Inner (Man) City Blues

Or: is there actually a title race this year?

Kick Off

I think this is going to be a short one this week. I’ve been keeping up with the football of course but I’ve also been doing other stuff, it is the season of socialising after all! I’ve also had my acrylic tips put back on and while they’re quite short they do slightly hamper my typing hashtag hun life lol

However, I’ve still got enough in me to do a quick round up and so let’s start with a dash around Europe and see what they’re up to.

In France, PSG are now 5 points clear of Nice at the top of the table which is terribly boring. At the bottom Lyon have won two games on the bounce and are now out of the automatic relegation spots which are occupied by Clermont Foot and Lorient. I like to think this is karma for signing Benjamin Mendy after, well, everything.

I don’t normally talk about the Eredivisie but Ajax, having been bottom for a long while, have now had a good run and sit 5th, with PSV the runaway leaders currently, sitting ten points ahead of nearest rivals Feyenoord.

In La Liga, Girona have the chance to take the top spot tonight if they can beat Alavés who are currently 13th. This is despite Real winning 4-1 yesterday including a goal from who else, Jude Bellingham.

Over in Italy Inter are steadfast at the top of the table with Juventus second and Milan a more distant 3rd.

And finally in the Bundesliga, which I’ve actually watched some of recently, Leverkusen are still top, safely for now (Bayern have a game in hand but Leverkusen are 4 points clear). My dear BVB are fifth which I would accept were Leipzig from the Evil Red Bull Franchise not above us.

Oh and before we move on to the Premier League, a quick ‘get fucked’ to Spurs winning the women’s NLD at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, cheers. But also a quick ‘get a fucking grip’ to all the children on God’s Green Internet with ‘awfc’ in their username acting like this is the worst thing that’s ever happened in the history of anything.

So, the Premier League.

Of course, firstly I need to offer love and good wishes to Tom Lockyer and his loved ones after he collapsed on the pitch for the second time this year after suffering a cardiac arrest. The scenes when the game was confirmed as abandoned were beautiful with all the Bournemouth and Luton players and staff doing a lap of the Vitality and clapping the assembled crowds. Football is everything, but also, it’s not everything. Some things are so much more important.

Back to the other games then, and for once, it was the EPL that lead the way with red cards this week, starting with Bissouma on Friday, then Raul Jimenez trying to kill a player with his arse, a player each from Brentford and Villa and finally the bizarre dismissal of Dalot late on in the Liverpool United game.

Other than that I would say, and forgive me if I’m wrong because I missed everything on Saturday other than catching up on MOTD which I also dozed through, it was a relatively incident free weekend.

Most teams won and seemed to do so comfortably, with the exception perhaps of Villa who went behind but were saved by Emeryball and are now third in the league solely on goal difference. Arsenal breeze past Brighton according to the tweets I’ve seen and that collosal waste of money Kai Havertz did nothing again except score.

Newcastle and West Ham put three past their opponents and while Spurs, Chelsea, Everton and the aforementioned Arsenal put two past theirs.

In a game that you’d generally expect City to win, Palace pooped the party in the dying minutes after Phil Foden gave away a penalty which was coolly dispatched by Michael Olise and meant the points were shared and that City were left in fourth. Roy Hodgson was also seen apparently laughing at Pep. (I’m not sure he was but let’s not let that detract from the amusement of the situation).

Then of course there was Liverpool v. United. Hoo boy. Yeah it was a bad game, yes this was guaranteed after last time and all the hype and the assumption Liverpool would batter United. However was it really that bad? Were the players you’re slagging off truly that bad? It was turgid and frustrating and sloppy but at no point did I feel like I wanted to die or, perhaps less dramatically, turn over, like I have during many games in the past and indeed this season. The reaction to it felt unhinged if I’m honest.

Anyway, it was all good for me, an Arsenal fan and the most important person here, as it left the Gunners on top with the chance to extend the lead if we beat Liverpool on Saturday in the dreaded tea time slot. It’s also the fixture that last year, in April, gave me something of a mental breakdown so revisiting it is going to be fun!

Half Time

It’s nearly Christmas and I simply cannot be fucked to get into any kind of discourse, do yourself a favour and adopt this stance too!

So instead I’m going to link you to my most virtue signalling, White Saviour, middle class bleeding heart post ever which is essentially a thread of ways you can help those who may be either struggling at Christmas or living through dreadful conflicts.

Full Time

As I tweeted I’m here for Kostas Tsimikas posting his confrontation with Antony as his post-match insta pic. Just wish he’d fucked him up more :)

Difficult to know who to root for less here (in all honestly probably Martinez, who I find so unlikeable after his World Cup antics)

Don’t understand why this tweet didn’t do better tbh, I thought it was very funny

Jacob Murphy’s twin brother Josh going to a Christmas party dressed as him is juts *chef’s kiss*. I only hope he did The Face

Bryan’s Gunn, whose videos are always great, outdid themselves with this week’s Dion Dublin heavy post, only for BBC Sport and the man himself to post their lovely comeback.

Outstanding from Mesut

They never miss (that’s Hojlund if you can’t see it)

Fulham fans yet again showing us how it’s done on your long away day train journey

This from Question of Sport (yes!) is wonderful.

Two great refereeing appointments in the Premier League for Christmas

Drip of the Week

I’ve got two entries for you this week, which both come from the same sort of vaporwave inspired stable.

First, something nice about Man City! Their third kit this year is just gorgeous. I love the lightening design with the gorgeous flouro red that looks like the rare red highlighter you sometimes get which is my favourite highlighter.

The second is this stunner from Newcastle United which they wore in the warm ups of their European games. It’s just very cool imo.

Thirst Trap

I have had cause in the two weeks since I last wrote to remove someone from the Thirst Trap Hall of Fame. Anel Ahmedhodžić was the first captain I can remember who refused to wear the rainbow armband during Rainbow Laces weekend and then also refused to deny it had been a refusal. I just think it’s such a shame that people in this day and age still feel that they can hide their bigotry behind their religion (Anel is Muslim) even when there are plenty of people within the same belief system who are not only tolerant and accepting but are in fact themselves part of the LBGTQ+ community.

So I’m going to replace him with Jakub Jantko, the Czech international who plays for Bologna and who came out as gay in February. You read a great piece on/interview with him here.

I’ve been aware of Jankto for a while, he was Czechia’s Hot List entry for the 2020 Euros and he’s just got better, probably because he’s happier, freer and truly himself now. We can only hope more players will take his, Zander Murray, Jake Daniels and Josh Cavallo’s leads and come out. There is so far to go in the game but people like Jakub are out there normalising what very much should be normal and a non-issue.

And there we have it! Busy footballing week this week but no TWUTAB next Monday because… it’s Christmas Day and I don’t think any of us want that haha.

So, have a wonderful week, a wonderful Christmas whether you are a Christmas celebrator or not, if not I hope you enjoy the few days off, and I will see you, maybe, in the new year?