This means more clicks as Liverpool crowbarred into the Man City conversation

Editor F365
Manchester City with the LIverpool badge

Liverpool are not in the Champions League but don’t let that get in the way of clicks. Plus, Pep ‘roars’ and Bernardo is held against his will.

 

‘Cause I am a champion, and you’re gonna hear me roar
In this era of ludicrous clickbait, it’s actually refreshing to see a tabloid newspaper doing what a tabloid newspaper does and simply writing in language that has absolutely no connection with reality, from a bizarre world where nobody just ‘says’ anything but people ‘rap’ and ‘roar’. And so to tabloid master Neil Custis of The Sun…

‘PEP GUARDIOLA celebrated reaching the Champions League final the roared – now let’s get the Treble.’

Never mind the typo – it happens, though it usually happens and the gets subbed out – but that ‘roaring’ is classic tabloid nonsense.

You instinctively know that Guardiola did not ‘roar’ because he is really not the ‘roaring’ type, but then you watch the video and…

…well, it’s not even close.

He actually laughs when asked about the Treble and says (definitely not roars): “Yes, we’re closer; let me win the first two.”

Even when pushed he makes it clear that actually, winning the Premier League three years in a row is more important to him.

So no, he doesn’t ‘roar’. And he definitely does not roar ‘now let’s get the Treble’. Not least because that would be the actions of a lunatic. And yes, that typo was on purpose.

 

Quote unquote
There was no ‘roar’ but in the Express: ‘Pep Guardiola tells Man City stars ‘go and win the treble’ after Real Madrid demolition’.

Pesky fact: Quote marks are not for quoting yourselves.

 

I QUIT! I QUIT! ‘Cause loving you is a job I don’t need
Elsewhere in The Sun, ‘Champions League hero Bernardo Silva refuses to rule out QUITTING Man City as club target sensational Treble’.

You can put QUIT in capitals all you want but for the 427th time, players under contract cannot QUIT; they can only ask their clubs nicely to accept a reasonable offer.

So that should be ‘Champions League hero Bernardo Silva refuses to rule out ASKING Man City TO ACCEPT A REASONABLE OFFER as club target sensational Treble’. You’re welcome.

 

Hi ho Silva
Over in the Mirror, they are doing Mirror things with Bernardo Silva, which leads them here:

‘Bernardo Silva responds perfectly after Pep Guardiola broke golden rule at Man City’

And what was this ‘golden rule’? It’s the one about Guardiola allowing players to leave the club if a) they want to leave and b) they receive a reasonable offer. But for the purposes of suggesting that the rule has been ‘broken’ – and thus hoovering up all the clicks – the Mirror merrily ignore the second and really quite important part of that rule.

‘City’s refusal to let Silva join Barcelona contradicts what Guardiola said after Gabriel Jesus and Oleksandr Zinchenko joined Arsenal last summer. “When you don’t want to stay and want to leave, you cannot stay,” claimed the City boss – which was also the same approach adopted when Leroy Sane previously departed for Bayern Munich.’

Yes, he ‘refused’ to let Silva join a club that had not made an actual bid. Helpfully, the Mirror literally include the quote that makes their whole story a nonsense:

“I’m no one to tell Barca to forget about [signing] Bernardo. We want him to stay with us, but I don’t want anyone who’s not happy. The first thing would be for the clubs to come to an agreement, but there has been no offer for him in these last two years.”

F*** knows how Guardiola was supposed to stick to his ‘golden rule’ if nobody actually made a bid. That’s not really how transfers work. James Maddison might quite like to leave Leicester for Manchester City but the Foxes cannot really just ‘let’ him join a club that has no interest in him. Though him just turning up at the training ground would make excellent Sky Sports News content.

‘Guardiola’s stance on Silva was notably different to his approach to Jesus, Zinchenko, Sterling, Sane and multiple others who have been allowed to leave City.’

Of course it sodding was, BECAUSE THERE WAS NO F***ING BID.

 

The most Mail headline ever?
‘JACK GAUGHAN: John Stones is the embodiment of Man City’s turnaround, Kyle Walker has become undroppable, Jack Grealish is reaching new levels and Phil Foden still has moments of genius… an English core is driving Pep Guardiola to a historic Treble’

After a night when the goals were scored by a Portuguese (2), a Swiss and an Argentine, assisted by a Belgian (2) and an Englishman, in a season when a Norwegian has scored 52 goals and left an Algerian and an Argentine trailing in his wake, when a Belgian has created a ludicrous 29 goals, only the Mail would say an English core was ‘driving Pep Guardiola to a historic Treble’.

Core? Make that the peel.

 

This means more though, right?
If you’re a Liverpool publication, how do you get clicks from Manchester City reaching the Champions League final? Absolutely shamelessly, as it happens.

‘Liverpool could qualify for Champions League despite finishing fifth under new UEFA rules next season’

That’s the Liverpool Echo very, very cleverly (but ultimately fraudulently) suggesting that Liverpool could still play in the Champions League next season despite finishing fifth.

‘In desperation, some fans will have perhaps wondered if there was any backdoor way into next year’s Champions League for Jurgen Klopp’s side. For example, if Man City were to win the tournament this season, would England be handed a fifth qualifying berth?’

And ‘in desperation, some fans will have perhaps’ clicked on this absolute shite. Which the Echo absolutely bloody know. And are happy to exploit.

Of course, the actual story – which is not news, as the new UEFA format was announced in May 2022 – is that Liverpool (or any other English club) could qualify from fifth next season, if English teams perform well enough in Europe to be one of the two countries with the highest co-efficient.

Liverpool could qualify for Champions League despite finishing fifth under new UEFA rules next season, but so could any other English club, and only if certain criteria are met.

But enjoy your clicks the morning after Manchester City absolutely destroyed Real Madrid. Does it make you feel better?

Mediawatch Bernardo Silva