da aviator aposta： Rafael Benitez has arrived in Newcastle, presumably in order to take over from Steve McClaren at the Magpies, but I guess it’s possible he’s just meeting a few mates for a furious weekend of lager and vindaloo.
da imperador bet： Whatever the reason, it’s that sort of cayenne spice that Benitez will be bringing back to the already chilli-infused Premier League. Spiky, fiery and not a man disposed to making a lot of friends amongst the managerial fraternity. Or at least, a man with a fair few enemies. We’re certainly excited for his return. It gives an already interesting league just that little bit extra. Nando’s chicken may already be spicy, but Benitez is, today at least, the footballing equivalent of a dash of peri-peri sauce.
After all, we now have a Tyne-Wear derby in a few weeks between a Newcastle-led Benitez and a Sunderland-managed Sam Allardyce – as if the derby wasn’t tasty enough, it’s now become a relegation scrap and a street fight between two managers who hate each others’ guts independently of the clubs they work for. Like the Power Rangers, the Tyne-Wear derby is already cool, but bringing in this extra narrative sees that entire rivalry morph into some sort of hypable Premier League Power Ranger megazord.
And that’s far from the only Premier League fixture that will receive the Sky treatment if Benitez is installed in the Toon.
Next season, if he manages to stay in the Premier League (far from certain, though, I might add) the league could have Pep Guardiola, Arsene Wenger, Claudio Ranieri, Antonio Conte and possibly even Jose Mourinho as well as Benitez himself. Which would make for hype and narrative at every turn. A little slice of rivalry to go on top of the rivalry already created by the fact that two opposing football teams are playing a game against each other.
But this is the Premier League, dear friends, everything is sensationalised, hyped beyond recognition and probably to stratospheric levels of ridicule and hyperbole. And why not? After all, the football’s still there, the sporting achievements are still valid, so why not have a bit of fun along the way?
Benitez’s arrival will certainly do that. Whether or not this is the right appointment for Newcastle is deliciously irrelevant to the Premier League hype machine. We crave the storyline running through the matches, transcending and arching over the season, like a Hollywood TV series or professional wrestling. Every game from here on in takes on that extra dash of spice, morphs into something bigger than one game of football.
Are we moving to an era of football Sports Entertainment? Who cares? The relegation battle just got very tasty indeed.
[ad_pod id=’writeforus’ align=’center’]