Miguel Delaney

‘States of Play’ is out today in paperback, featuring new material and a brand new chapter on football in the age of autocracy and billionaires, with focus on Gianni Infantino’s relationship with Donald Trump and the new Manchester United. geni.us/StatesOfPlay

@MeatBadness Saka, Lewis-Skelly, Saliba, Gabriel, Odegaard, to a strong degree

@MiguelDelaney Not sure what players he developed.

Big read on how Arteta turned Arsenal from a joke into champions - almost quit in 2020 - the meeting that changed everything - couldn’t buy title players so realised need to develop one - frustration at an Arsenal where too many players didn’t care independent.co.uk/sport/football…

Youtube of the latest Copa Independent episode with @lawrenceostlere from Wembley - and why Tuchel’s calls were right, and a lot made sense We also pick our right winger (second floating playmaker) in our all-time World Cup XI youtu.be/vHQUOXX5MQw?si…

Video piece on how, through a deliberate plan over six years, Arteta transformed Arsenal from a basketcase rivals considered a laughing stock to champions, and a serious outfit youtube.com/watch?v=j4eV6U…

@CityPotts @MagicUK1 @icasso1 @bifana_bifana

@MiguelDelaney @MagicUK1 @icasso1 @bifana_bifana Susanna Dinnage resigned after alleging TWO clubs held too much power.

It’s an unpopular view but Arsenal’s title is the story of considerable overperformance against wealthier opposition - City’s higher wage bill is the equivalent of more than five Sakas It wasn’t always pretty but it is maximising everything you’ve got independent.co.uk/sport/football…

@everymatchboy Thanks!

@MiguelDelaney I want to thank you for this season's coverage! Top journo! 😁

From this morning - Real Madrid and Manchester City looking at Enzo Fernandez independent.co.uk/sport/football…

'There were guttural roars as players simply let everything out' @MiguelDelaney reveals the emotional scenes inside Arsenal’s title celebrations – and how Mikel Arteta believes it could “unlock” a new era ahead of the Champions League final trib.al/qtqU53s

The latest Copa Independent episode is up, “live” from Wembley today with @lawrenceostlere , as we discuss the ins and outs of Tuchel’s squads and the historic context. Is this the anti-Sven? Is it a bit of early Gareth podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/cop…

@MagicUK1 @CityPotts @icasso1 @bifana_bifana You realise “decades of research”, academic studies and the published accounts of all clubs over years are much, much more than “one piece of evidence”? The only person that seems to be ignoring anything here is you. You are fixating on “1b” and wilfully ignoring everything else

@MiguelDelaney @CityPotts @icasso1 @bifana_bifana A journalist going by one piece of evidence and ignoring literally everything else isn’t a very good journalist Miguel. I thought you’d know better than that

He was an interim who proved capable. Also, the “power” of certain clubs you speak of was the Super League cartel. The six. There are countless stories about them going off for their own meetings. Soriano was also a huge voice in pushing for TV money distribution to be changed in their favour As for the City case, a judge in the highest court in the land criticised the fact it was taking so long, especially when Uefa’s had been so swift.

@MiguelDelaney @MagicUK1 @icasso1 @bifana_bifana So how did we get to Masters?

@CityPotts @MagicUK1 @icasso1 @bifana_bifana I mean… there’s a lot that’s inaccurate about what you just said there. Almost every different part of it is incorrect.

@MagicUK1 @MiguelDelaney @icasso1 @bifana_bifana ....or better still investigate why three CEOs after Scudamore resigned, immediately after getting the job, citing some clubs were too powerful. Then why Masters 4th choice immediately charged us. You know, journalists stuff.

@MagicUK1 @CityPotts @icasso1 @bifana_bifana A journalist by going by the evidence. Again, to repeat: decades of research, that top executives like Soriano swear by, shows teams finish according to wage bill 90% of the time Arsenal had the fourth highest wage bill Bookie odds are irrelevant. This is the hard evidence

@MiguelDelaney @CityPotts @icasso1 @bifana_bifana “Title favourites win title, what an over performance”. Genuinely how are you a journalist? “These are simply the facts”, the whole world can and does see otherwise you moron. Go and do some more “journalism” and tell us that water is wet.

@MagicUK1 @CityPotts @icasso1 @bifana_bifana They won, though. They’re champions. And they did by outperforming those who spent much more - another phrase for overperformance. These are simply the facts. If you want to continue to deny the facts, you do you

@MiguelDelaney @CityPotts @icasso1 @bifana_bifana You can keep talking about one single metric over and over again, but it doesn’t change the fact that if Arsenal didn’t win the league this year, it would be a complete and utter failure from the club and the manager. Doing what was expected isn’t an over performance. 👍

@MagicUK1 @CityPotts @icasso1 @bifana_bifana Wage bill is by far the most important metric - that every executive stands by. There’s a 90% correlation between wage bill and league position One swears by it, and has written about it at length - you might recognise the name amazon.co.uk/Goal-Doesnt-Ch…

@MiguelDelaney @CityPotts @icasso1 @bifana_bifana Narrowing it down to wage bill and ignoring everything else 😂😂 how did you make it this far in your career

@bifana_bifana @MagicUK1 @CityPotts @icasso1 No, the point is simply they overperformed. They did.

@MiguelDelaney @MagicUK1 @CityPotts @icasso1 Is there an argument for awarding a parallel title to the team with the lowest wage bill?

@MagicUK1 @CityPotts @icasso1 @bifana_bifana They finished higher than their wage bill said they should in every season. That’s a fact.

@CityPotts @MiguelDelaney @icasso1 @bifana_bifana Gets to a point where you can’t argue with delusion. Arsenal have underperformed the last 4 years and there’s nothing he can say to change that.

@CityPotts @MagicUK1 @icasso1 @bifana_bifana The difference is much more than that. The figures on this are all very clear. Up you if you want to register them or not.

@MiguelDelaney @MagicUK1 @icasso1 @bifana_bifana So if City spend a billion and Arsenal a shade under a billion, is an Arsenal victory some sort of uber achievement, without taking into a account injuries, fixture schedule and of course referring howlers.

@MagicUK1 @CityPotts @icasso1 @bifana_bifana I'm not. In fact, you can't show the reality without factoring it. You need the figure to show they've spent less than their rivals, which is overperformance.

@MiguelDelaney @CityPotts @icasso1 @bifana_bifana Why do you keep ignoring the fact that they’ve spent over a billion like it’s nothing?