TICKET TO CHIDE<\/p>\n
One week on, and the unedifying spectacle<\/a> of the Geopolitics World Cup tombola has faded, overtaken by the club game\u2019s relentless news cycle. Mohamed Salah has taken a blowtorch to his immediate hopes of returning to the Liverpool starting XI; Real Madrid are apparently in crisis; and Celtic are bad again, their fans perhaps the first in history to dread an approaching cup final. There might be more of that next summer though, with the full scale of ticket prices for Gianni\u2019s jamboree offering a sobering \u201cslap in the face\u201d for fans still celebrating qualification. Not our words, but those of the Football Supporters\u2019 Association and its England Fans\u2019 Embassy<\/a>, which might sound like a Soccer AM bit, but is part of a European network offering \u201creliable and independent information to fans\u201d.<\/p>\n So while Rio Ferdinand has been busy cross-referencing the draw footage with his script, and Julian Nagelsmann wonders why his Germany side are playing a drink in their opening game, fan groups have been crunching the numbers for travelling supporters \u2013 and they make for bleak viewing. On Thursday, it emerged that the cheapest ticket available for the final in \u2013 and you\u2019ll like this \u2013 the \u201csupporter value tier\u201d will cost $4,185 (\u00a33,120)<\/a>. Fans hoping to watch their team\u2019s entire journey through the draw are looking at a minimum cost of about $7,000 (\u00a35,240) \u2013 and that\u2019s just for match tickets. Throw in the price of flights and accommodation, and most supporters are looking at an enormous \u00a310,000 outlay \u2013 more than five times the cost of following your team in 2022. The Fifa chief suit appears to have finally got his wish: making us look back at the Human Rights World Cup with the tiniest degree of fondness.<\/p>\n Football Supporters Europe has labelled the ticket pricing \u201ca monumental betrayal of the \u00adtradition of the World Cup\u201d, calling on Fifa to pause sales on tickets allocated to participating nations, which \u2013 believe it or not \u2013 are not subject to dynamic pricing. One Scotland fan told BBC Radio 5 Live that taking his family to the tournament could cost upwards of \u00a315,000. \u201cI would love to take the kids because it may not happen for another 30 years,\u201d he added, writing our jokes for us. Even the very cheapest match tickets are now north of \u00a3100 \u2013 too rich for our blood, but given that we\u2019ve written this lengthy article slating ticket prices, we\u2019re probably not getting in to the USA USA USA next summer<\/a> anyway. Let\u2019s just go the whole hog and add that the Village People are a bit dated. Yes, we went there!<\/p>\n Amid the justified outrage and eye-watering totals, we need someone who truly understands the game to remind us what it\u2019s all about. \u201cI know what it means to travel week in, week out, to go and watch your favourite team, because I did this myself.\u201d That\u2019s more like it! \u201cI know what it means to love football and follow a team. Football without the fans is nothing.\u201d Which thrusting egalitarian, which man of the people said this? Oh. It was Gianni Infantino, back in 2016<\/a>. The game has truly gone.<\/p>\n QUOTE OF THE DAY<\/p>\n \u201cI would say that the odds of us turning the season around are lower than Leicester winning the Premier League, so they are in our favour, right?\u201d \u2013 Newport County are rock-bottom of the Football League but new manager Christian Fuchs chats to Ben Fisher<\/a> about how being part of one miracle is keeping his spirits high.<\/p>\n Christian Fuchs in the dugout, earlier. Photograph: Francesca Jones\/The Guardian<\/p>\n Going along with the recent theme on awkward match seating (Football Daily letters passim), I attended a Marseille v Liverpool Big Cup match in 2008. The only snag was the tickets that myself and my Liverpool-supporting mate had were in the Marseille section. We agreed on the way in to say nothing and be subtle. The Marseille fan beside us started to make conversation with me before kick-off. Having lived for a while in Paris, my French was pretty good and he assumed I was from somewhere up the north of France. This assumption was blown up when Steven Gerrard scored and my mate jumped up, exclaiming wildly in his broad scouse accent. I got a decidedly unfriendly side-eye from the Marseille fan for the rest of the game. Needless to say, we didn\u2019t hang about for a beer after the match\u201d \u2013 Eoin Balfe.<\/p>\n My son and I go to most Brentford games together, so it was a big deal when as a young teenager he was deemed old enough to go to an away match at Villa on his own. His mother, cheerfully un-streetwise, turfed him out of the car as near as she could get to the Holte End. Stood self-consciously in his Brentford shirt, he hastened to pull a hoodie on as a mountainous, bald, heavily tattooed man rumbled in his direction. \u2018No need for that mate,\u2019 he said cheerfully with a pat on the back. \u2018D\u2019you know where the away turnstiles are? I\u2019ll show ya. So who should we look out for today,\u2019 etc. I\u2019ve always had a soft spot for Villa since then, though admittedly Ollie Watkins has tested it a couple of times\u201d \u2013 Simon Skinner.<\/p>\n In yesterday\u2019s Football Daily<\/a>, you claimed that attending an evening seminar on economic history can be excruciatingly boring for a bunch of young millionaire footballers. As someone with a PhD in history who specialises in the political economy of the Eastern Mediterranean in the 19th century, I can say that this definitely applies to undergrads, the general public, and, maybe, some fellow historians and economists. It might also explain the current state of the world economy\u201d \u2013 Dimitris Stergiopoulos (\u201cand probably nobody else \u2013 I would be genuinely surprised if other fellow economic historians read the newsletter regularly\u201d).<\/p>\n As an American, I have many, many, many things I am inclined to apologise to the world at large for. So many and of such severity that a comedic list of three such things would not actually be funny. But parsing through the merciless cavalcade of apologetic impulses, I would like to say that I am sorry to your readers, my global and invariably good-looking comrades, for having to consider the opinion of Landon Donovan (yesterday\u2019s Football Daily, full email edition). There\u2019s really no excuse. As a people, we should have long ago endeavoured to make sure he never actually speaks into a live microphone\u201d \u2013 Tyler T.<\/p>\n Send letters to the.boss@theguardian.com<\/a>. Today\u2019s prizeless letter o\u2019 the day winner is \u2026 Dimitris Stergiopoulos. Terms and conditions for our competitions, when we run them, can be viewed here<\/a>.<\/p>\n RECOMMENDED PLAYING<\/p>\n The Guardian has kicked off a new chapter in puzzles with the launch of its first daily football game<\/a>, On the ball. It is now live in the app for both iOS and Android \u2026 so what are you waiting for? Get stuck in!<\/p>\n WE\u2019RE ALL GOING ON A G.O.A.T TOUR<\/p>\n In the debate about which male player is the greatest of all time, fans give all kinds of reasons as to why their man should be considered No 1. Goals and his beaming smile (Pel\u00e9), Instachat followers (Cristiano Ronaldo), the creation of a new religion<\/a> (Diego Maradona) \u2013 and now Lionel Messi groupies can argue that the magician should be top of the tree based on his ridiculously oversized Indian statue. Yes, in Kolkata on Saturday a 70ft iron likeness of the Argentinian will be unveiled as part of the G.O.A.T tour. \u201cIt\u2019s a matter of pride to build the sculpture of Messi,\u201d trilled sculptor Monty Paul. \u201cIt\u2019s the tallest statue I have made.\u201d No kidding \u2013 it\u2019s even bigger than the Angel of the North (65.5ft) and the tallest of any footballer in the world.<\/p>\n The statue, earlier. Photograph: Dibyangshu Sarkar\/AFP\/Getty Images<\/p>\n The eight-time Ballon d\u2019Or winner will also meet Bollywood megastar Shah Rukh Khan and former India cricket captain Sourav Ganguly during his three-day trip in which he will be chaperoned by Inter Miami teammates Luis Su\u00e1rez and Rodrigo de Paul. The G.O.A.T tour will also visit Hyderabad, Mumbai and Delhi. Unfortunately, Messi won\u2019t be present for the unveiling of his statue for security reasons. He may want to swerve the \u201cHola Messi\u201d fan zone, too, where there is a lifesize replica of himself sat on a throne in a hall and a recreation of his Miami pad complete with creepy mannequins of the player and his family.<\/p>\n NEWS, BITS AND BOBS<\/p>\n Mohamed Salah\u2019s chances of being involved in Liverpool\u2019s clash with Brighton at Anfield on Saturday hinge on the outcome of a chat he will hold with Arne Slot, the beleaguered Reds manager has revealed.<\/a> Slot insists he has \u201cno reasons for not wanting [Salah] to stay\u201d.<\/p>\n Enzo Maresca is not going to take a Peter Gabriel-style sledgehammer (a reference for the kids, there) to his Chelsea tactics after a run of bad results. \u201cIt\u2019s football. It\u2019s completely normal,\u201d he soothed. \u201cWe\u2019re always looking for problems. Leeds was eight-nine days ago. In nine days we\u2019re not going to change our season because we didn\u2019t get the points we expect. I\u2019m completely relaxed.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cLet\u2019s see,\u201d was the incredibly vague message from Mikel Arteta<\/a> when quizzed on the stricken Arsenal quartet William Saliba, Jurri\u00ebn Timber, Declan Rice and Leandro Trossard and whether they could feature against Wolves. No respect for FPL managers from Arteta.<\/p>\n The Women\u2019s Super League will hold a review of its broadcast slots<\/a> after becoming concerned about TV viewing figures in the first half of the season.<\/p>\n Wrexham v Nottingham Forest and Macclesfield v Crystal Palace are among the FA Cup third-round ties that will be beamed to UK TV screens<\/a> in January.<\/p>\n In Bigger Vase, Aston Villa have continued their red-hot streak by beating Basel<\/a>, while Forest left it late to sink Utrecht, Rangers lost (again) and Evan Ferguson\u2019s double for Roma made it two defeats from two<\/a> for Wilfried Nancy in the Celtic hot seat. Come back Martin?<\/p>\n Celtic Manager Wilfried Nancy will need to keep playing with his tactics board to see an upturn in fortunes. Photograph: Stuart Wallace\/Shutterstock<\/p>\n And in Tin Pot, Crystal Palace are coping just fine<\/a> without Jean-Philippe Mateta and Daniel Mu\u00f1oz, having seen off Shelbourne 3-0 in Dublin.<\/p>\n Need a gift for that special football-obsessed person in your life? Well the Big Website Bookshop has loads of great reads available. You can even just treat yourself. Get shopping here<\/a>!<\/p>\n STILL WANT MORE?<\/p>\n Will David Moyes lead Everton into Europe? Only if they can find a few more goals, reckons Harry Paterson.<\/a> We\u2019re looking at you, Beto and Thierno Barry.<\/p>\n Across the pond, Trinity Rodman\u2019s contract saga and a growing talent drain to Europe have nudged the NWSL into crisis mode. Bryan Armen Graham explains why it all matters<\/a>.<\/p>\n Trinity Rodman embodying the kind of enthusiasm Football Daily lost some years ago. Photograph: Carmen Mandato\/NWSL\/Getty Images<\/p>\n Football Weekly Extra takes a deep dive<\/a> into Xabi Alonso\u2019s Real Madrid travails and more.<\/p>\n And here are your 10 things to look out<\/a> for across another big weekend in top flight.<\/p>\n MEMORY LANE<\/p>\n 25 October 2015: Steven Fletcher slides in to score Sunderland\u2019s third goal in a 3-0 win<\/a> against Newcastle in the last Premier League derby played at the Stadium of Light. With both sides appearing evenly matched, it\u2019s not likely we\u2019ll see such a one-sided match on Sunday. And, in what\u2019s not a bad quiz question: can you guess who the managers were? Sam Allardyce (Sunderland) and Steve McClaren!<\/p>\n Photograph: Lee Smith\/ReutersRECOMMENDED SUBSCRIBING<\/p>\n