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Season previews are a funny old game. Think back to the summer, all that hope, those words now coming back to haunt their writers. And the managers, too. Back in August, Oliver Glasner was the adept, urbane, Big Vase-winning, Österreichisch meister of in-game management. He had locked down Crystal Palace’s defence and mounted a canvas for Eberechi Eze and Michael Olise’s artistry. Adam Wharton, meanwhile, was the second coming of Paul Scholes, equally strawberry blonde but better at tackling. The summer’s Euros began with nationwide calls for Gareth Southgate to push the Wharton button. Jean-Philippe Mateta was a goal machine. He showed that off at Big Sports Day, too. What could possibly go wrong?
While I completely share your cynicism over Inter Miami’s ‘qualification’ for Fifa’s Bigger Club World Cup (yesterday’s Football Daily), I wonder if before you wrote your ‘31 of the best teams in the world and …’ line, you’d noticed that RB Salzburg (one appearance in Big Cup’s last 16 in the last five years) had somehow qualified as well” – Gordon MacLeod.
Yesterday’s Football Daily reported that the MLS Supporters’ Shield is given out to the ‘best team in the regular season’. Alas, no. It is given to the team that accumulates the most points in the regular season. Surely these are the same? Alas, no. A wildly unbalanced schedule in which, for example, Inter Miami play weak teams like Chicago and New England twice while playing zero times against 10 other teams in the league makes it rather tough to say who the best team is. Credit to Inter Miami, they are very good. But the MLS schedule is silly, almost as silly as Gianni Infantino” – Patrick Connolly.
I can’t be the only wearisome old git who read the 25-year-old link from Noble Francis (yesterday’s Football Daily letters) and pined for better days. Yes, we always had irksome gum-flapping, but all of it then – the bleeding David Beckham thing, Alan Shearer trying to recall the steps to ‘Saturday Night’ on Neil Lennon’s head – lack the underlying air of constant crass, commercially-driven connivance we get today. Perhaps the only canary in that coalmine was the mention of Ronaldo being persuaded to play a game after having a fit. Mind you, that was in a Fifa competition, so I’m sure it was all above board” – Jon Millard (and no other wearisome old gits).
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Source link : https://www.theguardian.com/football/2024/oct/22/football-daily-crystal-palace-winless-premier-league-quartet
Author : John Brewin
Publish date : 2024-10-22 14:37:04
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