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Arsenal are making football worse, despite Dowman’s dream moment

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Arsenal are making football worse, despite Dowman’s dream moment


Max Dowman might have done more than merely score a historic and potentially decisive goal in the Premier League title race to seal Arsenal‘s 2-0 win against Everton at the weekend. The 16-year-old wonderkid might have also achieved the improbable: making Mikel Arteta’s team likeable.

“Lovable” would probably be pushing it too far, considering the negativity that has built up around a team that is still on course to achieve an unprecedented quadruple this season.

Brighton & Hove Albion coach Fabian Hurzeler criticized Arsenal’s tactics and “time-wasting” during a 1-0 defeat earlier this month, while former Manchester United midfielder Paul Scholes said the Gunners would be the “worst team to win the league.” Peter Schmeichel, a five-time title winner with United, said Arsenal play an “ugly brand of football that is annoying to watch.”

– Arsenal turned to teenager Dowman, and it paid off tremendously
– VAR review: Why Arsenal should have had a penalty vs. Everton
– Predicting who wins Champions League based on past winners

But even Arsenal’s most strident critic would struggle to ignore the feel-good vibes of a teenager who returned to school on Monday morning after scoring the stoppage-time goal — shortly after creating the opener for Viktor Gyökeres — which clinched a crucial victory for the Premier League leaders and made him the competition’s youngest-ever scorer.

Dowman’s late intervention was everything great about football. His goal was about risk, adventure, individuality and the freedom to play off the cuff. Maybe that’s why it created such a stir.

The goal showcased all the attributes that Arteta’s Arsenal have not only lacked this season, but perhaps even deliberately stifled as they have reduced their game to one of percentages — a game where risk and individuality are viewed as dangerous elements rather than must-have factors for a trophy-winning team.

And this is the great contradiction of Arteta’s Arsenal. His team could be less than three months away from becoming the first English side to achieve a clean sweep of trophies by winning the Premier League, UEFA Champions League, FA Cup and Carabao Cup in the same season, but nobody outside the Emirates Stadium likes it.

When Arsène Wenger’s 2003-04 side became known as the “Invincibles” by becoming champions without suffering a single league defeat, their breathtaking style earned them global admiration. An Arteta quadruple would eclipse Wenger’s team as the greatest year in the club’s history. They would also the surpass the Manchester United and Manchester City treble-winning sides of 1998-99 and 2022-23, respectively.

But if they win all four trophies this season — even if they win only the Premier League — Arsenal’s success would be regarded as a backward step for football and even a bad thing for the game because of the way Arteta’s team plays. Success leads to imitation. Everybody wants to be a winner and the shortcut to winning can often simply be a case of copying the best.

Just look at how many teams worldwide have adopted a model based on Pep Guardiola’s philosophy of possession and control triggered by a ball-playing goalkeeper. Guardiola has evolved his approach many times over, and his City side now has a keeper in Gianluigi Donnarumma who would not have suited Guardiola’s greatest Barcelona, Bayern Munich and City sides.

But the Guardiola influence has become deep-rooted because his philosophy brought success and, if Arteta’s direct approach delivers silverware at Arsenal, it will have a similar impact. Indeed, we have already seen “Artetaball” take hold in the Premier League with rival coaches putting greater focus on set pieces — particularly corners — because of the success Arteta, aided by set piece coach Nicolas Jover, has enjoyed in making Arsenal one of the most consistent teams in Europe.

Arsenal have scored 21 goals from set pieces in the Premier League this season — more than any other team in Europe’s top five leagues. That total for 34.4% of their league goals. Before this season, Blackburn Rovers (1994-95) and Manchester United (2007-08) recorded the most set piece goals as champions with 35% each.

Sir Alex Ferguson’s United won the Premier League and Champions League that season with a forward line of Cristiano Ronaldo, Wayne Rooney and Carlos Tevez, so they were anything but overreliant on goals from set pieces. Arsenal don’t have a Ronaldo, Rooney or Tevez, however, and that might go some way to explaining why Arteta’s team focuses so heavily on set piece goals.

The greatest teams of recent years have all had prolific scorers and attacking players capable of hitting double figures in goals. City have won trophies with the goals of Erling Haaland, Sergio Aguero, Kevin De Bruyne and Phil Foden. Liverpool did the same with Mohamed Salah, Luis Díaz, Sadio Mané and Roberto Firmino.

In Europe, over the past decade, Real Madrid have had Ronaldo, Karim Benzema, Vinícius Júnior and Kylian Mbappé, while Paris Saint-Germain won the Champions League last season with Ousmane Dembélé, Gonçalo Ramos, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, Désiré Doué and Bradley Barcola scoring 99 goals between them in all competitions.

The sensational attacking football played by Luis Enrique’s side last season was evident again last week when PSG blew Chelsea away with three goals in the final 20 minutes of their 5-2 Champions League round-of-16 first-leg win in Paris.

Before Dowman’s late show against Everton, you would be hard pushed to recall any similar Arsenal moment this season because their forwards are less prolific and lack the free-flowing flair and freedom of the PSG stars or the attacking players in those great Real, City and Liverpool teams.

Only Gyökeres (16) and Gabriel Martinelli (11) have hit double figures for Arsenal so far this season, but Arteta’s side are nonetheless still the leading scorers in the Premier League. It is the aesthetic of Arsenal and their goals that makes them difficult to warm to, but Arteta has unquestionably hit upon a winning formula by reducing the game to a battle of marginal gains.

And that’s a problem that football will have to overcome. The Arteta approach has already led to imitation, and it will increase if Arsenal win major silverware. Not even a Max Dowman wonder goal will change that.



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Iran war prompts Donald Trump to delay meeting Xi Jinping in China

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Iran war prompts Donald Trump to delay meeting Xi Jinping in China



The escalating war in Iran has overshadowed many of the US’ foreign policy objectives



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10 countries with the highest bird species in the world; India also secures a spot

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10 countries with the highest bird species in the world; India also secures a spot



Birds are among the most remarkable indicators of the health of our planet’s ecosystems. From tiny songbirds that greet the morning to powerful raptors soaring high above forests and mountains, birds quietly sustain nature’s balance. They are crucial for the preservation of biodiversity because they help with plant pollination, seed distribution, and insect population management.
But concerns are gradually growing with regard to the future of several bird species. As per the reports, nearly a quarter of all bird species are at risk of extinction, largely due to various reasons like habitat loss, climate change, pollution and expanding human development. Habitat destruction, residential options and environmental degradation have caused an extreme need for lesser habitats to generate bird losses.
In the face of these challenges, clues to where to prioritize species conservation have become a priority for conservationists. It’s interesting to note that most of these nations are tropical as well, mostly in South America and Southeast Asia. These regions contain diverse landscapes such as rainforests, wetlands, mountains, and coastal ecosystems, all of which provide ideal habitats for birds.
According to BioDB, the following ten countries host the highest number of bird species in the world. (Data sourced from Birds Per Country).



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Attempts to open Strait of Hormuz by force would be ‘almost suicidal’

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Attempts to open Strait of Hormuz by force would be ‘almost suicidal’


Quotable

“I don’t think 2,500 [US] Marines will make any difference whatsoever to opening up the strait.”
Andreas Krieg, Associate Professor at King’s College London, says that US plans to deploy 2,500 marines to the Gulf is unlikely to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

Published On 17 Mar 2026



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Cuba’s entire electrical grid collapses, leaving whole island without power

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Cuba’s entire electrical grid collapses, leaving whole island without power


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Cuba plunged into an unprecedented blackout after its entire electrical grid suddenly suffered a total collapse on Monday, briefly leaving roughly 10 million residents in total darkness. 

“At 1:54 p.m. local time, there was a disconnection of the national electrical grid resulting in a complete power outage across Cuba which includes the Havana metropolitan area,” the U.S. Embassy in Cuba said. 

The nationwide outage comes just two days after a large crowd of protesters, fed up with the island’s energy crisis, were caught on camera attacking a local Communist Party headquarters in Cuba, ransacking the building and attempting to set it on fire.

Efforts to restore electricity are currently underway across the island, with reports indicating that power is slowly returning to some areas.

RUSSIAN ‘DARK FLEET’ TANKER BELIEVED TO BE DELIVERING OIL TO CUBA, DETECTED OFF US COAST AMID TRUMP BAN

A woman with her son signals a car on a dark street during a blackout in Bauta municipality, Artemisa province, Cuba, on March 18, 2024.  (Yamil Lage/AFP via Getty Images)

“The causes are being investigated and protocols for restoration are beginning to be activated,” the Ministry of Energy and Mines of Cuba said Monday afternoon, referring to the island’s disrupted National Electrical System of Cuba. 

Cuba’s electrical grid has grown increasingly unstable over the years due to aging infrastructure, fuel shortages, and economic restrictions that have limited the country’s access to energy resources – including Washington’s long‑standing oil embargo and recent U.S. actions that disrupted Venezuelan fuel shipments, a key source of the nation’s energy.

Power outages have become a frequent occurrence across the country, disrupting water supply, refrigeration and communications.

“Officials in the US gov must be feeling very happy by the harm caused to every Cuban family,” Cuban Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs Carlos F. de Cossio said in response to Monday’s blackout. 

MILLIONS LOSE POWER ACROSS CUBA AS TRUMP SANCTIONS CONTINUE TO FUEL ONGOING ENERGY CRISIS

woman and man sitting at dining table in the dark

Neya Perez, 86, paints the nails of her neighbor Reyna Maria Rodriguez, 77, during a mass blackout across most of the country, in Havana, March 4, 2026. (Norlys Perez/Reuters)

Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel said Friday that no fuel has entered the country for the past three months. Since then, electricity generation has relied heavily on a “considerable contribution from renewable energy sources.”

The total collapse of the power grid came just as officials announced updates to their solar panel project in Villa Clara, describing it as a “national security necessity” amid ongoing restrictions on fossil fuel imports under the Trump administration.

“Amid a context of severe energy constraints and a recurring economic lockdown, #Cuba takes another firm step towards electric sovereignty,” the Villa Clara Electric Company said Monday morning. 

“This connection comes at a critical time: Washington maintains severe restrictions on our country’s access to fossil fuels, funding and technology. Betting on renewables isn’t just environmental — it’s a national security necessity.”

As the island continues to face rolling power outages, residents have been urged to brace for significant disruption and unplug all nonessential equipment, “leaving only essential devices powered on until service stability is restored,” the Villa Clara Electric Company said.

Family has dinner during power blackout

A family has dinner during a blackout in the aftermath of Hurricane Ian in Havana on Sept. 28, 2022. (Alexandre Meneghini/Reuters)

Last Saturday, in a rare display of public dissent driven by frustration over widespread blackouts, anti-government protesters in Cuba reportedly targeted a Communist Party office by hurling rocks, shouting “liberty” and igniting large fires at the scene.  

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The rally, caught on video, began peacefully in the city of Morón late Friday but escalated into violence within hours, Reuters reported, citing local sources.

Fox News Digital reached out to the White House for comment.

Reuters contributed to this report.

Bonny Chu is a Digital Production Assistant at Fox News Digital.



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Rex Culpepper, former Syracuse quarterback, dead at 28 from injuries in Georgia dirt bike crash

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Rex Culpepper, former Syracuse quarterback, dead at 28 from injuries in Georgia dirt bike crash


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Rex Culpepper, a former Syracuse Orange quarterback, died this past weekend due to injuries suffered in a dirt bike accident in Georgia. He was 28. 

“Our Orange family mourns the loss of Rex Culpepper, who passed away this weekend at the age of 28,” the Syracuse football program said in a statement on X. “Rex lived his life with endless passion, having overcome cancer at the age of 20 while playing for the Orange. 

“Appearing in 30 games, Rex played football as fierce as he lived life. Our hearts are with the Culpepper family & all those who loved him.”

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Rex Culpepper of the Syracuse Orange runs out for the game against the Holy Cross Crusaders at the Carrier Dome on Sept. 28, 2019 in Syracuse, New York. Syracuse defeats Holy Cross 41-3. (Brett Carlsen/Getty Images)

Culpepper’s fiancée, Savanna Morgan, confirmed his death in an emotional, heartbreaking Instagram post with photos and videos of them together. 

Culpepper had just proposed to Morgan less than one month ago. 

“No one expects to meet the love of your life and lose them in only 6 short years after meeting,” Morgan began the caption of her post. “Rex didn’t always believe in soulmates but towards the end he told me that he didn’t realize what having a soulmate felt like until we felt like extensions of each other. 

DEION SANDERS DELIVERS HEARTBREAKING EULOGY FOR COLORADO PLAYER WHO DIED TRAGICALLY AT 23

“And one thing about us is that we lived every single day like it was our last. We did every little thing that we set our minds to, between learning new skills and hobbies, and traveling to new places, there was never any free time with us and not a moment spent apart. I don’t regret a single day in our 6 years. 

Rex Culpepper throws pass

Rex Culpepper of the Syracuse Orange warms up before the game against the Holy Cross Crusaders at the Carrier Dome on Sept. 28, 2019 in Syracuse, New York. (Brett Carlsen/Getty Images)

“You made six years feel like a lifetime Rexy.”

Culpepper primarily played as the Orange’s backup quarterback during his time with the program from 2017 through 2020. He did eventually get into games as a tight end as well. 

During his treatment, Culpepper became quite the name on the Orange football team, as he participated in the 2018 spring game, throwing a touchdown on the final drive to a roaring crowd and sideline with his teammates and coaches applauding his efforts. 

He saw time in 30 career games, 16 of which at quarterback where he threw for 1,546 total yards with 11 touchdowns. 

As Syracuse mentioned in its post, Culpepper battled cancer while with the program after being diagnosed with testicular cancer in March 2018. He underwent extensive chemotherapy to treat his illness, and he was declared cancer-free in June of that year. 

Rex Culpepper looks on field

Syracuse Orange quarterback Rex Culpepper talks to teammates on the sideline during the college football game between the Syracuse Orange and the Pittsburgh Panthers on Sept. 19, 2020 at Heinz Field in Pittsburgh, PA. (Mark Alberti/Icon Sportswire)

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Culpepper is also the son of former Tampa Bay Buccanners defensive tackle, Brad Culpepper, who was a starter with the Minnesota Vikings and Chicago Bears as well over his NFL career. 

Follow Fox News Digital’s sports coverage on X and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter.

Scott Thompson is a sports writer for Fox News Digital.





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AI firm Anthropic seeks weapons expert to stop users from ‘misuse’

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AI firm Anthropic seeks weapons expert to stop users from ‘misuse’


A similar position has been advertised by ChatGPT developer OpenAI. On its careers website, it lists a job vacancy for a researcher in “biological and chemical risks”, with a salary of up to $455,000 (£335,000), almost double that offered by Anthropic.



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Google News

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Hamilton schools ask voters to back safety, technology levies  NBC Montana



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Pothole crisis branded a ‘national disgrace’ as repair bill hits £18.6 billion

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Pothole crisis branded a ‘national disgrace’ as repair bill hits £18.6 billion


The cost of repairing England and Wales’s crumbling local roads has soared to a record £18.6 billion, according to a new report that brands the situation a “national disgrace”.

The Asphalt Industry Alliance (AIA) found that a mere 51 per cent of the local road network is currently in good condition.

Despite increased investment, the report suggests that efforts to tackle the pervasive issue of potholes have failed to deliver “noticeable improvements”, with roads being resurfaced, on average, only once every 97 years. Last year alone, 1.9 million potholes were filled across the country.

David Giles, chair of the AIA, lamented that any significant improvements “lie a long way off”. He stated: “I think all road users would agree that the condition of our local roads has become a national disgrace.”

Government funding for local road maintenance in England is set to reach nearly £1.6 billion in the 2025/26 financial year, marking a £500 million increase from the previous 12 months. A total of £7.3 billion has been allocated for the four years leading up to the 2029/30 financial year.

While Mr Giles acknowledged that local authority highway engineers are “cautiously optimistic” that the increased funding could stem further decline, he cautioned: “it is not the silver bullet that will clear the backlog of repairs any time soon.

“It will be some time before the impact of increased funding levels, if fully delivered, will be noticed by the public.”

AA president Edmund King said ‘more need to be done’ to fix the pothole crisis (Jacob King/PA) (PA Archive)

He suggested that “the dial could be moved quicker” if the additional funding was front-loaded rather than “ramping up in the years to 2030”.

The AIA’s annual Alarm (annual local authority road maintenance) report, based on a survey of local authorities, estimates that bringing roads up to an ideal standard would take 12 years to complete.

Highway maintenance budgets for 2025/26 have reportedly increased by 17 per cent to an average of £30.5 million per authority, with 54 per cent allocated to road surface and structure.

AA president Edmund King warned that “much more needs to be done to eradicate this plague of potholes”.

He added: “We have been seeing with our own eyes, and feeling with our wheels, how record wet weather linked to substandard roads has led to many local roads becoming patchwork obstacle courses.”

Tom Hunt, who chairs the Local Government Association’s inclusive growth committee, welcomed the funding increase as “positive” but stressed that “more action is needed for councils to bring roads up to scratch”.

Colin Brown, director of campaigns and political engagement at the Motorcycle Action Group, highlighted government figures indicating that poor road surface conditions contribute to twice the proportion of killed or seriously injured motorcyclists compared with car occupants and cyclists.

He remarked: “Riders aren’t complaining about cracked roads because of the damage to their tyres – it’s the added risk of dying on them.”

A Department for Transport spokesperson acknowledged that the report “rightly highlights the need to improve our roads” and affirmed that the government has increased funding to help councils “fix the pothole plague”.

The spokesperson added: “We’re already seeing progress, with 15% more pothole‑prevention works carried out in 2025 compared to 2024 and reversing a nearly decade-long decline in road repair works.”



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One in five witness retail violence or abuse – BRC

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One in five witness retail violence or abuse – BRC



More than a fifth of people (21%) witnessed violence or abuse against retail workers in the last year, according to a survey.

Incidents included racial and sexual abuse, physical assault and threats with weapons while shopping, the poll by Opinium for the British Retail Consortium (BRC) found.

However, the figure was a slight improvement on the previous year, when 23% of customers witnessed such incidents.

The survey also found that nearly a quarter of people (23%) have witnessed shoplifting – almost unchanged from 24% the previous year.

Rates varied significantly across the UK, with 32% of Londoners witnessing violence and abuse while shopping, followed by 26% of those in Yorkshire and Humberside and 23% across the North East.

BRC”>

The East of England recorded the lowest rate at 13%.

The picture was a little different for those witnessing shop theft, topped by London and the West Midlands (29%), followed by Yorkshire and Humberside and the North West (26%), the South East (25%) and the South West (24%).

Retailers reported that organised criminal gangs were increasingly targeting high-value goods that they can easily resell.

Previous BRC data revealed there were 1,600 incidents of violence and abuse against retail workers every day last year – the second highest level on record.

This included 118 incidents involving physical violence and 36 involving a weapon every day.

The BRC said delivery drivers were also often subjected to abuse, physical violence and threats with weapons.

It said retailers had spent an estimated £5 billion on fighting retail crime over the past five years, including on CCTV, security personnel, anti-theft devices and body-worn cameras.

These costs added to existing financial pressures, limited investment and contributed to higher prices for customers, it warned.

The upcoming Crime and Policing Bill will remove the £200 threshold of “low level” theft, “sending a clear signal that all shoplifting will be treated seriously”, the BRC said.

However, it said the Bill needed to go further by extending protection to all customer-facing retail workers, including delivery drivers.

BRC chief executive Helen Dickinson said: “For too many people, violence and abuse are now part of the shopping experience. An incident might last seconds, but for workers and bystanders, the impact can last a lifetime.

“The Crime and Policing Bill is an important step towards protecting retail workers and tackling crime. But as drafted, it falls short. Retail workers in England and Wales deserve the same protections as those in Scotland, including delivery drivers.

“Everyone in a customer-facing role should be protected – no exceptions.”



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