Pay cuts, furlough or deferrals: what are the Premier League clubs doing?
7 DAYS AGO - From Arsenal to Wolves, we look at what the clubs are doing regarding pay for players, non-playing Expand
7 DAYS AGO - From Arsenal to Wolves, we look at what the clubs are doing regarding pay for players, non-playing staff and casual staffArsenal continue to monitor the situation regarding player and staff wages and are playing an active role in the Premier League’s discussions. But there has been no decision taken and the focus has been on ensuring casual employees are looked after. All will be paid as normal until 30 April with the situation reviewed thereafter. Full-time employees were paid for the month on 27 March, as expected. For now there is little appetite to make redundancies. Nick Ames Related: Premier League clubs fail the smell test by furloughing their staff | Paul MacInnes Continue reading... Collapse
As Good As It Gets …….. 26th May 1989
28/03/2020 - What with the lockdown because of Covid19 and the media frenzy that has accompanied it I thought Expand
28/03/2020 - What with the lockdown because of Covid19 and the media frenzy that has accompanied it I thought it would be nice to share my story of possibly the greatest evening in Arsenal’s history. As most will know the football season in 1988/89 was interrupted by the Hillsborough disaster. That day I was in the North […] Collapse
So long Big Del, the sweary old-school Londoner who connected | Barry Glendenning
23/03/2020 - Shared experiences between people in separate places are quite the thing right now – plenty find Expand
23/03/2020 - Shared experiences between people in separate places are quite the thing right now – plenty find the radio a comforting friendBig Del died last week. A fixture in my Brixton local, he hadn’t been in since Christmas and the cancer did for him pretty quickly in the end. Nobody in the pub, not even those closest to him, had known he was ill because he seemed the type who probably didn’t want anyone feeling sorry for him.A retired brewery drayman, Del was a sweary old-school Londoner who loved his football, rooted for “those facking Gooners” and was England till he died. We’d even fallen out over it once; nothing serious, a clash of nationalities more than personalities. He knew this mick co-presented a Sunday morning radio show on TalkSport and always made it abundantly clear that he tuned in whenever he could. Occasionally in the strongest possible terms. Related: Enough of this epic delusion: coronavirus makes sport in front of fans a long way off Related: Facebook is still far too Collapse
Is Martinez a keeper?
16/03/2020 - While Leno is not the best GK ever, he is showing signs of improvements and is good on his line Expand
16/03/2020 - While Leno is not the best GK ever, he is showing signs of improvements and is good on his line and decent with his feet. He really has to do better with his aerial abilities but overall, I would say he is in the top 8 EPL GK. What about Martinez? He did not really […] Collapse
Arsenal head coach Mikel Arteta tests positive for coronavirus
12/03/2020 - Arsenal training ground closed after Arteta tests positivePremier League to hold emergency meeting Expand
12/03/2020 - Arsenal training ground closed after Arteta tests positivePremier League to hold emergency meeting on FridayThe Arsenal head coach Mikel Arteta has tested positive for coronavirus, the Premier League club have announced.“Our London Colney training centre has been closed after head coach Mikel Arteta received a positive Covid-19 result this evening,” a club statement said. Related: Manchester City's Benjamin Mendy in self-isolation due to coronavirus fears Continue reading... Collapse
Saka to Liverpool?
11/03/2020 - We know that the champions-elect are sniffing around our talented young attacker/wingback and Expand
11/03/2020 - We know that the champions-elect are sniffing around our talented young attacker/wingback and they’re not the only ones. If our club doesn’t get its act together we could lose him before his Arsenal career has barely started. Bukayo Saka has a year left on his Arsenal contract and I would love to be able to […] Collapse
Leave Pepe alone
10/03/2020 - Pepe has been having a frustrating season so far. He has shown glimpse of brilliance in the game, Expand
10/03/2020 - Pepe has been having a frustrating season so far. He has shown glimpse of brilliance in the game, good set-piece delivery and good camaraderie with his teammates BUT he has also been guilty of not playing direct enough, not taking on his defender on a one-on-one enough, always cutting back inside, too many times playing […] Collapse
Premier League: 10 talking points from the weekend’s action
09/03/2020 - Phil Foden gets a reality check, Chelsea’s veterans show their worth and West Ham’s board have a Expand
09/03/2020 - Phil Foden gets a reality check, Chelsea’s veterans show their worth and West Ham’s board have a decision to makeThe rehabilitation of Luke Shaw has been a success of Ole Gunnar Solskjær’s reign. A player given harsh treatment by José Mourinho may never turn into the first-choice England left-back he looked set to be as a teenager at Southampton but his recent repurposing as a left-sided centre-back has revealed extra dimensions to his game. It is a highly specialised position, one only really suited to those games where Solskjær sets his team up to soak up pressure, but since Shaw was deployed there at Liverpool in January, 3-5-2 has been the default formation for United’s more testing fixtures. Shaw’s presence also gave Brandon Williams licence to overlap, though both were put through plenty of defensive work by Manchester City. At 24, Shaw has become a senior figure guiding young blood through matches, something inconceivable under Mourinho. John Brewin Related: Manchester United Collapse
Alexandre Lacazette breaks West Ham’s resistance for fortunate Arsenal
07/03/2020 - This was an opportunity Arsenal could not afford to squander if the Champions League places were Expand
07/03/2020 - This was an opportunity Arsenal could not afford to squander if the Champions League places were to remain a possibility and, by hook or by crook, they made it count. For the moment they will not care how, even though this was a flat performance and a lively West Ham side created enough clear chances to leave with a win that would not have been remotely unflattering. Mikel Arteta was thankful for Bernd Leno, Alexandre Lacazette and the lines and vectors of VAR.Arsenal’s threat had been sporadic when, 12 minutes from time, Bukayo Saka cut in and fed Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. His shot was deflected off Declan Rice and up to Mesut Özil, who nodded astutely across for the substitute Lacazette to sweep the ball home. Their celebrations were immediately cut short by an offside flag but, after a delay of several minutes and numerous different dissections of toe and elbow positions, the decision was correctly reversed. It could be a significant moment in Arsenal’s campaign, putting them Collapse
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My favourite game: Liverpool v Arsenal, Premier League 2004
7 DAYS AGO - A young Neil Mellor, seen by Liverpool fans as a hybrid of Owen, Fowler, Rush and Ronaldo, won it Expand
7 DAYS AGO - A young Neil Mellor, seen by Liverpool fans as a hybrid of Owen, Fowler, Rush and Ronaldo, won it with a thunderous strikeWhoever you asked, the prediction was the same. Neil Mellor was going to be a Liverpool legend. The kid could not stop scoring. Before he had kicked a ball in senior football, Mellor was the subject of fevered chatter among Liverpool fans in the know. As a youngster he had breezed past every test set for him, first with the youth team, then the under-19s and then the reserves, averaging a goal a game every step of the way. As a teenager he’d broken an age-group goalscoring record held by Robbie Fowler – proof if it were needed that Mellor knew how to put the ball in the net. Related: My favourite game: Chelsea v Napoli 2012 | Luke McLaughlin Continue reading... Collapse
When football played on during world war one and inflamed a London derby
24/03/2020 - The 1914-15 season, which was played out to the backdrop of a world war, is one of the most Expand
24/03/2020 - The 1914-15 season, which was played out to the backdrop of a world war, is one of the most controversial in historyBy Richard Foster for the Guardian Sport NetworkThese are unprecedented times, but the Football League also had to face the prospect of postponing or cancelling the season when war was declared on 4 August 1914. The league’s management committee met a few days later and concluded that it was business as usual, with one caveat: a number of grounds would be used for mobilisation purposes. White Hart Lane was requisitioned as a site for manufacturing protection equipment, such as gas marks, so Tottenham had to play their home matches at Highbury.Many people believed the war would not last for longer than a few months. So, on 1 September, the Division One season kicked off with two fixtures. Manchester City beat Bradford City 4-1 in front of 9,000 fans at their Hyde Road ground while a crowd of 12,000 saw The Wednesday (they did not become Sheffield Wednesday until 1929) Collapse
Mikel Arteta recovering well as Arsenal reopen training facilities
19/03/2020 - Arsenal manager tested positive for coronavirus last weekStill uncertain when first-team squad Expand
19/03/2020 - Arsenal manager tested positive for coronavirus last weekStill uncertain when first-team squad will return to trainingMikel Arteta is well on the road to recovery after being diagnosed with coronavirus a week ago, Arsenal have confirmed, and the club’s training facilities have reopened for everyday maintenance after a deep clean.Around 100 Arsenal personnel, including the first-team squad and coaching staff, have been self-isolating since Arteta’s positive test. They were pencilled in for a return to training next Tuesday, but that looks far from certain now that the Premier League’s resumption will not take place before 30 April. The club are working through the implications of that decision for their day-to-day schedule, a process made difficult by the fast-moving wider situation dictating events. Related: Premier League, EFL and WSL football will not restart before 30 April Continue reading... Collapse
My Favourite Game: Manchester United's 1999 replay against Arsenal | Daniel Harris
16/03/2020 - With no live football on in most countries, we have asked our writers to pick a game they will Expand
16/03/2020 - With no live football on in most countries, we have asked our writers to pick a game they will never forgetMuch as the internet wills it otherwise, football inhabits the grey areas: everything is subjective, nothing is absolute, and it is no more deviant to change your mind than it is fraudulent to say you don’t know.However, certain truths are elemental, and here’s one: the 1996-2005 rivalry between Arsenal and Manchester United is the greatest the English game has seen, with – cue Arsène Wenger internal voice – quality, intensity and animosity beyond compare. And, though 2004’s “I’ll see you out there” game comes close, its zenith – and therefore English football’s zenith. too – was the 1999 FA Cup semi-final replay, which featured every aspect that can possibly eventuate when 22 people gather to boot a pig’s bladder around a green field. Related: Gary Neville: 1999 FA Cup win over Arsenal was only game I ever smiled in The Semi-Final that had it all.United vs Arsenal 1999. #FACup Collapse
Europa League thrown into coronavirus chaos as two last-16 ties are shelved
11/03/2020 - Sevilla v Roma and Inter Milan v Getafe first legs postponedSpanish authorities refuse landing Expand
11/03/2020 - Sevilla v Roma and Inter Milan v Getafe first legs postponedSpanish authorities refuse landing permission for Roma’s flightThe knockout stages of the Europa League have been thrown into disarray after two of the last-16 fixtures were postponed the day before the first legs were scheduled to take place as the coronavirus outbreak continues to take its toll on the football calendar across the continent.While Manchester United’s fixture against the Austrian side Lask Linz and Wolves’ meeting with Olympiakos are still set to take place behind closed doors on Thursday night after the Greek side’s players all tested negative for Covid‑19, it is understood Uefa is considering what action to take to ensure the competition can still be completed despite the widespread disruption. Related: Arsenal players in self-isolation as Manchester City game postponed due to coronavirus Related: Anthony Martial ruled out of Manchester United's first leg in Austria Continue reading... Collapse
Arsenal place players in self-isolation and postpone Manchester City game due to coronavirus
11/03/2020 - Evangelos Marinakis met several players at Emirates last month‘Risk of them developing Covid-19 is Expand
11/03/2020 - Evangelos Marinakis met several players at Emirates last month‘Risk of them developing Covid-19 is extremely low,’ say ArsenalLatest coronavirus updatesThe Premier League game between Manchester City and Arsenal at the Etihad Stadium on Wednesday has been postponed “as a precautionary measure” due to the coronavirus outbreak, the Premier League has said. Following the news that Olympiakos owner Evangelos Marinakis had contracted the virus, Arsenal confirmed that an unspecified number of unnamed players met Marinakis after their Europa League tie on the 27 February and that those players are now in self-isolation. Related: Nottingham Forest and Olympiakos owner reveals he has coronavirus Related: Wolves condemn Uefa for not postponing tie with Olympiakos Continue reading... Collapse
Arsenal's Lucas Torreira set to miss rest of season with ankle fracture
09/03/2020 - Club confirm midfielder will be out for eight to 10 weeksTorreira suffered injury during FA Cup Expand
09/03/2020 - Club confirm midfielder will be out for eight to 10 weeksTorreira suffered injury during FA Cup win at PortsmouthLucas Torreira is unlikely to play again this season after Arsenal confirmed he will miss up to 10 weeks as he recovers from a fractured ankle.The Uruguay midfielder was taken off on a stretcher early on during the 2-0 FA Cup win at Portsmouth last week and was later seen leaving Fratton Park on crutches. A fracture was confirmed by Arsenal late last week but no return date was set until the 24-year-old had seen a specialist – with further information released on Monday now ruling him out for between eight to 10 weeks. Related: Bernd Leno makes amends as the Arsenal repair job picks up pace Continue reading... Collapse
Bernd Leno makes amends as the Arsenal repair job picks up pace
08/03/2020 - Keeper’s fine display against West Ham crowned a madcap week but the story of Mikel Arteta’s reign Expand
08/03/2020 - Keeper’s fine display against West Ham crowned a madcap week but the story of Mikel Arteta’s reign is quiet consistencyIt was another great Arsenal No 1, David Seaman, who always claimed that the real gauge of a keeper’s worth is not in the mistake itself, but the reaction. Dropped crosses and fumbled hots are an occupational hazard. Nobody is immune. But if you want to judge a goalkeeper, Seaman argued, watch their next game.How’s their confidence? How’s their mettle? Do they shrink? Do they hide? Here, nine days after the fatal error that helped eliminate Arsenal from Europe, was Bernd Leno’s answer. Left out of the squad for Arsenal’s FA Cup game last Monday, Leno will have had plenty of time to contemplate his hashed 119th-minute clearance against Olympiakos: to watch some of the scathing media reaction, to dwell on his misjudgment. Then he stepped out against West Ham on Saturday afternoon and produced a performance of nerve, resilience and outstanding reflexes that was probably Collapse
Let’s burst some bubbles: West Ham preview
07/03/2020 - Today we take on West Ham at the Emirates after a week and a half of ups and downs. On the down Expand
07/03/2020 - Today we take on West Ham at the Emirates after a week and a half of ups and downs. On the down side we crashed out of the Europa League with a home defeat to Olympiacos and our Uruguayan midfielder Lucas Torreira suffered a fractured ankle in the FA Cup tie at Portsmouth. On the […] Collapse
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The season Arsenal played 70 games, reached two finals ... and won nothing
31/03/2020 - After beating Liverpool in an FA Cup semi-final and Juventus in a Cup Winners’ Cup semi-final, Expand
31/03/2020 - After beating Liverpool in an FA Cup semi-final and Juventus in a Cup Winners’ Cup semi-final, Arsenal failed at the lastBy Steven Pye for That 1980s Sports BlogThe date is 12 May 1979, Arsenal are playing their 59th game of the season and Graham Rix is preparing to strike the ball. It is the 89th minute of the FA Cup final at Wembley and the club’s whole season is in danger of falling at the last, leaving them with nothing to show for all their efforts. Rix swings his left foot, sends a cross to the far post and Alan Sunderland heads the ball into the Manchester United net to score the winner.Fast forward 368 days to 14 May 1980 and Arsenal are playing their 68th match of the season and Rix is again preparing to strike the ball. Arsenal have already played 90 minutes in the FA Cup final and 120 minutes in a Cup Winners’ Cup final. Again they are in danger of winning nothing. Rix swings his left foot. Related: When Arsenal won the FA Cup ... after playing four replays in the same Collapse
Everything happened very fast': Mikel Arteta opens up on positive test
23/03/2020 - Season stopped after Arsenal manager’s coronavirus diagnosisClub say it would be ‘irresponsible’ Expand
23/03/2020 - Season stopped after Arsenal manager’s coronavirus diagnosisClub say it would be ‘irresponsible’ to restart trainingCoronavirus – latest updates | See all our coronavirus coverage A recovering Mikel Arteta has shed light on the background to his coronavirus diagnosis, which hastened the Premier League’s decision to suspend the season’s activities.The Arsenal manager tested positive for Covid-19 on 12 March and, the following day, the league was put on hold with an initial return date of 4 April. That has been extended to at least 30 April as the crisis continues to escalate, but Arteta is feeling better and explained how the situation came about. Alarm bells had rung when Evangelos Marinakis, the president of Arsenal’s Europa League last-32 opponents, Olympiakos, returned a positive test. Related: Marco Asensio wins Fifa tournament for Real Madrid, watched by 170,000 fans Continue reading... Collapse
Arsenal's head of medical rejects Liverpool offer to stay at Emirates
16/03/2020 - Gary O’Driscoll had initially accepted offer from league leadersLiverpool seeking replacement for Expand
16/03/2020 - Gary O’Driscoll had initially accepted offer from league leadersLiverpool seeking replacement for departing Andrew MasseyArsenal have been boosted by the decision of their long-serving head of medical services, Gary O’Driscoll, to reject a move to Liverpool and remain in north London.O’Driscoll originally decided to join Liverpool, who made him their top target to replace the Fifa-bound Andrew Massey, in January but has changed his mind and will continue in his current role at Arsenal. Both personal and professional reasons are believed to be behind his change of heart, with the improved environment under Mikel Arteta a significant factor. The 49-year-old’s family were keen to remain in London while O’Driscoll, although flattered by Liverpool’s interest, feels convinced and excited by the direction in which Arteta wants to take Arsenal. Related: Colin and Gary Lewin: 'Wenger didn't praise often but you knew when he knew' Continue reading... Collapse
If you could add one Invincible to our current team to improve it, who would it be?
13/03/2020 - I’m still buzzing from PSG qualifying into the CL 1/4 finals (although anxious that the Expand
13/03/2020 - I’m still buzzing from PSG qualifying into the CL 1/4 finals (although anxious that the competition will be cancelled due to Covid-19) and going down the PSG memory lane remembering of times when in the 90s, we had players like Rai that helped us beat teams like Real Madrid, I thought that it would be […] Collapse
Football transfer rumours: Alexandre Lacazette to Atlético Madrid?
11/03/2020 - Today’s fluff is hoping for a miracle We start with news that Mikel Arteta may be set for a summer Expand
11/03/2020 - Today’s fluff is hoping for a miracle We start with news that Mikel Arteta may be set for a summer spent wrestling with clubs in La Liga who want to make off with his strikers. Not only will the Arsenal manager have to fend off burly folk from Barcelona who intend to woo Pierre Emerick-Aubameyang, but reports in Spain suggest Atlético Madrid suits will try to whisk away Alexandre Lacazette too. Diego Simeone has unfinished business with Lacazette, you see. But don’t worry, he doesn’t mean the French striker any harm. No, he just really, really likes him and still hasn’t got over a move for Lacazette collapsing in 2017 because of a transfer ban at Atlético. He could also do with a few goals. Atlético have scored only 31 in the league this season, less than half of Barcelona’s tally, and even they haven’t been very good.Barcelona also have an eye on Mill favourite Timo Werner, who has half of Europe chasing him, but a warm hug from Jürgen Klopp could still convince the Leipzig striker Collapse
Mikel Arteta ready to take another step out of Pep Guardiola's shadow
10/03/2020 - The Arsenal manager faces his Manchester City mentor and remains determined to follow his own path Expand
10/03/2020 - The Arsenal manager faces his Manchester City mentor and remains determined to follow his own path to successThe question came less than 10 minutes into Mikel Arteta’s first media briefing after taking the Arsenal job and it was, as if anybody should have expected anything else, quickly apparent he had prepared for it. How important would it be to establish himself as a manager in his own right, and not merely an assistant to Pep Guardiola who had made good? “I think that is something that is going to be written all the time,” Arteta replied. “Maybe it will take a little time but it doesn’t matter how people see me, it matters how the players see me, how they are convinced we are trying to do the right things. After that, time will take all of those links away, I think.”It says plenty for the way Arteta has carried himself in the subsequent 12 weeks that such talk has hardly resurfaced. Nobody who crosses his path is left in doubt that he is his own man but, whether he liked it or Collapse
Leave Laca alone
09/03/2020 - When Alexandre Lacazette banged home our winner against West Ham on Saturday all Arsenal fans Expand
09/03/2020 - When Alexandre Lacazette banged home our winner against West Ham on Saturday all Arsenal fans breathed a sigh of relief. We hadn’t been playing particularly well but three points were essential if we were to hold out any hope of European football next year. I wouldn’t have cared how we got the winner – a […] Collapse
Arsenal keep West Ham in their place.
08/03/2020 - So our Champions League hopes remain narrowly alive; as the saying goes, we have to take one game Expand
08/03/2020 - So our Champions League hopes remain narrowly alive; as the saying goes, we have to take one game at a time and win them as they come along and that is exactly what we did, not pretty, but another important three points on the score board. It took, what seemed to be an eternity, for […] Collapse
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