10 May 1, 2022The Sunday Times
Football
Great players find a solution for every
trap you set for them. Liverpool are
not going to play any different away to
Villarreal than in any Premier League
game. With a 2-0 lead, they may sit
slightly deeper but will still try to win.
They are like a hurricane at the start of
games and can blow you away.
Jonathan Northcroft: I have thought
so since the group stages where it was
clear Manchester City and Liverpool
are a cut above any other sides in
world football. They can pass you to
death, press you to death, stretch the
pitch, crowd the ball, excel at set-pie-
ces, create out of nothing in open
play. They have great attackers,
defenders, midfielders and goalkeep-
ers — and the two best managers in the
world. They’re the most complete
teams I have reported on in 25 years of
covering football.
Real showed their remarkable
knack for this competition by some-
how hanging in for only a one-goal
defeat at the Etihad, but City’s speed
and energy were too much for them
for most of the first leg — and those fac-
tors will decide the second one.WHO WILL CLAIM THE LAST
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE
QUALIFICATION SPOT?
GS: It looks like this will come down
to the north London derby at Totten-
ham on May 12. I see a different men-
tality in Spurs under Antonio Conte,
moving the ball quicker and more
aggressive in everything they do.
They are heading in the right direc-
tion under him but the inconsistency
is still there with both teams. It’s a
hard one but, if you’re pushing me, I’ll
say Spurs.
JN: It typifies the race for fourth — if
runners continually falling over can
actually be called a race — that after
losing consecutive games to Crystal
Palace, Brighton & Hove Albion and
Southampton, Arsenal promptly beat
Chelsea and Manchester United. And
that after smashing in nine goals in
two matches against Aston Villa and
Newcastle United, Spurs then went
three hours without scoring against
Brighton and Brentford. It means the
north London derby might not be
decisive after all. Spurs and Arsenal
are quite capable of dropping points
in any of their other matches. Pushed,
I’d say Arsenal.WILL EVERTON BEAT
THE DROP?
GS: I worry for them. They have a
group of players without quality
because their recruitment has been
disappointing. A good manager with
ordinary players will have a difficult
season. A poor manager with good
players has a chance. The game will
always be about players, so you can’t
judge Frank Lampard on what he
inherited.
People are amazed by Burnley’s
decision to sack Sean Dyche, but I’m
not. It was a perennial struggle against
relegation. That danger should
decrease with every year you are in
the job, unless you have horrendous
injuries, because with every window
you should be improving the squad,
regardless of whether you’re spend-
ing big money.
JN: Everton’s basket-case recruit-
ment, lurches of direction and ability
to burn through money make Man-
chester United look the world’s best-
run business. Lampard made things
worse, initially, by being too idealistic
in his football and transfers (I’m stillWILL THERE BE AN
ALL-ENGLISH CHAMPIONS
LEAGUE FINAL?
Graeme Souness: As Ronnie Moran
used to say at Liverpool, “Don’t be
surprised by surprises.” There are
results all the time where you think,
“How’s that happened?” but I don’t
see it with the two Champions League
semi-finals. I’m not sure that this is a
Real Madrid team to fear like the ones
that have won the competi-
tion in the past, although
they do have the out-
standing goalscorer in
the world in Karim
Benzema. It’s all right
saying keep him quiet,
but doing so is some-
thing else.The last away game of
the season has special
resonance for fansFor many EFL clubs, this weekend
will be the last away trip of the
season. It’s become a thing now,
hasn’t it? We’ve all seen those
brilliant photos of Hartlepool (I still
always want to call them Hartlepools)
fans coming down a Tube escalator
dressed as Smurfs. It’s a chance to
dress up and celebrate, often when
there’s nothing to actually celebrate.
At the weekend it was my home-
town club Merthyr’s final game of the
season, in Hendon. I admit I made a
ricket and committed the schoolboy
error of misjudging London’s size.
We’ve all done it (even born-and-bred
Londoners) and it’s the city’s way of
just letting you know that she’s a big
old girl, and when you get cocky
she’ll bring you down a peg or two.
You see, I decided to walk from the
Tube station to the ground. Half an
hour later, when I was fighting my
way through bushes next to the
Welsh Harp reservoir, cursing at the
upside-down map on my phone, I
shouted angrily (startling a family
walking their dog) that I knew I
should have got a cab! I wondered
later how many times in London this
forlorn lament had been sent to the
heavens over the centuries.
Anyway, I know I sound like a
drama queen, but I made it in time
for kick-off and later another very
London thing happened. After the
match a fella I’d got chatting to at the
very nice clubhouse offered to drop
me home. In fact it was even better
than that. He dropped me at my local
pub. Thank you, Steve. London, I
forgive and love you.
The boys I met from the Valleys for
the match were in fine voice. We
were thumped 6-0 and relegated, so
of course the singing got louder and
more defiant as the game went on.
That’s football fans. After the game,
Hendon — a great place to watch a
game, by the way — even remarked
on their social media channel that the
league had lost its best fans.
I have to agree. They were
incredible, and their emotional team
at the final whistle really appreciated
it. Footballers and clubs often say
that they need our support more
when they aren’t playing well. It’s a
good point.
Over the years for the last away
game I’ve been part of the fancy-
dress crowd. Although I’ve never
dressed up myself — no jokes, please
— I’ve seen Superman and Spider-
Man at a Cardiff City game in Burnley.
Birmingham City fans went as the
Peaky Blinders one season and
Nottingham Forest supporters call
the last away trip Colin Barrett day.
The European Cup-winning
defender from their greatest team is
a hugely popular figure at the CityGround. Often seen in the pubs
before and after games, he travels
on the coaches with the fans and
leads the chants before and during
the game.
One season it was my job to make
sure the miracle man was delivered
safely to a west London pub before
the last game, away to Queens Park
Rangers. On the train I realised I’d
forgotten our tickets. After a few
phone calls to the very kind ticket
office at the Kiyan Prince Foundation
Stadium, they printed some more for
us and saved the day. We were a bit
late (and I had a fair bit of ribbing)
but Colin was soon leading the chants
and all was well.
However you celebrate the last
away game, it’s always an emotional
time. It’s the end of another season,
another journey around the football
sun, and for a few months it will be
time to say goodbye to the people
with whom you’ve been riding the
emotional rollercoaster that is
supporting your club.
So whether you’re dressed as a
superhero or you just reflect quietly
on those who are no longer with you,
know this: you are not alone. You’re
all part of one big football family.It’s a chance for
fans to dress up and
celebrate — often
when there’s nothing
to actually celebrateEXTRA
TIME
with
Jonny
Owen
GRAEME SOUNESS AND
JONATHAN NORTHCROFTFootball correspondentsReal Madrid team to fear like the ones
that have won the competi-
tion in the past, although
they do have the out-
standing goalscorer in
the world in Karim
Benzema. It’s all right
saying keep him quiet,
but doing so is some-
thing else.Glory for some, agony for
others — this is what’s at stake
in the Premier League and
Europe over the next month
THE HEAT
IS ON
How Jonny Owen and his
partner Vicky McClure are
trying to get more working-
class actors on screen
NEWS, PAGE 5