OH WHAT A NIGHT, LATE APRIL 2023
It wasn’t the greatest night for Brendan Rodgers. His former charges Leicester City, relegation-bound with the Brodge at the helm, were good value for a precious point at Leeds. Admittedly it was a game they could have lost, but on balance they probably should have won, and so that’ll be seven points from the last nine for new broom Dean Smith once they’ve dealt with Everton on Monday night. The Foxes suddenly look reinvigorated, back on point, James Maddison speaking after the game of the benefit of hearing a fresh voice in the dressing room, and it’s the biggest blow to Brenny’s reputation for elite man-management since he was captured on camera railing at a teenage Raheem Sterling while performing his famous pick-an-envelope conjuring act to a soundtrack of Oxygene, Pt.4.
It wasn’t the greatest night for Steven Gerrard, either. His former charges Aston Villa, relegation-bound with the Me-ster at the helm, were good value for their win at home over Fulham. Admittedly it was a bit of a grind, and it was just as well there were two other games live on BT at the same time, but that’s 26 points out of the last 30 for Villa. That’s the form of champions, the best record in the division over the stretch, and all of a sudden they’re fifth in the table. While they’ve played more games than Spurs, Liverpool and Brighton, their main contenders for Europe, they’ve still got to play all of them. Their fate is in their own hands, and should they make it, here’s your regular reminder that football is a simple game, 22 men chase a ball for 90 minutes, and at the end Emery wins Big Vase. Lump on, kids, it’s a shoo-in.
Rodgers and Gerrard were, of course, the main architects of Liverpool’s tilt at the 2013-14 title, which brings us neatly to Arsenal. The Reds frittered away a seemingly unassailable lead during the run-in that season, their infamous Devon Loch stylings a useful reference point for the way the Gunners are tooling around right now. Arsenal are five points clear at the top as they head to Manchester City on Wednesday night, though given their dominant starts in their recent matches at Liverpool and West Ham, plus the visit of bottom club Southampton, one could argue that their lead really should currently stand at 11. Mikel, Mikel, Mikel, how has it come to this?
“They’ve been in incredible form but look where we are in the table,” Arteta insisted. “That means we’ve been in incredible form as well!” That’s one way of looking at a run of three points from nine, during which they’ve started shipping goals at a rate of Nottingham knots. By contrast, reigning champions City have won 11 of their last 12 games, the other result being a draw in the second leg of a tie they already led by three goals. While the “as well” in Arteta’s statement isn’t quite in the realms of eyeball-rotating denial, not yet, it is doing rather a lot of heavy lifting, and with games against Chelsea, Newcastle and Brighton to follow, his side need to dig deep or it could all be over sooner than everyone thinks. Apologies to Arsenal fans for ending on such a downer, but if it cheers you up any, Rodgers is quoted as 7-1 third-favourite for the Spurs job.
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QUOTE OF THE DAY
“The landscape has changed. We’ve maybe lost sight of alignment and expectations. Some of it has been fast-tracked by social media [disgraces]. It’s a bit like politics: you either hate something or you love it, you’re not allowed to be in between, and that feeds into football. You’re winning games and we love you, but [you lose] and we hate you, and suddenly there’s pressure” – Frank Lampard laments what he perceives to be the mentality that keeps getting Premier League managers sacked … and subsequently rehired?
FOOTBALL DAILY LETTERS
In reference to recent events at Spurs (yesterday’s Football Daily), the club where managerial correspondence is addressed To Whom It May Concern, Daniel Levy was quoted as saying that ultimate responsibility for the fiasco was his. Which makes me wonder why he still has a job and Cristian Stellini does not” – Carl Zetie.
I’m wondering whether someone more tech-savvy than me could compare current managers’ team selections with those generated by an AI thingy? I’d suggest that sacking your AI manager at a desperate stage of the season would be simpler, cheaper and less egg-on-face than showing a human the door marked Do One. And despite its youth as an emergent technology, it’s hard to imagine even an AI-selected line-up going 5-0 in 21 minutes” – John Kyle.
With Villa’s current form, is it too soon to say that Steven Gerrard has prevented another of his teams from a Premier League title victory?” – James Vortkamp-Tong.
Thank you for your regular update on what is happening in the world of José Mourinho now that he’s plying his trade in Italy (yesterday’s News, Bits and Bobs, full email edition). I’m sure I’m not the only reader who looks forward to finding out who’s currently on the treatment table at Roma or to hear what José has to say on the topic of the day” – Elaine Shaw (and no others).
Send your letters to the.boss@theguardian.com. Today’s winner of our prizeless letter o’ the day is … John Kyle.
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