Morning all.
There’s some Arsenal news to talk about so I thought I’d share it from Arsenal.com:
The squad will travel to Dubai where they will play two fixtures against top European opposition at the Al Maktoum Stadium:
- Thursday, December 8: Arsenal vs Lyon – 19:30 KO (local time)
- Tuesday 13 December: Arsenal vs AC Milan – 18:00 KO (local time)
Mikel Arteta will use the training camp and fixtures to bring our squad together in a warmer climate as part of preparations for the return of our Premier League campaign when we face West Ham United on Boxing Day.
Speaking about the upcoming camp, Mikel Arteta, said:
We’re looking forward to spending time together on the training pitch in a warmer climate. It’ll be a nice change of environment and a great opportunity for us to work hard and prepare for the second half of the season. Dubai is a fantastic place and the football facilities there are first-class. The Dubai Super Cup also gives us the opportunity to test ourselves against two strong sides in Lyon and AC Milan – it’ll be a great experience for the squad.
I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t envious, after all, who wouldn’t want a few eels in a warm country at this time of year when it’s dark, raining and pretty miserable here in the UK? I wouldn’t choose Dubai though. I think it’ll be great for the ‘second string’ to be playing competitive football because they need it. At this moment in time, we’ve no idea what might happen on the injury front in Qatar so those in reserve need to be match fit and ready to step in as and when needed. Marquinhos, Reiss Nelson, Fabio Vieira, Rob Holding, as well as a few other younger players, should really benefit from this time away.
Whilst all seems harmonious within the Arsenal camp, one can only smile at what’s going on at Man Utd. Player power is very much on show through Ronaldo who has publicly slated the club which many years ago, gave him his break. He’s no longer the star of the show and I get the feeling he doesn’t like it. Imagine how his team-mates feel right now. This is an Aubameyang and Ozil situation all over again but at a different club. There’s a big difference though as neither Arsenal player spoke to the media in the way Ronaldo has, they simply accepted their situation and moved on. I’m pretty sure Ronaldo will be moved on in January too, if not before.
It’s quite nice when things like this happen at other clubs instead of Arsenal but in my opinion, it’s a horrible thing for a player to do regardless of which club they play for. It’s unprofessional and I think, unacceptable too. Still I bet Piers Morgan is enjoying it.
I know I am….
Hi Rico, News is a bit thin on the ground and probably will be until late December, transfer rumours mate, it never fails… 😉
Hi Kev, I wasn’t going to bother but the fixtures were confirmed.
Feet up now. 😂
G’day Rico, Kev.
I can only agree with Ronaldo when he said “The Glazers were not interested in United as a football club, only as a source of income”.
It’s a similar situation to ours was when Silent Stan moved in. He knew very little about “soccer” but an awful lot about squeezing various sports clubs for the revenue they could produce. Only when Josh took over did the mood music change a bit.
One can’t help but enjoy the “schadenfreude” engendered by the conflict between United and their once upon a time star player.
Hi RIco
Strong rumours of Arsenal v Barcelona friendly at the Emirates on Saturday 17th December. Sounds like more fun than the WC.
Hi Cicero, Pete.
The Glazers have invested millions after millions, it’s just been spent badly I think. Like Arsenal, isn’t the club run by the board?
Hope these fixtures are televised Pete.
I doubt that they will be on the box because the media will be besotted with Qatar and the schedules are already full with the ladies games as well.
There is one Spanish website suggesting a match against Barcelona but I can’t see that El Mundo , Marca and AS have picked it up and there’s nothing on .com of course although I would be tempted to go were it at home.
Other than that it’s all quiet on the western front for the moment apart from the News Now regurgitation of triviality and rumour .
Just relax Rico, keep those feet up. 😉
I read that Qatar will spend in total aprox £250 billion on the tournament. Imagine what good could be done with that amount of money?
Heading to the Arsenal women game against Man Utd on Saturday with the family. Looking forward to it! The attendance will be well over 30k, which is pretty impressive.
£250b, that’s a nice sum, I wonder how much of it has ended up in the pockets of FIFA officials?
Hi Rico and all
Rico hope you enjoy your break.
It does not sound good for Brentford striker Ivan Toney now facing over 200 gambling breaches by fifia.
232 apparently Geoff, and that’s only the ones the F A know about. Obviously Toney is not the sharpest knife in the box if he thought he could get away with that many bets. He’ll probably get a couple of months ban, a fine and be given counselling.
Kev, whatever money ends up in the pockets of Fifa officials will be infinitely more than the poor sods who built the stadiums got.
Regarding Toney ,during the period in question he played for four clubs none of which were in the Premier League . 2 in league 1 and 2 in the Championship .
If the bets were all on games in the Premier then he probably has a case but that’s his only real defence . However I wonder how this can be proved without the information from the bookies as winning ones are retained by the bookie and losing punters tend to chuck the slip. There would be a record if he bet on line but I doubt that it would be how he bet exclusively.
The biggest problem for Toney or any player if found guilty of betting is not only the suspension / fine but will any club trust them in the future.
I like the comment by Shakhtar Donetsk’s owner who said if Man City paid £ 100 million for Grealish why should sell Mudryk for less.
I know that we are unlikely to meet that price but I agree with him about the principle of highlighting the stupidity of the transfer market.
The question I would ask is who else would have paid £100 million for Grealish. Over priced and over rated, in my opinion.
Totally agree but that’s the yardstick by which transfers to the Treasure island English league is measured.
Arsenal are 5 spending £100m on anyone, but if they did I’d rather they spent it on Bellingham.
Are 5 should read aren’t
If Grealish is worth that much, Odegaard and Sake must be worth twice that amount.
Arsenal under 21 v Stoke under 21 The game will be available free from 12.55pm via Arsenal.com for a 1pm kick-off.
Chance to see those that are coming through.
Dry world cup then I bet Budweiser are happy.
New post up.