Premier League

GRAHAM POTTER has hit back at claims that he is too nice.Former Premier League stars Rio Ferdinand, Joe Cole and Danny Murphy all reckon Chelsea’s head coach should get more angry.
Chelsea boss Graham Potter has fired back at criticism that he is too niceCredit: AP
It follows Potter’s diplomatic approach to being denied a stonewall penalty at West Ham, after which he refused to blast the officials for not giving his team the late decision that could have won him the game.
But Potter said: “If you think that you can start a coaching career in the ninth tier of English football — the Northern Counties Division One — and get to this point, Chelsea and the Champions League, without sometimes getting angry or being nice, then I would suggest you don’t know anything about anything.
“Of course I get angry, I’m a human being, it’s just I choose to conduct myself in the way I think is the right way to conduct myself on the sideline.
“I think the same media are talking about me being more angry but then running stories about problems with referees at grassroots level.
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“They don’t see the connection. That’s not to say we don’t all lose our temper; we do because it’s an emotional thing.
“I have a responsibility to myself, to Chelsea, to the game, and to act in a way that is the right thing for me.”
Ex-Manchester United and West Ham star Ferdinand said Potter should have been more like Jose Mourinho after Saturday’s 1-1 draw at the Hammers.
Ferdinand insisted: “Mourinho would have been out there tomorrow and that would have been the story, the back page would have been ‘Mourinho slams VAR’.
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“It takes the focus off what happens on the pitch.”
And Cole, who played for both West Ham and Chelsea, agreed: “He’s always diplomatic.
“But you need to cause a bit of an uproar because it takes the deflection from the bad elements of your performance.”
Murphy also wanted to see more fire from Potter.
He said: “I wish he was more angry. He was deprived of a win he desperately needed.”
There are concerns the level of abuse aimed at officials at junior level is on a worrying upward trend and it is influenced by the behaviour of the game’s big names. 
Potter started his management career in charge of a university team and arrived at Chelsea via Swedish minnows Ostersunds.
Chelsea’s chilled out coach merely described Tomas Soucek’s handball as a “great save”.
Blues captain Cesar Azpilicueta was on the bench during the incident.
It was quite unfair for us to maybe not get a penalty and three pointsCesar Azpilicueta
He said: “I was angry. I can speak about myself and when I was watching the iPad on the bench. It was a bad decision that we were not awarded a penalty, that is the truth.
“It was quite unfair for us to maybe not get a penalty and three points.
“But I’ve been with different managers who have expressed themselves in a different way.”
Azpilicueta, 32, is helping to bed in the eight new players who signed for Chelsea during the January transfer window.
The long-serving defender said: “It’s been a bit of a busier January transfer than before but in my role, I try to help them adapt as quickly as possible to the team.
“In football, sometimes you don’t have a lot of time to start your journey in a new club, country, a different language.
“So from my side, I’ve been trying to help integrate them as quickly as possible in the team so that they can express themselves and show their quality, like a few of the boys have done already. I think we have exciting times ahead.”
The Champions League is Chelsea’s last hope of a trophy this season.
Right-back Azpilicueta said: “I never arrive at a Champions League game without thinking we can win it. Tomorrow is not an exception.
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“The reality is we’re not in the best form with results but it’s a new competition and it’s time to prove it on the pitch.
“We have to go step by step. It’s not worth looking past this game and it’s a big challenge in this stadium. We have to win the next challenge, show concentration and focus.” More

IF Pep Guardiola does not pay Arsenal the respect they deserve, Bukayo Saka will tear his Manchester City side apart tomorrow.I have no idea what Pep’s trying to do with his defence this season and it’s almost as if he’s trying to throw the title away.
Pep Guardiola must stop tinkering if he wants to beat Arsenal and win the titleCredit: Rex
Tony Adams feels Guardiola is almost sabotaging his own efforts with bizarre backlinesCredit: Louis Wood
So it will be fascinating to see what he tries tomorrow. If he puts Nathan Ake at left-back and plays his best back four, I think City will win the game.
But I’m not convinced that’s what he’ll do, and if he continues to mess about with his formation he’ll have no one to deal with Saka, who has been brilliant all season for both Arsenal and England.
Stop Saka and you stop Arsenal. It’s as simple as that because every time an opposing left-back has a good game against them, they struggle.
But Guardiola has just allowed Joao Cancelo to leave and I don’t think he actually knows his best team any more.
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He’s got the ammunition to beat every side in the country but there have been a number of times this season when he’s tried to get clever with his tactics and it backfired on him.
It’s almost as if his arrogance is saying “we don’t need a left-back, I can put Kevin De Bruyne on the bench, we can have a completely lop-sided formation and we can still win the game.”
So if I was playing against this City team I’d keep getting the ball out to Saka to tear their left- back spot to pieces and smash them for being disrespectful.
With all the talent Guardiola has at  his disposal, it should be a very simple job.
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Just pick your best back four, choose two wide players from Phil Foden, Jack Grealish, Riyad Mahrez and Bernardo Silva, and the rest takes care of itself.
But if City are going to win the Premier League from here, they have to start picking up points on their travels and the only way you do that is by having a strong defensive unit.
I should know, because I won four titles playing that way.
There’s absolutely no onus on the Gunners to go for the win tomorrow, and nothing would give me greater pleasure than to see a boring 0-0 draw.
What they need for this game is a bit of George Graham — defending well, keeping the opposition out of your penalty area, getting tackles in, staying in position and squeezing the lines so they can’t play through you.
Really it’s all about being  resilient, dogged, professional and a bit boring. If we come off with a goalless draw, hallelujah, that’s a brilliant result and you march on from there.
But like Guardiola, Mikel Arteta is a very offensive coach and  neither of them go out with the intention of keeping a clean sheet.
So it’s more likely to be 4-3 than 0-0 tomorrow.
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Obviously the chance to go six points clear at the top is a massive incentive for Arsenal but it’s not a cup final and they don’t have to throw caution to the wind.
When they beat Liverpool earlier this season, Arteta played Takehiro Tomiyasu at left-back and it was a genius move because he just sat on Mo Salah and completely cut out that threat.
It was the same in the 3-2 win against Manchester United last month, when Tomi replaced Ben White at half-time and stopped Marcus Rashford in his tracks.
So tomorrow I would play Tomi  at left–back instead of Oleksandr Zinchenko to take care of Mahrez because then Arsenal would have enough in midfield and up front exploit City’s weakness on the left of their defence and turn them over.
I just hope someone in the camp tells Mikel he doesn’t need to get clever for this one because Arsenal haven’t been in particularly great form recently, either, dropping points in their last two games.
I do have a bit of a concern about centre-back William Saliba after watching Ivan Toney giving him a going over at the weekend.
He’s a lovely footballer who is quick, tidies up well and doesn’t go to ground a lot.
Back in my day he might have been a central midfield player.
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But the jury is still out on the Frenchman  because he can get out-muscled and there is a worry whether he and Gabriel can handle Erling Haaland if the City striker is passed fit to play.
If Arsenal are going to win the league, then Haaland will be their ultimate test.
They have also been struggling for goals lately and they really need Gabriel Jesus back as soon as possible.
Striker Eddie Nketiah has done brilliantly to come in and score some goals like Christopher Wreh did for us back in 1998. But we still needed Dennis Bergkamp and Nicolas Anelka to come back and get us over the line.
It’s the same now because Arsenal won’t win the title without their main man up front.
At the moment it feels like Arsenal and City are both missing some of the parts needed to be champions.
The team that corrects those issues first will go on to win it but if they don’t I can still see  Manchester United coming in with a late run from behind.
They might be a long way back for now but they’re on a roll and there’s no pressure on them.
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I think Arsenal will win the game tomorrow but, sadly, I still don’t see them winning the title.
I still believe City will end up  as champions even though they’re doing their best to mess it up. More