Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
ARE YOU TAKING THE
MIK? Angry Arteta wants to turn the tables on teams he believes are winding up the Gunners... and getting away with it
MIKEL ARTETA says Arsenal must turn the tables on football’s wind-up merchants.
The Gunners boss claims his side are being targeted by teams trying to get under their skin, and need to fight fire with fire.
Arsenal host Leeds tomorrow, and when they last met at Elland Road in November they had Nicolas Pepe (right) sent off for a headbutt on Ezgjan Alioski.
And Leeds striker Patrick Bamford revealed recently that team-mate Alisoki can’t wait to face Pepe again.
Granit Xhaka was also
BRIGHTON v ASTON VILLA Amex Stadium: 8pm
BY
GRAHAM POTTER has warned that he may have to sell his young stars this summer if Brighton get ‘incredible’ bids – but revealed he already has the next generation lined up.
Albion rejected several offers from Leeds for £20million defender Ben White last year, while midfield stars Yves Bissouma and Solly March have also been monitored by Premier League predators.
Potter, whose side host Aston Villa tonight, has managed to keep hold of most of his squad during his 21 months in charge at the Amex.
But the vultures are circling and
Brighton are already lining up the next group of players they hope will fill the gaps left by summer departures. Potter (below) gave debuts to new Polish defender Michal Karbownik and midfielder Jakub Moder in the FA Cup defeat at Leicester in midweek.
And Ecuadorian midfielder Moises Caicedo, recruited from Independiente, is highly rated.
Seagulls boss Potter said: “You never know how the squad will develop. You could get some incredibly big bids for players and it is impossible to keep them.
“If that happens that will be brilliant because you’ve got ones coming in that can fill those shoes.
“You have always got to have a mind on the here and now and try to assemble a team that can be competitive and win matches.
“It is a balance. We have brought in experience in people like Adam Lallana, Danny Welbeck, and Joel Veltman – guys who have been at the top end of the game – but we have also added younger players.” Potter, whose side are unbeaten in their last five Premier League games, is adamant his players will bounce back from the agony of their injury-time FA Cup defeat at the King Power on Wednesday.
“I have no doubts,” said Potter, whose team are 10 points clear of the drop zone “The boys were distraught after the game but they are sensible enough to know the world’s not going to end.
“Handling setbacks is the key to elite sport.”
EVERTON FULHAM
Goodison Park: Tomorrow, 7pm
HARRISON REED earned the nickname ‘Ray Donovan’ when he was at Southampton, after the TV show ‘fixer’ who tidies up the messes his celebrity clients get into.
Fulham midfielder Reed is just that man on the football pitch, scurrying about, getting in the tackles when moves break down, getting his team moving again and doing the dirty work.
And that is the way Reed (above) likes it – going under the radar, tidying up, keeping Fulham going in these toughest of times.
But the former Saints man says he doesn’t feel the pressure of the relegation battle, as his team head to Everton tomorrow without a win in 12 Premier League games and a worrying eight points adrift of safety.
“Shane Long started calling me Ray Donovan, the guy who clears up the mess and makes everyone look good. I can handle that,” said Reed.
“People have pointed out the similarities to our manager, Scott Parker, in the way we play. I can see that, but he was a hell of a player and I have a long way to go to get to his level.
“But it’s something I speak to him about, the role in the team. Not the player that stands out and everyone talks about – you go under the radar and get on with your job.”
The midfielder joined the Cottagers permanently for £6million in the summer from boyhood club Saints after a campaign on loan at Fulham last year that ended in promotion.
He said: “The pressure is certainly not getting to me – I’m enjoying it.
“We know that people talk on the outside. Of course you hear it, but it only spurs us on and motivates us. We are fully aware of the challenge ahead.
“The manager set it out at the start of the season. He made it clear it was going to be tough and we would go through periods when we don’t win, losing two or three games on the bounce.
“If we can deal with that and understand where we are, then we can move forward.
“Of course, we look at the table, but the message is we need to take care of our results. There is a long way to go. No one has won the league and no one has been relegated yet.”
Scott plays Ell over fee
FULHAM manager Scott Parker reckons it’s “madness” that Liverpool will pay no more than £4.3million for Harvey Elliott.
The Reds initially offered just £750,000 for the midfielder when they poached him from Craven Cottage in 2019.
And Fulham declared themselves “very pleased” when a tribunal this week awarded them record compensation for a 16-year-old and a 20 per cent sell-on clause.
But Elliott (above), who is on loan at Blackburn, would have to play 100 times for
Liverpool and be capped by England for the full fee to kick in.
And Parker said: “I was disappointed in it all because this is a player that had been developed at this club for a long, long time.
“But we have developed that player for a big club to take him.
“Four million quid for a player we developed and thought the world of, to then leave like he did, is madness really.
“Harvey Elliott has the potential to be a top-class football player but Liverpool have taken him off us for minimal numbers.”