The Warm-Up: This budget ain't big enough for the both of us
/dnl.eurosport.com/sd/img/placeholder/eurosport_logo_1x1.png){kind=logo}
Updated 08/12/2016 at 08:14 GMT
Jack Lang is dead set on getting more money for writing this column, even if it means one of his colleagues has to be sold...
The Warm-Up: This budget ain’t big enough for the both of us
Image credit: Eurosport
THURSDAY’S BIG STORIES
Arsene’s choice
It must be hard being an Arsenal fan. However well the Gunners are doing at any given moment in time, crushing, existential misery always lurks like a rain cloud just over the horizon. Leading the Premier League? That won’t last. Amazing youth player? He’ll want to go to Barcelona soon. Early-season fireworks? Inevitable November crash. Alexis Sanchez? Carl Jenkinson.
Things are going well at the moment: Arsenal are bumbling along nicely domestically and secured top spot in their Champions League group on Tuesday night. With Sanchez shining up front and Mesut Ozil in sparkling form, Arsene Wenger’s plans all seem to be coming together. When Hector Bellerin and Santi Cazorla are fit, this will be the best side they’ve had in years.
/origin-imgresizer.eurosport.com/2016/12/05/1982061-41636707-2560-1440.jpg)
Arsene Wenger does not think it matters if Arsenal finish first or second in their Champions League group
Image credit: PA Sport
You know what’s coming, don’t you? You can probably hear the doomy rumble in the distance. Yep, that’s right: it’s Ozil/Sanchez Contractapalooza 2016! (Tagline: ‘This budget ain’t big enough for the both of us!’)
If this morning’s papers are to be believed, Wenger is facing something akin to Sophie’s choice this summer: either break the bank to keep matador Sanchez while sacrificing puppetmaster Ozil, or vice versa. It’s harrowing stuff.
/origin-imgresizer.eurosport.com/2016/12/03/1980868-41612852-2560-1440.jpg)
Mesut Özil trifft beim 5:1-Sieg gegen West Ham United
Image credit: SID
The Telegraph are reporting that the German is seen as the more expendable of the pair within the corridors of power at the Emirates, but external influences could also play a part: according to the Mirror, Chelsea are sniffing around Sanchez and could make a move.
Of course, all this would be resolved if club bosses just decided to give them both what they want. But this is Arsenal; a happy ending is about as likely as Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain nailing down a starting spot.
Outfoxed
They were already through to the knockout stages. They had secured top spot in the group. They rested a load of first-team players. They were away from home. They were playing traditional European powerhouses who needed a win.
With all that in mind, Leicester probably were not expecting an easy night against Porto at the Dragão. But they failed to meet even the most modest of expectations on Wednesday night, turning in a performance that bordered on the pathetic.
Porto had scored just three goals in eight games before Leicester’s visit, but filled their boots against a backline that included the hapless Marcin Wasilewski and Ben Hamer, who had not played for the club for almost two years. In the end, the home side could have scored more than five.
Claudio Ranieri probably won’t care too much about losing, but the worry must be that the nature of the defeat will affect morale in the weeks ahead. With the Foxes teetering just above the relegation zone in the Premier League, there could be trouble ahead if heads drop.
Home sweet home
Tottenham’s three-game Wembley residency will surely go down in history as a predictable misadventure. Swapping home comforts for a rental property on the other side of town always looked like a cynical move, and while fans endeavoured to make the best out of the situation, defeats to Monaco and Bayer Leverkusen understandably soured the mood.
On Wednesday there was some belated respite from talk of a Wembley curse, Spurs dispatching CSKA Moscow with a businesslike performance to secure a spot in the Europa League at the end of a frustrating group-stage campaign. “We wanted to put it right,” admitted Harry Kane, who scored the second. “It’s been a bit annoying,”
All told, it’s probably a good thing that Tottenham are beginning to get used to life in north-west London: they’ll be there during renovation work to White Hart Lane, so they may as well make themselves comfortable.
/origin-imgresizer.eurosport.com/2016/12/07/1983123-41657947-2560-1440.jpg)
Tottenham's Harry Kane and Son Heung-min celebrate after Dele Alli (not pictured) scores their first goal
Image credit: Reuters
RETRO CORNER
The Warm-Up spent Wednesday evening watching Lyon vs Sevilla, so it was perhaps to be expected that thoughts would turn to the French side’s golden era in the early 2000s – and, more specifically, to Juninho Pernambucano, the best free-kick taker of all time.
Spare a thought for the helpless goalkeepers of Europe as you watch this video of all 44 (44!) of the Brazilian’s dead-ball goals for Les Gones:
HEROES AND ZEROES
Hero: Karim Benzema
The Real Madrid striker’s brace against Borussia Dortmund took him past Thierry Henry in the list of top French goalscorers in the Champions League – and to the 50-goal mark. He also pays his taxes.
Zero: Gianni Infantino
A 48-team World Cup with 16 groups of three teams is an idea so heinously bad that only a madman could possibly argue its merits. Unfortunately for the world, it appears the president of FIFA is just such a madman.
/origin-imgresizer.eurosport.com/2016/12/07/1983006-41655612-2560-1440.jpg)
Infantino will WM mit 16 Dreier-Gruppen
Image credit: SID
IN THE CHANNELS
As a collective entity that pays the bills primarily by writing about football on the internet, The Warm-Up always keeps an eye on the latest goings-on in the world of social media. You never know when things will go pear-shaped, so it’s good to keep a back-up career in mind just in case.
Anyway, it has come to our attention that certain denizens of the internet are getting all excited about the output of German clubs on Twitter. “Ooooh, they’re so edgy,” wrote one person I just invented to save myself the effort of finding an actual example of the thing I’m moaning about.
Look, The Warm-Up is all for freedom of expression, but let’s not pretend a few rote gifs constitute some blow struck for the creative arts, OK?
COMING UP
The Warm-Up hopes that Manchester United’s players have been practising their ice-skating skills, because they may need them on Thursday night. Their game against Zorya Luhansk (6pm) takes place at Odessa’s Chornomorets Stadium, whose rock-hard surface raised a few eyebrows when United trained on Wednesday.
There’s also Maccabi Tel Aviv vs Dundalk (also 6pm) and, at 8:05pm, Southampton vs Hapoel Be’er Sheva.
Having negotiated the group stage with ease, Tom Adams is hoping for a kind knockout draw in Friday’s Warm-Up.
Scan me
Related Topics
Share this article
Advertisement
Advertisement