Arsene Wenger insists his 24/7 approach to managing Arsenal will deliver results as he again defended his position.
The Gunners manager insisted he is not bothered about the criticism after Saturday's 1-0 win at West Brom. A banner was unfurled in the away end at the Hawthorns which read 'Arsene, thanks for the memories but it's time to say goodbye'.
Danny Welbeck’s winner failed to appease some supporters despite the Gunners sitting two points off the top four in the Premier League.
But, after 18 years in charge of Arsenal, Wenger said he will ignore the jibes and will not waver.
He said: “I don’t mind. I do what I love and I think I do it with honesty and total commitment. I invite you to live with me and see in seven days what kind of work we produce and you will see it’s with total commitment.
“I think we have shown extreme consistency and that’s all you can do. We’ve had ups and downs in the league, that’s true, but you only come back again when the spirit is strong and united inside the club.
“If we have shown consistency it’s because we have that, we have values and respect them.”
Welbeck netted on the hour, his 11th goal for club and country this season, after a switch saw him move out to the right and Wenger joked about his tactics.
He said: “I never know what a Plan B is. I started to manage a team at the top level in 1983 so, if I am completely useless tactically, I am a genius.”
The defeat condemned Albion to a third straight loss without scoring and Baggies fans rounded on head coach Alan Irvine.
They host West Ham on Tuesday having won just once in their last eight games in all competitions and Irvine insisted there are too many outside pressures on managers.
“There are, it’s well known it took Sir Alex Ferguson a long time to have the success he had,” he said.
“In today’s climate he wouldn’t have got anywhere and people wouldn’t have seen the most successful manager in British football because he would have lost his job.
“That’s where we are, it’s an instant society. Everything is expected in a hurry.”
And Irvine feels the wider audience do not understand what it takes to be a top-flight manager.
“Probably not,” he said.
“I had a very long apprenticeship before I became a manager. I thought I knew what becoming one would be having spent five and a half years as an assistant manager and having done just about every coaching role.
“But I found out when I sat in the chair I didn’t know.
“It’s like people will think they know (a journalist’s) job and, when they have done it, that’s when they realise they don’t know (what it involves). That’s the way it is.”
English Premier League fixtures
Tuesday (in UAE time)
Burnley v Newcastle United, 11.45pm
Leicester City v Liverpool, 11.45pm
Manchester United v Stoke City, 11.45pm
Swansea City v Queens Park Rangers, 11.45pm
West Bromwich Albion v West Ham United, midnight
Crystal Palace v Aston Villa, midnight
Wednesday
Arsenal v Southampton, 11.45pm
Chelsea v Tottenham Hotspur, 11.45pm
Everton v Hull City, 11.45pm
Sunderland v Manchester City, 11.45pm
Follow our sports coverage on twitter at @SprtNationalUAE
Skewed figures
In the village of Mevagissey in southwest England the housing stock has doubled in the last century while the number of residents is half the historic high. The village's Neighbourhood Development Plan states that 26% of homes are holiday retreats. Prices are high, averaging around £300,000, £50,000 more than the Cornish average of £250,000. The local average wage is £15,458.
Test
Director: S Sashikanth
Cast: Nayanthara, Siddharth, Meera Jasmine, R Madhavan
Star rating: 2/5
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
The bio
His favourite book - 1984 by George Orwell
His favourite quote - 'If you think education is expensive, try ignorance' by Derek Bok, Former President of Harvard
Favourite place to travel to - Peloponnese, Southern Greece
Favourite movie - The Last Emperor
Favourite personality from history - Alexander the Great
Role Model - My father, Yiannis Davos
RESULT
Liverpool 4 Southampton 0
Jota (2', 32')
Thiago (37')
Van Dijk (52')
Man of the match: Diogo Jota (Liverpool)
The years Ramadan fell in May
UAE SQUAD
Mohammed Naveed (captain), Mohamed Usman (vice captain), Ashfaq Ahmed, Chirag Suri, Shaiman Anwar, Mohammed Boota, Ghulam Shabber, Imran Haider, Tahir Mughal, Amir Hayat, Zahoor Khan, Qadeer Ahmed, Fahad Nawaz, Abdul Shakoor, Sultan Ahmed, CP Rizwan
SERIE A FIXTURES
Saturday Benevento v Atalanta (2pm), Genoa v Bologna (5pm), AC Milan v Torino (7.45pm)
Sunday Roma v Inter Milan (3.30pm), Udinese v Napoli, Hellas Verona v Crotone, Parma v Lazio (2pm), Fiorentina v Cagliari (9pm), Juventus v Sassuolo (11.45pm)
Monday Spezia v Sampdoria (11.45pm)
Paatal Lok season two
Directors: Avinash Arun, Prosit Roy
Stars: Jaideep Ahlawat, Ishwak Singh, Lc Sekhose, Merenla Imsong
Rating: 4.5/5
THE%20HOLDOVERS
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirector%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EAlexander%20Payne%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarring%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Paul%20Giamatti%2C%20Da'Vine%20Joy%20Randolph%2C%20Dominic%20Sessa%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%204.5%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
How to help
Call the hotline on 0502955999 or send "thenational" to the following numbers:
2289 - Dh10
2252 - Dh50
6025 - Dh20
6027 - Dh100
6026 - Dh200
MATCH SCHEDULE
Uefa Champions League semi-final, first leg
Tuesday, April 24 (10.45pm)
Liverpool v Roma
Wednesday, April 25
Bayern Munich v Real Madrid (10.45pm)
Europa League semi-final, first leg
Thursday, April 26
Arsenal v Atletico Madrid (11.05pm)
Marseille v Salzburg (11.05pm)
The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre flat-six
Torque: 450Nm at 6,100rpm
Transmission: 7-speed PDK auto or 6-speed manual
Fuel economy, combined: 13.8L/100km
On sale: Available to order now
SPEC SHEET
Display: 6.8" edge quad-HD dynamic Amoled 2X, Infinity-O, 3088 x 1440, 500ppi, HDR10 , 120Hz
Processor: 4nm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1/Exynos 2200, 8-core
Memory: 8/12GB RAM
Storage: 128/256/512GB/1TB
Platform: Android 12
Main camera: quad 12MP ultra-wide f/2.2, 108MP wide f/1.8, 10MP telephoto f/4.9, 10MP telephoto 2.4; Space Zoom up to 100x, auto HDR, expert RAW
Video: 8K@24fps, 4K@60fps, full-HD@60fps, HD@30fps, super slo-mo@960fps
Front camera: 40MP f/2.2
Battery: 5000mAh, fast wireless charging 2.0 Wireless PowerShare
Connectivity: 5G, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 5.2, NFC
I/O: USB-C
SIM: single nano, or nano and SIM, nano and nano, eSIM/nano and nano
Colours: burgundy, green, phantom black, phantom white, graphite, sky blue, red
Price: Dh4,699 for 128GB, Dh5,099 for 256GB, Dh5,499 for 512GB; 1TB unavailable in the UAE
Match info
What: Fifa Club World Cup play-off
Who: Al Ain v Team Wellington
Where: Hazza bin Zayed Stadium, Al Ain
When: Wednesday, kick off 7.30pm
A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
MATCH DETAILS
Juventus 2 (Bonucci 36, Ronaldo 90 6)
Genoa 1 (Kouame 40)
Getting there
The flights
Flydubai operates up to seven flights a week to Helsinki. Return fares to Helsinki from Dubai start from Dh1,545 in Economy and Dh7,560 in Business Class.
The stay
Golden Crown Igloos in Levi offer stays from Dh1,215 per person per night for a superior igloo; www.leviniglut.net
Panorama Hotel in Levi is conveniently located at the top of Levi fell, a short walk from the gondola. Stays start from Dh292 per night based on two people sharing; www. golevi.fi/en/accommodation/hotel-levi-panorama
Arctic Treehouse Hotel in Rovaniemi offers stays from Dh1,379 per night based on two people sharing; www.arctictreehousehotel.com
