Morning all.
William Saliba might not have had lots to do, but what he did do, he did with consummate ease. Bigger tests will come but I doubt he’ll fear them. He’s tall, athletic and pretty darn quick. The game itself, and the 4-1 scoreline in our favour is irrelevant in my opinion.
Prob Holding scored a cracking goal but sadly for him, his header went flying past Leno rather than the MK Dons keeper. McGuinness however, what a strong header he scored with. What a strong and bit unit he is overall. Just short of 6’ 4” tall, 19 years of age, he’s one to keep an eye on for the future.
Barely three weeks have past since we lifted the FA Cup so it’s been an exceptionally short break for the players. Mohammed Elneny was back in Arsenal colours, scoring on his return but I think he’ll be one of those to depart before the transfer window closes. AMN started last night too and I’m still hopeful he’ll have a change of heart and stay. Another returnee is Emile Smith Rowe and he too had a run out last night along with many other of our younger players.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=6qX77EheNjI
I’d imagine one or two more friendly fixtures are lined up to take place before the new season kicks off on September 12th. This weekend we face Liverpool in the Community Shield, then it’s a break before heading to Fulham for opener of the new campaign.
September and October isn’t kind to us with three away trips. Two to Manchester and one to Liverpool so we’ll need to be switched on from the beginning and hope the other clubs aren’t.
The expected signing of Gabriel Magalhaes is being held up by him being in quarantine according to Sky Sports who also suggest he may have already undergone his medical in France.
Arsenal may have had their ups and downs over recent years but sometimes one can only admire how staff and players conduct themselves whilst representing this great club. Apart from Wilshere, Bendtner and now Bellerin having a craft smoke now and again, seldom have our players hit the headlines for the wrong reasons. Recently I mean, not back in the Adams and Merson days, or RvP when he was young. Throughout the latter struggles under Arsene Wenger, it didn’t matter what mud the media threw at him during a press conference, he never embarrassed himself or the club. Neither did Unai Emery despite not ever grasping the English language.
Look at the Harry Maguire situation, the goings on at Barcelona, the managerial ever revolving door at Real Madrid and PSG. The ‘reveal all’ goings on at Toots which Amazon are set to release. What a joke that is! If the newspapers are to be believed, all is not rosy at Man City either. In house problems spill onto the pitch so often. Credit has to go to Mesut Ozil because despite being frozen out by Mikel Arteta, he’s telling the footballing world he’ll fight for our club. AMN reportedly had a rollicking from Mikel Arteta but there’s been no fuss, no drama. AMN came back into the team a better player. Dani Ceballos too. In fact every player has kept any in house issues which might be going on, private. Even Guendouzi.
Of course we all want Arsenal back challenging for the Premier League and I’m convinced we will over the next few seasons. We want Champions League football again too so we can compete against the best. More FA Cup trophies too.
However, when it comes to class though, Arsenal are right up there at the top of the tree.
See you in the comments guys.
Afternoon campers, afternoon Rico, good post, it’s deserves more feedback.
Yes, the media dig away but in general Arsenal keep things under wraps, in fact most leaks I suspect come via agents.
Saliba looked good, very accomplished in everything he did and yeah McGuinness looked a unit for sure, I’d imagine that Arteta was very satisfied in what he saw from Big Mac, Cottrell, Azeez and Bola with them all catching his eye.
At the other end of the spectrum Emile Smith Rowe underwhelmed, he seemed on the periphery of everything and that was disappointing. I noticed that at the end of the game when everyone left the pitch Arteta’s Dutch assistant kept ESR on the pitch and they did some one to one routines.
I watched the game on a seven inch screen Kindle. Not all the game but what I saw didn’t seem to include ESR at all. No names on shirts and I wasn’t listening to the commentator’s drivel so it was hard to pick up who was doing what,
Could the post match session have been checking ESR’s fitness or a possible injury?
Afternoon Kev, thanks. I hung around for a bit before getting bored. Lol
I didn’t comment much on the game as didn’t see all of it. Saliba looks the mutts, and where has McGuinness been? Must keep an eye on the U23’s this season I think.
Wolves £15m offer for AMN has been rejected apparently. Good.
We should demand £40 million minimum.
I think so too. £20m is far too cheap for a player of his age and ability.
Afternoon Rico and the house.
As Kev said another good post that deserves abetter response.
Rico having lots of trouble with keyboard so I hope you will
forgive any mistakes.
You ask where has McGunness been , here is alittle info about him.
He joined us at age 10 and is now 19.
When he played for the U16 he was the mainstay of the defence and played in everygame.
He signed scholar contract in July 2017 and picked up a bad injury staight away.
At the time he was told to take acomplete break from football and play another sport.
These are his word and I have no idea what the injury was.
Since then he has beeen fighting a uphill battle to get fit and he has only played
about 25 games in total
I have read that when he played his last game for the u16 he was 5ft 10in and
was 6ft4inwhen next played for the u18 which means while he was injured he shot up 6inchs.
He said at the time I hope Ive finished growing
I think he has the backing of our BFG for it was him that gave him his pro contractin April 2019.
One last thing he has now scored 4 goals and all of them are headers from corners.
All for now
Afternoon Rick and thanks. No need to worry about any mistakes, we’re only human. Lol
Thanks for that McGuinness info. I hope for his and the clubs sake, injuries are behind him. He looks like he could be useful. Certainly has the physicality to be a good defender.
McGuiness is certainly a Unit………………………………..as am I, my wife is contstantly saying to me………..”You nit!”
If Nathan Ake cost £41 million then AMN must be close to that. He is nowhere near his performance ceiling yet.
I am enjoying watching the Barcelona stuff unfold though.
Yeah Cicero, good point regarding ESR’s fitness that did cross my mind as well.
Yes Cocker, your wife knows what she’s talking about I reckon.
How is she btw, if I recall she wasn’t very well awhile back (apologies if I’ve got that wrong), I trust that she’s a lot better now.
Excellent point Mr Adam, if Chilwell is worth £50m then how is AMN not worth at least £30m, he’s under contract until 2023 so I’d suggest we just keep him until next summer when things have recovered – I say that with my fingers, toes, legs and eyes crossed….
I am too Adam. It’s been a long time coming.
Kev` ………..who am I to argue with the missus!..scares the shit out of me! hahaha
Yeah, she had Cirrhosis of the liver which lead to cancer then a transplant, but touch wood fighting fit!…………….an interesting thing is she was one of the ones shielding and recently the government said she was ok to go out, in contrast her liver transplant specialist told her over the phone a couple of weeks ago to ignore the government advise and avoid going out if possible, because you know what?…………………..the virus is still out there and is not going away anytime soon, only a vaccine will help!……………………trust the specialist and your own common sense not what BoJo says!
Sky sports have had a clear out. Le Tiss, Thompson and Charlie Nic have all been sacked.
More worrying Lc is Boris is merely repeating what so called medical experts are advising him.
Hi Rico..That has shocked me!! Can’t stand Thompson (or his nose), but liked Charlie and Le Tiss on Soccer Saturday!!
Hi Sue, same here. I think it had something to do with the BLM and their views.
Rico, I think trusting your own gut feeling and common sense is the best way to go, for example at first they (experts) said not to wear a face mask, well I thought what a load of bollox and wore a face mask from beginning and still do!…………………….I wonder howmanyt lives would have been saved if masks were compulsary from beginning?………………..I know I may not come over as a common sense person, but overlooking the crap I am! hahaha
There has to be more to it than just cutting numbers, Rico??!!
That was a good read, btw! It’s official – this window is now driving me crazy haha!! Given up with bloody announcements and rumours… think I’ll focus more on Saturday… a date with the dippers… I saw that we’re wearing our Walking Dead kit?!!
Interestingly Sweden haven’t lockdowned, their economy is ok and their death rate per head of population is less than ours, so go figure, I’m not sure that anyone knows if I’m honest LC and that’s what really scares me. Sweden had the same issues as we had with a lot of old people dying in care homes. The centre of London is dead whilst the centre of Stockholm is normal.
I’ll tell you something, the Green lobby and all those environmentalist wankers don’t want us back in London, they want us working from home which is ok if you’re some liberal middle class tosser, but the rest of us can go to hell in a handcart.
Glad to hear that your better half is well. Maybe we should all move to Cornwall?
I agree Lc but did you try and buy masks? I did and it was impossible as everywhere said nhs only. I was luck though as we had some, just sprayed them between using.
I think so too Sue. I’m surprised Merse is still there. I love the paint spattered kit. It’s my favourite.
For me, my Saturday afternoons won’t be the same….
It’ll grow on me, Rico… 😂😂 I went to sports direct (Cowley), on Monday. Our home shirt was in there.. next to hundreds of spuds shirts, can you believe it?! I wasn’t surprised about there being loads of spuds shirts, they really are shite 🤣 but right next to ours, yikes! Haha!! Our shirt looked so lush…. 😍
Ha ha Sue. Loads of Toots shirts as nobody buys them…
Can’t even give them away, Rico 😝
Hi Rico and all just watched hi lights on YouTube Mc Guinness reminds me of Giroud a little bit
LCM your wife sounds like she has been in the wars hopefully she can get back to full health soon
When making comparisons with other countries corona virus figures it’s necessary to take into consideration the relative sizes of land area and population. Sweden, for instance, is quite a large country with a tiny population England, by comparison is a tiny country with a huge population. In our cities people live in such close proximity that it is inevitable that infection spreads more easily. The sheer numbers of towns and cities across England which are grossly overcrowded means the virus can survive and multiple so much more easily than elsewhere.
Time for another couple of hours sleep.
Cicero, exactly why I don’t understand how many English and American mates are criticising their own governments while applauding those of my own country and NZ.
Massive population in a small area is the single major factor in the spread.
We’ve actually had recent problems in a Victoria because of stupid decisions made by politicians, yet we still have 400-500 deaths so far, a relatively small number but again, 25 million living in a country almost the size of Europe helps.
I made my own masks, Rico!…………………..some old disheveled Y-Fronts seemed to keep people away from me! hahaha, ……….actually, I used the heel section of socks a bit of adjustable cutting and no sowing needed!.
Geoff, yes through the wars, but still puts everyone else first!
Kev`, I would mve hear tomorrow if I wasn`t already hear!………………….Cornwall had the least infections of any county per 100,000, not sure now as there are plenty of tourists here as it is the number one staycation destination, also, for the money of a property in Essex or anywhere around the South East you could buy something special here(not saying yours is not special!)…………………there is a building plot near to me overlooking the Tamar valley with views to die for, for 3 houses( which could easily be made to take 5 houses) and 4 acres of land for £400K……………………I want it but the wife doesn`t want the hassle(which I can understand), it would have given us and the 3 children a house each and still plenty of room for the wifes 2 horses!……………shame!
The common sense of a woman closed the borders of New Zealand and locked down very early, we should have closed the borders, but I suspect it`s down to money as per usual!
A quick google tells that in Australia there are 7 people living in each square mile ( lots of outback ) . In Sweden it’s 57 people however in England we have 1349 . . It’s comparing apples and oranges.
Man who shot and killed 51 people in Christchurch, New Zealand gets life with no parole…………………….to date 22 people have died from covid in New Zealand!
5 people living on my 5 acres, Potter!………………………….we only have apple trees, no orange trees!
🙂
LC,
Don’t you get sucked in lol
That idiot in NZ is becoming more hated by the day in NZ(especially by Maoris), and guess what?
They’re back in lockdown due to an outbreak.
Mmmm….seems the media have been quiet on that one 🙂
Locking things down won’t do a thing as this virus will keep hovering around a cure or a vaccine is found.
Nice Y-Fronts, Le Coq 😝🤣
Yes, Scott, I know they had some new cases in(was it 5?) NZ, but straightaway they locked down again, they would not lockdown anywhere here if there was 5 new cases!……………………..I know people will say about NZ`s small population being what a 12th of UK population,but they have had 22 deaths and in UK over 40,000 deaths!……………………no one is going to change my mind that an earlier lockdown and shutting of borders would have meant less deaths.
Hahaha Sue, I reckon if everyone would have worn week old Y-Fronts as masks we would be covid free.
😂😂😂😂 and there I was thinking it was just war paint hahaha!!
We knew it would happen , after months of being virtually free the tourists came and now Hundreds of staff at Banham Poultry have been forced into self-isolation after 75 test positive. Workers could have spread the virus across the county!, Staff mainly live in the districts of Breckland, Great Yarmouth .
Looks like we are in for another period of self isolation.
Me and you will only know what war paint meant, Sue! 😆
LC, sorry, but comparing the two really is ridiculous.
What you didn’t mention, LC, was that NZ is a larger country, albeit slightly, than England so suddenly, that 1/12th the population is put into perspective.
It’s not just the population, it’s the concentration of people in relatively small areas.
Messi to the Emirates.
Stan coughs up.
Heard it here first 😉
Scott I think Messi best days are behind him but he may be worth picking up for free only if their is a chance of making money out of him from sales of jumpers, mugs and adverts
Scott that’s one of the best wins I seen your dog have She looking good
Scott, I understand all the different scenarios of the pandemic, size of country against population etc etc, but I still think that a shutting of the borders would have helped the UK and 22 deaths against 40,000+ deaths cant be all down to people per square mile etc etc……………and as for all the science stuff which our BoJo clings onto, well, I would have added common sense into the melting pot, politicians seem to have a science degree in the lack of it!
LC, I can’t pretend to know whether your government got most or even some things right, but I know they’re job was much more difficult than that in NZ and even Oz.
I do agree a single decision by a national or state leader can be disastrous as that’s what has happened here in Oz.
I’m still a little sympathetic to those leaders as i’m not sure many had any real idea exactly how to handle things.
Terrible situation.
Geoff, I don’t want Messi 🙂
Damn, our wage bill is big enough already lol
Frieda went like a rocket the other day.
Thursday next week is her next start.
hope we hurry up and start selling players even if we don’t get what we want at least their off our books same with Auba tell him to sign now or sell him the only reason he has not resigned is he is hoping another club wants him
Sweeping statement Geoff, I don’t think anyone outside the club knows why Aubameyang’s new contract hasn’t yet been announced.
We’ve had a good old downpour for a few hours with a wicked storm. Still going strong. Lol
It’s brightening up here now, Rico.. Coco has finally calmed down now the thunder has stopped!
Did you see Mikel’s press conference?
Le Coq 😄
Here too Sue and Sky TV working again too. Our four legged ones don’t like the storms.. ☹️
I did, interesting I thought.
New post up now. Including bits from his press conference 😂
The player the Spuds are chasing…………………………….. 😆
Matt Doherty
@mattdoherty20
Yes I’m a HUGE Arsenal fan !
10:28 PM · Sep 2, 2013
Matt Doherty
@mattdoherty20
·30 Oct 2012
I love arsenal forever and ever and ever