Latest news with #ArsèneWenger
Auto Car
2 days ago
- Automotive
- Auto Car
I test hypercars for a living, but the scariest thing I do is take my £500 Audi for an MOT test
I'd be a hopeless sports coach. I don't just suspect that's the case, I fairly well know it, having spent a season 'managing' the Pear & Partridge FC, my local pub's football team, 20 years ago. Other than a notable 5-4 victory after being 4-0 down at half-time (local newspaper headline: 'Lovely Pear For Comeback Kings' – and yes, I wrote the match report), it wasn't a spell that had Arsène Wenger looking nervously over his shoulder. In partial mitigation, it wasn't unknown for the Pear's star striker to arrive for the match on a Sunday morning with a can of lager in his hand – whether still going strong from the night before or starting afresh that morning, I never quite knew. It wasn't the training or the tactics or team selection that bothered me – these were not high-stakes games – but the stress of watching and hoping. I found it unbearable. I get the same feeling when I drop a vehicle in for its MOT test. Last week it was my motorcycle, but a couple of months ago it was my Audi A2. You can check a vehicle's MOT status online, so at some point during the hour or two my local garage had the car, the website asked me to confirm I'm a human because I had refreshed the page so much to check up on the Audi that the system thought I was some kind of spambot. The nervousness, the anticipation, the feeling of dread. I hate it all. It doesn't matter how much prep or homework I've done: one of my vehicles is going in to be judged and I don't know what the outcome will be. It's the motoring equivalent of Schrödinger's cat. I don't get the same feeling from the family Land Rover, because I don't do any of the work on it. So it must be something about the feeling of being personally assessed. What's weird is that it doesn't really matter: whatever is wrong I can just take home and fix. My job requires that I drive things, so there's usually a car around if I need to go somewhere.
The Guardian
5 days ago
- Sport
- The Guardian
What factors will emerge to stop Arsenal winning the Premier League this time?
The last time Arsenal notched up three consecutive second-place finishes in the top flight, they went on to win the league fairly comfortably the following season, beating Liverpool by seven points. With Mikel Arteta now in Phase 19 of the five-phase plan he embarked on to establish his side as champions, trophy-hungry fans of the club will be hoping he can emulate his predecessor, Arsène Wenger, by masterminding a successful title tilt after back-to-back-to-back finishes as runners-up. During his time at Arsenal, Arteta has left virtually no stone unturned in his attempts to maximise the potential of his squad, using opposing team's anthems, a team of pickpockets, a longwinded metaphor involving lightbulbs, a training ground labrador, a bowl of lemons and an olive tree in his as yet unsuccessful efforts to get them over the line and on to the Premier League winners' podium in May. Of course with each passing failure there's always 'next season' and for impatient Arsenal fans whose team has now won the square root of nish-all in five years, they are currently living in those heady days of optimism where the assorted calamities visited upon them last season have been boxed off and temporarily forgotten, while those of next season have yet to make themselves known. While it is widely accepted that Arsenal's inability to win the title in 2024-25 was down to a combination of factors including knack, a refereeing conspiracy and the minor detail that Liverpool were much better than them, Arsenal's apparently shrewd and early dealings in the transfer market mean that among their fans there is a feeling – much like there always is – that their time has finally come. In bringing in six new players, only one of whom prompted several thousand weirdos among the club's fanbase to sign an actual petition voicing their disquiet at his arrival on the grounds he isn't good enough, Arteta appears to have signed shrewdly, early and well. Meanwhile in terms of homegrown talent, the emergence of the young Max Dowman as a genuinely exciting game-changer is a cause for real excitement, not least because Football Daily has several T-shirts and a pair of jeans in our wardrobe that are older than the latest prodigy to roll off the Emirates assembly line. 'Let's see how it goes,' said Arteta, when asked if the 15-year-old would be getting minutes in the Premier League this season after another impressive pre-season showing in defeat against Villarreal. 'Let's go into Saturday, into the break as well. He needs a little break as well because he hasn't had any holidays, really.' Next up for Arsenal is another friendly against Athletic Bilbao this weekend, before they get their latest effort to win the Premier League up and running with a set of six opening games against Manchester United (a), Leeds (h), Liverpool (a), Nottingham Forest (h), Manchester City (h) and Newcastle (a) that suggests the latest plot to foil them has been hatched by none other than the fixture generator. It's a dream come true. LA - what a city. If I'm honest, it was not my first choice … but [LAFC co-chief suit] John [Thorrington] changed my mind, changed my heart, my brain' – Son Heung-min on the powers of persuasion that led made him decide that a move to the USA USA USA was what he wanted after all. After being asked if he could win the World Cup for the USA USA USA, he might be having doubts again. An owner, a scout, an agent and a player go into an (unredacted) bar (yesterday's Still Want More? – full email edition). The scout says 'Mine's a pint'. The agent says 'Mine's a pint'. The owner says 'I'm buying, what's yours Harry?' The player says 'My name's not Harry'' – Max Maxwell. Come on, that's never Cristiano Ronaldo (yesterday's Memory Lane – full email edition). Me thinks there's a bit of penny pinching at Madame Tussauds and they've just whacked a Portugal kit on to a surplus to requirements Jacob from Twilight model' – David Bell. Sympathies for John Millard for his letter o' the day prize. No offence to Football Weekly, but dreck merch? Make mine a prizeless letter o' the Day' – Steve Mintz. His interest in nominative determinism made me wonder what Harry Piano (yesterday's letters) does for a living. After asking generative AI for an illustration of Hairy Piano at work, I've decided I would actually rather not know' – Dan Davis. Just a short, tear-stained note about Son Heung-min's career in England. He went to Germany very young and without a word of German. England, very young, without a word of English and in a high pressure world in which Asian footballers, few in number, were largely disregarded, looked down on as being not tough enough, big enough or even man enough. Perhaps great stamina and running might be mentioned, the 'praise' given to Park Ji-sung who deserved much more appreciation. To play at world class level for half a dozen of his years at Spurs, to lead them at last to a European trophy, to win a Golden Boot with some wondrous goals (with no penalty-taking because of Kane), to win the Puskas prize with that astonishing run and finish at Burnley, to be Asian footballer of the year so often, captain of his national team and to transform the whole profile of the sport in his home country and perhaps beyond, that is an extraordinary achievement … what a man, what a player' – Michael Gilsenan. If you have any, please send letters to Today's winner of our letter o' the day is … Steve Mintz Michael Gilsenan, who lands some Football Weekly merch. Terms and conditions for our competitions are here. Join Max Rushden, Barry Glendenning and the Football Weekly Extra pod squad as they preview the new Championship season and ask what Benjamin Sesko could bring to Manchester United. On Thursday 11 September, join Max Rushden, Barry Glendenning and a host of your other Football Weekly favourites live on stage for an evening of unfiltered football punditry at Troxy in London and livestreamed globally. Book now. After Alexander Isak was barred from the Newcastle United family day barbecue, and Benjamin Sesko agreed to join Manchester United, the Magpies are picking through the leftovers of the transfer market. The heat is on for Eddie Howe and his recruitment team, or else the squad will be seriously undercooked for the Premier League and Bigger Cup campaigns that lie ahead. After Anthony Elanga signed four weeks ago there's been not a sausage. This type of thing wasn't supposed to happen once Saudi money rolled into Toon, and yet just about every move has been skewered. The latest? John McGinn to add some Scottish beef to midfield. Meanwhile, the same Saudi money supposed to fund Newcastle has lured Darwin Núñez to Al-Hilal, thus smoking out some of the money Liverpool need to make Isak a done deal. Talk of a counter move for Mo Salad are (that's quite enough – Football Daily Ed). Ben Fisher will be checking in to our Matchday live blog this Saturday to answer your questions on all things Football League. If you have something you'd like to ask him, send your question in here. James Maddison faces a long period on the sidelines after Tottenham confirmed the midfielder had ruptured an anterior cruciate knee ligament. West Ham have confirmed Michail Antonio will not be signing a new deal as a first-team player but talks are continuing over a possible future role for the forward who is still working on his fitness after breaking a leg in a serious car accident. Scott McTominay is on the shortlist for the Ballon d'Or, baby. Aberdeen have been sanctioned by the SPFL for the 'the illegal and unsupervised ignition of at least 14 strobe effect devices' by a small number of fans. Ravy! And Swansea is abuzz with having Snoop Dogg and Luka Modric as part of the ownership team, and there's also the promise of a Snoop visit to the Liberty Stadium. 'Successful people have a lot in common – a work ethic, a grit, a determination to get where they want to get to. So with Snoop, Luka and the ownership there is a lot of positivity around the football club,' shizzled Swans manager Alan Sheehan. Tom Garry meets Shekiera Martinez, the happy Hammer who just loves scoring goals in the latest edition of our sister email. Sign up now. Boavista were Portugal's champions in 2001 but will now kick off in regional football. If at all. Philippe Auclair on a club following a familiar pattern under the ownership of a familiar face. 'It's gone beyond exploitation to expendability.' Paul MacInnes hears from the alliance of fans ready to take the fight to the suits pushing Oasis-style dynamic/surge pricing as loyalty is being exploited. We have yet more Big Website Premier League previews: Chelsea and Crystal Palace. And Ben Fisher has previewed the Championship season so that you don't have to. At the 1985 Charity Shield champions Everton beat FA Cup holders Manchester United 2-0. New signing Gary Lineker was in the Blues' starting lineup but Adrian Heath, the player he had supplanted as striker, came on to score the second. Lineker would score 40 goals that season, Heath 15, but Liverpool pipped Everton to the title. At Wembley, the Everton manager Howard Kendall is seen dishing out instructions to midfield duo Peter Reid and Paul Bracewell, both in very short shorts, and rolled-down socks on a warm day at Wembley.
The Guardian
30-07-2025
- Sport
- The Guardian
‘A new area': why British clubs are increasingly turning to Asia to sign players
Arsène Wenger was ahead of the curve in 2013 when he identified one of the world's fastest growing talent pools. 'I find a new market that is very interesting and very competitive is the Japanese market,' he said. 'Look at the number of Japanese players who play now in Germany for example.' And now England. This summer, Japan's Kota Takai became part of the new Thomas Frank era at Tottenham while Birmingham have added another two Japanese players to take their contingent to three. They also have the South Korean midfielder Paik Seung-ho while his compatriot Park Seung-soo has joined Newcastle from Suwon Bluewings. 'The idea is that we're coming into a new area,' the Newcastle scout Oliver Slater says. 'We're coming into a new market, which we have not really looked too much into before.' Post-Brexit rules have made it easier for clubs to sign players directly from Japan and Korea but there is also a greater recognition of the talent available in East Asia. Japan were not just the first team to qualify for the 2026 World Cup, but are no longer satisfied with just reaching a tournament with the captain and Liverpool midfielder Wataru Endo telling fans that it is time to talk of winning. The Japan FA long ago set a target of 2050, but now that seems a little unambitious. The talk is of a last-eight place next year, the semis by 2030 and then to go and win. Given talent such as Kaoru Mitoma of Brighton and the fact that Japan's youth development system is one of the best in the world, it would not be a shock. There are five Japanese players in the Premier League now that Takehiro Tomiyasu has left Arsenal after injury issues. There are nine in the Championship and – apart from the British nations and Ireland – only Jamaica, Denmark and Australia have more representatives in the second tier. 'The Premier League has changed English football and that in turn has changed the Championship,' says Eddy Bosnar, who played in Japan and South Korea before heading home to Australia where he later became head of recruitment at Western Sydney Wanderers. 'There is a lot more technical football now and it suits Japanese players more as they are excellent in that respect and also quick and always ready to listen and learn. In Australia, we were ahead of them back in the day, our team was full of players at big European clubs from 2000 to 2005 but now Japan are way ahead because of their development.' Not only are they good, they are also relatively cheap and heading overseas at a younger age. The Wrexham manager Phil Parkinson said last week in Australia that clubs have to look elsewhere as the European market is expensive. As yet, Japan's is not. Takai, a classy defender called 'Japan's Van Dijk' by the national team coach, Hajime Moriyasu, was the most expensive Japanese player in history but the international joined Spurs for less than £6m. Even if the 20-year-old never plays for Tottenham, the club would probably get their money back. 'In Japan, they want to give the players a chance to go to Europe as it is good for Japanese football in the long-term,' Bosnar, who was also at Dinamo Zagreb, says. 'They also, like clubs in Croatia, wait for the second transfer – players come and then get sold and then there is a sell-on clause.' There is a debate in Japan whether clubs are undervaluing their talent and, as more players impress, the fees are sure to rise. For now, though, there is a desire to be seen to be helping youngsters move on and, for obvious reasons, clubs would rather their best players join Tottenham or Celtic rather than a domestic rival. Sign up to Football Daily Kick off your evenings with the Guardian's take on the world of football after newsletter promotion Korean clubs have historically received better fees for their young talents and while league leaders Jeonbuk Motors have, for now, denied their star Jeon Jin-woo a move to the Championship when they are in the middle of a title race, there is also a desire for their players to head to England. Park Ji-sung was the pioneer for many, joining Manchester United in 2005 and ensuring that his countrymen and women back home were served a weekly Premier League diet. Park made an international name for himself helping the Taeguk Warriors reach the last four at the 2002 World Cup, moving to PSV Eindhoven soon after and, after a slow start, becoming a star and heading to Old Trafford. 'The World Cup helped both countries and the football has grown a lot since then,' Bosnar says. 'As soon as a World Cup comes to a country, then everything changes, and it continues to change.' More than two decades on, Korean and Japanese players have shown their worth on the pitch. There are still comments about shirts being sold in the 'Far East' when new signings are made, but these are much less common than in the past. Japan, especially, are becoming a force in the world of football, and increasingly in England.
Daily Tribune
30-06-2025
- Sport
- Daily Tribune
Wenger Vows Better Pitches at 2026 World Cup
TDT | Manama FIFA's Head of Global Football Development Arsène Wenger has pledged that pitch conditions will improve significantly for the 2026 World Cup, following widespread complaints during the ongoing Club World Cup in the U.S. Wenger admitted the turf quality at several venues, including Orlando, has fallen short of international standards. 'It's not at the level that the European clubs are used to,' the former Arsenal boss said. 'But that will be rectified for the World Cup next year.' Coaches and players, particularly from European clubs, have voiced concerns about dry, patchy fields and temporary grass laid over artificial surfaces. PSG coach Luis Enrique called out the conditions after his team's 4-0 win over Atletico Madrid, saying, 'The ball bounces like a rabbit.' He added: 'If we're calling this the best club tournament in the world, it should have world‑class facilities. I can't imagine an NBA game played on a court full of holes.' Wenger reassured that both stadium and training pitches will meet the required standards for 2026, when the U.S., Canada, and Mexico host the expanded tournament.
Telegraph
05-06-2025
- Business
- Telegraph
Jay Emmanuel-Thomas jailed for four years: Arsenal prodigy's slide into the underworld
Jay Emmanuel-Thomas was the prodigious talent who seemingly had it all. As a star of the Arsenal academy, the man known as 'JET' was tall, powerful, fast and able to score goals with both feet. 'He has outstanding qualities,' Arsène Wenger, the former Arsenal manager said in 2010, when Emmanuel-Thomas was 19. 'Jay is knocking very hard on my door – with two hands.' Such was his class in the youth ranks, there are clips of Emmanuel-Thomas in action that have taken on near-legendary status online. Almost two million people, for example, have viewed one of his goals for the Arsenal reserve team, in which he produced the most preposterous piece of skill – the ball somehow swished around his standing leg – to beat two Everton defenders at once. Throwback to this cheeky bit of skill and nice finish from Jay Emmanuel Thomas for #Arsenal 🙌🔴 — Arsenal News Channel (@Arsenalnewschan) January 5, 2021 It is difficult to overstate the excitement that swirled around Emmanuel-Thomas in those early days of his professional life. Truly, this was a young forward who seemed certain to become a Premier League regular, if not something even more formidable. He was only 16, after all, when he captained Arsenal to success in the 2009 Youth Cup, scoring in every round of the competition. Now 34, Emmanuel-Thomas has plenty of time to wonder why he never fulfilled this enormous potential, and to ask himself where it all went wrong. On Thursday, he was sentenced to four years in prison, after pleading guilty to a cannabis importation charge over an attempt to smuggle £600,000 worth of the drug from Thailand through Stansted Airport. 'It is through your own actions you will no longer be known as a professional footballer,' Judge Alexander Mills said. 'You will be known as a criminal. A professional footballer who threw it all away.' A father of two, Emmanuel-Thomas was arrested in September after around 60kg of cannabis was found by Border Force officers who had stopped two women at Stansted. One of those women, Yasmin Piotrowska, was the footballer's girlfriend. Detectives found that Emmanuel-Thomas had tricked Piotrowska and her friend, Rosie Rowland, into travelling to Thailand and bringing home four suitcases that had been vacuum-packed with cannabis. The women, who have both walked free, were told that the bags contained gold. 'I just feel sorry for the girls,' Emmanuel-Thomas said on his way to being remanded in custody in September. An investigation by the National Crime Agency found that Emmanuel-Thomas served as an intermediary between criminals in the UK and Thailand. At first, he denied attempting to import cannabis – only then to change his plea at Chelmsford Crown Court last month. How did an athlete of such promise, a footballer who has made almost 400 senior club appearances across various divisions and countries, find himself enmeshed in organised crime? His slide into the underworld is thought to have begun during his brief spell at PTT Rayong, a club in Thailand. During his short time there, Rayong had serious financial issues. In an interview with The Athletic in 2021, Emmanuel-Thomas said: 'Things started to happen that were making me iffy. Local players were asking if they could borrow money, not small sums – five, six, seven grand.' He soon left the club, which folded a few months later, but his connections in Thailand evidently remained. Before that move abroad, Emmanuel-Thomas had built a respectable, albeit unspectacular, CV in the English Football League. Throughout his twenties, a series of clubs lined up to take a chance on a player who had received such glowing praise from the great Wenger. 'He has the build you dream to have,' Wenger once said. 'When his fitness is right, Jay will be not only a good player, but a great player. One thing is for sure – he can score goals. That is a massive talent you cannot give to people. His right foot, his left foot, he is unbelievable in front of goal.' After five senior appearances for Arsenal and three loan spells away from the club, Emmanuel-Thomas moved to Ipswich Town in search of regular first-team football in 2011. He scored only eight goals in 71 Championship appearances, though, before dropping down to Bristol City in League One. Despite the move down the divisions, Emmanuel-Thomas never lost belief in his own ability. In an interview with Telegraph Sport in 2015, he made it clear that he would only play his way, on his terms. 'The way I play has been with me a long time and if a manager cannot see that how I play is a strong point and what makes me effective, there is not much I can do about that,' he said. 'I enjoy being myself. I am not really fazed about what people think of me, I wear what I want, I do what I want, I will say what I want. It is one of those things where if you can't be yourself at all times then you are never going to know who you really are. 'I have a lot of friends who have different types of lifestyles, I know musicians, I know people who do boxing. So everyone is different. I am just like a big kid really, I just like to have a good time, and I just want to keep that going.' Over the next few years, Emmanuel-Thomas went on to play for Queens Park Rangers, Milton Keynes Dons, Gillingham, Rayong, Livingston, Aberdeen, Jamshedpur in India and Kidderminster Harriers. At none of these clubs did he make more than 35 appearances. It did not help his career that Emmanuel-Thomas was, he claims, due to sign for a Chinese club before the transfer was scuppered by the outbreak of Covid. He subsequently spent 15 months without a team, forced to follow his own personal fitness programme, before signing for Livingston in September 2020, at the age of 29. His latest move, confirmed in July last year, was to Greenock Morton in the Scottish Championship. The club announced the deal on their website with the headline 'The Jet Arrives'. Less than two months later, after he was charged by police, Emmanuel-Thomas was released with immediate effect. 🛬 𝗝𝗘𝗧 𝟵 Greenock Morton are delighted to announce the signing of Jay Emmanuel-Thomas on a six-month deal. ➡️ — Greenock Morton (@Morton_FC) July 26, 2024 A new and far more gruelling chapter of his life suddenly awaits a player who was once described by Wenger as being able to 'play anywhere'. Now, Emmanuel-Thomas cannot play anywhere at all.
