Arsenal's pickpockets

GM football fans. Route One here, and we’re covering Arteta’s pickpocketing, West Ham’s stadium saga and much more.

STATS

Community Shield | Manchester City vs Manchester United 

Saturday 10 August, 15:00 BST

→ Preseason has been a mixed bag for both sides. Man City lost to Celtic and Milan, before drawing with Barcelona and beating Chelsea. Man United lost to Rosenberg, Arsenal and Liverpool, but beat Rangers and Real Betis.

→ This will be the third time Man City and Man United have met in the Community Shield – United have won both previous matchups, 1-0 in 1956 and 3-2 in 2011.

→ City won both Premier League contests last season, winning 3-0 at Old Trafford and 3-1 at the Etihad Stadium.

Plus…

• Premier League rule changes in 2024/25 (More)

• Lee Carsley is set to succeed Gareth Southgate as England’s interim manager (More)

• Portuguese legend Pepe retires at age 41 (More)

• Morocco won bronze in the Olympic men’s football with a 6-0 victory over Egypt (More)

PREMIER LEAGUE

Mikel Arteta hired professional pickpockets to target Arsenal players

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta is no stranger to using unusual tactics and it seems the Spaniard isn’t running out of ideas.

Last season, Arteta secretly hired a team of professional pickpockets to steal phones and wallets during a dinner with his first-team squad, per The Athletic. At the end of the meal, Arteta asked players to empty their pockets - only to find that they were missing their valuables. 

The reason? Supposedly it was to teach his players the importance of being vigilant at all times. 

This isn’t his first rodeo

Another trick he deployed involved hiding coins. The players were told to stash the coins in their trainers while their coaches were out of the room.

The coaches then returned and had to identify which players had the coins in their trainers, supposedly based on the look in their eyes. Turns out, Arteta and his coaches were watching the CCTV footage and so guessed them all right.

Apparently this drill proved successful in reducing the players’ tension ahead of a north London derby.

And the examples don’t stop there: 

• He showed his defenders a ‘rabbit-duck’ illusion, which is an image where either or both animals can be seen. When his players saw different animals, Arteta made the point that they must see both perspectives at all times.

• On another occasion he showed them an olive tree to give them the idea that roots have to be nurtured if anything is to flourish, going so far as to plant a 150-year-old olive tree, similar in age to the club, outside his training ground office at London Colney.

• There was the time he showed his players the workings of a clock to explain that they all had to play a part for things to tick.

Oh, and who can forget when Arteta took a light bulb into a team meeting to show it is nothing unless it’s plugged in? Probably to suggest his team need to be ‘connected’.

Whether or not it works is hard to tell, but Arsenal’s opening game on August 17 against Wolves will be a good time to show just how ‘connected’ they are.

POLL

HEAD START

🥇 The Olympic football finals are on today and Saturday. The men’s Gold medal match is on today between France and Spain at 17:00 BST. Both sides have performed well this tournament but France goes in as slight favourites after winning all five of their matches. They’re also on home turf and conceded just one goal the entire tournament. The women’s final will take place on Saturday 10 August at 16:00 BST. Football legend Marta will be hoping to end her international career on a high whilst USA manager, Emma Hayes will be aiming to win Olympic Gold just two months after taking the job.

🇪🇸 Barcelona avoid violating La Liga spending rules by selling 10% of Barcelona Vision. The Vision platform is Barcelona’s group of products associated with Web3, NFTs and the metaverse. The Spanish club sold 29.5% of Barca Vision to Libero for which they have never been paid. To make up for this financial shortfall, Barcelona have agreed a deal to sell part of Libero’s stake for €40mn. If that goes through then it will allow Barcelona to sign players without La Liga’s spending rule restrictions.

🔵 Chelsea close to signing 45th member of the squad. The Blues have agreed to sign 20-year-old Atletico Madrid striker Samu Omorodion for £35mn on a seven-year contract. This signing takes The Blues' total summer spend above £150mn with this being their eighth signing. Fans have questioned Chelsea's new transfer policy after Omorodion could become the 45th member of The Blues’ squad. The Spanish youngster is not expected to be part of the first 11 but has been identified based on his standout underlying attributes.

PREMIER LEAGUE

West Ham stadium cost taxpayers £20.9m last year

The London Stadium’s owners lost £20.9mn in the last financial year, which The Times argues shows the burden of West Ham United’s home on the capital’s taxpayers.

The “deal of the century” for West Ham

Here’s the context: In 2013, then-Mayor of London Boris Johnson agreed to lease The London Stadium to West Ham for 99 years, costing the club £3.6mn a year.

Some critics say that it’s unfair that West Ham’s home games are effectively subsidised and that the deal has all the upside for the club, and not the taxpayer:

• Each time West Ham plays at the London Stadium it costs more than £100,000 - and the club’s rent doesn’t cover that outlay.

• West Ham doesn’t pay for heating, cleaning, maintenance or the cost of goalposts and corner flags, while they keep the ticket money and a share of the catering income.

• The contract doesn’t have a clause to account for West Ham making it into European competitions and they have no obligation to pay anything related to these competitions.

The current Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, commissioned a report to criticise the decision to grant a 99-year “concession”, but has refused to sell the stadium to West Ham on the basis that it’s one of the “jewels” of the capital.

Who’s to blame?

The question of who to blame for the one-sided deal is in the spotlight once again since the London Stadium showed losses rose to over £20mn.

It’s complicated: It’s hard to blame West Ham as even Jonathan Isaby of the TaxPayers’ Alliance admitted to The Guardian that “you can’t blame the club for taking advantage of the ludicrously generous taxpayer subsidy they’ve been handed on a plate”.

Instead, he thinks that “we should be directing our anger and awkward questions at those responsible for offering a deal for which most clubs would have sold their star striker.” 

In 2022, the stadium’s owners sued legal firm Allen & Overy for £12mn for their part in the agreement, but both parties reached an out-of-court settlement. 

Either way, City Hall says there’s nothing it can do to force a negotiation of the club’s rent and other financial commitments. The sage continues.

AROUND THE FOOTBALL WORLD

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 Scottish Premiership: Former Premier League official Jon Moss has been appointed as the Scottish FA’s first VAR manager (More)

🇺🇸 USMNT: Former Chelsea and Spurs manager Mauricio Pochettino is a top target for the U.S. men’s national team (More)

🇺🇸 Major League Soccer: Marco Reus has agreed a deal to join LA Galaxy with a contract until December 2025 plus the option to extend (More)

🇸🇦 Saudi Pro League: West Ham United defender Kurt Zouma is close to completing a move to SPL side Shabab Al-Ahli (More), while striker Richarlison rejects a move to Saudi Arabia in favour of staying at Spurs (More)

🇪🇸 La Liga: Real Sociedad are trying to convince Martín Zubimendi to reject Liverpool’s attempt to sign the midfielder (More)

OFF THE PITCH

🎨 Banksy’s fourth London artwork was revealed and stolen within hours (More)

❌ Taylor Swift cancels ‘Eras Tour’ show in Vienna after planned attacks (More)

🧑‍🚀 Two American astronauts went to space for eight days but could be stuck until 2025 (More)

🏠 Eye scanners show homebuyers look most at artwork and furniture before making a decision (More)

🐈 New study shows that cats grieve the death of fellow pets, even dogs (More)

PHOTO OF THE DAY

Tchau, legend. Pepe, 41, has announced that he is hanging up his boots after 878 games and 34 trophies. The Portuguese legend became the oldest player in the history of the men’s European Championship this summer and ended his career with Porto in his home country. Over 23 years, he played for his boyhood club Maritimo, Porto, Real Madrid and Besiktas. Pepe won three Spanish titles, two Spanish cups, three Champions Leagues and the 2016 European Championship.

ROUTER’S VOICE

Yesterday, we asked you: How much do you trust 'supercomputer' predictions for upcoming seasons? And why?

Routers voted that they don’t trust the predictions from supercomputers.

🟨 ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ 🤖 A lot, the computers get it spot on... (17.9%)

🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 👎 Nope, footballs more than just stats... (76.4%)

⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ✍️ Other (write in!)... (5.6%)

Your punditry takes:

• 👎 Tony D voted ‘Nope’: “Percentage of predictions by computers is below 30 per cent, use your own initiative and make your own predictions.”

• 👎 Steve N voted ‘Nope’: “Just like VAR - all complete tosh, let it all be decided on the day!”

• 🤖 E Dulo voted ‘A lot’: “I wouldn't say they are 'spot on' but they certainly have the right sort of idea every year. It just predicts it based on the last couple of seasons, sometimes there is a shock team finishing high such as Wolves finishing 7th after being newly promoted or Newcastle finishing 4th in 2023.”

• 🤖 I Mello voted ‘A lot’: “To a certain degree, the strongest indicator is usually money spent on players over a 3-4 year period.”

EXTRA TIME

Inter Milan away kit for 2024/25 released.

Married At First Sight UK matchmaker Paul Brunson buys stake in Sutton United FC.

Bodycam footage of RB Leipzig vs Aston Villa is incredible.

Neal Maupay literally slips in the elevator.

Lazio’s goal against Southampton might be the best preseason goal.

How much profit Manchester City will make on the Julián Álvarez sale.

The best promoted club finishes in Premier League history.

Analysis: Will Jack Grealish bounce back at Manchester City?

GAME FACE ON

Question: Name any of the four players since 2004 to have scored twice in a single Community Shield game.

Scroll below for the answer.

ON TODAY

Friday 9th 

• Men’s Olympic Final: France vs Spain (17:00 BST)

• Women’s 3rd Place Olympic Final: Spain vs Germany (14:00 BST)

Saturday 10th

• Community Shield: Manchester City vs Manchester United (15:00 BST)

• Women’s Olympic Final: Brazil vs United States (16:00 BST)

• Friendly: Tottenham vs Bayern Munich (17:30 BST)

Sunday 11th

• Friendly: Chelsea vs Inter Milan (15:00 BST)

Full weekend fixtures

• Scottish Premiership fixtures here.

• Coppa Italia fixtures here.

• EFL Championship fixtures here.

• EFL League One fixtures here.

• EFL League Two fixtures here.

*EST -5. PST -8. CET +1. CST +8. JST +9.

Answer

Didier Drogba (2005), Nani (2011), Robin van Persie (2013) and Sergio Agüero (2018)