Sports Category
Sports news, commentary and scores with wit and added value. We compare and contrast the best and worst sports reporting in the mainstream press, blogs, TV and online. We love the English Premier League (Arsenal, Liverpool, Spurs, Manchester United and Manchester City) and all things football but we cover cricket, rugby, the Olympics, tennis, golf, F1 and highlights of the sporting year.
Media balls: Arsenal robbed and Bournemouth hard done by
Media balls: a look at reporting on Bournemouth’s 3-3 with Arsenal. The third Bournemouth goal came after a clear foul by Ryan Fraser. What say the experts?
NO FOUL!
Matt Barlow (Daily Mail): ” Fraser tore past Bellerin to reach a pass from Daniels and squeeze a shot through Cech’s legs.”
Ian Baker (Daily Express): “The Spanish right-back has recently signed a new £100,00-a-week contract but that looked far to high on this evidence as he was beaten by Fraser…”
Charlie Wyett (the Sun): “Fraser overpowered Bellerin…”
Alex Crook (Daily Star): “… pint-sized Fraser outmuscled the hapless Bellerin…”
Stuart James (Guardian): “Daniels slid a pass into the inside left channel and Bellerin, who is no slouch, had a headstart on Fraser. Yet Fraser not only caught up with the Arsenal defender but was too strong for him.”
Islington Gazette: “Fraser soon made it 3-0 as he powered down the left flank beating another insipid Bellerin half-challenge before slotting past Cech at the near post.”
FOUL!
Henry Winter (the Times): “The outstanding Daniels lifted the ball down the left and Fraser was off and running, shoving Bellerín out of the way with a challenge that Oliver generously deemed more shoulder barge than a push.”
Graham Poll (Daily Mail): “[Oliver’s] excellent display was only marred when he failed to spot Ryan Fraser’s push on Bellerin before scoring Bournemouth’s third.”
Mark Halsey (the Sun): “It should have been a foul to Arsenal as Ryan Fraser pushed Hector Bellerin.. Michael gave a first-half penalty [to Bournemouth] for the dame offence.”
Bournemouth Echo: “Bellerin looked favourite to reach Daniels’ subsequent pass first, but Fraser bundled his way through the Spaniard…”
And what of the foul that led to a red card for Bournemouth captain Simon Francis?
Graham Poll: “‘Oliver finished the game with another correct call as he dismissed Simon Francis for an over-the-top challenge on Ramsey. Overall a very composed display – well done, Michael.”
Mark Halsey: “‘Michael Oliver got two key decisions wrong – especially the red card for Bournemouth captain Simon Francis. The challenge was not dangerous and it did not endanger the player’s safety. It was a challenge worthy of a yellow card.”
Such are the facts.
Posted: 4th, January 2017 | In: Arsenal, Back pages, Sports | Comment
Media balls: Manchester United and the referee beat West Ham
Media Balls: West Ham United were beaten 0-2 by Manchester United in today’s Premier League game. The match went badly for the Hammers when Feghouli was sent off after just 14 minutes. The official West Ham website says the Algerian was “desperately unlucky to receive a red card following a challenge with United defender Phil Jones”.
He was.
Manchester United “make extra man count” laments the headline atop the Hammer’s official match report. “The decision changed the course of the game.”
It did.
Or as the Manchester Evening Post calls it: “FINALLY get refereeing decision after Feghouli tackle on Jones.”
Finally?
Darmian should have earned a second yellow card when United player Arsenal. In its match report the Sun called the player “a walking red card”. Against Crystal Palace, Zlatan Ibrahimovich admitted to using his hand in his pass that set up Paul Pogba to score one of United’s goals in a 1-2 win.
And as the Mirror notes, “for those of you with short memories, Manchester United defender Rojo got away with two different two-footers in December. First, there was this bone-cruncher on Everton’s Idrissa Gueye. Then, just ten days later, he gave us this ankle-weakener, on Crystal Palace’s Wilfried Zaha.”
Finally United get a refereeing decision? Or usually?
Ciaran Kelly, whose memory might be shorter than his Man United blinkers, reports for the MEN:
Manchester United received an early boost in their teatime clash with West Ham after Sofiane Feghouli was sent off for a two-footed challenge on Phil Jones .
Not exactly. This is now the BBC saw it:
Referee Mike Dean showed Feghouli a straight red card after the midfielder’s 15th-minute challenge on Phil Jones.
Replays showed it was more of a coming together between two players committed to winning the ball than a reckless tackle meant to cause harm.
Still, it’s good to know Manchester United and the fearless local paper are on the same side and singing from the same hymn sheet. “I don’t feel sorry for West Ham – I didn’t watch the decisions. I think if you talk about decisions, we are the champions of bad decisions,” says Jose Mourinho after the match.
United have benefitted hugely from poor refereeing. They might even top the table at it.
Posted: 2nd, January 2017 | In: Back pages, manchester united, Sports | Comment
Media balls: Liverpool lose points and Sunderland are robbed
Media Balls: a look at biased football reporting. Did Sunderland deserve to draw 2-2 with Liverpool in the Premier League? Were Liverpool lucky?
Sunderland’s goals came via two very good penalties from Jermain Defoe.
The first Sunderland penalty:
Liverpool FC (official website): “But the Black Cats responded to the setback quickly and were awarded a penalty when Didier Ndong tumbled in the area under pressure from Ragnar Klavan and Wijnaldum.”
He wasn’t fouled. He tumbled.
Sunderland FC (official website): “Ndong was felled after he went through two Liverpool players.”
He was felled, like a blameless tree.
Liverpool Echo: “..a soft penalty when Ndong wasn’t going anywhere.”
Sunderland Echo: “Defoe levelled from the spot after Dider Ndong was brought down in the area”
The penalty that wasn’t given.
On 58 minutes the ball hit a Liverpool hand.
Sunderland (official website): “The referee waves play on despite strong appeals for a penalty. Replays show Januzaj’s cross did hit the arm of Can. That could so easily have been a penalty and probably should’ve been.”
No word on the incident on the Liverpool FC website.
The Verdict:
Sunderland Echo: “Jermain Defoe the hero as he scores two penalties to earn his side a deserved point.”
Sunderland won a point!
The Guardian: “Liverpool drop two points as Jermain Defoe strikes twice from the spot.”
Liverpool lost two points by, er, winning one point.
Such a e the facts.
Arsenal: watch Olivier Giroud score an incredible scorpion kick goal against Crystal Palace
Olivier Giroud scored a pretty decent scorpion goal in Arsenal’s home match against Crystal Palace. With the ball well behind him, Giroud stuck out a foot and the ball went in. That it hit the underside of the bar on its way to the net made it look even better.
Jammy? Well, you make your own luck:
WHAT AN AMAZING GOAL.. If Mkhitaryan can do it Giroud can also do it! pic.twitter.com/fjtP66jPy3
— 🌏 (@naqeebhapiz) January 1, 2017
Transfer balls: Arsenal for Griezmann and Reus and Liverpool for PSG’s Draxler
Never mind that Antoine Griezmann says he’s happy in Madrid with his new baby and wonderful life, the British Press have him packed and ready to join the Premier League very soon. France’s footballer of the year is on his way to, well, all the top clubs. Manchester United have £60m and Chelsea £50m and £90m for Atletico Madrid’s super striker, whose new contract set his transfer fee at a minimum of £86m.
News in the Guardian is that Manchester City also quite like Griezmann – and so do Arsenal. The BBC and Telegraph say that if Mesut Özil or Alexis Sánchez fail to get the £200,000 a week they each want to extend their current contracts and leave the Gunners, Arsenal will swoop for Griezmann by offering him less than the £200,000-a-week City, Chelsea or United would pay.
Should that cunning plan fail, Arsenal will go for Marco Reus or Julian Draxler, although the taller German (Draxler) has apparently agreed to join PSG in France’s Ligue 1. That doesn’t stop the Daily Star says Draxler is on his way to Liverpool.
The tin lid is placed on this Transfer Balls by news that the source for the BBC, Telegraph, Independent and Guardian scoop on Griezmann and Reus being watched by Arsenal is Squawka, a blog whereon we read not a single fact to support the story that Arsenal want either player.
Such are the facts.
Posted: 23rd, December 2016 | In: Arsenal, Back pages, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City, manchester united, Sports | Comment
Chelsea cleared over Gary Johnson sex abuse – but what of his lawyers?
Chelsea did not break any Premier League rules in their dealings with former player Gary Johnson, the former player who claims he was sexually abused by coach Eddie Heath as a member of the youth team in the 1970s. When Johnson and his lawyers took the matter to Chelsea in 2014, the club Chelsea agreed to pay him £50,000 and told him never to mention the allegations.
Johnson accepted the deal. But was a man who says his childhood was stolen from him badly advised and badly treated?
Chelsea said the club’s board understood it was “usual practice” to include a mutual confidentiality agreement. They noted that Johnson’s solicitors had not objected to the clause. When Johnson went public, Chelsea waived the confidentiality clause.
Eddie Heath is dead. Chelsea have publicly apologised. They say Johnson “suffered unacceptably” after joining Chelsea as an 11-year-old in 1970. You might well ask what an acceptable level of suffering amounts to, and who gages it?
The matter was put before the Premier League. They have found Chelsea clear of any wrongdoing. The Blues will review their procedures and send a copy of their report to The Premier League. The Premier League board says: “After careful consideration, the board has determined that no Premier League rules were broken by the club not reporting this matter to them in 2014. ‘The League has requested that Chelsea agrees to a full safeguarding audit from an independent safeguarding expert. The league has no reason to have any concerns about Chelsea’s current provisions in this area but, given the seriousness of these historical allegations, feels that such a review is an appropriate course of action.”
Says Gary Johnson to the Mirror: “(Chelsea owner) Roman Abramovich may be one of the richest men in football, but he has been very badly advised on this.” Was he the only one who was?
Posted: 23rd, December 2016 | In: Back pages, Chelsea, Reviews, Sports | Comment
Transfer balls: Manchester United’s Rashford To West Ham; Payet to Arsenal; Draxler to Liverpool; Virgil to Manchester City?
West Ham United are, says the Daily Telegraph, keen to transfer Manchester United squad members Anthony Martial or Marcus Rashford to their goal-shy team. It’s an “ambitious” bid, says the paper. No kidding.
Failure to lure either of them to London will mean West Ham turning to – deep breath – Sassuolo’s Grégoire Defrel, Chelsea striker Michy Batshuayi and Porto’s Laurent Depoitre. Yeah, pretty much anyone who can score a goal is on West Ham’s radar.
The Express says West Ham will make space for any of the above by getting shot of six players, including loan strikers Simon Zaza (loaned from Juventus) and Ashley Fletcher (Manchester United). One player not leaving is Dimitri Payet. Or as the Star puts it: “JOSE’S PAYET RAID – United boss in fight with old foe Wenger”. Will Payet leave West Ham for Arsenal or head to Manchester United in a deal involving Marital or Rashford?
In other Manchester United transfer news, the Mirror says Benfica’s Swedish defender Victor Lindelof could be heading to Old Trafford for £37.8million. If he arrives, Chris Smalling will leave United, says the Express. Smalling will be beaten to the United exit by Morgan Schneiderlin and Bastian Scheweinsteiger.
Away from United, the Guardian says Arsenal are keen on Valencia’s super-fast left-back José Gaya.
The Mirror says Liverpool are looking to sign Manchester City and England goalkeeper Joe Hart. The Times says the Reds are also keen on Wolfsburg’s Germany midfielder Julian Draxler but face competition from PSG and, of course, Arsenal, who seem to have been chasing the player for every one of his 23 years.
The Mail says Manchester City will offer £50m for Southampton Virgil van Dijk. There have been “discreet talks” between the clubs, says the Mail all over its back page. The Dutchman is “aware of City’s interest”.
Well, yes.
Posted: 22nd, December 2016 | In: Arsenal, Back pages, Liverpool, Manchester City, manchester united, Sports | Comment
Arsenal balls: Wenger to PSG is back on
Good news for those Arsenal fans who can’t abide Arsene Wenger. The Sun leads with news that Paris Saint-Germain want the Arsenal manager to lead their brand. The French are “confident” of getting their man, having failed in two previous bids.
“AW REVOIR,” says the Sun over two more pages. “Time’s ripe for Arsene Wenger’s return to France.” Or maybe he’s past its sell-by date.
No, says Mack Irwin. The “self-entitled” Arenal fans who demonstrate for Wenger’s departure are fools. As “another season of disappointment beckons” Irwin wonder if Wenger has the “appetite to put up with the microscopic scrutiny of his methods”. Arsenal fans will add another question: does Wenger still inspire his team, the fans and the club?
Wenger’s £160,000-a-week deal ends at the end of this season. The club is “in the dark” about his future plans. But if the Frenchman fails to make Arsenal challenge for the Premier League and Champions’ League titles “it will be hard to see how Arsenal or Wenger could justify another new contract”. So much for fans being self-entitled to expect more.
Phil McNulty has a little on what Arsenal fans have been getting:
In the 12 seasons since Arsenal last won the title, in only two of those campaigns has the margin between the Gunners and the champions been in single figures. Twice the gap has been more than 20 points – so a systematic pattern has emerged rather than an extended hard luck story.
As to why PSG wants Wenger and Wenger would want PSG, the Sun says Paris would give him loads of money to go on a spending spree and, er, he likes Paris.
Over in the Mail, four of the paper’s pundit says Arsenal will finish no higher than third this season.
But it’s far from doom and gloom at Arsenal. Wenger has always been an optimist. In defeat he manages to inject circumspection and togetherness into the analysis. Can he bring Arsenal to the boil? Can Chelsea wobble and the Gunners go on a run? Vitally, do the players believe they can do it?
Posted: 22nd, December 2016 | In: Arsenal, Back pages, Sports | Comment
Manchester United balls: Mourinho stays for 10 years (win, lose or bore)
The Mirror says Manchester United want Jose Mourinho to remain at Old Trafford for ‘TEN MOUR YEARS”. United want Jose to “stay for the next decade”. Given that Mourinho has never remained at any club for longer than three years, you might suppose the United headhunters are hopeful, ignorant of what happened with Jose at Chelsea, desperate or a combination of all three.
It’s “Jose’s Big Deal”, agrees the Star. “United want boss to stay for eight more seasons”. They “want him til 2025”. A decade is nine years? Journalists never were much cop at maths.
Nor are they much cop at predictions. On November 9 the Star told readers, “Jose Mourinho is facing the sack from Man United.”
Reading on, the Star says:
“But despite struggling to make a huge impact since replacing Louis van Gaal, club bosses have been so impressed with him that handing him another long-term contract is already on their minds.”
And as the Mirror puts it:
“But United officials have been so impressed with the elf-styled Special One…there is talk of him staying beyond his current deal:
The Star:
Mourinho’s erratic behaviour on the touchline and in press conferences has been a concern to United bosses, as exclusively revealed in Starsport… United also accept the ranting and raving comes with him being one of the world’s ‘box office’ managers.
And the Mirror:
“The hierarchy accept he will often find himself in hot water with the authorities because of his demonstrative nature”
The two stories are remarkably similar. And you won’t be surprised to know that neither story names it source. Wonder if the insider who loves Jose is someone at United or a mole in the office at Jose’s agent?
Posted: 21st, December 2016 | In: Back pages, manchester united, Sports | Comment
Transfer balls: Griezmann to Manchester United for £60m but Chelsea offer more
Transfer balls: The Sun leads with news of Manchester United’s £60m bid for Atletico Madrid’s Antione Griezman. It’s an exclusive. But we’ve read of Grizeman heading to United before: here, here and here.
The Press have also told us Griezman was joining Chelsea for £50m.
They told us he rejected a move to Arsenal and declared that he’d never play in England, not even for £80m. Griezmann “was settled in Spain and would not consider a move to England”, said the Indy.
On June 23, the Sun reported: “GRIEZ STAYING – Antoine Griezmann will STAY at Atletico Madrid after signing a new five-year contract.”
The Sun also told readers that Griezmann, 25, was looking at a release clause worth “£78m”.
On September 11 this year the Express reported:
“EXCLUSIVE: Chelsea to make record bid for Manchester United target Antoine Griezmann. ANTONIO CONTE has asked Chelsea’s power brokers to sanction a world-record bid for Atletico Madrid hitman Antoine Griezmann next summer…
That release clause, the one worth £78m?
Conte is ready to go above the £86million release clause in Griezmann’s contract to head off interest from Manchester United. And that means splashing out more than the £89m that United paid Juventus to take Griezmann’s close pal Paul Pogba back to Old Trafford.”
And just yesterday the Standard reported:
“For Arsenal, he [Koscielny] speaks to me about them often,” he told France Football. “But I feel good at Madrid. I do not want to leave. I feel calm here. The little one [his daughter] has just arrived, I am playing matches, I feel good. Sorry, I am going to stay. But Arsenal is a wonderful team. They play great with the ball.”
And today the Daily Star says:
Starsport understand that both Manchester giants as well as Chelsea and Arsenal are all interested in signing Griezmann in the summer. The France international is one of the finest players in the world and valued at around £80m but that would not put off any of England’s top sides.
And so the Sun’s exclusive::
Griezmann has a contract with Atletico until 2021 but his relationship with the club and coach Diego Simeone has soured this season. After losing the Champions League final to city rivals Real twice in the last three years, Atletico look like a team which has peaked.
From feeling calm yesterday (in his own words) to feeling sour today (in the Sun’s words) it’s been a busy few days for the Frenchman.
Posted: 21st, December 2016 | In: Back pages, Chelsea, manchester united, Sports | Comment
Media Balls: Liverpool and Everton contest boring derby full of blood and thunder
How was the Liverpool derby? Liverpool won the match 0-1 thanks to very late goal from Sadio Mane. The Liverpool Echo says it was terrific.
As Everton’s shell-shocked players trudged off at the end of another crushing derby defeat some of the home fans offered a ripple of polite applause. They felt as though they should show their appreciation for the effort the Blues had put into a blood and thunder game…
The Daily Mirror’s David Maddock watched a different performance:
Yet the problem with the skillful yet sanitised world of the Premier League, is the lack of blood and thunder, even when things get gritty and dour. Just look at Everton’s performance in this contest…
He adds that “despite the obvious drama of that injury time winner… so little came before it.” It was pretty dull.
But in the Express, Gideon Brooks likens the match to a “battlefield”. The mood in the arena was “ferocious”. Neil Squires say the foreigners in both sides felt “the primal pull” the match delivers.
In the the Star, Chris McKenna watched “tackles flying in from all angles”.
Martin Samuels tells Mail reader this was a”full-blooded derby”. Although “it wasn’t much cop” and “failed to deliver excitement”. Liverpool were “tame”. Ian Ladyman says the match was “lacking in substance”.
Not so says Phil Thomas in the Sun. It was “explosive.” To illustrate the point the paper zooms in on Ross Barkley’s tackle on Jordan Henderson. Although, it was, says Thomas, “one of the few few moment that genuinely got the blood up”.
As for the foul, what say the clubs’ official websites?
Everton: “Tempers frayed after Barkley went in on Henderson and was booked for his troubles.”
Liverpool: No word.
To conclude: it was explosive, full of the bloody and thunder, lacking in blood and thunder and dull.
Posted: 20th, December 2016 | In: Back pages, Liverpool, Sports | Comment
Transfer balls: Draxler and Reus to Arsenal
Transfer balls: a look at the football transfer gossip. The BBC says Arsenal want to sign Borussia Dortmund’s Marco Reus if they fail to commit Mesut Ozil or Alexis Sanchez to new deals.
Reus was once the name on very big side’s wish list.
In January 2015, the Metro told its readers: “Chelsea target Marco Reus has snubbed a move to the Premier League to agree to join Real Madrid”. The same paper later said Reus wanted to join Liverpool. He stayed at Dortmund.
That the Press have no idea is clear. But the Telegraph says it’s all true. Reus to Arsenal will happen if the Gunners fail to extends Alexis Sanchez’s deal.
As Arsenal fans wonder why the club doesn’t buy Reus anyhow the BBC says another old favourite is on the Arsenal radar: Julian Draxler. The Express says the Gunners have scraped together £30m for Wolfsburg’s 23-year-old Germany midfielder.
It was back in January 2014, the Mirror reported: ” Arsenal and Schalke agree fee for midfielder Julian Draxler.” They didn’t.
In July 2016, the Sun said: “Julian Draxler to Arsenal: Gunners bid £43m for Euro 2016 star.” A few months later and that star has fallen by £13m.
On August 3, the Mail told readers: “Julian Draxler confirms he’s asked to leave Wolfsburg as Arsenal and Juventus continue to show interest.”
Or as the Sun put it on that very day: “JU CAN HAVE HIM Arsenal transfer news: Julian Draxler wants to leave Wolfsburg but Juventus move is off after Italians cool interest.”
Juventus don’t want Draxler. It’s Arsenal or no-one. Which brings us to October 9, when the Mirror added: “Arsenal and Juventus to battle it out for wantaway Wolfsburg star Julian Draxler.”
So will Draxler come to Arsenal? The Sun links his transfer to Ozil’s future at the club. “Mesut Ozil ‘wants Arsenal to sign £30million Julian Draxler’ so he will extend his own contract,” says the paper. “Germany midfielder has pleaded with Emirates bosses to snap up the Wolfsburg star who looks set to leave in January.”
If Arsenal can get Draxler or Reus, and secure Sanchez and Ozil on new deals, the future looks promising. But as we’ve seen, nothing is certain.
Posted: 20th, December 2016 | In: Arsenal, Back pages, Sports | Comment
Arsenal’s pussycats beaten by Manchester City’s pluck, luck and lions
Arsenal lost to Manchester City in yesterday’s battle of the Middle Eastern Airlines – Etihad 2, Emirates 1 – and look well set to secure 4th place, a slot they’ve occupied so many times you wonder when the Premier League will award it to them in perpetuity. But Arsenal manger Arsene Wenger is unhappy. It’s a “REFFFING DISGRACE”, says the Sun as Wenger “rages at officials” over City’s two “offside” goals.
“There is a real problem of refereeing in England, they are a bit in their comfort zone,” says Wenger. “Referees are protected like the lions in the zoo… I looked at the goals – both are offside. The second is five yards offside but what can you do?”
The second strike, by Raheem Sterling, was clearly offside. Arsenal goalkeeper Petr Cech says David Silva’s dash into his line of vision – making the Spaniard around 5 yards offside – meant he could not see the shot that beat him at the near post. In “Offside? No way” the Sun lets former ref Mark Halsey rule on the goals. He says Leroy Sane, who scored City’s first, was “fractionally offside”. The story should be headlined ‘Offside? Yes.’ But Halsey decides the officials got it right in getting it wrong. He then says Cech is wrong – Silva’s run across him for goal number two did not interfere with his line of vision.
On pages 52 and 53, David Kidd says Wenger is just a moaner, Arsenal are “not fit to lace” Chelsea’s boots and Sane was “onside”.
Picking up the “lions” theme, the Star says Arsenal are more “pussycats” than kings of the jungle. The team lack “bottle and fight”. They need a “miracle” if they are to win the Premier League. As ever, says the paper, Arsenal started well and then faded as the home side got improved. Arsenal “shied away from the scrap”. Arsenal’s most expensive player, Mesus Oil “was anonymous”. No. He was worse than that. He was a liability, failing to chase the ball and close down the opposition. Players will run through walls for Chelsea boss Antonio Conte. For Wenger, they won’t step through a puddle.
The Express also leads with the match. We read that Leroy Sane was offside and David Silva was “clearly in an offside position – and distracting Petr Cech – as Raheem Sterling fired home the second”. But “there is no excuse for Arsenal’s failure to force a save out of Claudio Bravo in the second half”. The result, says Richard Tanner, underlines the “difference in attitude” between the two sides. Manchester City wanted it. Arsenal not so much. For that lack of desire, the club must look at Arsene Wenger. Can he still inspire his team to the title? No. Can he make more money for the bankers who run the club as a cash cow? Yes.
Posted: 19th, December 2016 | In: Arsenal, Back pages, Manchester City, Sports | Comment
Arsenal: Ozil ball watching against Manchester City (video)
Football used to be a funny old game. Nowadays it’s just a moneymaking machine. Just take Mesut Ozil, the Arsenal player the Gunners bought for £42.5m Is he hungry? Is he desperate to win? The talk has been all about him extending his Arsenal contract and securing a massive hike in his already massive wages.
Ozil has talent. But does he have desire? Does his ossified manager, Arsenal Wenger, inspire him to run through brick walls for the cause?
This is Ozil playing against Manchester City. He wouldn’t run though a puddle:
Ozil just ball watching pic.twitter.com/wJKFRjL2Xg
— DAVW (@Goalskjaer) December 18, 2016
You can’t buy passion.
Manchester United balls: Jose orders team to toughen up by stripping in the cold
Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho says it’s thanks to him that a few Manchester United fans who made the trip to West Bromwich Albion’s The Hawthorns ground went home wearing an extra layer of clothing. Jose says of the shirts his players tossed into the stands,”I told them to do that. It is Christmas time”.
Indeed, it’s wintry December when watching football can be at its most testing, not least of all in Ukraine, where Mourinho complained about the “near-freezing temperatures” for United’s Europa League match. Accused of being soft, Mourinho might have used the Midlands to harden his players. First The Hawthorns in December, then Hull in January before United launch a full assault on the Arctic tundra in March dressed in shorts and Alice bands.
So Wayne Rooney, Paul Pogba and Marcus Rashford all took their shirts off and threw them into the happy throng after the game had ended in United’s favour.
Mourinho kept his shirt on, moreover his thick coat, sensible shoes, socks and vest. “A shirt for a fan coming directly from the game with sweat means a lot,” added Mourinho. “It is a pity that not everyone can get one but for the ones that can get it, it is a great feeling.”
It feels clammy to wet, mostly, although in Rooney’s case, given the man’s recent athleticism, box fresh.
Posted: 18th, December 2016 | In: manchester united, Sports | Comment
Arsenal balls: Sanchez is happy to deliver an ultimatum
Amid all the guff about Alexis Sanchez being offered £400,000-a-minute to play in a Chinese shopping mall, Arsenal’s 27-year-old forward says he is very happy in North London. So he’ll sign a new deal and stay at the club? “It really doesn’t depend on me [but] if they want to show confidence in me,” he tells Sky Sports, which headlines the words, “Alexis Sanchez admits the onus is on Arsenal in contract tug-of-war.”
Someone should tell Sanchez that ‘no comment’ is always a comment. He says: “I’ve told my agent I don’t want to speak about this too much when all the rumours are going around – it can distract a player from their main focus of concentration… I’ve got an agent who deals with all of this… I’ve told my agent I don’t want to speak about this sort of thing.”
So why agree to an interview with Sky? Is this interview part of Sanchez’s negotiating tactics?
To the Sun this is a “shock ultimatum”. Sanchez just wants money. Lots and lots and lots of money. If Arsenal pay him what he wants he’ll kiss the badge. If not, 100 men and a dog (sandwich) will get the befit of his brilliance in the Chinese Super League.
The Sun’s “Show Me The Money” headline makes Sanchez sound like a greedy so-and-so. But football is all about the talent getting their dues. If he’s worth it, Arsenal will need to cough up. The Mail says the club have offered him £180,000-a-week. He wants £240,000.
But is money all Sanchez wants? “I enjoy the relationship with the fans. I want to achieve more for them,” says Sanchez. “I want to win the Premier League and the Champions League.”
And if Arsenal wants to win the big tin pots, too, they’ll have to hang on their prize asset.
Posted: 17th, December 2016 | In: Arsenal, Back pages, Sports | Comment
Manchester United pundits antagonise Liverpool
More on the news that when a Manchester United fan who hates Liverpool lays into a Liverpool player as part of his job as a Sky TV pundit, the Liverpool manager might get a tad miffed. And so it is that Jurgen Klopp thinks Gary Neville is a bit of a wally in his harsh criticism of Reds’ goalkeeper Loris Karius. For good measure, Gary’s brother Phil opined from the BBC sofas that Karius, who had spoken to the Press about Gary’s criticism, should “keep his mouth shut and do his job”.
“I don’t care what Gary Neville says,” said Karius in reply to a question from Mail journalist Ian Ladyman. “He was a top player, then was a manager for a short bit and now he is back to being an expert again.” Karius was making reference to Gary Neville’s failure as manager of Valencia, a team owned by the former Manchester United man’s mate.
Ladyman says Karius was “not animated or emotional”. He was “just being gown up”. Agreed. He came across well, refusing to hide after his howler had given Bournemouth victory over his side. Phil Neville was not neither measured nor insightful in his response. He simply told Karius to “shut up”. As punditry goes, Phil is very much in Gary’s shadow. Working in the media is about taking part in a conversation. Phil is advised to keep the chat alive rather than putting it in a bland box and sitting on the lid.
Says Klopp, “[Gary Neville] is not interested in helping a Liverpool player, I can imagine, but that makes the things he says not make more sense. He showed he struggled with the job to judge players when he was manager, so why do we let him talk about players on television? I don’t listen to them. Obviously the Neville brothers don’t like Liverpool, I have no problem with that and if they can cause bigger problems than we have already they have tried.”
The Press laps it up, making the row the lead sports story. “YOU FAILED SO SHUT IT,” thunders the Mirror’s back page. “KLOPP has POP,” puns the Mail’s. “Klopp has launched a double-blast at the Neville brothers,” says the Sun. “Angry Klopp blasts Neville,” says the Star.
And all the while the BBC and Sky celebrate good old fashioned journalism. “I am absolutely not interested in creating headlines so you can write what you want,” said Klopp. He isn’t. But Gary Neville is. And he’s making a grand job of it.
Posted: 13th, December 2016 | In: Back pages, manchester united, Sports | Comment
Media balls: Xhaka’s missing elbow costs Arsenal against Stoke
Media Balls – a look at biased football reporting. Arsenal beat Stoke City 3-1 in the Premier League. Stoke’s goal, the first of the match, came via the penalty spot. Should it have been a given? Should the Arsenal player have been sent off? Let’s see what the media says:
Terry Butcher (BBC Radio 5 Live): “Joe Allen’s touch was a little heavy, but he nicked the ball before the challenge. It was a very soft penalty to give away.”
Butcher says it was definitely a foul.
But might it have been worse? The BBC’s Kevin Killbane says “Granit Xhaka goes over the top on Joe Allen.” Other news sources see an elbow.
Daily Mail: “Joe Allen and Granit Xhaka both went for the ball, both missed it and the Arsenal man caught Allen near the eye with his elbow. No hesitation from the referee but looked a bit soft.”
Did Xhaka mean to use his elbow?
Daily Telegraph: “Allen runs into the box and takes a poor touch and IT’S A PENALTY! Xhaka leaves his elbow up as he tackles and absolutely clatters Allen in the face.”
Stoke Sentinel: “Penalty to Stoke in the 27th minute. Xhaka’s clumsy swipe caught Joe Allen. It was also an elbow.”
The Stoke City website: “TV replays appeared to show Xhaka catch Allen with an elbow as he clattered into him.”
Both Stoke sources ask questions of Xhaka, who wasn’t booked. Maybe the referee missed the elbow?
Let’s see what the local Arsenal newspaper said.
The Islington Gazette: “It was a reckless challenge that also left Allen needing treatment on an eye injury. Despite the boos from the home support it was a clear penalty.”
And now for the Arsenal website. Was Allen clattered? Was there an elbow? Did Xhaka go over the top and take a ‘swipe’ at Allen with his elbow? Says Arsenal’s man in the know: “The penalty was awarded after Joe Allen collided with Granit Xhaka in the area.”
It was a simple collision, says the Arsenal website, “an accident that happens when two players hit each other with force.
The last words are with the managers.
Arsene Wenger, the Arsenal boss: “We got a very unlucky penalty against us because it is not even a foul in my opinion.”
Mark Hughes, the Stoke boss: “I’ve not seen the incident again, but at the time I thought there was a collision and Joe spilt blood as a consequence, so clearly there has been a collision, but I can’t say if it was a penalty. A little bit of fortune maybe if it was a bit dubious.”
Looks like the Arsenal website was right. Maybe:
Posted: 10th, December 2016 | In: Arsenal, Back pages, Sports | Comment
Media balls: soft Manchester United players get it in the neck
Manchester United players show Daily Mirror readers “the most modern football thing you’ll see today”. More modern than Atletico Madrid’s new stadium being named after a chain of Chinese cinemas? The new gin bar at Fulham? The clickbait balls that mean all newspapers now look the same?
No. The most modern football thing you’ll see today are, as the Daily Mail exclaims, “Manchester United’s tired stars arrive back from Ukraine at 2.30am… with their own club-branded neck pillows!”
Is this a “a step too far?” wonders the Mirror.
No. It’s a pillow. It suggests the onboard flight is not as comfortable as it might be for elite athletes returning from a Europa League match. It was different back then, of course, when United players rested their heads on blocks of wood and coal dust.
Posted: 9th, December 2016 | In: Back pages, manchester united, Sports | Comment
Transfer balls: Arsenal trigger bidding war as Chelsea and China chase Alexis Sanchez
Arsenal forwards Alexis Sanchez is on his way to Chelsea. Maybe. The Mirror leads with news that should Arsenal fails to give Sanchez the massive pay hike he wants, Chelsea will dip him, his dog, his mum and his house in Russian gold.
The root of this story is not guessology, but something close to it. The Mirror says Chelsea manager Antonio Conte really likes Sanchez, arguably the Premier League’s best player. And, er, that’s it.
This ‘news’ follows yesterday’s ‘news’ that Chinese investors are willing to spirit Sanchez to the Far East an pay him £400,000-a-week to kick a ball. You’d imagine that any club willing to pay that much will also pay an enormous transfer fee.
As Arsenal wonder what Sanchez is worth if someone is willing to pay him £50m a year, the rest of the media slavishly follow the Mirror’s fact-free scoop:
“Arsenal and Chelsea fans lose their minds on Twitter as Sanchez is linked with Blues move” – Express
“Chelsea prepare swoop for Alexis Sanchez amid contract stalemate” – IBTimes
“Chelsea chase Gunners superstar Alexis” – The Sun
Of course, we only know about the Chinese interest because Sanchez’s people have dropped it into conversation with Arsenal over a new deal. It’s a bit desperate from them. If he fancies it, he’d already have agreed to go and Arsenal would be talking about that massive transfer fee.
So Sanchez won’t head to China. He’ll stay in Europe, and if he and Arsenal are smart he’ll stay at the Emirates and earn closer to the £200,000 a week he wants.
Posted: 8th, December 2016 | In: Arsenal, Back pages, Chelsea, Sports, Tabloids | Comment
Making an ‘ordeal’ over Matt Le Tissier’s naked massage
Former Southampton FC “legend” Matt Le Tissier is the latest name linked to the stories of historical sexual abuse in football. Le Tissier claims he was given a “naked massage” by former youth team coach Bob Higgins. The Sun says “at least six Southampton starlets” have made complaints about former Saints youth team coach Bob Higgins.
The Mail leads with “LE TISSIER: MY NAKED ORDEAL”. Says Le Tissier to the BBC: “Everyone was kind of naked and getting thrown on this bed…and a very quick massage. It was uncomfortable.” He adds: “You look back and it was wrong.”
It does sound odd and unnerving. But to put it in the same bracket as the horrors endured by victims of people like child abuser and former football coach Barry Bennell is also odd. Le Tissier never says he was abused. He tweets: “For the record, I’ve never felt like I’ve been abused. Still don’t… I’m all good just state what happened.”
The moment has not defined his life. Was it an ordeal? The papers all agree with the Mail that it was.
The Daily Star’s front-page headline yells “Matt nude ‘rub’ anger”. Inside we read, “Le Tiss Ordeal Fury.”
Does Le Tissier sound angry or furious? Not at all. He sounds measured and thoughtful. “It’s pretty disgusting,” he says. “What went on is not normal behaviour. When you hear the stories of naked soapy massages, hairy bum competitions… you look back at it now and think ‘hang on, what was going on?’. Obviously boys talk at that age, they take the Mickey, it kind of gets covered up as a bit of banter at that stage. But as you grow into an adult, you look at it and think ‘that’s not right’.”
The Sun leads with: “Matt Le Tissier BombShell – Youth coach gave me disgusting naked massage.”
Over pages 54 and 55, readers are told of the “SAINTS LEGEND’S ORDEAL”.
The media all agree: it was an ordeal.
On the Mirror’s front page we see Le Tissier. On Page 11, down in paragraph 5, we read: “Le Tissier said he never felt like he’d been abused.” He’s a victim but unaware he was one? The Sun goes further: “Le Tissier said he was not abused.”
Having read of Le Tissier’s “ordeal”, over pages 74 and 75, the Mail says, “90 minutes in dark room with coach still haunts me.” We hear from former Southampton youth team player Les Cleevely. What happened to him in that room should be the matter for the police, not for our titillation? “Les Cleevely does not elaborate greatly on what happened during one and a half hours in a darkened room with… Bob Higgins, but the affect it had on his life is profound,” says the paper.
It’s not until paragraph twelve that we get to know about Higgins’ alleged crimes. In 1992, he was “cleared of sexual abuse charges”. The Mail says he has “declined to comment on the latest claims surrounding paedophilia in football, but denies all allegations of abuse”.
We are told that at age 13, Cleevely claims he was given “a soapy massage by Higgins”. Les Cleevely then says: “My hour-and-a-half experience in a dark room was horrendous in itself but to have anything else happen is the stuff of nightmares.”
We are left fearing and imagining, but not knowing.
And the fear is fanned and spread by Harry Redknapp. “Rumours were going round at that time and there was a programme I watched where this young guy spoke about Bob Higgins and the type of stuff he was dong with kids at Southampton and I thought that would be the end of him,” says Redknapp. The paper then adds, ‘Redknapp was adamant there “must have been people at Saints who heard rumours about Higgins”.’
But through the fog of suspicion settling on everyone at Southampton FC, Redknapp then adds: “But until you can actually prove something or there’s a bit of evidence, it’s very difficult.”
Well, yes. Claims need to be investigated. Barriers to justice, charges, trials and verdicts navigated. What we have is suspicion. We are being invited to mistrust everyone. What happened in those 90 minutes should be in the hands of the police.
What we want is to get to the truth and for justice to be done and seen to be done – not for everyone who has ever worked in football to be a suspect.
Media balls: BBC blamed for Manchester United and Manchester City hype
In “MANCS FOR NOTHING”, the Mirror’s Dave Kidd looks at how Manchester United and Manchester City have failed to live up to the hype.
“Remember all that Pep Guardiola v Jose Mourinho hype,” he begins. We do.
“Remember how Manchester became the undisputed centre of the football universe?” We do.
Kidd then tells us who we can blame for all that balls. “Maybe we were all sucked in by the famously agenda-driven Manchester-centric media, led by Salford- based BBC Sport, who persuaded us to ignore poor unfashionable London”.
Kidd tell us that the biased media ignored Chelsea boss Antonio Conte, whose side are top of the Premier League.
To which we ask one question of our own: is the Mirror part of the Manchester-centric media?
September 5 2016: The Mirror asked: “Jose and Pep are set to renew acquaintances… but is the Manchester derby the world’s biggest?
September 8: “It’s his first Manchester derby, and even at this early stage it’s a game that could have a bearing on the outcome of the Premier League.”
September 8: “Jose Mourinho and Pep Guardiola have made Manchester derby even bigger.”
September 9: “Clash of the titans: Pep vs Mou XVII.”
With just over 24 hours now until kick-off, Mourinho and Guardiola clash once again in one of modern football’s most engrossing rivalries in recent times.
Throughout the rest of the day we will be reminding you of the past encounters between the Special One and the master of tiki-taka as they bid for supremacy in both Manchester and the Premier League.
September 10: “Manchester City’s derby display proved why we are so lucky to have bewitching Pep Guardiola in English football.”
September 16: “I believe City are English football’s best hope of winning the Champions League this season – that’s mainly because of the Pep factor.”
What no Conte?
Expect more hype as soon as City and United start winning matches again.
Posted: 6th, December 2016 | In: Back pages, Manchester City, manchester united, Sports, Tabloids | Comment
One Jose Mourinho: every variation of ‘The Special One’
On June 2 2004, Jose Mourinho arrived at Cheslea FC. “Please don’t call me arrogant,” he told the Press, “but I’m European champion and I think I’m a special one.”
And so he became The Specual One. And where that led other ‘Ones’ followed. Jose Mourinho has been:
Posted: 5th, December 2016 | In: Back pages, Sports | Comment
Arsenal put West Ham boss on the ‘brink’ of getting chairman’s understanding
Arsenal tonked West Ham united 5-1 at the Hammers’ soulless Olympic Stadium – hear the Arsenal fans singing “Is this the Emirates?” – and the tabloids are full of speculation. Is West Ham manager Slaven Bilic soon to be sacked?
“Bilic on the brink,” says the Mirror. “His job is understood to be hanging by a thread.”
“Slaven’s still safe,” counters the Star. “Slaven Bilic is safe at West Ham”, says the paper. “It is understood West Ham’s owners are ready to keep faith with him as they still believe the Croat can turn things around.”
“Bilic’s job is not under any immediate threat,” adds the Mail.
In short: nothing has changed. Bilic is the West Ham manager.
Posted: 5th, December 2016 | In: Back pages, Sports | Comment
Spurs cave in and agree to Harry Kane’s massive loyalty bonus
Spurs striker Harry Kane secured a huge pay rise because the club “caved in” to his demands. So says the Times, which calculates Kane’s Tottenham at around £150,000-a-week, based on a base salary of £120,000-a-week plus bonuses.
The new contract, which runs until 2022, contains no buy-out clause should Spurs fail to reach the Champions’ League.
Kane’s manager Mauricio Pochettino tells media, “If you ask him he is sure that is not about the money.” He then says he was always sure Kane would remain at the club.
Yeah, right. Kane bleeds for Spurs. He’s one of their own. Nonsense. It’s always about the money. He’s more than doubled his money from the £60,000-a-week deal that had four years to run. Give it a year of good form and he’ll be asking for more.
Feel the love.
To secure Kane, Spurs had to obliterate their wage structure. The club wanted Kane to sign a new deal in September, but he wouldn’t. The paper talk was of him wanting £100,000 a week. Then it was parity with Jamie Vardy’s £120,000 a week. Now Kane earns the same as Arsenal’s Alexis Sanchez.
The Times says it wasn’t until last week that Kane and Spurs talked about the contract – and the club “caved into his wage demands and completed the deal in the space of two days”.
Below Kane, the club’s top earner is Hugo Lloris – and you can expect the captain’s agent to be knocking on the chairman’s door very soon. He’ll be in a queue behind Dele Alli’s agent. The young Englishman earns £50,000-a-week.
Spurs’ wage bill is set to rocket.
Posted: 3rd, December 2016 | In: Back pages, Sports, Spurs | Comment (1)
