BIG CUP IS BACK, BABY!
Beep, beep! It’s mid-September and that can only mean one thing: time for Wile E Arsène Wenger to embark on another Big Cup group expedition with as much optimism as a cartoon coyote hunting a c0cky roadrunner. Beep, beep!
Wenger goes into his latest campaign hoping it’ll be 958th time lucky and believing that he now has a particularly crafty armoury, Shkodran Mustafi and Lucas Pérez having recently been delivered by the Acme corporation. And what more fitting place for Arsenal to begin their latest European adventure than in Paris, city of lights, love and Arsenal goalkeeper malfunctions, from David Seaman being lobbed by Nayim to Samuel Eto’o being mowed down by Jens Lehmann. En garde, Petr Cech!
But let’s not write off Arsenal. Because PSG can be just as creative as Wenger’s iPhone artistes when it comes to finding ways to muck up in Europe. The Qatari advertising agency’s new manager, Unai Emery, is already wowing Ligue 1 observers with a bold attempt to reframe Laurent Blanc as a tactical wizard and there are reports that he has a novel stunt in store for Tuesday night: French news-peddlars claim that with PSG weakened by knack, Emery plans to trial an avant garde lineup that includes Blaise Matuidi on the left wing. Hatem Ben Arfa, spurned by Emery, will be sitting in the stands, where cameras will no doubt pick him out every time Matuidi looks out of place … or a shot by Olivier Giroud hits him in the face. Beep, beep!
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QUOTE OF THE DAY
“At the end of the day the article has helped because it has focused attention on this problem but the FA’s move is an overreaction that shows just how panicked people are. The message they are sending is ‘we don’t want anyone to speak out about this issue’” – Spyros Neofitides, head of the Cypriot players’ union, has accused the Cyprus FA of intimidation tactics aimed at silencing those who dare to speak out about match-fixing, after being fined €5,000 following Big Website’s exposé of rigged games and illegal betting on the island.
FIVER LETTERS
“Obviously the Barnett formula doesn’t apply to Fiver coverage. Aside from a lot of space about David Moyes, yesterday’s Fiver missed the Queen’s Celtic in a demolition derby of the Pope’s Newc O’Rangers. Ex-Fulham player Moussa Dembélé (not the Spurs one), fired in a great hat-trick. Maybe it’s English football for English voters. Maybe we will get a mention as an accessory to Barça” – John McGurk.
“With reference to yesterday’s Fiver, which makes mention to ‘Sunderland’s annual quest to hope really hard there’ll be three teams worse than them in the division’, I can’t help but think this should read ‘one team worse, one team woefully mismanaged and one team more determined to alienate their support base’” – Tom Bonsell.
“Like yourselves I have nothing interesting to say but would quite like a copy of the book” – Dan Taylor.
• Send your letters to the.boss@theguardian.com. And if you’ve nothing better to do you can also tweet The Fiver. We have a prize to give away each day of this week, in the shape of Carrie Dunn’s excellent The Roar of the Lionesses, courtesy of the kind people at Pitch Publishing. Today’s winner of our letter o’the day is … Dan Taylor. Do send us your details, Dan.
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BITS AND BOBS
Shaw Lane defender Daniel Wilkinson has died at the age of 26 after suffering a suspected heart attack on the pitch during Monday’s cup match against Brighouse. “Our thoughts and prayers are with his family and friends at this time,” said chairman Craig Wood.
A five-year-old Sunderland fan’s fight against cancer has been boosted after Everton donated £200,000 to his cause. Bradley Lowery’s family’s hope of raising £700,000 to fund potentially life-saving treatment took a step closer to being realised, after fans from across the league followed the club’s lead and pledged donations. “We wish Bradley every success and he has the love and support of every Evertonian,” the club said.
Meanwhile, Sunderland boss David Moyes is licking his wounds after a 3-0 going-over by Romelu Lukaku and Everton on Monday night. “Our back four suddenly capitulated. It’s really annoyed me,” he fumed. “Lukaku’s a top striker but we made it too easy for him.”
David Luiz is set to get the runaround against Liverpool on Friday night after Plain Old John Terry was ruled out for up to 10 days with foot-gah!
Spurs midfielder Eric Dier has signed a new contract with the club until 2021. “There are many reasons I wanted to commit my future to Tottenham,” he trousered.
Barça accessory dept: Queen’s Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers is waxing lyrical over Luis Suárez before the Uruguayan’s double at the Camp Nou later on Tuesday. “When you speak about Suárez you also have to speak about the man,” he grinned. “He is one of the most beautiful men you can come across.”
And Club Brugge boss Michel Preud’homme has told fans not to disrespect Leicester as they plan to stay away from Wednesday’s Big Cup encounter. “Maybe they have the wrong perception of the quality of the opponent that we get at home,” he sniffed. “The Belgium press says it’s not a big team but I say they are.”
STILL WANT MORE?
David Squires looks back at the Manchester derby.
Goalkeeping coach David Preece explains why debut clangers from Joe Hart and Claudio Bravo in new surroundings were hardly surprising.
In MLS, Canadian players are considered “international” if they play for American clubs. Sound ridiculous? Then read on.
Fans from all 32 teams in Big Cup explain their hopes, fears and delusions for this season’s competition.
The most hated club in football? Raphael Honigstein reckons all supporters can enjoy their football any way they like, and that includes you, RB Leipzig, energy drinks or no energy drinks.
Raheem Sterling. Discuss … Or let Jamie Jackson do it for you.
Paul MacInnes dives head-first into the Zlatan-shaped hole at PSG to assess the Ligue 1 champions’ chances against Arsenal in Big Cup.
Monaco’s vice-president Vadim Vasilyev has got the funk on and says Uefa’s plans to revamp Big Cup comes at the expense of French clubs. He also reckons Radamel Falcao will get back to his best this season. Hmm …
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