The business of football
The mind behind the decisions and the fans.
Messi says he regrets not having studied and that it is the only thing he asks of his children. The number that matters is not that he didn't do it: it's that almost none of them do, and the reasons have nothing to do with the player.
Read · 6 min read →
In 25 years the sports psychologist has gone from an embarrassing resource to a permanent fixture on the org chart, but their victory hides a trap: they care for the player's mind while being paid by the club that decides their future
Read · 8 min read →
Four researchers analysed Barcelona 2011/2012 and Manchester City 2018/2019 and found two radically different ways of attacking under the same manager. The destination was identical; the road, unrecognisable.
Read · 5 min read →
Psychology has spent decades documenting what the fan opening Change.org refuses to see: denying defeat does not save you from pain, it just finances it in instalments. The data on avoidance, cortisol and rumination are merciless.
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Two cardiac deaths, a cratered stock market, a GDP gap and a silver medal nobody wants around their neck. The data on losing a final are uncomfortable reading.
Read · 8 min read →
Home-team referee bias is real and exhaustively documented, but tiny per match. The cry of robbery almost always mistakes a minuscule pattern for a noisy error, and forgets the ninety minutes without a goal.
Read · 6 min read →
Series ‘The footballer's money' (3 of 4). None of them built a fortune alone. Fame opens the door and puts up the money; the partner —often, family— supplies the judgement. But beware: family looks like armour and isn't. Without preparation or advisers, you're ruined by someone who loves you.
