Counterattack mitigation is probably the most important skill in any defensive midfielder's arsenal. Often tasked with protecting a vulnerable back line, elite defensive midfielders must get their spacing and decision-making correct every time.
Let's check in on the Barcelona social media department:
Oh dear. Last night some hackers did some hacking and announced the pretend signing of Angel Di Maria to the whole world. They didn't stop there, those involved spent the rest of the night urging Barcelona to contact them to get their Twitter account back and review their security procedures.
Arsenal fans need Melania Trump’s anti-cyberbullying campaign to get off the ground, and soon. After Arsenal’s 1-0 defeat to Stoke City, Gooners were the victim of cyberbullying at the thumbs of the Stoke police force.
Apologies for the delayed reply. We have been interviewing your manager, but he states he didn't see anything #Sorry
FK Sloboda is a football club and not in the construction business. This was apparent Sunday when building a wall to defend a free kick against HŠK Zrinjski in the Premier League of Bosnia & Herzegovina.
Thanks to state-of-the-art microphone technology, we were able to pick up on the conversation that went on as Sloboda planned out its strategy.
“Everybody listen up. I have the best plan, the greatest plan, a better plan than any of the tacticians in Italy or England could think up.”
“OK skipper, what have you got in mind for defending this free kick?”
Notts County scores. Darkness falls and magic stirs as Matt Tootle becomes a creature of the night — a nightcrawler! But it looks like it’s time for an intervention with the rest of his teammates, because they just don’t look interested in joining Tootle for a quick game.
Nightcrawlers is just what it sounds like, it’s a game where you crawl around like worms in the night, mining minerals under the bed while using your imagination. Tootle clearly knows what’s up.
Can the Wenger-O-Meter do it on a cold Monday night at Stoke? Arsenal certainly couldn't take care of business there on Saturday. The Gunners failed to win a penalty despite several shouts, and were beaten 1-0 by the Potters despite being the more aggressive side.
So there were positives! There usually are, but the fact remains that Arsenal lost to Stoke, swinging the Wenger-O-Meter from the "IN" position dangerously toward the "OUT" position.
Watford beat Bournemouth 2-0 on Saturday because Watford are better than most of us expected and Bournemouth are still bad. The Cherries can lay claim to the best play of the match, though, in Harry Arter's goal-saving shout at Nathaniel Chalobah.
Class from @HarryArter2 I could watch that all day pic.twitter.com/VzDx1A4l8A
Christian Pulisic may be The Truth, but someone needs to tell him the truth about his goal celebration. We can’t figure out what the hell he’s doing. Maybe someone else can, but we can't.
Before you get bent out of shape and start screaming at us, accusing us of being un-American, hold your horses. We know Christian Pulisic is great. We're with you. He's certainly one of the top American soccer players of all time. There's a chance he's the best American ever. Like, better than Abe Lincoln. Seriously, we feel you, @FearTheWall.