The Warm-Up: Arsenal take the 'safe' option, not the exciting one
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Updated 22/05/2018 at 13:08 GMT
Plus: let's just listen to Jurgen Klopp, Nacer Chadli is going to the World Cup and Grant Holt is a wrestler now
Paris Saint-Germain's Spanish headcoach Unai Emery reacts during the French L1 football match between Caen (SMC) and Paris (PSG) on May 19, 2018, at the Michel d'Ornano stadium, in Caen, northwestern France.
Image credit: Getty Images
TUESDAY’S BIG STORIES
Emery bored: Arsenal go the ‘safe route’
If you are an Arsenal fan, know Arsenal fans or even simply follow Arsenal fans on social media, you’ll have spotted over the last week or two an amount of bargaining taking place. This is a fanbase talking themselves round to the idea of having Mikel Arteta – someone who has never before managed and only has two years as a coach – as Arsene Wenger’s successor.
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Mikel Arteta
Image credit: SID
After 22 years with the same manager, with the same methods and in the latter half of his reign the same failures, Arsenal needed something different. It didn’t even have to be good different. Just different. After stodgy predictability, there’s something exciting about the unknown.
And so it’s a fairly extraordinary thing that, as news broke last night that a late shift had taken place, and they were in fact going to appoint Unai Emery as manager rather than Arteta, there was a certain sense of anti-climax to the whole thing. It’s odd how things can turn out, that there can be disappointment when a club appoints a man who’s just won a domestic treble and has three European trophies on his CV, over someone who quite literally hasn’t managed before.
The Warm-Up – strictly neutral in this matter – reckons this is an awful shame, dare we even say a bit of a cop-out from Arsenal. They certainly seemed to have semi-panicked at the last minute, and appointed the ‘safe’ option over the interesting one. We didn’t have the first idea of what to expect under Arteta, and now we won’t get the chance to find out.
Klopp wants ‘desire’ from Liverpool against Real
You’ll read plenty of editorialising, opinions and predictions before Saturday’s Champions League final, so instead of all that let’s for now just get out of the way and point you in the direction of someone whose opinion genuinely matters.
Here’s what Jurgen Klopp had to say yesterday:
They are more experienced, that is a fact. If there is a market for experience they should sell it because then they would be even richer.
"Experience is very important in life but it is not the only thing. It is important to be more experienced but you can level it with desire, attitude, work-rate and that is what I love in football. We made our own experience.
"We are not as long together as Real Madrid because they play these finals pretty much with the same team so as a group they are very strong. That is all fact, but it is still football and we have a chance and let’s give it a try. Let’s go there and try to perform on a level which maybe people would say is not possible for us but it is possible.
"We did all the things we need to do plenty of times already in the Champions League campaign and now we need to do it again. Real Madrid is a really good football team but we are a really good football team. We are full of desire and we really work for our dreams."
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Jurgen Klopp, Zinedine Zidane
Image credit: Eurosport
Nacer Chadli is going to the World Cup, Alvaro Morata isn’t
Funny old world, isn’t it? Not a fair world, either, you’d argue. Because in a fair world Alvaro Morata, Hector Bellerin and Cesc Fabregas might be going to the World Cup, whereas Nacer Chadli might not be.
Squads are gradually being announced, with increasing senses of ‘Oh my…’ at the sheer weight of quality on display. That’s true of Spain, who could afford to leave out that trio of talent, and while Belgium clearly have quite a few decent players of their own, it does seem incongruous that Chadli is selected. Just to save you looking it up: yes, he does still play for West Brom.
Meanwhile in the Belgium squad, Roberto Martinez’s apparent distaste for Radja Nainggolan has lead to the Roma midfielder not only staying at home this summer, but retiring from international football altogether. And, frankly, if Nacer Chadli is getting in the squad ahead of you, who can blame him?
IN OTHER NEWS
Yes indeed, that is former Norwich lunk Grant Holt having just signed a deal to be a wrestler. What an odd world it is.
IN MORE OTHER NEWS
Get a load of the absolutely absurd collection of legends that showed up for Andrea Pirlo’s testimonial. Not that you’d expect anything else, of course.
HAT TIP
It’s hard not to think about it,” Andy Robertson says as he looks forward to the Champions League final after the Liverpool left-back has reflected for 45 minutes on his uplifting story from being a Celtic reject and relegated with Hull City a year ago to facing Cristiano Ronaldo and Real Madrid in Kiev this Saturday. “When you’re lying in bed you just think: ‘What if?’”
Andy Robertson, interviewed here by Don McRae in the Guardian, seems like a thoroughly agreeable egg.
RETRO CORNER
On this day in 1996, Juventus beat Ajax, Litmanen, Davids and the rest, on penalties to win the Champions League.
COMING UP
There’s no football. Well, that’s a slight exaggeration: there is some football, but to be honest if you’re seeking out the French Ligue 2 play-offs then you probably need some help.
Tomorrow’s Warm-Up will be brought to you by Jack Lang, who needs absolutely no help at all.
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