Monday cannon fodder: record chaos crossroads

Premier League/England

England defeated but unbowed in front of record Wembley crowd | Sean Ingle | Football | The Guardian
England’s women were stung by a late Germany winner but the presence of 77,768 fans to watch them will ease their World Cup hangover.

Smith accuses Aston Villa of lacking desire in loss to Wolves - Football365
Aston Villa boss Dean Smith spoke after their defeat at Wolves.

Frank Lampard: Chelsea boss named Premier League manager of the month for October - BBC Sport
Frank Lampard is named Premier League manager of the month for October.

What Stoke can expect after prising Michael O’Neill from Northern Ireland | Ewan Murray | Football | The Guardian
Stoke’s attraction to O’Neill is obvious – he maximises resources by creating an environment players relish.

Lucy Bronze: ‘We’ve come from paying to play – I had to pay for my kit’ | Football | The Guardian
The England player tells Suzanne Wrack how far women’s football has come as England face Germany at Wembley.

Eric Dier: ‘People said I was injured but I just kept on falling ill’ | Football | The Guardian
Tottenham’s Eric Dier on the perforated appendix that laid him low for 11 months and left him in a downward spiral.

Europe

Frankfurt’s captain sent off for knocking over Freiburg coach, sparking chaos | Football | The Guardian
Eintracht Frankfurt’s game ended in chaos and red cards.

Cristiano Ronaldo ‘leaves stadium early’ after being substituted again by Sarri | Football | The Guardian
Maurizio Sarri, Juventus manager, said: ‘It is a problem to be resolved with his teammates’ after hearing Cristiano Ronaldo had left the stadium early after being substituted.

Lionel Messi and Barcelona at a crossroads: Should their greatest player leave next summer?
Why on earth would he leave? What does he have to prove?

Kylian Mbappe: Real Madrid boss Zidane upsets PSG chief Leonardo with ‘dream move’ comments - BBC Sport
PSG sporting director Leonardo criticises comments by Real Madrid boss Zinedine Zidane about the club’s striker Kylian Mbappe.

MLS/Americas

Seattle Sounders win 2019 MLS Cup, steamroll Toronto FC in front of Seattle-record crowd | Pro Soccer USA
I would like to congratulate the Sounders for finally, after nearly 300 minutes of trying, scoring a goal for themselves in an MLS Cup final.

Goalkeeper Zack Steffen to miss USMNT games with knee injury | Pro Soccer USA
The goalkeeper has started 11 USMNT matches this year.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic to AC Milan? Not so fast, says MLS commissioner Don Garber | Pro Soccer USA
‘I never made the comment that showed up in an Italian newspaper,’ Garber says.

USWNT’s Vlatko Andonovski era starts with a back-and-forth win over Sweden | Pro Soccer USA
Carli Lloyd put in a performance worthy of keeping her job under a new coach.

Megan Rapinoe’s fight for equality - BBC News
One of sport’s biggest names talks racism, equal pay and LGBT rights.

Other

CBA Talk: Why it’s so good to own a sports team — American Soccer Analysis
Asset values aren’t the whole investment story. There are also profits from the investments distributed along the way.

The fluffs, jokes and cult hero status of Diego Forlan at Manchester United
Diego Forlán was a player who left everything out on the pitch but was hampered by bad luck, limited opportunities and low confidence at Manchester United.