Premier League
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta now in top 10 all-time best Premier League managers on PPM
Mkel Arteta has edged past Mauricio Pochettino, Louis van Gaal and Andre Villas-Boas in recent weeks as Arsenal have won nine of ten this season.
The cut-off point is 50 games and there is no surprise at the lower/higher reaches of this list.
10) Mikel Arteta (Arsenal): 1.8 pts per game
This really is quite the company Mikel Arteta is keeping, 104 games into his management career at Arsenal. The Gunners lead the Premier League and now find themselves second favourites for the title. The truth is that they have spent a hell of a lot to get there, but Arteta has excelled in creating a young, exciting team.
9) Carlo Ancelotti (Chelsea and Everton): 1.84 pts per game
The Italian has managed in all five major European leagues and his Premier League record is comfortably the lowest of the lot, which is something that can be laid very much at the feet of Everton. It still feels like a fever dream that he managed Everton.
8) Thomas Tuchel (Chelsea): 1.94 pts per game
Good but ultimately not good enough for Chelsea, who sacked him in September 2022 with the Blues in sixth place. Was it harsh? Very much so. Do Chelsea look better for sacking him? Also very much so.
7) Arsene Wenger (Arsenal): 1.96 pts per game
The high of the Invincibles (2.37 PPM) became the low of his final season in charge of Arsenal (1.66 RPM), long after he probably should have walked away. Sticking around longer than he was welcome probably cost him a few places on this list.
6) Jose Mourinho (Chelsea, Manchester United, Tottenham): 2.03 pts per game
His final half-season at Chelsea was disastrous, his final half-season at Manchester United was little better, and Tottenham was always an uneasy union that never quite felt comfortable. But there is no doubt that Jose Mourinho constructed one of the great Premier League sides first time round at Chelsea. He would be wise to resist a return that would taint his legacy further.
5) Roberto Mancini (Manchester City): 2.05 pts per game
He won Manchester City’s first Premier League title. What more do you want? Well, lots more apparently; he was sacked a year after he won that title having apparently failed to hit certain targets. It now feels ludicrous that City would ever go a whole year without winning silverware but 2013 was a different time.
4) Antonio Conte (Chelsea and Tottenham): 2.12 pts per game
He might be a cantankerous sod that could bugger off any minute, but my word he is good at winning football matches. He won the Premier League title in his first season at Chelsea and even a poor second season could dull his shine. Spurs are currently very clearly punching.
3) Jurgen Klopp (Liverpool): 2.13 pts per game
The 2.61 PPM of the title-winning year then became 1.82 as the Reds stumbled. That he pulled that number back up to 2.42 last season is remarkable, but this season has undoubtedly been an absolute sh*t-show. Basically every player is worse.
2) Sir Alex Ferguson (Manchester United): 2.16 pts per game
In 21 Premier League seasons, Ferguson’s Manchester United side only twice dropped below the two points per game mark. That is nothing short of remarkable consistency from a brilliant manager who managed to build three great, great sides. Most will forever see him as the GOAT whatever the man above/below him on this list achieves.
1) Pep Guardiola (Manchester City): 2.35 pts per game
-Football365
Thomas Partey, who formerly played for English Premier League soccer club Arsenal, has been charged with rape and sexual assault, London’s Metropolitan Police said on Friday.
Partey, a Ghana international, was charged with five counts of rape and one count of sexual assault, with the charges relating to three women and the offences reported to have taken place between 2021 and 2022, the statement said.
Partey’s management did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
He is due to appear at London’s Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Aug. 5.
Partey, 32, was signed by Arsenal from Atletico Madrid for 50 million euros ($59 million) in October 2020 and became a key member of Arsenal’s first team.
He was first arrested in July 2022, though he was not named at the time and continued to play for Arsenal while investigations were ongoing.
-Reuters
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Five players including England forward Marcus Rashford and Argentina winger Alejandro Garnacho have informed Manchester United that they wish to explore a future away from the Premier League side, a club source said on Friday.
Brazilian midfielder Antony, Dutch defender Tyrell Malacia and England international Jadon Sancho are also looking to leave the club, the source added.
Rashford, who has made more than 400 senior appearances for United, has fallen out of favour with manager Ruben Amorim, played for Aston Villa on loan while United had their worst-ever Premier League campaign, finishing 15th in the standings.
Amorim had called Rashford’s work rate into question, saying he would rather put a goalkeeper coach on the bench than a player not giving their all.
Rashford said he was feeling fitter and better since joining Villa, where he scored two goals in 10 league appearances.
United also failed to qualify for the Champions League as they lost the Europa League final 1-0 to Tottenham Hotspur. Garnacho, who was a late substitute in the final, voiced his displeasure on social media after the loss.
“Up until the final, I played every round helping the team, and today I play 20 minutes, I don’t know,” he wrote in a post . “The final will influence (my decision), but the whole season, the situation of the club.”
Sancho was on loan at Chelsea, where he made 31 league appearances last season. Antony, who joined United from Ajax Amsterdam in 2022 for a reported initial transfer fee of more than $100 million, scored five goals in 17 LaLiga appearances on loan at Real Betis.
Malacia joined Dutch side PSV Eindhoven on loan in February.
-Reuters
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Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes turned down the opportunity to join Saudi Pro League side Al-Hilal in order to keep playing “at the highest level”, he said on Tuesday.
The Portuguese midfielder admitted that he had considered the move, which media reports said was worth four times his current salary, after being contacted by Al-Hilal’s president.
“There was that possibility, the president of Al-Hilal called me a month ago to ask me about it,” Fernandes, who is preparing to face Germany with Portugal, told reporters on Tuesday.
“It was a big offer, very ambitious. There was a waiting period for me to think about the future.”
Fernandes ultimately decided to stay at United and said he was motivated by his desire to continue playing at the top level and encouraged by his family and the club’s coach Ruben Amorim.
“I would be willing to do it if Manchester United thought so,” Fernandes added. “I spoke to the coach Ruben Amorim who really tried to talk me out of it. The club said they would not be willing to sell me, only if I wanted to leave.
“I spoke to my wife and family, and she asked me what my personal goals were in my career.
“It would have been easy to move there but I want to keep myself at the highest level, playing in the big competitions and I feel capable of it. I am happy with my decision.”
The 30-year-old Fernandes scored 19 goals and provided 19 assists in 57 appearances across all competitions for United last season, winning the club’s Player of the Year award for the fourth time.
However, it was a season to forget for the team, as they finished 15th in the Premier League, their lowest league finish in half a century, and lost the Europa League final to Tottenham Hotspur.
-Reuters
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