So that’s the end of the meaningless friendlies for the time being. There now follows what, for England at least, will probably be a meaningless tournament. Having beaten Nigeria and Costa Rica both by a scoreline of 2-0 England still haven’t quite grasped the point of these friendly/warm-up matches.
The Germans have them down to a fine art. They spend most of their time outside of tournaments being rubbish. Joachim Löw has drilled it into his players that they must give the impression, to every other coach, that they are now reasonably easy to beat. They must play as though the days when they used to win everything are long gone and the team is now going through a transition which they may or may not come out of positively.
Then, when the time comes, they suddenly turn back into the world-beaters they always seem to have been.
England, in fact, are Germany in reverse.
At least Gareth Southgate has brought a new optimism to the players some of whom are now saying things like, “we are going there to try and win it”, and “we have as good a chance as any of the recent England teams”. It hasn’t quite reached the jingoistic levels of previous World Cups, particularly amongst the fans, but it is still quite good to hear even if it sounds a little hollow.
Bear in mind that every team is going to Russia to “try and win it” but only one will and, in doing so, will make the rest appear to have been very misguided, some much more so than others!
Still it’s better than being honest and saying that the team will be home on the first available flight after the opening game of the knockout round.
Meanwhile in the real football world…..
The big six have finally got their way as far as the Premier League prize money is handed out. As of the 2019/20 season, they will receive a larger share than the other clubs. There is a caveat which is that they, basically, have to be the TOP six as well as the big six as the extra money is dependant on league finishing position.
These are the incredible figures and the “big six” want even more! This doesn’t even take into account the prize money from the FA for league position
At present around £3.3 billion is paid out equally among the Premier League clubs each season. One of Richard Scudamore’s last tasks before standing down was to find a way to give the big six more money without upsetting everybody else.
Their argument, of course, has always been pretty straightforward. They are the teams that people around the world want to see and, therefore, are the cash magnets. Without them how much would the Premier League make?
It may be a grotesque sign of greed on their part but it is also true and the fact that they don’t care a jot about anybody else is more an indictment of today’s society than anything else.
What Scudamore has actually managed to get agreement on is that the prize money of £3.3 billion will still be shared equally among the clubs but any increase negotiated from now onwards will be paid out pro-rata depending on position in the table. As the top six consider themselves almost permanent occupants of those places then the majority of that extra cash will go to them.
So everybody is happy-ish.
And finally…..
We knew it! The Three Stooges at West Ham United, or at least one of them, reads this publication.
Fresh from us warning that they needed to treat Manuel Pellegrini with more respect than they usually treat mere mortals and insisting that they take seriously his requests for players to be signed, it would seem that they actually appear to be listening.
Reports, since our article, are circulating that The Hammers are interested in Felipe Anderson of Lazio. They will meet with officials from the club next week and a bid of around £33 million is expected to be made.
Felipe Anderson – Could he really be playing for West Ham next season? You bet he could!
This may be enough, with sufficient add-ons, to get somewhere close to the Italian club’s valuation and, if that is the case, then West Ham will have their man!
If they are not careful West Ham could “do a Spurs” and gatecrash the top six, possibly even at the expense of…..Spurs, but it won’t happen under the current ownership.
We hope it all works out because Manuel Pellegrini deserves to do well even if, by doing so, it helps the clowns who currently run the circus at The London Stadium. Who knows, he may even be able to show them the error of their ways!
WHY SAY ANYTHING? 