LET’S TALK ABOUT SIX, BABY
Towards the end of his beleaguered Manchester City side’s trimming at the hands of Liverpool at Anfield, Pep Guardiola raised a couple of hands of his own but far from surrendering in the same manner as the players he had picked, the Spaniard was in defiant mood. Turning in his technical area to acknowledge the scouse serenade of “You’re getting sacked in the morning!” echoing around the ground, the City boss chomped hard on the bait and raised six digits to remind all those in the chorus how many Premier League titles he has won. Unfortunately for him it is also the same number of games his team have now lost in their past seven outings, a statistic quickly seized upon by assorted Social Media Disgrace wags who wished to pile even more ridicule on poor old Pep.
Apparently labouring under the delusion that the taunts were more of a demand than a speculative observation, Guardiola responded to gentle probing about them after the game. “They want to sack me,” he said of the Liverpool fans. “I wish they were more kind. Why didn’t they do it at 0-1? Why didn’t they do it last season when we won the Premier League? Why do they want to sack me now?” Rushing to defend his manager’s reaction with all the artfulness with which he had demonstrated while racing to the edge of his area to hurl himself at the feet of Luis Díaz and give away the match-winning penalty, Stefan Ortega added his two cents, going in two-footed on the entire city of Liverpool. “Someone told me before that this area is probably not the best part of the UK,” he blathered, displaying the kind of tact and diplomacy that would make even an under-siege Master Chef blanche, to round off a day to forget for all associated with Manchester City but one that will live long in the memory of all Liverpool fans.
Having masterminded the fourth consecutive Premier League defeat to which Pep Guardiola’s side have been subjected and seen his own team go nine points clear of their nearest rivals, Arne Slot was asked if he felt sorry for the unprecedented hardships currently being visited upon his opposite number and was refreshingly candid in his assessment of Pep’s situation. “You feel sympathy or empathy with the managers in a really bad place,” he soothed. “They have lost many games or are down at the bottom of the league, but Pep has won so many things and he has shown so many times already, so that is why the league is not decided in November or December. Last season they were eight points behind Arsenal I think in February, so no one has to feel sympathy or empathy for Pep, maybe for other managers, but not Pep.” While Slot is right to point out that the season is still young and Guardiola could still turn things around, all evidence suggests things could get a lot worse for the City boss before they get better.
QUOTE OF THE DAY
I’ve been criticised since I was a 16-year-old boy, my whole career. What you always want is weapons to fight back with – at the minute we’ve got none. So we have to take it on the chin and hope that we get through this, because the last two games arguably have been the toughest and hardest week of my managerial career. It was very difficult walking over and not feel embarrassed to show our appreciation to the fans” – the behind-the-scenes Plymouth Argyle documentary is in danger of having its lead character killed off in the first episode after the Pilgrims’ 4-0 thrashing at Bristol City.
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Is the Premier League title already Liverpool’s to lose? Join Max Rushden, Barry Glendenning and the Football Weekly pod squad as they discuss this and more.
The post-Klopp Kop had a pop at Pep. He tried to linger, offered a single finger (plus five), but he’d seen a Red humdinger. City will back him, no chance they’ll sack him. But with Pep being slighted, and weaknesses sighted, could he even be caught by Rubén’s United? (I know I ought to get out more, but you know what, I don’t even care)” – Mark McFadden.
After a 2-0 defeat, a warning for City fans: taking too much Peptalk Dismal can increase the risk of side effects, including feeling or being sick, feeling confused, dizzy or tired, deafness, or ringing or buzzing in your ears” – James Boyle.
As an Arsenal supporter, I found myself cheering on Liverpool yesterday, even though I probably should have been hoping for a City win. I think I’ve been hurt so often by City that I’m having trouble being rational. My psychiatrist says I have PTSD: Pep Traumatic Stress Disorder. She thinks I’ve lost touch with reality when I suggest he’s just bored and toying with us, seeing how far he can fall behind before City win their final 25 matches with a goal difference of 107 and take the title by 10 points at a canter again” – Chris Jersan.
What a difference six years makes. From Scott McTominay getting stick from the Manchester United fans just for passing the ball backwards, all the way back in the days when they used to beat Liverpool (and with the Once a Special One, then a Happy One, now a Moaning in Turkey One, doing a once in a lifetime ‘blame me not the player’), to scoring the winner to boost Napoli’s title bid. As Andy Gray used to patronisingly say on co-commentary after someone, probably Robert Pires, scored a world class goal in the early 2000s, ‘Take a bow son, take a bow’” – Noble Francis.
Send letters to the.boss@theguardian.com. Today’s letter o’ the day winner is …. Chris Jersan, who lands their very own piece of Football Weekly merch. Terms and conditions for our competitions can be viewed here.
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