CITY GREED
On a midweek visit to that there Big London to take on Tottenham in the first leg of their Big Cup quarter-final first leg, Manchester City are hot favourites to beat their hosts. While Pep Guardiola’s men have won the past three meetings between the sides fairly comfortably, those desperate to come up with some plausible reason why they won’t steamroller them again are hoping the home advantage enjoyed by Spurs could cause their opponents no end of problems.
As low key and under the radar as Tottenham tried to keep the long overdue opening of their swanky new stadium last week, it will not have skipped Manchester City’s attention that, by English standards at least, the London club’s fans generated something approaching a hostile atmosphere ahead of and during their team’s first game in their new home. When they welcome a team that resides in a comparatively grotty, 16-year-old council-owned hovel in the north of England for a mouth-watering evening of Big Cup entertainment, the Not White Hart Lane 2 cauldron is likely to simmer and bubble even more.
Not that Kevin De Bruyne is likely to be distracted, by either the crowd’s hostility or the byzantine mysteries of those magic pint glasses that fill through the bottom. “Everybody has a stadium, everybody has supporters – in the end, it’s a stadium with supporters,” sniffed the City midfielder, in a withering albeit entirely technically accurate dismissal of Not White Hart Lane 2’s potential impact of the atmosphere on the match. “It affects if we think about the spectators; if we think about what we have to do on the pitch, it doesn’t affect,” added Guardiola, manfully resisting the urge to sarcastically point out that some of his players have actually played in front of crowds comprising more than four men and a dog before.
What Pep couldn’t resist was an entirely novel approach to the manner in which he answers similarly predictable and silly questions about his side’s chances of winning an unprecedented quadruple, by suggesting that if City go on to win Big Cup, the league title and FA Cup they will technically have won a quintuple. Coming over all José Mourinho, he mounted a stirring defence of the much-maligned Charidee Shield. “Why does nobody count it?” he asked. “Why? The people say we’ve won one title so the [Charidee] Shield? Maybe it counts for last season but when we went on holidays, it was not in our pocket. In Spain, in Germany – where I have been – the Super Cup is an important trophy. Always, we’ve had the feeling we’ve won two titles and have three to play. But the people say: ‘Just one title, one title’.” With the dream Charidee Shield and Milk Cup double already secure, City’s ongoing pursuit of more silverware on three different fronts is beginning to look a little vulgar and greedy.
LIVE ON BIG WEBSITE
Join Jacob Steinberg at 8pm BST for minute-by-minute coverage of Tottenham Hotspur 2-2 Manchester City in Big Cup, while Barry Glendenning will be on hand for Liverpool 3-1 Porto and Simon Burnton will bring you England 3-2 Spain in the women’s international friendly.
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“[Messi] is a challenge I relish. Bring it on” – we’re guessing Chris Smalling also relishes verrucas, coldsores and gout.
FIVER LETTERS
“I was reading this; which, obviously, got me thinking about ‘nominative determinism’, (whatever that is). I then clicked on this little page of delights; and am left asking why we don’t know more about this masterfully monikered ‘defensive soccer player’?” – Tony Crawford.
“Far be it for The Fiver (or footie fans in general to be honest) to lambast anyone with unadulterated praise, but can I mention the retirement of one person regularly mentioned in the ‘Nicest Bloke in Football’ category that they don’t have at any of the awards but which people keep on mentioning nonetheless? Erik Samuelson has been in charge at AFC Wimbledon for 12 years (and before that was the Finance Director) and has overseen four promotions, secured a new ground which the club will move into next year and kept a small club financially stable. He is the least punk person at a punk football club, has put up with all sorts of craziness and demands the sum of 1 guinea a year for his troubles” – Alex Folkes.
“You do this deliberately to generate letters, don’t you? Bermuda shorts are semi-formal attire, made of a single colour and are worn with knee-length socks, a dress shirt and (properly) with a tie and blazer. They are the equivalent of suit trousers for warmer climates. If West Ham’s players looked ‘on the beach’ with T-shirts, flip-flops and garish dolphin-festooned towels, they were probably wearing Hawaiian shorts to complete their ensemble” – Martin Burke (ex-resident of Bermuda).
Send your letters to the.boss@theguardian.com. And you can always tweet The Fiver via @guardian_sport. Today’s winner of our prizeless letter o’the day is … Alex Folkes.
RECOMMENDED LOOKING
David Squires had to draw a whole new cartoon in about three seconds after the lawyers told him to incinerate his first offering, and it’s still the funniest thing in today’s Fiver.
NEWS, BITS AND BOBS
Chelsea midfielder Danny Drinkwater has been charged with drink-driving following an incident in the Cheshire village of Mere, near Knutsford.
Bournemouth defender Charlie Daniels will miss the start of next season after having an operation to cure the knee-knack he suffered in training last week.
Further knack news from the Cherries treatment room, where Steve Cook has revealed that his groin-gah! got severely, dangerously infected. “I was genuinely crying in pain while stuck halfway down my stairs as I had no idea what was going on,” he howled. “I was dripping with sweat and my mind wasn’t there, I was being sick through the pain. It was horrific.”
Gonzalo Higuaín is doing little to reassure those Chelsea fans worrying about the spirit of Eden Hazard being lost to Real Madrid. “Those are things that involve the club executives and the desire of the player,” Higuain roared. “When a player has a desire, it is difficult to change his mind.”
The Argentina coach and West Ham United legend Lionel Scaloni has been hospitalised, but will be OK after suffering cuts and bruises in a collision with a car when out cycling in Mallorca.
And Virgil van Dijk has bestowed his PFA Player of the Year vote on Raheem Sterling. The Dutch master and overriding favourite for the award cheered: “I did what I thought and I thought he deserves it. He’s had a fantastic season.”
STILL WANT MORE?
Suzanne Wrack on how female footballers finally got their own kits.
Robson, Romario, Messi, Hughes, Xavi, Scholes: just some of the greats to have made their mark on Manchester United v Barcelona tussles. Rob Smyth picks out six of them.
Playing against her Spanish clubmates makes tonight’s international friendly a bit of a biggie for Barcelona and England’s Toni Duggan.
Watford were never in any doubt they’d beat Wolves in extra-time, roared Andre Gray.
Oh, and if it’s your thing … you can follow Big Website on Big Social FaceSpace. And INSTACHAT, TOO!
