New England manager confirmed

GM football fans. Route One here, and we’re covering the new England manager announcement, Sir Alex Ferguson being axed from United and much more. Enjoy Route One? Share us with a friend on WhatsApp with this link.

TONIGHT’S WOMEN'S UCL STATS

Juventus vs Bayern Munich (17:45 UK). Juventus secured victories in eight consecutive games in all competitions, whilst Bayern Munich’s 44-game unbeaten run came to an end after a 2 – 0 loss to Wolfsburg on Saturday. Arsenal vs Valerenga (20:00 UK). Arsenal have gone three competitive matches without a win, and Valerenga – the second Norweigan team to feature in the Women’s UCL – are nine points clear at the top of their domestic league. Barcelona vs Hammarby (20:00 UK). Barcelona’s loss to Manchester City in their opening UCL match this campaign marked their first defeat since April when they lost 1 – 0 to Chelsea in the UCL semi-final first leg.

Plus…

• Nations League results: Scotland secure first point after holding Portugal to a 0 — 0 draw | Poland and Croatia drew 3 — 3 | Spain breezed past Serbia with a 3 — 0 win | Northern Ireland top their league after a 5 — 0 thumping of Bulgaria (Full results here)

• Nations League table standings (More)

• Premier League fixture changes announced (More)

• Match officials for Matchweek 8 (More)

• Salford City CEO Nicky Butt stepped down from his role (More)

• Real Madrid edit out Mbappe from promotion; Bellingham accidentally posts original (More) / via Reddit

• Jonas Eidevall resigns as Arsenal Women head coach (More)

ENGLAND MANAGER CONFIRMED

Thomas Tuchel agrees deal to become the new England manager

Thomas Tuchel has agreed to become the new England manager after a swift negotiation with the FA. Multiple sources confirm the news. His appointment is expected to be unveiled this week.

The German coach is regarded as an Anglophile, and his love of English players and the English game sharpened in the 20-month spell at Chelsea (More details on this here). He will become England’s third foreign national team manager after Sven-Goran Eriksson and Fabio Capello. Whilst being out of work since leaving Bayern Munich at the end of last season, Tuchel had interest from Manchester United and AC Milan.

Tuchel has received praise for being one of the best tacticians in Europe, but the 51-year-old has proven to be a divisive figure. Nonetheless, his proven track record is something that the FA were looking for. This includes a Champions League win with Chelsea, a Bundesliga title with Bayern Munich, and a domestic treble with Paris Saint-Germain; guiding the Parisian side to their first and only Champions League final. Interim manager Lee Carsley is expected to remain in charge for next month’s Nations League matches against Greece and Republic of Ireland.

POLL

HEAD START

🇫🇷 Mbappe faces heat in home country. After serious allegations were reported against Kylian Mbappe in a Swedish newspaper, the Frenchman wrote on X to say they were false. He also implied that his former club, Paris Saint-Germain, were responsible for spreading false stories about him on the eve of their wage dispute case. One of France’s largest sports publications L’Equipe bit back against Mbappe’s claims: “It's a shame. PSG is responsible for everything with him. He didn't score any goals (apart from penalties) for Madrid? It's PSG.”

💼 Prem meeting over City dispute postponed. The Premier League’s emergency meeting with clubs this week to discuss the legal dispute with Manchester City over Associated Party Transaction (APT) rules has been postponed. The League cancelled Thursday’s meeting after two preliminary meetings – with its legal advisory group and the financial controls advisory group – were cancelled.

🤕 Injuries cost clubs €732mn last season. Clubs in Europe’s top five divisions lost €732mn in wages paid to injured players last season — an increase on previous campaigns. Bundesliga clubs dominate the list of those with the most injuries, with a total of 90,547 days lost to injury. In general, though, these figures were recorded before the impact of an expanded club calendar has been felt.

INEOS AXE SAF

Sir Alex Ferguson axed from role at Man Utd, part of Ineos cost-cutting measures

Sir Alex Ferguson’s ambassadorial deal with Manchester United has been axed by new part-owners Ineos in its latest cost-cutting measures. The club’s accounts in 2014 reveal Ferguson became a global ambassador after resigning as manager and received £2.16mn per year for his services. The deal continued for over a decade.

Club sources say the decision was amicably made following a face-to-face meeting between Sir Jim Ratcliffe and the club’s most successful manager (see achievements here). Another source said that Ferguson “will always be welcome at Old Trafford”. But club legend Eric Cantona called the decision to end the 82-year-old’s contract “scandalous”.

Last month, United posted losses of £113.2mn for the year ending June 30 2024. The cost-cutting measures — including laying off around 250 jobs at the club — are expected to save between £40-45mn in total, helping United comply with the new period of financial rules.

AROUND THE FOOTBALL WORLD

🌎 England national team: The FA are understood to be considering a friendly game in the United States next June as practice ahead of the 2026 World Cup (More)

🇪🇸 La Liga: League chief tells Fifa to scrap the 2025 Club World Cup (More) | Lamine Yamal is expected to be fit for the first El Clasico of the season away at Real Madrid on 26 October (More)

🇳🇱 Eredivisie: PSV Eindhoven supporters have been banned from this month’s Champions League clash at Paris Saint-Germain because of previous disturbances, the Dutch club said (More)

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 Scottish Premiership: Hearts announce Neil Critchley as their new head coach (More)

ROUTER’S VOICE

Yesterday, we asked you: How do you think Fifa should solve the issue around a congested football calendar?

⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ 🔋 Increase squad size requirements... (3.1%)

🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 🧢 Introduce a cap around the number of matches per player... (50%)

🟨 🟨 🟨 ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ❌ Nothing should change, it only impacts elite players... (25%)

🟨 🟨 ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ✍️ Other (write it!)... (21.8%)

Your punditry takes:

• 🧢 C.M: “A cap should be made on the number of matches a player can play in a season. This could be done on a league basis in consultation with clubs, players unions and other interested parties. The top leagues, where many players play continental and international matches can take these competitions into account when setting their cap.”

• 🔋 K.V: “Making the squads bigger means fans still get to watch plenty of football all whilst tired or injured players can rest. It’ll also give the youngsters more minutes.”

• ✍️ S.F: “Scrap pointless competitions like the Nations League. It's irrelevant to anything, the games are pedestrian and the set-up is nonsense and for what? Players get injured and the clubs again have to pick up the pieces.”

EXTRA TIME

Luis Enrique shares his thoughts about his daughter’s passing.

Ballon d’Or favourites 12 days out.

Colombia debuts a stunning centenary kit…

… while Belgium players wear their kit without Adidas logo.

Premier League teams with the best and worst next 10 fixtures.

How Spain are reviving the art of long-range shooting.

Why are so many Premier League games being drawn?

Don’t show up late with Roy Keane.

Outside of football: King Conker ‘cheated’ with metal conker at the World Conker Championships.

GAME FACE ON

Question: Arsenal’s match at home to Sheffield United in January 1927 marked what first for a football match in England?

Clue: Listen up.

Scroll below for the answer.

ON TODAY

Women’s Champions League

• Juventus vs Bayern Munich (17:45)

• St Polten vs Man City (17:45)

• Arsenal vs Valerenga (20:00)

• Barcelona vs Hammarby (20:00)

*All times in UK. EST -5. PST -8. CET +1. CST +8. JST +9.

Answer

It was the first game broadcast on radio. It took another ten years for the first game to be televised, when Arsenal vs Arsenal Reserves was broadcast on 16 September 1937 (Details on the match here).