Your Guide to The International Break 🌎

Hello all 🙂

This week’s issues are going to be a bit different. Instead of our usual format, we’re going to be doing a three-part series called: Your Guide to the International Break.

As I’m sure you all know, international fixtures start tomorrow and will run throughout the rest of this week, and there will be a huge influx of news in the football world thrown your way. We’re going to give you some insight into the most important things that go on, and what they mean for your club going forward.

Today we’re going to take a look at the current state of the football world heading into the break and talk about who this stoppage in club play is coming for at just the right time.

Five Teams That Needed the International Break

If your team is on this list, we’re sorry. Unless you’re a City fan, then shut up. Seriously, you just won the treble, relax.

Union Berlin

• There’s really no other way to say it, Union are in total freefall right now. Things have seemed to be going downhill for the Berlin club since their 3-0 loss to Leipzig back in September. They went on to lose their next six matches heading into the break, including two brutal losses in the Champions League group stages to Real Madrid and Braga, respectively. Many clubs see a dip in league form when they grace the Champions League for the first time, as the increase in matches often proves to take its toll on those unacquainted. Many would argue this to be the case with Union, and a break in play could be what they need to recalibrate.

Manchester City

• For the treble winners and current Champions of Europe, anything other than a win nowadays is met with disappointment. Two losses on the trot is definitely not what the Cityzens had on the cards for this season. Losing to title challengers Arsenal on a late-game deflection could not have helped things. Best case scenario for Pep: Rodri comes back healthy and ready to be slotted back into the side, and Haaland scores a goal or two for his native Norway.

Fluminense

• Fluminese aren’t exactly in crisis right now, but their mojo is definitely a bit off right now. After finishing as champions last season, this year’s campaign has gotten off to a slow start. The club find themselves 7th in the league after 26 matches played, and have lost two of their last three. Their supporters will be hoping the team comes back from the break refreshed and ready for a late-season push.

Lyon

• For Lyon, this stat says it all. For the first time in club history, the French giants are winless in their first eight Ligue 1 matches. Some good news: after the sacking of Laurent Blanc the struggling club are no longer at the bottom of the league (that coveted title belongs to Clermont Foot at the moment). With Lyon’s next match coming against the aforementioned Clermont, Lyon will need everyone to come back from the break focused and ready for what’s become a crucial bout in the fight for league survival.

Ajax

• If there’s one manager in Europe lucky to still be in a job, it’s Maurice Steijn. At the time of writing this, the 36-time Dutch champions sit 16th in the Eredivisie, and have put together some horrid performances, the worst of which resulted in a 4-0 thrashing at home to league rivals Feyenoord. The club has had a lot of shakeup as of late, recently firing their Director of Football Sven Mislintat after just 166 days over a transfer controversy, and would probably like to avoid more. However if this run of form continues, we imagine they’ll have no choice but to make Steijn another casualty of their chaos-riddled season so far.

Honorable mentions:

• Arsenal have to be flying confidence-wise after beating City for the first time in years at The Emirates last weekend. However, part of what made that win so exciting for them is that they had to get done without their tallysman Bukuayo Saka, who was unavailable due to injury. Arsenal will be happy to have a break from club play so that (hopefully) Saka can get the rest he needs.

• On and off the field, Napoli is in that mood of just having had better days. League form isn’t what they need it to be right now, and Rudi Garcia, just like our old friend Maurice Steijn, is on the hottest of seats right now. Then, as if more of a shakeup was needed right now, Napoli released two inexplicable Tik Tok videos about their star man Victor Osimhen (one of which was just straight up racist). The Nigerian was so offended that reports surfaced that he was contemplating taking legal action against the club. While tensions seemed to have simmered down, this point in the season feels like a fork in the road for this team. One of two things will happen: they’ll either come back refocused and make strides in the league and work to keep up with Real in their Champions League group, or they’ll not be able to break out of their current form and Rudi Garcia will end up unemployed.

Full Time. Thanks so much for reading us this morning/afternoon/evening, whatever it is for you. We’re still currently tweaking this newsletter so if you have any suggestions, feel free to reach out to us by replying to this email. On your way out, take a look at some things we’ve been loving lately.

Take care, and in the words of Reddit user avolcando: “May the international break reaper spare your favorite players”.

What We’ve Loved Lately ❤️

The New York Times’ Tariq Panja wrote a great investigative piece about 777, “The Mystery Company with One Foot in the Premier League”: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/10/world/europe/everton-777-premier-league.html 

Scott McTominay saves Man United’s skin with TWO GOALS in added time to give his team a massive three points: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bw6LP9l8Gcw&ab_channel=ManchesterUnited

Rangers’ James Tavernier won’t hit a ball sweeter than he did for this goal in their win vs. St. Mirren on Sunday 👀https://www.reddit.com/r/soccer/comments/172ykbs/st_mirren_03_rangers_tavernier_90_great_strike/