2 English clubs 'close to losing their nerve' over Super League plans
By Tom Gott
Two of the English sides involved in the formation of the Super League are understood to be close to unravelling after all of the controversy the plans have attracted.
On top of an enormous amount of fan backlash, which has seen supporters protest outside stadiums and on social media, there have also been threats from UEFA and FIFA to kick the teams and players out of every other competition if they choose to join this new setup.
UEFA’s Alexander Ceferin confirms: “The players that will play in the Super League will be banned from playing in the World Cup and Euros. Ceferin. They will not be allowed play for their national teams”. ??? #SuperLeague
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) April 19, 2021
It became clear on Monday just how little players and managers had known about the situation. Liverpool's James Milner publicly admitted he hates the idea, while the Manchester United squad were less than impressed by the whole thing.
Football has never seen this level of negativity, and according to the Daily Mail's Oliver Holt, the pressure appears to be becoming too much for two of the sides involved.
"Hearing the first cracks may be beginning to appear in the ugly, misshapen edifice of the ESL," he wrote. "Told two English clubs are close to losing their nerve."
"I will try to help to sort this somehow."
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) April 19, 2021
Jurgen Klopp has spoken about the European Super League proposals in tonight's post-match press conference.#MNF pic.twitter.com/v1n6OlTJm6
With no mention of which sides are struggling, it's up to you to decide which of United, Liverpool, Manchester City, Chelsea, Tottenham and Arsenal have been swallowed up by the drama.
What we can do, however, is look at something which could well be completely unrelated - the fact that two of those sides were hesitant to join in the first place.
Numerous sources, including the Mail's Mike Keegan and the Telegraph's Matt Law, state that neither Chelsea nor City were particularly involved in the creation of the tournament and were effectively given a take-it-or-leave-it offer on Friday when informed that the rest of their rivals were planning to hoard all the power and money for themselves.
Both teams are understood to have opted in because of the fear of being left behind by rivals who could be set to rake in billions and billions, which would obviously make it harder to beat them in the Premier League.
Neither club is particularly bothered about the money (which almost makes their involvement worse) and have instead only signed up to remain competitive, but with all the backlash that has come their way, it's entirely possible that their already-low feelings towards the Super League have plummeted even more.