European football means everything to our top clubs and we have facilitated that. We have embraced UEFA’s gradual shift towards prioritising the big European leagues by allocating us more and more Champions League places. We have attached importance to a competition like the Europa Conference League even though it’s largely a tournament for also-rans.
So why are we so surprised when our managers come over all euro-centric too?
Aston Villa have two routes into the Champions League this season. They can finish in the top five of the Premier League or they can win the Europa League.
Currently Unai Emery’s team have a six-point cushion in terms of the former and have a 1-0 deficit to overcome when they face Nottingham Forest in the semi-final of the latter on Thursday.
Why then all the surprise and indignation that Emery fielded something far removed from his first team against Tottenham in the league yesterday?
Emery on this occasion chose to prioritise the game against Forest and as much as it jars with many people, it was arguably the right thing to do.
We must be careful when we talk about compromising the integrity of the league. Yes, West Ham – the closest relegation rivals to Tottenham – have every right to be look closely at what Villa did. One shot on target at home against a team that started the day in the bottom three was hardly a sign that they were fully energised and committed. There are questions to ask of individual players there.
Aston Villa lost to Spurs but Unai Emery was well within his rights to prioritise Europe
But the truth is that Emery chose his XI from his first-team pool. The team he picked had 178 Premier League starts between them and another 75 as substitutes. They were hardly a bunch of kids.
The Champions League is everything to Villa. Financial restrictions meant that last summer’s activity in the market was largely restricted to loans. The injection of an approximate £80million of European money this summer will mean so much to them.
So Emery – one of the league’s top managers – is entitled to get to the Champions League any way he feels is possible. By choosing the team he did yesterday, he made sure he kept two doors open. His stars will face Forest fresh and rested on Thursday at Villa Park.
This wasn’t disrespectful management, it was smart. If West Ham go down, it won’t be because of this.
SALAH MUST BE RESPECTFUL
The fact that Liverpool have lost 11 times in the Premier League and are still comfortably on course for the Champions League says everything about how lopsided and bloated Europe’s blue riband event has become and also about our low domestic standards this year.
Given the way they have played they shouldn’t be anywhere near it. Liverpool have lost 18 times in all competitions this season and that’s only happened three times since 1962.
Manager Arne Slot was right to suggest Benjamin Sesko’s first-half goal at Manchester United shouldn’t have been allowed. The angle taken from a camera that seems to have been situated by goalkeeper Freddie Woodman’s right-hand post shows clearly that the ball changes its course off the hand of the United forward.
However, it’s a lack of cohesion and mutual understanding that once again did for Liverpool at Old Trafford. It’s hard not to wonder whether something vital has been lost between last season and this and if I were Slot I would be waiting on Mo Salah’s exit interview with my hands over my ears.
Arne Slot will be concerned about what Mohamed Salah might say when he leaves Liverpool
Speaking to former Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard for a TV interview last week, there were a couple of pointed comments hidden within.
‘Everything that’s going on this season makes me think it’s time to go’, said Salah.
‘The season was tough for all of us, and yeah, I don’t want to say much.’
Strange how by saying so little Salah has actually managed to say everything and it is hoped that when he does reflect in detail of his final season at Anfield, Salah remembers not just what he did for Liverpool but what the club did for him.
As for this season being ‘tough’, it would have helped had Salah had his boots on the right feet.
Failure in sport is a collective, Mo.
BRUNO SHOULD HAVE WALKED
Bruno Fernandes already has my vote for Player of the Year – he had it last season as well as it happens – and I suspect he will win the Football Writers’ gong this year.
There were signs of the bad old Bruno at Old Trafford yesterday, though.
He was lucky not to get booked for a verbal tirade at referee Darren England after being pulled up for a foul with Liverpool pressing in the second half.
As for his late lunge at Dominik Szoboszlai, it was reckless and out of control and should have led to a red card.
It seemed baffling at the time that a VAR review didn’t follow and the more it’s viewed on TV, the more that opinion hardens.
There were signs of the bad old Bruno Fernandes during United’s 3-2 defeat of Liverpool
SCHMEICHEL SPEAKS FOR US ALL
Up in the Press box at Old Trafford, former United goalkeeper Peter Schmeichel was an animated and agitated figure.
‘Get rid of this stupid VAR,’ he vented in frustration as Stockley Park mulled over the Sesko ‘handball’.
Meanwhile, his take on United’s efforts to work short goal kicks is not really printable.
Let’s just say, Schmeichel would have preferred it had current United keeper Senne Lammens just played the ball long downfield.
It’s hard to disagree, really.
Watching a goalkeeper receive the ball short from a team mate at a goal kick only to then look for a pass does make you wonder why he can’t just do that straight from the dead ball.
At least, then, he has more time.
TUCHEL STILL WATCHING MYLES
Some food for thought for Thomas Tuchel over the weekend as he considers his England squad for the World Cup.
Going up: Luke Shaw was excellent for United. Arsenal youngster Max Dowman has clear value as an impact sub while team-mate Myles Lewis-Skelly shone against Fulham. Tuchel is a huge fan of the latter and seeing him back in action and in a new midfield position will have intrigued him.
Going down: Harry Maguire turned in concrete as Szoboszlai went by him for Liverpool’s first goal. Nick Pope made a couple of super saves for Newcastle but was once more caught out with his feet.
Mikel Arteta embraces Myles Lewis-Skelly after his display in the win over Fulham
WINNING WITHOUT THE BALL
The Manger of the Year debate continues to swirl round my head.
It’s still hard to see past Sunderland’s Regis Le Bris – given where the club came from – while Daniel Farke, Keith Andrews and Fabian Hurzeler are all in the mix.
But what about Lincoln boss Michael Skubala?
The former England futsal coach has led the Imps to the Championship with 103 points and didn’t see his team lose in the league since the middle of November.
Interestingly, Lincoln’s average possession of 42 per cent was the lowest in the division while a third of their goals came from set-pieces. Their goalkeeper George Wickens ended the season with four assists.
‘Not every club needs to play the same way,’ said Skubala. ‘A job of a head coach is to be adaptable and not fixed to one identity.’
Quite right, too.
Michael Skubala led Lincoln to promotion from League One with 103 points
PHOTO CLUE FOR NEWCASTLE?
Newcastle’s post-match selfie in the dressing room after their much-needed win over Brighton has triggered a few people.
The practice has become well-established in the Eddie Howe era and this only seems to have been convened after a first win in six halted a run that seemed to be taking them all the way to the fringes of the relegation fight.
While celebrating survival may seem a bit much for some, it’s hard to see the harm in it if it fosters a bit of team spirit.
Meanwhile the presence of Newcastle chairman and governor of the Saudi Public Investment Fund Yasir Al-Rumayyan at the front of the photo is perhaps the most significant image of all.
With the PIF pulling its resources out of golf and indeed snooker, Newcastle fans may cling to this as reassurance that the Saudis are intending to stick around in the north-east.
A spade in the ground at the site of a new stadium would perhaps go a little further.
PEP’S DEFINITELY MAYBE
Social media tizzy of the weekend undoubtedly was caused by Liam Gallagher taking to X to claim that Pep Guardiola had called him to dismiss suggestions this season would be his last.
‘He called me and I didn’t know he had my number,’ said the Oasis singer. ‘He just wanted to tell me not to believe all these malicious rumors (sic)’.
It’s hard to know what’s less believable.
The manager of Manchester City spilling one of football’s most closely-guarded secrets to the one man most unlikely to keep it.
Or Liam Gallagher randomly answering his mobile to unknown numbers on a Saturday afternoon.
ROONEY SLOWLY FINDING HIS FEET
Wayne Rooney’s analysis of Aaron Wan-Bissaka’s lumbering defensive efforts as West Ham succumbed at Brentford was perfectly done and indicative of his growth as a pundit over the course of his debut Match of the Day season.
As one BBC bigwig put it to me back when Rooney was struggling: ‘Do you remember Gary Lineker and Alan Hansen back at the start? They were awful’.
Rooney and Joe Hart – together on the sofa on Saturday night – will be a key pairing for the Beeb at this summer’s World Cup and the further we move on from the Lineker era, the less we miss him.
His jibe last week about the BBC’s decision to produce some of their World Cup coverage from Salford got him some headlines but spoke to the ego that lies within.
Late-Lineker era MOTD had become far too much about him and we should be glad it’s now in the rear-view mirror.
The BBC has moved on and maybe he should do the same.
BRENTFORD AND THE VALUE OF LOYALTY
That game at the Gtech featured one of the most heart-warming stories of the season as Josh Dasilva returned from his latest serious injury to play his first game in more than two years.
Dasilva has suffered knee and hamstring injuries over the course of the last three years but Brentford have stood by their man like many clubs wouldn’t, offering him new contracts in May 2024 and again last October.
The 27-year-old was out injured on both occasions.
Dasilva only played the last 15 minutes as Brentford cruised to victory but his latest deal – that expires in the summer – contains the option of an extra year.
We can only wish the popular midfielder more luck going forward.
Josh Dasilva celebrates Brentford’s 3-0 win over West Ham on Saturday – his first game since January 2024
MAGIC OF THE CUP CAN LAST
Big FA Cup games can ruin some lower league clubs and inspire others.
Mansfield Town, for example, went into their game against Arsenal in early March without a league win in nine and manager Nigel Clough worrying openly about relegation from League One.
Since that day – a narrow 2-1 defeat by the Premier League leaders – Mansfield have lost only once in 13 games and Saturday’s chaotic 5-4 home win over Cardiff moved them into the top 10 at the season’s end.
Sadly Port Vale’s famous win over Sunderland at the same stage couldn’t do the same for them. They not only lost 7-0 at Chelsea in the next round but have plummeted into League Two in 22nd spot.
