A Quick Thank-You

Tomorrow is another season.

Did everyone have a good two-week offseason? As a Barcelona fan, I’ve got to say mine could have gone just a teensy bit better, but the nice part about calling space space space a “letter” (no news, thanks!) is that we don’t have to talk about contract disputes. We’re here to make sense of what happens on the pitch, and the only news that matters is that some of our favorite pitches are about to start having things happen on them again.

Tomorrow I’ll publicly announce the launch of space space space for the 2020/21 season. What you’ll get in your inbox this year will look a lot like what you’ve read so far: some tactics, some analytics, some interviews with very smart people whose jobs involve thinking about soccer, and some self-indulgent literary bullshit. Since our topic is what makes the world’s best soccer teams tick, you’ll hear a lot about the usual Champions League suspects plus whichever other clubs and national teams seem interesting. The only real difference from last month’s programming is that the letters will be delivered on a regular Tuesday and Friday schedule as we all try to reestablish some sanity in our lives.

Speaking of my life! I just left an extremely sensible job as a lawyer for an extremely insensible one of watching and writing about soccer. That means space space space will need to be a source of income this year, which means I’ll gradually phase in a paid tier for those of you who are really into this project and want to go deep on it with me. Don’t worry, there will still be a free tier too. I know $7 a month is totally reasonable for some people and a lot for others, so I’ll try to figure out ways to get stuff to as many readers as possible while still, you know, eating.

But the real purpose of this note is just to say thank you. Yes, you. I’m super excited to spend all my time trying to understand this sport and thrilled that so many of you want to do it with me. I’m working on adding a comment section so members can chat more about the letters, but if you have questions or things you want to see from space space space feel free to shoot me an email or hit me up on Twitter at @johnspacemuller. It’s going to be a very good year. Even if Messi leaves. ❧

Image: Shikibu Terutada, Birds and Flowers of Summer and Autumn