Simon Hughes

Liverpool

Staff Football Writer at The Athletic

Senior football writer @TheAthleticFC.

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Articles

A sensible conversation about booing

2 days ago | nytimes.com | James Pearce |Simon Hughes

Liverpool's game against Arsenal on Sunday should have been a party - glorious weather, no pressure and a full house at Anfield to salute the new Premier League champions. Instead, the mood was soured by a hostile reception for Trent Alexander-Arnold in his first match since he confirmed he was leaving the club at the end of the season on a free transfer. There has been a vociferous debate ever since about the rights and wrongs of the reaction.
THE CRICVERSE with Simon Hughes and Derek Pringle

1 week ago | cricverse.substack.com | Simon Hughes

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Trent Alexander-Arnold and the end of a Liverpool fairy tale

1 week ago | nytimes.com | Simon Hughes

When Liverpudlians really respect a footballer, especially a local one, familiarity follows. Steven Gerrard, the club's garlanded former captain, was "Stevie"; "Carra" referred to Jamie Carragher, a long-serving and distinguished centre-half. Trent Alexander-Arnold became known simply as "Trent", and name-checked with the kind of casual affection that suggested his number was punched into the phone of everyone in the city.
Why this Premier League title meant everything to Liverpool

2 weeks ago | nytimes.com | Simon Hughes

When Alexis Mac Allister struck the goal that made Liverpool's title feel that bit more secure, the noise that followed prompted principal owner John W. Henry to adjust his hearing aid. Yes, this isn't baseball, John. This is football and this is Liverpool, where Henry and an entire generation of Liverpool supporters were experiencing something for the first time. It felt like the roof on the new Anfield Road stand was about to fly off.
Virgil van Dijk is Liverpool's defensive GOAT

4 weeks ago | nytimes.com | Simon Hughes

When Virgil van Dijk is mentioned in the pantheon of great Premier League defenders, it occasionally comes with a caveat. Yes, he has the trophies, the class and the longevity that are the traditional hallmarks of all-time greats. But has he always been confronted by the very best? Football has changed and even before his emergence at Liverpool it was said that the classic No 9 was disappearing from the game.
Inside Mohamed Salah's contract saga: Lawyer's concerns, Saudi interest

1 month ago | nytimes.com | Simon Hughes

In the end, the news that Mohamed Salah will remain at Liverpool was delivered with a humorous tagline. "More in than out," read the message across the club's social media pages at 8am on Friday, around 36 hours after reports in the forward's homeland of Egypt first suggested he had agreed to extend his eight-year stay at Anfield. It was a play on words, nodding to Salah's comments last November when his future on Merseyside felt far more tenuous.
Radical plan counties must use if they (and England) want strong future

1 month ago | thetimes.com | Simon Hughes
Liverpool, Everton and the 'conjoined stadium' that never was

1 month ago | nytimes.com | Simon Hughes

In the kitchen of Joachim Zadow's Wirral home, the retired architect is reminding himself of the features in the "dual stadium" that may have been hosting Wednesday's Merseyside derby had Everton and Liverpool embraced his ideas in the summer of 2010.
The rise of England's assistant manager, from Accrington to Wembley

1 month ago | nytimes.com | Simon Hughes

When Accrington Stanley travelled to Scotland for a series of pre-season friendlies in the summer of 2005, the first game was against the wonderfully named Dundonald Bluebell, a club from Fife, then competing in the country's eastern junior league.
'He was no f***ing saint'

1 month ago | nytimes.com | Simon Hughes

Following the 2013 release of Red Or Dead, his epic, fictional portrait of Bill Shankly's life story, author David Peace was asked which actor he thought was capable of delivering a performance worthy of the magnetic Liverpool manager if it ever became a movie, TV show or stage play. He did not have to think long to deliver his answer: Peter Mullan.