BERGAM-OH …
Springtime in Dublin. And then Germany. Such was the schedule planned out for Jürgen Klopp, for Liverpool to glide to the Euro Vase final and celebrate nine years of Jurg greatness with a night down Copperface Jack’s, cuisine supplied by Abra Kebabra. All after swatting aside whatever meek Euro pretenders LFC met in the final. Xabi Alonso’s Leverkusen, hopefully, to show Xabi what he’s missing. Hotels have been booked across Ireland on 22 and 23 May for months, non-refundable, naturally.
So yeah, Atalanta. Gian Piero Gasperini, the rather good manager of a rather good team that’s been punching above their weight in Serie A and beyond for a good few years. They were rather written out of the narrative. Gianluca Scamacca, too. Remember him in the Premier League? A Hammers flop, right? Not much to fear there. And so Liverpool were left needing a second leg miracle in Bergamo. Thank Shanks they don’t do away goals these days. Hubris, they call it, getting too big for your boots. But let’s not pick out just Liverpool here. It’s not been the best week for the image of the self-proclaimed best league in the whole bloody world. For this was the week that PL suits released an advert stating: “The UK will soon become the first major country to regulate football. We must guard against unintended consequences that would put English football’s success at risk.”
Government moves to put a football regulator in train, a populist, vote-seeking (good luck with that, Rishi) gesture to create a body that those who have read the finer print will tell you probably ends up with fewer teeth than a newborn, still has said suits flexing their poison pens. Interference? We’re all doing fine, thanks, despite Everton’s points deductions being collected like Chris Eubank’s truck used to receive parking tickets, with Forest joining the throng as even heavier stuff hangs over Chelsea and Manchester City. Besides, we’re changing the rules – again – next season.
About those successes. On Tuesday City and Arsenal drew with Big Cup big beasts in Real Madrid and Bayern Munich, with not much in the way of superiority on show from England’s finest. Then came Atalanta, at a curiously quiet and colourless Anfield. Why? Instead of the usual tifos and Vogon verse emblazoned on bedsheets on the Kop on Famous European Nights, there were banners decrying the ownership for putting up ticket prices, and grumblings of discontent. Into that vacuum stepped Gasperini’s men. Again, let’s not just pick out Liverpool here. Of 12 PL clubs who have announced ticket prices for next season, 11 have announced increases. Veteran Tottenham fans rage at the scrapping of discounts for OAPs and Manchester City fans are no longer thanking Sheikh Mansour quite so readily now that prices have gone up again despite record revenues.
Still, there’s not just the Premier League. There’s the EFL, real football for real fans, from which this announcement came on Friday: “From next season Sky Sports will be the home of the EFL. With over 1,000 EFL fixtures live via 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 guess if he sees something in our game and he sees my name pop up on his phone it might be: ‘Oh, do I have to take this one,’ I’m sure he has pressed the red button a few times” – Wolves manager Gary O’Neil reckons Howard Webb might be avoiding him. Either that, or he thinks Webb has his mobile and his TV remote mixed up.
FOOTBALL DAILY LETTERS
“With respect to Todd van Allen’s letter (Thursday’s Football Daily) – about Mark Ward’s letter – in which he notes that 1,056 pedants is ‘one less than the traditional 1,057 pedants’, can I be the first of 1,057 pedants to point out that it’s ‘fewer’, not ‘less’, pedants? Or is that too much pedantry even for the Football Daily?” – Christian Goldsmith (and 1,057 other pedants)
“I was rather dismayed to read about Rangers’ pompous pronouncements concerning Dundee’s waterlogged pitch (Thursday’s Football Daily), but on reflection they may have a point. Surely attempts could have been made to mop up the inundated pitch water using some of Beanotown’s Dandy and Beano surplus? These soggy publications could then be sent on to Rangers for drying out and recycling, given the plentiful supply of hot air. Or perhaps some waste heat from the town’s numerous marmalade factories could be used to dry out Dundee’s goal areas. This would also have had the additional benefit of leaving the pitch smelling all orangey with a pleasant tang. Have Dundee expressed even a Golden Shred of regret for the situation?” – Steve Malone.
“Every day for a long while I have followed the excellent Football Daily. It keeps me up to date, I feel well informed, and I love the humour. However, the final word or phrase, leaves me perplexed and confused. Am I missing out on something? Thursday’s SLUGGISH is the final straw. What’s the connection? Is there a connection? What is going on? Would love 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 o’ the day is … D Foster.
TURKISH SUPER LIG MAKES VAR SOS
Controversy is never too far away in the Turkish Super Lig and, with games this season marred by violence towards officials (for context: a referee was punched in the face by a club president in December), the league has taken the step of assigning foreign VARs to “critical” games for the rest of the campaign.
Title-chasing Fenerbahce – who are second, two points behind Galatasaray – have aired accusations of bias, so VARs will now be selected from overseas. Handily, given the Turkish FA want a little less on-field controversy, Howard Webb and the denizens of Stockley Park will not be involved – officials from Italy, Spain, Germany, Portugal and the Netherlands have been handed the jobs after the nations’ respective federations gave the collective green light.
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