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Arsenal have been hit by \u2018a sudden injury crisis\u2019 at \u2018the worst possible time\u2019 for Mikel Arteta as their season apparently starts to unravel.<\/p>\n
There is also talk of Thomas Tuchel being \u2018vulnerable to the madness\u2019 of pre-tournament England because he has called up Jason Steele.<\/p>\n
And a brilliantly mad claim about Eddie Howe at Newcastle to boot.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Things are going from bad to worse for Arsenal: Quad-breaking defeat to Manchester City in the Carabao Cup final on Sunday<\/strong>then \u2018a mounting injury crisis\u2019 on Tuesday.<\/p>\n It might not be enough to pique the interest of Craig David but that does sound sub-optimal for the Premier League leaders who are also in the Champions League and FA Cup quarter-finals.<\/p>\n We are told by the Daily Mirror website<\/strong> that this \u2018sudden injury crisis\u2019 has come \u2018at the worst possible time\u2019, with a \u2018SIXTH\u2019 Gunners withdrawal from international duty.<\/p>\n It does feel like \u2018the worst possible time\u2019 would constitute a period in which Arsenal actually have some games to play rather than a 13-day interlull, and would thus be impacted by any form of \u2018injury crisis\u2019.<\/p>\n If anything, they have hit their \u2018injury crisis\u2019 too well, it coming in literally the best (and most serendipitous) possible time of an international break.<\/p>\n And yeah, this \u2018injury crisis\u2019. The standard practice in these cases is cynicism surrounding the physical ailments preventing Leandro Trossard, Gabriel Magalhaes, Eberechi Eze, Jurrien Timber, William Saliba and Martin Odegaard from linking up with their countries for some relatively meaningless friendlies during a crucial period in the club season, and likely returning to full fitness when Arsenal play again, so to flip the usual script is more than a bit disingenuous.<\/p>\n But Mediawatch doesn\u2019t actually hate it. It just means we should retrospectively appreciate the wonders Sir Alex Ferguson managed at Manchester United while in the grips of constant injury crises during international breaks.<\/p>\n As for Arsenal, will a national emergency be declared when Bukayo Saka pulls out of England duty<\/strong>?<\/p>\n Fair play to Martin Lipton, Chief Sports Reporter of The Sun<\/strong>who uses his latest column to basically just indulge in a favourite hobby of the football newspaper reporter \u2013 talking about the past while dressing it up as something vaguely relevant to the present.<\/p>\n Thomas Tuchel has picked his final pre-World Cup squad<\/strong>and naming 35 players, \u2018including a keeper who hasn\u2019t played in the Premier League all season \u2013 the ultimate \u2018vibes\u2019 selection \u2013 and 11 of them told to take the first week of the international break off\u2019, could apparently be \u2018the first sign that even the German is \u00advulnerable to the madness that seems to overtake most England managers in the build-up to a World Cup\u2019.<\/p>\n Lipton then regales us with tales of Ron Greenwood gambling on the fitness of Kevin Keegan in 1982, Roy Hodgson taking two left-backs not named Ashley Cole to a tournament and, obviously, the Capello index.<\/p>\n Dunno why, really. It is all tied together incredibly loosely and sort of brought back to Tuchel, who is \u2018crossing his fingers and relying on the footballing gods to deliver his best XI, fit and well, for the entire tournament\u2019.<\/p>\n He\u2019s probably hoping his players stay healthy, yes. What\u2019s that got to do with Glenn Hoddle dropping Paul Gascoigne in 1998?<\/p>\n And as for Tuchel\u2019s \u2018first sign\u2019 of \u2018the madness that seems to overtake most England managers in the build-up to a World Cup\u2019:<\/p>\n 1) Genuinely not sure who \u2018the ultimate \u2018vibes\u2019 selection\u2019 is supposed to be? Is it very good, versatile set-piece taker for a solid Everton side James Garner? Really don\u2019t know.<\/p>\n 2) Jason Steele hasn\u2019t played in the Premier League for ages, but that probably doesn\u2019t matter all that much when choosing a training goalkeeper.<\/p>\n 3) Not sure he is the first international manager ever to quite sensibly decide that some players \u2013 those who are relied upon heavily by their elite clubs across multiple competitions throughout a season and could do with any semblance of rest whenever it can be afforded \u2013 should link up with a camp a bit later.<\/p>\n But Lipton got to write about Sven Goran Eriksson choosing Theo Walcott two decades ago and the teenager being \u2018more visible in the ice cream parlours of Baden-Baden than the pitch\u2019. So everything is good. Just don\u2019t really know how that means Tuchel is \u2018crossing his fingers and relying on the footballing gods to deliver his best XI, fit and well, for the entire tournament\u2019 in 2026, or engaging in pre-tournament \u2018madness\u2019 by picking a large group of good players.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Forgive the MailOnline<\/strong>-ness of it all but\u2026<\/p>\n \u2018Eddie Howe may have outgrown Newcastle and Man United should be keen, Kepa is too good to be Arsenal No 2\u2026 and strange case of a \u00a334m January signing: IAN LADYMAN on My Premier League Weekend\u2019<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Kepa \u2018too good\u2019 to be Arsenal\u2019s back-up? Weird time to make that point but okay. Ooh, the \u2018strange case of a \u00a334m January signing\u2019, that sounds interesti\u2026wait, does that say \u2018Eddie Howe may have outgrown Newcastle\u2019?<\/p>\n It\u2026it bloody well does. It does literally say, after a week in which they were thrashed 7-2 by Barcelona<\/strong> before losing at home to Sunderland and falling to 12th in the Premier League table<\/strong>that \u2018Eddie Howe may have outgrown Newcastle\u2019.<\/p>\n Eddie Howe. May. Have. Outgrown. Newcastle.<\/p>\n And Ian Ladyman has not been stitched up by the headline writers here.<\/p>\n \u2018Instead of asking whether Howe has done all he can for Newcastle,\u2019 he writes, \u2018we should probably be talking about whether the club has anything more to offer one of the most talented managers in Europe.\u2019<\/p>\n Nope, does feel like the first one makes far more sense to discuss<\/strong>.<\/p>\n Ladyman tries to pin Newcastle\u2019s struggles on \u2018the Premier League\u2019s financial rules\u2019 and adds that \u2018only an increase in revenue streams can propel Newcastle forward now and that only comes via a new stadium\u2019. Which is a neat way of trying to absolve Howe of any and all blame for a poor season.<\/p>\n One way of propelling Newcastle forward could be to not spend well over \u00a3200m on Anthony Elanga, Jacob Ramsey, Nick Woltemade and Yoane Wissa in a single summer. Whether they\u2019re playing at St James\u2019 Park or not, that is an awful lot of waste covered in Howe\u2019s fingerprints.<\/p>\n But of course Howe has \u2018outgrown\u2019 Newcastle and should get the Manchester United job. He\u2019d be in for a knighthood if they\u2019d only lost 5-2 at the Nou Camp before being beaten in a Tyne-Wear derby.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n \u2018Community Shield moved from Wembley and to different COUNTRY over concert clash\u2019 \u2013 The Sun website<\/strong>.<\/p>\n It\u2019s at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff \u2013 much like it was for six straight years a couple of decades ago \u2013 not sodding Abu Dhabi.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n \u2018Trent Alexander-Arnold drops cryptic message after England snub and Real Madrid punishment\u2019 \u2013 Daily Mirror website<\/strong>.<\/p>\n \u201cReal Madrid and nothing else.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n What could it possibly mean?<\/p>\n<\/p>\n On a similar but actually complete opposite note\u2026<\/p>\n \u2018Bruno Guimaraes agent rubbishes Manchester United transfer rumours in cryptic Newcastle post\u2019 \u2013 FourFourTwo<\/strong>.<\/p>\n ?<\/p>\n \u2014 Alexis Malavolta (@AlexisMalavolta) March 23, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n It might be the worst transfer \u2018rubbishing\u2019 in history.<\/p>\n READ NEXT<\/strong>: Bruno Guimaraes has \u2018agreed personal terms\u2019 with Man Utd \u2013 report<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/div>\nA soft Tuch<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Double take-worthy headline of the day<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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A very big house in the COUNTRY<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Crack the code<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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We do talk about Bruno<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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