🗣 | "I don't like it and I hope it doesn't happen."
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) April 19, 2021
James Milner speaks out against the proposed breakaway European Super League...😳#MNF pic.twitter.com/NkMmNJhiyA
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Those interviews with Jurgen Klopp and James Milner were really impressive, and maybe - maybe - we’ll look back on them as an important moment. I’m not confident, but I feel slightly better than I did three hours ago.
Anyway, that’s it for tonight’s blog. Thanks for your company and emails, sorry I didn’t get chance to read them all. Goodnight!
James Milner: 'I don't like it and I don't want it to happen'
“We have to try to be professional and concentrate on the game – that’s all we can do. The first we heard of [the European Super League] was yesterday. Everyone’s got a lot of questions. My personal opinion is that I don’t like it and hopefully it doesn’t happen.”
Here’s Patrick Bamford
“I felt like we should’ve won. I’m frustrated to be honest but a point against Liverpool is a good point. I’m annoyed with myself that I haven’t scored tonight.
“[Re: the Super League]. I can’t quite comprehend it. It’s amazing the amount of uproar that comes into the game when someone’s pocket is being hurt. It’s a shame it’s not like this with everything that’s going wrong in the game, like racism.
“It’s something we talk about but it’s not a big distraction – once you get on the pitch, you’re not thinking about it. We’re like fans really; we’re in shock. Without fans, football is nothing, so it’s important we stand our ground and show that football is for the fans and try to keep it that way.”
Another plug for Sean Ingle’s superb summary of a surreal day.
Leeds remain in 10th place and are now level on points with Arsenal. Liverpool stay sixth, two points behind West Ham in fourth.
Full time: Leeds 1-1 Liverpool
That was a really good game between two high-energy teams. Liverpool were much better in the first half and led through Sadio Mane’s goal. Leeds were equally good after the break and fully deserved Diego Llorente’s late equaliser.
90+2 min The substitute Oxlade-Chamberlain misses a good chance to win the game, poking straight at Meslier from 10 yards.
90 min There will be four minutes of added time.
GOAL! Leeds 1-1 Liverpool (Llorente 87)
And they get a reward. Harrison’s superb inswinging corner is headed in from six yards by Llorente; it’s his first goal for Leeds. That was a brilliant ball in from Harrison.
86 min Ayling wins a corner for Leeds, who deserve a reward for their second-half dominance.
86 min Another Leeds change: Pablo Hernandez replaces Tyler Roberts.
85 min Thiago sprays a pass over the top for Salah, who gets away from Llorente but then drags a tame shot wide of the far post. I think he might have been offside, on reflection, though it was still a poor effort.
83 min “Whatever people think about the merits of the idea,” says Simon McMahon, “who wouldn’t want to get up at 4am to watch the Liverpool - Man United wildcard fixture to see who plays Real Madrid or Barcelona in the Western Conference championship match ahead of Soccer Bowl I versus some Italian club at the Enormo-Dome in February 2022?”
81 min Liverpool bring on Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain for Diogo Jota, who has been threatening but slightly profligate.
80 min Meslier plays a dreadful pass, straight to Salah 25 yards from goal. He moves into the area and has a shot that deflects behind for a corner. Alexander-Arnold’s corner pinballs around the area, with Meslier out of his goal. Eventually Jota loops a header towards goal and Meslier scampers back to punch it over the bar.
79 min Mateusz Klich comes on for Leeds in place of Alioski.
78 min Liverpool break three on two, with Robertson on the ball. He runs 60 yards and then overhits a simple pass through to Jota. Oh dear.
77 min Another great chance for Leeds. Poveda-Ocampo slides a square pass to find Roberts unmarked in the area. He takes a touch and rams a shot straight at Alisson from eight yards. Alisson’s positioning was good and the ball thumped into his chest. That was really similar to the chance Paul Pogba had at Anfield earlier in the season.
75 min: Bamford hits the bar with a terrific effort. He killed Ayling’s long pass on the run, waited for it to bounce and lobbed it over Alisson from the edge of the area. It just didn’t dip enough and hit the top of the bar before rebounding to safety.
73 min This has been a really good game. I thought it might be subdued, in the circumstances, but both teams have played with their their usual intensity.
71 min A change for Liverpool: Mo Salah replaces the goalscorer Sadio Mane.
69 min Roberts finds Harrison, who slithers away from Milner on the six-yard line and hammers a low shot that is excellently saved with his feet by Alisson.
68 min Here’s an excellent summary of the day’s events from Sean Ingle.
67 min A change for Leeds: Ian Poveda-Ocampo replaces Helder Costa on the right wing.
67 min An excellent free-kick from Phillips flashes across the face of goal.
66 min Kabak is booked for a block tackle on Ayling.
63 min Here’s more from David Hytner on the T-shirts that wound Liverpool up.
62 min Leeds are having a good spell, probably their best of the match. In fact they’ve had 71 per cent of the possession in the second half.
61 min “Hi Rob,” says Colin. “It is interesting that everyone from the prime minister down is getting upset about a breakaway league, yet they said nothing about 6,500 migrant workers dying while building facilities for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
“6,500 deaths so that a few rich blokes could kick a ball around while other rich blokes make even more money from it, and Qatar get to indulge in a bit of sports washing. Just think how many kids will never see their dads again, how many will grow up in poverty because the breadwinner is dead.
“I think we’ve lost our perspective and I doubt we will ever get it back again. Football really is more important than life itself. How tragic is that?”
60 min A Leeds corner is headed on by Bamford and volleyed over from close range by Costa. I think he was offside anyway.
NO PENALTY That’s fair enough - he was actually trying to move his arm out of the way.
59 min Leeds appeal for a penalty when a cross hits the arm of Alexander-Arnold. VAR are checking. This is close - it definitely hit his arm, but it was tight to his body.
57 min A wicked low cross from Alioski just evades Bamford in the middle. Robertson turns it behind for a corner. That almost leads to a chance when Roberts’ mishit shot is kept in play by Ayling on the byline. He cushions a volley back into the middle and Liverpool clear.
56 min It feels like a matter of time before Liverpool get a second goal. They have been intimidatingly good tonight.
54 min Robertson’s corner just evades Jota on the six-yard line.
“I don’t care how old he is, one of the great midfield heroes for Leeds these past few seasons has been Pablo Hernandez,” says Mick Byrne. “Why doesn’t he play more often? He’s needed now...”
He’s 94 years old?
52 min “Surely there are various options to solve this and surely it’s very significant that the UK government will do everything it can to stop this,” says Francis Mead. “We could have the German 51% rule to limit foreign ownership; we could even have a ‘socialist” draft system like the NFL to even up the competitions; and the PL, the FA and the government could lay down regulations that determine that competitions must have open-ended entry and the chance of regulation and promotion. Already players are likely to be banned from the Euros and World Cup - that is not trivial. Things are very far from lost at the moment - it could actually be a good moment for fair reforms.”
It could, but I’d say it’s pretty unlikely.
51 min Milner’s dangerous cross is turned just wide by Mane at the near post. In fact Meslier got to it first and pushed the ball against Mane, with the rebound going past the post.
49 min Here’s a piece from Andy Hunter on Jurgen Klopp’s comments about the Super League.
47 min Firmino’s shot from a tight angle is pushed away by Meslier, falling to his right. The resulting corner is headed over from six yards by Jota. That was a really good chance, a sitter in fact.
47 min “Ajax won’t be in the Super League,” writes Sven Schlijper-Karssenberg. “Here’s the official statement by Edwin van der Sar...”
46 min Peep peep! Leeds begin the second half.
“Be good to know that, if this travesty happens, the Guardian won’t MBM the games,” says David Clarke. “There’s no supposing it’ll make the crooks quake in their loafers, but it would be sad if we all had to boycott you, Rob.”
Funnily enough I was chatting to Paul Doyle about this today. I hope we won’t cover any of it, but we all know how life works.
“Truth be told, and I know I am the minority, I do not get the fury,” says Oliver Loksa. “Being a Liverpool supporter, do I feel betrayed? No. Why should I? Because my club wants to play additional games and earn additional money? From a supporter’s point of view, I would understand the fury if they had intended to abandon the PL or CL, but they had not. And if somebody managed to enrage UEFA to this extent, they must be doing something right.”
More half-time reading
Half-time reading
This is a very good email, pretty much all of which I agree with, especially the part about us all being complicit.
“You’re right that Neville and Carragher were superb tonight on Sky, and it was really interesting to hear them both admit that they’d stayed silent on the owners of their own clubs,” says Charlie Robinson. “Neville went so far as to call them scavengers, and I agree with him. Blaming the owners of these clubs is quite right - but it’s only half true. These owners are acting in their own self-interest in the way that all club owners do, Steve Parish included. But they’re seeking to exploit a system that has opened itself up to exploitation, and which rewards that exploitation. I heard someone say earlier today that of the twelve clubs who’ve signed up, some weren’t overly keen to do so, but felt that they couldn’t be left without a seat when the music stops.
“That for me is the problem, and it’s one that’s inherent to the capitalist system that has for a long time, in one way or another, pervaded football, and not just over the last twenty-odd years since the inception of the Premier League. For ‘normal’ businesses, those that don’t stay competitive lose out and can go under. So they scamper after profits, often doing so by squeezing surplus value from workers, cutting corners, and exploiting new markets. This is what’s happening here. It’s not just the owners who are the problem, but the whole logic of the football system, which imposes systemic imperatives that these clubs ignore at their peril. The Champions League, Sky, and the Premier League are but three examples of this, and the ESL is just yet another manifestation of it.
“So yes, the ESL is a terrible idea, and I hate it. But I also hate the venal system that has been in operation for decades and decades now, the one that has left us with projects and clients and customers and stakeholders and official paint sponsors and hedge funds and sovereign wealth funds. We’ve all participated in this, and ended up precisely where we expected and precisely where it was always headed and precisely where we deserve - the hyper-capitalist end-point of our game.”
Half time: Leeds 0-1 Liverpool
Peep peep! A motivated Liverpool are ahead thanks to a goal from Sadio Mane. They’ve been much the better team, really impressive in fact, and could have scored a couple more.
44 min “Hi Rob, I hope you’re keeping well,” says Niall Mullen. “I don’t doubt that even a cursory examination of football’s history would quickly put paid to the ideas of the sport as some Corinthian idyll. Nor do I doubt for a second that any of the other teams, Leeds, Everton, West Ham, whoever would have joined the proposed Super League given half a chance. Also I know that all things change and that those things that seemed eternal and monolithic as a child are mere transient bagatelles that only imprint themselves thus on your impressionable mind. This still absolutely effing stinks though.”
Yeah, in more ways than one it’s the fat end of the wedge. I’m probably wrong but I can’t see how this can be resolved satisfactorily.
42 min Tyler Roberts sidefoots a first-time shot at goal from the edge of the area. It’s nowhere near the corner and Alisson saves easily.
41 min When Liverpool play like this, it becomes very hard to understand their shambles of a season. At the best, and they’ve been pretty close tonight, they are nigh-on unstoppable.
40 min Meslier makes a fine save from Jota, who read Llorente’s dodgy backpass and tried to lob it over the keeper.
39 min Now Firmino is booked for a super foul on Ayling.
38 min Milner slices well wide from 20 yards.
38 min If it stays like this Liverpool will move up to fourth, above West Ham on goal difference, for whatever it’s worth.
37 min Alioski is booked for legging Mane up. Just before that, Dallas floated a cross to Harrison beyond the far post. He could have volleyed at goal but instead tried to cushion the ball back across to Bamford, and Fabinho nipped in front of him to clear.
35 min One other thing about the Super League: look how crap the website is.