London Stadium has been transformed ahead of the MLB’s London Series
London Stadium, normally home to West Ham, has been transformed into a stadium for a different sport with a slightly harder, smaller ball.
The St. Louis Cardinals and Chicago Cubs are in England ahead of the 2023 MLB London Series, which will see the rivals face off in a two-game series on Saturday and Sunday.
It will be only the second time MLB has played games in England, with the inaugural London Series taking place in 2019 when the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees faced off at London Stadium.
The Cubs and Cardinals were set to return in 2020, before the pandemic would eventually delay the series by three years.
The transformation of the stadium into a baseball facility began all the way back on June 7, with more than 400 people working around the clock to build dugouts, change the locker rooms, alter stadium seating and lay over 144,000 square feet of artificial turf.
A time-lapse video from MLB shows the amazing metamorphosis.
Retired West Ham greats James Collins and Carlton Cole could scarcely believe their eyes when they saw what their former home stadium looked like.
"I've never seen anything like this" 🤩
James Collins and Carlton Cole are loving the makeover at the London Stadium ⚾ pic.twitter.com/whMaAJ8GrU
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) June 23, 2023
Collins said he knew a little bit about baseball but he echoed a common complaint about the sport.
“I’ve been to a game a few years ago, I went to a New York Mets game. I’ll watch any sport that’s on the tele, so I sort of get it and enjoy it to be fair. It’s so long though,” he told Sky Sports.
“If I was coming to watch sports I don’t mind a beer, but it’s a bit too long to get on the beers.”
The striker has a message for Arsenal: play me or sell me
Folarin Balogun has sent a message to Arsenal after sealing his U.S. national team debut with a goal and a trophy: play me or sell me.
Balogun earned his first USMNT cap against Mexico in the CONCACAF Nations League semifinal and on Sunday, he scored his first goal in a 2-0 win against Canada in the final.
The 21-year-old’s international debut followed a breakout club season during which he scored 21 Ligue 1 goals with Reims while on loan from Arsenal.
The striker’s exploits in France have made his club future a major talking point as he prepares to return to his parent club. Will Arsenal, which also counts Gabriel Jesus and Eddie Nketiah in its striker ranks, give Balogun a chance in 2023-24?
Plenty of clubs across Europe are looking to test Arsenal’s resolve over the summer, with AC Milan, Inter, and RB Leipzig among the clubs linked with a permanent move for Balogun.
Speaking to reporters after the USMNT’s Nations League triumph on Sunday, Balogun did not indicate where he’d prefer to play next season but he was clear he did not want to go out on another loan.
“I’m not sure [about] the discussions that are going to take place,” he said after the win. “I’m not sure what’s going to happen. But I’m just committed to now; I try to stay present. I obviously want to enjoy the moment with my team and my family.
“What I can say is that I definitely won’t go on loan again.”
Balogun signed a four-year contract with the Gunners in 2021, but has made just 10 senior appearances for the club so far. He spent the second half of the 2021-22 season on loan at Middlesbrough before his breakout season with Reims.
The 28-year-old made just seven appearances in his first Arsenal season
Matt Turner has said his first season at Arsenal made him a better goalkeeper and a better person, but the U.S. national team starter admitted he would have liked to see more time on the field.
Turner joined the Gunners last summer from the New England Revolution, becoming the backup to Aaron Ramsdale in north London.
With Ramsdale entrenched as the Gunners’ starter, Turner made only seven appearances in his first season as an Arsenal player and did not appear in any Premier League matches.
At the international level, Turner overtook Zack Steffen as the USMNT’s No. 1, starting all four of his country’s matches at the World Cup. Speaking to the media ahead of the CONCACAF Nations League semifinal against Mexico next week, Turner broke down the highs and lows of his first season abroad.
“It’s changed me, made me a better goalkeeper, a better person, a better player,” Turner said. “Besides the on-field stuff, off the field moving to a new country, experiencing new cultures and new styles of play, a new manager with different expectations, playing with pressure and all that kind of stuff led me into the World Cup and having a great World Cup.
“This season was amazing at Arsenal. I learned so much and we won games, but I would have liked to play a little bit more. On the personal side I didn’t hit as many goals as I would have really liked to.”
Turner’s underdog journey has been well documented. He wasn’t a full-time starter in college until his junior year, went undrafted in MLS and worked his way into a starting role in New England and eventually the USMNT.
The 28-year-old said he’s been hearing about his lack of experience throughout his career, and he’s hoping to get more playing time at Arsenal and the USMNT so he can continue to prove his doubters wrong.
“There’s always been this blanket of lack of experience that people talk about since I was in college, then my first couple years as a pro in MLS and the beginning of my career with the national team and now with Arsenal,” he said.
“[I’m] just trying to get more and more experience. Every time I can step on the pitch, I want to give my best performance so I can continue to grow and show that I do have experience and I have learned and I have grown and I have gotten better.”
Valuations of the world’s biggest clubs are sky high
Who are the most valuable soccer teams in the world?
With success being more and more tied to an ability to spend, being a “big” club — at least in financial terms — is the clearest indicator of whether a given team is going to contend for trophies in the world’s top leagues.
That said, what defines value doesn’t necessarily require a team to be in the Premier League, La Liga, the Bundesliga, or Serie A. MLS has three teams in the top 20, including LAFC becoming the first club to break the $1 billion valuation barrier.
That said, Europe is still the home of the world’s biggest clubs, and its most valuable. In particular, eight of the top 20 hail from the Premier League, which will not be a particular surprise given the league’s global reach.
Here are Forbes’ 20 most valuable teams in global soccer.
Leeds lost 4-1 to Tottenham at Elland Road on Sunday, confirming they will be playing in the Championship next season.
Adams did not feature for Leeds in the final two months of the season after he underwent hamstring surgery in March. The U.S. national team captain was a fixture for Leeds prior to the injury, and his absence left a huge void in the center of the park.
Leeds suffered mightily without Adams. With the American in the lineup, the club conceded 1.44 goals per game. Without him, that number ballooned up to 3 goals per game.
After taking a couple days to reflect, Adams issued an apology on Twitter.
All we can say as players is we're sorry. You guys have been incredible all season and deserved more.
“It’s not just been a tough few days reflecting on what happened, it’s been a tough couple of months having to watch from the sidelines and be unable to help my team, teammates and you guys, the fans, to keep us in the Premier League,” Adams wrote.
“All we can say as players is we’re sorry. You guys have been incredible all season and deserved more.”
Adams joined Leeds from RB Leipzig prior to the season, and his stay at Elland Road looks likely to be a short one.
Multiple reports have stated the USMNT captain has transfer interest from England and beyond, having proven himself a high-level Premier League holding midfielder in 2022-23.
90min reported this week that Liverpool, Manchester United, Newcastle and Tottenham are among the teams tracking the 24-year-old.
The England captain wants to go from kicking round balls to oblong ones
Harry Kane has said he would like to be an NFL kicker when his days of kicking a soccer ball are through.
The Tottenham striker and avid American football fan appeared on “Good Morning America” on Wednesday, telling ex-NFL star Michael Strahan that he’s hopeful he can transition from kicking balls into a net to kicking balls through a goal post one day.
“It’s something I want to definitely explore,” Kane said. “I know it’d be a lot of hard work. I’m not expecting to just rock up and start kicking field goals. It’d be a lot of practice, a lot of hard work but yeah, it’s something I’d love to do. I’ve been following the NFL for about 10 years now and I love it. So I’d love to give it a go.”
.@HKane says he wants to “explore” life as an @NFL kicker after the Premier League: “It's something I'd love to do.” ⚽️➡️🏈 pic.twitter.com/w1z3EO35SI
The England captain has previously spoken about his desire to play in the NFL one day, telling ESPN in 2019 that he was hopeful his experience in high-pressure situations in his soccer career could benefit him as a kicker.
“Of course, there’s a lot of technically very gifted players in the NFL kicking, a lot of players can kick it far and high, but I guess it all comes down to who can handle the pressure the best and I feel like the more I watch it, the more I see that in the big situations,” Kane said.
“A lot of times the game goes down to a last minute field goal, last second field goal. So I’d like to think my experience of dealing with that in soccer would put me maybe at an advantage compared to some of the other guys who haven’t had that experience, maybe coming out of college or things like that.”
The club will be one division lower and a lot less American in 2023-24
What appeared inevitable for a while was finally confirmed on the final day of the season: Leeds has been relegated from the Premier League.
Leeds lost 4-1 to Tottenham at Elland Road on Sunday, ending the club’s three-year stay in the top flight.
The club’s most recent Premier League experience had one incredible season — a ninth-place finish under Marcelo Bielsa in 2020-21 — followed by a narrow escape last year and, finally, this season’s 19th-place finish.
Jesse Marsch led the team to that narrow escape, fulfilling his mission after taking over from club legend Bielsa. There was plenty of optimism heading into 2022-23 that the American manager could fully instill his high-octane style, leading Leeds to a comfortable Premier League stay at minimum.
Marsch brought along two of his fellow Americans (and former players), as Leeds signed Brenden Aaronson from Red Bull Salzburg and Tyler Adams from RB Leipzig. Along with an increased ownership stake from 49ers Enterprises, Leeds took on a distinctly American feel.
But after picking up seven points from three games to start the season, Leeds began to fall apart and, save for a few brief respites, never really recovered.
The problem, in a nutshell was defense. Leeds finished the campaign with a league-worst 78 goals allowed. The issues were myriad, from a lack of adequate personnel to a nonexistent transition defense to poor set-piece defending.
Gracia fell flat on his face. His replacement, Sam Allardyce, could not conjure up what would have been his greatest escape yet.
(Photo by Gareth Copley/Getty Images)
The transfer market has been particular problematic for Leeds in the past year. Last summer the team lost its two best players, Kalvin Phillips and Raphinha. With a huge windfall from those sales, the club spent haphazardly.
Adams has been excellent, while others like Luis Sinisterra and Marc Roca have produced mixed results. But Aaronson hasn’t lived up to his $30 million price tag, contributing just one goal and three assists despite playing well over 2,000 league minutes.
Adams and Aaronson were joined by a third American, Weston McKennie, in January, but the Juventus midfielder underwhelmed in a half-season loan.
The club-record signing of Georginio Rutter from Hoffenheim has been particularly disastrous. Brought in for $43m in January, Rutter has started one Premier League game and has lately spent more time with Leeds’ U-21 side than its senior team.
What could that $43m have done if it wasn’t spent on a striker who clearly wasn’t ready for prime time?
(Photo by OLI SCARFF/AFP via Getty Images)
Where does Leeds go from here?
For all of the club’s missteps in the transfer and managerial markets, director of football Victor Orta has already paid the price. He may not be the only person from the C-suite to depart.
Club owner Andrea Radrizzani could sell his majority share to 49ers Enterprises, but The Athletic reports that the Italian would have to accept a significantly reduced price following the club’s relegation.
Whether or not 49ers Enterprises is involved next season, the club is set to be much less American. Adams looks likely to be sold, and McKennie will return to Juventus. Aaronson reportedly has a relegation clause in his deal and could be on his way out as well.
Will Leeds be back in the Premier League any time soon? The infrastructure is certainly in place if the right personnel can follow. Whichever new faces arrive, it’s clear that the era of Leeds United States of America will end just as quickly as it arrived.
Luton Town, nine years after being out of the English professional league system, are coming to the Premier League.
The Hatters clinched promotion from the Championship on penalties, seeing off Coventry City 6-5 in the tiebreaker after 120 minutes of play ended in a stalemate.
An inspired run from Elijah Adebayo set Jordan Clark up for an opener midway through the first half for Luton, only for Gustavo Hamer to draw Coventry level in the 66th minute.
Luton had multiple potential winners called back, including one in extra time from Joe Taylor that was overruled by VAR, before going a perfect six for six in the shootout. Coventry’s Fankaty Dabo was the only player from either side to miss, blazing over the bar and sending the orange-clad half of Wembley into jubilation.
It also means the 2023-24 Premier League is going to see some extraordinarily odd fixtures at Kenilworth Road, Luton’s unique home stadium.
Kenilworth Road is very, very small
Luton has been playing at Kenilworth Road since 1905, but that’s not what would make it unlike anything else in the Premier League.
The fact is that the historic venue is literally tucked away among rowhomes in Luton’s Bury Park neighborhood. Kenilworth Road seats just 10,356, which is nearly 10% less than the record holder for smallest Premier League home ground, Bournemouth’s Vitality Stadium (which has a capacity of 11,307).
The entrance to the Oak Stand, Kenilworth Road’s away end, is in fact comprised of two converted rowhomes, with residents on Oak Road obliged to move their cars on matchday so visiting fans can line up to enter.
(Photo by Tony Marshall/Getty Images)
For romantics, what could be better? Giants like Manchester City and Arsenal coming to play Premier League matches at a stadium like this is the stuff of dreams for a certain genre of soccer fan.
On the other hand, the Premier League will insist on around eight figures worth of upgrades to things like broadcasting infrastructure, new floodlights, a larger press box and media conference room, and more. Luton will have a shade under three months to get all of that work done to meet Premier League requirements.
For Luton, there’s a badge of honor in all this.
“Haaland’s not going to walk through that entrance. He is going to walk through the other s— entrance we’ve got. There is no great entrance here. Embrace it,” said Luton CEO Gary Sweet in an interview with The Athletic. “People might take the mickey but it doesn’t bother us. We’ve got thick skins here and, actually, it shows a little bit of fear.”
U.S. men’s national team goalkeeper Ethan Horvath has been first-choice for Luton all year, and though his status is up in the air — he’s playing for the Hatters on loan from Nottingham Forest — he knows the significance of bringing the world’s biggest league to such a tiny home ground.
“It’s going to be massive,” Horvath said. “To get into the Premier League is one thing, but then to have all of that [at Kenilworth Road], what you could do to the stadium, for the fans, for the community — it’s endless.”
The Chelsea winger drew criticism for his performances on and off the pitch
It’s never a good week when your detractors range from Gary Neville all the way to Joey Swoll.
But that was Mykhailo Mudryk’s reality this week as the Chelsea attacker drew criticism for his poor performance against Manchester United as well as his gym shaming of an old guy who let his trousers dip a little too low.
It all started when Mudryk spotted the elderly gentleman on a rowing machine and posted a video to his Instagram stories. That’s when Mr. Swoll, an online personality with exceptional muscles, sprang into action.
“So you see that man at the gym working hard trying to better himself with a trainer, he’s in an embarrassing situation, yes, he’s a little exposed, and you decide, ‘Hey, let me take a video of it to post on social media to make fun of him all for attention’ — really?” Swoll said in a (NSFW) Twitter video.
“You’re a professional soccer player and you play for Chelsea in the Premier League, is this how you want to represent yourself and your team?”
Later that week, Mudryk also struggled as a professional soccer player for Chelsea in the Premier League, where he’s still searching for his first goal after a €100 million transfer from Shakhtar Donetsk.
The Ukrainian could barely make contact with a clear first-half chance on Thursday against Manchester United and after another poor touch, Neville was exasperated.
“Oh my goodness, how many times have we seen that in the first half? So rigid and stiff on the ball,” Neville said during his commentary for Sky Sports. “It’s so heavy that touch its unbelievable. That is just confidence, or a lack of it.
“It’s like he hasn’t got a picture of what he’s going to do with it before he receives it. It’s all a bit fast in his head.”
Mudryk will hopefully have better days ahead, filled with plenty of goals and gym sessions where he’s the only protagonist of his videos.
However, the Red Devils ended a six-year trophy drought by winning the Carabao Cup, have the FA Cup final still to play, and are now assured of a return to global soccer’s biggest club event. It hasn’t been perfect, but after descending into “banter club” territory in recent years — last year was in fact their worst-ever Premier League season — it’s major progress.
Speaking of banter clubs, Man United pounced on another woeful Chelsea showing from virtually the opening whistle. Casemiro made their strong start count, heading home a set piece just six minutes in.
For the second week in a row, Casemiro opens the scoring early for Manchester United!
— NBC Sports Soccer (@NBCSportsSoccer) May 25, 2023
Chelsea offered a bit of pushback, but Man United signed off in the first half with Casemiro and Anthony Martial tearing the Blues apart to set Jadon Sancho up for a tap-in.
😱 ¡Casemiro engañó a toda la defensa y Martial anotó! ⚽️
— Telemundo Deportes (@TelemundoSports) May 25, 2023
Bruno Fernandes would pile on with a second-half penalty kick, and Marcus Rashford would add an exclamation point with his 30th goal in all competitions after a defensive error that was embarrassing even by Chelsea’s 2022-23 standards.
A bad pass from Fofana, and a WONDERFUL touch by Rashford to extend the Manchester United lead! 🫡
— NBC Sports Soccer (@NBCSportsSoccer) May 25, 2023
Chelsea would get a very late goal from João Félix, but it hardly slowed the celebrations down at Old Trafford.
“This club belongs in the Champions League,” ten Hag told Sky Sports after the match. “It’s not easy [to win] Premier League, so a lot compete for that. It’s massive when you get it done.”
“We’re still not where we want to be but we’re back in the Champions League, and I think that was a really important step,” added the Dutch coach, who had continental success with Ajax that included a run to the semifinals in the 2018-19 Champions League.
Like ten Hag, Fernandes was both pleased to be back in UEFA’s biggest showcase, and not satisfied with where Man United is overall.
The Portugal midfielder called being back in the Champions League merely “decent,” adding that “it’s not perfect because we want more. For what we did this season, it’s perfect… Now it’s about finishing the league well and going to [the] FA Cup.”
