The bitter blows just do not stop for Mo Salah, while there is obviously a Liverpool angle on the Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang situation.
Boss, lad
In The Sun, Martin Lipton reports that ‘all Premier League stars will have to take a lateral flow test EVERY day as clubs brace for potential crowd restrictions’.
He goes into plenty more detail, but this line in particular stood out:
‘Prem bosses believe the new regulations are a recognition of the speed of transmission of Omicron.’
Nothing gets past Prem bosses, those clever sods.
Ask a simple question
‘Seven goals and a seventh straight league win, what message does this send out to their title rivals?’ – Martin Blackburn, The Sun.
That Manchester City are quite a bit better and richer than a massively depleted Leeds on a Championship wage bill. Next question.
Hardt break
Mediawatch appreciates David Coverdale’s efforts to find a dedicated Leeds angle from that thrashing. But the headline of ‘Now Bielsa must start Gelhardt’ makes for a pretty amusing juxtaposition.
‘With last season’s top scorer Patrick Bamford still out injured, Bielsa had nothing to lose by giving Gelhardt a go from the off.
‘Yet he was on the bench, with winger Dan James again playing as a central striker and failing to seize another chance.’
It is definitely worth pointing out that Gelhardt perhaps deserves a proper chance in the immediate future. But also Leeds lost 7-0 and it doesn’t particularly feel as though a teenager with one career Premier League start would have helped.
Bielsa did also bring Gelhardt on at half-time and he managed as many shots (0), key passes (0) and passes (9) as James. So yeah.
Mo problems
The Daily Mirror are all too happy to stoke the raging fires of injustice when it comes to one particular Liverpool player:
‘Mo Salah has been handed another slap in the face after being snubbed for the Fifpro team of the year.’
Will the insults ever end? Salah must be devastated not to be picked for something so illustrious that no club has more representatives than the Europa League’s Barcelona.
The Egyptian’s various achievements this year are listed, from his setting the pace for the Premier League Golden Boot, to his excellent Champions League record.
‘But none of that was good enough to see him nominated among the eight forwards who will be voted for on the team of the year.
‘Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and Romelu Lukaku made it into the 23, alongside Robert Lewandowski, Erling Haaland, Neymar, Kylian Mbappe and Karim Benzema.’
Well Lewandowski (55), Haaland (41) and Mbappe (41) have all scored more goals than Salah in 2021. Benzema currently has as many (36). Messi is on 34 and won trophies for club and country. Ronaldo has 33 goals for clubs in two of Europe’s top leagues, winning the Coppa Italia. Lukaku only has 20 goals at club level in 2021 but he crucially did win Serie A as Inter Milan’s top scorer.
The Neymar nomination is obviously a nonsense – he has had more injuries than goals (11) – yet even he has more trophies this year than Salah.
Finally, and this part is the most important: it means absolutely sod all.
Take two
There is obvious stock in hinting at possible trouble behind the scenes at Arsenal right now. Those bods at the Daily Mirror website have noticed as such, leading to this ripsnorting headline:
‘Takehiro Tomiyasu has simple theory why Arsenal teammate Ben White does not pass to him’
It turns out, ladies and gentlemen, that it is ‘nothing personal’ and instead merely a tactical quirk to do with pressing triggers. That should quell those thousands of rumours about Ben White absolutely detesting Takehiro Tomiyasu.
Crystal maze
The same outlet has an update on the biggest ongoing story at the same club. Over to you once more, Daily Mirror website:
‘Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s agent goes public with crystal clear message to Mikel Arteta’
Anything short of Aubameyang’s entourage calling the Arsenal manager a Captain Black wannabe is bound to be a disappointment but go on, let’s have it…
‘The striker’s representative Kwaku Mensah, under the handle of @kmenmedia, uploaded two pictures of Aubameyang lifting both the FA Cup and Community Shield in the summer of 2020.’
That is absolutely ‘crystal clear’. No confusion as to what the message might be there. You listening, Mikel?
Auba and out
On that subject, of course the Liverpool Echo find an angle to a story that has absolutely irrefutably nothing whatsoever to do with Liverpool:
‘Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has just proven Jurgen Klopp’s ‘boring’ Liverpool decision right’
Yes, only when Aubameyang was stripped of the Arsenal captaincy did it become clear that Klopp was ‘right’ not to sign him for a Liverpool team whose attack famously needs reinforcing.
Loan survivor
‘Chelsea’s hopes of Conor Gallagher recall dashed as Crystal Palace activate loan clause’ – Daily Mirror website.
Mediawatch is willing to bet that Chelsea were probably involved in negotiating said loan clause – that Gallagher would stay at Crystal Palace until the end of the season if he played at least half the club’s games by January – and so it is a bit weird to suggest their ‘hopes’ of recalling him have been suddenly ‘dashed’. They might have twigged by the end of August that Gallagher would play a fair bit for Palace.
Headline of the day
‘Silly Jean is not my glover’ – fair play to The Sun for their coverage of Cerro Porteno goalkeeper Jean being sent off before a game for goading opposition fans.
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