Steve Guppy is the one everyone remembers. Most dedicated followers of English football in the late 1990s and early 2000s would also be able to name Jason Wilcox and Steve Froggatt. Then you have your David Dunns, your Alan Thompsons, your Chris Powells. Two decades on, the infamous “England left-sided problem” tends to be evoked more as an exercise in nostalgia, a display of performative recall, than as a long-term failure of systems and imagination that Gareth Southgate may just be in danger of repeating.

A “left-sided David Beckham” was Kevin Keegan’s memorable description of Guppy ahead of his England debut, which sadly would also turn out to be his England swansong, against Belgium in 1999. And over the years, as the tournamen…

Terry Neill, who has died aged 80, was an influential footballer at Arsenal in the 1960s and later managed the club to three successive FA Cup finals, from 1978 to 1980, winning one and losing two. He was also a longstanding player for Northern Ireland, winning 59 caps between 1961 and 1973 – a record at the time – and serving for four years as their manager.

Although Neill’s achievements as a player and manager at Arsenal were modest in terms of the team’s illustrious history, he was held in great affection by fans there for his overall contribution to the club, and was even forgiven for becoming manager of their north London rivals, Tottenham, for a two-year spell immediately after finishing as a player.

A…

If former Tottenham goalkeeper Hugo Lloris had hoped to segue into a sunny semi-retirement after his move to Los Angeles, his debut for LAFC would have felt especially satisfying. The 36-year-old World Cup winner made a club-record seven saves in a victory over the Seattle Sounders beneath the California sun on the opening weekend of the 2024 MLS season.

A week later, however, in his first away match since moving to the US, Lloris experienced a less comfortable time. With his goalkeeper’s gloves acting more as a barrier against frostbite than a shot-stopping aid, he was forced to pluck a fluorescent orange match ball from his net three times in the first half after a sudden snowstorm and near-freezing temperatures descended upon Real Salt …

The Memphis Grizzlies are bringing back guard Luke Kennard with a one-year, $11 million deal, ESPN reported on Wednesday. Kennard, 28, averaged 11.0 points, 3.5 assists and 2.9 rebounds and shot 45.0 percent from 3-point distance in 39 games (22 starts) with Memphis in 2023-24. A career 43.9 percent shooter from beyond the arc, Kennard paced the NBA in 3-point percentage in back-to-back seasons in 2021-22 (44.9) and 2022-23 (49.4). Kennard has career averages of 10.0 points, 2.8 boards and 2.1 assists in 395 games (110 starts) with the Detroit Pistons (2017-20), Los Angeles Clippers (2020-23) and Grizzlies. The Pistons drafted the Duke product with the 12th overall pick in 2017. Memphis acquired Kennard as part of a three-team trade in February 2023. –Field Level Media …

In a series of weird graphics, designer Taylor Holland takes vectors of various sports fields and rotates all the individual elements around and around and around. The results are kind of mesmerizing, although not without the occasional unfortunate swastika. Here's baseball: You can check out soccer, football, basketball (international court), tennis, and swimming over on his site. [ Taylorholland.com, h/t Joe MacLeod] …

This man tattooed "76ers 2015 NBA Champs" on his ass. Chances are, it is something he will come to regret. Maybe, giving him the benefit of the doubt, he was looking ahead to the 2015 season and was expressing some optimism in the Philadelphia youth movement and Nerlens Noel and Joel Embiid. Maybe they make Philly a surprise team out of the East that season and our guy called it with an ass tattoo. Unfortunately, you can buy San Antonio Spurs 2014 NBA Champions gear right now, so things are not looking promising for the man with a "76ers 2015 NBA Champs" ass tattoo. h/t Matt [ Instagram] …

If you post a disembodied photo of your left hand featuring a newly-acquired engagement ring as a way of alerting the world to your newly-acquired engagement, you kind of suck. I mean, you’re probably fine, as people go. And so when you decide to make the genuinely exciting commitment to, best-case scenario, be there for the worst moments of someone else’s future, your friends and family will want to know; they will even want somewhere to express their enthusiasm, and you would not be wrong to give them such an outlet. They will not demand proof, however, that you found someone who wants to watch you die—but, like, in a good way—in the form of a photo that does not include said person. The ring does not make you engaged. Again: Rings are fine (personally, I’m a fan) but they a…

Angry Mormons! Everyone hide! This went down at BYU's football stadium immediately after the Cougars' 20-13 loss to Utah on Saturday. It was a game that was marked by a handful of dubious calls that went against BYU, hence all of the garbage throwing. Please notice that the presumably Mormon crowd was kind enough to throw mostly paper products rather than the beers and batteries that get tossed around at football stadiums every weekend. It's all really kind of adorable. …

Dwight Howard—the same 32-year-old that has spent the last several seasons brewing beef as he scoots from team to team, that Dwight Howard—made a little history tonight. With a 32-point, 30-rebound game in the Hornets’ win over the Nets, he put together the first 30-point, 30-rebound performance that the NBA has seen in eight years, and only the second one since 1982. In front of a sparsely populated crowd, thanks to New York’s snowstorm today, Charlotte came back from a 23-point deficit to win by a score of 111-105. Just 123 more 30-30 nights until Howard will catch up to Wilt Chamberlain there. …

data-mm-id=”_zgp6rc0kk”>I've been staring at a blank screen for hours and can't find the words to write about Kobe Bryant.My assignment is to write a column on Bryant's life and legacy after he died in a helicopter crash on Sunday at 41 years old. It's simply not going to happen. I mean, how do you do that? How do you put into words what Bryant meant to so many people? How do you sum up the achievements of a global icon who conquered multiple fields with a focus and tenacity we've rarely seen? It can't be done. Someone like that can't have their life wrapped up nicely with words on a page. I suppose I could sit here and just reel off all of Bryant's monumental basketball achievements. Tell you how he went from high school phenom to MVP and five-t…