Spurs took their first steps into Europe’s big boy club competition this week and earned a 2-2 draw at Werder Bremen. Thanks to Harry Redknapp’s constant jabbering and the fact that Spurs were making their debut in the revamped version of the cup, many column inches were given over to the club, but none approached the story with such excitement as The Sun. I doubt it has anything to do with Redknapp being a column writer for the rag.

Having taken a 2-0 lead, Spurs looked to be on their way to a debut Champions League victory, but they conspired to snatch a draw from the jaws of victory. Normally such a sombre story would be treated with a sober headline, but thank goodness for the Daily Star who managed to inject a feeling of joy into a potentially solemn article.

Elsewhere in the Champions League Barcelona helped to banish the memory of their 2-0 league defeat at the hands of Hercules, by thrashing Panathanikos 5-1. The Sun though couldn’t let go of the fact that Lionel Messi spurned an opportunity from the penalty spot to secure a hat-trick. Barcelona fans must be cursing his appearance in the club shirt!

The tabloids appear to have collectively broken out in a case of Wayne-Rooney-herpes as the United forward seems to be permanently attached to the red tops. Most recently his scoring off the pitch has grabbed the front pages, although occasionally it’s his performance on the pitch, but sometimes a story is gleamed from an indirect quote about the star. In this case it was Alex Ferguson commenting on his decision to leave Rooney at home for United’s league game with Everton and of course The Sun was happy to splash it across their back page with an accompanying name based pun.

Rooney would have been hoping to grab the headlines for positive reasons when United entertained Rangers in the Champions League, but all the re-shuffled team could manage was a goalless draw. Apart from Antonio Valencia’s unfortunate and horrific injury there was very little to talk about, so the Daily Star resorted to poetry.

Across the city there was an equal amount of nothing to cover. That didn’t stop the Daily Mail though, who felt it important to report the fact that City striker Carlos Tevez has had a haircut, as they blurred the line between hideously trashy Heat magazine gossip and sports journalism.

Readers could be forgiven for believing that The Sun columnist and former Arsenal striker Ian Wright was little more than a witless shouter and mumbler of words if they’d been unfortunate enough to witness him on the horrific Live @ Studio 5, so his belief that modern footballers are “thick and stupid” could be seen as a little hypocritical. However Wright proves himself to be erudite on paper and eloquently points out “I still can’t work out why a player would be so deluded that he wouldn’t think a prostitute would sell her story once she has sold her body.” Maybe there’s two Ian Wrights?

Glamour is dumped on football in spades. Usually though it’s caked in make-up, crowing about something or other and clinging to the arm of a footballer. Refreshingly then, world renowned rapper Jay-Z has taken a shine to Arsenal and according to the Daily Mirror he’s interested in investing in the club.

Posted By Dan Mobbs - Friday September 17, 2010.
Tags: Manchester United, Tottenham Hotspur