Morning all.
PSG player Aminata Diallo was was arrested yesterday morning on suspicion of being involved in a nasty attack of one of her team-mates, Kheira Hamraoui. Diallo, 26, has has been at the club for five years, while fellow France international Hamraoui, 31, joined from Barcelona in July.
The story goes that Daillo was/is cheesed off that the 31 year old Hamraoui is playing instead of her. Iron bars being used and stitches being required says the Daily Mail. L’Equipe reported that Kheira Hamraoui had been dragged out of her car and assaulted by two masked men on the 4th November. I know, innocent until proven guilty but what an awful experience for Hamraoui to go through regardless of whether her teammate was behind it. It was bad enough for Mesut Ozil and Sead Kolasinac to go through what they did a couple of years ago so goodness only knows how it must have been for this lady who is alleged to have been in the car with Daillo at the time, although interestingly, she wasn’t harmed.
From the bad to the amusing as Antonio Conte is reported to have imposed a ban of all table sauces on the players because a lot of them are overweight. It’s not much different to when Arsene Wenger swept in and banned all sorts of edible/drinkable products. Toots are just 25 years too late.
Speaking to Sky Sports News at the premiere of “Arsene Wenger: Invincible” on Tuesday night, Arteta said:
If it was not for him I would not be in the position I am today and I wouldn’t have enjoyed the career I had.
Asked whether Wenger is the reason he became a manager, Arteta added:
100 per cent. I was still young and I had my ideas, but he was a different level of inspiration on how I looked at the game. He was very good at being able to transmit what a football club meant into the players and he put different question marks on me. That is why I started to study and take coaching much more seriously.
Thats probably why Mikel Arteta bangs on about it being a privilege to manage Arsenal’s football team, because it is. That’s why he goes on about how important the fans are too, because they are. We are. It’s interesting though that Mikel Arteta suggests Arsene Wenger played such a huge part in his decision to become a coach/manager because for much of his playing career in England was under David Moyes. The same guy who is now doing really well at West Ham. Mikel Arteta might have learned a lot during his time alongside Pep Guardiola, but it was Arsenal’s most successful manager who kicked his second career off.
Talking of dear old Arsene, there’s a lot being written about him and by him at the moment and we all know why I’m sure.
Will I watch his story being told? You bet I will. Yes he stayed too long at Arsenal and he did a lot of things badly during his final few years but he also brought great players to the club, rejuvenated older players, gave fans great football to watch week in, week out for ten years and won many trophies. On top of all of that, he took Arsenal through an entire season without losing a game and that unbeaten run only came to end when it did because Mike Riley allowed it to.
Honestly, I don’t think any Premier League club/team will ever match Arsenal’s 2003/04 season. Look at some of the managers who’ve come and gone since and the money they’ve had to spend, yet still they’ve not been able to match what Arsene Wenger achieved that season. Not even Pep Guardiola with his bottomless pit of money.
Speaking at a Q&A at the premiere of the documentary charting his career with us, Arsene Wenger said he will always have the club in his heart.
Yes, of course [I am still in love with Arsenal], I tackle, I shoot, I defend, I attack [during every game] of course. My life is red and white and that will remain, especially as I don’t manage anymore so I have no other commitment.
Thank goodness he never played for Arsenal though as from what I’ve read, he wasn’t brilliant but as far as being a manager goes, he’s probably the best Arsenal have ever had and but for Fergie, he’d be the best the Premier League has seen too. People will look towards Guardiola and Mourinho and disagree with my opinion I’m sure but Arsene Wenger didn’t only change The Arsenal, he changed football too. For the better.
Lastly, the Arsenal women won the Champions League fixture 5-1 last night away from home against HB Koge. Five goals, five different scorers and a missed penalty by Arsenal’s number 14, Nikita Parris! The win keeps Arsenal second in their group with a home fixture against Barcelona yet to come.
See you in the comments.
Good morning Rico.
Strange how times have changed, in the not too distant past a retiring footballer might aspire to buying a pub, or a newsagent/sweet shop to boost his pension income. Now, they become football managers of Premiership clubs and then morph into executives at Football’s governing body.
Incidentally, Wenger has never once returned to The Emirates.
It seems, from pics in the paper’s, that the perks of club management include being snogged by Amanda Staveley. Watch out Eddie Howe, as old maps used to note Here be Dragons. 😉
Morning Cicero. Maybe that’s a good thing re ex players. I wish a few would take up officiating in the game.
Gerrard to Villa then..
Morning all.
Off topic, just watching the Australia v Saudi Arabia WC qualifier, and I can honestly say I’ve never seen a more pathetic bunch of diving pieces of shit than this Saudi side.
Think Kane/Son/Salah/Ronaldo/Grealish and the likes on the pitch at once.
Anyway, plenty happening on the managerial front in England I see.
It’s never dull 🙂
Morning Rico and all
The PSG story reminded me of the Ice Skating one were a female skater got some one to hit another one across the legs.
Gerrard is about to find out that managing a club in The Premiership is whole different ball game to managing one in what is effectively a two horse race.
The allegation is that Aminata Diallo was driving the car at the time it was ambushed.
Morning Geoff. Dreadful isn’t it.
Gerrard getting primed to takeover from Klopp one day I reckon.
And Brenda Rogers being touted as Ole’s replacement . It could be all change and a chance to creep in while they are settling in.
Or crash because of the ‘new manager’ syndrome..
I think the current situation at Old Trafford is enough to deter anyone but the most desperate for a top job from applying for the soon to be managerial vacancy.
Pogba 28, who is out of contract in the summer, will only sign a new deal if he is guaranteed a higher wage than Ronaldo.
Ronaldo 36, is proving to be a bit off the pace in The Premiership but wants to stay on at United as a future manager.
Cavani 34, is expected to leave in the summer to return to his native Uruguay.
Rashford 24, can seldom get a starting place due to injuries and off field activities.
Martial 25, Has been more or less side-lined for a couple of seasons and shows no sign of getting a regular starting position.
All of the above could be gone by the start of next season.
There are no oven ready replacements at the club so they will have to spend a huge amount of money over the coming year for a new strike force.
Apart from de Gea and one or two others the remaining squad players are not much more than aging journeymen.
The unrealistic expectations of the club and it’s fans will put an enormous amount of pressure on whoever accepts the poisoned chalice.
Sounds like the job Mikel Arteta took on.
That’s true Rico, but Mikel is a genius 😉
Or Edu and the Kroenke family Scott. Maybe all of them.
Rico, nah, Mikel is the man.
Josh was impressive in his recent interview.
I’m not sure if he knows what fans want to hear, but he seemed genuine to me in his vision of what he’d like the club to become.
Edu is doing well.
All parties have us headed the right way atm, long may it continue.
With all due respect to Wenger and his proponents, I think he’s overly over-rated! Besides the sweeping changes he emplemented during the earlier phase of his arsenal reign to the development of new stadium, there’s nothing to write home about him…From ignoring homegrown talent in favour of foreign imports to the massive loss of competitive edge ( and winning mentality) in the premier League.. infact it’s had to forget the embarrassment of the now infamous 8:2 lose…Therefore I am not ready to jump into the emotional and media-fuelled Wenger obsession..
Having said that, I, of course blame the club’s hierarchy for not acting earlier to salvage the situation by sacking Wenger..
Kyalo,
Fergie acknowledges the Invincible season as the greatest ever feat in English football, but I’m sure you know best.
Kyalo I guess Neil Warnock who has coached at several premier league clubs knows nothing about coaching after all he was asked to rate his top coaches in the premier league including past and present coaches and he said in his opinion Arsene Wenger is the best premier league coach.
Thanks ScottfromOz, Aussie Geoff, All
Yea, I think it is possible for people/pundits/coaches to say things to appease the media,
In my opinion, going an entire season unbeaten is nothing, I’d rather lose one match then win the next one, infact as an arsenal fan, I really admire the Manchester United of the ferguson era, we were no match to them in terms of discipline of winning..
Fair enough Kyalo.
We each judge things differently.
One things for certain-the man single handedly changed the game forever In England.
I do wonder if Arsene left in, say 2007, if he’d be remembered more fondly by fans.
His record would certainly have looked better on paper.
Wenger was a magnificent manager for a long time. It’s easy to rake over it all now and make surly, unpleasant and stupidly judgemental remarks as if any of us could do better. I watched every one of his home games live and, certainly during the Highbury years, saw football that was fantastic. He didn’t have the corrupt support of the referees like Ferguson did either.
We are in a different era now.
Well noted ScottfromOz and agreed, I also thought he should have left earlier to avoid his legacy getting tainted by the second part of this reign..
Kyalo, over-rated? Gosh, that’s really harsh and wrong in my opinion. Look at what he did with the careers of Keown, Bergkamp, Adams, Dixon, Winterburn etc, the overseas players he brought to the club, the list being too long to mention. I’m so glad he gave me the privilege of watching them play for our club.
He changed the game in so many ways. Was it his fault that overseas players were and still are cheaper than most overhyped English players?
Yes, he got things wrong and stayed too long etc etc, but for ten years, he was brilliant I think.
When has Neil Warnock ever said anything to appease the media? That’s not in his makeup.
Morning all by the way.
There is a new post up, it’s sponsored so be kind to me. 😂