ESL is back with a Marvel movie rebrand in its aim to make money
‘UNIFY’ PLEASE?
Like a turd that won’t flush or a New York c0ckroach that cannot be killed, the European Super League simply refuses to go away. And after a European Court of Justice ruling that Uefa and Fifa were bang out of order to ban clubs from joining the version that collapsed under a fan-led backlash three years ago, the brains behind it are back peddling a new and – by their account – improved version of their all-singing and all-dancing breakaway club-owned competition run outside the jurisdiction of European football’s governing body. And while the immediate impulse of Football Daily upon learning of this new development was to roll our eyes towards the heavens, mutter a few expletives and write about something else entirely, it behoves us to bring you up to speed on the latest musings on the subject from Bernd Reichart, who is the public face of A22, the company behind this tedious wheeze.
A former TV executive from Germany who may well be very nice but can almost certainly lay claim to be among the world’s least charismatic men, Bernd popped up on Social Media Disgrace TwiXer to give a video presentation that was vague on detail but outlined how his company had engaged with unspecified “clubs, leagues, players and fans” and “redefined our proposals and today sent a letter to Uefa and Fifa to initiate the process for official recognition of a new European competition”. Strikingly similar to the last European competition they tried and spectacularly failed to initiate, the latest one has one very conspicuous difference – its name. While it may look like a European Super League, sound like a European Super League and have been dreamt up by the same self-interested, money-grubbing spivs who were behind the original European Super League, don’t allow yourself to be taken in. Instead, please be upstanding for the almost-exactly-the-same-but-more-inclusive-sounding Unify League.
While it may sound like a mooted Marvel movie franchise that never made it out of the writers’ room, the Unify League would boast 96 teams from across Europe, with all positions earned by domestic performances in the previous campaign. In the top tier, 16 teams would be split into two groups of eight playing each other home and away, the top-tier Star League and secondary Gold League, while two further competitions – Blue League and Union League – would each have four leagu … ah, we’ve lost you and you’ve already skipped ahead to Quote of the Day, which yesterday starred Real Madrid chief suit José Ángel Sánchez likening the fabled underdogs from the Bernabéu to Asterix’s village “in a world dominated by Romans” like Paris Saint-Germain and Manchester City. While the latest iteration of the ESL promises more prize money than Bigger Cup, Bigger Vase and Tin Pot, and would see the Premier League have up to 10 teams involved across its four different tiers each season, we await with interest to see which greedy club suits are first to try to convince fans that this is a very good idea.
LIVE ON BIG WEBSITE
Join Yara El-Shaboury at 5.45pm (GMT) for updates on Real Madrid 1-3 Chelsea in Women’s Big Cup.
QUOTE OF THE DAY
For many decades, Brazilian football has always been the escape route for the people when they faced daily problems. This was the fuel of the people and today we see a total lack of interest in the national team. Among hundreds of things that motivate me to become a candidate … [it] is to recover this prestige and respect that the national team has always had” – the original Ronaldo is running to be head-honcho of the Brazilian Football Federation (CBF) and if he’s half as good at admin as he was at football, he’ll hoover up some votes.
TOP 100 IS BACK!
After our countdown of the 100 best 2024 female footballers in the world concluded, it’s time to move on to the men. The first batch is in – Nos 100-71 – with Marc Cucurella 71st and Alexander Isak 90th on a list that you are absolutely, definitely, completely, undeniably going to 100% agree with (comments section is open).
FOOTBALL DAILY LETTERS
Re: yesterday’s Football Daily – May I be the 1,056th of 1,057 readers to wonder how Football Daily knew at 5.34pm on Monday that Southampton would lose 5-0 to Spurs on Monday night?” – Glyn Berrington (and 1,056 others).
I wasn’t able to dwell on the news of the Southampton and Wolves managers Martin and O’Neil being dismissed, because I was instantly reminded of Martin O’Neill and the innocent years of the late-90s and early-00s Premier League” – Peter Oh (and many others).
Reading that Big Sir Jim Ratcliffe wants to push Marcus Rashford out of Old Trafford’s revolving door marked Do One due to “a decline in values at United … since Alex Ferguson’s retirement” raises a few eyebrows (yesterday’s News, Bits and Bobs – full email edition). Rashford’s values, both on and off the pitch, have been on full display during his time at United and are both well known and praiseworthy. Ratcliffe, whether it’s been jacking up ticket prices mid-season, ignoring the women’s team at one of the world’s greatest football clubs, or trying to get us taxpayers to fix his roof for him, has had his values on display too. Which set of values sit better with the famously Labour-supporting Sir Alex and the city of Manchester?” – James Blanchard.
Send letters to the.boss@theguardian.com. Today’s letter o’ the day winner is … James Blanchard, who wins a copy of the new David Squires book, Chaos in the Box. Terms and conditions for our competitions can be viewed here.
RECOMMENDED LOOKING
It’s our man David Squires on … the real power behind the throne at Arsenal: Nicolas Jover.
RECOMMENDED SHOPPING
David’s latest tome, Chaos in the Box, is out now! Order it at a £3 discount, here.
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