Man City 'lost the FA Cup final on purpose' with 'spoilt man child' Guardiola 'symbolic of everything rotten at club'

It’s conspiracy theory time as one fan insists Man City lost the FA Cup final to Crystal Palace on purpose. Plus, Pep Guardiola, Ruben Amorim, Europa League final, race to the bottom, women’s football and more.

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Pep talk is cheap

Conspiracy theory time.

Man City lost the FA cup on purpose!

City (sorry, Citeh) have got a game against Bournemouth on Tuesday.

Pep has already complained about the short recovery time following the cup final and has been worried about Bournemouth’s physicality and aggressive press – see recent newspaper comments.

Winners of the fa cup ‘only’ get a place in the Europe league. Which city have already got in the bag. But they are trying for champions league, much more financially valuable.

So by letting palace win, Bournemouth now cannot qualify for Europe, even if they finish 8th. Meaning little incentive for the cherries players on Tuesday.

City have won countless cups and pots in recent years – one more would mean little to them.

So by losing they have now maximised their chances of getting 3 priceless points on Tuesday, before the final game at the weekend.

116 and counting!

Kiwi Cherry (parentheses, not brackets)

First of congratulations to Palace on a historic first ever major trophy and cup win after a courageous and intelligent performance against an opponent who should be far superior and who spends more in one winter transfer window than they can in 5 years.

And secondly can we talk about Pep and his post match reaction. Not for the first time he has hunted down and opposition player after the final whistle to attack and berate him after losing a game. Am I the only one who has a problem with this?

I ask because it seems to have been completely overlooked in your 16 conclusions and then by some strange coincidence there is an article on premier league managers reactions which exonerates Pep and calls him a lovely old chap who wouldn’t harm a fly.

I for one thought after yesterdays game how would I react if one of the most famous successful managers of all time ran after me and shouted at me, allegedly calling me and my teams victory a disgrace. Would I have the presence of mind to not react, or if I did answer him back what would I say and how might it affect me and my career?

You see the problem here is disparity of power. And in a very obvious way Pep’s actions are symbolic of everything that is rotten with City as a club.

Pep uses his power and status to attack someone beneath him, in the greatest moment of his career. And also a player who reveals lost his father earlier this year and played with him in his mind all season. Where I’m from that makes you a giant a-hole.

Pep doesn’t confront an equal like an opposition manager in his frustration because he is ultimately a coward. He wants an unequal playing field in his anger just as he does for his teams. For Pep has never been the underdog, the one who has to scrap and fight against the odds. The one who has lost a hundred times and gets the redemption of one moment when all his efforts are rewarded.

He is a spoilt man child who can’t take losing and so stacks the odds in his favour anyway he can and is this fails he cannot cope. Like his state owned club he will behave anyway he likes and knows he will be bailed out by his name and reputation which is he has so carefully curated his whole career. Just as his club can break every rule known to the league they play in and bully that same league in court for years on end rather than pay their dues.

I hope Pep didn’t ruin Dean Hendersons one moment of glory yesterday but I suspect he must’ve because that became the story this morning. For shame Pep, for shame City and for shame football365 and your City and Pep apologists for airbrushing this behaviour and not calling it out.

Dave LFC

READ: 16 Conclusions on Crystal Palace winning the FA Cup: Glasner, Pep, De Bruyne, Mateta, Haaland, Munoz

Wonderful isn’t it?

Congratulations to Crystal Palace on a fine victory yesterday. It was well deserved, refreshing and a delectable football treat for this neutral viewer. I was delighted they delivered for their fans, who created quite the atmosphere.

People will take a lot of joy in seeing Man City defeated and the talking points around the penalty and Guardiola’s post game tête-à-tête will be squeezed and beaten to death. I for one, will not poke the Man City bear.

Every few years the FA Cup still manages to throw in a wild card and leave the bookies with cheese dip all over themselves. You love to see it.

IJR (Sending some of my finest cheese dip your way Palace)

Handball Confusion

Palace have obviously had an exceptional half, but I have to admit I’m a bit puzzled at the Henderson non-card. All anyone was going on about in commentary was whether he was denying a goalscoring opportunity or not, but why was no one mentioning the fact that it was a *deliberate* handball? Is that not a factor in red card decisions?

J

Listen, I’m with 99% of fans being happy City lost, but that is an absolute scandal of a decision, and one that should be the death knell of VAR.

If a trained referee watching that in slow motion doesn’t think that by illegally punching the ball from the best striker on the planet isn’t the fabled DOGSO, then said referee is not for for purpose.

We all know it was to ensure the spectacle, the occasion was preserved. So really, why even have VAR? Let’s just keep doing what the FA refs do each week and officiate on vibes.

Ryan, Bermuda

READ: Arteta 2nd, Postecoglou 4th, Guardiola 12th: Premier League moaning managers ranked

Overseas football

I think I’ve found a way for the FA to finally get their first overseas game – Liverpool v Palace on the beach in Majorca. Probably in flip flops.

Massive massive result for Palace, you love to see it!

Dan, Plastic LFC

Ruben Amorim

Ruben Amorim is an imposter and is out of his depth. Playing the “I am not naive” card constantly but the truth is he is so naive and so clueless it is beyond imagination.The very first mistake he made was staying blunt and numb for Rashford’s very first goal when he arrived and this rubbed Rashford the wrong way I am sure.

Second, if he thinks that by being honest he is motivating his players, he is so wrong. You just can’t say these things in public and expect that it will motivate the players.

Third and biggest sign he is not the right man for the job is bringing Dorgu. How the hell this mediocre bang average player ended up here? His freakin system is so outdated, so anti Man Utd that is beyond imagination. I honestly beleive that it is better to be relegated and find someone else than to stick with this fake polite clown. But then again you have another fake clown who pretends to be a childhood fan in Jim Radcliffe. How is this guy so wealthy when everything he touches turns to failure? Nice, Lausanne, Mercedes, Team Sky…everything he put his hands on is a definition of loss.

Sincerely,

United fan since 1992

Europa League Final

After last week’s results I wrote in:

Is the Europa League Final the first El Medico Classic?

Doctor Tottenham v Trauma Surgeon United?

It didn’t publish but I admit it wasn’t much of a joke.

— What IS a joke is all of the pearl-clutching, hand-wringing, “What about the Children?” crying and moaning about how neither of these teams deserve Champions League football next season.Firstly IT’S THE RULES! You may not like them, just like the stupid current offside rule that cancelled out Harry’s goal last night, and to be fair I don’t like them either but blame the money grabbing authorities who UNFORTUNATELY run the game not United or Spurs.

I happen to think that it is ridiculous that 25% (yes that is a quarter) of the Premier League qualify for a now diluted down version of the the Champions (really?) League so raging against it being diluted further is like adding a gallon of water to a lake and objecting it’ll raise the level. Someone wrote in earlier in the week about how winning a competition was no longer a means unto itself for the glory but rather a means to now further make more money. A sad state of affairs says this old man but this is what the game has evolved into.

Now I’ll let Spurs fans comment upon their way to the final but as for United we are unbeaten (so far) in this competition. Lyon, currently 7th in Ligue Un, were miraculously dispatched. Had they won the competition would the moaners complain about a team finishing 7th in what they (not me) refer to as the Farmer’s League complained? i very much doubt it.

Bilbao were highly motivated to be in the Final at their home stadium. In La Liga they have only lost 5 games out of 36. A formidable opponent that not many expected United to beat; but beat they did. So we deserve to be there and if we (or God Forbid) Spurs do then we or they will reap the reward of the prize that EUFA have deemed to be worthy of the winners of the Europa League. PERIOD!!

Gary (ex-Pat United Fan in Pennsylvania)B

READ: The ridiculously bad stats of Erling Haaland: Big-game bottler and ‘League Two player’

Race to the bottom

There is too much really wrong with the world to go into in a football e-mail, though this club world cup farrago sails with a high mast of noticable not niceness.

Most footie fans can laugh at the out and out bare faced corruption within fifa as it seems to lampoon itself in ways that Rowan Atkinson’s best work might not reach.

Nevertheless this quite outrageously in your face tournament really takes the biscuit in terms of ‘we don’t care anymore about trying to hide our corruptness and brazen shamelessness’.

That a post Abramovich cfc will be part of it seems to me to be a rather apt flag bearer of where we are today.

The humble workingclass pyramid of pre Thatcher Britain is so so far away from this monstruosity that words cannot hope to describe.

I cannot , as a football fan, sit out the World Cup but this upcoming sh!tshow I can happily choose to utterly zone out from and content myself with transfer speculation and pre season friendlies across England and Spain.

Integrity? Don’t make me laugh.

Up for the cup glasner’s glaziers !?

Peter ( grumpily content ) Andalucia.

Women’s football

Do people watch womens football even when Alisha Lehman isn’t playing?

I can’t speak for everyone but personally I do watch a couple of random games every season just to see if the standard has improved to the point I enjoy it yet. That’s no slight against the women I also don’t watch the vast majority of men’s football for the same reason.

There is a gradual improvement in the standard in the women’s game but it does still lag pretty far behind, but that’s fine. The men’s game has a 100 year head start, of course it’s better.

Give it time and it will start to earn fans on its own merit. I feel like part of the issue is women want their brand new game to be where the men’s game is now, but it took men’s game 100 years to be where it is now so the ladies of the game just need to be patient. It will get there, you can see it improving each year.

Not that anyone cares but the best leagues to watch are

1. Premier league – not a bias it is just the best balance of excitement and talent.

2. Serie A – laugh all you like it’s very competitive, technically brilliant and these days it’s also quite attacking. It’s not the 90s heyday but it’s not that far either

3. Brazilian série A – you wanna see attacking football, violent tackles and out there tactics – watch Brazilian serie A.

4. J-League – a lot less talent but honestly nobody is more enthusiastic than Japanese fans and commentators

Lee

Year of anomaly

A dutch newbie coach with a single title in the relatively uncompetitive Dutch league, replaces liverpool’s first legendary manager since the 1980s, and wins the epl in his maiden season. Whilst making two signings: one GK who’ll only show up next season, and one permacrock who’d been given up on even in native italy.

Palace wins their first major trophy, at Pep’s City’s expense.

Newcastle lead Liverpool 2-0, winning their first major trophy in decades. Permacrock Federico scores the lone reply for liverpool

Trent , local lad who had spent 20 years with liverpool, decides to leave for Real. Gets booed.

Pep’s City suffers an injury to its midfield axis and suddenly, its players age acceleratedly, all at once. They stumble to their worst finish since Pep’s first season in charge. Wait, maybe even worse than that.

Spurs lose 21 games and counting. Man U lose 18 games and counting. One of these teams will be playing in next year’s CHAMPIONS league. Champion losers?

Lolol. They probably will be the team with largest number of losses in preceding season lol.

Pope dies.

Trump gets elected again. Raises tariffs on the entire world, including erstwhile allies in north america and europe.

Arsenal finish bridesmaids again. Wait, maybe that isnt an anomaly…

Gab YNWA

Trophy comparison…

Glasner, 1 and a bit seasons £91,000,000 spent – 1 trophy, Slot, 1 season £35,000,000 spent – 1 trophy, Arteta 7 seasons £714,000,000 spent – 1 trophy.

RHT/TS

Some thoughts…

Then

Liverpool fans : Trent is a generational fullback, the type we’ve never seen before and may never see again. No one is better. Southgate is a tool for preferring anybody else, and all you rival fans are just jealous and blow things out of proportion. He is a capable defender.

Now.

Same Liverpool fans : #### off Trent. you are so bad at defending and a liability. we are so happy you are leaving and Bradley is so much better.

A person in love is mostly foolish. A heart broken person is twice as foolish

And then you wrote this about the FA cup final.

“After some hesitation, he allowed Haaland a chance to get the ball but Henderson palmed it wide, outside the box, but Haaland was likely taking the ball wide and away from a goal scoring position, but VAR saw no clear error. Hendo was a lucky boy”

That’s some horses##t. That’s a red card and a foul. He clearly impeded a goal scoring opportunity.

I miss Stewie. He is a reverse Johnny Nicholson.

Waff town man. Liverpool for life?

The worst parade

I can’t believe that Moses is correct when he says that West Ham had a parade after winning the Intertoto Cup. Winning the Intertoto Cup is embarrassing enough without a parade.

Chris C, Toon Army DC (trust me, I know)

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