LONDON: Managers under pressure become increasingly desperate. After drawing two games in a week to drop to sixth in the table, Arsene Wenger finally finished blaming referees and turned his gaze on the media.
“The referees get away with you, with the English press always, no matter what they do,” he said.
This was bizarre. Wenger appeared to be hinting at a conspiracy by referees, or at least mass ineptitude on the part of referees, abetted by the press’ reluctance to talk about it. Specifically he seemed rattled by the fact that not only had two (well, one, in truth) controversial penalty decisions gone against his side, but the fact that Tottenham’s opener the previous night had been offside. “You have watched the game last night,” he said. “You couldn’t read a line about it today.” Every single match report mentioned it.
The idea that we should discuss refereeing decisions even more than we do now is abhorrent. Refereeing stories are easy. Journalists love writing them. You ask one manager what he thinks about the penalty/ red card/ offside decision, then you ask the other. There is instant controversy. Twitter whips itself into a lather. The comments section overflows. There is traffic. There is buzz. And nothing changes. Nobody learns anything. There is nothing more boring than discussions about refereeing decisions.
Take the two most recent incidents to which Wenger was referring. At West Brom, Calum Chambers was penalized after Kieran Gibbs’ cross struck his arm which was raised, away from but in front of his body. Was it intentional? Almost certainly not. Was the arm in an unnatural position? No. Had it not been there the ball would have hit Chambers’ chest. Do I think it should have been a penalty? No, but I understand why the referee Mike Dean did. From his angle, he saw the arm away
from the body and presumably — we do not know because referees are forbidden to explain such things — thought it was out to the side. So it was unfortunate but hardly a scandal.
Wenger’s more specific rage was directed Anthony Taylor for the penalty he awarded Chelsea after Hector Bellerin had kicked Eden Hazard’s heel. Here, it was hard to see any ambiguity. One player had kicked another in the penalty area. It was a slightly unusual incident in that players rarely kick the bottom of one another’s boots, but he did kick him: Penalty.
From what I can glean from social media, it seems I am in the majority in both cases: the one at West Brom should not have been given; the one against Chelsea should. But it hardly matters. Most Arsenal fans will be certain both decisions were wrong; most West Brom and Chelsea fans will be sure the penalties their sides got were correct. Nobody ever yields in such disagreements; nobody’s mind is ever changed by what
phone-ins and social media companies laughably call “the debate” around them.
Sane people retreat from any discussion, and the stage is left for the spittle-flecked zealots to rant away into an increasingly weary darkness.
This is the modern world, in football as it is in politics. Far more productive would be to acknowledge that there are grey areas and that referees, being just as human as Wenger’s defenders, occasionally make mistakes.
“He saw what he wanted to see,” Wenger said of Dean after the West Brom game, a comment that has, understandably, brought an FA charge.
To allege conspiracy not merely impugns Dean — who may be a little over-fond of the limelight but whom nobody has ever seriously accused of corruption — but undermines the integrity of the game as a whole.
More than that, it makes Wenger look foolish. If there were a
conspiracy, why did Jack Wilshere escape a second yellow card for a clear dive on Wednesday? Against Tottenham, it may be remembered, Mike Dean allowed two Arsenal goals that were marginally offside, the first of them coming from a free-kick that probably shouldn’t have been given.
Arsenal are struggling this season, playing fitfully and reliant on two players who are out of contract in June. There is no conspiracy; there is just a team that, once again, seems to lack the mental capacity to apply itself consistently.
Arsene Wenger’s ‘conspiracy’ talk is hiding flaws in Arsenal side
Arsene Wenger’s ‘conspiracy’ talk is hiding flaws in Arsenal side
West Indies Test squad arrives in Pakistan for two-match series
- West Indies to play two Test matches against Pakistan in Multan from Jan. 17-29, says PCB
- West Indies last toured Pakistan for a Test series in November 2006 for three-match series
ISLAMABAD: The West Indian national men’s cricket team has arrived for their first Test tour of Pakistan in 19 years, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) confirmed on Monday, during which they will play two Test matches.
The last time the West Indies played a Test series on Pakistani soil was in November 2006, when they played three Tests. Their last away Test series against Pakistan was in the UAE in October 2016, which was selected as Pakistan’s home venue for cricket series after 2009 when a militant attack in Lahore scared away international cricket teams from touring the country.
However, the former two-time ODI World Cup champions have toured Pakistan thrice since April 2018 — once for an ODI series in June 2022 and twice for a bilateral T20I series in April 2018 and December 2021.
“West Indies Test squad arrives in Pakistan for the two-match series,” the PCB said in a post on X.
West Indies will play two consecutive Tests against Pakistan in Multan after a three-day match against Pakistan Shaheens from Jan. 10-12 at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium. The first Test will be held from Jan. 17-21, followed by the second one from Jan. 25-29.
International cricket teams refused to play cricket in Pakistan for years after militants attacked the Sri Lankan cricket team’s bus in Lahore in 2009, wounding six players and killing two civilians and six security officials.
International cricket and its stars, however, slowly returned to playing in Pakistan as the security situation improved. The South Asian country is gearing up to host the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 from February to March next year.
This will be Pakistan’s first ICC tournament on its home soil since 1996 when it co-hosted the ICC ODI World Cup, which Sri Lanka won.
India gazes into life without Kohli, Rohit after Australia defeat
- Rohit, 37, and Kohli, 36, both performed underwhelmingly against Australia in recently concluded Test series
- India’s next Test assignment is their tour to England in June-July where the visitors will play five Tests against them
NEW DELHI: India contemplated Test cricket without Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma on Monday after the star duo again failed to fire in the bruising series defeat to Australia.
With out-of-form skipper Rohit missing, the visitors went down by six wickets in the fifth and final Test on Sunday in Sydney to lose the series 3-1.
Fresh from a 3-0 home whitewash to New Zealand, the defeat sparked renewed debate in India about the future of the team and in particular two of its stalwarts.
The 37-year-old opening batsman Rohit, who missed the only India win of the series in the first Test because of the birth of his second child, managed 31 runs in three matches.
Kohli, 36, scored an unbeaten century in the first Test but otherwise had another underwhelming series by his sky-high standards.
Australia booked a meeting with South Africa in the World Test Championship final in June after India lost out in the race with six Test losses in eight matches.
India’s next Test assignment is their tour to England in June-July, when the visitors will play five matches and selectors will have to make a call on Kohli and Rohit.
“I think the next 8-10 days are crucial for Indian cricket to take a good, honest look at itself,” former captain Sunil Gavaskar told news channel India Today.
“Most importantly, the star culture has to end. Total commitment to Indian cricket is non-negotiable.
“We don’t need players who are partly here and partly elsewhere. It’s time to stop pampering anyone.”
Kohli skipped matches after the birth of his second child in February last year.
Apart from his century, Kohli scored 90 runs across eight innings.
Dubbed “King Kohli” for his prolific scoring, the batsman averaged above 54 before 2019, but from 2020 onwards his average has slipped to 30.72.
Kohli and Rohit have been criticized for not participating in domestic matches to improve their faltering form, a decision that irked many pundits including Gavaskar.
“The cricket board needs to stop acting like admirers and put their foot down,” the batting great said.
“They must tell the players that Indian cricket comes first. It’s either a full commitment to Indian cricket or other priorities.”
Rohit, who had also been censured for his decision-making as skipper, said it was his choice to stand down for the decisive fifth Test.
He also insisted he was not retiring.
Former India batsman Sanjay Manjrekar did not mince his words.
“When to retire is up to the player,” he wrote on social media.
“But how long to play is up to the selectors.”
Jasprit Bumrah, the vice captain, would be the clear pick to replace Rohit as Test captain after the pace spearhead took 32 wickets in five Tests in Australia and led the team to victory in the first match in Perth.
Coach Gautam Gambhir, who received flak for keeping the media guessing in his pre-match press conference about whether Rohit would play in Sydney, appears to favor keeping the duo at his disposal.
“I can’t talk about the future of any player. It’s up to them as well,” Gambhir said.
“They still have the hunger, they still have the passion, they are tough people and hopefully they can continue to take Indian cricket forward.”
He added: “Whatever they plan, they will plan in the best interest of the team.”
Kohli and Rohit both called time on their T20 international careers last year soon after India won the World Cup in June.
Both are expected to play in the one-day Champions Trophy in Dubai and Pakistan in February-March.
Al-Jabalain’s Leo Lacroix targeting another King Cup upset against Al-Raed
- The first division team have already beaten Al-Fayha and Al-Ettifaq in the competition to reach Monday’s quarterfinal
LONDON: Only twice in the history of the King Cup has a club from outside the Saudi Pro League made it to the competition’s final, with Al-Riyadh in 1978 and Al-Taawoun in 1990 doing so but suffering defeat at the last hurdle.
This year, Saudi First Division team Al-Jabalain is the unlikely outfit aiming to follow in those footsteps. Having already beaten professional league opposition in the first two rounds — Al-Fayha and then Al-Ettifaq — Jorge Mendonca’s players now face Al-Raed in the quarterfinals on Monday.
Al-Jabalain, currently seventh in the first division table — but just four points off the automatic promotion places — is the final second-tier side left standing in the 2024-2025 King Cup. Despite being the overwhelming underdogs, Swiss defender Leo Lacroix — scorer of the opening goal against Ettifaq in the last 16 — insists the pressure is off him and his teammates when they travel to Buraidah.
“We won our last league game (1-0 against Al-Jandal) and the team is feeling very confident,” Lacroix told Arab News in an exclusive interview. “We can’t wait to play the game and we know that, like the last rounds, we don’t have any pressure because normally the pro league team needs to win.
“I think it’s history for the club already to play a King’s Cup quarterfinal; to reach the semifinal will be something very massive for the players and for Al-Jabalain.”
When they faced Steven Gerrard’s Al-Ettifaq in the last 16 back in October, few gave Jabalain any chance of victory. Although Demarai Gray, Karl Toko Ekambi and Jack Hendry did not feature, Ettifaq still had an 11 stacked with Vitinha, Alvaro Medran, Gigi Wijnaldum, Seko Fofana and Joao Costa, while striker Moussa Dembele came off the bench.
But a spirited performance at their Prince Abdulaziz bin Musaed Sports City Stadium saw the team from Hail — in the Kingdom’s northwest — cause a major King Cup upset. Lacroix, the former Basel and Hamburg center-back, set Jabalain on their way with the game’s opening goal, before second-half strikes from Kaka Mendes and Saad Al-Selouli secured the historic victory.
“I think nobody except us believed that it was possible to win the game,” Lacroix said. “But the team was focused and ready to play a big match. On a personal level I really enjoyed this challenge because when I was playing in Basel, Hamburg, every weekend you had a big team with a top striker and you must be 100 percent focused.
“Obviously you see Steven Gerrard on the side of the pitch and then players like Moussa Dembele, who I played against when I was at Saint-Etienne and he was at Lyon. I love playing against these big strikers.”
Lacroix will have his hands full again on Monday, with Karim El-Berkaoui likely to be leading Al-Raed’s line. The Morocco forward has netted five goals in seven Saudi Pro League games this season, including one against reigning champions Al-Hilal last time out in December.
But this is nothing new for Lacroix, who has been required to mark some of the game’s best forwards during his career. He has also faced Neymar and Edinson Cavani at PSG and, most memorably, legendary Manchester City marksman Sergio Aguero.
Two years after helping FC Sion to a pair of creditable Europa League draws with Liverpool, Lacroix was on loan at FC Basel when the Swiss champions faced City in the 2017-2018 UEFA Champions League last 16. He played both legs of the tie, with the first ending in a 4-0 humbling but the second seeing Basel claim an impressive 2-1 win at the Etihad Stadium.
“I always wanted to play in a Champions League game and this was an amazing experience,” Lacroix said. “Just to listen to the music before the game was a big dream. Then you are playing against only big players: Aguero, (Ilkay) Gundogan, (Leroy) Sane, (Raheem) Sterling, (Kevin) De Bruyne, Fernandinho, (Vincent) Kompany.
“Aguero was of course challenging. With strikers like him, if you give them 10 cm they can do something that you have never seen before and score. You have to try to live in their mind and anticipate what they want to do but it is not easy.
“I will remember forever playing this game against a team that I think was the best in the Champions League, even though they didn’t go on to win it that year.”
With his extensive European experience — and the fact he speaks six languages — it is no surprise that Lacroix has emerged as a leader both in the Al-Jabalain dressing room and on the pitch for his Portuguese coach Mendonca. It is a responsibility that the defender relishes.
“I’m always talking with everyone and I don’t like it if you see a group of Saudi players and then a group of foreign players,” Lacroix said. “Any good team needs to feel this sense that you are a community together. When you do this in football you can achieve great things.
“I have really enjoyed working with the Saudi players. Guys like (midfielders) Eyad Madani and Abdulaziz Majrashi, and our striker Fahad (Al-Juhani) who really has such a great mentality. There is also our winger Khalil (Al-Habsi) — a player I think can have a really big career in Saudi Arabia or even outside.
“I want to help them but of course I can learn from them too and we can find solutions together.”
Lacroix and his teammates will certainly need to be united if they are to cause another King Cup upset on Monday, though with Al-Raed currently sitting 12th in the Saudi Pro League table it feels somewhat achievable for Al-Jabalain.
The center-back thinks his team has nothing to lose and hopes that another positive result can also help ignite a successful league promotion challenge.
“The great thing about football is that you never can say ‘this team is going to win for sure,’” Lacroix said. “Anything can happen and I think Monday we go there to play the best we can to make another special day for this club.
“I’m very glad to be here and hope in five months we can speak about promotion. We have shown in the Cup that we can compete with these teams and of course this is the goal.
“I think we are in good shape and I hope we can see that the players fight to make something historic for the club against Al-Raed. I am sure that if we can qualify for the semifinal, the people and other clubs in Saudi Arabia will start to see Al-Jabalain with different eyes.”
Australia set sights on world domination after taming India
- Australia surged into June showdown against South Africa after six-wicket win over India on Sunday
- South Africa booked their spot under WTC’s average points system when they beat Pakistan last month
SYDNEY: Cricket’s World Test Championship final is still five months away but it is already playing on the mind of Australia skipper Pat Cummins, saying the defense of their title is “a huge goal” after conquering India.
Australia surged into a June showdown against South Africa at Lord’s with a six-wicket victory in the fifth Test against India in Sydney on Sunday.
The thrilling win sealed a first series triumph against their South Asian rivals in a decade.
It also confirmed their place in a clash against South Africa that will determine the world’s most consistent red-ball side over the last two years from the nine teams contesting the WTC.
“To hold the Border-Gavaskar Trophy is an amazing feeling, and the extra layer is now securing a spot again in the World Test Championship final, which was always a huge goal for us in this cycle,” Cummins said.
“We talk about the World Test Championship a lot. It’s a trophy we’re really proud to hold so we want to go back and defend it.
“I think it’s a great tournament in that you’ve got to play well consistently and across all different conditions against different teams.
“We can’t wait to get over there.”
South Africa booked their spot under the WTC’s average points system when they beat Pakistan in a dramatic two-wicket win at Centurion late last month.
Australia play two Tests in Sri Lanka starting later this month before a lengthy red-ball break heading into the WTC final.
Cummins appears likely to miss the Sri Lanka tour for the birth of his second child, with Steve Smith in pole position to take over as captain.
But the Australian skipper is adamant that after four year in the role, he has no plans to hand over the armband permanently anytime soon.
“First of all, I absolutely love what I do. That’s the biggest driver in wanting to play Test cricket and work with this team and support staff,” Cummins said.
“I absolutely love everything about it, it’s that much fun. If I can keep doing it for a while, even better.”
Cricket Australia meanwhile said nearly 838,000 spectators attended the Border-Gavaskar Trophy series, despite two matches ending within three days.
The numbers were boosted by the Boxing Day Test in Melbourne going all five days, with a record 373,691 people turning out across the match.
Dembélé scores last-gasp winner as PSG wins Champions Trophy
- The match was played at Stadium 974 in Doha, Qatar, with PSG owned by Qatar-based QSI since 2011
PARIS: Ousmane Dembélé scored a stoppage-time winner as Paris Saint-Germain beat Monaco 1-0 to win the Champions Trophy on Sunday.
The France winger was unmarked at the back post to meet a low cross from the left by Fabian Ruiz in the second minute of added time.
PSG won the trophy, also known as the super cup, for the third straight time and a record-extending 13th overall. PSG won the league and cup double last season, with Monaco finishing second in the league.
The match was played at Stadium 974 in Doha, Qatar, with PSG owned by Qatar-based QSI since 2011.
Désiré Doué hit the crossbar early on for PSG and Monaco goalkeeper Philipp Köhn made several saves.
Monaco improved after the break and hit the post through Eliesse Ben Seghir and Brazilian defender Vanderson.
Although Köhn made a fine save to deny Achraf Hakimi in the 74th minute, he failed to properly read Ruiz’s cross and Monaco missed out on winning the trophy for the first time since 2000.
Later Sunday, Marseille looked to strengthen its grip on second place in Ligue 1 with a home win against lowly Le Havre.
French league
Marseille looks to strengthen its grip on second place in Ligue 1 with a home win against lowly Le Havre later Sunday.
Toulouse climbed up to eighth place with a 1-0 win at seventh-place Lens, which leads Toulouse on goal difference.
Striker Zakaria Aboukhlal scored a penalty in the 73rd.
The goal came shortly after Lens midfielder David Pereira da Costa was shown a second yellow card following a video review and was sent off.
Angers beat Brest 2-0, and Strasbourg rallied to win 3-1 at home to Auxerre and move into 10th spot.
Esteban Lepaul scored early on for Angers and fellow striker Ibrahima Niane, who replaced Lepaul in the 75th, wrapped up the win in stoppage time.
Strasbourg’s goals came from captain Habib Diarra, Félix Lemarechal and forward Emanuel Emegha, after Hamed Traore gave Burgundy side Auxerre an early lead in Alsace.
