🚨 Wayne Rooney fires back at Jürgen Klopp over his comments comparing Germany's disallowed goal to Arsenal's set-pieces:
🗣️ “Listen, you can't keep dragging Arsenal into every conversation.
Every time there's a controversial decision, somehow Arsenal become the reference point. It's getting ridiculous.
People spent an entire season trying to discredit Arsenal's set-pieces, calling them lucky, calling them boring and saying they were exploiting the rules.
Now Germany have a goal ruled out after a VAR review, and suddenly Arsenal are being mentioned again.
The two situations aren't the same.
Arsenal's set-pieces were worked on relentlessly on the training ground. They were legal, they were effective, and they played a huge part in Arsenal becoming Premier League champions.
Let's stop being hypocrites. When Arsenal score from a well-worked routine, it's called 'boring football.' When another team is on the wrong end of a VAR decision, Arsenal are somehow blamed for changing the game.
Enough of that.
Give Arsenal credit for what they achieved instead of using them as the benchmark every time football throws up another controversy.”
🚨 Wayne Rooney on Declan Rice's set-pieces that inspired England's 4-2 victory:
🗣️ “For the whole of last season, people mocked Arsenal's set-pieces. They called them boring, said they were ruining football and claimed they could never win the biggest trophies playing that way.
Now look at England.
Declan Rice is delivering those same quality dead balls and they've played a huge part in a 4-2 win.
I've watched this World Cup closely and one thing stands out: Arsenal players have consistently produced dangerous set-pieces, with several leading directly to goals.
Maybe the issue was never the set-pieces.
Maybe people were simply frustrated because their own teams didn't have players capable of executing them at that level.
Football fans love effective set-pieces when they're winning games. They only complain when someone else is better at them.”
🚨🎙️ Jamie Carragher on Ousmane Dembélé and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia performance in the Champions League Final against Arsenal;
“Let’s not dress this up. Ousmane Dembélé has escaped criticism for far too long in this game – he always has. But that performance yesterday in the Champions League final against Arsenal? That should’ve blown the whole thing wide open and put him right under the microscope.
Apart from stepping up and sticking that penalty away, he was an absolute non-factor. Invisible. Did nothing. No threat, no drive, no moments. Just floating around the pitch like he was scared to get hurt again.
And it’s the same story with Kvaratskhelia! The Georgian was anonymous the entire match – quiet as a church mouse, offered nothing, never looked like beating his man or creating a single danger. He wins the foul for the pen and suddenly everyone’s raving, but come on… that’s not good enough at this level. Not in a final.
These two lads are supposed to be world-class attackers, the difference-makers for PSG. Instead, Arsenal had them in their pockets for 120 minutes and PSG needed penalties and a bit of luck to scrape through. If you’re relying on one penalty and one clever foul to get you over the line in a European final, that tells you everything you need to know.
They’re getting carried, they’re over-hyped, and it’s about time someone said it out loud. This expose should be the start of proper scrutiny, not another round of excuses.”
Emmanuel Petit on Premier League clubs mocking Arsenal after the final defeat:
🗣️ “I have to say, I found it embarrassing.
The second Arsenal lost, some Premier League clubs couldn't wait to jump on social media and remind everyone about their European trophies.
That tells you everything.
Instead of supporting an English club representing the league on the biggest stage in club football, they were busy celebrating Arsenal's pain.
For me, that's not rivalry. That's insecurity.
Arsenal were 90 minutes away from doing something special, and rather than show respect, people were desperately searching through the history books for old trophies to post online.
Why? Because they were terrified of seeing Arsenal join that club.
Let's be honest, some of these clubs spent the entire season watching Arsenal compete at a level they couldn't reach.
The jealousy was obvious.
The moment Arsenal fell short, they treated it like they had won something themselves.
That's the mentality of people who would rather see Arsenal fail than focus on their own success.
The trophy may have slipped away, but the reaction from some rivals showed exactly how much Arsenal still live rent-free in their heads.”
🚨 Thierry Henry Explains Why Arsenal Are One of the Most Hated Clubs in Football
🗣️: “People always ask why everyone is so obsessed with Arsenal. The answer is simple: relevance. When Arsenal are struggling, the world talks about them. When Arsenal are winning, the world talks about them. Very few clubs in football command that level of gravity.
Arsenal have one of the biggest fanbases in the world, and with a fanbase that large, every opinion becomes louder. Every victory feels bigger, every defeat becomes a global discussion, and every title race turns into a war between supporters online.
In recent years, Arsenal have returned to competing for the biggest trophies, and that naturally creates enemies. Nobody hates teams that are irrelevant. Rival fans say they dislike Arsenal supporters because they are confident, loud, and everywhere. But if we're being honest, every successful club has supporters like that.
After losing to PSG in the Champions League final, you can already see thousands of fans who don't even support the opposing team celebrating Arsenal's downfall. That’s not just rivalry; that’s fear and obsession.
The reality is that Arsenal are one of the few clubs in world football that people either love or love to see lose. That's usually what happens when a club becomes big enough to live in everyone's mind, even when they're not playing.”
Manchester City’s parade for their domestic cup double & Pep Guardiola’s farewell, compared to a spontaneous celebration last Tuesday night when Arsenal became Premier League champions.
We are not the same. ❤️😏