Pochettino Wants That Trophy Back, Arsenal Pass Another Test

0:00The messy effect is brought to you with the help of AI. Hi, I'm Jamie Rudd. Let's start with the quote of the week, maybe the quote of the year. Mauricio Pocciotino, speaking to the Guardian, says that Chelsea should be stripped of their 2016 to 17 Premier League title, and that the trophy should be handed to Tottenham, the team he managed to second place that season. His exact framing, the title should be for the team that was second. Chelsea were fined 10 million pounds by the Football Association in July for multiple violations during the Roman Abramovich era, and were separately fined nearly 11 million pounds by the Premier League in March. Pocciotino's argument is that if the rules were broken, the results should change hands. Now, nobody is actually stripping Chelsea of anything right now, but the idea of Pocciotino sitting calmly somewhere this summer deciding that the time had come to say this out loud. Magnificent, Sky Sports also reports that Pocciotino says

1:03he hopes to return to the Premier League as a manager in the future, so he is very much keeping himself in the conversation. Hull City visits Stamford Bridge on Saturday, by the way. Just something to hold on to, onto the Champions League, where Arsenal made it look straightforward, until you look closely at the details, the Gunners won 1-0 at Napoli, with Martin Odergard getting the only goal 15 minutes from time. According to the Guardian, Arsenal missed a hat full of chances, and were not quite at their flowing best, partly because UEFA forced them to wear red shorts for the first time in years after a kit clash ruling. Michael Atherter told Sky Sports that Odergard's form comes down to fitness and a new positional role, and the captain does look like a different player this season. The more complicated subplot, flagged by CBS Sports, is Victor Jörg Kharesh. The marquee striker did not register a single shot, all night against Napoli,

2:04one goal, one clean sheet, one very expensive centre forward, who is yet to fully announce himself in Europe, that is a story to watch as the competition develops. Arsenal travelled to Sunderland on Saturday, Liverpool's Champions League opener had a better narrative arc. At Letico Madrid took an early lead at Anfield, which was not what anyone at home needed, but Liverpool came back to win 2-1, and the player who made it happen was Alexis Mac Arlistair. According to the Guardian, Mac Arlistair had publicly described himself as very sad, after Liverpool offered new deals to Dominic Soberslij and Ryan Gravenbörsch, but not to him. He promised to give everything until his last day, and then he went out and scored a long-range strike past Jan Oblach to seal the win. CBS Sports noted that Liverpool's broader questions are not entirely answered. The win was narrow and at Letico faded, rather than being dismantled,

3:05but sometimes a result is also a statement, and Mac Arlistair made his. Full and visit Anfield on Saturday, there is one more Champions League thread worth pulling, according to CBS Sports, Manchester United returned to European football this week, under Michael Carrick, taking on Azerbaijany side Sabah at Old Trafford. The match came with injury concerns and significant pressure on Carrick to deliver a convincing performance before what comes next on the calendar. What comes next on the calendar is the Manchester Derby, City Hosting United on Sunday. Before that, the Guardian ran a wonderful feature on Sabah's manager, Valda Stambrauskas, a Lithuanian coach who once won the equivalent of £725 on his country's version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, worked in London pubs, and has now navigated his club to the Champions League group stage. That is the kind of journey this competition was made for.

4:05A quick check-in from MLS, Orlando City beat Atlanta United 3-2 on Tuesday, with Antoine Grease man scoring twice, including the winner in the 77th minute. The Premier League weekend is two days away. Saturday's slate includes Arsenal at Sunderland, Fulham at Liverpool, Hull City at Chelsea, Brentford at Bournemouth, Nottingham Forest at Aston Villa, Ipswich at Crystal Palace, and Everton at Tottenham. Sunday brings Brighton at Coventry, and that Manchester Derby, a full scoreboard on Monday, for the Messy Effect, I'm Jamie Rudd.