The Warm-Up: Magic Mo's nifty fifty
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Updated 25/10/2018 at 08:43 GMT+1
Jack Lang channels his inner weatherman, laughs at Marcelo Brozovic and does some amateur tattoo criticism...
Mohamed Salah applauds the Liverpool fans
Image credit: PA Sport
THURSDAY’S BIG STORIES
Flood warnings at Anfield
Now The Warm-Up is no expert on precipitation, but it seems to us that Mohamed Salah’s so-called goal drought might not be worthy of the name. Six goals in the first 10 weeks of the campaign; if we’re walking through a desert here, there seem to be convenient drinks stands every 500 metres or so.
Obviously, things are a tiny bit different to last season, when the Egyptian was pretty much a one-man rain dance. But after last night’s brace against Red Star Belgrade and some plum fixtures coming up, you’d have to say that the weather forecast looks decidedly… damp.
Sorry, tabloid editors; those ‘Mo Sahara’ headlines will have to keep for another time.
“It’s good that we can maybe stop talking about that,” said Jurgen Klopp, absolutely correctly. “That will help a little bit. I was not in doubt, he was not in doubt, but if you are constantly asked about it then you think something is obviously wrong or people are not happy.”
The Warm-Up knows that feeling, so just for the record: YES, GETTING UP EARLY TO WRITE SNARKY NEWS ROUND-UPS FOR CASH IS EXACTLY THE LIFE WE PLANNED.
Where were we? Oh yes: Salah. The winger is now up to 50 goals for Liverpool, reaching the milestone in just 65 games – quicker than any Reds player in history. “It’s an exceptional number and hopefully he can continue,” added Klopp. “What’s the next record he can reach?”
And while that was probably a rhetorical question, The Warm-Up does actually have some suggestions:
- Most goals scored while looking like you’ve just awoken from a nap (current holder: Dimitar Berbatov).
- Most goalkeepers irritated by slow, dribbling finishes that seem saveable but really aren’t (current holder: Thierry Henry)
- Most anguish caused to Jose Mourinho (big rivals: Kevin De Bruyne and the concept of human happiness).
Spursiness latest
Let’s look at the positives, shall we? Christian Eriksen and Mousa Dembele played very well. Tottenham dominated possession and created plenty of chances. And Hugo Lloris clearly didn’t down a bottle of wine before kick-off, like he did against Barcelona. These are all good things.
But none if it did Spurs much good in Eindhoven, and you have to wonder whether Lloris made up for his pre-match puritanism with a cheeky half at the interval. How else to explain the gonzo charge that earned him a red card and invited a late PSV surge?
“We only have one point. It will be very difficult,” said Mauricio Pochettino. Yep.
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Christian Eriksen of Tottenham Hotspur looks dejected after PSV Eindhoven score their first goal during the Group B match of the UEFA Champions League between PSV and Tottenham Hotspur at Philips Stadion on October 24, 2018 in Eindhoven, Netherlands
Image credit: Getty Images
Sonic youth
It was an action-packed night around the continent, but our last news slot goes to Borussia Dortmund, 4-0 winners against Atletico Madrid. No, that is a not a typo. Four-nil winners. Four-nil. FOUR. It was Diego Simeone’s heaviest defeat as Atleti boss.
And among the Dortmund scorers? Jadon Sancho, casually conquering Europe one gameweek at a time. Bravo.
IN OTHER NEWS
This week in football clubs completely eviscerating mid-ranking pop stars on social media:
Is it too late now to say sorry? (Wait, that is One Direction, right? The Warm-Up isn’t exactly an expert in these matters.)
HEROES AND ZEROES
Hero: Marcelo Brozovic
[Does best Gandalf voice] “You shall… not… passsss!”
Zero: Neymar
Nothing to do with PSG’s actual game against Napoli, this. Just a gut reaction to the Brazilian’s latest body ‘art’, which features, erm, Batman and Spider-Man emerging from slashed skin.
Why? God knows. Perhaps Neymar is just used to operating with the collective weight of two super heroes on his shoulders. Cough cough Messi and Ronaldo cough cough.
RETRO CORNER
In the run up to El Clasico in Spain (3.15pm on Sunday, planning fans), here’s a cool little documentary about the history of the fixture:
And to really get you in the mood, here’s the Clasico instalment of Copa 90’s Derby Days series:
HAT TIP
We dip into the world of radio for a brace of recommendations today. The first is this BBC documentary about Wendell Lira, the unknown Brazilian who won the Puskas Award three years ago. And when you’re done with that, you’ll want to check out Guillem Balague’s interview with Pep Guardiola, who selects the songs that mean the most to him:
COMING UP
Europa League ahoooy! It’s Celtic vs RB Leipzig, Rangers vs Spartak Moscow, and another chance for the forgotten squad players of Arsenal and Chelsea to impress, against Sporting Lisbon and BATE respectively.
Why not join The Warm-Up in rolling a dice to predict Friday morning’s headlines? “Callum Hudson-Odoi impresses off the bench in Chelsea cruise,” perhaps, or maybe a nice little slice of, “Arsenal win again thanks to Carl Jenkinson brace”. Think of the possibilities!
Nick Miller will be doing his best Tom Adams impression in tomorrow’s Warm-Up. Hipster glasses, barely-concealed Arsenal fandom… the whole hog.
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