@HerRoyalHeinous Your message definitely brings comfort! I do agree I think most should see beyond the agenda of a few but these days you just never know.
Haha! After a long season I was hoping for a bit of break from football and Forest but I’m already bored so bring on the World Cup!
‘It’s a way of life… it’s not a historical religion or ritual.’
Jas Singh of the Sikh Federation tells @IainDale why Kirpans should be viewed ‘in a bigger picture rather than one isolated incident’, following the fatal stabbing of Henry Nowak involving a ceremonial dagger.
'It is inflammatory, it is extremist, it is divisive, it is everything the family didn't want.’
Former senior police officer Neil Basu tells James O'Brien that he believes Nigel Farage is using Henry Novak’s death to score ‘political points'.
Look at how the PSG players immediately stopped appealing the moment the referee waved it away. Only Marquinhos approached the ref, and the bench stayed calm. Zero drama.
Now contrast that with Mikel Arteta and Arsenal. When Madueke pulled down Nuno Mendes and intentionally went down looking for a soft penalty, the Arsenal players threw a collective tantrum on the pitch. Arteta rallied his entire bench, screaming at the officials for almost a minute and nearly interrupting the game.
That’s the exact brand of tactical tantrum he throws in the PL to bully weak English referees who completely lack authority.
What makes Arteta truly embarrassing is his shameless desperation. Later on, when Gyokeres’ shot got deflected for a corner, Arteta was up in the fourth official's face demanding a handball penalty. Then we saw the replay, and the ball wasn't even close to a PSG player's arm.
He’s a certified embarrassment to the beautiful game.
This stat is making the rounds but missing the obvious, key context:
Wenger was one man down and was forced to play like this.
Arteta CHOSE to play like this with his full team.
A refereeing masterclass changed the game and gave complete control to PSG. Every 50/50, every time PSG dived the whistle blew. He didn’t allow time for the corner before half time, he booked Mosquera for nothing. Arsenal denied stonewall penalty.
He destroyed the contest.
Ref tells Saka to hurry up and take the corner with stoppage time up. Saka does his usual slow-walk to run down the clock. The ref calmly waits, and the absolute second Saka gets into position? He blows for half-time.
Absolute cinema. Masterclass game management for a final.
Arsenal got so used to getting away with murder from Premier League refs that when someone actually enforces the rules, they think they’re being robbed.
Credit where it’s due tho, they played some demonic football to get here. But if PL refs weren't so intimidated by Arteta’s touchline tantrums and fooled by their theatrics, Arsenal wouldn’t be parading a PGMOL trophy today.
Justice served in Europe! 🫶🏼
Need more of this in the Premier League.
In fairness I think it was Mark Calettenberg who said if a team are taking too long just reverse the decison. Be great to bring that in.
Arsenal have set the record for the lowest possession percentage for a team playing in a Champions League final (since records began in 2003-04).
The previous lowest record was also Arsenal, set in the 2006 Champions League final, which they played 72 minutes with 10 men.