Michael

Three-man forward lines have been a staple tactic throughout the history of football.

But they have arguably never been as popular as they have over the last 15 or so years.

It is a resurgence that is largely down to Barcelona’s success under Pep Guardiola between 2008 and 2012.

Guardiola helped Barcelona win two Champions Leagues and three La Liga titles with a dominant possession-based style.

It was a revolutionary system that relied on both the midfield and front line – operating with a recognised number nine – to be fluid in and out of possession.

Nine‑time Ballon d’Or winner Lionel Messi was usually the most central attacker, though he often dropped deep to either drag defenders out of position and create space for his team-mates, or to create a numerical advantage in midfield.

Either way, the end result was a fluid style of football that was practically impossible to stop and resulted in Barcelona claiming 14 trophies during Guardiola’s time at the helm.

Since then, three-man forward lines have become fairly prominent in Europe, with the likes of Real Madrid and PSG deploying similar tactics in the years that followed.

In the Premier League, however, the forward line that resembled Guardiola’s side most closely was Liverpool’s Champions League and Premier League-winning trio of Sadio Mane, Roberto Firmino and Mohamed Salah.

During their five seasons together at Anfield, Firmino was deployed as the Reds’ central attacker and, similar to Messi, was responsible for dropping between the lines, linking play with the midfielders and ultimately creating space for Mane and Salah to run in behind.

The trio is widely regarded as one of the greatest forward lines in the history of English football, having helped Jurgen Klopp’s side win a haul of major trophies.

Michael O’Leary, who has served as Ryanair CEO since 1993, said his airline is being forced to divert flights almost daily because of drunken, aggressive passengers

Airport bars should stop serving alcohol early in the morning, the boss of Ryanair says.

Michael O’Leary, who has served as Ryanair CEO for more than 30 years, claimed his airline is being forced to divert flights almost daily because of drunken, aggressive passengers. He said these tourists often drink in bars at airports for hours before they board their planes.

Pubs in airports do not currently need to follow the same licensing rules as bars outside these environments do. Mr O’Leary, 65, believes changing this will support his airline and others because it would help cut out aggressive behaviour in the skies.

The businessman said: “I fail to understand why anybody in airport bars is serving people at five or six o’clock in the morning. Who needs to be drinking beer at that time? There should be no alcohol served at airports outside [those] licensing hours.”

READ MORE: Ryanair passenger jailed for mid-air tirade after downing doublesREAD MORE: Drunk teacher attacked easyJet flight attendant on plane in front of his kids

A man was recently jailed for becoming abusive, causing widespread alarm throughout the Ryanair aircraft on which he was travelling from Poland to Bristol. Stephen Blofield’s case is one of several recent examples of passengers behaving aggressively after consuming alcohol.

According to The Times, Mr O’Leary has been calling for a two-drink per-person limit “for many years” and accused airports of “profiteering” off the troublesome travel ritual and “exporting the problem to the airlines”.

But father-of-four Mr O’Leary, from Kanturk, County Cork, stressed Ryanair is “reasonably responsible” with their drinks, rarely serving a passenger more than two drinks onboard. He insisted, though, drug use has entered the alcoholic mix too, worsening the issue as passengers then “want to fight”.

Footage recently emerged of a “shocking and frightening” brawl which broke out aboard a Jet2 flight from Antalya, Turkey to Manchester. The dramatic exchange, during which two people were seen grabbing at the phone and another passenger’s face culminated in airline bans for two of the people involved.

Mr O’Leary says he takes a similarly strict approach with his company, and has reminded passengers it is a criminal offence to be drunk on an aeroplane anyway, punishable by up to two years in prison and a hefty fine. Threatening and abusive passengers can be further prosecuted, as well as facing large compensation fees and prosecution in the country where the aircraft is forced to land.

It is reported flights from Britain to Ibiza, Alicante and Tenerife have been particularly problematic. Last year, a former soldier who sexually assaulted four Jet2 cabin crew during a flight to Tenerife was jailed. Joseph McCabe groped and slapped the buttocks of two flight attendants before grabbing a third around the waist and attempting to hug a fourth. The dad of two, from Glasgow, had been given for his drunken conduct on the plane.

A new estate-backed film, Michael, tells the story of Michael Jackson’s rise from Gary, Indiana to global fame, highlighting hits like Thriller and his record-breaking success. But it ends before major scandals, and it leaves out the US musician’s race and politics, including his solidarity with Palestine. What story is being told, and what is being erased?

In this episode: 

Episode credits:

This episode was produced by David Enders and Sarí el-Khalili, with Spencer Cline, Catherine Nouhan and our host, Malika Bilal. It was edited by Noor Wazwaz and Tamara Khandaker. 

Our sound designer is Alex Roldan. Our video editors are Hisham Abu Salah and Mohannad al-Melhem. Alexandra Locke is The Take’s executive producer. 

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“That man had clearly had too much to drink and it felt to me like his anger came out of nowhere,” Van Gerwen, 37, told Dutch sport news website Sportnieuws.nl, external.

“Just as he seemed to be heading for the exit, he suddenly lashed out.

“That man clearly knows he was in the wrong because he apologised via Instagram.”

Van Gerwen, who has decided not to press charges against the person responsible, said of his reaction to the incident: “Of course, it’s not right for me to go after him but that was an automatic reaction of shock.”

The incident occurred before Van Gerwen was back in Premier League action in Aberdeen on Thursday.

Luke Humphries beat the Dutchman 6-3 in the pair’s quarter-final clash in Scotland.

One of the greatest players in darts history, Van Gerwen was ranked world number one between 2014 and 2021, during which period he won the Masters five times in a row.

With 48 majors singles to his name, Van Gerwen is ranked second in the PDC’s all-time list behind England’s Phil Taylor.