Sport

‘Mentally, physically and tactically, Arsenal show why they are a force’

Published

5 hours ago

September 23, 2024

'Mentally, physically and tactically, Arsenal show why they are a force'

It was hardly surprising that it was a set-piece that gave Arsenal the lead against City. Everyone knows how dangerous they are now, particularly at corners, but because they are so good at them, they are still very difficult to stop.

As a player, I always knew there would always be opportunities in these situations, if not for me then for one of my team-mates.

My old Newcastle boss Bobby Robson would tell us “there is always one dope who falls asleep” and we would try to pick out the opposition player who would be slow to react or forget his job.

That’s not what happened against City, though, whether for Arsenal’s first corner against them – when Gabriel escaped Jeremy Doku and headed over – or for the next one, where he got away from Kyle Walker and powered the ball into the net.

Instead, while everyone knew what Gabriel was doing and where he wanted to go, his sensational movement meant they could not stop him, and he was also only one part of Arsenal’s plan.

So many things had to happen, in a certain order and in the space of a couple of seconds, for the ball to end up in the net and I know from experience they are not easy to put together. You have to work extremely hard at all of them to make them work.

Firstly you need a precise delivery, which is what Bukayo Saka provided here, then you have to execute the block, with four Arsenal players coming in from the back post and standing in the middle of the goal, in front of Ederson, to impede him and to nudge other defenders out of the way too.

Gabriel has to time his run perfectly and come through all of that crowd and then, if he does get on the end of the cross, execute his finish correctly too. He didn’t quite manage it with his first go, but he made no mistake a few minutes later.

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Sport

Cardiff City: Nathan Blake points finger at board after Erol Bulut exit

Published

5 mins ago

September 23, 2024

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Cardiff City: Nathan Blake points finger at board after Erol Bulut exit

Blake says the hunt for a 12th permanent manager in Tan’s 14-year reign is a “minefield”.

Former Wales international Blake added: “You’ve got to get to a point at some point where the owners and the chairman and CEO, they sit and look at themselves and ask the question ‘are we doing this right, is this the right way to go about things?’.

“But it won’t happen, there’s no sort of self-revision of anything or looking at anything they do, it’ll just be the same old, same old. Whoever takes the job is a brave person, that’s all I’d say.

“There’ll always be someone because someone always thinks they can turn it around, ‘I can do better, I can manage this situation’.

“But until you get in the situation that I think the last 12 or 13 managers have found themselves in, you realise it’s not as straightforward as it should be.

“You’ve not got the backing, you’re not making decisions, there’s no sort of philosophy at the club. It runs deep.”

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Sport

Ohtani hits 53rd home run of season

Published

26 mins ago

September 23, 2024

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Shohei Ohtani hits his 53rd home run of the season to help LA Dodgers to a 6-5 win over Colorado Rockies.

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Sport

Exeter boss Rob Baxter to address ‘baffling’ performance in Leicester loss

Published

1 hour ago

September 23, 2024

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Exeter boss Rob Baxter to address 'baffling' performance in Leicester loss

Exeter boss Rob Baxter says he will meet with his players to discuss some of their “baffling” decisions during the 17-14 loss to Leicester.

The Chiefs conceded a last-second try to lose their Premiership opener during a disjointed home performance.

“Hopefully a few of the guys will hold their hands up and say ‘this is what happened, this is what was going on in the field’,” Baxter said.

“The reality is you listen on the ref mic and you don’t know half of what’s going on and half of what’s being said – you’re catching snippets of it, but some of it was somewhat baffling to me.

“Some of that will be us having to give more guidance, but the reality is when you set a plan you have to decide to follow things, and actually at times we almost decided not to, that’s what it seemed like.”

Exeter failed to score in the first half as they conceded a drop goal with the final kick of the period.

They improved after the break and led 14-10 against 14 men after Solomone Kata was sent off.

But when Will Haydon-Wood was sin-binned late on, Leicester took their chance to record a first win under new boss Michael Cheika.

“The silver lining of today is if we’d have seen that game off, which we could have done – say Leicester throw that last line-out in not straight, I’d probably be going ‘we showed a lot of character to win the game’,” Baxter added.

“But the reality is Monday morning’s meeting would have to be just as tough on some of the decision-making we made.

“The reality is this is a slap in the face and you have to accept it in that meeting.

“Our physical stats will be good, we’ve thrown a lot of physical energy into the game.

“But nine times out of 10 we disobeyed our own energy by the way we played and some of the decisions we made and some of their lack of communication.”

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Football

Guardiola: Chasing Perfection

Published

2 hours ago

September 23, 2024

NewsAdmin

How and why has Pep Guardiola been able to revolutionise football?

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Football

Listen: What next for Hearts?

Published

3 hours ago

September 23, 2024

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Thomas Duncan, Ryan Stevenson and Simon Donnelly discuss the big Scottish football news

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Sport

World Triathlon Series 2024 – Weihai: How to watch on BBC, schedule & GB squad

Published

4 hours ago

September 23, 2024

NewsAdmin

World Triathlon Series 2024 - Weihai: How to watch on BBC, schedule & GB squad

Olympic medallists Beth Potter and Alex Yee lead the British contingent for the World Triathlon Championship Series event in Weihai, and you can watch it live on the BBC.

The leg in China on 27 September is the last chance for the athletes to accrue points heading into the finals in Andalucia, Spain in October.

GB have a strong contingent, with Kate Waugh, Georgia Taylor-Brown and Sophie Coldwell joining Paris 2024 bronze medallist Potter in the women’s race. Olympic champion Yee is one of five Britons competing in the men’s race.

Yee sits in third in the men’s standings, with defending champion Potter third in the women’s.

Australian Matthew Hauser sits top of the men’s standings going into Weihai, while France’s Paris gold medallist Cassandre Beaugrand leads the women’s with compatriot Emma Lombardi in second. Four-time world champion Bermudian Flora Duffy is fifth.

After China the series will move to Spain for the finals, where additional points – 1,250 for the men’s and women’s winners compared to 1,000 in the other legs of the series – will be available. The finals will also be available to watch live on the BBC.

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