Morning all.
International breaks are tough, boring and oh so quiet. Honestly, I’m not overly interested in England these days. I’ve tried but they’re so, well, boring. I read something yesterday about Gareth Southgate and how the numbers have reduced as far as his options go. What a load of tosh! If he could see beyond his favourites, perhaps a new and exciting England team could be born but no, he can’t even see that Ben White and Bukayo Saka are a great partnership. If England fans want to see entertaining football then in my opinion, Southgate isn’t the man to deliver it.
Good to see Emile Smith-Rowe get on the scoresheet for the under 21 team yesterday. Hopefully he’ll gain a lot of confidence from that and bring it back to Arsenal. Not so good to see Martin Odegaard battered by Man City’s Rodri though. Horrid challenge which could have broken his leg.
Was this not a deliberate tackle from Rodri on Odegaard? pic.twitter.com/9OscE3G2GS
— Gooner by blood (@Gooner_By_Blood) March 26, 2023
Thankfully, our captain is made of sterner stuff and he was able to play on but I bet he’s sore this morning. He’s another game to play yet.
Flo Balogun is causing a bit of a stir in the game because he can choose which country he represents. USA, England or Nigeria. So far, he’s turned out for England at lower age groups but now he’s enjoying a really good season on loan at Reims, I guess all three countries will hope he opts for them. If I was him, I wouldn’t be too hasty making my decision just yet as my focus would be on Arsenal and proving to Mikel Arteta that he can be his number one striker. He’s the second highest goal scorer in Ligue 1 right now, just two behind M’bappe and Jonathan David and he’s not long signed a new contract at Arsenal so life for him is looking pretty good right now. Sell him? Not in my opinion, not until he’s at least had an opportunity to prove this current spell isn’t a fluke.
I actually watched some football yesterday and it was enjoyable. Arsenal’s ladies battered Totts 5-1 away from home and on a pitch more suited to Sunday morning football. Today, Man City and Chelsea go head to head and a City win would certainly help Arsenal. It’s a four way race at the moment between Chelsea, both Manchester clubs and ourselves.
England take on Ukraine later today so fingers crossed Oleksandr Zinchenko has told his fellow countrymen to go easy on Bukayo Saka and if he plays, Aaron Ramsdale. Jorginho and Italy play Malta.
Catch up in the comments..
It did look to be motivated , a proper clearing out and I am surprised that as he got nowhere near the ball a red card and penalty wasn’t given . Still we have to ask whether VAR was being used and if so who was running it. /
The fact that he played on is a hopeful sign but next Tuesday he is away to Georgia and we will have to wait to see if firstly he plays and secondly if he looks fully fit.
Balogun needs to have a chat about whether ditching England will affect his home grown status as he will be 22 when the next season starts. It should be a pointer about whether he intends to stay.
It looked awful. Didn’t see it live but like you, amazed it went unpunished.
Balogun would be considered home grown anyway wouldn’t he because he’s been at Arsenal for so long and from such a young age.
No apparently they have changed the rules for next season
https://www.football.london/arsenal-fc/news/balogun-arsenal-transfer-decision-guaranteed-26180733
Thanks, I didn’t realise.
But doesn’t that simply mean he’ll be a non under 21 homegrown but still homegrown.
So Saka and Zinchenko got the full 90 plus minutes but thankfully no obvious injuries . This follows Southgate giving our kid 5 minutes off on Tuesday but at least Kane got a bit of a rest.
Nice centre and nice goal too unfortunately just like at the Arsenal , England can’t do without him either.
Now we are held in limbo until the rest of this potential international injury fest is over and we can get back to real football
Like I said earlier, if Southgate had a bit more imagination, he’d have more options from the bench so the likes of Saka can get a rest. Still, I’m sure someone somewhere is happy that our players are getting a lot of time on the pitch..
How long before Real or Barca come snuffling around Saka and Martinelli??
Conte gone by “mutual consent”. Conte’s assistant Stellini will take over until the end of the season with Ryan Mason as deputy.
Soon I suspect Wavy if they’ve not already but I doubt they’ll be interested. Spanish football isn’t what it once was imo.
New post up now