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gadgetsrevv · 5 years ago

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Man United could get a lot worse before they get better thanks to bad transfer business and indecision

Daniel James’ first-half strike was cancelled out by Jannik Vestergaard’s towering header, piling the pressure on Ole Gunnar Solskjaer at Manchester United.

Steve Nicol explains how much blame should be placed on Ole Gunnar Solskjaer after winning only one league game in the last nine.

With Alexis Sanchez now on loan at Inter, Craig Burley examines how it went so wrong for him at Manchester United.

There is good news and bad news for Manchester United supporters right now, even though Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s team go into the international break having posted the club’s worst start to a season since 1992-93.

The good news: having identified the need to weed out under-performing (and in some cases, non-performing) players, things will eventually get better at Old Trafford. The bad news: there is a real danger of things actually getting worse before light appears at the end of a long, dark tunnel for the most successful club of the Premier League era.

– ESPN Premier League fantasy: Sign up now! – Europa League group stage: All you need to know – All major completed transfer deals

An uninspiring draw against Wolves and another at Southampton, either side of the 2-1 defeat at home to Crystal Palace, are more reflective of where United are at right now than the 4-0 opening-weekend victory against Chelsea. And with an impressive Leicester City next up at Old Trafford on Sept. 14 after the international break, the pressure is already beginning to build on Solskjaer and his players, who face an almighty battle to secure a top-four finish this season.

There is a strong argument to suggest that this current United team (and squad) is the weakest seen at Old Trafford in 30 years. For all the positive spin applied to recent performances by Solskjaer, it would be naïve to suggest that a start of one win, two draws and a defeat from their opening four games is nothing more than a blip.

Back in 1992-93, when United began the inaugural Premier League campaign with two defeats, one draw and a win, they were able to climb off the canvas to go on and win the title, the club’s first since 1967. But not even the most optimistic United supporter, player or coach would claim that the Class of 2019 has the ability to emulate Sir Alex Ferguson’s team of 27 years ago.

Some might contest the suggestion that this is the weakest United team in three decades by pointing to the side that finished seventh under David Moyes in 2013-14, but that team had the likes of Rio Ferdinand, Nemanja Vidic, Patrice Evra, Robin van Persie and Wayne Rooney to call upon. Solskjaer’s team boasts no such depth of experience or quality and that is mainly due to the hapless, and at times disastrous, recruitment of players since the turn of the decade.

Make no mistake, the problems facing United now can be traced back to before Ferguson retired in 2013, with the exits of Cristiano Ronaldo and Carlos Tevez in 2009 proving to be the start of the slide, when star players were repeatedly replaced with inferior signings. But this summer’s transfer business has left the United squad looking as though it has been hollowed out and, while admirable and sensible as a long-term strategy, the decision to clear out the deadwood and give youth a chance is also a dangerous one in a competition as demanding and unforgiving as the Premier League.

Since January, Solskjaer has sanctioned the departures of Marouane Fellaini, Antonio Valencia, Ander Herrera, Romelu Lukaku, Alexis Sanchez, Chris Smalling and Matteo Darmian, with only Harry Maguire, Daniel James and Aaron Wan-Bissaka being added to the squad. Mason Greenwood, a 17-year-old, has been promoted to the first team, with Tahith Chong, 19, also given an opportunity to prove himself by Solskjaer.

Greenwood and Chong may develop into world-beaters, but neither is yet ready to shoulder the burden of playing for Manchester United, and the pressure could prove incredibly heavy for Greenwood should either of the club’s two senior forwards, Marcus Rashford or Anthony Martial, be sidelined at any time this season.

Solskjaer and Man United are slowly refreshing a squad in dire need of major changes but the slow pace and lack of depth could mean they fall a lot further before they rise.

In midfield, there is nobody to cover for Paul Pogba should he be injured or suspended, while a defence which had seven centre-backs prior to Smalling’s loan move to Roma still relies on converted winger Ashley Young, now 34, to fill in for full-backs Wan-Bissaka and Luke Shaw.

– Dawson: United’s painful hunt for transfer chief – Miller: Mixed-up Pogba sums up United’s problems – Ames: United’s Europa League travel itinerary is bad

United clearly need to reshape and rebuild their squad, but by allowing so many players to leave — particularly after the window for signing new ones has closed — is a huge risk and possibly even negligent. Solskjaer’s squad is an injury away from a crisis in every area of the pitch, but they must somehow safely navigate the team through to the January transfer window without suffering the kind of injury and form setbacks that afflict every side.

Had United been able to appoint a technical director — they have now been actively looking for one for over nine months — the gaping holes that have appeared in the squad may have been filled before they appeared, but perhaps that is wishful thinking at a club where, according to ESPN FC sources, Martial was retained because he is the favourite player of co-chairman Joel Glazer and Marcos Rojo, who made just three starts last season, had a move blocked to Everton because the owners did not agree with the sale.

Solskjaer, meanwhile, is on board with the plan to reshape the squad, but he also admitted during preseason that he would need a replacement up front if Lukaku was sold. No replacement arrived, however, and Sanchez also left; rather than having one in and one out, United had two out and none in up front. They have also allowed two experienced midfielders to leave without replacements and sold two right-backs with just one coming in.

United believe it could take as many as four transfer windows before their squad is competitive again, but they seem to have done all of the cutting this summer without realising the need for depth. It is a bold strategy, but with an inexperienced manager at the helm and too many youngsters in key positions, the short-term pain could stifle the intended long-term gain.

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#Uncategorized #Man United could get a lot worse before they get better thanks to bad transfer busine

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flauntpage · 6 years ago

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The Flyers are One of Hockey’s Best Teams Right Now; But It’s Too Little, Too Late

It’s been exactly seven weeks since the Flyers decided to start playing like one of the best teams in hockey.

Frankly, it’s a shame it didn’t start clicking a little bit sooner.

The Flyers followed up their dramatic come-from-behind win in the rain over Pittsburgh in the Stadium Series game at the Linc last Saturday with a pretty thorough 5-2 beating of the Buffalo Sabres Tuesday.

The win allowed the Flyers to leapfrog the stumbling Sabres in the standings into 10th place in the Eastern Conference. It’s been a methodical climb for the Flyers from the basement of the league into pseudo-contention, but the problem is, no matter how well they are playing, they need help from around the conference, and they certainly didn’t get any Tuesday, as despite the win and teams jockeying for position, the Flyers woke up Wednesday still seven points out of a playoff spot with 19 games to go.

There are a good number of positives to talk about from the game, and we’ll get to them after the jump, but the first thing to look at is this playoff push and if the Flyers can, in fact, become only the second team in NHL history to overcome a 16-point deficit in the playoff race to actually earn a spot in the postseason.

I know I’ve outlined the difficulty in this space before, but I want to take it a step further today, because if it does happen, it truly will be amazing considering the circumstances, the schedule and the perfect alignment of planets that would be necessary to make it happen.

1. One of the Best Teams in Hockey

First, I would be remiss if I didn’t point this out:

MOST POINTS IN THE NHL SINCE JANUARY 9TH:

St. Louis Blues 17-3-2, 36 points

Tampa Bay Lightning 15-3-2, 32 points

Philadelphia Flyers 15-4-1, 31 points

That makes only three teams in the league who have posted at least 30 points in the past seven weeks.

Tampa has been doing it all season, so we can take them out of the equation for a second. They haven’t just been a hot team for seven weeks. Their record prior to this 15-3-2 stretch was 33-8-2. So, yeah, they’re good.

But the Blues and Flyers were both wallowing at the bottom of the league standings on Jan. 9. It looked like a lost season for both clubs.

Amazingly, they both became relevant in an effort to save their seasons after coaching changes.

Our old friend (maybe I don’t speak for the fans, as they were never fond of him as a coach) Craig Berube has been the interim guy behind the bench for the Blues and overseen their turnaround.

The difference between the Blues and the Flyers though, aside from the four more points the Blues have accumulated in the targeted time frame, is that they were only seven points out of a playoff spot on Jan. 9 in a far more balanced, and maybe even weaker, Western Conference. As such, they were more able to flip the script over the past seven weeks to not only make up the seven-point deficit, but to also climb into third place in their division and now sit a comfortable eight points ahead of the first team that would miss the playoffs out West (currently Colorado, although that’s an ever-rotating position with five teams within six points of each other).

As for the Flyers, the East is more top heavy than the West, with Tampa, Boston, Toronto, the surprise New York Islanders and Washington separating themselves from everyone else.

In the middle you have the aging Penguins, who are a bit of a shell of their former selves, the upstart Carolina Hurricanes and Montreal Canadiens, the enigma that is the Columbus Blue Jackets, and now the Flyers.

Buffalo was once in that group, but they’re in free fall, going 6-12-2 in the same seven week span we’ve been talking about, while the bottom of the conference (Florida, Detroit, Ottawa, New Jersey and the New York Rangers) were never really in the conversation.

That’s what’s made it harder for the Flyers – who have been Tampa-level good for a quarter of the season, but only able to trim their deficit from 15 points to seven – half of what St. Louis has been able to do in the same span.

Because the East has such a disparity between the haves and the have-nots, it’s harder to overcome a points gap, never mind the chasm the Flyers created for themselves earlier in the season.

But, they still believe they can pull this off, however it would be a mighty feat with very little margin for error, not to mention it would have to come in part by beating a lot of really good teams.

The Flyers have 19 games remaining, and although 11 of those 19 are on the road, that’s not even the biggest challenge. No, of the Flyers final 19 games, 15 come against teams either ahead of them in the East or currently holding playoff spots in the West.

That’s brutal. There aren’t many layups.

Conversely, in this 15-4-1 run they’re on, Nine of their 20 opponents are behind them in the standings, which is far more balanced.

Instead, the Flyers have three more games each with the Islanders and Capitals, who are tied atop the Metropolitan Division, two more with a nearly as hot Carolina team (14-6-1 since Jan. 9), two with Toronto and single games with Columbus, Pittsburgh, Montreal, Dallas and St. Louis and of those five, only the Canadiens come to Wells Fargo Center.

It’s an absolute gauntlet for the Flyers.

Yes, they can only take one at a time, and reassess after each game after seeing what happens elsewhere in the conference, but the odds at this point seem longer than they have since this streak began.

Sorry to sound negative, especially in light of such a good win over the Sabres, but I’m trying to save you from investing too much emotionally in what still remains a very long shot.

But, about that good win…

2. The Piano Man

Oskar Lindblom refused to explain why Nolan Patrick called him the Piano Man on the ice while mic’d up during the outdoor game, playing dumb about why the nickname exists.

It’s likely some embarrassing story, or at the very least something that’s not meant for public discussion, and that’s fine. There are so many hockey nicknames and stories that don’t ever make it out in public – and for good reason.

But there is one thing for sure, Lindblom has been playing hockey like a virtuoso pianist lately.

Everyone is starting to take notice because he has seven goals in the last 14 games, including one against Buffalo:

OSKAR LINDBLOM OPENS THE SCORING FOR PHILLY!#LetsGoFlyers pic.twitter.com/MQrxtZOtWP

— Hockey Daily (@HockeyDaily365) February 27, 2019

Lindblom is going to be looked to by the team to do some of the things Wayne Simmonds used to do offensively, and playing with Sean Couturier and Jake Voracek is certainly going to create more opportunities for him to get points, so there’s that too.

But what’s really impressive about Lindblom is everything else. It’s his puck possession. It’s his willingness to win battles on the wall, even against guys bigger and stronger than him. It’s his attention to detail when checking – either forechecking and creating turnovers or backchecking and breaking up plays – that is really impressive.

Here’s coach Scott Gordon:

“He has a great ability, when he gets possession of the puck, especially in the offensive zone along the boards, to keep it in tight and to come off of a hit or a check… with the puck and move his feet. And, when there’s secondary pressure, he feels it and gets away from it, and protects [the puck] and is able to make plays in tight places probably as good as anybody on our team. When the puck gets in your feet, some guys need to get a full extension of their arms to make a play, and he doesn’t. If you watch him closely, the plays that he’s making, the puck is never more than a few inches away from his feet.”

While it’s easy to get excited about Lindblom because of his recent play, I would caution not to suddenly expect him to be a top line caliber guy long-term. He fits the role he’s playing nicely right now. I always thought he would amount to a really good third line player, but he’s showing he might have a little more than that.

Ultimately, if he becomes a long-term second line winger, playing like he’s playing right now, that’s a boon for the Flyers, especially for a fifth round draft pick. But if he eventually settles back into a reliable third line role as, say, your eighth forward, that’s a good thing too.

Let’s just enjoy the way he’s playing and not elevate him to unnecessary expectations – at least not too soon.

3. Deuce

When the Nashville Predators traded for Ryan Hartman at last season’s deadline, they still had Scott Hartnell on the team.

Always known as Hartsy, Hartman couldn’t have that nickname for the Predators with Hartnell already there. So, Hartnell told him he would be known as “Deuce” since he was the second Hartsy. The nickname stuck, even into this season after Hartnell retired.

Traded to the Flyers, he didn’t think the nickname would have to be traded too. But it was. That’s because Carter Hart is the new “Hartsy” in Philadelphia. So Hartman is No. 2 again.

Nicknames aside, Hartman, who was acquired as part of the Wayne Simmonds trade, made a hell of a first impression on his first shift as a Flyer:

Welcome to Philadelphia, Ryan Hartman!

The crowd goes wild after he throws a huge hit on Dahlin. pic.twitter.com/d6DJtunKbQ

— NBC Sports Philadelphia (@NBCSPhilly) February 27, 2019

It wasn’t just that. He tangled with Jake McCabe later in the game and joked about it afterwards since the two work out together in the offseason. He blocked a shot, made a nice play on what would be James van Riemsdyk’s game-winning goal and created a couple other scoring chances both for himself and his teammates during his time on the ice.

I think Flyers fans will learn in time that this was a decent addition in exchange for Simmonds. He’s a player whose style will go over well in Philly because he plays hard-nosed, but has some skill to go along with it.

4. Phil Myers

No nicknames to talk about here, just a defensive prospect who is ready to prove he belongs at the NHL level as part of the regular six and not just in a scheme that will have seven defensemen in the lineup.

Myers has played really well so far, and picked up his first NHL point against Buffalo with a secondary assist on Jake Voracek’s goal. (He actually didn’t deserve it as Sean Couturier touched the puck before Voracek scored, but I’m sure Coots won’t say anything and pass up another point to give Myers his first point in the NHL).

He had a solid game against Buffalo, probably the best of the four he’s played.

With Andrew MacDonald getting just under nine minutes of ice time, and Myers getting a regular shift with the lead in the third period, I expect he passed the coaches’ test and will be a regular part of the lineup moving forward.

Right now, MacDonald looks to be No. 7 on the depth chart, and deservedly so.

Here’s Gordon again:

“I felt once Phil got into the lineup that he was going to show that he belonged. When Robert Hagg made the team out of training camp (last season), he was ready in November of the previous season. It never happened. They had eight D here. They always managed to stay healthy and there was no need for a call-up. Having the experience of coaching some of these guys down there, you can tell when all of a sudden, the game gets easy for them in the American League, and that’s kind of where Phil was. When you get into those situations where the players are starting to dominate the level of the game that they play, now it just becomes a matter of them being able to adjust to the speed and the strength of the players up here and you can only do that by being here. So, an important part of Phil’s development was him being here and practicing. It was ten days, and then just getting eight minutes in his first game. I think that’s part of the process. He’s stepped in and his last three games, he’s played really well.”

5. Moose

Brian Elliott was asked if he feels how he felt back before the surgery now that he’s played in four straight games for the Flyers.

“Nope,” he said. “I feel like I’m at where I am and that’s a philosophical answer for you.”

Don’t dwell on it too long. It’s not Confucianism. He basically means he’s well enough to play, even if he still doesn’t feel right.

Not bad for a guy who made 34 saves though, right?

A lot of people have been asking, why are the Flyers leaning on Elliott, even if he’s not 100 percent, when they traded Anthony Stolarz for Cam Talbot two weeks ago and Talbot still hasn’t seen any action.

It’s a fair question, but here’s the answer:

While the Flyers feel they are still in the playoff race and Hart is sidelined with an ankle injury, they feel Elliott gives them a better chance to make up the ground necessary than Talbot does.

I know, I know, the next question is, then why did they trade for him?

The answer:

Because long-term they value Talbot’s health more than Elliott’s and although Elliott may be a slightly better goalie right now, next year, Talbot provides more health confidence as a backup to Hart than Elliott would, which is why Talbot will likely be signed and Elliott will be let go as an unrestricted free agent.

However, I do expect Talbot to get his first start, and have the Flyers set a record for most goalies to play in a season, Friday in New Jersey. But look for Elliott to get the call once again Thursday in Columbus.

The post The Flyers are One of Hockey’s Best Teams Right Now; But It’s Too Little, Too Late appeared first on Crossing Broad.

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zeroviraluniverse-blog · 7 years ago

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Albert Ferrer on Barcelona vs. Chelsea and how Luis Enrique is perfect for Blues

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Albert Ferrer on Barcelona vs. Chelsea and how Luis Enrique is perfect for Blues

BARCELONA — Albert “Chapi” Ferrer could consider himself a trendsetter. He became the first Spaniard to ever play for Chelsea in 1998, having been part of Johan Cruyff’s Dream Team at Barcelona, and was just the second player to turn out for both the Blues and Barca (after Mark Hughes.)

Since Ferrer, another 11 Spanish players have gone on to play for the Premier League champions and the total number of players to have played for both Chelsea and Barca is now up to 13.

Ahead of his two former sides meeting in the Champions League this week, Ferrer spoke to ESPN FC about his desire to return to the UK, his future plans in coaching, how Ernesto Valverde has improved the Blaugrana and whether Luis Enrique would make a good Chelsea manager.

Q. What have you been up to since leaving your post as Mallorca coach [in 2015]?

A. I’m coaching the Barcelona legends side, which is a team of the club’s ex-players. It’s a really cool project. We get to do a lot of travelling, visiting really interesting countries. We have a game coming up in India [against a Juventus side on Feb. 17 in Mumbai] and it’s likely we’ll have one in Egypt, too. There are also games later this year in Brazil and in Peru. It’s great, because you get to play with and coach players that you might not have played with during your playing days with Barcelona, players that were the best in the world in their day.

Q. But surely you’d like to get back into coaching professionally?

A. I am really happy with the Barca legends project right now… but it’s true that getting back into coaching is something which appeals to me.

Q. In England?

A. Especially in England, that would appeal even more. I had a couple of conversations with [English clubs] last season, but nothing came of them in the end. I have contacts in England, but at the moment I’m just waiting. Experience teaches you that things often happen when you don’t chase them. So I’m relaxed [about getting back into coaching]. We’ll see what comes up, but for now I’m really happy with what I am doing.

Albert Ferrer Ben Radford /Allsport

Q. You obviously had a good time in England as a player.

A. Signing for Chelsea was a great experience. I spent five really food years of my career there. Maybe the signing initially came about by chance. Chelsea are a great club and the Premier League is a great league, they had won the [FA] Cup the year before and I thought ‘why not?’ Maybe I was one of the first Spaniards to try their luck in England. I was really happy there and the club was slowly growing. It was a really positive experience. I think also, from that moment on, Spanish players began to look at the possibility of playing abroad.

Q. It must have been different from Barcelona, especially at that time?

A. It was much calmer, much more relaxed at Chelsea than at Barcelona. England’s a country without dedicated sports newspapers, so there was much less focus in the press than in Spain, where a lot is continually said and talked about. In England, I found a much more professional situation in that sense, and at the same time [everything was] much calmer. It was a feeling of being freed a little bit, you know, when you come from the demands of Barcelona. Even though Chelsea are a great club, you don’t have that constant pressure from the newspapers, you’re left with the feeling that everything is a little easier.

Q. Do you still think that’s the biggest difference between the two clubs?

A. I think the difference, more or less, is [still] the media atmosphere. It is the same [now] because I think that media in England still aren’t the same as the media in Spain, I think the media atmosphere there is much more relaxed, even these days. But there’s more pressure at Chelsea now [than when I signed] with the arrival of [Roman] Abramovich and the demands of being one of [Europe’s] big clubs. I think in that sense there’s a little more demand at Chelsea now.

Q. How do you think they’re doing going into the Barcelona game?

A. It’s been a complicated season. I think that after a good season, the following season is always difficult. Their rivals have also all strengthened since last season… I think they started the season quite well, but they’ve gone through a tough spell. The fact they have a small problem up front, the injuries they’ve had, the fact that when [Alvaro] Morata’s not playing in some games Hazard has had to play through the middle… Hazard’s not a No. 9. I think Chelsea need him deeper to create chances and direct the play.

I think there’s also a question in terms of defending, they’re not as convincing as they have been at the back, not like in the past. All these little things have made the season a little more complicated, but that’s normal when you’ve had such a good year and then your rivals, above all the two Manchester sides, have strengthened so much.

Q. Can they beat Barca?

A. I think it will be a hard-fought tie. Chelsea aren’t in their best form but they will make it tough for Barca. I think we will see two very different games. The one at Stamford Bridge will very be different to what we will see at Camp Nou because it’s much smaller, so there’s less space. There will be much more space at Barcelona. I think with the second leg at Camp Nou, for me Barcelona are the favourites. I think they will reach the quarterfinals. I want them to go through and I’m convinced they will.

Q. They’re looking good under Ernesto Valverde as well.

A. Valverde’s improved Barcelona, there’s been a huge change [from last season]. I think the way they’ve dealt with the departure of Neymar has allowed them to evolve their football a little, starting to play like a lot of other teams, with a 4-4-2 with more bodies in midfield, suffering less in defence. The change of system has gone really well for them. Recently, with 4-3-3, they were struggling at times, above all with counter-attacks. But I think they’ve got that under control now. They’re a more solid team and, above all, they’re a really complete side.

LLUIS GENE/AFP/Getty Images

Q. The best side in Europe?

A. If not the best, one of the best. We will see if they’re the best with the return of the Champions League. I think Man City are at a great level; PSG, too; Real Madrid are always a side to watch out for. Those four or five teams are all at a similar level, maybe Barca are the best right now but all of those sides are capable of winning the Champions League.

Q. You were briefly with Valverde as a player at Barcelona.

A. Yes, I remember Valverde well as a player. He was a skilful winger, very clever, very intelligent. He was someone who knew what decisions to take on the pitch, he got between the lines. I really liked him as a player, he was so skilful. He wasn’t a tall player or a strong one so he had to depend on his intelligence. He was a really good player in his time and I think he’s now an exceptional manager. He’s very clear with what he wants, transmits his ideas well and he’s good with the players. All of those qualities combined can only make a successful coach.

Q. Another former teammate, Luis Enrique, has been linked with becoming the next Chelsea manager as well…

A. Lucho’s a different type of manager [to Valverde]. He had a great [three years] here with Barcelona and he’d already shown at Celta [Vigo] that he’s a great manager. I think he would fit in [at Chelsea] perfectly. There are already various Spanish players there.

Q. What would Chelsea get? Would he do well in England?

A. He’s a coach that wants his teams to be aggressive, to be committed. I don’t think he would have any problem adapting to English football. It’s true that speaking English is important, above all to try and transmit your ideas, but Lucho has been learning [English].

But I think above all the tone of how you transmit your ideas is more important, how you get through to the players, and there are many ways to do that. I think the adaption [from La Liga to the Premier League] is much easier than it was in the past, and in the case that Lucho goes to Chelsea I’m sure that he would be successful.

#Football

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elizabethleslie7654 · 7 years ago

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The Power of the News Cycle

all kinds of cool jewelry and no shipping or getting mobbed t the mall

by Gaius Marcius

Well, I must give some begrudging credit to the Washington Post and cable news. Despite appearing mortally wounded after a year of evisceration courtesy of Steve Bannon and Donald Trump, despite losing public trust at a record rate, and despite ousting multiple iconic liberal voices in the #MeToo frenzy, the mainstream media refuses to go down without a fight. The Alabama Senate race showed just how much power the legacy media still has when every news outlet identifies the same point of attack and begins shrieking in unison. Frank Luntz, Anderson Cooper and Jake Tapper are all modern day versions of the great fictional editor Tom Towers featured in Anthony Trollope’s novel The Warden. Tom Towers edits the London newspaper The Jupiter, which is the infallible and all powerful 19th century opinion maker.

“Tom Towers compounded thunderbolts for the destruction of all that is evil, and for the furtherance of all that is good, in this and other hemispheres… Here reigns a pope… who manages his own inquisition, who punishes unbelievers as no most skilful inquisitor of Spain ever dreamt of doing–one who can excommunicate thoroughly, fearfully, radically; put you beyond the pale of men’s charity; make you odious to your dearest friends, and turn you into a monster to be pointed at by the finger!” Chapter 14 Mount Olympus.

There truly is nothing new under the sun. Trollope’s scathing satire on journalism is applicable to the SJW’s who hounded Tony Hovater out of a job and the Washington Post reporters who started the accusations against Roy Moore. The media does not operate in a vacuum; they need some viewers who feel guilty enough to accept their narrative, and the GOP establishment and parts of talk radio are only too happy to surrender at the first signs of criticism. I am certain that GOP pundits will do their best to avoid the obvious lessons of the Alabama race. For example, anyone still talking about the importance of an independent, adversarial media as a watchdog of the democratic process is pretending to live in the homogeneous White America that disappeared 50 years ago. The ideological conservatives and libertarians who think the press is a bulwark of democracy are ignoring the totalitarian impulses that have been part of the journalistic psyche for centuries.

“Were it not well for us in our ignorance that we confided all things to The Jupiter? Would it not be wise in us to abandon useless talking, idle thinking, and profitless labour? Away with majorities in the House of Commons, with verdicts from judicial bench given after much delay, with doubtful laws, and the fallible attempts of humanity! Does not The Jupiter, coming forth daily with fifty thousand impressions full of unerring decision on every mortal subject, set all matters sufficiently at rest? Is not Tom Towers here, able to guide us and willing?” Chapter 14 Mount Olympus.

For years the mainstream media was used to politicians and celebrities fawning over them just as depicted in Trollope’s novel. And why would they not feel entitled to that special treatment? Even after being dragged through the mud on a daily basis for eight years, George W. Bush was still singing the praises of the independent press to none other than the now disgraced Matt Lauer. Sadly, respectable upper middle class voters necessary for conservative electoral victories are particularly susceptible to the social pressures exerted by The New York Times. Another great novelist, Tolstoy, depicts the comfortable habit of socially acceptable liberal opinion when he describes the mediocre, empty-headed, white collar Stepan Arkadyevitch in Anna Karenina.

“Stepan Arkadyevitch took in and read a liberal paper, not an extreme one, but one advocating the views held by the majority. And in spite of the fact that science, art, and politics had no special interest for him, he firmly held those views on all these subjects which were held by the majority and by his paper, and he only changed them when the majority changed them… Stepan Arkadyevitch had not chosen his political opinions or his views; these political opinions and views had come to him of themselves, just as he did not choose the shapes of his hat and coat, but simply took those that were being worn… If there was a reason for his preferring liberal to conservative views, which were held also by many of his circle, it arose not from his considering liberalism more rational, but from its being in closer accordance with his manner of life… And so Liberalism had become a habit of Stepan Arkadyevitch’s, and he liked his newspaper, as he did his cigar after dinner, for the slight fog it diffused in his brain. Anna Karenina Ch 3.

When Donald Trump began ridiculing the media at his campaign rallies and getting the crowd to boo CNN, the journalists in the press box were amazed that anyone could think so little of their work. That slight fog that was so effective at controlling the middle class had turned into an enormous, billowing cloud over the years, and more than a few ordinary voters have noticed it. The media cannot help but fight Trump because he has challenged their place in the American political system for the first time in generations.

Unfortunately, the Roy Moore case shows that that the media can still overwhelm anyone who does not have massive funding, skillful rhetoric, and a huge personality. Trump cut right through the media fog and woke up millions of White voters, but his success may have been more dependent on his personal traits than we would like to admit. Losing one special election is not the end of the world. Trumpism is bigger than Trump, but it is concerning to consider that generic right-wingers may have trouble recreating Trump’s electoral success in the face of demographic change and a unified media attack.

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