Jordan Henderson called Gabriel Magalhaes "f***g idiot" but Arsenal star confused it for something far worse in Portuguese during spat: Reports
Jordan Henderson called Arsenal star Gabriel Magalhaes a "f***ing idiot." However, the defender misinterpreted it as something far worse in Portuguese.
Henderson and Magalhaes were involved in a spat during the Gunners' Premier League clash against Liverpool on October 9. The incident occurred after Mikel Arteta's side were awarded a penalty.
The FA launched a probe into the occurrence and both Henderson and Magalhaes, alongside six more players, appeared as witnesses.
The governing body has now released a statement, confirming that no action has been taken against anybody. An FA spokesperson said (via Football 365):
“The FA received a complaint about an incident involving two players in this fixture. As a result of the complaint, the FA conducted a full and thorough investigation. The investigation included taking witness statements from the complainant and accused, along with an additional six players who were within proximity of the alleged incident, reviewing multiple angles of video footage, and seeking independent linguistics experts evidence."
The FA have determined there is no case for answer after investigating the altercation between Jordan Henderson and Gabriel Magalhaes during the #LFC game at Arsenal earlier this month 🔴
He further added:
“None of the witnesses heard the alleged comment, and the player accused strenuously denied the allegation throughout. Whilst The FA is entirely satisfied that the allegation was made in good faith, it is equally satisfied that there is no case to answer.”
Daily Mail journalist Martin Samuel claimed to have inside knowledge of what was said during the investigation. He wrote in his The Daily Mail column that Henderson used the words "f***ing idiot" towards Magalhaes.
However, the Arsenal player misheard it as another expression which has a more offensive meaning. Apparently, the witnesses too were of the opinion that the Gunners defender was mistaken about what he heard.
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta said his side lacked threat during game against PSV Eindhoven
Arsenal suffered their second defeat of the season against PSV Eindhoven on October 27. Mikel Arteta claimed after the 2-0 Europa League loss that his side lacked threat and aggression, as he told the media (via Arsenal's official website):
"I don’t know. We have periods where we’ve been excellent and periods where we’ve suffered. For sure, we haven’t had the consistency for 95 minutes to maintain the level we want. That’s the next challenge and the next aim for this team.
"Today I think it was very different, right from the beginning. Even though we had periods where we controlled the game, I didn’t feel that we had the threat and the aggression that we’ve been playing at."