Monthly Archives: February 2020

Arteta has brought 'fun' back to Arsenal – David Luiz

The Gunners’ result may not have had a dramatic improvement since Mikel Arteta took over, but the Brazilian insists the mood is certainly better

David Luiz credited new Arsenal coach Mikel Arteta with bringing “fun” back to the club, suggesting the squad had become “sad” under his predecessor Unai Emery.

Arteta replaced Emery in December having spent a spell as Pep Guardiola’s assistant at Manchester City, with the club becoming underwhelmed by the team’s direction under the previous coach.

Although Arsenal have only won three of Arteta’s nine matches in charge across all competitions, the 2-1 loss to Chelsea is their solitary defeat in that time – in the previous nine outings the Gunners were beaten four times.

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For David Luiz, the changes implemented by Arteta have improved the mood of the players, while he also applauded the former Arsenal midfielder for the style of play he is attempting to impose.

“If you sleep four hours happy, you’re going to sleep better than eight hours sad,” the Brazilian wrote in a column on Arsenal’s official website .

“It’s like I said in that interview, and I stand by it. The result of people when they are happy is 10 times better than when they are sad. For me, you have to have fun not just in football, but in life. That’s the most important thing – and Mikel Arteta has brought that back.

“Working with Mikel has been great since the first day. He’s always working straight to the point and he has already shown us his ideas, his goals. He wants to try to bring the shine back to this club with a winning mentality and by working hard every single day.

“He’s trying to do everything as well as possible to achieve that. For me, personally, I’m enjoying it a lot. I came from clubs that would always fight for titles and would always fight to win, and Mikel knows that as well.

“He had an opportunity to go to amazing places and different clubs, and he worked a lot as an assistant coach for Pep Guardiola. He learned in the best way, so I think for sure he will be one of the best soon.

“His philosophy is the way I love to play football and that makes it easy for me to adapt to. We try to dominate and control possession and try winning the ball back as soon as we lose it.

“This is the idea I really love when I play football. I think Mikel is just trying to organise us every single day in the details, to make the quality of our work even better.

“It doesn’t matter if it’s his first job as a coach or not. He knows football, he knows inside the pitch. He prepared himself outside the pitch and he’s ready for that.

“I’ve had the opportunity to work with many, many coaches already in my career and I think he’s more than prepared to do the job. The enthusiasm comes naturally when you love something. He loves football, he loves to work, so this enthusiasm is contagious for everybody.”

After 25 matches, Arsenal are 10th in the Premier League, 10 points adrift of Chelsea in fourth.

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How the Pep factor could affect Man City's summer overhaul

The Spaniard is planning to bring in a number of new signings in the summer to cut the gap on Liverpool but his uncertain future could deter targets

Pep Guardiola insists that the uncertainty over his long-term future will not hamper his Manchester City overhaul in the summer.

City are set to have a busy transfer window as they look to reboot their Premier League credentials after falling way behind leaders Liverpool in their title defence.

At least one new centre half will be a priority after the club failed to replace Vincent Kompany last summer, but the form of John Stones and Nicolas Otamendi could see them move for two defenders.

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A new left-back and forward are also set to be on the wanted list, while there could be some high-profile departures that will need replacing.

David Silva is definitely leaving at the end of the season, back-up goalkeeper Claudio Bravo’s current deal runs out in the summer, while Leroy Sane remains a top target for German champions Bayern Munich.

But with just 12 months remaining on his own contract, the future of Guardiola could have an impact on how smoothly City’s transfer business works out.

The opportunity to work with the former Barcelona boss remains one of the biggest attractions for any new signings considering a move to the Etihad Stadium. From Ilkay Gundogan – Guardiola’s first signing in England – to club record transfer Rodri, who joined last summer, all have stated that working with the Catalan was a major draw card.

Other players such as Raheem Sterling and Fernandinho have clearly become much better players under his tutelage too.

The City boss will stay next season and hasn’t ruled out potentially remaining at the club for even longer. But it’s unlikely he will stay for as long as Jurgen Klopp, who signed a deal with Liverpool running until 2024.

Guardiola bashfully batted away suggestions that the possibility he will soon go could have an impact on their summer transfer business.

“That’s the not only reason they come here, because I am here,” he insisted before Sunday’s Premier League clash with West Ham. “I’d say we have been in contact with others who didn’t come when I was here! 

“I think the club is big enough and good enough to be attractive for players who want to play in the way we do, or they watch TV and see us and we have played against them.

“They will still want to come because of economic reasons, or because just they want to play for City. I think Man City is not a bad solution for players.”

There was success before Guardiola’s arrival. City have won four Premier League titles in the last decade – two with him and two without him – while the 2016 run to the Champions League semi-finals under Manuel Pellegrini remains their closest shave to the top European prize.

The Catalan was always the coach the club wanted and replacing him will be a monumental task. But it won’t be impossible with highly-rated alternatives such as ex-Tottenham boss Mauricio Pochettino sure to be considered.

“I am here because club was stable and moving forward before I came here,” Guardiola added. “Mancini won the title, and also with Manuel and the football they were playing then was really good.

“I’m not the reason why – the club is good enough, and we need players to believe they can help us.

“We want to maintain these levels we’ve had over the past seasons not just for the manager who is in position. There has to be other issues. The club has to be good to convince players and agents.”

Director of football Txiki Begiristain and Guardiola will already be drawing up plans for the summer with a final shortlist to be narrowed down in the coming months.

While time is running down on Guardiola’s time at the Etihad, there will not be any change to the type of players they want to sign – young, intelligent and skilful with the potential to develop.

But with rivals such as Klopp and Arsenal’s Mikel Arteta also possessing the coaching qualities to help young players prosper and both set to be in place for years to come, City may just have to work a little bit harder to convince potential targets that the Etihad is the right place to come.

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Brawn bullish over future prospects for midfield teams

F1’s managing director of motorsport Ross Brawn says he hopes and expects that changes to the way that the sport is run will prove to have have a positive effect for all the mid-field teams.

The current situation had led to a ‘two-tier’ system in the sport, in which only three big-spending teams – Mercedes, Ferrari and McLaren – are usually in the running for podiums, wins and titles.

While Mercedes amassed 739 points on their way to their sixth championship in 2019, the ‘best of the rest’ was McLaren with a mere 145 points, followed by Renault with 91.

  • Brawn: Williams’ current plight ‘a concern’ for Formula 1

The sport is introducing a budget cap from 2021 as well as more standard parts and tighter technical regulations to help improve the on-track competition. Changes to how the prize money is distributed among the teams will also have a major impact.

“I think that very process will bring some more parity between the midfield and the top teams in F1,” Brawn said of the imminent changes, and in particular the budget cap.

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“I know there’s a little bit of frustration from some of the teams that the cost controls aren’t lower,” he acknowledged. “We had to put them at a level that was manageable for the top teams.

“But it will still be a dramatic change for the top teams in terms of the change of their structure and so on,” Brawn told Motorsport.com. “So I think there’s a brighter future for the same midfield teams.

“They’re very challenged economically. That’s part of the problem,” he added. “The new commercial deal is much more equitable. the prize money much more fairly distributed amongst the teams.

“Some of those teams are going to have a substantial increase in their prize money which will make their economics more sensible,” he added.

Among the teams that Brawn hopes to see revived by the upcoming changes is Williams, which has sunk to the back of the grid in recent seasons.

Brawn admitted that the current plight of the once-championship winning squad was “a concern” for the sport as a whole.

“You live in hope that they can pull it together, because Williams is a great name for F1 with a great history.”

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Man Utd aiming for consistency in quality of signings – Woodward

Having brought in Bruno Fernandes and Odion Ighalo in January, the Red Devils’ transfer chief has promised more to come in the summer

Manchester United executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward says the club are aiming for consistency in the quality of their signings.

Woodward has told fans that more money will be available to manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer in the summer, having already helped bring in Bruno Fernandes and Odion Ighalo in January.

Woodward has argued that his investment into the club under Solskjaer has been more than satisfactory, yet has pledged to invest further funds in order to allow United to compete domestically and in Europe.

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“Our recruitment process focuses on analysis and selection of players over the course of a season, with a view to the following summer transfer window,” Woodward said at a quarterly fans’ forum.

“As part of the rebuild we see this coming summer as an important opportunity.

“There has been no shortage of investment in players over the past few years, with over £200 million ($260m) spent since Ole became manager. Our aim is to ensure that we continue to achieve consistency in quality of recruitment.”

The Red Devils currently sit eighth in the Premier League table, with just nine league wins all season. Woodward is, however, confident that the new arrivals can combine with the current squad to produce a positive end to the campaign.

“The signing of Bruno Fernandes and return of key players from injury will be a boost to Ole and the squad as we head into the second half of the season.”

“We remain in contention in the Europa League and the FA Cup, as well as for Champions League qualification, so there is still lots to play for.

“As a club and a board, we do recognise that we are not yet where we want to be. It is the overwhelming priority of everyone at the club to get us back to regularly challenging for Premier League and Champions League titles.

“Although progress may not always be smooth, everyone across the club is focused and committed on playing their part in helping achieve those aims.”

The executive vice-chairman also noted the importance of the club’s academy for future success, and is aiming for a healthy balance of youth and experience going forward.

“The recruitment department is working to a clear plan and philosophy, along with Ole and his coaching staff,” added Woodward.

“Our focus is on bringing in a combination of experience and the best young players with potential to develop further, fusing graduates from our academy with high-quality acquisitions.”