The Spanish No9’s instant integration into Chelsea’s forward line only adds to the sense that Arsène Wenger’s Arsenal are a club locked in perpetual transitionIn football, there are perhaps two types of crisis. There is the Arsenal type that festers for years until after a decade of stagnation and low-level grumbling you suddenly find all your best players are out of contract and you are battling Everton for sixth place. And there is the Chelsea type that bubbles up from nowhere, threatens to derail everything, and then blows itself out just as suddenly as it arrived.Whatever was going on at Stamford Bridge in August essentially ceased to affect performances on the pitch as soon as Antonio Conte put on a...
London was given a taste of what it feels like to have thousands of boisterous, tribal supporters descend on the city, but the scene was largely peacefulSo this is how it feels to be there when the English turn up, to be over there when we go over there. On a night of confusion, anxiety and some mild outbreaks of violence around the Emirates Stadium, London had a taste of what it feels like to be caught on the hop by thousands of boisterous, tribal, boozed-up football fans in search of a space to call their own for the night. Related: Alexis Sánchez soothes nerves after Cologne and fans give Arsenal a fright The visitors were largely well behaved, the...
Brighton provide perfect response, Everton are embarrassed, Liverpool have concerns beyond defence and Rafael Benítez sees progress from afarEddie Howe has worked wonders in overseeing Bournemouth’s exhilarating rise but his present task looks rather less attractive. They have yet to win a point and, while a defeat at the Emirates Stadium is not cause for concern on its own, the warning signs are stacking up. On Saturday they lacked initiative, invention, power and presence; it was a non-event of a display and it clearly bothered Howe, whose team have looked flat in all bar the late reverse against Manchester City. “I’m worried by the performance,” he said. “The four performances we’ve had, I’d accept one of them. I won’t accept...
The forward’s outpourings of frustration after Chile’s latest defeats suggest that retaining him is not the coup Arsenal might present it as, yet he remains key to dragging them out of their current messIn a little under a week, Alexis Sánchez’s life has been turned upside down. When the Arsenal forward woke up last Thursday, on transfer deadline day, he was assured that he would complete his endlessly trailed move to Manchester City; the one he had wanted and made no secret about pushing for.It did not happen for a number of reasons, chief among them Arsenal’s failure to close an incoming deal for Monaco’s Thomas Lemar, despite an offer to the French champions of €100m (£92m). Related: Alexis Sánchez...
Gunners fans may well despair at their club’s woes but they should be thankful they don’t support one of his teams on the other side of the AtlanticArsenal supporters are rightly wondering if it can get any worse for their side. Two losses in three matches to open the Premier League season, a manager in Arsène Wenger who has seemingly lost his touch and precious little done during the transfer window to improve the talent on the pitch. But if Arsenal fans are dismayed at the way the club’s majority shareholder, Stan Kroenke, runs affairs at the Emirates, a glance at his US teams offers little hope things will improve.The metaphor that best describes Kroenke’s sports franchises is that of...