LONDON: Mikel Arteta vowed to defend Arsenal’s reputation with “teeth and nails” after criticism of the club’s successful request to postpone the north London derby against Tottenham.
The Gunners asked for last Sunday’s game to be rescheduled, with a significant number of players unavailable due to a mixture of international duty, injuries, suspension and coronavirus cases.
“We didn’t have the players necessary to put a squad out to compete in a Premier League match, that is 100 percent,” Arsenal boss Arteta said on Wednesday.
“This is a no-win situation. When we play the first three games of the season when other games were off, we were killed and called naive. Now we postpone a match for all the right reasons, believe me, and we get these reactions?“
Arsenal lost their opening three Premier League fixtures after Covid-19 outbreak at the club.
Spurs had reacted angrily to the Premier League’s decision to call off the visit of their London rivals.
“It’s the first time in my life — and I’ve had a bit of experience in football — to see postponed games because of injuries,” said Tottenham manager Antonio Conte.
But, speaking ahead of Thursday’s League Cup semifinal second leg against Liverpool, Arteta insisted the criticism was wide of the mark and said Arsenal did not have the numbers to put a squad together.
“We will defend our club with teeth and nails. We will not let anybody damage our name or try to lie about things,” the former Arsenal captain said.
“When a team have come to us and said ‘we cannot play, these are the reasons’ and the game has been postponed, we have never ever publicly questioned any of that.”
The Arsenal v Liverpool match at the Emirates Stadium should have been the first leg of the League Cup semifinal two weeks ago, before a coronavirus outbreak within the Liverpool camp led to its postponement.
Arsenal held Liverpool to a goalless draw in the first leg at Anfield last week despite playing more than an hour with 10 men after the dismissal of Granit Xhaka.
Arteta also told reporters that forward Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, who tested positive for coronavirus earlier this month, was back in London to undergo medical tests after Gabon sent him home from the Africa Nations Cup.
“He is in London and now is going through some examinations because we haven’t had any clarity from the Gabon national team over the reasons why he came back,” said the Arsenal boss.
In his own press conference, Liverpool assistant manager Pep Lijnders said he had no complaints over recent Covid postponements both in the Premier League and the League Cup.
“It’s really difficult to judge from outside,” said Lijnders, who himself tested positive earlier this month during an outbreak at Liverpool.
“We saw this with our own situation. I fully respect the submissions because I trust 100 percent the medical departments of each Premier League club. I think this is the most important thing, full trust in these decisions.”
Arteta vows to defend Arsenal with ‘teeth and nails’ after Covid postponement
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Arteta vows to defend Arsenal with ‘teeth and nails’ after Covid postponement
- The Gunners asked for last Sunday's game to be rescheduled
- "We will defend our club with teeth and nails. We will not let anybody damage our name or try to lie about things," the former Arsenal captain said
Four share lead after first round of Aramco LIV Golf Singapore
- Jon Rahm, Bryson DeChambeau, Lee Westwood and Richard T. Lee all posted rounds of 4-under 67
- Rahm is coming off a great week in Hong Kong as the two-time reigning LIV Golf Individual Champion won his first tournament since 2024
SINGAPORE: Jon Rahm and Bryson DeChambeau routinely find themselves at the top of the LIV Golf leaderboard. Lee Westwood and Richard T. Lee, meanwhile, finished Thursday’s opening round at Aramco LIV Golf Singapore breaking new ground.
Rahm, DeChambeau, Westwood and Lee each posted a 4-under 67 to share the first-round lead on a demanding day at Sentosa’s Serapong course. They lead by one stroke over a group of seven players, with 10 other players another shot back.
For Rahm, winner of last week’s HSBC LIV Golf Hong Kong, this is the 14th time in his league career that the Legion XIII captain has owned at least a share of the lead after any round.
For Crushers GC captain DeChambeau, who has played two more seasons than Rahm, this is also his 14th time as a leader or co-leader. Last month, the two shared the lead entering the final round in Adelaide before Anthony Kim surged past them for the win.
While Westwood certainly has plenty of experience atop leaderboards, having won 44 times in his storied career, this is the first time he has held a share of the lead as an original LIV Golf member. He said it was a bit unexpected considering he just returned last week from a torn tendon in his left wrist, finishing T18 in Hong Kong in his first tournament start in six months. At age 52 — he turns 53 next month – he becomes the oldest LIV Golf player to claim a share of the lead.
“Seven weeks ago, I couldn’t hold the putter,” said the Majesticks Golf Club co-captain after his bogey-free round. “The specialist was worried that I’d torn the sheath in the wrist and I would need surgery to reconstruct it. To be sitting here, having a good week last week and then be leading this week is a very pleasant surprise.”
Lee spent much of LIV Golf Promotions in January atop the leaderboard, eventually winning in a dominant performance on the final 36-hole qualifier to earn his way into the league as an independent wildcard player. Now, in just his fourth start as an LIV Golf player, he becomes the first wildcard player to lead after any round, his 67 kick-started by a birdie on his opening hole when he holed out of a bunker.
Lee, the first Canadian player in league history, is determined to end the week setting another new standard. No wildcard player has yet finished inside the top 10 in any tournament.
“That could possibly change this week,” he said. “I’ve played this course so many times on the Asian Tour and I think I have a bit of an advantage on this course, knowing where the slopes are and where to miss it. I think it’s going to be a great week.”
Rahm is coming off a great week in Hong Kong as the two-time reigning LIV Golf Individual Champion won his first tournament since 2024. He birdied three of his first seven holes Thursday and finished with a flourish with two consecutive birdies.
He feasted off the par 5s in Hong Kong, making birdie or better on each of the two at Hong Kong Golf Club in every round. He continued that trend Thursday on with birdies on each of The Serapong’s three par 5s.
“I’m hitting it better off the tee, so it all starts with that on a par 5 where you’ve got to put it into play,” said Rahm, whose Legion XIII has a six-shot lead over DeChambeau’s Crushers on the team leaderboard.
“Once you’re in play, I’m long enough to have a comfortable number, usually, into the par 5s, and I think that’s been the main difference. It’s just everything so far this year is just a little bit better than it’s been in the past.”
DeChambeau, meanwhile, played his final 10 holes in 5 under, ending the round with three consecutive birdies. His only slip-up was a double bogey at the par-4 fifth when he found trouble out of a fairway bunker and then a greenside bunker.
He continues to chase the form that he showed in 2023 LIV Golf Greenbrier when he shot a league-record 12-under 58 to win the first of his three LIV Golf titles.
“Things just haven’t quite lined up yet,” he said. “It may just pop up with one golf shot. I don’t know. I’m one swing thought away. I’m really close is what I’m saying. I’m close to figuring out what that exact thing is, but I have to dial in my irons a little bit more.”
