Man Utd ‘proven right’ five times on Marcus Rashford, apparently
When Man Utd being ‘proven right’ on Marcus Rashford works once, why not do it five times? And that was before the ‘subtle dig’…
Apparent Trap
To be fair to Sunday People Chief Sports Writer Neil Moxley, he played it straight, coming as he does from an era when quotes from a footballer were treated as quotes from a footballer and not ‘digs’, ‘messages’ or ‘breaks of silence’.
He spoke to Aston Villa captain John McGinn about the excellent loan pair Marcus Rashford and Marco Asensio and wrote on March 18…
‘Asked if he knew within five minutes whether he was in the presence of ‘a player,’ Villa’s captain said: “Yes, both Marcus and Marco showed glimpses which have proved they are at the highest level. They have maybe lost their way for certain reasons but what they’ll get from us is love and support and team-mates who will graft for them.
“We want them to be happy again. And every day that you see them, they have a smile on their face. That’s when you know footballers are happy and at their best.”‘
Not the most exciting quotes but footballers are generally not the most exciting people.
A day later, the Manchester Evening News had turned these fairly anodyne quotes into something truly extraordinary…
‘Aston Villa player fires subtle Man United dig in new Marcus Rashford verdict – ‘When you know”
Erm, sorry what? It’s so f***ing subtle that neither the man who spoke nor the man who heard him speak made that connection.
As for the pull-quote of ‘when you know’…we are familiar with the Reach obsession with the ‘curiosity gap’, but this is just curiosity crap.
And where one leads, others inevitably follow…
‘Marcus Rashford’s Aston Villa teammate fires dig at Man Utd and Ruben Amorim as ‘new asking price’ emerges’
SPORTbible there, casually adding the name of Amorim because why the f*** not?
And now on March 20 – two whole days after the publication of those McGinn quotes – MailOnline have arrived at the party…
‘John McGinn fires subtle dig at Man United and Ruben Amorim over Marcus Rashford – after loan star earned England recall thanks to impressive start to life at Aston Villa’
As McGinn was talking explicitly about Rashford and Asensio, was this also a ‘subtle dig’ at PSG and Luis Enrique? Or does that not matter because Man Utd are the SEO motherlode? We know the answer.
By now ‘John McGinn has insisted that Marcus Rashford will get ‘team-mates who graft for him’ in an apparent dig at Manchester United’. He probably did not need to ‘insist’ – we don’t think anybody would argue – and the dig is ‘apparent’.
Not to anybody not desperate to crowbar Amorim and Man United into a headline in international week, it’s not.
And then of course, the Manchester Evening News arrive again, because who doesn’t want another headline from the same quotes?
‘Aston Villa star aims subtle dig at Manchester United over Marcus Rashford’
On Wednesday he ‘fired’, on Thursday he ‘aimed’; will he be loading his gun by Friday? Or is that just us?
Proof is in the pudding
Two weeks ago we wrote how the narrative that Marcus Rashford is trouble has long been a click machine.
On that occasion, the Express opted for this headline…
‘Man Utd proven right about Marcus Rashford as Aston Villa dressing room view emerges’
As we wrote at the time, ‘obviously what you are supposed to think is that Rashford has been a) lazy, b) a c*** or hopefully c) a lazy c***, thus proving Manchester United ‘right’ to send him out on loan’.
Rashford being none of those things was a teeny-tiny obstacle, but that was hurdled by pretending that Manchester United have been ‘proven right’ in giving Rashford a £320,000-a-week contract almost two years ago.
Nefarious bollocks but clearly successful nefarious bollocks because, well…
‘Marcus Rashford return from Aston Villa discussed after Man Utd proven right’ – March 11
‘Man Utd ‘face paying Marcus Rashford £20m’ after being proven right at Aston Villa’ – March 11
‘Man Utd proven right about Marcus Rashford as Thomas Tuchel makes England stance clear’ – March 14
‘Marcus Rashford permanent Aston Villa transfer verdict made as Man Utd proven right’ – March 20.
After all, why write nefarious bollocks designed to play into Man Utd fans’ prejudices once when you can write it five times?
Clear as f***ing mud
The Liverpool Echo had a fine idea to average their player ratings for the season and come up with a comprehensive list of the best (and worst) performers. Excellent interlull fare, that.
But the headline gets put through the Reach click mangling machine and this is what emerges:
‘Cody Gakpo absence now clear as five Liverpool players give Arne Slot boost’
Gakpo has missed a grand total of four games through injury all season – none of which Liverpool lost – but do carry on…with a seemingly random ‘as five Liverpool players give Arne Slot boost’ despite the fact that at no point are five Liverpool players singled out.
Sometimes, and this might blow some minds, maybe just use the headline to tell us what is in the article. It will never catch on.
England, my England
Ah, we are here again in the Daily Express…
‘England starting XI decided for Albania clash as Pickford and Kane dropped’
And who has the England starting XI been decided by? Not actual England coach Thomas Tuchel, obviously, but ‘Express Sport writers’.
And how many of the seven ‘Express Sport writers’ ludicrously suggested that Pickford and Kane should be dropped? One.
Which is clearly the biggest story in football.
