PEP AND THE REAL FOOTBALL MEN
Kyle Walker made a shocking revelation this week. Perhaps not the one you’re thinking of. Instead, in a shock move for a footballer, Kyle has a podcast, though one husbanded by the BBC so anyone hoping for the wildest tales of epic antics will just have to return to their Sunday scandal sheets for details. This one, though, shocked English soccer to its core – possibly. Kyle revealed to his studio posse, including Manchester City legend Michael Brown, that Pep Guardiola had taken him aside. “The two people I’d like to really know,” rasped Pep, “is Neil Warnock and Sam Allardyce.”
Remember when Pep took his year-long sabbatical in New York City and lived the life of a European emigré prince, sampling the best of the New World and surrounding himself with Manhattan’s intelligentsia, spending long existential nights with heads such as the dissident chess grandmaster, Garry Kasparov, and visionary chef Ferran Adrià? As a man with an official biographer, we know that Pep took great life lessons from such luminaries, transposing their philosophies into his quest to master football. Since arriving in Manchester eight years ago, Pep has made few indications that he takes much from English cultural life, beyond a distant bromance with Noel Gallagher (did he get surge-priced?). There are few indications he’s joined the National Trust, has a Royal Exchange season ticket or owns a full collection of Minder DVDs.
Pep has also been here long enough to know which aspects of English football he wants to absorb. It appears the traditional football man is what he aspires to, those veterans of 1,000 professional games from the coal and soot of the provinces, comfortable in the art of hurling a plate of sandwiches across a dressing room of half-naked men, reeling off anecdotes to a rapt executive lounge and telling the pressmen where to go, having just filled their notebooks full of quotable gold. Pep has been able to transform Jack Grealish into a ball-retaining metronome but he has never quite mastered the mother-in-law gags. No matter who you are, there’s always someone you can learn from.
As it turned out, the summit meeting with Warnock (as described by Walker and Brown) left Pep doing more listening than talking. In siphoning the wisdom of the former manager of every northern outpost you care to mention, he learned that Nathan Aké and Jérémy Doku are good players. “Pep’s had Messi, Gaffer,” interjected Walker. Details of an Allardyce rendez-vous are keenly awaited. What to take from this before Sunday’s tactical battle with Arsenal, themselves beginning to more resemble their pre-history George Graham era rather than Arsène Wenger’s artistry? If Pep starts eyeballing the camera or asking a sub to warm up so he can abuse the assistant referee, then lessons from the gods have truly been passed on.
LIVE ON BIG WEBSITE
Join John Brewin for all the latest from Chelsea 3-1 Aston Villa in the Women’s Super League opener, kicking off at 7pm (BST).
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“I miss it sometimes. I think the first year after retirement, I went to the European [Cup] final and I said to Cathy: ‘This is what I miss’ – big games, the European games. I’ve been to most of the European finals because I found something I could relate to, because these are the big events that United should always be involved in” – Sir Alex Ferguson talks to BBC Breakfast as part of a campaign to raise dementia awareness.
BLUE FRIDAY
As mentioned above, the Women’s Super League is back with a bang as Emma Hayes’ Sonia Bompastor’s Chelsea take on Aston Villa tonight. On Sunday, Arsenal entertain Manchester City at the Emirates in the big game of the weekend. The rapidly growing league is under new ownership and has struck a broadcast deal with ESPN to boost revenue, Big Paper’s Tom Garry reports. The one-year agreement will see ESPN exclusively show the WSL live in the USA USA USA, South America and the Caribbean. The deal starts right now, with Friday’s opening game at Kingsmeadow being shown on ESPN+ (and on BBC Two and iPlayer in the UK).
FOOTBALL DAILY LETTERS
“Re: Richard Hourula’s observation [Wednesday’s letters] about the lack of fan support for player strikes. To paraphrase The Usual Suspects: the greatest trick the billionaire owners ever pulled was convincing the fans that the millionaire players are the greedy ones. Count me in as well. Solidarity!” – Dave Shelles.
“Isn’t the cliched, dreary disparagement of ‘Australians’ – eg ‘drongo’ and others – getting a little tired even for the world-weary hacks at Daily Towers?” – Russell Dean [not flamin’ likely – FD ed].
“Should we start calling Bigger Cup Big Table instead?” – Chris Lamb.
Send letters to the.boss@theguardian.com. Today’s prizeless letter o’ the day winner is … Dave Shelles. Terms and conditions for our competitions can be viewed here.
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