Wimbledon 2018: What Roger Federer’s $300m Uniqlo deal tells us about the state of tennis sponsorship July 8, 2018 On the eve of Wimbledon, men’s tennis news was again dominated by the same old names: Andy Murray’s late withdrawal, Novak Djokovic’s re-built serving action, Rafael Nadal’s lack of grass-court preparation and, of course, Roger Federer’s bumper new kit deal with Japanese brand Uniqlo. This is no surprise to the casual fan, for the Big [...]
England out on penalties? World Cup shootout odds are against Three Lions but Gareth Southgate’s approach boosts their chances July 2, 2018 England may have avoided a World Cup clash with old foes Germany, Portugal and Brazil by finishing second in their World Cup group, but there may be no escaping a more familiar enemy now that they are in the knock-out rounds: the dreaded penalty shoot-out. No side has a worse record in World Cup shoot-outs [...]
Wimbledon 2018: Zverev, Dimitrov, Del Potro, Kyrgios, Cilic – Can anybody challenge Federer and Nadal? July 1, 2018 Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal have a stranglehold on men’s tennis. It’s not the first time the two greats of the game have combined to monopolise the grand slams, but with those two legends aged 36 and 32 respectively some might have expected their superpowers to be on the wane. They’re not. Federer and Nadal [...]
Deep learning: Belgium’s secret weapon for England’s World Cup group decider June 27, 2018 England manager Gareth Southgate has long been be familiar with the threat posed by some of the supreme talents in the the Belgium squad such as Eden Hazard, Romelu Lukaku and Kevin De Bruyne. Yet the Red Devils have a less well-known weapon at their disposal for tonight’s World Cup match in Kaliningrad, effectively a [...]
Pressure review: David Haig’s geeky play highlights one of World War Two’s most interesting footnotes June 22, 2018 If there’s one thing the British enjoy more than talking about the weather, it’s making the glib observation that the British enjoy talking about the weather. But David Haig’s high-stakes play about cold fronts is anything but banal weather chat. Pressure is a love letter to the country’s uniquely capricious skies, telling the true [...]
Freak Show review: A coming of age queer comedy undermined by an unlikeable hero June 22, 2018 A coming-of-age high-school comedy-drama about a queer teenager alienated for his fabulous and gender-smashing fashion sense, Freak Show casts rising star Alex Lawther (The Imitation Game) as the camp-as-tits Billy Bloom. He idolises his cackling diva mother (Bette Midler), but when she up and vanishes he’s forced to move to his father’s sprawling stately [...]
World Cup 2018: England’s Jesse Lingard has trademarked his JLingz celebration — and he’s done so at the perfect time June 17, 2018 Jesse Lingard is ready to make his mark at the World Cup. Less than three weeks ago, as England were preparing for their first warm-up game against Nigeria, Lingard applied for four trademarks with the UK Intellectual Property Office; three featuring his nickname “JLingz” and another featuring the image of his goal celebration. Should the [...]
England’s 3-5-2: Is Gareth Southgate right to stick to one formation throughout the 2018 World Cup? June 17, 2018 There are plenty of unanswered questions about Gareth Southgate’s young England side ahead of their World Cup opener against Tunisia on Monday, yet one thing seems virtually set in stone: they will line up in a 3-5-2 formation. England will play with three centre-backs, two wing-backs, one defensive midfielder with two mobile midfielders either side [...]
Machinal at the Almeida review: Sophie Treadwell’s play is a wild, expressionistic ride through the Kafkaesque production-line of life June 15, 2018 Machinal opens in a loud and lairy 1920s office. Overlapping conversations about sex and romance are given a staccato rhythm by the clack and ding of a dozen typewriters. The question on everyone’s lips is: who’s sleeping with who? The juiciest gossip focuses on the girl who’s missing, her empty desk made all the [...]
World Cup 2018: An insider’s view on what England fans face in Russia June 13, 2018 England flew out to their training base in Repino ahead of their opening World Cup match against Tunisia on Monday. Gareth Southgate’s side begin their Group G campaign in Volgograd, before travelling to Nizhny Novgorod to play Panama and Kaliningrad to face Belgium. Read more: Trevor Steven: Why Neymar holds the key to this World [...]