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Wenger braced for knife-edge Arsenal season

August 10, 2017 by  
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London (AFP) – Arsene Wenger brokered a fragile truce with Arsenal’s dissenting fans by winning the FA Cup, but has little margin for error ahead of Friday’s Premier League opener against Leicester City.

Last season was by far the most difficult of Wenger’s 21-year tenure as manager, with Arsenal’s on-pitch travails exposing him to furious protests from sections of the club’s support.

Having ended months of speculation by signing a new two-year contract, he is looking forwards and says that if the team put on a united front, the fans will fall into line behind them.

“A lot (of the trouble) was created by my own situation. Maybe I made a mistake,” Wenger said after Arsenal beat Chelsea on penalties in last weekend’s Community Shield.

“Overall I believe that it’s down to us. The trend has always to come from the team.”

Undermining Wenger’s quest for harmony is the uncertainty surrounding several first-team players.

Alexis Sanchez, Mesut Ozil, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Jack Wilshere are among the players whose contracts expire at the end of the season.

Sanchez in particular has been the subject of intense speculation about his future amid reported interest from the big-spending duo of Manchester City and Paris Saint-Germain.

The Chile forward missed pre-season after being granted extra time off following the Confederations Cup and has been ruled out of Friday’s game due to an abdominal strain.

That Wenger is not going into the new campaign with the fans still at his throat owes much to Arsenal’s strong finish to last season.

After Wenger belatedly adopted a 3-4-2-1 formation — a tactical trend sparked by champions Chelsea — Arsenal won seven of their last eight league games and stunned Chelsea 2-1 in the FA Cup final.

They defeated Chelsea again when the teams renewed acquaintances at Wembley in last Sunday’s Community Shield, winning a penalty shootout 4-1 after a 1-1 draw.

- Iheanacho ready for action -

As well as the silverware, Arsenal’s supporters have also had a major signing to celebrate after Wenger broke the club’s transfer record to sign prolific French striker Alexandre Lacazette from Lyon.

The 26-year-old set Arsenal back an initial fee of £46.5 million ($60.3 million, 51.5 million euros) and is expected to lead the line, flanked by Sanchez and Ozil.

Ozil is a doubt against Leicester, however, along with Aaron Ramsey, Per Mertesacker and Shkodran Mustafi, while Laurent Koscielny is suspended. Gabriel and Santi Cazorla are definitely out.

For the first time since 1997, Arsenal are going into a season without Champions League football and Wenger has pledged to rest players in the Europa League.

He has said he intends “to focus completely on the Premier League”, but if such an approach fails to yield a title challenge, he can expect the protests to ramp up quickly.

After going into last season as defending champions, only for a close shave with relegation to cost manager Claudio Ranieri his job, Leicester are targeting stability under Craig Shakespeare.

They have spent over £50 million, strengthening each squad department with moves for goalkeeper Eldin Jakupovic, centre-back Harry Maguire, midfielder Vicente Iborra and striker Kelechi Iheanacho.

Spaniard Iborra has been ruled out of the trip to the Emirates Stadium with a groin strain and joins centre-back Robert Huth and midfielder Danny Drinkwater on the sidelines.

But 20-year-old Nigeria starlet Iheanacho, signed from Manchester City last week, has been passed fit after sustaining a knock in a friendly against Borussia Moenchengladbach.

“You’ve got the season ahead to look forward to and everyone’s raring to go,” said captain Wes Morgan.

“We’ve got our first game this Friday coming and we can’t wait to get started.”

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It’s uniform change for MLB’s Players Weekend

August 10, 2017 by  
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3:00 PM ET

The New York Yankees have famously stuck with various traditions throughout their long history, including this one: They are the only team among the major North American pro sports leagues whose players have never worn their names on their jerseys.

But that is about to change.

MLB announced Wednesday the details of Players Weekend, which will take place on Aug. 25 through 27. The promotion will include new uniforms, with most players — including those on the Yankees — wearing nicknames instead of their last names.

The Players Weekend program has several unusual uniform-related components. Here’s a detailed look, going one element at a time:

1. New jerseys and caps. All 30 MLB teams will wear bright-colored jerseys with contrasting sleeves. The jerseys will be pullovers, not button-fronts. There will also be a new set of bright-colored caps, many of which feature either slight modifications to the teams’ familiar cap logos or, in some cases, new logos that have never appeared on a cap before. The Phillies’ cap, for example, features a blue Liberty Bell.

2. The nicknames. Players have been encouraged but not required to wear nicknames rather than their surnames. It’s not yet clear how many will play along, but several teams have already posted tweets indicating that most of their players are on board.

And yes, the Yankees will be participating. Rookie slugger Aaron Judge, for example, will wear “All Rise” on his jersey:

Additional nicknames being planned for Yankees players can be seen here.

This won’t be the first time MLB players have worn nicknames. A’s owner Charles Finley encouraged his players to do it back in the 1960s and ’70s, most of the Braves did it in 1976, and there have been other examples scattered throughout MLB history. In fact, although Mets pitcher Noah Syndergaard will wear “Thor” on his back for Players Weekend, former Twins pitcher Paul Thormodsgard already wore that nearly four decades ago.

Nicknames have also popped up in other leagues, most notably for select NBA games during the 2013-14 season. But Players Weekend appears to be the first time that nicknames will be used by a major sport on a league-wide basis.

3. The MLB logo. Players Weekend is scheduled to coincide with the culmination of the Little League World Series, so the jerseys and caps will feature a new logo that shows a player’s evolution from youth to adulthood. The design draws inspiration from the Little League and MLB logos.

4. The sleeve patch. The new logo will also be featured on a “Thank You” sleeve patch that will appear on every jersey. The patch includes a blank space on the bottom where the player can write in the name of a mentor or other important figure who helped him achieve his dream of playing in the big leagues.

5. The socks. Players who choose to cuff their pants up high will reveal a new sock pattern. The design, which will be the same for all 30 teams, is as bold and colorful as the jerseys and caps:

In addition, the usual color restrictions on shoes, batting gloves, compression sleeves and other accessories will be relaxed, allowing players to express themselves a bit more. The move is reminiscent of the NFL’s decision to allow custom-painted cleats during Week 13 of the 2016 season.

In addition to being worn on Aug. 25-27, the new uniforms will also be worn on Aug. 20 when the Cardinals and Pirates face off in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, home of the Little League World Series.

Paul Lukas was nicknamed “Luke” when he was growing up. If you like this column, you’ll probably like his Uni Watch Blog, plus you can follow him on Twitter and Facebook. Want to learn about his Uni Watch Membership Program, check out his Uni Watch merchandise, be added to his mailing list so you’ll always know when a new column has been posted, or just ask him a question? Contact him here.

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