Morning all.
I don’t often write about the Arsenal women game because I know women’s football is not for everyone but what Renee Slegers team did last night was brilliant. Trailing 2-0 from the first leg of this tie against Real Madrid, they needed a big win if they were to progress any further in the Champions League. The first leg in Spain was played on a dreadful pitch but last night of course, the perfectly cared for Emirates grass was a whole different ball game. And it was, literally!
Renee Slegers team came out of the blocks on a mission and from start to finish, they didn’t stop. Arsenal found the back of the net five times but twice the offside flag denied them. Still, three was enough and Arsenal breezed through to the semifinal where they will face Lyon.
I don’t know how Arsenal didn’t go into the break a goal or two up but any hopes Real Madrid had of hanging on to their two goal cushion were crushed within two minutes of the restart. Two crosses from on loan Chloe Kelly were finished off by Alessia Russo and Mariona Caldentey to bring the tie level before Russo made it three from a Katie McCabe free-kick around the hour mark.
A brilliant Arsenal performance topped off with a fantastic result against one of Spains best.
After the game, Renee Slegers was asked about how special it was to be a part of the huddle at full-time, with supporters belting out North London Forever all around them.
I think they were very active the whole game through and they kept on cheering us on. There were some special moments, I think. It’s always on us to deliver, whether there are fans or not, but this is just so special being a part of Arsenal, playing at the Emirates, so many fans behind us, red and white all over. And yeah, we were singing the North London Forever song in the huddle after the game together with the staff and players for a special moment.
The Lyon tie should be a cracker..
Back to mens game and that’s it for international football for the season and thank goodness for that. With just two months to go, it’s all about securing second in the league and going as far as we can in the Champions League.
With it being an FA Cup weekend, Mikel Arteta’s team don’t play until Tuesday when Fulham make the short trip across London just three days after they will have played Crystal Palace. It’s a full fixture list next Tuesday and Wednesday which includes a Merseyside derby at Goodison Park. Weirdly, we then go to Everton next weekend and Liverpool go to Fulham.
I don’t know about you guys but I’m quite enjoying all the negative media attention Liverpool are receiving in relation to Alexander-Arnold, van Dijk and Salah. Will they leave as legends or will their reputation become tarnished should all three leave for free? I read that on Sky Sports on one of their fan forums where they discussed Alexander-Arnold’s potential move to Real Madrid for free in the summer. Must be hard for fans to see one of their own run down his contract just as he’s about to hit his “peak years” of his career. Not that I’d be at all surprised to read that he and the other two have signed new Liverpool contracts because we know how agents work in this game.
I don’t think that’s something we Arsenal fans have ever experienced is it? We’ve seen a lot of players run down their contracts and leave for free but I’m pretty sure none have been what I would call top class Arsenal born and bred players. Those with a better memory feel free to correct me.
I’m hoping this will be the last summer we see any first team Arsenal players leave for free, certainly those under 30 years old. Thomas Partey will soon get snapped up in the summer I’m sure as will Jorginho, that’s if they haven’t already agreed a deal elsewhere and both will be a big miss but I certainly won’t be shedding any tears. What’s important this summer is not only signing players but tying down those we have to new longer term contracts. Unless they are going to be moved on of course.
I feel a busy summer looms for Arsenal Football Club.
Catch up in the comments.
The Women played so well and I see it as a good omen. Why? Going back to the Arsenal v Man City game, when we thumped them!, the Arsenal Women also beat Man C a couple of hours before. Now they have beaten Real Madrid, so the its the Men’s turn to do the same. Here’s to “my good omen”.
I like that theory Laura.
Morning to you and all…
Great post Rico, yes the girls very did well, I saw some highlights on YouTube and couldn’t see anything wrong with our 4th goal.
I think the more relaxed, less aggressive nature of the women’s game appeals to a lot of fans who actually aren’t Arsenal fans in relation to the men’s game but follow Arsenal in the women’s game. Lots of kids in the crowd and an opportunity to get them while they’re young, because getting tickets for the men’s game is both expensive and difficult.
The enormous financial injection that Man City and Chelsea will get from a club World Cup is totally disproportionate and will give those two clubs an even bigger unfair advantage in team building. Once again the powers that be are not acting in the best interests of fair competition, in fact they’re acting more like disrupters.
Of course if Arsenal ever make it to the club World Cup no doubt FIFA will change the rules so we get less.
I’ve just watched the highlights on the club website, apart from the three goals, two more ruled out for offside, we hit the post twice. Could easily have had five goals or more.
I’m not complaining, Through to the semi-finals!😃
Morning rico, Kev, all. Saw last 25 minutes of game, wow, no holding back defending their one goal league. No extra centre back being put on, very refreshing, and I counted another half dozen chances they could have scored. Why no var replay, to my eyes looked clearly onside?
The money Kev explains why City and Chelsea owners aren’t in uproar over the daft timing of the extra tournament!
Just hope this summer isn’t a damp squib after all the expectations Arsenal fans have.
Thanks Kev, neither could I. Russo was robbed.
I watched the whole game live and my goodness, they were so strong and determined. I know the game is played at a slower pace than the men, well, just but some of our football was really good.
Morning Andrew, I thought similar at the time as Slegers made her changes. She wanted blood. 😜
There was VAR though, they confirmed the offside, probably in hope that Real would come back.
Yes, VAR will be on point and assisting Real Madrid, especially in Spain, just in case Arsenal look like winning.
Can’t be having that can we?!
It’s pre-ordained that Real must meet Bayern in the final. £€$
Exactly Andrew, didn’t Guardiola complain about the amount of football his team are expected to play, last summer?
Yet no comment from him regarding the Club World Cup and too many fixtures. I hope it kills both of his and Chelsea’s campaigns next season…
But would I like Arsenal to be in it?
Well yes, of course I would, because that’ll mean we’ve won the CL…
There is an interesting article in The Telegraph today. It deals with ticket touting and the Premiership.
In Britain it is illegal to buy or sell tickets at more than their face value but an American on-line market place called Vivid Seats currently lists tickets for every Premiership game for the rest of the season at greatly increased prices over and above the face value, indeed they are offering for sale tickets for Liverpool’s final match of the season at close to £20 thousand each. I should say that these tickets are not available in Britain, but nip across the channel and you can buy them on-line.
Vivid Seats is a company partly owned (41%) by Chelsea joint owner Ted Boehly who is also a director of the company.
Now I couldn’t care less about tourists being over charged for watching Premiership games but genuine fans are being blocked from buying tickets for their own club’s games as tickets are being channelled to operations like Vivid Seats.
An important question is how does Vivid Seats acquire the tickets in the first place and are the clubs complicit and being paid a premium for them.
The average price at an NBA game is $95.00
The average price at an MLB game is $148.00
The average price at an NFL game is $153.00
My son is paying £72.00 for Real Madrid, which I still find expensive for the cheap seats, but to our Yank owners those games are undervalued compared to ‘over there’…
Re the ticket prices, who are the fools? The people/clubs who set the cost or the fans who buy them? #justasking….
I don’t actually think £75 for the Real game is all that bad, not for the entire experience…
Cicero, directly from the club I’d imagine or players.. Either that or they are fake.. 😜
Premier League clubs have agreed on the 2025 summer transfer window dates following a shareholders’ meeting in central London. The window will open early between Sunday June 1 and Tuesday June 10 due to an exceptional registration period for the expanded Club World Cup.
It will then open again on Monday June 16 until Deadline Day on Monday September 1.
All Premier League clubs will be free to do business during the earlier window, not just Chelsea and Manchester City, who are participating at the Club World Cup.
Good afternoon Rico and everyone who is happy to see Arsenal Ladies advance to the SF. Three more 3-2 wins in the competition and the CL will be coming to our club for the 2nd time for the ladies. I enjoyed seeing the Ladies play….they are gorgeous.
Good article Rico.
I hope we have a good summer with regards transfers in. I saw the following on the BBC ( https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/articles/c0egvyg7wllo ) and imo the summer transfer window 2025 is a joke since it will be closing down some days and then reopen. I don’t agree with that. I honestly think that the transfer window should open the day after the season ends and lasts till two-three days before the following season begins. we are talking three months here.
As some of the housers have pointed out in the past…..if a club really wants a player they will have him ready before the season ends…..contract takes effect on 1st July.
So a club who dithers on the player till the end of the TW is not fully committed to that transfer.
What I admired about Arteta and the club was that they want Isak or Sesko or Gyokeres so much that they were willing to wait this season to get either in summer. we may have been frustrated with the lack of activity but i dont believe we will be so this summer
Afternoon and thanks Devil.
Seems bonkers to me, why not just open the transfer window on June 1st and leave it open. It’s not like clubs will take any notice of the weeks closure, it’ll just mean signings won’t be confirmed during that period.
I’m not convinced Arteta was prepared to wait, I don’t even believe that came into the equation when not signing a striker in January, after all, why did the club go for Watkins late in the month? Assuming that little nugget was true.
well then we tried for Watkins didnt we they will say. but nothing materialised.
smokescreen comes to mind
I’ve no idea if it was true or not but if it was, I’m sure the club knew Villa wouldn’t sell.
It’s a bit like Isak, the likelihood of him joining us is slim to none imo.
I make you right Rico, what’s the point of opening, closing and then reopening the summer window, there’s some real odd bods working these things out, just open the bloody thing and leave it open.
Not a lot happens in June, everyone is on holiday and contracts usually run from July 1st to the following June 30th. So clubs wait until later in the window (end of June) to avoid paying a new signing while he’s on holiday.
When Arsenal are linked to a player for a long period in the Press, we often don’t get them and I’m beginning to think that we won’t get Zubimendi and maybe even Sesko?
That’s how I feel Kev. I think we’ll end up with other names rather than those in the press. Saying that, so many rumours are printed, one might come true. 😜
But, I do think deals will be done in June, they often are but they’re just not announced/made official until July 1st.
Hello again!!
Bukayo Saka has returned to full training and is expected to play prior to the Real Madrid return fixture. 😁
Mbappe, Vinicus Junior, Antonio Rudiger and Dani Ceballos face bans for the tie. UEFA have launched an investigation into “indecent conduct” over gestures made by the quartet.
Morning Cicero, all.
I read that too but I bet if they do get a ban, it’ll come into force after our tie.
According to El Mundo Deportivo there are three stages of possible penalties . The first and most likely is a fine , secondly a reduced fine with a 1 match ban and lastly a three match ban.
They say that the inquiry is happening but doubt that anything would happen before the match with Arsenal as it would be controversial .
I looked at Marca and AS sport but can’t find the story so I wouldn’t get too excited about us getting any advantage .
It would seem that Rudiger was seen doing a throat slitting motion to the Atletico fans . Mbappe and Vinicius were seen making rude gestures but no one knows why Ceballos is being charged however FIFA and Uefa love Real and they are part of the establishment and I expect all four to line up against us .
As do I, well, unless any of them pick up an injury between now and then..
A non-story then, just to wind-us-up prior to the tie.
Listening to a podcast yesterday and they were discussing the Alexander-Arnold transfer to Madrid, apparently Madrid began ‘grooming’ or tapping up TAA two years ago. It’s how they seem to operate now so the Spanish media rumours surrounding Saliba make more sense to me. Basically if William doesn’t sign this summer he’s off in 2027 regardless of what Arteta says to him or the business we do in the market or the trophies we win over the next two seasons.
Just read a q&a with Ornstein and he reckons Zubimendi is expected to join Arsenal in the summer and he knows nothing of Real’s interest.
Excellent news re Saka by the way..
Apparently, Andrea Berta is set to be confirmed today..
Afternoon Rico and all.
That little snippet from David Ornstein is a welcome one, he’s usually the man in the know so I’ll take that as a positive, it would be great to see Mikel Merino teaming up again with his old mate.
And welcome back Bukayo.
Afternoon Berg, yep, fingers crossed eh..
Afternoon everyone.
quite a boring weekend without any football. While its welcoming for those who played internationals to be rested and recover I don’t like it without any game to look forward to.
Kev, by the beginning of next season Arsenal should have found a way to tie down Saliba for sure. At least till 2030. That way if he was sold he would fetch quite a good tidy sum….one in the region of 150M at least. That sum can build a team. Yes there is only one Saliba but there are other CBs in the world who are good.
Potter…imo if the last 8 leagues that City have won were all acquired through financial cheating then the only way I will be satisfied is if their EPL wins are given to those who have finished 2nd. I don’t give a f*** about penalty points….that affects only this season or next. But taking away their leagues and cup wins in the final will hurt much more than being relegated or having penalty points.
At the end of the day how many points will be deducted?? Any points deduction under 75 will not be fair, however, at the end of the day if the amount of points deducted is above 50 points the FA will be laughing stock in front of others. So at the end of the day its either direct relegation plus titles taken away or none at all.
Afternoon Devil, guys.
I’m the same, I miss us not playing. Such a disappointment not to be in the FA Cup..
Not sure it’ll have any bearing on us though because of the time frame of their charges. We’ll see I guess.
It will have a bearing on us Rico…..we finished 2nd in the last two seasons which are also included in the time frame.
I didn’t think it was Devil, I’ll have to read it again. Lol
.City ……………”are also accused of failing to co-operate with the league’s investigation. In all, there are charges relating to every season between 2009-10 and 2022-23″
https://www.football365.com/news/man-city-ffp-forced-pay-european-clubs-compensation
I saw that just now. Not sure what penalty they’d get for that if found guilty.
By the way Devil, Potters earlier comment was about Real Madrid players and not City punishments.
Fulham thumped by Palace at Craven Cottage, didn’t see that coming.
I am scratching my head with regards where I saw the comment about City. I saw it somewhere but cant manage to fathom out why I thought it was Potter or if he had said something with regards that??
Ha ha, happens to us all Devil. Lol
I did comment on the City situation but it was some time ago . Must be the speed of the internet in Malta.
I still feel however that being awarded titles should they be stripped would be somewhat devalued and forever the number of titles would have an asterisk next to it.
The asterisk should be by the side of City’s name rather than the club who might be handed the trophy, after all, that’s how it’s been shown for other clubs who have been docked points.
https://www.arsenal.com/news/andrea-berta-joins-sporting-director
Morning all..
Get to work Andrea 😜
New post up.