THE media narrative that surrounded this season’s title race borrowed heavily from the oldest tropes in storytelling, in particular the folklore staple that states for every hero there must be an ogre. So it was that Manchester City was cast as the big bad wolf to Liverpool’s Little Red Riding Hood, skipping virtuously through the woods. It was little surprise then to see a continuation of this motif in the FA Cup final.
The tournament after all is enshrined in legend, with cherished fables of derring-do and a copious sprinkling of magic. Furthermore, as the Premier League and Champions League have become extreme parables in capitalism, the competition has increasingly been held up as the last bastion of egalitarianism and purity. It evokes the wide eyes of childhood, jumpers for goalposts and the comforting simplicity of a pre-internet age. The FA Cup final is football’s Morecombe and Wise Christmas special.
All of which partly explains why several journalists bypassed all sense and reason when responding to the comprehensive beating dished out to Watford this weekend by a slick, dominant and sensational City. One esteemed writer declared that football was ‘broken’. Another asked ‘is this even sport?’ on Twitter while additionally enquiring in lieu of a traditional match report what the point of it all was when the ‘only relevant factor’ was City’s substantial resources.
Their apocalyptic angst implied that romance is dead as too is Goldilocks, discovered mauled to death by bear claws. Retrospective VAR meanwhile has ruled out Ronnie Radford’s thirty yard screamer which the tie handed with hindsight to Newcastle.
It should be noted at this point that six years ago Manchester City – with the same owners and resources as now – were beaten 1-0 by Wigan in this very fixture. It should be noted too that if fairy-tales happened every May they would be the norm and big clubs somehow emerging victorious would be celebrated with surprise. In short, nature has to take its course for phenomena to occur and mean something special and this has always been the way.
It is also pertinent to wonder what the big difference is between five years ago and today, with the club now demeaned and frankly hated on for supposedly stamping on the face of all competition. Are City spending more than they used to? No, FFP saw to that and last summer they made precisely one purchase as many of their rivals out-spent them. Its Pep isn’t it. He’s the transformation, only the media can’t go after him – Rob Harris aside – because the Catalan genius personifies the very best of football. So instead they aim their ire at a hierarchy long established and ticking over, a target that feels as relevant as New Labour.
Regardless, the dye is cast and City are the enemy of excitement and Corinthian spirit. Saturday’s final was a ‘grim parade, devoid of any drama’ according to Jonathan Wilson and he was hardly alone in determining City’s current stranglehold on domestic football to be mundane and predictable for one and all.
To counter this let’s simply look back on a past few weeks that has seen the Blues win a Champions League quarter final 5-4 on aggregate only to have their last-gasp winner struck off. It was a game and moment that had a nation spell-bound. Last week they won the league on the final day of the season to settle one of the most closely contested and talked about title fights in living memory. Presently Manchester City are being investigated by UEFA. Presently Manchester City fans are going to war with journalists on social media and beyond.
In summation, I would attest we are anything but boring. I would attest that we’re the most box-office club around right now. More so, without City and Liverpool, how dull would the Premier League have been in 2018/19, with a highlights reel heavily consisting of Sarri smoking and sulking and Emery doing an Alan Partridge impersonation on the touchline. Staying with the Gunners what exactly did they bring to the top flight party? Maybe a nice pass from Ozil back in the autumn.
Yet the charges don’t stop there with even City fans being criticised of late for being ‘jaded’ and not appropriately enjoying their success. Apparently we’re bored too. To address the media directly here: don’t bring us into it. Yes we no longer pinch ourselves. Yes we refer to Wembley as ‘Etihad South’. But we have an extraordinary team doing extraordinary things under an extraordinary coach and that all adds up to a fully-furnished renting of dreamland. The only aspect we’re bored of is you.
On which note I should say that I will no longer be writing about them here. I have been railing for yonks now about how Manchester City’s portrayal in the press is unique and unfair and the words ‘head’, ‘bang’ and ‘brick wall’ spring to mind. Furthermore, I have no need to. It used to be where my claims were met by serious doubt, even derision. But when a team wins a FA Cup final by a post-war record score to secure an unprecedented treble and the general response in print is that we should all pack up our things and go home that doubt evaporates. It’s clear now for all to see and though rivals fans may derive satisfaction from the eternal damnation of City they see it nonetheless.
So I’m letting it all go, moving on and I sincerely hope that other City fans can do likewise. These are the rarest and most fantastical days Blues and they won’t be around forever. Let’s drink champagne while it’s still fizzy and ignore the bitter.
A £10 bet on Man City to win the Premier League returns £16.70
