by FLOP gun
Everyone remembers the bit in Pulp Fiction, where dapper hitmen Jules Winnfield and Vincent Vega emerge completely unscathed after being ambushed by a young gunman hiding in the bathroom of an apartment they are visiting to find it. to mapper. Sprayed at close range by a hail of bullets from a “handgun”, our intrepid but somehow unscathed pair are left to stare in disbelief at themselves and each other, before turning their own shooters on their killers. and blowing him. kingdom come. “We should be [effin] dead, man,” said Jules as he surveyed the bullet holes in the wall behind him. “I know, we were lucky,” says Vincent, prompting a philosophical debate between colleagues about whether or not “what happened here” was luck or fate.
It’s a conundrum that may have slipped the minds of Liverpool’s players as they return to Merseyside on Sunday, still very much alive in the FA Cup and their place in the fourth round secured, despite coming under the heaviest fire since every range imaginable. range of Gunners boxers, but mostly Kai Havertz. With Mikel Arteta thrust forward in his latest attempt to end his side’s woes, the desperate assassin left no bullet holes in the wall, only to see his team dispatched by a more ruthless Liverpool side who won . whether their victory was due to good fortune or some form of divine intervention. When push came to shove, it was arguably Jürgen Klopp’s men who had the big kahunas in the end.
“What I’m asking from the supporters is that they get behind the team,” pleaded Arteta, after his side were booed after their third consecutive home defeat. “Get behind the team, they’re really good. They deserve support for their point of view. I haven’t seen a team in the last six months that has proven what we have done against him [Liverpool].” He has a short memory, given that his own team have managed to generate at least one goal against them in the last two weeks and will now spend some downtime in Dubai figuring out how best to start creating some more as they bid for the Premier to win. League and Big Cup.
Liverpool’s win over Arsenal was the penultimate match of the third round of the FA Cup, despite the heroics of the non-league Maidstone and Leeds striker Patrick “Bam-Bam” Bamford, who was not much of a surprise. However, with just one game remaining an upset still looks likely, as Plucky Wigan host Manchester United at the DW Stadium tonight. In 18th place in League One, the Laings are huge ends but given some of United’s humiliations this season, a home win would come as a fun but hardly an upset.
FRANZ BECKENBAUER (1945- 2024)
Franz Beckenbauer, widely regarded as one of the greatest footballers of all time, and one of only three men to win the World Cup as a player and manager, has died aged 78. Beckenbauer is an icon of German football having won 104 caps for the West. Germany, captaining them to World Cup glory in 1974 before repeating the feat, as manager, in Italy 16 years later. He also won many other honours, including a hat-trick of European Cups with Bayern Munich in the mid-70s, when he also earned his reputation as a top-flight defender. His family confirmed the news through a statement to the German press agency DPA. “It is with great sadness that we announce that my husband and our father, Franz Beckenbauer, passed away peacefully in his sleep on Sunday, surrounded by his family,” he said. “We ask that we be able to mourn in silence and not be disturbed by any questions.” RIP der Kaiser.
STATEMENT OF THE DAY
“We can do fun activities, go out. A lot of guys are bringing their families out [to Dubai] as well, so it’s a chance to meet people’s families. It’s nice to be in the heat, training in good weather. It’s good for us” – After Arsenal’s 2-0 drubbing against Liverpool, just as boilers across the country reached breaking point, Reiss Nelson took the opportunity to remind people everywhere that everyone is rewarded for failure in the same way.
LIVE ON A BIG WEBSITE
Join Scott Murray from 7.50pm GMT for hot updates on the FA Cup fourth round before minute-by-minute coverage of Wigan 1-3 Manchester United.
DAILY FOOTBALL LETTERS
I’m not an expert in probability theory but I believe it was the great Émile Borel who popularized the theorem that says, ‘if you give an infinite number of Havertzs, an infinite number of balls and enough time then one of them will eventually stop . make too much contact and shoot before giving opposition defenders time to return to cover’. However, this is not that time.” – Noble Francis.
If Ben Brereton Díaz knew about Sheffield United before his transfer as their manager Chris Wilder claimed (Friday’s News, Bits and Bobs, full email edition), why on earth did he move there from Villarreal?” – Mick Beeby.
Friday’s Football Daily quotes Sean Dyche, describing VAR’s decision to red card Dominic Calvert-Lewin for studs to shin contact Nathaniel Clyne, saying ‘If you slow everything down, you’ll find what you want ‘. If only someone had suggested that to Bono in 1986” – Ed Taylor.
Send your letters to the.boss@theguardian.com. The winner of our lucky letter today is … Mick Beeby.
RECOMMENDED LISTENING
This week on Football Weekly, the pod will be chatting about the (bad) state of Jordan Henderson and whether Maidstone United are better than Arsenal.
ROAD TO WEMBLEY
We were following Sutton United into the third round, where the managerless players were drawn in League Two against Plymouth, who were also without a manager until they appointed Ian Foster as head coach just hours before the FA Cup tie. He started his tenure with a 3-1 win but being a modest man he didn’t take all the credit for the win. “I don’t think it was easy for the players for a new head coach to walk into the building as late as I did and they responded well,” he said cheerfully. “I only gave them a few messages this afternoon around the game, but Neil [Dewsnip] and Kevin (Nancekivell) prepared the team very well in my absence.” So now we’ll be following the Pilgrims’ progress into the fourth round. We will find out who they face in the tombola later.
NEWS, YEAST AND BOBS
Tony Mowbray is the 13th manager of Birmingham City in 13 years. “He is the right leader at the right time for our club,” sniffed club outfit Garry Cook.
Erik ten Hag (snigger) believes Manchester United (chuckle) are the best club in the world (stop, not really) to play for – unless you have the confidence to handle the pressure. “It’s always about those players and the confidence you have in your abilities,” said the Dutchman.
Michael Antonio’s knee is getting worse. Oh no! West Ham may get a loan signing in as cover. Hurrah!
15% of Mr Kylian Mbappé have dismissed reports that the PSG forward has agreed a move to Real Madrid, insisting instead that talks have not even started. “No influence of any kind could have dictated the timing of Kylian’s deliberations, deliberations or decision,” a statement said.
Our Euro round-up includes Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Dusan Vlahovic’s stoppage-time winner and sixth-tier Revel take on PSG in the French Cup.
And Dorival Júnior has resigned as head coach of São Paulo to take charge of the Brazilian national team. “It’s a personal dream come true”, said the 61-year-old.
STILL ABOUT MORE?
Our list of the 100 best female footballers in the world comes out this week. We’ve put together a comprehensive list of 112 Champions League winning coaches and former and current international players and coaches. From Barcelona head coach Jonatan Giráldez to Brazilian legend Sissi to broadcaster Lucy Ward, here’s a rundown of who made our list.
Does reducing league size help teams and the quality of football? Ligue 1 is a good case study and the answer seems to be yes, says Eric Devin. And by complete coincidence, Sean Ingle has written his column on why overworked footballers deliver lower quality games and put themselves at risk.
Pasquale Mazzocchi waited his whole life to pull on the shirt of Napoli, and then four minutes into the lead – a 3-0 win against Torino. Nicky Bandini picks the bones of that red card and the latest Neapolitan triumph.
Suzanne Wrack chatted to former Lioness Claire Rafferty about her ADHD and why the multi-purpose sensory rooms at Wembley help her “feel normal”.
Barney Ronay is Kai Havertz and Arsenal’s striking side.
Ten talking points – make them count! – from the weekend’s FA Cup action.
With female footballers up to six times more likely to suffer the injury than men, Sam Kerr’s ACL injury is the latest blow to an epidemic in the women’s game, explains Sophie Downey.
Chances are, you don’t know as much about Mário Zagallo as you should. Here’s Samindra Kunti with her tribute to the four-time World Cup winner and late game great.
Morocco are favorites to win Afcon – can they repeat their World Cup heroics? Yara El-Shaboury has (some) answers. And Jonathan Wilson ponders whether an African nation will win the World Cup in the next decade (no).
MEMORY LANE
Spectators watch Everton take on Croydon in the Women’s League Final at the Marine FC ground on College Road in Crosby in September 1998. Everton were the reigning champions but lost their crown that season to opponents on the day. Fans didn’t care much about it, with the match ending 0-0.
OOF!
