Key events
Sam Turner writes in. I admire his brighter outlook on life:
It’s important to remember what the sport is about and why you enjoy it, the agony and the ecstasy of supporting your team through thick and thin and that has been on display for Manchester United fans in a big way this season.
Despite the turbulence on and off the pitch the past few seasons have given me some of my favourite moments as a United fan; the 4-3 win over Liverpool in the FA Cup, the 2-1 win over Barcelona with Antony’s late winner, the FA Cup Manchester Derby victory, knocking out Arsenal at the Emirates, the 5-4 mayhem against Lyon, these are moments that will live with me in a way that a clinical 2-0 win against Fulham won’t.
Loving your club means going through these difficult moments and I can accept the decision to sacrifice league position in order to pursue the best route to Champions League football and the rebuild necessary to compete on all fronts again.
Paul MacInnes
David Kogan has cleared a significant hurdle in his bid to become the first chair of the English football regulator, after a parliamentary committee endorsed his candidacy.
The culture media and sport select committee conducted a ‘pre-appointment hearing’ with Kogan on Wednesday in which they grilled him on his priorities as a regulator, his past experience, and his well-publicised history as a donor to the Labour party.
On Friday the committee published their verdict on the hearing including a decision to endorse his candidacy. “We are content to endorse David Kogan OBE’s appointment as Chair of the Independent Football Regulator, recognising his vast experience in the football and media sectors,” the conclusion read.
The committee, which is led by the Conservative MP Caroline Dinenage, did however say there were “concerns” over Kogan’s political impartiality and urged him to “take concrete steps” to prove his independence to stakeholders in the game.
Here’s what Ange Postecoglou had to say about the significance of Spurs potentially winning the Europa League.
It’s massive. Of course it is, because you have to frame it against what this club has been through over the last 15 or 20 years and what the supporters have been through. A final is a unique standalone game, it’s a bit different to everything you do in the buildup to it. But if you’re talking about resilience and adversity, this group of players have had it in bucket-loads this year and we’ve still found a way to deal with it.
Spurs have lost four finals since winning the League Cup in 2008 – three in that competition, in 2009, 2015 and 2021. The real heartbreaker was the Champions League final defeat in 2019 to Liverpool. Jonathan Woodgate remains their last cup final hero.
It’s that time of the week:
Ben Lake writes in response to my preamble question:
On the opening question, I was having this discussion yesterday and the way I see it is this- Would I swap our (Arsenal) situation with Man Utd or Spurs?
Would I take the constant chaos of Utd’s management and the siphoning of funds away from the club? The firing of ancillary staff to save a few pennies? The leaky roof? Abysmal recruitment strategy?
Would I swap with Spurs, a club who will almost certainly end up firing their manager early next season? Would I swap multiple season of competing at the top with increasingly worse performances season on season to the point where relegation might have been a realistic proposition?
No. I would not. Trophies are obviously, what we all aim for but if the cost of that is never ending chaos, instability and having to deal with the MBA types currently in charge of those other two clubs, you can keep it. I’m hopping a better organised structure and longer term plan will pay out eventually.
John Brewin
As an eyewitness to events at Stamford Bridge, it became abundantly clear that the away fans were not confined to the Shed End. Some had obviously bought tickets elsewhere and made a break for the away end. They were allowed to pass through. Once the game began, it was clear parts of the West Stand’s corporate section were full of Swedish fans making no apologies for their noise levels. At full-time, as Chelsea fans exited, the Swedes stayed on and were in every corner of the ground.
Chelsea released a statement late last night: “At the start of this evening’s match, Chelsea FC were aware some away fans gained access to areas of the stadium in violation of our ticketing policy. The Chelsea supporters sitting in the immediate areas impacted were relocated, with additional security and police deployed.”
Questions are being raised by the Chelsea Supporters’ Trust as to how the ticketing system allowed in so many away fans. It made for an atmospheric night in the stands, and appeared good-natured enough, but videos of skirmishes in the concourses have since appeared.
Salah and Russo claim FWA awards
Alessia Russo has won the Football Writers’ Association women’s player of the year award, a reward for a fine season with Arsenal – she’s up top in the WSL goalscoring charts with 12 and has been key in the side’s run to the Champions League final.
Mo Salah has won the men’s title, equalling Thierry Henry with three wins. The Egyptian forward previously won the award in 2018 and 2022.
Mason Mount enjoyed the finest night of his Manchester United career, scoring twice against Athletic Bilbao, the second a wonderful long-range ping. Ruben Amorim was chuffed for a player who has had it tough with injuries.
I’m so happy for him. He is such a player. He works really hard, he has quality. When you see that kind of guy like Mason working hard every day, eating well, having ice baths, when you have this kind of player you just want to help him. He is perfect for this position as he can be a midfielder, but also runs like a winger so I’m really happy for him.
Not just me – if you look at the bench, that is the best feeling as a coach, you look at the other guys on the bench and they are so happy for Mason Mount – everyone in that dressing room sees Mason Mount doing everything to be available. He is a really good player and both goals were really good.
Slot: Bradley needs playing time to be ready for next season
Arne Slot has been speaking about Trent Alexander-Arnold’s departure:
“I think like everybody who likes Liverpool and who’s a fan of Liverpool we are disappointed for him leaving because not only a good human being is leaving the club but a very, very, very good full-back is leaving us as well.”
He says it’s “impossible for me to comment” on whether Alexander-Arnold will leave Liverpool before the Club World Cup as it’s yet to be confirmed where he’s going (though we all know the destination).
On Conor Bradley, potentially Alexander-Arnold’s full-time replacement, Slot says: “With Conor we all see the potential. Unfortunately, he hasn’t been fit throughout the whole season and to become a very good player you have to be available every single week as well. That’s the first step he has to make for next season. We have a lot of confidence in Conor as a very good full-back for Liverpool.
Bradley will start this weekend against Arsenal: “He needs playing time, to get some games under his belt to be better prepared for next season.”
The Chelsea Supporters’ Trust has released a statement regarding visiting supporters after last night’s Conference League semi-final second leg with Djurgården at Stamford Bridge.
During Thursday’s Uefa Conference League vs. Djurgården, a huge number of away supporters were able to infiltrate large areas of the home end.
This is the most serious breach of stadium security in recent memory, and it significantly undermines any security protocols Chelsea FC put in place ahead of the fixture.
As a result, the Chelsea Supporters’ Trust will formally write a letter of complaint to Chelsea FC’s COO and Head of Security. We will call for a formal investigation by the club into the ticket sales process and Chelsea FC’s security response during the match.
The findings of this investigation and any subsequent recommendations must be made available to supporters.
The CST invites all supporters who attended the fixture on Thursday to submit written, photographic, and video evidence they captured during the fixture.
The CST will then collate this evidence and then submit it to Chelsea FC.
It is important to note that the CST shared concerns with senior club officials over the vulnerability of home areas ahead of this fixture. No supporter should feel unsafe while at Stamford Bridge, and the CST will do everything to ensure that a full and proper explanation is issued to supporters and safeguards are put in place to ensure that this situation is not repeated in the future.
Preamble
Let’s be honest: this is really, really funny. Manchester United and Tottenham have had a shocking time in the league this season (15th and 16th respectively, 35 defeats between them, record-breaking stuff in a bad way).
And yet here they are, ready to compete in a European final. Spurs could win their first major trophy in 17 years. A United victory would make it three consecutive seasons of silverware; even in crisis, they somehow find a way to compete.
Which leads to a genuine question regarding fandom. Would you rather opt for a season of solidity, excellent football to go with grand results but no trophy pay-off (Arsenal), or a year of misery until a glorious and triumphant day out at Wembley etc? I’m leaning towards the former but would be interested to hear from others.
Drop me a line with your thoughts on that and any other matters as we build up to another weekend of, let’s face it, rather inconsequential Premier League action.
