Edu was also heavily involved in bringing Arteta in as Arsenal manager in 2019, with the club going on to win the FA Cup at the end of his first season in charge.

“From day one, we’ve been together and I’m very grateful personally for everything he’s done for me and the amazing work he’s done for the football club,” Arteta added.

“We both had this special chemistry working together.

“I’m very blessed that he’s been part of my life in such a beautiful place, managing this incredible club. He’s been a massive part of that.

“He’s had an amazing opportunity now to do something else in a different role. He believes that’s the right professional move for him. We have to respect that. From that bottom of my heart, I think everybody feels that we want the best for him.”

Edu’s departure comes on the back of Arsenal losing two of their past three Premier League games, drawing the other, to fall seven points behind leaders Liverpool.

However, they go into their Champions League match at Inter Milan unbeaten in the competition, with two wins from their opening three matches.

“With everything that we’ve been through these last four or five years – what a great place we are in,” Arteta said.

“There have been problems of all kinds at this football club for many years but we are in an incredible moment right now. We are blessed to be where we are.”

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Slegers is unbeaten so far, winning two and drawing one of her games in interim charge of Arsenal.

She has not been vocal on her chances of taking the job on a permanent basis, but said ‘I love doing it at the moment’.

White said Slegers has brought an identity back to Arsenal and can use her remaining games as a chance to impress.

“If she wants to put her name in the hat, this is an opportunity for her to impress as well,” White said.

“I really liked the brand of football they were playing [in the 1-1 draw against Manchester United on Sunday].

“It felt like it was quite different and more the Arsenal way. They showed a lot of heart and desire.”

Beattie played under Slegers when she was part of Eidevall’s coaching staff.

“As a character she is super cool, calm and collected,” Beattie said.

“She cares so much about the players and staff there, and the whole legacy that Jonas has built. She knows the job at hand and knows how big the task is.”

“If she gets the job she is a great human being, she is a great coach. She was always so approachable, easy to talk to and just loved her football. She wants this big role next and knows she is ready for it.”

By Richie Zyontz
FOX NFL Lead Producer

Editor’s Note: Richie Zyontz has been an NFL producer for FOX since 1994 and is in his 23rd season as the lead producer. He has more than 40 years of experience covering the league and has produced seven Super Bowls. Throughout the 2024 NFL season, he is providing an inside look as FOX’s new No. 1 NFL team, including NFL legend Tom Brady, makes its journey toward Super Bowl LIX. Read more behind-the-scenes stories from Richie Zyontz here.

There’s a sameness to traveling around NFL cities. For those of us covering the games, it’s mostly airports, hotels and stadiums, a somewhat humdrum pattern in what many consider a glamorous business.

But there is one place that swims against the stream, that maintains its charm among all 32 NFL stops. And that’s Green Bay, Wisconsin, where virtually all food is drenched in butter or cheese, and where life revolves around their beloved Packers.

Reminders are everywhere. Lambeau Field sits on Lombardi Avenue not far from Holmgren Way. Packer banners and signage are omnipresent, adorning front yards, backyards, and storefronts. Our hotel is blanketed in Packers history. In fact, I had Hall of Fame linebacker Ray Nitschke glaring down at me from the bathroom wall. It’s a little discomforting stepping out of the shower feeling nice and clean and seeing old No. 66 covered in mud and looking primed for a fight!

Packers memorabilia is everywhere, including this photo of Ray Nitschke in a hotel bathroom. (Photo courtesy of Richie Zyontz)

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The house that Vince built … and Madden loved

It takes only a 10-minute ride from the stadium to take you to a modest ranch-style home adjacent to the Fox River. Constructed in 1959 by Vince and Marie Lombardi, it became their residence throughout his 10-year tenure in Green Bay. To football historians, it has become a shrine, a prime stopping point for a quick snapshot.

[Related: More from Tom Brady | More from Richie Zyontz]

About 30 years ago, the house came on the market and there was one notable interested buyer. His name was John Madden. Madden idolized Lombardi. As a young fledgling coach, John once sat through a six-hour dissertation on the famous Green Bay “power sweep” given by the great man himself.

One year, we hosted his All-Madden Team show from Lombardi’s former home on Sunset Circle. There in the basement where Marie would mix her famous cocktails, and Vince would watch his game film, stood John Madden and Pat Summerall, filming our show with a nod to NFL royalty.

So a few years later when Madden heard the house was on the market, he expressed interest in buying it and turning it into a Lombardi museum. In the end, no bid was made, but the memories of that day in Lombardi’s basement stayed with Madden for the rest of his life.

When Vince Lombardi’s house went on the market, John Madden — a huge Lombardi admirer — expressed interest in buying it. (Photo courtesy of Richie Zyontz)

That’s Green Bay, a small city steeped in a proud history. With a population of 107,000, this football crazed community fills an 81,000-seat stadium. And that’s been the case since 1960, when Lombardi was in his second year as head coach. If you want season tickets today, you have plenty of company. There are 147,000 people on that waiting list. It is that type of passion, in this unique environment, which makes covering a game at Lambeau so special.

Lambeau Field is where special moments are made, including Tom Brady’s favorite

Those special moments have been plentiful in games we’ve covered through the years.

Brett Favre in 1995, playing on a severely sprained ankle and throwing five touchdown passes against the hated Bears. The championship game vs the Giants in 2007, when the wind chill was -23 and New York coach Tom Coughlin’s face was frostbitten and frightening to behold.

Legendary coach Vince Lombardi stands watch outside Lambeau Field. (Photo courtesy of Richie Zyontz)

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Future Hall of Famers Aaron Rodgers and Tom Brady battling for the NFC title in 2021, won by Brady’s Bucs, and capped off with an emotional hug between Tom and his teenage son Jack.

Tom says he still tears up thinking about that moment and calls it the favorite of his storied career.

Behind the Scenes: Tom Brady hugs his son after winning the 2021 NFC Championship

That was the last of only three games Brady played at Lambeau Field. With the Patriots, head coach and football historian Bill Belichick would dust off the old film and show his team what Green Bay meant to the history of the NFL. Brady and his teammates would be treated to watching the old Packer greats like Don Hutson, Bart Starr, and the legendary “power sweep” that so intrigued John Madden many years ago.

It was the Lions who were at home in the bad weather

Unfortunately, on Sunday, all the tradition and history meant nothing as the Packers were schooled by the powerhouse Detroit Lions, 24-14.

Tom Brady, calling the game with Kevin Burkhardt, says that his favorite career moment happened at Lambeau Field. (Photo courtesy of Richie Zyontz)

The weather was brutal, with driving wind and rain, and would seemingly have favored the home team. But Detroit, playing its first outdoors game of the season, handled the elements to perfection.

So did our intrepid sideline reporters Erin Andrews and Tom Rinaldi. They do the unheralded work of observing and feeding information to the truck and booth throughout the game, come rain or shine. After the game they were all wet smiles and cold hands — Lambeau has that kind of effect on people.

Bad weather at Lambeau Field did nothing to slow down the Detroit Lions. (Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images)

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Next week we head back to Tampa as the Bucs battle the 49ers, who expect to have star running back Christian McCaffrey back in the fold. Visiting teams are 8-1 so far this season with our crew. And while bad weather has been following us around, Tampa’s forecast looks great for Sunday.

Richie Zyontz has been an NFL producer for FOX since 1994 and is in his 23rd season as lead producer. He boasts more than 40 years of experience covering the NFL.

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Sporting have won 14 of their past 15 games, only losing in the Portuguese Super Cup this season.

Both City and Sporting are on seven points from three Champions League games so far.

In 2022 City beat Sporting 5-0 on aggregate in the last 16 of the competition.

“I feel like I’m a better coach [now],” said Amorim. “Unfortunately what I feel is that Pep Guardiola has also become an even better coach, so the gap remains.

“[City have] the best team in the world and the best coach in the world.”

City’s Portugal midfielder Bernardo Silva was a team-mate of Amorim’s at Benfica in 2013-14.

“He always showed he could read the game because he played different positions – as a defender, on the left, as a midfield player,” Silva said on Monday.

“When he arrived Sporting hadn’t been champions for 20 years. He changed the playing paradigm of Sporting. They are the best team in Portugal by far.

“He will be a rival but I am glad someone else from Portugal is in the best league in the world.

“When Ruben becomes coach of Man United, we will worry about that then. Right now we want three points to get to the top eight.”

The Detroit Lions, coming off a 24-14 road win against the Green Bay Packers, made a big move ahead of the trade deadline. On Tuesday morning, Detroit reportedly acquired veteran defensive end Za’Darius Smith and a 2026 seventh-round pick from the Cleveland Browns in exchange for a 2025 fifth-round pick and a 2026 sixth-round pick.

It hasn’t been much of a secret that the Lions, who sit atop the NFC at 7-1, have been looking to bolster their pass rush as they aim to make a Super Bowl run. Last week, head coach Dan Campbell even hinted that Detroit could be close to swinging a deal. 

Not only did the Lions lose star edge rusher Aidan Hutchinson for the season, but Marcus Davenport, John Cominsky and Derrick Barnes are on injured reserve as well. Hutchinson, who hasn’t played since Week 6, still leads the team in sacks with 7.5. 

The 32-year-old Smith could change that. This season, he’s started every game for the Browns, who fell to 2-7 on Sunday, and recorded five sacks and six tackles for loss. 

In his 10 seasons in the NFL, Smith has totaled double-digit sacks three times, most recently in 2022 with the Minnesota Vikings. This will be his third stop in the NFC North, after he spent three seasons with the Packers and one with the Vikings. 

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