Arsène Wenger must despair at the inefficiency in the game, embodied by the German midfielder’s omissionThere’s been something strangely disconcerting about seeing Arsène Wenger back on our screens, promoting his new book. Almost every interviewer he has faced has tried to lure him into some sort of indelicacy. Come on Arsène, settle some scores. Shit-talk Mourinho. Shit-talk Arteta. Shit-talk the board. Give us the full-body contact. Yet by and large, Wenger has refused to dance. His book is restrained, measured, high on facts and light on gossip, and has thus inevitably been panned as a crushing disappointment. Occasionally, however – much like his teams – he can still produce a moment of pure transcendence.On Friday night, Wenger was a guest...
The match that began as a battle of minds between Pep Guardiola and Mikel Arteta, but City looked more comfortable as things became more conventional in the closing stagesFor much of the night, the Etihad Stadium was thick with the fog of war. Games between managers who know each other well can often grind themselves into stalemate. There was never any realistic chance of that happening with Pep Guardiola and Mikel Arteta. Their two previous meetings as coaches had been contrasting, highly evolved affairs, and for an hour this was no different: a coaching duel that more closely resembled a heads-up poker game, an exercise in inscrutability.And yet in the end, this was not really a game won and lost...
Ancelotti has Everton aiming high, Manchester United need more than Cavani and flying full-backs impressedHéctor Bellerín has had his doubters over the past year. There have been suggestions a touch of his old pace has gone after long-term injury, and when PSG bid for him last month there was an argument it could be a good time for Arsenal to cash in. But Bellerín set up both goals against Sheffield United, the first after a typically barnstorming burst to the line, and is looking a touch nearer to his old self. “After such a long time at the club he doubted what ambitions he had here, how he could evolve here,” Mikel Arteta said after Arsenal’s narrow win. “But he...
The manager’s impact shows football still craves a charismatic leader in a world dominated by money and analysisDeep in the English understanding of football lies a willingness for faith, a yearning for a messiah. Fans want to believe in a hero who will solve all their problems: “We all dreamed of a day when a saviour’d come our way,” as the lyrics of the original 1997-98 Sunderland version of Cheer Up, Peter Reid have it.There may be complicated psychosocial reasons for that, related to historical governmental and ecclesiastical structures, but at the very least the sense was reinforced by the fact that as football entered its televisual age with the advent of Match of the Day in 1964, the English...
FA Cup glory came ahead of schedule for Mikel Arteta but he may need to be patient to complete his planned transformation Guardian writers’ predicted position: 6th (NB: this is not necessarily Nick Ames’s prediction but the average of our writers’ tips)Last season’s position: 8th Related: Brilliant Bukayo Saka shows Mikel Arteta has plenty of talent at Arsenal | Paul Wilson Related: Arsenal display more reason for optimism than they have had for years | Jonathan Wilson They have retained the same colours but Arsenal are, in other ways, chameleons. First they swapped south-east London, where they were born, for Highbury in 1913. Then they became entertainers, trailblazers and innovators under the inspirational Herbert Chapman. Fast-forward half a century and...