Morning all.
Thomas Tuchel, England players, Arsenal players aside, and England fans now know what Arsenal have been up against for a while now. A low block, when it’s as good as Ghana’s was last night, is really difficult to go up against. Commentators were desperate for a set-piece to produce something special for England because it seemed the only way Ghana’s defence might be breached. Oh the irony eh? England had 78% possession but couldn’t turn it into goals. Declan Rice came close, Bukayo Saka had a shot saved, Marc Guehi had an header cleared off the line and Nico O’Reilly hit the woodwork. Harry Kane missed a chance one would expect him to bury into the back of the net.
Up the other end, I thought Pickford had a lucky escape when he rushed out of his box and in my opinion, Ghana should have been awarded a penalty when Ezri Konsa challenged Prince Kwabena Adu.
Jude Bellingham was awarded man of the match but apparently he said he didn’t deserve it. The award should have gone to one of the opponents defenders.
We are into the 2024/25 season, Mikel Arteta’s fifth full campaign at the club.
The summer transfer window proved to be quite mixed really. David Raya’s loan deal was made permanent while both Riccardo Calafiori and Mikel Merino made the move to north London. Raheem Sterling and Neto joined on a season long loan. Three out of five worked and worked really well but not a proper striker was in sight.
Three players were sold. Eddie Nketiah to Crystal Palace, Emile Smith Rowe to Fulham and Aaron Ramsdale to Southampton. Again, several players went out on loan while Mo Elneny left for free.
In September, Mikel Arteta signed a new contract andboth Martin Odegaard and Riccardo Calafiori returned from international duty injured. Mikel Merino had already been ruled out for a while after suffering a shoulder injury in training.
This was the season that both Declan Rice and Leandro Trossard were sent off for kicking the ball away and delaying the opposition from taking a free kick. Declan Rice against Brighton, Leandro Trossard against Man City. With eleven men on the pitch, we were winning in both matches, however, we ended up drawing both. Brighton scored from a penalty which shouldn’t even have been awarded.
Injuries, those pesky injuries. Bukayo Saka, Ben White, Mikel Merino, Jurrien Timber, Takehiro Tomiyasu, Gabriel Jesus and Kai Havertz all missed months out of the season at one stage or another. Five draws at The Emirates was too many – Brighton, Everton, Liverpool, Brentford and Crystal Palace took points off us.
At the end of the campaign, we finished in second place but not behind City because Liverpool were crowned champions. The best home performance of the season was against Man City. Thumping them 5-1 was so good to watch, especially the look on Guardiola’s face.
Neither domestic cup runs brought any joy. Man Utd beat us in the FA Cup in our first round. Despite being down to ten men, they managed to hold us to a draw. To this day I don’t know how we didn’t beat them in ordinary time. Newcastle Utd thumped us 4-0 over two legs in the semi-final of the League Cup.
Our Champions League campaign was good. At least it was until we came up against a PSG side with the jolly green giant in goal. Having battered PSV Eindhoven in the first knockout tie, we followed up with a hefty 3-0 defeat of Real Madrid at The Emirates and a 2-1 victory in the San Siro.
Anyway, a mixture of missed Arsenal chances and great saves from Donnarumma, we exited the competition.
I’ll keep last season for another day… Just one more thing, no, I’m not wearing a grubby looking raincoat, good luck to Aaron Ramsey who has been appointed head coach of Oxford Utd. Oxford v Luton Town will be a good game to watch next season…
Catch up in the comments.
There is that too it , It certainly looks like the rules were designed to stop Arsenal’s system . Jover needs to come up with some thing new Maybe time the runs into the area when the ball is in flight.
I’m looking forward to that game too.
Agree re England’s set pieces, players just seem to expect the ball to land on their head or at their feet. Maybe the new ruling is stopping all the movement, or am I clutching at straws..
BTW :- Swimming this evening for our regular Wednesday dip . THink I may just jump in and float around for most of it . Can’t wait.
Yes the famous low block which was brilliantly performed by a Ghanian defence.was straight out of the Premier League’santi Arsenal system.
England swung over centre after centre including 9 corners and I do not remember England getting a head on most of them until O’Reilly and Gheuhi had their efforts late in the game .
Up to then the 6 foot 5 Opuko got everything that got past the first defender. Unlike at Arsenal where there is continuous movement ,England were static and life was easy for the giant at the back.Perhaps bringing Burn on near the finish might have given him a problem because Kane wasn’t.
Still the circus moves on and Norway v France on Friday will probably be my next watch as Haaland and Saliba get to face off again with Odegaard pulling the strings , should be interesting.
Morning Cicero, all.
thanks Cicero, I dipped my toes in the sea early this morning, it was rather pleasant. Enjoy your swim.
Ditto re Rice..
Good morning Rico, injuries, injuries injuries are we the most injury prone club in the Premiership?
Another fine post Rico thank you.
Off for a cooling swim shortly, then back under the apple tree with the paper and a cold drink. 😎
Ps, Declan took a nasty knock last night, I hope it was nothing serious.