Laura Woods: Man City Sanctions, Trent's England Future & Hearn vs White
‘FURIOUS’ AT MAN CITY SITUATION
I'm glad the Manchester City situation has finally reached a point where we know that they've been found guilty because this has been hanging in the air for so long.
The punishment for previous clubs – like Everton, for example – who have breached the rules and been found guilty seemed to be a much swifter affair with points deductions coming quickly and the ramifications settled quite fast.
So it’s been a really frustrating wait with the City charges but, obviously, there are just so many of them that they have to get it right. I’m relieved it’s reached something of a conclusion.
WATCH: Laura blind ranks UK football derbies
I actually have sympathy for everyone involved – apart from the club. I don't imagine the players had any idea what was going on behind the scenes; it seemed those taking the decisions were so hell-bent on winning to create a period of domination.
Yes, the charges are only up to 2018, but you benefit massively from all the finances you won and all the players you managed to buy… and even just by winning in general to create that winning mentality and attract other players because of it.
It’s been almost a generation, in football terms anyway, that they have benefited from that. I’m furious it’s been allowed to happen.
I know they've been investigated, and I know it's difficult, but I just can't believe it's taken this long to get some sort of resolution.
Man City to be relegated this season is 15/8 with BetMGM
CITY SANCTIONS MUST BE PROPORTIONATE
Now the punishment has to fit the crime, unfortunately for Man City fans.
You just have to compare the £900 million figure of theirs versus the much smaller amount that Everton breached the rules with to see that.
I don't really know what that punishment is, and I also wouldn't want to be the person making that decision because I think it's completely unprecedented.
And I hate that word, but it is. I don't think we've ever experienced anything like this on this scale ever before in football, certainly not in the Premier League.
City have the right to appeal so they might be able to change some things around but – when you're found guilty on all charges and there are so many – I don't think an appeal is going to work.
They’ll have to take their medicine. In terms of handing back medals, we’ve seen it before in things like cycling, with Lance Armstrong.
There’s some conversation around the sentiment of ‘oh, it doesn’t matter now; it’s already happened’. And I do think football is about moments and emotions, so it probably won’t make anyone feel better as they can’t get the moment itself back.
They’ve been robbed of that and everything that comes with along with winning: all of that joy, all the extra income and the rest of it.
And the reason people pay their season ticket prices to go to football matches is to enjoy those moments together, so I think it’s robbed so much more than just a league title on paper.
It's going to be very, very difficult to make that punishment fit the crime – and it probably won't.
Whatever they manage to do, it probably won't.
Man City to be relegated this season is 15/8 with BetMGM
GORDON THE SAME PLAYER – JUST IN A DIFFERENT SITUATION
I heard Anthony Gordon mention that perception of him might have changed since he moved to Barcelona but that he was already this high-IQ player before that – and I think both things can actually be true at the same time.
I understand that he feels like when he was in England he was perhaps underappreciated, or at least the technical side of his game was underappreciated and not noticed as much since it was more about being direct and aggressive and quick and things like that.
But I do think he's also complemented by the way he's being coached at the moment and perhaps it's just a player being taken out of one context and put in another where those skills are now more prominent and being noticed more.
I don't think you can necessarily just become a different player. I definitely agree with him that he's always had that side to his game – but the environment massively affects things.
He might just be really suited to that style of football at Barcelona. Playing in a team with more technically gifted players might simply complement his style of play and allow that side of him to come out more.
I'm glad it's working for him.
Sometimes the press can put a bit of a downer on things but I also definitely think there are questions over whether he gave everything towards the end of his time at Newcastle so he probably had a little bit of a difficult relationship with the media over here because of that.
Anthony Gordon to have the most La Liga assists in 2026-27 is 9/1 with BetMGM
WHY TUCHEL SHOULD STICK WITH TRENT & HALL
I feel like England play Croatia more than any other team on the planet.
Obviously, this one will be another tough test. They're coming off the back of a heavy 4-1 loss against Spain, though. They might be a little bit wounded and they’re definitely not the Croatia they used to be.
I definitely hope Thomas Tuchel sticks with that Trent Alexander-Arnold / Lewis Hall full-back pairing from the Czech Republic game.
A bit of consistency is important, especially against a team like Croatia.
I don’t know if I’d go so far as to say Trent is winning Tuchel round or not but I will always think it’s a shame he didn’t go to the World Cup.
I think Trent’s the kind of player Tuchel has to sit down and figure out what it is he gives me that other players don’t… can we play to his strengths? Can we arrange the team around his strengths? If he considers him a bit frail defensively then does he play more into the passing ability and that creative side of Trent?
Any team is more positive with him in it – so how does he set that team up to get the best out of Trent but also protect themselves defensively?
Having a consistent backline and letting them play together more often – like keeping the same full-backs – is probably a good idea right now. I’d stick with them.
England to beat Croatia is 9/10 with BetMGM
WIEGMAN’S MANAGEMENT SPOT ON
I don’t mind Sarina Wiegman leaving Chloe Kelly and Ella Toone out of the Lionesses squad at all.
Chloe hasn't started this season for Arsenal while Ella's been quite in and out in terms of her form as well.
I've always appreciated Wiegman’s directness. In the past, she's been criticised for including the same tried-and-trusted players – same ones in the squad, same ones in the starting XI and people would ask ‘can we see rotation? Can we see the next generation? Don’t just lean on who’s played really well before’.
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So I do not mind this and it’s not brutal as she’s in a position to pick the best on form. She’s basically said to those two: ‘look, you're not performing up to your normal standards and I think you can be better. And until you are better you won't get in my squad again’.
That's what England should be. That's what like elite football is all about and these players should be used to being dropped.
Yes, they've been amazing in the past and key figures in a lot of the Lionesses' success in this generation, but she’s been publicly honest and that can be hard to hear. And if I’m not playing well, I’ll know that too and recognise that I’m not starting for my club or my form has been patchy. Those players will know that before anybody else.
They’ll have heard it privately from Sarina – she’s not telling the world something they don’t know.
The Lionesses to win the 2027 Women’s World Cup is 8/1 with BetMGM
BALLON D’OR VOTING NONSENSICAL
I think the Ballon d’Or voting system is a bit of nonsense.
I work in football and I can't really remember how I felt about Harry Kane after the World Cup right now and I can't remember how I felt about Lamine Yamal either, if I'm completely honest.
And I think football journalists and the people that are handed the right to vote here and have their influence cast – they probably aren't sure either. They're just human beings; we all are.
So why leave the Ballon d’Or voting open until near the end of September? It's silly.
What's fresh to me now is England playing Spain and Yamal scoring. Kane scored, yes, but he also missed a penalty. Of course that's going to influence my judgment. It just is. We're humans – we are weak creatures! So I don't understand why they leave the voting open this long. It needs to change. I wouldn't be surprised if that's why the Ballon d’Or odds have flipped in Yamal’s favour after England-Spain.
Lamine Yamal to win the Ballon d’Or is 4/5 with BetMGM
EDDIE HEARN SPOT ON OVER DANA WHITE
I'm still definitely excited about the prospect of Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury finally meeting but I am also in the camp that feels it’s very late.
It's not too late. I don't think it's ever too late while they're active.
There have been so many moments where it’s been time for the fight, everyone thinks it’s happening and then all of a sudden, at the last minute, it’s not anymore.
It’s frustrating. Boxing has been a frustrating landscape for a really long time and – whatever you think about Saudi involvement, and there’s a conversation to be had about that – at least with Turki Alalshikh things are moving.
But it has lost some of its glitz, glamour and excitement because it's probably five years too late. Maybe even longer.
And I’m not surprised – and never am – by how dogged Eddie Hearn has been throughout it all either.
Eddie and AJ together changed the whole landscape of boxing. They made this completely commercial creature and entity in Anthony Joshua that we hadn't really seen before in stadium fights and just took boxing to a whole different level.
I feel like I've heard more from the promoters and those involved in the whole thing than I have from the fighters.
When it comes to Dana White, I actually would feel quite annoyed if I was Eddie as well that someone came along from the UFC to try to get involved.
I enjoy the UFC… but it's not boxing. It's run completely differently. I think the way they treat the fighters in boxing is far better than they do in the UFC in terms of their contracts and their finances, how they're paid, when they're paid, the limit on what they're paid.
That stuff seems to cater for Dana. I'm not a fan. As far as Fury-AJ, it is a bit confusing about whether he's involved or not. Netflix is saying he is involved; Eddie's saying he's not.
If I were Eddie, I'd be trying to put my foot down too, because if it is the biggest UK fight of the century or however they want to bill it, what's it got to do with Dana White, really?
Anthony Joshua to beat Tyson Fury is 6/4 with BetMGM
Odds correct at time of publication but subject to change
