BERGAM-OH …
Spring in Dublin. And then Germany. That was the schedule for Jurgen Klopp, for Liverpool to slide into the Euro Vase final and celebrate nine years of Jurg greatness with an evening of Copperface Jack’s, food catered by Abra Kebabra. And all this after they had swept aside all the meek Euro pretenders LFC encountered in the final. Xabi Alonso’s Leverkusen, hopefully, to show Xabi what he’s missing. On May 22nd and 23rd, hotels have been booked across Ireland for months, non-refundable of course.
So yes, Atalanta. Gian Piero Gasperini, the pretty good manager of a pretty good team that has been punching above their weight in Serie A and beyond for a few years now. They had been written out of the story before. Gianluca Scamacca too. Do you remember him in the Premier League? A Hammers flop, right? There’s not much to fear there. And so Liverpool needed a second-leg miracle in Bergamo. Thank Shanks they don’t give away away goals these days. Overconfidence, they call it, becoming too big for your boots. But let’s not just pick Liverpool here. It wasn’t the best week for the image of the self-proclaimed best league in the whole damn world. Because this was the week that PL Suits published an advert saying: “Britain will soon become the first major country to regulate football. We must guard against unintended consequences that would jeopardize the success of English football.”
The government is moving to bring in a football regulator, a populist, vote-seeking (good luck with that, Rishi) gesture to create a body that those who have read the fine print will tell you is likely to have fewer teeth than a newborn baby. has still said the suits are bending their poison pens. Interference? We’re all doing well, thank you, despite Everton’s points deduction being collected like Chris Eubank’s truck collected parking fines, with Forest joining the crowd as even heavier things hang over Chelsea and Manchester City. Moreover, we will change the rules again next season.
About those successes. On Tuesday, City and Arsenal drew with the big beasts of the Big Cup in Real Madrid and Bayern Munich, with not much superiority on display from England’s best players. Then came Atalanta, at a strangely quiet and colorless Anfield. Why? Instead of the usual tifos and Vogon verses that lined the sheets at the Kop van Famous European Nights, there were banners denouncing the ownership for putting up the ticket prices, and grumblings of dissatisfaction. Gasperini’s men stepped into that vacuum. Again, let’s not just pick Liverpool here. Of the twelve PL clubs that have announced ticket prices for next season, eleven have announced an increase. Veteran Tottenham fans are furious over the removal of discounts for OAPs and Manchester City fans no longer thank Sheikh Mansour so easily as prices have risen again despite record revenues.
Yet it is not just the Premier League. There is the EFL, real football for real fans, from which this announcement came on Friday: “From next season, Sky Sports will become the home of the EFL. With over 1,000 EFL matches live on Sky and Now each season, iFollow/club streaming services will no longer offer domestic live video coverage of EFL matches.” Oh.
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“I think if he sees something in our game and he sees my name pop up on his phone it might be, ‘Oh, should I take this’, I’m sure he pressed the red button a few times” – Wolves manager Gary O’Neil thinks Howard Webb may be avoiding him. That, or he thinks Webb is mixing up his cell phone and his TV remote.
FOOTBALL DAILY LETTERS
“With regard to the letter from Todd van Allen (Thursday’s Football Daily) – regarding Mark Ward’s letter – noting that 1,056 pedants is ‘one less than the traditional 1,057 pedants’, I can be the first of 1,057 pedants to point out does that indicate ‘less’, not ‘fewer’, pedants? Or is that too much pedantry even for the Voetbaldagblad?” – Christian Goldsmith (and 1,057 other pedants)
“I was quite dismayed when I read about Rangers’ pompous statements about Dundee’s waterlogged pitch (Thursday’s Football Daily), but on reflection they may have a point. Surely attempts could have been made to clean up the flooded pitch using some of Beanotown’s Dandy and Beano surplus? These soggy publications could then be sent to Rangers for drying and recycling, given the plentiful supply of hot air. Or perhaps some waste heat from the city’s numerous marmalade factories could be used to dry out Dundee’s target areas. This would also have had the added benefit of making the field smell orangish and with a pleasant odor. Has Dundee shown even a golden shred of remorse for the situation? –Steve Malone.
“I have been following the excellent Voetbaldagblad every day for a long time now. It keeps me informed, I feel well informed and I like the humor. However, the last word or phrase leaves me baffled and confused. Do I miss something? Thursday’s SLUGGISH is the final straw. What is the connection? Is there a connection? What is going on? I’d like to know! Best wishes and long may you continue, explanation or not!” – D Foster.
Send letters to the.boss@theguardian.com. Today’s winner of our prizeless letter of the day is… D Foster.
TURKISH SUPERLIG MAKES VAR SOS
Controversy is never far away in the Turkish Super Lig and with matches this season marred by violence against officials (for context, a referee was punched in the face by a club chairman in December), the league has moved to sign foreign players to point out. VARs for ‘critical’ games for the remainder of the campaign.
Title chasers Fenerbahce – who are second, two points behind Galatasaray – have made accusations of bias, so VARs will now be selected from abroad. Handy, considering the Turkish FA wants a bit fewer Due to the on-field controversy, Howard Webb and the residents of Stockley Park will not be involved. Civil servants from Italy, Spain, Germany, Portugal and the Netherlands got the jobs after the countries’ respective federations gave the collective green light.
NEWS, BITS AND BOBS
Three of Harry Kane’s children have been taken to hospital after being involved in a car crash in Germany. The head of the local volunteer fire brigade said it was “really fortunate” that no one suffered more than minor injuries.
Money News I: Everton paid around £30m in interest charges to an opaque lender linked to a tax exile, company records show.
Money News II: The era of frozen Premier League ticket prices is over, an expert has warned fans.
Money News III: Chelsea are back at the top of the Premier League… for a record £75million agent fee.
Manchester City are likely to benefit from Lucas Paquetá’s desire to leave West Ham this summer as long as the FA investigation into alleged betting breaches is dropped.
City definitely need more players because they are all broken. “If a player doesn’t want to play, he’s not going to play, simple,” Pep Guardiola sobbed on Friday, after Rodri’s comments about burnout. “There will be another one playing. If he is exhausted, it may happen and another player will play. It’s not just Rodri. I would like to give center backs a rest, but we don’t have that. In the [international] They got injured in friendlies and we are in big, big trouble. So they can’t rest.”
And Vincent Kompany says it won’t take a miracle for Burnley to survive. “I wouldn’t call it a miracle, but it takes wins and points,” goes the obvious statement. “Every match offers opportunities. We don’t consider any match as a match where we can’t win.”
DO YOU WANT MORE?
‘If Luton stays up I don’t want it to be because of deductions’: Emma John talks to Hatters manager Rob Edwards.
Slovakia’s latest pro-Russian turn has made their ties with Ukraine at Euro 2024 clearer, writes Barney Ronay.
Portsmouth are closing in on a return to the Championship – Ben Fisher visits a city ready to celebrate after 12 years out of the top two divisions.
1, 2, 3, 4… 5, 6… 7, 8… 9… 10! 10! 10! Ten things to watch out for in the Premier League this weekend!
And here is the sports quiz of the week!
MEMORY LONG
Almost exactly 25 years ago, Kevin Keegan’s England squad gathered for training at Wembley ahead of their European Championship qualifier against Poland, Keegan’s first game as England manager at the national stadium. England’s 3-1 win, thanks to a Paul Scholes hat-trick, proved crucial in getting Keegan’s stuttering side to the final – they reached the play-offs (where Scotland were defeated over two legs) only after a head-to-head record against the Poles . The match at Wembley also featured a number of notable debuts in midfield: Tim Sherwood (the first of three caps) and Ray Parlor (the first of ten).