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Laura Woods: League Running Away From Arsenal Already

KANE CORRECT BUT TUCHEL SHOULD BE IN DUGOUT NOW

I agree with Harry Kane’s comments: it really diminishes the importance of being selected by England when so many players withdraw.

I liked that he came out and said how important playing for England was for him.

However I do think Thomas Tuchel should be in the job now rather than waiting until January. He’ll miss a whole camp, including games against Greece and Ireland.

I understand it’s because he wants to focus solely on the World Cup but, surely, the more time you get with a team the better.

Why not give us England fans something to get excited about now before we see out the year? And 100% it would have affected the number of players who withdrew from this particular camp.

We’re all dying for international football to be more exciting – seeing Tuchel in the dugout would have made it so.

Surely us hard-done-by England fans deserved an early Christmas present?

SEVEN TEAMS IN RELEGATION BATTLE

All of the teams in the Premier League from West Ham in 14th down could be drawn into a relegation scrap.

And it’s mad that Man United are only three points above that, too, though they won’t be dragged into it.

Ipswich, Crystal Palace and Wolves all winning a game here and there makes it hard to predict; they all need some consistency and a decent run of games where they can stop the rot.

The Tractor Boys might have started arresting theirs with a point against Leicester and then a big win against Tottenham.

Southampton are who I fear for the most – but it’s a very long season and still early days.

ARSENAL SLUMP COULD PROVE INSURMOUNTABLE

I like the new Champions League format, it’s certainly mixed things up a bit and it feels like there are a lot of big teams that aren’t having it their own way.

I’ve found it quite exciting and I’ve really enjoyed some of the shocks we’ve seen – however I really hope Arsenal don’t need to go into the play-offs in February.

More games are not what any club really needs at that stage of the season but their last performance – against Inter in Milan – was pretty lacklustre in the first half.

The Gunners certainly improved in the second but they were very blunt. The thought of Sporting away next doesn’t fill me with much confidence, other than hoping that losing Ruben Amorim as manager will take its toll on them.

If I’m totally honest, I feel like the league is running away from Arsenal already.

Being nine points behind and still winning the league is something you could expect from Manchester City… but not Arsenal.

AMORIM RIGHT MAN FOR UNITED

I’m a big fan of Amorim now after seeing the way his Sporting CP side dismantled City in the Champions League.

The most impressive part of that was how he changed the game after going 1-0 down and then going in 1-1 at half-time.

I think he’s the right long-term appointment for Manchester United. I also quite liked that United didn’t want to wait until the end of the season to get him in, even though he wanted to see out the season in Lisbon.

United need to put a marker down and show they still have the pull and the power.

If you’ve identified your man, why wait? The club shouldn’t be writing this season off with an interim manager, even if it’s Ruud van Nistelrooy.

PAUL-TYSON NOT THE ONE… BUT TAYLOR-SERRANO 2 IS!

I’m not into it, sorry! I can’t get on board. I can’t watch a 58-year-old man get into the ring with a 27-year-old.

I don’t care how they dress it up or if they want us to believe it is anywhere near a fair fight, it’s comical.

It’s purely for entertainment and if you can accept it as an exhibition fight then go and enjoy it – but I won’t accept it for anything else.

Where I will give the whole thing some credit is that it will get a lot of eyes and sales. I think that’s great for the undercard and, in particular, Katie Taylor versus Amanda Serrano.

I covered their first fight in Madison Square Garden back in 2022 and it was one of the best spectacles I’d seen. Taylor’s ring walk was otherworldly and the fight [Taylor won by split decision] was absolutely brutal.

If they were three-minute rounds I don’t think Katie would have won that fight but the way she held on and fought back was inspiring.

A lot has happened since that fight and this next meeting deserves the press and publicity it will get.

Jake Paul is certainly a good promoter – I’ll take him as that over a boxer any day of the week.

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