Premier League

DAMNED if he does and damned if he doesn’t, Mikel Arteta must be feeling that he just can’t win with some Arsenal fans right now.Regularly criticised for changing a winning line-up, the Spaniard is now getting it in the neck for not giving a break to star winger Bukayo Saka.
Mikel Arteta has faced criticism for his handling of Bukayo Saka’s fitnessCredit: Getty
Aaron Ramsdale’s dropping has also proved a little controversialCredit: Getty
Arteta might have thought that leading the Gunners to runners-up in the Premier League against all expectations last season would have proved that he knows exactly what he is doing.
Yet he clearly hasn’t convinced all the social media experts who are turning up the heat ahead of Sunday’s top-of-the-table clash with champions Manchester City.
Chief among Arsenal’s concerns is the fitness of Saka, who limped off during Tuesday’s Champions League defeat in Lens after suffering a muscular strain attempting a backheel.
Arteta insists that the injury was totally unrelated to the foot problem which had forced Saka’s early exit from his previous games against Spurs and Bournemouth.
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But many fans are still asking why Saka was even risked at Bournemouth and Lens when he has been struggling to cope with all the bumps and bruises he has copped this season.
The exciting 22-year-old has started a club record 87 consecutive Premier League games and will be desperate to keep that run going against City at the weekend.
But there is a growing belief that he is too brave for his own good and needs to be withdrawn from the firing line to protect against the risk of sustaining a long-term injury.
The dilemma for Arteta is that while there are alternatives available in Fabio Vieira and Reiss Nelson, neither is a top-notch replacement for Saka.
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Arteta is also finding himself under fire for his decision to go with David Raya as his number one keeper after the Spaniard’s poor kick led directly to Lens’ first goal on Tuesday night.
Aaron Ramsdale remains a firm favourite with the fans after his huge contribution to the team’s success and many people still wonder why the England international suddenly finds himself out of favour.
But Arteta has clearly decided that Raya is the way forward, just as he is sticking to his guns over £65million Kai Havertz despite the German’s early struggles to impress in his new midfield role.
And now that Thomas Partey has recovered from the groin strain which has sidelined him for the past month, Arteta is facing another big call ahead of the City game.
Because the Ghanaian international played the first three games of the season at right–back to accommodate Havertz’s presence in midfield.
And that led to the exclusion of centre-half Gabriel Magalhaes, who has been an immense defensive presence since returning to the starting line-up after Partey’s injury.
Arteta has already said that he wants his team to be more unpredictable this season and he will try to keep Pep Guardiola guessing right up to kick-off on Sunday.
And you suspect that he will want to have at least one surprise up his sleeve for a match which will have a huge influence on the Emirates narrative going into next week’s international break.
Arsenal lost home and away to City last season and finished five points behind them in the title race. If they had won either game, they would have been Champions.
But captain Martin Odegaard insists that Sunday’s match is far too early to be considered a title decider.
He says: “It’s a massive game and it would be a nice boost to go above them in the table.
“But it’s still early in the season so we have to go day by day and just make sure that we are ready for Sunday.
“Tuesday night was not the best game for us so we have to learn from that defeat and make sure we bounce back in the next game.
“Sunday is the perfect opportunity to do that and everyone is excited and looking forward to facing City.
“I’m not sure about the nature of Bukayo’s injury but I hope it’s not too bad.
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“Any team in the world would miss Bukayo so hopefully he’s going to be OK and ready to play again.
“But we have many great players so we’ll just have to see what happens in the next few days.” More

MANCHESTER UNITED is a “graveyard” for managers and players, claims club legend Gary Neville.The Red Devils were defeated 3-2 by Galatasaray in the Champions League last night as their miserable start to the season continued.
Gary Neville has claimed he feels sympathy for Erik ten HagCredit: PA
Pressure is increasing on the Man Utd bossCredit: EPA
United sit tenth in the Premier League table after seven matches played.
Erik ten Hag’s men have already lost four times, conceded 11 goals and performances have been far from convincing.
Amid pressure growing on the manager, Neville has revealed he has sympathy for the boss.
He told talkSPORT: “I feel very sorry for the manager, I know a lot of people will say he’s got to do a lot better, but there are a lot of big problems at the club that managers have found over the last ten years.
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“I think until those problems are solved we’ll still continue to see underperforming teams, underperforming players, it’s become a graveyard for coaches and players – it’s not too strong a term.
“There are very few players that excel at Manchester United in this last ten years, they were all great players when they came to the club, they were all wanted by other clubs.
“They won these players off of other clubs and then they end up coming to Manchester United and they end up not succeeding and not performing to their levels, why is that?
“It’s because it’s not culturally correct to accept players in the way that it should do and we need to get that right.”
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Neville has previously claimed there are “bugs” in the dressing room and feared Ten Hag would run into the same issues that past managers have faced.
The poor run of form the Dutchman has suffered has led to him getting the same Premier League loss ratio as Ralf Rangnick.
The German lost seven of his 24 Prem games in charge, totalling 29 per cent.
Ten Hag, meanwhile, has lost 13 of his 45 – also equalling 29 per cent.
As for Old Trafford being a “graveyard” for players, United have made a profit on just four signings in the past decade – Dan James, Daley Blind, Javier Hernandez and Chris Smalling. More

AARON RAMSDALE’S “wind up” antics have cost him his place on the Arsenal squad, according to former Gunner Gael Clichy.The English shot-stopper has fallen down Mikel Arteta’s pecking order since the arrival of Brentford loanee David Raya this season.
Former Gunner Gael Clichy said Aaron Ramsdale’s ‘wind up’ antics have cost him the number one spotCredit: Alamy
David Raya has replaced Ramsdale’s spot in recent weeks in the Arsenal squadCredit: Getty
This summer saw Raya make the move across London as Arsenal secured an initial loan with a pre-agreed fee of £27m at the end of the season.
Initially, there was a feeling when the deal was announced that Raya was coming to the Emirates to provide competition for Ramsdale.
However, in a matter of weeks, the Spaniard has forced his way into the first-team and consigned Ramsdale to a place on the bench.
But former Arsenal left-back Clichy believes Ramsdale’s “wind-up” personality has forced Arteta to sideline him as a way of keeping him “humble”.
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Clichy told Genting Casino: “Ramsdale plays with his head up and can wind up the opposition fans.
“Those qualities are great, it shows character, but if you go over the line then it can become an issue.
“I see this as a way of Arteta keeping Ramsdale humble and reminding him that Arsenal have not achieved anything yet.
“And now he’ll ask Ramsdale to prove to him what he’s made of.”
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Raya featured as Arteta’s No 1 again in Tuesday night’s Champions League clash against Lens.
However, the shot-stopper failed to keep a clean sheet as the Gunners lost 2-1 to the French giants.
The former Premier League-winning Arsenal star Clinchy went on to say Raya coming in is only a test for Ramsdale.
He added: “Arteta bringing in David Raya is the same situation, he doesn’t want Aaron Ramsdale to relax.
“Ramsdale was the only goalkeeper competing for the number one spot, now he has tough competition.”
The former Man City star even compared Arteta’s management to Pep Guardiola.
He added: “Mikel Arteta has shown again why he’s a copy of Pep Guardiola.
“One of the main qualities of Pep Guardiola, he’s ruthless, he doesn’t care who you are.” More

ERIK TEN HAG has the same Premier League loss ratio as Ralf Rangnick.The under-fire Manchester United boss saw his side slump to a dismal 3-2 home defeat to Galatasaray last night.
Erik ten Hag’s side slumped to another defeatCredit: Rex
Ralf Rangnick failed to turn the Red Devils’ fortunes aroundCredit: Getty
Galatasaray’s win was their first on English soil in their entire 117-year history.
They had gone into the match without any Champions League group stage triumph since 2018, and none away from home since the 2012-13 season.
Man United now face an uphill battle to make it through to the knockout stage, having also lost their opener 4-3 to Bayern Munich.
While they have struggled in Europe, things have hardly been much better for the Red Devils in the Premier League.
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Ten Hag’s side have picked up just nine points from their opening seven Prem matches – their worst start to a campaign since 1989.
They have already lost matches to Tottenham, Arsenal, Brighton and Crystal Palace.
And it has now emerged that boss Ten Hag has the same Prem loss percentage as predecessor Rangnick.
The German, 65, endured a torrid spell as Man United’s caretaker manager two seasons ago.
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Man United slumped to a 3-2 defeat against GalatasarayCredit: PA

Rangnick lost seven of his 24 Prem games in charge, totalling 29 per cent.
Ten Hag, meanwhile, has lost 13 of his 45 – also equalling 29 per cent.
The Dutchman does have a far better win ratio than Rangnick, however, due to the fact that his team seldom draws matches.
United under Ten Hag have won 26, lost 13 and drawn just six of their 45 Prem games.
Rangnick, meanwhile, managed just 10 wins in 24 games, losing seven and drawing seven.
Ten Hag has the best win ratio of any United manager since Sir Alex Ferguson at 58 per cent in the Prem and 63 per cent in all competitions.
But only David Moyes, at 32 per cent, has a worse loss ratio.
Man United have now conceded 18 goals in their opening 10 matches in all competitions this season.
As per Opta, that is their worst figure since the 1966-67 season, when they conceded 20 in their opening 10 games.
Man United’s defeat last night was their seventh in 14 Champions League matches at OId Trafford.
They had previously lost seven of their last 96 Champions League games at home.
Squawka also pointed out that no player has provided more assists at Old Trafford this season than Davinson Sanchez, after the former Tottenham defender laid on two goals last night.
On the opening day of this season, Wolves were unlucky to lose 1-0 at Old Trafford.
That night Gary O’Neil’s men managed 23 shots on United’s goal, the second-most by an away team at Old Trafford since the stat began being recorded in 2003.
The following week United suffered their first ever defeat at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, having previously been unbeaten their since it opened in 2019.
Man United’s 3-1 home defeat to Brighton saw the Seagulls win on two consecutive trips to Old Trafford for the first time in their history.
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The Red Devils currently sit tenth in the Premier League table, already seven points off the top four.
A supercomputer has tipped them to finish seventh this term, which would be their lowest since Moyes’ ill-fated season in charge a decade ago. More