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Social Chatter: What's going on online?

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A look at what social media thought about this weekend’s talking points

NO HANDSHAKE? TIME FOR THE BLAME GAME

The post-match chat following Arsenal’s 1-0 win over Chelsea in the Community Shield on Sunday should have been all about Arsene Wenger finally ending his hoodoo against Jose Mourinho. But, as you might expect from these two squabbling schoolboys, social media was awash playing the blame game. After the push-and-shove from Wenger last season, he decided against a post-match handshake at Wembley. But who was to blame? Cue more squabbling between fans! According to many it was Wenger being a “child” while for others it was Mourinho’s “mind games” that had been the cause of the non-handshake. As one so eloquently put it, Wenger had “made a mockery” of the respect campaign he so vocally throws his weight behind.

HAVE YOU SEEN THIS MAN?

Technically it wasn’t social chatter - or it certainly didn’t start that way. But the work of one Manchester United fan certainly resulted in one of the funniest tweets for some time. With Angel Di Maria refusing to travel to the United States to join his team-mates for pre-season and instead engineering a move to Paris Saint-Germain, United manager Louis Van Gaal was forced to admit he had no idea where the player was. So the fan, determined to find out, put up missing posters with Di Maria’s face plastered on them.

LAZARUS-LIKE COMEBACK FROM STEVEN FINN

The award for comeback of the week undoubtedly had to go to Steven Finn. After being deemed “unselectable” due to his inability to actually bowl a ball correctly less than two years ago, Finn returned to the England side to slay the Aussies in the third Ashes test. To go from the bottom of the ocean to the top of the world again, it was no surprise the tributes flowed. But he deserves the last word on his man of the match performance. He wrote on Twitter: “Thanks for all the kind messages over the last few days. It’s been amazing to wear the test shirt again. We all appreciate the support”.

PIETRO TOMASELLI - THE NEW MESSI?

A vine going around this week showcased the talents of 10-year-old Lionel Messi, sorry Pietro Tomaselli. Let’s just say, this kid can play football. He’s got all the tricks in his locker, dancing round the opposition with step-overs, back flicks and the like, not to mention nonchalantly beating the goalkeeper with a chip. This young man is on a fast road to stardom. Take a look at him in action and you’ll see that he could well be the next Messi. AS Roma have him signed up but on this demonstration there’s going to be no shortage of clubs queuing up to sign him.

WAYNE ROONEY - BACK IN BLUE BUT LEFT SPEECHLESS

Wayne Rooney was back in the Everton blue at the weekend, but don’t worry Manchester United fans - it was a one-off for Duncan Ferguson’s testimonial. He made a cameo appearance in a 2-1 defeat to Villarreal. Afterwards, Rooney obliged for an interview but became a little tongue tied. Social media took the opportunity to ridicule him well and truly afterwards too as footage of the interview went viral.

FOOTBALL MANAGER IS REAL RIGHT?

Football Manager is addictive. Anyone who has played it knows that. But now, it seems, it is more real-life than we ever thought. It must be, because Sky Sports have decided to start using player profile details to assist their transfer coverage. Seriously. They are checking out the dribbling, acceleration and technique stats for players live on air. Football fans went into meltdown as a result, ridiculing the broadcasters. “Sky Sports News are using Football Manager to rate players. Football is done.” one fan wrote. But makers of the game responded: “Clubs use it, so why not Sky?”. Why not, I suppose.