Arsenal are back, plus motivational lessons from Steve Bruce - The Warm-Up
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Updated 19/01/2021 at 09:17 GMT
Arsenal might very well be back after a 3-0 win against a woeful Newcastle side, who, it turns out, were not too encouraged by Steve Bruce calling them s***e. Elsewhere, Eden Hazard is not off to Fenerbahce, and Timo Werner could do with being played in his actual position.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (R) celebrates scoring the third Arsenal goal with Mo Elneny (L), Alex Lacazette (2L), and Cedric (R) during the Premier League match between Arsenal and Newcastle United
Image credit: Getty Images
TUESDAY’S BIG STORIES
Welcome back Arsenal Football Club
Arsenal won 3-0 against Newcastle, meaning they have kept five clean sheets on the bounce in all competitions and are now just two points off Chelsea. Impressive stuff and they are up to 10th (stop laughing at the back), one point ahead of Aston Villa, who have *checks league table* four games in hand. Four whole league games. Should they win those games, Villa could go top. This season is complete and utter chaos and mayhem.
And, poetically enough, it is the chaos and mayhem that Emile Smith Rowe and Bukayo Saka have brought to Mikel Arteta's Arsenal that have made them competitive again in this season of chaos and mayhem. The sort of sterile domination that Arteta's philosophy favours only really works if there is a creative spark that can change the rhythm. Smith Rowe and Saka represent that spark. The former created four chances, assisting once, while the latter popped up with a goal sandwiched between Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang's strikes.
Arsenal, it seems, may have found a formula that works. Therefore, The Warm-Up is delighted to officially declare them as back! However, it must be said this was Newcastle, whose own manager Steve Bruce said the following last week:
The gloves are off now and we will do it my way. We were absolutely frigging hopeless the other night; we were absolutely s***e. Unfortunately that’s happened a little too often in my 18 months here; it was nowhere near good enough for the challenge ahead. Maybe it’s a mentality thing. I’ve let them be comfortable. But, like I say, the gloves are off now. I’m going to do things the way I see fit. We’ll do it my way.
To the surprise of absolutely no one - bar maybe Bruce - his pep talk did not have the desired effect against Arsenal, as Newcastle were, well, s***e, again.
Nope, Eden Hazard is not joining Fenerbahce
A Bola are reporting that Fenerbahce want Eden Hazard: ‘After Ozil, Fenerbahce dream of Hazard’ reads their headline. Quite the story if it were a story but it appears to be complete conjecture.
The basis of A Bola's claim - and their claim is that the 28-time Turkish league winners are going to test the resolve of Real Madrid with a loan enquiry this summer - appears to be an interview given by Hasan Cetinkaya to Ajansspor, who is current vice-president of Belgian club Waterloo, and former club president of Fenerbahce.
This is what Cetinkaya told Ajansspor:
Hazard is an old friend of mine, I've known him since he was 15, when he was still playing for Lille. At the time, he had incredible love for Fenerbahçe and said to me: 'Hasan, one day I will play for Fenerbahçe, but I don't know when it will be'.
Which A Bola appear to use as the basis of this article to state that the Turkish side are set to swoop for the Belgian. One big problem, the interview with Cetinkaya is from 2019. So to conclude Fenerbahce are not going to bid for Hazard.
Frank Lampard closing in on the cause of Timo Werner's woes...
..and that cause is Frank Lampard.
Frank Lampard has given struggling Timo Werner a vote of confidence with some soothing words, telling him that he remains an excellent striker.
"Timo Werner didn't score all those goals the last few seasons by chance. He got them with his talent and ability. He is going through a tough period which most top footballers go through, I have no doubt in his ability that he can turn it around," said Frank Lampard at Frank Lampard's Chelsea Football Club's press conference.
The issue is definitely not talent but is probably due to the fact that Chelsea paid £50 million-ish for a forward who does not fit into their tactical set up. At Leipzig, Werner performed best in a front two, with a licence to roam, while at Chelsea he is being asked to play in a three. Ultimately therein lies Werner's problem, he is being played out of position, on the left, or through the middle in a three. And that speaks to what boils down to a slipshod transfer splurge over the summer. Chelsea bought but did they buy with any foresight?
The answer, as Werner's travails show, is no, and yet rumours abound that they are readying a move for Erling Haaland, presumably to play him on the right wing.
The Kid is now the Boss
'El Nino' Fernando Torres has taken his first tentative steps into management by taking control of Atletico Madrid's B team.
IN THE CHANNELS
This kit is tidy.
HAT-TIP
Mesut Ozil's Arsenal career may not have coincided with the club's most successful years in the Premier League, but he helped a club deprived of trophies win silverware once more, showed a large amount of loyalty and paved the way for more expensive signings. Following his move to Fenerbahce, his Emirates Stadium career deserves more credit than it is given, writes Enis Koylu.
The day Mesut Ozil arrived was about as good as it could get for an Arsenal fan. After a stagnant summer of non-activity in the transfer market, on a sunny August day, free-spending Tottenham visited the Emirates and were hotly backed to win. They did not, with Olivier Giroud scoring, and things got better for the red half of north London from there. Within hours of full-time, it was confirmed that Gareth Bale, often the thorn in Arsenal's side would be leaving Spurs for Real Madrid. Better still, someone had to vacate a spot in the Real Madrid squad for him and Arsene Wenger was primed to swoop for the marquee signing for which fans had clamoured for so long. Enter Mesut Ozil. Wenger's wry smile in his post-match interview remains the stuff of memes.
COMING UP
Couple of derbies: First up, it is the west derby with West Ham taking on West Brom before the Brendan Rodgers derbi as Leicester take on Chelsea. Elsewhere, Borussia Dortmund face a handsomely out-of-form Leverkusen.
Here tomorrow is Eurosport's very own kid, Ben Snowball.
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