The Vincibles
The Vincibles
Kick Off
Well, it had to happen but god it hurts. Let's not pretend otherwise. Arsenal's winning streak is over, at the hands of Manchester United and while we remain top of the table for now at least, despite knowing that pragmatism is the only way through it, I can't help but feel extremely glum. And I knew it was going to happen too! I had a feeling deep in my bones that they'd do us and here we are.
I can't be sad however that Eriksen continues to storm his career after quite literally dying. Yes, I did yell at Martin Tyler mentioning it yesterday (not now Martin!) but he was right, I can't begrudge him it. This by Carl Anka explains just what he gives the team and how he provides creativity and a stabilising influence.
Of course it was also nice, on a personal level if not a tribal level, to see Marcus Rashford get a brace, though Marcus, could you not have done it against Leicester or waited until your Europa League game?
Anyway, United's performance (and the result) aside (Dalot, Lisandro and of course, because Narrative, Antony were all excellent) Arsenal are still top of the table and it's one game which was probably needed so we can identify weaknesses and work on them so we don't allow them to happen again. I also know all the wags (not the WAGs) on Twitter delight in putting the boot into fans trying to be rational but honestly, fuck off.
Elsewhere in the Premier League it was a bad weekend to be a team beginning with L playing a team beginning with B as both Brentford and Brighton ran out 5-2 winners against Leeds and Leicester respectively.
Ivan Toney bagged a hat trick for Brentford and goaded everyone who removed him from their Fantasy team this week. Joke's on you Ivan, I dropped you last season.
In the other game a woeful Leicester managed to somehow take the lead and indeed claw it back to 2-2 before Brighton finally wore them down and banged in, let's be clear about this, another four goals, including a ruled out worldie from Alexis Mac Allister who then followed up with another worldie that was allowed.
I don't want to talk about it too much because I find it extremely stressful but it's clear that VAR isn't working as it should at the moment. Now I may be wrong here but I've seen people talk about it as something that was introduced to identify "clear and obvious" errors across the board, whereas I understood it to check all goals for offside and only identify penalties or red card incidents which had been missed/called incorrectly.
On this basis, much as we often hate it, the offside debate is, for me anyway, a different one to the fouls debate. And the problem with the fouls debate is that it gets so tangled up in tribalism it's almost impossible to find sensible ground. I strongly believe West Ham's goal should have stood and while I understand the impulse of Chelsea fans to be relieved it didn't, at some point you need to take a step back and be objective about these things.
However, it is clear that VAR isn't working as efficiently or effectively as we expected it to and too often it seems to be used as a final word rather than a suggestion but I fear that, at the end of the day, whatever happens, someone's going to be pissed off.
To round up the Premier League let's quickly whizz around the other games. Bournemouth got another win under their belt with an exciting 2-3 win over Nottingham Forest, Spurs kept their gentle momentum going and Villa managed to hold City. As mentioned Chelsea beat West Ham after a VAR call ruled out the Hammers' equaliser, Wolves beat Southampton and both Newcastle Palace and Everton Liverpool ended 0-0, again with both games seeing goals ruled out by VAR.
So to Europe. I missed the Milan derby unfortunately and would have caught up on the highlights today were it not for BT scheduling them at 7am. All I have to say on that therefore is that I'm delighted for AC Milan and honestly just love Rafael Leão.
Elsewhere José spunked his shot at going top of the league with Roma after they got drubbed 4-0 by Udinese, who scored some superb goals.
In the battle of the light blues Napoli beat Lazio 1-2 to stay joint top with Milan, Napoli in the top spot due to goal difference. Fiorentina held Juventus which means Juve are now in 6th.
Atalanta play today and if they beat bottom of the table Monza, they will be top.
In La Liga Madrid retained the top spot after beating rivals for the crown Betis 2-1 on Saturday. Betis are now down to 4th after Villarreal and Barcelona beat Elche and Sevilla 4-0 and 0-3 respectively. Osasuna are the surprise package, currently in 5th after winning three out of their four games. The two teams left to play today are low down the table so there'll be no change at the top after tonight.
Again Ligue 1 won the race for most red cards given out with five, including an extremely soft one in the Montpellier Lille game. Ligue 1 is pretty good fun this year but my current favourite thing is that the top six is filled mostly by teams whose name begins with L.
Finally, to Germany where I actually managed to watch a whole Bundesliga game on Friday, despite Sky hiding it on their youtube channel which was impossible to find on my TV's youtube app so we ended up mirroring it from the iPad.
The game was Borussia Dortmund v. Hoffenheim and despite the 1-0 scoreline it was a good game with some great stuff played by BVB. I was particularly impressed with Bynoe-Gittens and tweeted to say so. Of course he then injured himself, potentially quite badly, it's yet to be confirmed what recovery is needed, so I really used my powers for accidental ill there.
With Union holding Bayern to a draw and Freiburg winning, we're now in the peculiar situation where Bayern are 3rd in the Bundesliga.
Form would suggest they'll easily come back from that but let's just take in the Top 5s from the Top 5 European leagues as, although of course it's far far too early in the season to call anything, it makes for fun and interesting reading. (I've included the Top 6 for Ligue 1 because I like the Lens, Lyon, LOSC, Lorient combo)
That's it for the week in ball. I'm not feeling very well today so no 'Half Time' section. I'll make sure next week's is a good one!
Thirst Trap
I've been trying to avoid this one for some reason, I don't know why. Sometimes you just need to be true to your heart though so here goes.
This week: Darwin Núñez
Now, obviously Darwin has a ridiculous body. I've previously showcased that in this section when he posted that absurd golden hour picture (in the collage below) of him in rolled up shorts looking bronzed and glistening, with enough abs to grate a tonne of cheese on. Then there were the pictures from Austria of him and the fish where his abs looked even more of a nonsense. So yes, he has an outrageous body.
I'm also extremely attracted to his face. He's not traditionally beautiful and it's taken me a while (since seeing him in the UCL when everyone started going on about him) to be won over but there's something there. And yes, I love his hair, up or down.
Let's also not ignore that he's got a slightly unhinged, rowdy edge. Yelling 'FUCK OFF' whilst hoisted in the air after Liverpool's last minute winner against Newcastle, to trolling Coady after his goal was chalked off for offside, I enjoy his swagger and arsehole vibes.
Finally in this section, my one word on the Summer Transfer Window, my quite frankly underappreciated Premier League Hottest Transfer XI
Merch Stand
Sorry (not sorry) that there is more Darwin content in this section.
Today Liverpool launched their third kit and it's gorgeous. I adore the green with the bright red trim and details and the swirly pattern. A really top notch shirt.
Another club who released excellent clothing today were Ajax whose stunning adidas x AFC Ajax x Daily Paper pre-match collection dropped.
(There's a video that's an embedded link in that tweet, you'll have to click through to see it)
Full Time
The noise I made when I saw this... I also, as I tweeted, literally folded in half in second-hand embarrassment. Though, to be fair to him, he does take it in good humour.
Ligue 1 provides the ultimate in premium...seating?
Lisandro Martinez has a very cute dog
Leeds fans have outdone themselves with this chant for Brenden Aaronson
The lyrics
But York have gone one better with this nickname for Lennell John-Lewis
And his chant
This story is extremely moving, I dare you not to cry about it.
And there we have it. The Champions League starts tomorrow. My picks are Dortmund Copenhagen at 5:45 and possibly Celtic Real Madrid at Celtic Park for the late kick off, then Ajax Rangers at 5:45 and Napoli Liverpool at 8 on Wednesday. On Thursday I'm going to be very boring and say it'll obviously be Arsenal at 5:45 and then United at 8. Sometimes you just need vanilla ice cream.
Anyway, enough of that, have a great week and I'll be back next week with more. Until then, adieu!
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