GM football fans. Route One here, the only newsletter that Big Ange calls “mate”.

Today’s briefing is a ~3 min read:

1. Football is under attack… again 🚨

2. Around the world in 30 seconds: Ethan Mbappe - who? 🤔

3. Liverpool’s new car clause 🏎️

Morning Brief 🗞️

FOOTBALL IS UNDER ATTACK! 🚨

Remember the reaction to the European Super League…?

It was wild stuff.

Well, it looks like we have an update, Router.

Yesterday, football’s governing bodies lost a court case that threatens their hold over the sport in Europe.

Just when we thought the worst was over and the day was saved…

… there was another surprise.

Uh oh.

What happened: EU’s top court found that UEFA acted unlawfully in threatening to impose sanctions on players and clubs that joined the ESL in 2021.

• The court wants UEFA to be more open to competition.

• UEFA’s actions were “harmful” to European football clubs and fans - apparently.

• But… yesterday United, City, Spurs and Chelsea released statements to say they oppose ‘breakaway’ competitions.

To be honest, even if they supported the proposals, the UK government previously threatened to drop a “legislative bomb” to prevent English teams from taking part.

And it plans to introduce an independent regulator to “stop clubs from joining any similar breakaway competitions in the future.”

Route One Take: Look, I’m no lawyer, but the ruling doesn’t change much.

The sentiment among the fans and pundits remains the same.

The European football community does not support the ESL. Germany, France, England, Italy, and Spain (except Real Madrid and Barcelona) all oppose it.

The nature of the ruling is very nuanced and it’s not a slam dunk victory of the rebel league… yet.

AROUND THE WORLD IN 30 SECS 🌍

🇫🇷 Ethan Mbappe, 16, makes his PSG debut alongside his brother Kylian Mbappe on Wednesday. The older brother showed his younger sibling how to find the back of the net with two goals against Metz.

🇳🇱 Hercules, from the 4th division of Dutch football, knocked Ajax out of the Dutch Cup with a 3-2 win last night. Mat Grotenbreg’s winner came in the third minute of injury-time after their coach Rene van der Kooij had given his team a two percent chance of victory before the game.

🇪🇸 Xavi blasts his Barcelona players for lacking ‘spirit, aggression and focus’ despite his side’s narrow victory over Almeria.

🇮🇹 Seria A club set to sign an official document opposing the abolition of Growth Decree - a tax relief in Italy that allows clubs to pay less tax for players arriving from aboard.

🇹🇷 Turkish Super League sees more drama this week as a game was suspended after Istanbulspor's president withdrew his team from the pitch in protest at a refereeing decision in their match against Trabzonspor.

🇩🇪 Harry Kane is set to break the record for Bundesliga goals in a season with his 21st goal for Bayern Munich against Wolfsburg.

LIVERPOOL’S NEW CAR CLAUSE 🏎️

We all know what it means when a footballer signs their first professional Premier League contract.

Mulaaaa… and lots of it. 🤑 And lots of money means:

• More matches on Tinder.

• You pick up the tabs for nights out with mates.

• You buy the obligatory supercar.

But history tells us big money contracts don’t just impact players off the pitch… it can really mess up a player’s performance on it.

Some notable examples come to mind of new contracts leading to worse performances:

• Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang fell off after signing a mega-contract as Arsenal captain in September 2020

• Dele Ali wasn’t the same after signing a big money six-year deal with Tottenham in October 2018

It’s a simple equation.

More money = more distractions. So players go off the rails.

For clubs, it’s a catch-22.

If they don’t reward young talent, they leave. If they give them too much it might mess up their performances.

Well… Liverpool’s Academy director had a bright idea.

He’s introduced a car clause in every new professional’s contract.

This clause forbids young players in the first team from arriving at training in “flashy” vehicles.

Each car has to be approved by Liverpool before it is parked in the training ground car park.

And if the club deem the car too flashy, then you have to park in the David Lloyd gym car park next door. 🤣

We like this idea. A way of keeping young talented players hungry in an environment which gives them so much, so early.

Only time will tell if the lure of parking a flashy car in the Liverpool Academy car park is enough to keep them hungry. But it seems like a damn good idea.

EXTRA-TIME ⏱️

Ashley Cole is 43 this week… which is a great excuse to admire his colossal performance against a young Cristiano Ronaldo at Euro 2004.

Remember when Phil Bardsley knocked out Wayne Rooney? After sparring for a few moments in Rooney’s kitchen Bardsley lands a clean left jab for the KO.

Kate Abdo returns from Alabama after a date with her fiance… whilst Thierry Henry gets flustered.

For whatever reason (we don’t know why) Kanye West has taken an interest in the Premier League. He has a particular hate for Liverpool’s Trent-Alexander Arnold… must’ve missed out on his FPL bonus hauls.

Four out of the five top European leagues have one thing in common… they all have Spanish managers top of the league going into this weekend’s fixtures. Vamos!

MEME 😆