Martin

Arsenal‘s players rotate positions to make it difficult for opponents to pick them up. They aim to maintain the balance of the side while playing in this fluid manner. Zubimendi, like the others, vacates his position based on the movements of team-mates.

By dropping into a deep position against Chelsea, Bukayo Saka opened up space on the right flank to allow Zubimendi to push into this area. Rice, the far-side midfielder, filled in at defensive midfield, ensuring Arsenal‘s shape remained similar, only with different players arriving in each zone.

It is unusual to see a defensive midfielder make such adventurous runs off the ball but it appears to be the next step on from the more popular use of roaming full-backs, such as Riccardo Calafiori, Nuno Mendes and Marc Cucurella.

The logic is that the players often tasked with marking defensive players are unlikely to defend them as closely. Finding defensive players who possess attacking quality to contribute in the final third is a rarity but Zubimendi has the skillset to punish teams in this way.

Defences set up in a low block will often drop even deeper when faced with a winger or forward trying to run in-behind. It leads to space opening up in front of the defence, rather than in the box.

Arsenal spend large parts of the game looking to unlock deep defences. This allows Zubimendi to arrive into a position to receive a pass, without being picked up, before executing on the idea he has in his head immediately. This could be a precise through ball or a dinked chip over the top – riskier passes that pose new questions for deep defences.

Alternatively, when Zubimendi sits at the base of midfield, Rice is free to push up and rotate with the attackers, knowing there is protection behind him.

And the England man will likely feel safe to play freely after seeing his 5ft 9in team-mate beat 6ft 6in Newcastle striker Nick Woltemade to a header earlier this season.

Meanwhile, Zubimendi’s willingness to shoot from distance provided Arsenal with the much-needed opening goal against Nottingham Forest and Sunderland, after which more space opened up for the Gunners with their opposition forced to play more adventurously.

Arteta said “if the space is not in one place, it will be somewhere else” – and against deep defences, long shots have become an increasingly viable tactic this season.

Signing Zubimendi, therefore, could not have been more timely.

MODEL Apple Martin is in Vogue — as she lands her first shoot in the magazine.

The daughter of Coldplay singer Chris Martin and actress Gwyneth Paltrow was sitting pretty on a stool for the glossy.

Apple, 21, posed in a short red skirt and jumper, with a stylish black leather jacket.

She is set to swap fashion for cap and gown when she graduates with a law degree in May.

But she hopes to make it big in Hollywood like her mum, rather than follow in Chris’s footsteps.

She tells Vogue: “Getting on stage by yourself to sing is so terrifying.

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“I love dancing and I love acting.

“My dream is to act.”

Recently she wore a minidress as part of her capsule collection for Self-Portrait.

Speaking about her campaign for the UK brand, she said: “Debuting with self-portrait was a no-brainer.”

“Their British spirit reminds me of growing up in London.

“So it’s felt like home from the start.”

“I’m so excited for this campaign to be out in the world and for us to continue exploring this side of my creativity together.”

Following Bad Bunny’s landmark album of the year win at the 68th Grammy Awards for “Debí Tirar Más Fotos,” Ricky Martin penned a letter of appreciation to commemorate the moment.

In an opinion piece for the Puerto Rican newspaper El Nuevo Día published Tuesday, the Boricua hitmaker said Bad Bunny’s accomplishment stirred deep feelings within him.

“Benito, brother, seeing you win three Grammy Awards, one of them for album of the year, with a production entirely in Spanish, touched me deeply,” Martin wrote. “Not only as an artist, but as a Puerto Rican who has walked stages around the world carrying his language, his accent and his history.”

In addition to becoming the first all-Spanish album of the year winner, the “Nuevayol” artist took home the Grammy Awards for música urbana album and global music performance for the track “EoO” on Sunday.

Martin further called Bad Bunny’s achievement a “human” and “cultural” win, lauding him for not bending to the will of anyone who tried to change his sound in any way.

“You won without changing the color of your voice. You won without erasing your roots. You won by staying true to Puerto Rico,” Martin wrote. “You stayed true to your language, your rhythms and your authentic narrative.”

Martin, who first broke out as a solo musical act in the mid-’90s, became an international superstar off the back of his Spanish-language hits including 1995’s “María,” 1998’s “Vuelve” and “Perdido Sin Ti.”

He reached a new strata of stardom after his track “La Copa de Vida” was used as the official anthem for the 1998 FIFA World Cup. That song charted in over 60 countries and was translated into English. He landed his biggest hit with “Livin’ La Vida Loca,” which was the lead single from his 1999 self-titled English album.

When accepting his album of the year award Sunday night, Bad Bunny addressed the crowd predominantly in Spanish and spoke of the strugglesof the immigrant experience.

“I want to dedicate this award to all the people who had to leave their homeland, their country, to follow their dreams,” he said in English.

“Puerto Rico, believe me when I say that we are so much bigger than 100 by 35 and there is nothing that exists that we can’t accomplish,” the “Dakiti” artist said in Spanish. “Thank God, thank you to the academy, thank you to all the people who have believed in me throughout my whole career. To all the people who worked on this album. Thank you, Mami, for giving birth to me in Puerto Rico. I love you.”

The 54-year-old singer also showed love to Bad Bunny for using his platform to show solidarity for vulnerable communities.

“What touched me most about seeing you on the Grammys stage was the audience’s silence when you spoke,” Martin wrote. “When you defended the immigrant community, when you called out a system that persecutes and separates, you spoke from a place I know very well where fear and hope coexist, where millions live between languages, borders and deferred dreams.”

Martin concluded his letter by thanking Bad Bunny for reminding him and showing other Puerto Ricans that there is power in being true and authentic to yourself.

“This achievement is for a generation to whom you taught that their identity is non-negotiable and that success is not at odds with authenticity,” Martin wrote.

“This was for Puerto Ricans, for all our Latino brothers and sisters who dream in Spanish, for those crossing seas and borders wearing their cultures like a flag. From the heart, from one Boricua to another, with respect and love, I thank you for reminding us that when one of ours succeeds, we all succeed.”

He had the assembled media pack giggling away as he told certain newspaper journalists he had been seeing their faces in his sleep, such is the interest around potential transfers at Parkhead.

And it is not only the media he has charmed, but his players, too.

Where they were finding ways to lose under Nancy – and Rodgers to a lesser degree – Celtic’s much-maligned squad are now grinding out results, albeit the 10-man reigning Premiership champions could not beat current leaders Hearts at the weekend.

Nevertheless, the upturn in performances and results since Nancy’s calamitous tenure has been stark, and that is without key starters Alistair Johnston, Cameron Carter-Vickers and Jota.

Midfielder Benjamin Nygren, who scored his 14th goal of the season against Utrecht, was asked about the impact O’Neill has had.

“He’s making a big difference,” the Sweden international said.

“He knows the club, he’s been here. He knows how it works here and he’s loved by everyone around the club.

“I think he brought in a lot of confidence, so we’ve been a lot better since he came back.”