Former Arsenal players Patrick Vieira and Per Mertesacker speak about Mikel Arteta’s impact at the club. Joleon Lescott joins Alexis Nunes and Mark Ogden to discuss Manchester City’s last gasp title win in 2012. Julien Laurens says he can’t see Arsenal letting Alexandre Lacazette leave with the current climate at the club. The Exploding Heads
Alexandre Lacazette
LONDON — The announcement that Arsenal had agreed a 12.5 percent pay cut with their playing staff initially appeared to be a victory for everyone involved. Here was an example of a group of highly-paid and much-storied footballers, routinely maligned for existing in a bubble of exorbitant wealth, recognising the reality of the world and
ESPN Burley: Aubameyang has to believe in Chelsea to join them ESPN The world has come to a standstill, so we compiled 10 shows and documentaries that will scratch your soccer itch while in isolation. ESPN The Hall of Fame is a concept as old as sports itself but the Premier League finally has a
Steve Nicol says David Luiz bears the most blame for Arsenal’s loss vs. Olympiakos. It was a Greek tragedy at the Emirates stadium, as Olympiakos shocked Arsenal at the end of extra time to win 2-1 on the night and advance via away goals to the Europa League’s last 16. It was Youssef El Arabi who bundled
7 — It was a rather flat game in terms of pace and energy from Olympiakos, though the visitors’ adaptable back four performed well to register another clean sheet. Mikel Arteta’s introduction of Dani Ceballos had a slight impact on the game, while Saka’s forward movement proved inspired as he bagged a worthy assist. Player
The ESPN FC crew debate whether or not Arsenal are good enough to finish third this year. Arsenal are up to third, and Craig Burley says Unai Emery’s side can still go to another level. Craig Burley and Stevie Nicol say Nicolas Pepe looks like “a flash in the pan” after failing to live up
ESPN FC’s Paul Mariner gives a quick recap of a back and forth North London Derby that ended in a 2-2 draw. Henrikh Mkhitaryan expresses how he hopes to turn a new leaf with AS Roma after “hard times” at Arsenal. Frank Leboeuf joins ESPN FC to discuss Arsenal midfielder Matteo Guendouzi ahead of a
Arsenal certainly have the firepower to score goals against Liverpool, but can Unai Emery get his players to organize defensively at Anfield? David Luiz and Matteo Guendouzi’s similar hairstyles are causing all sorts of confusion in The Exploding Heads’ Liverpool vs. Arsenal preview. Steve Nicol says that the combination of new signing Dani Ceballos with
With reports from Spain suggesting a Paul Pogba – Gareth Bale swap is in the works, the ESPN FC panel debate whether Manchester United or Real Madrid would prefer that deal more. Former Arsenal striker Paul Mariner goes through Harry Maguire’s defensive attributes and concludes that he is not worth the kind of money that
ESPN FC’s Shaka Hislop weighs up who will stay and who will go at Barcelona following their UEFA Champions League exit against Liverpool. Mark Donaldson presents his Fantasy La Liga lineup; be sure to join him in the action at ESPN.com/FantasyFC. Liverpool completed another historic Champions League comeback, overcoming a 3-0 deficit from the first
Paul Mariner takes a whirl at the latest transfer rater and takes on the rumours surrounding Gareth Bale, Mesut Ozil and Edinson Cavani all set to leave this summer. With the transfer window for Europe’s biggest clubs set to open soon — find out exactly when the Premier League transfer window opens — rest assured
There’s Lionel Messi, and then there’s the rest. The weekend’s football in Europe seemed to suggest so, although one must put this helpful caveat: Juventus gave Cristiano Ronaldo the weekend off. Here are the best numbers from the weekend: 33 Lionel Messi scored his 33rd La Liga hat-trick in the course of Barcelona’s 4-1 win
Steve Nicol breaks down Manchester United’s first Premier League loss under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, a 2-0 defeat at Arsenal. Craig Burley and Alejandro Moreno were in full agreement that Raheem Sterling’s first goal against Watford should never have been allowed to stand. Steve Nicol examines what is behind Mohamed Salah’s recent struggles and what he
It was a weekend of derbies and fierce cross-country rivalries. The North-London derby was feisty, controversial and ended 1-1, the Merseyside one was tamer and ended 0-0, while the Rome edition saw Lazio absolutely smash Roma 3-0. Across in Spain, the Clasico saw Barcelona run out 1-0 winners at Real Madrid, while in a brilliantly-manic
Following their Europa League defeat at BATE Borisov, ESPN FC’s Paul Mariner takes Arsenal to task for their less-than-impressive showing. ESPN FC’s Shaka Hislop does not hold back in how Mesut Ozil has been performing at Arsenal under Unai Emery. Alexandre Lacazette has apologised after being sent off in Arsenal’s stunning 1-0 defeat at BATE
Last week Arsenal boss Unai Emery came out and said something surprising “We cannot sign players where we have to make a payment… we can only make loan signings.” That’s not what you expect to hear from a club that is six points away from fourth place and is in danger of finishing outside the