Sports
Danny Welbeck could be set for new Arsenal role
Unai Emery has challenged Danny Welbeck to have the best season of his life.
Welbeck returned from his post-World Cup break on Monday and walked straight into speculation that he could be let go.
The transfer window shut in England on Thursday but there were still suggestions the 27-year-old could be offloaded by Arsenal to the continent.
Emery, however, insisted that would not be the case, with Welbeck’s versatility impressing the new Gunners boss in their first week together.
“I said to Danny when he arrived with us after the holidays, I want the best performance of his career and he should work for that,” said the Spaniard.
“Then he has the possibility to play as a left winger, right winger or striker.
“I want him to get better with his quality and his data in this year – more goals, more assists and working to help when we need quick pressing against the opposition.
“Danny is one of the players who has a multi-position possibility – right winger, left winger, striker.
“On Friday he worked with us at left-back. His performance was good,” added Emery, laughing. “I like this spirit and he can help positions across the team with the positivity of it.
“For me it’s clear: Thursday the transfer window closed and our players will stay with us.
“Only Carl Jenkinson, David Ospina and Joel Campbell will go, the rest are going to stay here.”
The challenge of producing a career-best season has been thrown down to everyone at the club, including the manager.
And as he prepared for his first Premier League game as Arsenal boss, against Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City, Emery said: “Firstly, that’s for me.
“I want to get better every day and in each training session and in each match, and I want to transmit to the players the same idea.”
What is very clear is that the players will have to take plenty of responsibility for themselves under Emery and that the flakiness of seasons past will not be tolerated.
While Laurent Koscielny, Petr Cech, Aaron Ramsey, Mesut Ozil and Granit Xhaka are the five captains Emery has selected, a practice common in Spain, new boy Stephan Lichtsteiner is another with vast experience and someone who will also marshal the squad.
“Maybe he is the player who has won the most titles but, after all that, we start with a new way.
“We want to continue winning, remembering your titles from a big career, but this is a new way to try to win more. In football you live for your present and your future.”
The Swiss right-back, who won seven Serie A titles with Juventus, has already spoken on Emery’s behalf and told his team-mates to forget past achievements.
Emery said: “The past is good but it’s finished. On Friday morning, we were talking with the team and it was the moment for Lichtsteiner to speak.
“Maybe he is the player who has won the most titles but, after all that, we start with a new way.
“We want to continue winning, remembering your titles from a big career, but this is a new way to try to win more. In football you live for your present and your future.”
Which is just as well, perhaps, given City twice spanked Arsenal 3-0 at the Emirates in a five-day period last season, in the EFL Cup and Premier League, after beating them 3-1 at the Etihad in the top flight.
Asked if he had watched the league match in north London, Emery was marked in his response.
“A new way,” he said. But when pushed to expand, he added: “The message is the same inside and outside the training ground.
“We want to transmit one idea with personality, style and ambition. Then we want to play looking forwards to each match.
“We take the responsibility to be protagonists more than just be in possession.
“That’s a good message to tell the fans. We want to do that.”
The Chairman of Agbele Sporting, Hon. Ponmile Omidiji, has rejoiced with and extended warm felicitations to the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Remo Stars Football Club, Hon. Kunle Soname, on the occasion of his birthday.
This was contained in a statement personally signed by Omidiji and made available to journalists in Ibadan on Sunday.
The statement reads: “It is my greatest pleasure to felicitate with you, the man of the masses and a philanthropist par excellence, on your day of birth.
“You are a morale booster and a great motivator to this generation. You always utilise any position you occupy for the benefit of others. Indubitably, you are a good man and worthy of emulation,” he added.
Omidiji also seized the opportunity to commend Hon. Soname’s contributions and tireless efforts towards the development of football in Nigeria and beyond, noting that such commitment is truly appreciated.
He offered heartfelt prayers for the celebrant, praying that Almighty God would continue to bless and protect him, that God’s grace would abound in his life, and that all his concerns would be firmly in God’s hands. He further wished that the world would always be kind to him.
Christian Chukwu, former captain and head coach of Nigeria’s national football team, the Super Eagles, has died at the age of 74.
The football icon passed away in the early hours of Saturday, though the exact circumstances surrounding his death remain unclear at the time of reporting.
The news of his demise was confirmed by his longtime friend and teammate, Chief Olusegun Odegbami, who spoke to Channels Television. Odegbami, who played alongside Chukwu in Nigeria’s triumphant 1980 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) squad, expressed deep sorrow over the loss.
“I just received the news that between 9:00 and 10:00 this morning, ‘Chairman’ Christian Chukwu, MFR, my bosom friend and teammate, one of the greatest football players in Nigeria’s history, has passed on,” said Odegbami.
“Babuje, Emmanuel Okala, MON, gave me the sad news a few minutes ago. May ‘Onyim’ find peace with Our Creator in Heaven and console his family,” he added.
Born on 4 January 1951 in Enugu, Chukwu carved a legendary career in Nigerian football, notably captaining Enugu Rangers to numerous domestic triumphs and leading them to continental glory in 1977 with victory in the now-defunct African Cup Winners’ Cup.
He made history in 1980 as the first Nigerian captain to lift the African Nations Cup trophy following a 3–0 win over Algeria in the final held in Lagos.
Chukwu went on to contribute to Nigeria’s football success off the pitch, serving as assistant to Dutch tactician Clemens Westerhof during the Super Eagles’ victorious 1994 AFCON campaign and their debut appearance at the FIFA World Cup the same year.
As head coach, Chukwu led the Super Eagles to a third-place finish at the 2004 Africa Cup of Nations in Tunisia. His tenure as national coach lasted from 2002 to 2005, ending during the qualification phase for the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany.
Nicknamed “Chairman” for his commanding presence on and off the pitch, Chukwu also played a role in Nigeria’s youth football development, working as assistant coach during the 1985 FIFA U-16 World Cup, which Nigeria won in China.
In 2019, he battled prostate cancer, which affected his mobility. A public appeal for support was launched, and Nigerian billionaire Femi Otedola stepped in to cover his overseas medical expenses, reportedly donating $50,000 for his treatment.
Manchester United manager Ruben Amorim believes Marcus Rashford was unable to see football “the way I see it” before the unwanted England striker was shipped out of Old Trafford.
The 27-year-old Rashford fell dramatically out of favour with the Portuguese boss and spent seven weeks on the sidelines until he was loaned to Premier League rivals Aston Villa during the transfer window.
“I couldn’t put Marcus to see the way you’re supposed to play football and to train the way I see it,” Amorim said on Thursday.
“And sometimes you have one player that is really good with one coach, and the same player with another coach is different.
“I just wish the best to Rashford and to (Aston Villa coach) Unai Emery, and they can connect because he’s a very good player.”
Amorim, whose team face Leicester in the FA Cup fourth round on Friday, said his focus now is on turning around a wretched season.
“Guys, in the summer… like we said before, we are fighting for our jobs until the summer,” he said.
“So, I am just focused on these games. Thankfully about Marcus he is in Birmingham now with Unai, so you can take these questions to another coach. We are just focused on our players at the moment.”
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