BIG VASE IS BACK, BABY!
“We are playing for our supporters and my message is …” Unai Emery went on the offensive ahead of his Arsenal side’s Big Vase meeting with Vitória de Guimarães this evening. Stung by criticism after the defeat at Sheffield United on Monday, frustrated by the whispers of dressing-room acrimony, the Gunners manager reached deep into his bag of oratory and pulled out a line or two to get the hairs standing up on the backs of supporters’ necks.
“My message is that we are going to carry on with patience!” he roared as the flash bulbs dimmed and the ticker tape noticeably failed to fall. As battle cries go, it was more Leroy Jenkins than Henry V but Emery could be forgiven for feeling a bit narked – the defeat at Overlapping Centre-Backs FC was, after all, only their second of the season. The bugbear for fans as much as anything seems to be the fact that the result was exactly the sort you’d have expected in the later Arsène Wenger years, and if you’re going to have the results of the later Arsène Wenger years then you might as well have an affable and eloquent Frenchman with a bucket of trophies around to soften the blow.
Things at least shouldn’t get any worse for Emery this evening – Vitória have played two, lost two in Big Vase thus far and Emery’s team tinkering is likely to see him naming an XI closer to the one fans have been pining for in the league. Hector Bellerin, Kieran Tierney and, whisper it, maybe even the lesser-spotted Mesut Özil could all feature. Vitória, for their part, could well name former Spurs youngster Marcus Edwards, Wolves loanee Leo Bonatini and ex-Liverpool midfielder João Teixeira in their side.
Elsewhere in Big Vase, Ole Gunnar Solskjær’s Manchester United head to Belgrade for a rerun of the 1965-66 European Cup semi-final. Partizan won on that occasion, despite Nobby Stiles’s winner in the second leg, and they won’t be pushovers this evening (“They’re a team with some pace, a big strong striker and two or three very exciting players,” says Solskjær). Wolves also take on eastern European opposition, their game against Slovan Bratislava the 5,323rd of their season so far. And the Old Firm duo have perhaps the glamour ties of the day – Celtic welcome Simone Inzaghi’s Lazio to Parkhead while Rangers’ trip to Porto pits Alfredo Morelos against Pepe in the Batalha dos Fusíveis Curtos.
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QUOTE OF THE DAY
“We are not having a coach discussion and are happy to have Lucien Favre. These rumours around Mourinho lack any substance” – Dortmund sports director Michael Zorc responds to some managerial speculation.
Also from the BVB back catalogue:
2 December 2017 Zorc: ”We didn’t contact any other coach. We want to achieve the turnaround with Peter Bosz.”
10 December 2017 Dortmund sack Peter Bosz and appoint Peter Stöger.
April 2018 Zorc: ”We have always said that a longer collaboration with Peter is possible.”
May 2018 Stöger leaves Dortmund.
FIVER LETTERS
“Thank you for being so brave Robert Macmillan [yesterday’s Fiver letters]! I feel now that I can also come out and admit that I have also dreamt about Mo Salah having a hair cut. I’ve no idea what it means, but it was a nice change from my teeth falling out” – Nick Livesey.
“The accordion quote [yesterday’s Fiver letters], or variously bagpipes, or cornets and other brass instruments, is attributed to a man called Frank Fiest at the time of the first world war. I believe Fiest also came up with ‘If a tree falls in a forest with no person around, does anybody care if Watford get relegated?’” – Jon Millard.
“I’m sorry… ‘Fiver Jr’? ‘The little brat’? [yesterday’s Fiver]. Are you suggesting that while coping with the cruel demands of The Man, experimenting with novel methods of ingesting Tin, and phoning in vaguely tea-timely emails, the Fiver has managed to procreate? Which also begs the question … with who, or indeed what?” – Tim Clarke.
“I played a lot of chess in my teens. It is a game that requires deep thought, vision, tactics, forward planning, anticipation and flair. Even if The Fiver lacked all of these skills it would be impossible to lose in less than four moves from the start of the game [yesterday’s Fiver]. That is known as ‘fool’s mate’. Lack of knowledge of the rules of the game hasn’t stopped you writing about it before though, has it?” – Ian Smith.
Send your letters to the.boss@theguardian.com. And you can always tweet The Fiver via @guardian_sport. Today’s winner of our prizeless letter o’the day is … Jon Millard.
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Football Weekly Extra? Football Weekly Extra! Soon? Soon!
NEWS, BITS AND BOBS
Human rights fans Fifa have been criticised by Amnesty International after naming pro-democracy-protest-suppressing, extrajudicial-detentioning China as the hosts of the World Club Cup. “The new Fifa World Cup for clubs will be a competition which every person who loves football looks forward to,” fibbed Fifa president Gianni Infantino. Amnesty describe China’s human rights record as “atrocious”.
Former Bulgaria manager Krasimiar Balakov has claimed Jordan Henderson tried to convince him he had heard and seen racism against the evidence of his own ears and eyes during England’s 6-0 win in Sofia. “Henderson came to me and tried to convince me I had heard and seen things I actually hadn’t,’ said Balakov. “I told him I hadn’t heard anything. People had come to the stadium to watch football.”
The “highly offensive and inappropriate” banner of Divock Origi that was removed from the Liverpool section before the team’s victory in Genk last night was also displayed during June’s Big Cup final in Madrid.
The English Football League is to fund research into match-day policing aimed at managing potential flashpoints with a more progressive approach to supporters.
And Liverpool v Everton next month is to be the first Women’s Super League game played at Anfield. “This is an historic moment for women’s football on Merseyside,” cheered Liverpool suit Peter Moore.
STILL WANT MORE?
Pol Ballús and Lu Martín’s new book Pep’s City: The Making of a Superteam is out on October 24. Here’s an exclusive extract – the Romário-fication of Raheem Sterling.
Obviously the Fiver definitely knows all about cryptocurrencies, Bitcoin and blockchain, including important things like what they are. Paul MacInnes takes a look at the companies wanting fans to board the crypto-express.
Norwich v Manchester United, duelling hat-tricks and a Sabitzer howitzer – it must be this week’s Classic YouTube.
“Raheem Sterling came off and I went on” – Vitória’s João Teixeira gets his chat on with Will Unwin.
The story of El Tráfico: Joseph D’Hippolito on how LAFC and Galaxy built a rivalry from scratch.
Wolves are struggling to deal with the demands of the Europa League, reckons WhoScored?’s Martin Laurence.
Oh, and if it’s your thing … you can follow Big Website on Big Social FaceSpace. And INSTACHAT, TOO!
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You can get your hands on some of David Squires’ favourite cartoons of his from down the years at our Print Shop.
