The Warm-Up: It's gone a little Moyesy as United anger fans with pitiful display
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Updated 04/10/2019 at 08:48 GMT
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is bringing back some unwanted memories, while Gabriel Martinelli is making a name for himself.
Coach of Manchester United Ole Gunnar Solskjaer answers to the media during the post-match press conference following the UEFA Europa League group L match between AZ Alkmaar and Manchester United
Image credit: Getty Images
FRIDAY’S BIG HEADLINES
Ole’s Gunnar get the boot?
The Warm-Up has a theory that every new Manchester United manager eventually turns into David Moyes. They can be a club legend who has a great start after adopting a caretaker role, arrive at the job with a huge reputation and a planetary-sized ego, or be a Dutch eccentric who talks about sado-masochism and throws himself to the floor on the touchline. But eventually, the curse of Moyes will strike. Their hair will look a little greyer, their face more worn, and their spirit ever more eroded.
Last night, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer definitely had an air of the Moyes about him as Manchester United laboured to a 0-0 draw at AZ Alkmaar in the Europa League.
Historically bad performance? Check.
Coming in a historically bad run? Check.
Social media campaigns to get him the boot? Check.
Bizarre post-match quotes which seem disconnected from reality? Check.
“I am very pleased as it’s a good point away from home against a difficult opponent on a difficult surface,” he said.
“They beat Feyenoord 3-0 away from home, and we made many changes. It should have been a win.”
United fans who had to sit through one of the worst games in recorded memory may well disagree. And the club’s recent history would indicate that this doesn’t end well.
A star is born at Arsenal
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Gabriel Martinelli of Arsenal celebrates with teammates after scoring his team's second goal during the UEFA Europa League group F match between Arsenal FC and Standard Liege at Emirates Stadium on October 03, 2019 in London, United Kingdom.
Image credit: Getty Images
The Europa League has been a welcome distraction from a number of unconvincing domestic performances so far this season for Arsenal and that trend continued on Thursday night with an absolute roasting of a very bad Standard Liege side (very 1993 vibes).
Dani Ceballos got off the mark with his first Arsenal goal, Joe Willock looked everything Granit Xhaka is not with a dynamic goalscoring performance, Kieran Tierney summoned up the ghost of Ashley Cole with a superb display at left-back - but the real star of the show was Brazilian striker Gabriel Martinelli, who scored twice in 131 seconds and set up the Ceballos goal for good measure.
Martinelli was the least heralded of Arsenal’s summer signings but last night he produced two top quality finishes and generally impressed with his all-round game, marking him out as a player really worth watching this season. In fact that’s now four goals in two starts for the 18-year-old after his brace in the League Cup win over Nottingham Forest.
"I saw him in pre-season and he was working and in each training showing us his hunger," said Emery.
In pre-season he was perfect all the time with us in training, and I spoke to him to be calm because when he arrived with an opportunity to play like tonight, if he continues with this hunger then I think he will do well. Tonight confirmed that. The first thing in his mind is to help us and receive some minutes with us in the team. Tonight I think his performance and attitude was amazing.
And in news to keep an eye on: Mesut Ozil was left out entirely. “When I decided he shouldn’t be in the squad it’s because I think other players deserved it more,” said Emery.
Is Kyle Walker’s England career over?
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Kyle Walker
Image credit: Getty Images
A starter in the Manchester City side which has won the past two titles and collected 198 points along the way. A player with 48 caps, who helped England reach the World Cup semi-finals while playing out of position. And yet, for the second international squad in succession, Kyle Walker has been left out by Gareth Southgate.
In a purge of the heroes of 2018, Eric Dier, Dele Alli and Jesse Lingard all missed out as well for the upcoming games against Czech Republic and Bulgaria - with Southgate pushing forward strongly with Project Youth with Tammy Abraham and James Maddison joining the likes of Mason Mount, Jadon Sancho and Trent Alexander-Arnold in the squad.
But what of Walker?
“I think when you’re selecting a squad, the players need to see some sort of meritocracy when possible, and like I said in there, to bring those guys back in, who am I going to leave out?"
I said last month that we wanted to look at a couple of the other full backs - a different profile. I was really happy with what Kieran and Trent did in the matches. They're both in good form for their clubs. Kyle (Walker) is also in good form for his club. Kyle is a slightly more defensive full-back. He has good qualities with the ball, but the other two boys we felt did well last month and we didn't feel the decision to change would be the right one. I think he's playing well. It's not the case that he's playing poorly, we've just got really good competition in certain positions on the field.
"We've got really good quality, really good competition for places. There are some really tight calls and difficult conversations to have with players."
IN OTHER NEWS
Absolute scenes elsewhere in Europe:
Just look at those pitiful attempts to bring it down - that’s how you know this happened in the Europa. Erling Braut Haaland would have smashed the drone to pieces with one perfect swing of his boot.
HEROES AND ZEROES
Hero: Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang
For not just sitting and taking it when Borussia Dortmund CEO Hans-Joackim Watzke had a pop at him this week. Aubameyang, you may recall, arrived at Arsenal amid suggestions he was a “bad apple”, and has since been nothing but a lovely guy and a great influence in the dressing room.
“Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, who is playing so well for Arsenal, probably gets a warm feeling in his heart when he is looking at his bank account but on Wednesdays he can only watch the Champions League and be sad,” Watzke said.
Enter: Pierre-Emerick.
Zeroes: The Porto defence
An all-time classic of the ‘goal which looks amazing which is actually crap’ genre here as the Porto defence allow Feyenoord’s Rick Karsdorp to run through them without even a whiff of a challenge.
See also: Chris Marsden.
IN THE CHANNELS
Red Bull Salzburg were 3-1 down to Liverpool at half-time on Wednesday before embarking on a stunning comeback to make it 3-3. What sparked this turnaround? Well the Austrian club have kindly posted a video of coach Jesse Marsch’s half-time team talk, and it’s very revealing stuff.
[WARNING: Do not watch if you are offended by strong language]
COMING UP
It’s Birmingham v Middlesbrough in the Championship this evening - remember, you can watch highlights of that, and all the EFL action, on Quest on Saturday night.
If Marcus Foley has recovered from Spurs shipping seven goals at home – SEVEN GOALS. AT HOME. – he’ll be back for Monday’s Warm-Up
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