow for the Federation is financially advantageous for the less advantaged and developing confederations which don’t have the same economic clout as Europe.

There are two other elements of the argument: one is focused on entertainment, the other is competitive opportunity. The World Cup is an event everyone enjoys. It is perhaps the biggest sporting event and entertainment product on the face of the globe, and you can’t have too much of a good thing. What’s more, is that in having it every four years, it hinders the opportunity of smaller nations and players to have a shot on the biggest stage. Through injury and other setbacks, a player, even a true great, may only get one or two chances to play on the world stage, and that’s a huge loss both for the player and their supporters.

Source: newstalk.com

What should we make of this? Obviously, they knew the first reaction to more tournaments would regard player welfare. In response, FIFA have tried to pre-empt with the 25 days of rest and all the rhetoric about how it provides more opportunities to achieve greatness. It has been clear for some time to anyone who watches international football outside of the major tournaments that the calendar needs streamlining and a major restructuring. Nobody cares about the long qualification campaigns, with international breaks interrupting the rhythm and hype of the domestic season. Change is needed and the proposed overhaul to qualifiers is, to me, a welcome one. However, the notion of having a World Cup every two years does seem to undermine the concept somewhat. Part of the value of international tournaments is that they don’t come around very often. It’s part of what makes them prestigious. The reply will come back that the Champions League is yearly, yet it retains its value. It retains its value yes, but it is not as valuable as a World Cup or a European Championships. It will change from player to player, but I would expect that most players would rather win a tournament with their country than a European trophy - take Lionel Messi at the recent Copa America or Cristiano Ronaldo at the 2016 Euros – and it is because so few people have that opportunity. Increasing the frequency decreases the value, at least to a degree. Then, there is the main issue in actually getting this implemented, UEFA and the European nations. UEFA is unlikely to allow the Euros to give way for the World Cup and they are only a few years into their Nations League experiment. If the Euros becomes more frequent and they retain the Nations League, it would mean a more congested calendar and more pressure on players to play more games no matter what FIFA says about reducing match load. In my view, the best argument for these changes is the situation of the nonEuropean nations, many are kept afloat and can only support their national games through FIFA’s grants. More games and tournaments in those countries could help expand the commercial and sporting horizon for the world game. Again, though, my preferred solution would include a building-up of less developed nations but not at the cost of the premier football tournament. There are ways of getting eyeballs and money into Africa, Asia, and the Americas without having a bloated forty-eight team tournament every two years plus qualifying. Increasing the number of meaningful matches and redirecting some of football’s capital to different parts of the globe are both admirable goals which should be pursued, but messing with a tried and tested feature of the football calendar is not the best way to achieve either.

England’s Generational Talents Aren’t Being Compared Fairly

TOM GIBBS | CONTENT WRITER

Mason Greenwood and Phil Foden: two generational English talents with all the potential a footballer could ask for. In a stunt much unlike the footballing world, people are already beginning to compare them. The main issue? Their comparisons lack depth and nuance.

Most comparisons of Greenwood and Foden look at their stats in a given season. This was particularly prominent last season, with calls for Foden to be considered in the same bracket as Kylian Mbappé and Erling Haaland, whilst Greenwood was largely forgotten about. The problem with this approach is that, while both young, Greenwood and Foden aren’t the same age. To compare them at any static point naturally biases the comparison in favour of the Manchester City man, who is nearly seventeen months older than his rival. In such a crucial phase of player development, two academic years difference is substantial. Hence, it is more useful to compare the two at similar points in their development.

Let’s compare data up to the last full season we have for both players at a given age: the season that each player turned 19. For Foden, this is the 2018/19 season, and for the Manchester United forward, we look at the 2020/21 campaign. According to Transfermarkt, by the end of 2018/19, Foden had registered seven goals and two assists in 1435 minutes of senior football. Conversely, Greenwood had registered thirty goals and ten assists in 5949 minutes of senior football at the back end of last season, giving Greenwood and Foden a minutesper-goal-contribution of 149 minutes and 144 minutes, respectively. Note that these figures are exceptionally close, despite hugely different circumstances - Greenwood played significantly more minutes, but Foden was operating in a far more functional team. Next, let’s try and take account of these differing circumstances using expected goals and expected assists. This should, for the most part, reduce the bias of playing with players of varying qualities. Using Understat’s Premier League data up until the aforementioned seasons, Foden had one goal from 2.25xG, showing a slight underperformance from him in front of goal, given the chances he was presented with. On the other hand, Greenwood registered 17 goals from 11.17xG - demonstrating an impressive clinical instinct in front of goal. Both players were slightly let down by teammates: Foden registering a mere one league assist from 1.56xA, with Greenwood only mustering three assists from 3.91xA.

Source: Manchester Evening News

These figures would imply that Greenwood is performing to a higher level, given the circumstances surrounding him. However, with such limited playing time it is hard to make concrete judgements on Foden’s output - it may just be that he was not given enough time for things to average out over the season.

Comparisons such as these just serve to demonstrate how closely matched the pair are and how exciting England’s future is. Of course, this analysis itself is somewhat limited: Foden’s all-round play is arguably better than Greenwood’s, and their futures lie in different areas of the pitch. However, it is helpful to add some muchneeded perspective amongst the fervour of Foden’s recent prolific purple patch. Both players are undoubtedly generational talents; both have world class potential. In reality, we should probably appreciate both in their own right and avoid comparing them. Unfortunately, this is less likely than Leicester City’s title win. Hence, failing that, the least we can do is compare the two at equivalent stages of their development. Foden is showing his brilliance at the moment, with an electric end to last season, but Greenwood has two years to make up the ground. There’s no way of knowing what the United man will be doing at 21, and, in this way, any attempt to rank these English ‘wonderkids’ must, at the very least, take account of their relative ages.

Club Case Studies: 1) Borussia Mönchengladbach

OLI GENT | SPORTS EDITOR

In this new series, I’m going to be handpicking clubs from all over the world and examining their history, their performance this season, and finally come to an assessment on the current squad, picking out problematic positions and potential areas for improvement. A brief historical insight

Promoted to the Bundesliga alongside Bayern Munich in 1965, Borussia Mönchengladbach have taken a unique pathway to become one of Germany’s biggest clubs. Nicknamed ‘Die Fohlen’, Mönchengladbach merited that particular label for their, and more specifically their manager Hennes Weisweiler, emphasis on the development of young starlets, adopting a ‘carefree, successful style of play’, whereby individualism and creative freedom were allowed to blossom over tactical rigidity,

Armed with youthful, hungry names like Jupp Heynckes and Bernd Rupp, Die Borussen became a national and continental force throughout the 1970’s; winning five Bundesliga titles, two UEFA Cups, and becoming the first club to successfully defend the Bundesliga title in 1970 and 1971.

But with financial restrictions always hindering further progress, the club was instead sliding dangerously into a period of serios regression. Mönchengladbach developed a ‘selling-club’ mentality; Heynckes, Rupp and Gerhard Elfert left, albeit for hefty sums, with the former moving to Hannover 96 for a record 275,000 Deutschmarks. More recently, the most prominent example of this would be Granit Xhaka’s exit for Arsenal, with the Swiss (unbelievably) the club’s most prized asset.

The terrible tenures of Bernd Krauss and Friedel Rausch led to two relegations from the Bundesliga: in 1999, when the club finally succumbed after a miserable two-decade spell lumbering in the deeper depths of the table, and 2007. Granted, the club was too great in stature to remain anchored in the Zweite Bundesliga, and bounced straight back, but the Foals continued to unimpressively languish in the bottom half of the domestic league.

Upon Lucien Favre’s arrival in January 2011, relegation seemed all but confirmed for Mönchengladbach, who were well adrift at the foot of the table. Yet the Frenchman performed a miracle, saving the club by the skin of its teeth on the final day, before following that up with a huge overachievement the following campaign, as the Borussen finished fourth in the table, narrowly missing out on the Champions League, having challenged for the title all season.

Their fortunes began to change again, and third place in 2014-15 showed just how impressive Favre’s turnover of the club had been, getting die Fohlen back to jostling at the top of the Bundesliga, where they deserved to be. How’re they doing this season?

Since the departure of talented manager Marco Rose, Mönchengladbach have not performed as well as the quality of their personnel suggests they should. A similar finish to last term’s eighth place seems on the cards under Adi Hütter, but loftier, Champions League expectations should be held of such a promising squad. Hütter has a plethora of midfield options, all with their own unique traits and talents, but the standout name here is 24-year-old Denis Zakaria. The complete box-to-box midfielder, the Swiss combines his versatility to play in midfield or at centre-back with his pace, sheer strength and size, and his technical ability.

They sit 10th in the Bundesliga at the time of writing, off the back of two good wins against Borussia Dortmund and Wolfsburg, both in which Hütter deployed the 3-5-2 formation. A rocky start to the season resulted in a heavy 4-0 defeat at Bayer Leverkusen and a 2-1 loss to Union Berlin, with Hütter reacting instinctively to drop the 4-2-3-1 for a more secure back three. It would work a charm: a 3-1 victory over Arminia Bielefeld would follow, leading into a narrow 1-0 defeat to Augsburg where the 4-2-3-1 again proved problematic.

In terms of the squad and how they line-up, Yann Sommer mans the space between the sticks, with the Swiss goalkeeper a mainstay for the Borussen since 2014. Whilst not always the most convincing, the 32-year-old has been a reliable goalkeeper for the club. Mönchengladbach’s back four is nailed-on; a beautiful complexion of every attribute needed to create the perfect defence. At right-back, Stefan Lainer offers pace, attacking impetus, and crossing ability, while still being a valiant one-on-one defender. In the heart of the defence, Matthias Ginter, signed from Dortmund for £17 million, has been earmarked as one of the signings of the new millennium. A defensive man-mountain, Ginter is aerially imperious, strong, and a surprisingly good progressive passer, who, whilst not the quickest, is not the slowest either. Alongside him lies Nico Elvedi, a versatile Swiss who can also competently fill in at right-back. One of the quickest centre-backs around, Elvedi makes for the ideal covering centre-back, and this is what complements him so well with Ginter. The former Dortmund man is able to break the defensive line and close down opposing attackers, whilst Elvedi drops in behind to sweep up the space. Whilst not the greatest aerial threat for someone of his 6’2” size, Elvedi is certainly not weak with his head, but it is the area of his game that he could work on the most. On the left, Ramy Bensebaini, a standout signing from Rennes. Quick, strong, near-dominant in the air and with decent attacking output, the Algerian ties all this in with defensive solidity to become the complete left-back. Aside from Zakaria, Mönchengladbach have impressive depth in the engine room. German international Christoph Kramer started for his country in the 2014 World Cup final, whilst Laszio Benes is a solid back-up option. Florian Neuhaus is, as well as Zakaria, a standout talent who could well make it at the highest level; be that at Mönchengladbach or elsewhere. A decent size at 6’0”, Neuhaus is often the creative spark that Hütter can turn to, either off the bench or from the off. Exciting prospect Manu Koné was signed in the summer from Toulouse, and Hütter has been slow yet consistent in bedding in his new French starlet as a rotational eight.

But the main attraction to die Fohlen at present is their electrifying front three: Marcus Thuram, Alassane Pléa, and Breel Embolo. The latter is often omitted from the starting line-up when captain Lars Stindl is available, but in periods when Stindl has been injured, the trio have lined up together and been unplayable. A wondrous mélange of pace, power, interplay, and clinical finishing, the way in which the three can interchange positionally and link up in the manner that they do is wholly adherent to the long-held philosophy of Weisweiler: carefree, exciting, attacking play.

Thuram is the standout performer. The son of Lilian top scored for the club in 2019/20 with 14 goals, and he will be looking to recoup that sort of goalscoring form this season after a disappointing haul last term. At 6’3”, the left winger is a force in the air, particularly at the back post, and he adds this string to his growing bow.

And yet, although the spotlight might shine on Thuram, that cannot take away the work that Pléa and Embolo put in to support their French teammate. Pléa spearheads the attack: he is the focal number nine that occupies the centre-backs, looking to either drop deep to link play and allow the wide forwards space behind the defensive line, or he will look to spin in behind himself to stretch his markers. Embolo’s directness and goalscoring threat are what he brings to the fray, with the Swiss a confident and strong ball-carrier, looking to drive down the line either to the byline for a pull-back or for a shot across the goalkeeper with his right foot.

How can they improve?

As decent as their squad depth might be, a number of the Mönchengladbach squad are ageing; they’ve entered their thirties and have seen their squad statuses reduced to sporadic rotational options.

It’ll be interesting to see how Hütter reacts at the end of this season: ‘back-up’ players, for example, Tony Jantschke, Tobias Sippel, Patrick Hermann, as well as more senior first-teamers like Stindl and Sommer, are beyond the age of 30, and whilst the experience and nous they bring is unrivalled, there comes a point whereby experience cannot outweigh quality. Of course, age does not mean that a player will decline, as many FIFA players might think. But in such situations, where a large backlog of the squad is ageing, Mönchengladbach might well be better off investing in some younger players to support the more experienced heads to fully observe the ‘Fohlenelf’ philosophy.

Positionally, they could improve everywhere, but in one or even two transfer windows, that’d be almost impossible. Should all those ageing players create a mass exodus from Borussia Park this summer, it would leave a rather significant lack of depth in the squad. At least one new goalkeeper would be needed; whether Yann Sommer stays is another question.

American right-back Joe Scally has made his mark early this season, but at just 18 he’s still one for the future and can’t be relied on too heavily to deputise for Lainer on a regular basis.

In the heart of the back four, some back-up for Elvedi and Ginter is needed. Jantschke has done a stellar job for the club since his arrival in 2006, but it could well be time for him to move on, whilst Mamadou Doucoure is still raw and could benefit from being farmed out to a lower league side to build his confidence before he is able to stake a true claim for a starting spot. Andreas Poulsen is still to return from his loan spell at Ingolstadt and should be able to rival Bensebaini for the left-back berth, but the rise of talented 18-year-old Luca Netz could give the manager a serious headache.

In midfield, the depth is most certainly there and is sustainable; but the quality of player in that midst remains questionable. All have given their all for the Mönchengladbach cause, but whether players like Hofmann and Benes will really be able turn the club into genuine title challengers is unlikely. Therefore, one can conclude that, whilst not necessarily a major priority, upgrades could definitely be made in the Mönchengladbach midfield.

Zakaria’s future is unclear: Roma are interested, with the Swiss’ contract expiring in the summer, and it seems unlikely that he will sign a new deal unless die Borussen are willing to put a decent deal and project in front of him.

Up top and wide, depth again is not an issue, with Embolo, Thuram, and Pléa nailed on for long spells at the club, provided they don’t get poached by encircling sharks. Patrick Hermann has of course been a loyal servant to the club, but question marks remain over his reputations as a true winner. Keanan Bennetts and Hannes Wolf are decent back-ups, but their quality is also under scrutiny if Gladbach are to really challenge Bayern and Dortmund at the top.

Naturally, such a gargantuan outlay and overturn is not to be expected in one summer, or even two. But if die Borussen want to properly challenge the big boys at the very highest level and beyond, there’s money to spend and players to hold onto.

Where does the England National Team Stand?

BRETT VAN ZOELEN | CONTENT WRITER

After a heart-breaking defeat in the European Championship final in the summer, many England fans have been left hopeful for the future of national team, and with more talent and depth in the squad than they have had since the ‘golden generation’, it is not a difficult viewpoint to understand. However, multiple questions need to be asked of this squad and how they will proceed to the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

If you were to analyse England’s performance based on their recent results at major tournaments, it looks like they are on track to win next year’s World Cup. Despite the Three Lions’ clear improvements over the last few years, they have a couple of clear obstacles to overcome, with the first of these problems coming in the form of the international schedule. Whilst having four international breaks a season may be beneficial for team cohesion, it does mean that England players go from playing against world-class opposition in the Premier League week in week out, to playing significantly weaker teams over the course of the international break. It is also important to note that since the international breaks are filled with ‘lesser games’ such as World Cup qualifying, it means there are less opportunities for ‘tier one’ footballing nations to play against each other. It could be argued that this is dragging down the quality of international football, as better competition produces higher quality matches and better international experiences for fans and players alike.

Due to a lack of encounters against the top sides in qualifying, England arrive at international tournaments being used to a certain style of play that is designed to break down weaker opposition and to play with possession. Essentially, the squad get used to brute-forcing their way through games as the opposition they come up against is completely outmatched. What we know from the bigger games that Gareth Southgate’s side have played at major competitions is that they set up in a similar manner to Manchester United under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. They have the player profile out wide and the right amount of hold up play in their front line to counterattack some of the best teams in the world with Luke Shaw’s stunning goal against Italy in the Euros final a prime example of this. The problem is in the double pivot, opting for two natural sixes in Declan Rice and Kalvin Philips to play next to each other signals the choice to play defensively. While this selection enables counter attacking football, it limits creative output. Inevitably this means that when England face a tougher opponent, it is easier for them to sit back and watch as England are unable to materialise clear-cut chances, building up slowly, from side-toside, rather than looking for that penetrative pass through the lines.

Another parallel between Solskjaer and Southgate is the loyalty they both have to their so-called ‘favourites’. If England were to set up in a more creative manner, that would require them to be more willing to drop forwards that rely more on pace than end-product. This is where players like Phil Foden and Jack Grealish come in. With Mason Mount arguably a more ‘complete’ midfielder in the number 10 hole, it makes total sense for players like Foden and Grealish to replace underperforming wingers. Raheem Sterling does not yet fit into this bracket seeing as his Euros performance was one of the best of his career, but the favouritism for the Manchester City man among others to start every game regardless of the tactical approach needs to be changed. Sterling is now a senior player for England and his performances justified his selection in the most recent tournament, given how Southgate set out his stall, but if England are ever to make the next step and win a major international trophy, they need more tactical versatility. Southgate needs to be ruthless enough to drop his favourites if another player’s skillset fits the team England is playing. Overall, England fans should be optimistic for now, but change is needed for the team to take the next step and bring football home.

THE FOUNDER October 2021