Good morning, welcome to the new week.
So Man City remain at the top of the Premier League after yesterday’s 3-0 win over Liverpool at Anfield. The home side were on the end of a truly awful decision when they were reduced to 10 men, after which City scored three goals. And I couldn’t care less. It felt completely pointless.
Liverpool fans chanted that the opposition were “cheating bastards”, while away fans in their suits shouted and supported the owners, described in some quarters as “registration”. We’re all tribal, I get it, but it was horrible stuff all around. Tiptoeing around the verdict on the comments added to the futility of the experience.
Men who work for a company that pays billions for the rights to show the Premier League and are smart enough to know the damage City have done over the years must somehow protect the product. But therein lies the real danger for Sky and the Premier League. It’s not about the microphones blaring salty tongues about Gary Neville being rambunctious and then being quickly silenced. It’s not about how Man City are trying so hard to dismiss it all as “noise” and present themselves as strong characters because they won a football game while all this was going on.
It is their continued presence in a competition they won and then fraudulently dominated that will make your average football fan question why they even bother watching. What does it mean? We continue to hear about the process, and although I understand there is an appeal going, they have already been found guilty. Not a bit guilty. 114 out of 115 charges. Read the findings. Proofs are presented in black and white. There is too much pussyfooting around this cast iron fact.
So, like many of you, I sat down to watch this game yesterday because of everything that happened after the guilty verdict. The added spice of being at Anfield, especially because of the rivalry between these two clubs over the decade, could have made for something very entertaining. But then you realize that this is also a lie. It only happened because Man City cheated and there is a loophole in that. This is fake. The facade of sporting rivalry that Liverpool ultimately fall prey to when you score 90+ points in a season (twice?) and get ripped off when you don’t win the league.
Maybe I’d feel differently this morning if Liverpool had won, but I really don’t think so. By the time I was done, I was almost scolding myself for spending time on something so pointless and unimportant. They won, they scored some great goals, but if the sanctions are what they should be, they don’t matter, except to City fans, and I really couldn’t care less.
They will beat Ipswich in the Premier League next and I won’t care. After that they’ll go to Aston Villa and probably win there too and I won’t care. It’s all a mess at this point and we need it resolved as soon as possible. Otherwise, apathy manifests itself. People understand that they are being asked to pay for something that is essentially fake. Cheating in the Premier League’s own lexicon. Why should people waste time and money on something like this?
There are decent voices talking about it over the weekend. I enjoyed Paul Merson on Saturday’s Football but having three men around him trying to break his mind can only work for City. Joe Cole was rubbish on TNT Sports after our game against Leeds and he was far from alone. I suppose you have to admit that despite the tiredness of the term sports washing, City did a very good job in that aspect of it, even if they were caught red-handed in the end.
But that’s what sports washing is for. It’s part of the plan, and the plan stays in place: Deny it. Confront. A lie. to obstruct. bend down The waters are muddy. Deny, confuse and lie etc to these industry-wide fraudsters. amplify kinder voices unwilling to ignore evidence and judgment for whatever reason to help.
They have a very good team with very good players. They scored good goals against “Liverpool”. They have won six out of six games in the Premier League so far. 18 out of 18 points. But who gives a damn? Why is any analysis important? Why should I care what Jamie Carragher thinks of a greedy and pathetic man like Enzo Maresca, no matter how good a manager he is? Why should I allow myself to be exposed to scenes that glorify the cheating of their fans?
Who cares?
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“Arsenal” will face “Lille” tomorrow evening in the Champions League. Mikel Arteta meets the press at lunchtime and maybe we’ll get some information on the injuries suffered by Piero Hincapie and Martin Zubimendi, who warmed up early after Leeds. Not ideal, but let’s hear what he has to say.
We recorded the Arsecast Extra yesterday, and if you haven’t had a chance to listen yet, you can find it below. Right now, there are good people.