Don’t worry, Liverpool: ‘It is over’… ‘yet it is not over’

I believe in miracles
‘Antoine Griezmann’s 82nd-minute equaliser, pouncing on some typically slack Gunners defending, gave Atletico a precious away goal they barely deserved. It leaves boss Wenger needing a miracle to reach the Europa League final’ – John Cross, Daily Mirror.

‘They are still level on aggregate, but everybody that the Emirates knows they need the miracle of Madrid now’ – Neil Ashton, The Sun.

Atletico Madrid might be incredibly well-drilled, and Arsenal might be incredibly Arsenal, but a 1-0 win would hardly be curing the blind.

Dat Guy
Cross does, at least, appear to have finally forgiven one man.

‘Great movement and pace. Denied by terrific Oblak save – 8/10’

Mr 0/10 will be delighted.

Sliding scale
‘Griezmann scored the equaliser, evading the sliding challenges of Laurent Koscielny and Shkodran Mustafi to net a crucial away goal’ – Neil Ashton, The Sun.

Mediawatch has looked up the definition of ‘sliding challenge’; neither ‘kicking the ball into your opponent’s face as you fall over’ nor ‘slipping over’ fit the bill, unfortunately.

Era 404
Spare a thought for Martin Keown, who did not like what he saw at the Emirates. As per The Sun‘s match report:

‘Arsenal legend Martin Keown fumed: “Arsenal shot themselves in the foot.

“It’s been happening for too long and it’s why the change is happening. It feels like the end of an era.”

It does, doesn’t it? Weird, that.

The Billion Pound Drop
‘The FA are in advanced talks over a deal worth in excess of £500million to sell Wembley Stadium to Fulham owner Shahid Khan’ – London Evening Standard.

‘NFL matches will take precedence over England internationals at Wembley after the Football Association stunned the game by negotiating a shock deal to sell the national stadium to American billionaire Shahid Khan for around £600 million’ – Daily Telegraph.

‘England will hit the road and play more games around the country after the amazing £800million Wembley sell-off’ – Daily Mirror.

‘Shahid Khan has spelt out his desire to make Wembley Stadium a home for both “American and English football” as the man who led the redevelopment of the venue blasted the FA’s proposed £900million sale as “a disgrace”‘ – The Times.

‘Shahid Khan pledged to respect an “icon” of English football if he pulls of a £1billion deal to buy Wembley’ – The Sun.

What’s £500m between friends?

Sky high
‘The Football Association (FA) has confirmed receiving a bid for Wembley Stadium, in a deal Sky sources understand to be worth at least £600m’ – Sky News.

‘Fulham and Jacksonville Jaguars owner Shahid Khan has offered the FA £800m to buy Wembley Stadium’ – Sky Sports.

You’d think they’d use the same sources.

Call me maybe
Martin Samuel is leading the call for James Milner to reverse his international retirement and return for England at this summer’s World Cup. Zlatan Ibrahimovic teased doing so for Sweden, before the national team themselves moved to dismiss the claim. Why not the Liverpool midfielder?

‘Milner’s nine assists in the Champions Leaue this season – seven more than Newcastle’s Jonjo Shelvey in all competitions – has also been noted,’ begins the bizarre snide piece.

‘Gareth Southgate may feel the same as Andersson [Janne, Sweden’s head coach], that Milner stepped down from international duty and he owes loyalty to those who did not. Yet Milner is no Ibrahimovic. It would not be all about him. He would not make grandiose claims about his influence.

‘Like Henderson, he is a pack horse of a player, a selfless worker. And he would be given a specific detail, one that replicates his role for the club. It could give Southgate the option of playing Eric Dier in defence. Milner has also covered at full back. As for the group – well, he wouldn’t be returning in a blaze of self-serving publicity, fresh from a round of late-night chat shows.

‘He’s boring James Milner, there to do a boring job. He may not be interested, but it’s worth a phone call, at least.’

That sure would be a short phone call. Samuel’s own Daily Mail published an article earlier this month titled: ‘James Milner says ending his England days has prolonged Liverpool career: ‘I would like to think I’ve got a number of years left in me”.

Not to mention that The Times stated without doubt three weeks ago that ‘James Milner will not come out of England retirement for World Cup’, and that he ‘feels that England, under Southgate, will continue to look to youth and the 32-year-old has also benefited from time off he has been granted by Liverpool manager Jürgen Klopp during the international breaks’.

Still, worth a call. Definitely.

Get over it
Elsewhere in his Daily Mail column, Samuel has a message for Liverpool.

‘Jurgen Klopp says that any of his players who think the Champions League semi-final is over will not be travelling to Rome. He is right, of course. Liverpool cannot afford casual preparation. But it is over.’

Which is funny, because a man by the name of Martin Samuel wrote this for the Daily Mail on Tuesday:

‘Yet it is not over. Not quite. With 10 minutes remaining Lovren misjudged a long ball, allowing Edin Dzeko to nip in for what seemed a consolation. After a very harsh handball decision went against Milner, consolation turned to the smallest ray of hope.’

It ain’t over ’til it’s over. Which it might be. Or not.

Magic
Says Paul Merson:

“West Ham are as good as safe now, so they will be OK no matter how many goals they concede to City.”

Fun fact: If all of Paul Merson’s Sky Sports predictions for this weekend are accurate, West Ham will be just three points above the relegation zone.

Mirror, Mirror
According to the Daily Mirror, Jurgen Klopp has named ‘the two clubs Steven Gerrard ‘isn’t allowed to manage’ as he vows to help Liverpool legend’.

Now, we’ve been through this before. The quote marks surrounding ‘isn’t allowed to manage’ suggest that this has come from Klopp himself, that he has unequivocally stated that Gerrard is not permitted to manage these two clubs. So let’s find out.

“If he thinks he is ready, he is ready. I would be happy for him and support him. As long as he isn’t Everton or Man United manager, we would help him.”

Sod off.

Nonsensical headline of the day
‘Special One? No, Diego is the Simeone’ – Daily Mirror.

Any ideas?

Recommended reading of the day
Ben Fisher on Bobby Reid.

Alex Hess on Rafael Benitez.

Nick Wright on Pep Guardiola.