7 days agoNews TvComments Off on Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban ‘separated’ after movie star ‘attempted but failed’ to save their marriage
NICOLE Kidman and Keith Urban have separated and have been living apart for some time, sources revealed.
TMZ broke the news about the split on Monday, sharing that insiders revealed that the Hollywood stars have taken a break from their marriage.
Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban have reportedly separated
Sources told the outlet that Nicole and Keith, who’ve been married since 2006, have been living separately “since the beginning of summer.”
They also revealed that their two children have been in Nicole’s care as the actress is “holding the family together through this difficult time since Keith has been gone.”
It’s unknown what led to the separation, but sources claim that it wasn’t Nicole’s idea, as she’s been wanting to save their relationship.
More to follow… For the latest news on this story, keep checking back at The U.S. Sun, your go-to destination for the best celebrity news, sports news, real-life stories, jaw-dropping pictures, and must-see videos.
7 days agoNews TvComments Off on How Arteta’s ‘scrambled eggs’ move baffled Newcastle and set Arsenal on course to mount Premier League title challenge
ARSENAL’S late, late show at St James’ Park saw them climb to within two points of Liverpool at the top of the Premier League table.
The Gunners trailed for much of the contest, having fallen behind against the run of play via Nick Woltemade‘s 34th minute header.
GettyWilliam Saliba and Gabriel Magalhaes celebrate the latter’s late winner at Newcastle[/caption]
GettyMikel Arteta was delighted with his side’s huge victory[/caption]
But Mikel Arteta‘s side didn’t panic, and continued to bang on the door.
They were finally rewarded just six minutes from time when substitute Mikel Merino beat Nick Pope to level.
The Toon couldn’t quite cling on for a point, with relentless Arsenal pressure eventually leading to Gabriel Magalhaes‘ 96th minute winner.
Let’s take a further look at how the Gunners were able to outfox the Toon.
ARSENAL’S ‘SCRAMBLED EGGS’
Debate was going on in commentary online about which formation Newcastle were playing. Was it 3-4-3? Was it 4-5-1? Was it a 4-3-3?
Arteta’s plan was to disrupt, scramble and break that midfield three. And it was really, really cleverly done. The way they did it in build up was why they had so much territorial domination early on and why they should have been out of sight.
Trossard, who started on the left of Arsenal’s front three, came right back into midfield at times between Martin Zubimendi and Declan Rice.
And what he was trying to do was bring a midfielder with him. So not necessarily the full-back, which would have been Tino Livramento. It would have been Joelinton or Guimaraes.
In bringing one of those two with him, Trossard was therefore creating space for Viktor Gyokeres.
With the ground he covers, Declan Rice virtually does the job of two players in one.
As Arsenal set up, Rice was in a two with Zubimendi as the double pivot. When Trossard came in, he made that Newcastle midfield line not be a flat line of three. He made them jagged and all over the place. So they weren’t solid.
And then as the ball went in the air or wide, Rice just charged through the middle and therefore became the holder in a set shape and the man who was then going to win the second balls up the field, something that overpowered Newcastle.
With Arsenal on the attack, Trossard brilliantly moved into an inside left position, which meant Riccardo Calafiori moved up the outside.
So Trossard and Rice were doing a tango dance between them, which meant Newcastle’s midfield were baffled about who was picking each up, whether they were sticking to their position or twisting and going out to press.
It was really, really clever from those two and obviously Mikel Arteta to make Newcastle not as solid as they have been.
EZE AND GYOKERES’ PARTNERSHIP
Eberechi Eze and Viktor Gyokeres pressed as a two. It was really good to see that Mikel Arteta trusted Eze to play centrally, having deployed the England man out wide in recent weeks.
With Leandro Trossard as the left ten, and Eze the right ten, Riccardo Calafiori was able to bomb up his flank, with Bukayo Saka providing width on the other side.
Gyokeres, because of the runs he makes, has been getting isolated in recent games. Arsenal have wanted to see some of their other forward players get closer to the Swede.
This meant not leaving their wingers parked on the wings, because that would have then left Gyokeres alone against two centre-backs.
The striker was battered and bruised a little bit. But Eze was the man who got really close to him, and that created indecision among the Newcastle back line.
Trossard joined Gyokeres and Eze from his inside left position, and there were three or four times when we saw that triangle very close together in attack.
If Eze got dragged out wide, Saka was clever and tucked inside to get closer to Gyokeres.
They knew what they were doing. It was very, very deliberate the way they set up. Newcastle had Dan Burn in the left back position a lot of the time, with Arsenal feeling they did not need to account for him.
This meant that the Gunners almost had an extra man everywhere.
Eze picked up that position closer to Gyokeres very deliberately, he was told to be there.
GettyViktor Gyokeres put in a shift for his side[/caption]
SUPER SUB ODEGAARD
Martin Odegaard as a sub. I mean, what a sub. Even if the Arsenal skipper had started, they’d still have had Gabriel Martinelli, Trossard or Eze to bring on, wow.
The great thing about it from Arsenal’s perspective is that they can change it up slightly with all those players in different ways.
In a game they can move positions and they can be adaptable rather than it being what it became last year – quite predictable.
Arsenal last season were brilliant at what they did, but you did know what they were going to do.
This season, and particularly in this game, there were four or five signs that they’re doing something new, something different.
When Odegaard came on for Zubimendi, he didn’t just go into a deep lying role replacing what the Spaniard was doing.
Instead he engaged that line and gave Newcastle a different problem. Three or four times Arsenal tried to scoop the ball up over Newcastle’s two compact lines and Odegaard was the one who could play through it.
Odegaard goes into that first line and takes the ball under pressure. It drags somebody out and then he can move the ball off quickly and it opens the space up for somebody else.
There was an amazing pass into Myles Lewis-Skelly where he actually passed it through both lines.
Zubimendi wasn’t bad by any means, but Odegaard just brings that something extra to that situation.
GettyMartin Odegaard rose from the bench during the second half[/caption]
GettyOdegaard made a difference for his side off the bench[/caption]
SET PIECE PROWESS
Arsenal are brilliant at set pieces. But what was interesting here was that Newcastle are also brilliant at set pieces.
Both teams have identified that short corners can prevent goalkeepers from being protected by a shell of defenders.
In the coming weeks, we’re going to see twice as many short corners as we’ve seen in the first five, six games of the season – like we saw for Mikel Merino and Nick Woltemade’s goals.
While defending a set play, you really don’t want to be in your six-yard box. So as soon as someone takes a short corner and knocks it back to somebody who’s going to cross it the other way, everybody steps up.
There’s nothing wrong with that. They step up. But what that does is create this space and both teams targeted it.
It must be said that Gabriel was woeful for Woltemade’s goal. The way he went down was embarrassing. But the way Newcastle created that extra space was impressive.
Then Arsenal did the same thing for Merino. They sent their initial set play back to Declan Rice.
This created space in front of Merino for him to attack another brilliant header.
And then, of course, the winner. William Saliba and Gabriel are a nightmare to deal with at set plays.
While everyone was focusing on Gabriel’s header, if you actually look very closely, Saliba has done Nick Pope. He’s not fouled him. He’s done him. He’s got into a position where Pope can’t come and claim.
Pope would have liked to think he would have got that most of the time, but Saliba’s clever positioning stopped him from doing so.
GettyGabriel heads Arsenal’s 96th minute winner[/caption]
GettyMikel Merino scores a brilliant header on 84 minutes[/caption]
ARTETA’S BRAVERY
Arsenal definitely got what they deserved, they were the better team all the way through. Their intent was so much better. They needed to win one of these close games.
They were the better team against Manchester City and didn’t win the game. They were the better team at Anfield for large parts of the game, but were just safe.
Everyone’s talked about Mikel Arteta’s handbrake. Well, he took the handbrake off here. The Arsenal boss played four different formations in the game. And so he had not only just a plan B, but he had a plan C and a plan D as well, which was absolutely brilliant.
When the board is just about to go up to reveal eight additional minutes at the end, Arteta was waving his men forwards – that’s not what he’s done before.
Maybe in previous years or previous weeks, he’d have believed that 1-1 from a goal down was a good result, that’d do.
My criticism, and lots of people’s criticism of Arteta has been that he has had a plan and not deviated from it.
In this game, he had different plans. He saw what was going on in front of him and reacted – he had the substitutes to do it. And that’s why they went on to win the game.
GettyMikel Arteta got his tactics bang on to outfox Eddie Howe[/caption]
7 days agoNews TvComments Off on Off-duty Long Island cop slammed into pedestrian — fracturing his head and spine — while driving drunk and speeding: prosecutors
Alexander Vargas, 30, was indicted on charges of vehicular assault and driving while intoxicated in the early-morning June wreck in Huntington Village that left an unidentified pedestrian with serious injuries to his head and spine, the Suffolk County District Attorney's Office said.
7 days agoNews TvComments Off on Knicks’ Abu Dhabi trip comes with loads of business to attend to
The Knicks traveled farther than ever to play basketball, and the potential benefits of their Middle East excursion — or drawbacks — won’t be evident until it’s long finished.
7 days agoNews TvComments Off on Watch ‘Shane Lowry’ joke ‘there won’t be a cow milked in Europe’ as Irish impressionist pokes fun at Rory McIlroy & more
IRISH impressionist Conor Moore was at it again as he impersonated several stars from the Ryder Cup - including heroes Shane Lowry and Rory McIlroy. Lowry and McIlroy were partying all night long after Team Europe won an away Ryder Cup for the first time since 2012. Conor Moore, who has built a reputation for...
7 days agoNews TvComments Off on ‘Waiting for the inevitable’ – Jamie Carragher urges Ruben Amorim to QUIT Man Utd amid ‘disaster’ spell at Old Trafford
JAMIE CARRAGHER has urged Ruben Amorim to quit Manchester United to put an end to his “disastrous” tenure.
The former Liverpool star’s comments come after United suffered another defeat – the latest being a 3-1 defeat to Brentford – under the Portuguese manager.
ReutersRuben Amorim has been urged to quit Man Utd by Jamie Carragher[/caption]
X/ SkySportsPLThe former Liverpool star called Amorim’s spell a ‘disaster’[/caption]
Amorim’s Premier League record since taking charge is a historic low for United, with just 34 points from 33 games, not to mention the second-round Carabao Cup loss to League Two Grimsby in August.
The club also finished 15th in the league last season, and lost the Europa League final to Tottenham.
Speaking on Sky Sports’Monday Night Football, Carragher revealed his theory that Amorim was only still in the Old Trafford dugout because the United hierarchy did not want to admit to another mistake.
He said: “I think he’s still in a job because the powers that be at Man United have made that many mistakes on and off the pitch that they almost don’t want to admit right now that they’ve made another.
“This has been a disaster for Man United and Ruben Amorim. What he did at Sporting Lisbon was fantastic and he looked like the next big thing as a manager.
“But bringing a manager with a system like his never suited the traditions of Man United and the quicker the club make a decision on the manager, I think it’s better for everybody because it has been a disaster for the club but also the manager.
“We’re only waiting for the inevitable, unfortunately, you don’t want to see people lose their jobs but this has to end as quickly as possible.”
Amorim is said to have offered to resign at one stage last season, although this was not confirmed.
And following the Europa League final, the 40-year-old suggested he would walk away without compensation if the board and fans felt he was not the right man to lead the club forward.
SunSport exclusively revealed that those inside the dressing room currently feel “dispirited and astonished” about how the season has tanked so quickly following a summer of optimism.
Club sources insist United have no one lined up to replace Amorim, and the manager insisted he remained “confident” United could still become a force under him.
He said: “When you win you feel that everything, the momentum is here.
“When you lose, you go back to the same place and you fight again for one win that can help you to create the momentum.
“I’m always doing my job. If I win, I’m in a different state of mind. That is normal. But I’m always confident because I know what to do.”
United host Sunderland at Old Trafford next weekend, hoping to make it three league wins on the trot at home for the first time in more than two years.
The last time United won three league games at home in a row was a run of eight games between April and August 2023.
Man City have two No1s... United have three No2s
ONE of the biggest issues Manchester United had last season was almost every other Premier League side had a better striker, writes Samuel Luckhurst.
Now almost every other Premier League side has a better ‘keeper.
Apart from Southampton’s sinking ship, the other 18 top-flight teams possessed a more accomplished frontman than Rasmus Hojlund. Jamie Vardy was a fading force but still scored more than twice as many league goals as Hojlund, who eked only four.
Benjamin Sesko has not set the world alight and has actually had a worse start to his United career than Hojlund had after six appearances. Yet the bigger problem is up the other end.
Ruben Amorim even admitted last week that Altay Bayindir is not United’s outright number one. Bayindir, with his slick side-parting and Louis Vuitton holdall, looks confident when he arrives at a stadium. On the pitch, he is anything but and his parry late on against Chelsea quickened the heart rate of United fans as they held on for three points.
Senne Lammens, brought in from Royal Antwerp on deadline day for £18.2million, is already 23 but yet to play for Belgium and was not named among their four ‘keepers in the national team’s squad earlier this month. Antwerp were United’s original feeder club, only United never signed anyone from the Belgian side.
United noted that Lammens had one of the highest goals-prevented metrics in Europe last season, made more saves than any other goalkeeper in Europe’s top ten leagues and completed the most progressive passes for any goalkeeper under the age of 23 last season.
Antwerp’s ground holds 16,144 and Belgium’s ‘golden generation’ ended with their semi-final appearance at the 2018 World Cup. Nothing can prepare Lammens for the scrutiny he will be under when he attempts to fill the goalframe in United colours.
Joining United hastened career decline for Andre Onana, forced to flee to Trabzonspor at the age of 29. David de Gea played for a big club in a big league before he took the plunge as a 20-year-old and had an unsettled first year. Fabien Barthez, a World Cup winner, absconded to France after three haphazard years.
We do not know if Lammens is good enough for United. We know Bayindir isn’t. He has shipped 28 goals in 16 appearances and United have won eight. Five of those were in the League Cup and the Europa League.
Bayindir’s new status as a United starter has failed to convince Turkey coach Vincenzo Montella. Bayindir is still the benchwarmer for the national side.
Manchester City have two No.1s and United have three number twos. The goalkeeper is the one position in a team where competition is not required. In all probability, United will go through this entire season without ever settling on an undisputed first choice who their supporters have faith in.
A former United ‘keeper playing for a promoted side would be more dependable and experienced than their two matchday ‘keepers. Martin Dubravka only played twice for United and his season-long loan from Newcastle was terminated at the halfway point but he was a shrewd addition by Burnley.
Karl Darlow was in net for Leeds in their weekend win at Wolves and was under consideration as a loanee by United before they turned to Dubravka in the summer of 2022. Robin Roefs did not cover himself in glory for Matty Cash’s pot-shot at Sunderland but he has been recognised at Under 21 level by Holland.
From the bottom of the ladder up, the case can be made that the incumbent for every team has a superior stopper to United: Jose Sa, Alphonse Areola, Emiliano Martinez, Caoimhin Kelleher, Dubravka, Matz Sels, Bart Verburggen, Nick Pope, Jordan Pickford, Donnarumma, Bernd Leno, Roefs, Robert Sanchez, Dean Henderson, Djordje Petrovic, Guglielmo Vicario, David Raya and Alisson.
Not all of them are good enough to be a long-term United No.1 and Sanchez gifted United victory on Saturday. There is scant evidence to suggest that Bayindir is a more stable presence than any of them.
For a club with such a storied academy, it is a travesty United never gave Henderson a fair crack of the whip. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is to blame for that after he reneged on a pre-season pledge to install Henderson as No.1 in 2021.
United ended up cutting their losses on Henderson by pocketing a meagre £15m up front from Crystal Palace. He was man of the match in their unforgettable FA Cup final triumph in May and pivotal in their second Wembley success against Liverpool in the Community Shield.
Henderson has told confidants he would never return to United. If they did come calling, with the promise of a salary hike and a bigger platform to challenge Pickford for the England spot, one suspects Henderson’s head would be turned.
Though Palace are still better than United at both ends.