The Mailbox says that Man City’s supposed cheating will be forgotten because Barca and Milan’s success doesn’t come with a question mark. But last year, one reporter said, “Enough is enough.”
Send an email to [email protected] with your opinion…
Putting it down because of City
I quit football last year before the last game of the Premier League season.
I had just seen my team, Liverpool, come within two games of winning everything, but I knew they probably wouldn’t because one team was cheating.
I knew that Liverpool would have won four titles in five years at any point in football’s history, but they didn’t this time because one team was cheating.
I haven’t watched a single game of Liverpool’s season. The only time I watched football was when a friend begged me to watch England play France in the World Cup.
Even seeing England get excited and then lose didn’t make me happy.
Can you imagine? An Irishman who couldn’t even laugh when the English thought they were going home?
But that’s what City has done. They’ve ruined the English game, which I’ve been obsessed with for over 30 years.
Last night, a friend texted me to tell me that Arsenal vs. City, the title-deciding game, was on.
I knew Arsenal was doing well, but I didn’t know they were still in it. Also, Lampard is back at Chelsea?
It’s wrong that a club that has given a manager four years to rebuild and rebrand a club that hasn’t really competed for the title in about twenty years won’t end up as champions.
Because one team is not playing fairly.
Do yourselves a favor and do what I did: stop watching the EPL. It’s no longer a sport and is more like WWE.
Both have no real competitors and live off of a brand name they built in the past. This brand name is only useful to TV stations because live events sell.
And from now on, all you’ll have to look forward to is City playing Newcastle until the end of time.
Vinnie, Krakow, Poland
…A quick answer to the City fans who are bragging in the mailbox: all of your success is built on human rights abuses, denying climate change, and pushing for fossil fuels. You are the perfect example of everything that is wrong with people because you are willingly blind to the fact (hat tip to Rafa) that you were the first sportswasher. In fact, the first deal from Shinawatra to sell to the black gold overlords was probably the biggest money laundering deal in history.
But that wasn’t enough. You’ve since changed and ruined football into a hideous display of wealth, and you’ve dodged responsibility by putting things off and hiring blood-money-soaked top lawyers. If you do it again and get away with it (which you probably will), only fools and other willingly blind people will think you didn’t do anything wrong. Whether you accept it or not, you know you are rotten to the core.
Your Saint Guardiola is a disgusting liar who acts like he is the best football philosopher when, in reality, he is just like a chess player who picks the best pieces and then makes all the moves himself. He made me sick, and Zlatan did, too.
There are no City fans, and even if there were, no one would like them.
Gofezo (What is it about people that they bow down to injustice caused by oil?!
Cheating won’t be remembered.
This morning, Arsenal fans had some interesting things to say. The first strange thing is that because of petrodollars and financial cheating, nobody will remember this time when Manchester City was in charge. On that front, I’d like to say that I’ve read a little bit about Barcelona’s past. I learned that Franko the dictator used the club to try to appease the Catalans, which led to Barca winning about 20 trophies and titles while he supported them. AC Milan and Silvio Berlusconi come to mind. I bring up this past because no one really cares. The record still says that Barcelona has won 20 or so titles and a bunch of other trophies. AC Milan is still known as one of Europe’s best teams from the 1990s. When Newcastle ends this Man City dynasty, history will show that City won possibly 10 titles and some other number of trophies. So it’s silly to think that Man City won’t be recognized, since it’s already in history. The only thing that might bother them is that after they win, there won’t be much written about them. Instead, there will be a lot written about Arsenal, Manchester United, Liverpool, etc.
The second part is fans like MAW, who are proud of their team and what they’ve done, but still feel the need to put down the other teams by saying they have so many problems that they can’t catch up to Arsenal. First of all, Chelsea has a lot of good players. They probably just need a manageable team and a smart boss to go above Arsenal. They have too many players and need to get rid of some of them. They don’t need good players right away.
Liverpool is Liverpool, and Klopp is a better manager than Arteta. If Liverpool reinvests, Klopp will likely be an even better manager. I agree that Man U might have trouble because it’s hard for them to move stars and get new ones.
One more thing to think about: Arsenal weren’t given a chance, so teams didn’t take them seriously in some of the early games they played. Now, teams will take the Arsenal game much more seriously. When teams have seen that Arsenal are a threat in the past, they have lost, which is another thing to think about. West Ham won’t come to the Emirates thinking they can win 3 points. Instead, West Ham will come to the Emirates trying not to lose.
Dave (I don’t think anyone can guess what will happen next season.)
I’ve been reading the “complaints” about Pep and Man City. Man City does have a lot of money. Yes, they became stronger because they had a lot of money. What can we all hope they will do? Be apologetic? Not get stronger because it will make other teams (and their fans) mad?
For background, Man United has spent a lot of money over the past 10 years. Have they done anything close to what they did? Chelsea has spent a lot of money and done well, but only in spurts. Leicester City won the championship despite not spending much money. Is money the only thing that matters? My point is that you need a good boss to make sure the money is used well. You can also mess up with money. Even though the fans of the other team will say otherwise, Pep is not the bad guy in their stories just because he has a lot of money. It’s what he does with the money, his strategy, and the way he drives the team forward with quiet ruthlessness and great efficiency. He gets a lot of criticism for doing his job really well. Poor Pep (pun intended).
Has there ever been a level playing field in the English Premier League? I’m not so sure about that. Should we be making a fuss? Maybe, maybe not? Will we whine no matter what? Of course! We are, after all, a species that gets jealous. Are we even being fair when we harshly judge a boss who does a great job at his job? If we were in his shoes, would we think it was fair that people judged us the way they did? Is Pep really the bad guy in all of this? I guess if he is, we’d all feel pretty good about ourselves, wouldn’t it? Doesn’t it hurt to see how well this team does? We can’t and shouldn’t let that happen. Our lives are so bad because of this Man City team. And Pep, that bad guy!!
It’s so wrong…
DD
City, City, City!
To add to the discussion about the “boring” City. I would say that City is very boring. But that’s not meant as an insult; if anything, it’s a praise. City is boring because it has been so powerful for so long. The wins are so ridiculous that no one bats an eye. Even though Man United fans didn’t like it when Liverpool won the title, at least it kept City from destroying United’s record of three straight Premier League wins. Without Liverpool, City would be on track to win six games in a row, and we’d be closer to the Bundesliga or the time when Juventus ruled Serie A.
Even though I’m a Liverpool fan, I’m also a football fan, and watching the same team win all the time is boring, especially when that team’s style of play means they often dominate other teams. As a sports fan, I love a team that isn’t the favorite. I really wanted Arsenal to win the league. That would have been wonderful. City are the opposite of a team that isn’t favored. The team with the most money will be able to get the best players and the best coach. Dominating English football but not quite making it in Europe? Sign the world’s best forward. Job done.
I’m sure it’s a lot of fun for City fans, but I think it’s boring for most football fans, no matter who they root for. I wish I could see that things were going to change, but I can’t. Fair play to City, they run things very well. They bring in good players, and they also help young stars get better. But that doesn’t make it less boring.
Mike, LFC, London
Part II: Salty Tears
Hello, I got a few responses because my email was so angry that you were able to find THREE city fans. Because I’m sick and my head hurts, I’ll use bullet points.
I call it “dull” not because of what they do on the field, but because we all know how it will end. What stops you in your tracks makes me shrug.
– Jealous: no. Bitter, for sure!
– People say I’m a fame hunter, but Arsenal is my home team, so try again. But kudos to all the fans from other countries who get up at crazy hours to watch games. Pretty strange way to look for “glory” from a team that hasn’t won the league title in 20 years.
Yes, City is a team that will be remembered for a decade. It’s just that the last ten years of sports have been lifeless and awful. I remember that once, both Aguero and Kompany scored from outside the box. Besides that, I don’t remember a single city game.
– nobody cares = irony. I may not have been clear enough. When you do it, it’s because an Oil-State owns you, so it doesn’t matter. It didn’t count when Chelsea did it, and it won’t count when Newcastle does it in however many years.
The real question is: Can we still have a parade in an open-top bus in 10 years, when all of your titles have been taken away?…. We’re tempting fate if we come in third, aren’t we?
A drunk Arsenal fan was tired, bored, and sick.
United backed down.
United played well in the first half. Spurs did come out and try, which is better than their last game, but United were just better in every way. We got on the board early thanks to a great finish by Sancho, which is great to see from him. The thing that impressed me most about Sancho was that he was doing his defensive job by making sure to track back, which is something he hasn’t been good at in the past. In this game, he looked hungry and focused, which is a good sign. Just before halftime, Rashford scored after a great counterattack and a great pass from Bruno into open space. Even though Martinez and Varange are no longer with United, their defense is still good. It’s so clear that Maguire is the only player on defense who can’t play like Ten Hag. Every time he plays, we have to play further back because he can’t keep up with Ten Hag’s high press, while Lindelof and even Shaw, when he comes in at center-back, can. Overall, United played some great football in the first half.
United did not play well in the second half. We looked arrogant, which was a mistake because Spurs came out trying to win. It was a lot like the first part, but the order was different. We just let them get back into the game on their own. I think Fred’s sub act was one of the worst I’ve ever seen. I was asking why he hasn’t been very involved lately, but if that’s how he’s playing, I get it. Nothing he tried worked. He was making bad passes and leaving players open, which gave Spurs chances that they took advantage of to score.
Overall, this could have been a very good result for United. It would have made it almost certain that they would finish in the top four, which I still think they will do. However, this would have helped a lot because we would have had big leads over the teams below us with games in hand. We played really well in the first half, and all we needed to do in the second was play about as well. If we had done that, United could have won 4-0, but we got arrogant in the second half and let Spurs get back into the game. Fred did not look good at all, so he should stay on the bench for sure. In the first half, we played some really good football, which is something I can take away from this game. This game can show the team not to get too confident and to keep going until the final whistle.
Max From Whitegate
Putting his hand on De Gea’s
Can someone tell me why a player sitting on the line near where the goalkeeper has to dive to save a shot, basically holding the goalkeeper’s hand, is not thought to be offside when he is clearly offside when the ball is played? Because of that choice, we lost two points.
“A player moving from or standing in an offside position is in the way of an opponent and gets in the way of the opponent’s movement towards the ball. This is an offside offense if it affects the opponent’s ability to play or challenge for the ball.” Absolute joke.
PGMOL doesn’t have to say sorry.
MUFC’s Garey Vance
Does United really have any advantages?
People have been saying “Man Utd is back” and “of course they’ve made a lot of progress under Erik ten Hag” after every bad result this season. Are Man Utd really any better than they were when they were a fun but very flawed team under OGS?
Simon, London
Richarlison is ranked
Where does Richarlison fall on the list of the worst Premier League signings ever? £50–60 million, criticized his manager in public, was hated by most fans for disrespectful showboating like a gronk and diving/whining, hit Arsenal’s goalkeeper without reason after the game was over (possibly causing a fan to descend to the field and kick him), and, most hilarious of all, it’s almost May and this £50–60 million forward still hasn’t scored a goal.
I guess he could get better next season and score one or two Premier League goals, but paying that much money for a forward who doesn’t score a single goal all league season (as long as he doesn’t score in May) has to be one of the worst and funniest deals ever.
Andrew M, AFC (we could still win the league title, but if we don’t and come in second, at least we can laugh at Spurs), Australia
PS: I read last week that Spurs are the only team to finish above Guardiola in the league but not win the title since he became a manager in 2008. It’s pretty amazing that in 15 years, he’s only ever placed outside of the top two once.
Merseyside has 60,000 Mancs.
I know this sounds crazy, but hear me out.
Should the FA Cup final be moved from Wembley because of the train strike and traffic jams on the way down from Manchester?
Why not Anfield? It’s close to the city, which would give Eurovision an extra boost, and fans could easily get to the stadium and back home to watch the highlights and see if they were on TV.
Thoughts?
Graham Simons, Gooner, North London
The Great Alexander
People on these shores have gotten some bad news since 2016 for being narrow-minded and closed off, but that just shows how open we can be. Even though he’s only been here a year, we’re ready to celebrate King Isak’s coronation on May 6.
Hail to the king!
Ratt Mitchie NUFC (Mbappe will have to work hard to get Murphy off the team)
…I thought this evening’s (or, by the time this was written, last evening’s) Mailbox was amazing. John Matrix, Jonny, Levenshulme Blue, Steve Manchester, and others all gave me things to think about or laugh about. Especially Rob, whose last statement was very sharp and pointed out the problem with this season for a politically aware Newcastle fan. I have to say that, from a social justice point of view, our owners should definitely turn away potential fans, even though this season is a little bit like the 1995-96 season that made me love NUFC forever. Man, I liked it when we were most people’s second choice, when we were the club that almost everyone wanted to do well. As far as the Saudi money goes, I like the FFP rules, even though they could probably use some tweaks that would hurt us. I don’t want to buy the Premier League, I just want to compete for it. When NUFC’s group value gets up to something like City’s, it’s possible that we’ll be the best. But by then, I bet the EPL will be owned by a lot of different people. So, maybe, will the people who belong to it.
Chris C, DC, Toon Army
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