This episode was recorded before the tragic news about the death of Diogo Jota and his brother.

Jack Pitt-Brooke, Rory Smith and, eventually (18:41), James Horncastle try to get their heads around the sheer size of modern football. What happened to other sports? What special advantage does football have over everything else? And what is it about football that has allowed it to become the dominant cultural force in the modern world.

And with football now in such a powerful position in the media landscape, the natural next question is whether or not this is actually good for the game.

Produced by: Tom Bassam

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Music: Kid Kodi - Blue Dot Sessions

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On today’s Libero, Jack Pitt-Brooke, Tariq Panja and John Brewin ask the big question of the summer so far: who is John Textor? And what is going on with the ownership of Lyon and Crystal Palace? Lyon used to be one of Europe’s model clubs but now they are facing the prospect of relegation to Ligue 2. What does this tell us, not only about Textor, but about the multi-club model in general? Is there any upside at all in it for clubs.

There is one Textor club that is having a great summer, though, with Botafogo through to the last-16 of the Club World Cup. All four Brazilian teams, in fact, have progressed from the groups. (31:27) Why is Brazilian club football so strong again? And does that change how we feel about Gianni Infantino’s big party in the USA?

Produced by: Tom Bassam

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Music: Kid Kodi - Blue Dot Sessions

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Another summer, another tournament enlivened by marauding hordes of Argentina fans taking over beaches and shopping centres. On today’s Libero, Miguel Delaney, Rory Smith and Jonathan Wilson discuss what it is that makes Argentinian football culture so passionate and so appealing to outsiders, whether we overlook the reality of it in favour of the romance, and whether its allure is really a measure of our anxiety over the sanitised, commercial world of European football. James Horncastle dials in, too, to offer his thoughts after experiencing the imported South American atmosphere in Miami, and we contemplate the impact of conflict in Iran on next year’s World Cup (50:05).

Produced by: Tom Bassam

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Music: Kid Kodi - Blue Dot Sessions

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Here we go, right into transfer season, so Miguel Delaney, Rory Smith and Jonathan Wilson discuss how it all actually works from a media perspective, as well as how reporting on it has evolved into an entire industry of its own, an adjunct to the actual football. We also (38:06), aware of our own hypocrisy, discuss an actual big transfer: Florian Wirtz to Liverpool.

Produced by: Tom Bassam

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Libero goes on location as James Horncastle reports from the Hard Rock Stadium after Boca Juniors v Benfica. Is our Italian stallion getting swept up by Gianni Infantino’s Club World Cup? Then, back across the Atlantic where John Brewin, Miguel Delaney and Tariq Panja share their thoughts on the tourney so far, where they’re watching on a channel better known for serial killer documentaries.

Then, at (24:36), they start the real quiz. Transfers, better than the football itself? The team considers the changing face of the recruitment game, from pushy parents to blue-chip, fully corporate agencies. Are the bad old days of third-party ownership coming back? Which clubs do things differently? Will a couple of high-profile legal cases turn things upside down?

Produced by: Tom Bassam

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It’s Club World Cup time, and Libero are just as excited as you are. Today, Miguel Delaney, John Brewin and Rory Smith discuss how this tournament came to be, and what its existence tells us about the power (im)balance of world football. In the second half (38:18), they discuss what the tournament might bring as a sporting spectacle: for all the misgivings over how it came about, will it produce any football worth watching? And is part of the problem that most football, no matter how artificial and commercialised, is worth watching?

Produced by: Tom Bassam

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On today’s episode James Horncastle, Jonathan Wilson and Tariq Panja discuss Luciano Spalletti’s shock (is it?) departure as Italy boss and what bigger meaning does it point to about that state of the Azzurri. Before moving on to the status of the Nations League and asking whether the competition finally hit the big time? Or is it just another needless extra in football’s bursting-at-the seams calendar?

In part two (27:24), Jonathan takes us on a magical mystery tour of his attempt to get to one game in one city in the United States of America. Full of twists, turns and a baffling array of chance encounters, Jonathan’s journey offers an insight to what might be in store for fans attending this summer’s Club World Cup.

Produced by: Tom Bassam

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