Does Aubameyang make it into a combined XI now, Tim?

Sarah Winterburn

Mediawatch: A reminder
This from Tim Sherwood on Sky Sports:

“It would be a major shock to me if Arsenal won this game, even though they are at home. I can’t see how they can be favourites! When you look at the actual line-ups on paper, how can Arsenal ever be favourites to win this game? I know they’ve improved but at the moment they are quite a way off where Tottenham are.”

We hate to say ‘we told you so’ but…actually, f*** that, we love to say we told you so.

One question remains: Would Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang make it into his combined XI now?

 

And another reminder
Paul Merson on Sky Sports on Friday: ‘Tottenham have to play like they did last weekend, or Arsenal have every chance. But if they squeeze them, they haven’t got the ball players to play around it. They should start Mesut Ozil because they need all the passers they can get.’

It seemed to go okay without him…

 

Enjoy the silence
From in the Daily Mirror:

‘Mesut Ozil breaks his silence after missing Arsenal’s win over Tottenham.’

Yes. He tweeted for the first time since the last time he tweeted…after Arsenal’s last victory on Thursday. So pretty much exactly as you would expect.

 

Aubameyin
The Sun’s Mark Irwin is full of praise for Aubameyang (while dissing Arsenal, as is traditional) as he writes that the Gabon striker ‘is living proof you get what you pay for’.

He opines:

‘Since Robin van Persie packed his bags back in 2012, long-suffering Gooners have had to put up with a steady stream of duffers up front.’

Like Alexis Sanchez, who scored just 30 goals in all competitions two whole seasons ago. What an absolute duffer he was.

‘Not since the days of Thierry Henry in his pomp has an Arsenal striker terrified Tottenham like this.’

Well, except for Emmanuel Adebayor and his six goals in five Premier League north London derbies between 2006 and 2008 when Spurs did not manage a single victory. Except for him.

So if we ignore all those players who scored all of those goals, it’s all been a bit sh*t for Arsenal. Amirite?

 

 

Sourcey

Such excellent ‘sources’. Imagine having the kind of contacts that would allow you to discover that former Premier League managers are interested in current Premier League jobs.

And imagine entirely ignoring the actual favourites for the job – Paolo Sousa and Quique Sanchez Flores – in order to do an actual favour for said former Premier League managers and keep their names in the conversation. Imagine doing all that while also running a betting company taking money on unlikely Southampton appointments.

Meanwhile, on Sky Sports News, Danny Mills is asked for his opinion and says:

“You have to look at the Everton model. They brought in Allardyce very quickly and even though Everton fans didn’t like the style of play, he got them through.

“He got them into a position where they could rebuild in the summer.”

Pesky facts: Everton appointed Sam Allardyce a full five weeks after sacking Ronald Koeman, by which time they were in 13th and in absolutely no need of a rescue act.

 

Favourite waste of time
Mark Hughes was sacked by Southampton on Monday morning. So what was subsequently the top story on Mirror football?

‘Heading back…but for how long? Mourinho the new favourite in Premier League sack race as he rushes back to Manchester to prepare for Arsenal.’

It’s amazing what you can do with pictures of a man getting in a car.

 

Regular
Mediawatch read that story on Mirror Football and was left wondering just on thing: Who picked him up at the station?

Thankfully we have MailOnline to bring us this vital piece of information:

‘Jose Mourinho was pictured arriving in Manchester on a wet Monday morning following his side’s 2-2 draw at Southampton at the weekend.

‘The Portuguese boss travelled by train from London to the north west ahead of United’s clash with Arsenal on Wednesday.

‘Mourinho, who was met by his regular driver, is under scrutiny with his side in seventh place in the Premier League table, eight points off fourth.’

Regular driver? Yep. We suspected as much.

 

 

Killing Joke
Now normally Mediawatch hesitates to condemn anybody who criticises Jose Mourinho, but we have to make an exception for the BBC’s Garth Crooks. He includes Marcus Rashford in his team of the week and writes:

‘This really can’t go on. Jose Mourinho is killing Marcus Rashford. The lad pulled Manchester United from the jaws of defeat at Southampton and then Jose gave the one man who was desperate to win the game for him the hook? It made no sense.

‘The kid was on a roll and anyone who has played the game could see that. Mourinho may have won trophies but he destroys players in the process. He is doing to Rashford what he did to Arjen Robben at Chelsea. Rashford must get out of United now before what little confidence he has left is destroyed.’

Except, well, according to Mourinho himself, it was Rashford who asked to come off the pitch:

“Fatigue, he was injured, he was asking to come out…it’s one kick here, one kick there, one fall here, one fall there. Fatigue, lots of running, lots of movement, 75 minutes and he was done and we tried then with Martial replacing him.”

It seems Mourinho might be killing Marcus Rashford…but only by playing him twice in a week.

 

Recommended reading of the day
Jacob Steinberg on Jose Mourinho and his sea of negativity

Jonathan Liew on north London being red