A NEW SHERIFF IN TOWN
The European Super League was maligned by many, but not here at Fiver Towers, where we firmly reject the concept of a meritocracy. How else would we stay in the job? Besides, the prospect of multimillionaires playing the same team every other week was an enticing one for those who have no idea where Port Vale is.
Big Cup has done its best to be the world’s elite competition with its Messis, Ronaldos and Bendtners strutting their stuff down the years but it has always been flawed. Smaller, unknown clubs have been routinely allowed to concede five or six goals against the illuminati of the sporting world. For years, Ludogorets, Olympiakos and Tottenham have been permitted to play in Big Cup, and in the Fiver’s humble one, it has been a stain on the competition.
There was worse news for Real Football Fans on Wednesday when FC Sheriff, a crack Eastern European outfit from Tiraspol in Moldova’s breakaway Transnistria region, qualified for the Big Cup group stages at Dinamo Zagreb’s expense. Not that the Croatians had any right to face the mighty RB Leipzig or RB Salzburg, who have built themselves up from nothing to be here. Sheriff even have imitation players, such as a striker named Adama Traoré who has never even played for Middlesbrough.
They might bring hope and excitement to Moldovan football, but at what cost? Should Neymar, Lionel Messi and Sergio Ramos be forced to lower themselves to playing the Sheriffs when they could be beating Arsenal 14 times a season? The likes of *searches Wikipedia* Gustavo Dulanto cannot compete with *searches Wikipedia* Pablo Marí and should not be allowed to think they can. In our view, the sooner European super-clubs get their own way the better. Otherwise you never know who might be next to reach Big Cup – maybe even Everton.
LIVE ON BIG WEBSITE
Join Rob Smyth to find out who Sheriff land in the Big Cup draw at 5pm (BST) followed by live Big Vase/Big Carriage Clock updates featuring the Queen’s Celtic, Harry Kane’s Tottenham and more.
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“They did well in the first six or seven minutes. They were brave and played well going forward. It’s not surprising that we won in the end. Nevertheless, it was certainly a nice experience for everyone” – Bayern Munich’s Julian Nagelsmann strikes a diplomatic tone after their 12-0 German Cup win over Bremer SV.
RECOMMENDED LISTENING
Football Weekly is here! The pod squad talk about Harry Kane staying (for now), Pep Guardiola going (eventually) and West Ham being really good. Listen up.
FIVER LETTERS
“Harry Kane really is a textbook example of how not to get a transfer done. As Daniel Levy himself said: ‘He is not for sale at any price … we are building a team for the future to consistently play at the highest level and retaining quality players is crucial to that’… 10 years ago. To be fair though, at least it worked out for (My Name is) Luka in the end, what with his four Champions Leagues, two league titles and a Ballon d’Or at Real Madrid, but then he didn’t have his brother working for him as his agent” – Noble Francis.
“When Real Madrid’s Florentino Perez said back in April that ‘We’re on the edge of ruin’, is there any possibility that this is because there are club presidents out there forking our €150m in 2019 for a player that was available for free at the end of the season anyway and are now willing to spend another £137m (€160m) or more for another?” – Noble Francis.
“Great to see that plucky Premier League returnees Norwich are keeping pace with the European Super League’s finest, despite their monumentally tough start to the season” – Ian Richards.
“Arteta is a visionary. After the tennis scoreline in the Carabao Cup, he will now focus all his energies on the Cups in the knowledge that relegation will not disqualify Arsenal from the competition” – Krishna Moorthy.
Send your letters to the.boss@theguardian.com, or tweet The Fiver via @guardian_sport, to win a copy of Underground, Overground: The Fault Lines of Football Clubs by Andi Thomas. You can read an extract from the book here. Today’s winner of a copy is … Noble Francis.
NEWS, BITS AND BOBS
Benjamin Mendy has been charged with four counts of rape and one count of sexual assault, Cheshire Constabulary have said. Manchester City have suspended Mendy pending an investigation, the club confirmed in an official statement.
Patrick Bamford has been called up by England for the first time as Gareth Southgate named his squad for the Human Rights World Cup qualifiers against Hungary, Andorra and Poland.
The full squad: Sam Johnstone (West Brom), Jordan Pickford (Everton), Nick Pope (Burnley); Trent Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool), Conor Coady (Wolves), Reece James (Chelsea), Harry Maguire (Man Utd), Tyrone Mings (Aston Villa), Luke Shaw (Man Utd), John Stones (Man City), Kieran Tripper (Atlético Madrid), Kyle Walker (Man City); Jude Bellingham (Dortmund), Jordan Henderson (Liverpool), Jesse Lingard (Man Utd), Mason Mount (Chelsea), Kalvin Phillips (Leeds), Declan Rice (West Ham), Patrick Bamford (Leeds), Dominic Calvert-Lewin (Everton), Jack Grealish (Man City), Harry Kane (Tottenham), Bukayo Saka (Arsenal), Jadon Sancho (Man Utd), Raheem Sterling (Man City).
Scott McTominay will miss Manchester United’s trip to Molineux on Sunday and Scotland’s upcoming qualifiers after undergoing surgery for groin-ouch. “I hate missing games but that’s part and parcel of the game. Wishing all the boys the best of luck and I will be back sooner than you think,” McSauce warned.
Republic O’Ireland boss Stephen Kenny has revealed some of his players are reluctant to be vaccinated against Covid-19. “Ideally we’d want everyone vaccinated, but the players have the right to make their own decisions, and we have to respect that,” he mused.
Mikel Arteta has brushed off suggestions that Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang could be snapped up by Manchester City this week. “Aubameyang is our player and he will remain here,” he straight-batted.
David Moyes will return to Old Trafford in the Carabao Cup third round, with Chelsea v Aston Villa and Wolves v Tottenham among the other plum ties.
Here’s the full draw: QPR v Everton; Preston vs Cheltenham; Manchester United v Taxpayers FC; Fulham v Leeds; Brentford v Oldham; Watford v Stoke, Chelsea v Aston Villa, Wigan v Sunderland, Norwich v Liverpool, Burnley v Rochdale, Arsenal v AFC Wimbledon. Sheffield United v Southampton; Man City v Wycombe; Millwall v Leicester; Wolves v Tottenham; Brighton v Swansea.
There were some one-sided games in the second round, with Southampton netting eight at Newport, Arsenal hitting West Brom for six and Newcastle racked up 18 shots against Burnley – before losing on penalties. Oh Bernard!
RECOMMENDED WATCHING
Stray Given? Alan Ruff? Er … Fabian Bark-thez? Look, just watch the clip, it’s good.
STILL WANT MORE?
Po’ Harry Kane has found out the hard way that Spurs head honcho Daniel Levy will stick to his guns, writes Ed Aarons.
José Mourinho finally seems to rate Chelsea youngsters, and wants to bring Ruben Loftus-Cheek to Roma. It’s all in today’s Mill.
Liverpool v Chelsea highlights and the best EN 2020 saves in this week’s Classic YouTube roundup.
Catch up with the latest moves in our women’s and men’s transfer interactives.
And sign up for a daily Big Sports Day email here. It’s not particularly funny but, hey, glass houses and all that.
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