Arsenal’s “Kaka”, England’s Euros….

 

England are crowned European champions in Basel, retaining the trophy they won in 2022 © Jean-Christophe Bott/EPA/Shutterstock

Morning all.

Kev has written yesterday’s match review but before that, I would just like to say a huge congratulations to the England women for winning the Euros for the second time running. From before the tournament kicked off, Sarina Wiegman and her squad had to deal with a lot all of which you have probably read or heard about by now. As far as the football goes, England were outplayed in their first game of the competition and the last but the spirit, determination and passion for their country and the fans could never be questioned and it was that, as well as a group of extremely talented players, which saw them lift the big trophy yesterday evening.

Arsenal as a club should be proud of contribution their/our players gave throughout the tournament because without them, I doubt England would have become champions. But as a nation, we too should be proud of every single person involved in this tournament. I suspect we’ll all have our favourites and of course, each of the Arsenal players are amongst mine but Lucy Bronze, Lauren Hemp and Hannah Hampton were amazingly good too, Bronze playing the entire tournament with a fractured tibia. Probably because she knew it could be her last big tournament for her country. Lastly, congratulations to 19 year old Michelle Agyemang who won the young player of the tournament award.

Anyway, over to Kev…


I missed the unveiling of Viktor Gyokeres before yesterday’s ‘friendly’. Newcastle missed his international team mate Alexander Isak too who, according to reports, is looking for a way out. Good luck with that Eddie…

Mikel Arteta made a few interesting selections for our 3rd preseason game. Both Merino and Zubimendi started as did Trossard, so the Arsenal starting XI was:

Raya, Calafiori, White, MLS, Saliba, Merino, Zubimendi, Nwaneri, Trossard, Saka and Havertz.

I was keen to see how Nwaneri, Saka and White would work but after 5 minutes of Arsenal playing in Newcastle’s half the Geordies broke free of our stranglehold and following some forgettable Arsenal defending Elanga scored. It was a bit of a shock and I just laughed, it seemed so, er, Arsenal…

Newcastle seemed as surprised as we all were and it was as if they suddenly began to believe that we weren’t as good as the hype made out because they didn’t fall totally into a low low block as they usually do but had a go at us. It made for quite an open game with some scruffy passes and mistakes – but this is preseason remember!

Calafiori created a chance via a Newcastle boot but Trossard had his shot saved by Pope and with Newcastle, and in particular Gordon (was he looking to impress?) looking sharp on the break, Tonali came close with a sharp shot which Raya eventually took control of.

Had we gone 2-0 down it might have been too difficult to recover. Merino and Nwaneri in my opinion, were not at their best leaving Zubimendi to shoulder the lions share of the work but he looked good again. Too much was going down our right as Saka seemed the only outlet but he was having one of those days when nothing came off for him. All the same he remained our biggest threat. A break by Bakayo led to a great chance for Ben White but he got under the shot and it flew a la British Lions style, into the crowd.

15 minutes had flown by and Newcastle looked comfortable whilst Arsenal were still searching for their rhythm. On 19 minutes Bruno had a chance after Trossard lost possession up the other end which Raya did well to save as the Geordies confidence continued to grow. This was a good test and it’s exactly what we needed.

With 30 minutes gone Pope still hadn’t had a difficult save to make but then in the 33rd minute, a smart pass from Trossard into the box saw Havertz pointing the wrong way but he cleverly flicked the ball onto the onrushing Merino who finished adroitly into the corner of the net.

The game then flipped as Newcastle responded. Havertz got clear down our left after good work by Trossard who after dispossessing Trippier, drove a low hard cross into the box but with Saka lurking behind the Newcastle defender thumped the ball into his own goal, Ho’way the lad.

Arsenal finished the half strongly with a Saka chance cleared and Zubimendi taking a Man City style yellow card to stop Gordon on the break.

One change at half-time with Odegaard on for the strangely ineffective Nwaneri, it happens with young players. Just after the restart, Ricardo Calafiori dropped to the ground with no one around him and was replaced by Kiwior. Arteta mentioned that he had felt something, but I couldn’t shake off Tomiyasu vibes – I so hope I’m wrong!

Just before the hour, a Newcastle defensive mix up led to a Saka chance but his effort was saved and then a minute later, the dangerous Jacob Murphy equalised when he was given too much space on the edge of our box. Merino was far too slow in closing him down and more worryingly Raya should have saved it. It was a poor goal to concede.

Osula, the new striker signing for Newcastle, should have given them the lead but thankfully, he headed wide of a gaping net. On the hour, Arteta responded with Kepa, Martinelli and Dowman replacing Raya, Havertz and Saka. Dowman was immediately fouled, seems that word has got around…

Arteta made further changes on 68 minutes as on came Rice for Merino. 3 minutes later, Dowman picked up the ball some 30 yards from goal and went on his trademark Kaka style dribble. His drive at goal had me sitting up but Pope saved well. Then Odegaard hit a scorcher from 20 yards which Pope saved again.

On 76 minutes, Arteta made his final changes as on came Nordgaard, Salmon, Nichols, Zinchenko and Harriman Annous for Zubimendi, Saliba, White, MLS and Trossard. Almost immediately after the changes, Joelinton pushed Kaka Dowman over in the box and Odegaard dispatched the penalty.

As the minutes ticked down Kepa made a save and then did so again from a Schar shot (try saying that after a few drinks) but Arsenal comfortably played out time. Dowman was electric, Zubimendi was very good again, we miss Rice when he’s absent but that’s not news,

Odegaard is shooting on sight, the kids are alright and so are the rest, it’s all about getting rid of the cobwebs and sharpening up.

Next Up, it’s Middlesex….

 

 

14 thoughts on “Arsenal’s “Kaka”, England’s Euros….

  1. allezkev says:

    Well done to the victorious England Ladies team, winning any World or European tournament is a major achievement and they deserve all the credit that is coming their way.

  2. rico says:

    Morning Kev, thank you, I enjoyed that. Nearly as much as I enjoyed watching Dowman.. 😜

    He’s a real talent isn’t he, a real talent.

  3. allezkev says:

    I don’t want to see Gabriel Jesus leave because having him as back up for Havertz and Gyorkeres makes us very strong but Berta will know he has to sell to balance the books and we’re only going to get a decent return on a decent footballer. I’d much rather sell Vieira, Hein, Nelson and Lokonga before anyone else…

  4. Cicero says:

    It all seems a bit flat now, the incomings have come and now it’s more or less just the departures to go.

    Time now for Arteta to sort out his favoured starting eleven and get them playing together. What have we got now, just the Spuds and then the Emirates Cup. Before we know it the big kick off will be on the horizon.

  5. potter says:

    I am not sure that we need Eze , with Nwaneri and Kaka slowing their development might not be a good thing either for the players but for the spirit at Hale end .

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