The Daily Football Briefing

England are two from two in the Nations League, which makes it a pretty decent start for interim boss Lee Carsley, anthem nonsense notwithstanding. Michael Bailey tells us what he made of a wet night at Wembley.  It’s not a new start for Germany boss Julian Nagelsmann, but so many key players retired in the summer that it sort of feels like one, Seb Stafford Bloor was watching that one.  And what’...

Didier Deschamps was not messing around. After France’s defeat to Italy on Friday, he rang the changes. Eight of them, in fact. And, after a wobbly start, he was rewarded with a comfortable 2-0 win. Italy are top of Group A2 though, they beat Israel 2-0 and have maximum points.  But the real question today is: What’s going on at Chelsea now? The Athletic reports that the relationship between key s...

He’s done it again. Just as Scotland dared to believe they could take a point from Portugal, up pops You Know Who with goal number 901. It was a tough break for Scotland, though they should be used to that by now. They deserved more than to end this international week empty-handed. Spain put in a fine performance in a soggy Geneva, they were reduced to ten men early on, but rallied to beat Switzer...

Yep, we all laughed at him and so obviously he went out and scored. Cristiano Ronaldo helped Portugal beat Croatia 2-1 and, in doing so, broke the 900 barrier. Lionel Messi’s on 865, by the way. Sigh.  Spare a thought for Scotland. They were so much better against Poland than they were in Germany during the summer, but they still ended up getting beaten after giving away a 96th minute penalty to P...

Behold the new Nations League! Come on, it actually sounds like it might be fun. And anything’s better than an interminable stream of friendlies, right? The new structure means that every position in the group means something different, which means that there will be something on the line in every match. And that’s got to be good. Tomas Hill Lopez Marcheno drops in to let us know if Spain are stil...

The late, great Eric Draven used to say that it can’t rain all the time. Manchester United supporters may disagree. It’s been another bad start to what might be another bad season, but Carl Anka isn’t so sure. He’s here with lots of reasons to be at least sort of optimistic about the future.  Can Everton be optimistic about anything? They’re the real crisis club in England. We’ve borrowed Matt Sla...

Well, sort of. He’s certainly got the lowest goal per shot ratio across Europe’s five biggest leagues. But then again, he does take a lot of shots. And now he’s got his eye in and he’s broken his duck, we can expect those numbers to change. Plus, who won the transfer window? Tim Spiers is here and what he says may startle and alarm you. Because he’s been quite kind to Manchester United. On that no...

For their supporters, the most galling aspect of Manchester United’s heavy defeat to Liverpool will be the suspicion that this wasn’t even Liverpool at their best. It really could have been much worse. So where do they go from here? Carl Anka was at Old Trafford and needs a hug. Kylian Mbappe has opened his account for Real Madrid, his brace against Real Betis gave his new team a confidence buildi...

We’ve been quite critical of the new-fangled Champions League here and a lot of that criticism still stands, but…did anyone else watch that draw and think, “Well…it’s not perfect. It might not even be good. But it does look a bit more fun than the old way.” Plus, how did Chelsea get on against Servette? And what on earth happened to Real Madrid when they went to the Canary Islands?  Got something...

A shock in the League Cup and Atletico Madrid drop more points. Poor old Ipswich. Dealt a horrendous pair of opening Premier League fixtures with Liverpool at home and then Manchester City away, they must have been looking forward to their little trip to fourth division AFC Wimbledon. Abi Paterson was there for this cruellest of blows.  Nottingham Forest met Newcastle and one Sandro Tonali in the...

Dani Olmo is finally a registered Barcelona player and just in the nick of time. The Catalans were staring down the barrel of a nasty shock away at Rayo Vallecano until Olmo appeared at the break and inspired a spirited fight back. That’s three wins from three for new boss Hansi Flick.  Everton were in the League Cup against Doncaster and, after the start they’ve had, that was quite the banana ski...

Did you know that Kobbie Mainoo has more interceptions than any other player in Europe’s top five leagues? Or that Brice Samba is one of only six unbeaten goalkeepers on the continent? Of course you didn’t. You’re a normal human being with an exciting life outside of football. But if you do like that sort of thing, you’ll love today’s show and a feature that will run until you all write in to dema...

We’ve been very mean about Chelsea for several weeks now, but are they about to have the last laugh? They put six past Wolves on Sunday. Tim Spiers was watching, he’ll tell us if we’re all in a lot of trouble. Manchester United lost too, Carl Anka is looking for positives there. But we don’t just discuss the Premier League here. Seb Stafford Bloor went to Saxony for the Bayern Munich game, I was w...

Another weekend filled with football approaches so we have your one stop guide to the fixtures you should be keeping an eye on - and a mini Bundesliga preview. Though you really should read Seb Stafford Bloor’s words, he knows what he’s talking about. Elsewhere Chelsea were in action, so was David De Gea, and Cristiano Ronaldo, find out how they got on. Plus the big transfer news too with James Mc...

Enzo Maresca certainly thinks so. He says that Chelsea, “is not the mess that it looks from the outside.” So…has he got a point? We’ve got Simon Johnson from Straight Outta Cobham on the show to tell us more.  Plus, who’s the latest EFL manager to get sacked? Did anyone know Neil Lennon was at Rapid Bucharest? Don’t worry. Doesn’t matter now. And how do you say Cagliari? Hint: Don’t ask Google.  G...

Look, I love Georgi Mamardashvili as much as Mama Mamardashvili, but the timing of his move to Liverpool seems a bit odd. He’s a fantastic goalkeeper, but so is Allison and he’s only 31. And then there’s Caoimhin Kelleher, he’s as trustworthy as any number two in the league. What’s going on, James Pearce?  And what’s all this about Ilkay Gundogan returning to Manchester City? He only left last sum...

A draw away from home is never a terrible result, but Tottenham supporters will wonder how they didn't take all three points from their trip to Leicester City. Foxes fans will have a concise two word answer: Jamie Vardy. The 37 year old striker stepped up when he was needed most, stayed switched on after a miserable first half, dragged his team back into the game and could have won it for them too...

On today's DFB: Welcome to the first Giant Monday Round-Up of the season. In just ten minutes, we’ll tell you everything you need to know about the weekend’s football. Like how Big Dan Burn chased Ben Brereton Diaz down the tunnel. And how Real Madrid slipped up in the Balearics. And how Bayer Leverkusen still haven’t lost a domestic game. You need this podcast, so click now and set yourself up fo...

On today's DFB: The United States look like they've got their man. Mauricio Pochettino has agreed to manage the USMNT. Paul Tenorio lets us know what he thinks of that. La Liga is underway and we were watching how last season's surprise package Girona got on (spoiler: not as well as they might have hoped...)  Plus, what's happened to poor Oscar Bobb? Need something to read? Check out James Horncas...

On today's DFB: How much trouble are the rest of La Liga in this season? On the evidence on the European Super Cup....lots of trouble. They haven't gelled yet, but they were still good enough for a comfortable win over a tricky Atalanta side. Pol Ballus is here to politely weigh up the chances of their rivals. Plus, what's going on at Chelsea today? And who are Arsenal looking to sign? Need someth...

On today's DFB: Are Liverpool going to be ok without a big money signing? Is it a worry that they haven't made one? We've borrowed James Pearce from Walk On. Plus, we ask Chris Waugh from Pod on the Tyne where Newcastle are with their pursuit of Marc Guehi...and could they be the dark horses this year? It's pretty much just me asking that one.  Plus, what happened in those European qualifiers and...

On today's DFB: Will there ever be a day when we ask Chelsea correspondent Liam Twomey how it's going and he says, "Yeah, it's pretty quiet actually." Thank goodness he's here to help out. Laurie Whitwell is on too, he's got the latest on Manchester United's shopping trip to Bavaria. Plus, what happened when Luton met Burnley? Is Vinicius Junior going to Saudi Arabia? And who was the first EFL man...

USA win Gold in France, City edge out United at Wembley, Schalke are still inexplicably all over the place, Mourinho gets a first league win, Leeds and Portsmouth go goal crazy, Plymouth get battered and oh, so much more. Europe's league's are slowly firing back up again. You need this podcast in your life just to keep up with it all. Need something to read? Casemiro might have a future at Manches...

On today's DFB: Chelsea have been busy in the transfer market. Liam Twomey joins us to explain what's occurring. The Olympics are wrapping up this weekend, Meg Linehan has been hanging out with the USWNT. And the Community Shield is on Saturday. Carl Anka from Talk of the Devils pops in to let us know his thoughts. Need something to read? James McNicholas has written a masterful account of Mikel A...

On today's DFB: Who's this Martin Zubimendi then? The word on the street, by which I mean David Ornstein, is that Liverpool are gfoing to make him the first signing of the Arne Slot era. And is everything okay with Leicester City? Rob Tanner is not so sure. And finally, ahead of what looks like a very interesting season in Serie A, James Horncastle gives us the low down on the new look AC Milan. N...