Morning all.
Whether you follow the women or not, seeing Leah Williamson return after being out for nine months has to be a wonderful sight. Her being unavailable for the women’s team is like William Saliba being out injured for the men. Beth Mead has showed no signs of a set back after her return and I hope it’s the same for Leah Williamson.
Jonas Eidevall spoke to Arsenal Media after last night’s 6-0 thrashing of Reading in the League Cup.
On Leah Williamson returning after nine months…
She works incredibly hard. I don’t think anyone who hasn’t had an ACL injury can understand all the work that goes in behind that to be able to return, so I’m really happy for her as an individual and really happy for the team to get such a great player back. It was great to see both her and Kim Little able to return to play today.
On the privilege of working with Kim Little on a daily basis…
A lot. I feel that and I think all the other staff and players feel that as well. She’s definitely someone that you learn a lot from working with and what a career to be representing this club 300 times. It’s amazing and I really hope that we can celebrate her for that.
It seems that things are falling into place for Arsenal women as key players are returning at a good time. Mead obviously, now Little and Williamson. What a difference their return should make as Eidevall’s squad chase a domestic treble. The WSL is a three horse race between Chelsea, Man City and Arsenal with the West London club sitting just three points ahead of the other two. Arsenal’s goal difference is 8 behind both City and Chelsea. Eleven fixtures to go.
Leah was about the moment she put the captain’s armband on and returned to the pitch:
It was lovely. You think a lot about how that moment’s going to be and that was perfect. I love playing football for Arsenal. Everyone knows how much I love the club – I’ll get emotional about it if I talk about it too much. I’m just happy to be back and try and help my team.
That’s real passion for Arsenal right there. Very few male footballers feel such passion for their club these days in my opinion. Usually it’s only the home grown ones, those who were Arsenal fans before they came players. It wasn’t that long ago Gabriel Martinelli was asked about his contract which was due for renewal and his reply was something along the lines of just give me a pen and show me where to sign. None of this going to the eleventh hour before committing to the club, or wanting reassurances of playing time. He simply wanted to stay. Rare for an overseas player.
Didn’t Tony Adams once say that he’d have signed any and every contract Arsenal put in front of him? Didn’t Michael Thomas once admit he shed a tear when the club told him he was going to be sold? If I’m wrong about that one, I’m sorry Michael. Lol
Thats why I always understood Cesc Fabregas wanting to return to Barcelona one day. I didn’t like the way he orchestrated his move or the way he behaved before leaving but home often calls and Barcelona was his home. By the time he was ready to move again, Arsene Wenger didn’t want him. The fact he ended up at Chelsea wasn’t his fault, not entirely anyway.
Football isn’t quite the same these days because so much now is about money. Transfer fees, player wages, ST fees going up and up, refreshments at the games costing more and to watch live on television costs an arm and a leg. Long gone is paying just one subscription to Sky Sports as TNT as well as Amazon Prime show their own share of fixtures. TNT of course have the rights for all the European fixtures. If one signs up to all of them, it costs over £100 a month. Beans on toast for dinner it is then, or tea/supper depending on what you call your evening meal. It is what it is though as these television companies know that you, me and most football fans will find the money to watch the club we love.
Anyway, I’ve rambled for far too long.
Don’t forget Viv Miedema has also come back after her ACL Injury Rico, another important member of the squad
Darn Cicero, I was about to include her but made a cuppa before forgetting. You’re right..
From Arsenal.com :- “We’re pleased to announce our Director of Football Operations, Richard Garlick, will take the role of Arsenal’s Managing Director in summer 2024.”
He’s good isn’t he? Replacing Vinai?
Hi Rico good post yesterday which I missed due to chores n stuff at home, but generally I agree with you and our players being allowed to be flexible and swap positions, mind you I think that Havertz and Jesus swap around regularly and we have Jesus operating in the No.10 slot and Havertz up top.
Regarding today’s post and I don’t know if this is physiological or not but when woman footballers suffer a serious injury they seem to be out forever, I mean has our Dutch striker actually recovered yet?
Look at the woman footballer who was injured and recovering from a similar knee injury to Rob Holding at the same time, she never really came back and didn’t she join Aston Villa quite recently?
Some of this has I believe been attributed to footwear and blades rather than studs, if I recall correctly.
There’s a lot of rumours rumbling around regarding Arsenal signing Zubimendi on a pre-contract which I believe can only happen if a footballer is into his last 6 months of contract and I don’t think that that is the case with Zubimendi?
Maybe Arsenal have come to an understanding with Sociedad, but understandings aren’t a contract and if someone comes in with a better offer next summer it’ll count for zilch.
It’s a bit of a worry that so far – and it’s less than a week before the transfer deadline. That more of our young players haven’t found a suitable club to join on loan. Not sure why this is but I think we’ve got a new loans manager and maybe he has different criteria to the previous incumbent when it comes to finding clubs with the right/different coaching ethos to take our players?
Either that or the current crop of Arsenal youngsters aren’t as good as we’d like to think they are?
Hi Kev, thanks.
Is the Jesus Havertz thing just the latter using his common sense? lol
Saka is another who drops back to help out but I’d love to see him on the left at times with Jesus on the right and Martinelli through the middle.
It’s well known that women’s bodies aren’t as strong as men so it’s highly likely they take longer to heal, certainly at the top level where the game is more demanding. Viv has been fit for a while I believe, she’s just not being used as much. Comes with age no doubt as Jonas has built a new squad.
I was reading an article on Sky Sports this morning by their transfer guru and he said this window should get busier in the last few days as clubs are focusing on sorting their finances out. The Everton, City and Forest charges have woken up the accountants no doubt.
I think Sky are p*****g in the wind if they think there’s going to be a sudden rush of transfers in the next six days. FFP and PSR have put the wind up most clubs, as many seem to be operating on the very edge finance-wise.
As far as loaning our younger players out is concerned, top clubs probably won’t guarantee them playing time and lower league teams can’t afford the loan fees plus making a contribution to their wages. In addition, the players may not relish dropping down the leagues where they could get playing time but will be expected to play to very different systems.
I think it was more of a, it’ll be busier in the last few days. Bearing in mind they report only £30 odd million has been spent so far this winter by PL clubs, it won’t be too difficult to be busier.
Miguel Almiron is available apparently….. 😜
Thomas Partey back in training.. He really will be like a new signing. Lol
Yes Rico I get that, but does physical strength equate to recovery time?
Would be nice if Thomas Partey’s availability coincides with a winning run in the second half of the season instead of the collapse we’ve suffered in the previous two seasons?
Probably Kev.
According to the Standard, Callum Wilson England and Newcastle 31 Year old striker available for £18 million. Arsenal alerted along with Chelsea and Man U.
A bargain in comparison to Toney.o
Short term solution that’s for sure. Potentially anyway.
New post up