Morning all.
After what I thought was a dismal England performance against Denmark last, Gareth Southgate has allegedly said that he’s missing Kalvin Phillips – or at least the role he played in midfield. I cannot believe that England doesn’t have a player like him in the top two leagues of English football. Trent, as every commentator likes to call him, just isn’t that guy is he? To single him out though would be wrong because not one England player played well. Saka, yes, Saka rather than Bukayo, tried, tried hard in fact but in all honesty, even he wasn’t at his usual level. I think it highlights just how good an understanding he and Ben White have at Arsenal. Declan Rice was off form too. I agree with what Shearer was saying about the team not playing as one but for me it was no surprise. The pre tournament performances weren’t good so to expect something to suddenly click a few days later, well, I didn’t. Denmark will be kicking themselves I’m sure as with better finishing, they’d have earned a deserved three points.
A draw in Englands final group game will be enough to get through to the knockout stages but should Slovenia beat England on Sunday and Denmark beat Serbia, Declan Rice, Bukayo Saka and Aaron Ramsdale will be off on their holidays. Great for Arsenal but rotten if one is a massive England fan.
Germany and Spain are already through to the knockout stages, The winner of France v Netherlands will be too. The rest of the groups still have two matches to play.
Anyway, enough of the Euros as according to claims in the Turkish media, Arsenal have tabled an offer for Fenerbahce left back Ferdi Kadıoğlu. It’s been rejected.
Also in the back pages, or rather the gossip pages is a story which Portuguese outlet Leonino started by claiming Viktor Gyokeres is very close to moving to Arsenal. Sources “close to the process” have confirmed that negotiations between Sporting and Arsenal are at an advanced stage.
The Athletic report that Arsenal and Chelsea hold an interest in 21-year-old Nico Williams who is currently on international duty with Spain. Apparently his release clause with Athletic Bilbao stands at €55m (£46.45m).
True or not? Who knows…
A couple of Arsenal players have suffered injuries whilst on international duty. William Saliba missed a training session with a muscle problem according to reports in France and Kieran Tierney was stretchered off with a suspected hamstring injury during Scotlands last game. Hopefully, his injury is nothing too serious as I’d imagine Arsenal are hoping to sell him this summer.
Lastly, The Daily Cannon report that The Emirates Cup could go ahead again this summer with two matches being played. The first game is set to take place on Wednesday, August 7th at 20:00 BST, with the second match on Sunday, August 11th at 16:00 BST. Rumours are that Bayer Leverkusen and Lyon could be the two opponents. (Arsenal Fixture News)
I’m surprised Arsenal are going to squeeze a couple of additional friendly fixtures in between the Liverpool game on the 1st August and the start of the season just a couple of weeks later but I guess they’ll be about getting every player fitter and better prepared for the ten month ahead. Hopefully the substitute options will be unlimited as far as numbers go and by then, any new signings the club are hoping to make, will have been made.
In roughly five weeks time, Arsenal will be in the USA playing Man Utd….
Catch up later..
Good afternoon Rico and all
I enjoyed reading your post
England drew while Italy lost. It wasnt that surprising with regards Italy but I surely expected a lot better from England.
Italy were pragmatic. They were facing Spain who are possibly the favourites to win the Euro. And true to form Spain demolished Italy with regards possession, shots on/off target, corners, throw ins, you name it and Spain did it. Italy could not hope to take the game to the Spanish….they simply dont have the players to do that, although they played as a team. It was rather unfortunate that it was an own goal by by Calafiori who seemed to slip when the ball came towards him from a low cross. However, for all their possession and movement off the ball which at various times seemed like a blur, Spain dont have finishers who can finish. If they meet someone who is patient, defends pragmatically and creates opening when in possession plus a good finisher, Spain will be out.
What you said about England is good observation Rico. With regards Saka I dont think he can play more than around 50 minutes per match at the moment. He is knackered and if you and I know it from just watching the game then Southgate should surely realise that from close range. I bet that GS does not see past his nose with regards tactics, creativity and mental/physical fitness/conditioning of players.
The difference between Southgate and coaches like Arteta, Guardiola and Wenger is that Southgate does a job whereas A,G,W are the job they breathe. Give the present team to AW and for all his advanced age I can surely say that he will get them playing a lot better than the present incumbent. There is nothing wrong with Trent in midfield…..he does what he is told to do. There is nothing wrong with anyone, they perform where they are placed to do so and they do as they train. I dont blame players at all….with the exception of Kane who I loathe with a passion. (bdw I used to feel that way towards Van Nistelroy, Neville bros, Sheringham) Then again I am all about movement so a static player doesnt impress me at all.
with regards Gyokeres I dont mind him although I preferred Sesko for various reasons such as age, techcnical ability, speed and movement. However, Gyokeres, although he is two inches shorter than Sesko is built more physically than Sesko. I did not see much of Gyokeres playing but he is alreay used to England having played for Coventry when younger.
Calum hudson odoi has also been mentioned. but is he an upgrade on Nelson? Will he push Saka, MArtinelli and Trossard to be better or could he take their place?? I havent seen him play so cant judge but I am sure that some of you have.
Afternoon Devil.
We were talking about this a week or so ago, England haven’t been as good as they might be for a while. Last night they were possibly the worst this year. I don’t think they deserve to get past the group stage but will probably fluke it.
The thing with Sesko is he’s possibly the wrong age. What I think we need is players for today rather than 2/3/4 years time because we have the academy for that. To win the league we need players who’ll come in and make the squad much stronger and deeper than it is now rather than in a few years time.
Yes you’re right Rico. Infact with regards Sesko I was going to add do we wait for Sesko and buy him in a year’s time, or January 2026, and in the meantime buy a winger and rotate Haverts from within and what we already have??? Or do we buy now a proper CF???
With a new CF where does that leave Havertz who is a good foil for those around him but not a natural finisher??? But if Haverts stays on as a CF and we dont buy it means that for Biereth and Chido Obi the path is clear and can state their claim to be Kai’s understudy and learn.
Either way we suffer. Gyokeres is 25/26 years so he is experienced. He is strong and has a good technical level. But if we buy him it means that Biereth and Chido obi will have to leave.
If we dont buy (Gyokeres has a Eur100 million release clause) we can invest the money in a midfielder and a winger who can come in and hit the ground running. Because even if we sell there is only an amount which we can spend
Morning Rico and all.
I am not surprised to hear that Tierney is injured again, considering all his injuries we could struggle to give him away let alone sell him.
The rumers in oz is that Sesko will join us next season as this will give another year to muture and more games under his belt.
Trouble is you can’t guarantee that Hale End will produce the one you want.Look at England playing a right back on the left because most of the specialist left backs in the Prem are either plodders or not English.
It may well be that Hale End seems to be good at producing wingers and attacking midfielders but if Nketiah and Biereth are the standard then maybe we need to buy until the 16 and 17 year olds come through.
The English players are good Rico. Its the management which is not up to the standard required.
As I said above…Trent is good and he can make a good DM. Its what he is asked to do in training and what he is required to do in matches which is making the team dysfunctional. Saka is one of the best players in the league we know that…..but with White behind him not Walker. Plus his 22 year old body is knackered and cannot withstand more than 55 minutes at the maximum after a long gruelling season. players hailing from City and Arsenal have their forwards beginning to defend from the front, but does Kane do that?? Foden can play anywhere in advanced midfield positions for City, but he doesnt cut it for England although to be fair he was better yesterday than against Serbia.
For England you have got very good players Rico, a very solid team, but with lack of imagination and professionalism in the management level.
Potter, Saka was given his chance, slowly but surely, and he took it.
Why cant Arteta give Obi a chance? Yes AW said that you pay with points for introducing youngsters to the team but we can only know if Obi/Biereth are given a chance. Gyokeres was with Coventry in the 2nd tier. He didnt set any houses on fire. Went to Sporting and suddenly he is worth Eur100million. And at that money we are looking at him now.
I dont think that Chido and Biereth can be of lower level than Nketiah.
We are all raving about Musiala. Yet he was with Chelsea and had his childhood in England. Then Cameron and Farage put a spoke in the wheel and one of the reasons why Musiala and his family went to Germany was because of Brexit. Bayern gave him his chance and he got it. Chido obi interests BM and if he goes there (like Gnabry did via another club) they get a world beater. But we dont give them a chance.
If Saka got it and worked at it and made it I guess Chido Obi can and will save Arsenal millions
By then though Devil, Arteta could be gone and a new guy has a totally different approach to the game.
Hi Geoff, if true then so be it much much can change in a year..
True re our academy players Potter, the next big youngster just never seems to land in the first team squad let alone on the pitch.
Devil, I and many others have been writing that about Southgate etc for years which is exactly why I asked you about watching them a week or so ago. Great players who just lack personality and direction on the pitch.
yes you’re right Rico. but its something we’ll never know unless they are given a chance.
I saw an interview with the divine ponytail Manu’ in which he commented about Rice, whilst he is a very good player for Arsenal played well below par for England and during the game he was seen dropping deeper than usual to collect the ball. Petit remarked that Rice is a victim to structure and tactics…that shows that the players are very good players…..its what happens in training and in in the team talk.
The players you have Rico have good personality. But they do what they are told. Unlike the generation of Rooney, Gerard, Lampard, Beckham etc who were just big egos but were found wanting, the present generation are good. Just ask their managers……they perform for their own clubs and for their own manager.
Its just that the present incumbent does not have a clue on how to get the best out of them. no imagination, stifling tactics, reactive rather than proactive movement, and favouritism. As someone here pointed out….another manager would have hauled of Kane long before the beginning of the Euros. The team plays for Kane but does Kane play for the team??
Absolutely Devil, again, that’s been said many times on here. But I think Arteta believes it’s too risky at a time when he’s desperately trying to win the league. What I believe has hampered young players is his reluctance to play them in the domestic cups and/or in games when we’ve got a good lead. But then if they’re not in the squad they cannot get onto the pitch.
This season, unless Mika is sold, he really needs to be getting minutes from the bench at least imo
Not in an England shirt they don’t Devil. They go into a different mindset I’m sure. They’re negative, and that comes from Southgate.
Zinchenko has just laid on a peach of a pass, from the left wing, for a Ukraine equaliser. If he stuck to the left for us I would be less keen on selling him.
i have been saying that about Zinchenko for months now Cicero. Stick him on the left wing and just buy another Left back. and invest in a top midfielder and the rest of the money on better options from the bench.
Professor Wenger is at the game.
In an interview published today, Kane has admitted that he doesn’t know how to play the pressing game. As an instance of stating the bleeding obvious this has some somewhat late in his career.
I don’t agree D G, we have a perfectly good left winger in Martinelli and if Zinchenko held his position and supported him rather than wandering all over the pitch we would need neither a new fullback or another winger.
what sublime and superb goal from Yaremchuk.
His first touch was sublime and the 2nd was perfect.
Simple yet sublime
Who is to blame though Cicero? Whisper it but it’s Arteta.
Zinchenko wanders around the pitch and inverts into midfield because he is told to do that during training Cicero. Rico pointed it out as well.
Zinchenko’s defending for the Slovakia goal wasn’t good though.. Is he a midfielder or left back? The former imo..
Cozier-Duberry is reported to be leaving…
The problem when playing for Arsenal is that when Zinchenko goes wandering into midfield somebody has to cover for him I’m defence. That cover is too often provided by Declan Rice, midfielder of a class Zinchenko can only dream of equalling. If he does it because Arteta wants him to then it could have something to do with him being an Arteta signing. Hopefully Timber will have recovered fully from his ACL injury and regularly can start at fullback and relieve Rice of duties in defence.
Kiwior to start for Poland in a back three in front of Sczesny against Austria.
Plus his wandering drags Gabriel out of position.
Talking of Kiwior, not only is he a centre and left back, he’s a CDM too. We might be missing a trick with him. I emphasise the might bit…
One can understand why Amario Cozier-Duberry decided to change his mind in the last 24 hours and leave .
Nico Williams was the buzz player and Cozier-Duberry is in the building he can see that Arsenal have Martinelli, Trossard, Jesus and Saka and they are going after a Top class world talent winger/forward .
So if he doubted his ability and the agent is in his ear saying ” more money and people want you over here he will surely choose to go.
I hope he does have a great career .
It’s the right decision if he think it is , if his heart didnt believe and he actually didn’t trust himself to break into the Arsenal squad then its good he leaves .
I don’t blame youngsters for leaving either, especially if they feel chances might come elsewhere because I think their chances at Arsenal simply aren’t going to come anytime soon. If Nelson, Nketiah and ESR get little time, they have no chance imo.
Zinchenko will always be underappreciated by gooners. What he does well is so consistently good that he’s taken for granted. Inverting into midfield and providing excellent progressive passing through the lines is one of the reasons we were so dominant in 2023 .. to the point where we could have won the league if Saliba had stayed fit, and as it is, we came in a strong second to City, well above the rest of the league.
Zinchenkos statistics are there to show how good he is, but some people only care about goal and assist numbers, and ignore the build up, which is what really sets teams apart.
Great build up play doesn’t make any media highlights, and fans just focus on goals. Inverted fullbacks will never have the final ball stats that excite fans. We have to look deeper for his influence.
Zinchenko could be one of the best midfielders in most leagues, and I’d give him a more Xhaka type role if he stays at Arsenal, as I think Timber will do great things inverting from LB.
Timber will give us another ball carrier along with Rice to break lines and pull defenders and mid blocks out of shape. That was the plan when he was bought… I think.
I don’t think anyone neglects to see what Zinchenko does in an attacking sense but as a left back, all the good he does going forwards can be undone by neglecting his defensive duties. As a left back, he’s average, as a midfielder, he’s much better.
Look at today for his country. Great assist for their winner, terrible when defending for Slovakia’s goal.
That is why I prefer not to buy a winger and play him there with Trossard, Martinelli and Saka.
with regards Kadioglu I have never seen him play so cant comment
Quinten Timber and Jurrien are training with Sam Wilson the Arsenal fitness coach in Spain .
Have Feyenoord given Quinten permission to train with a coach / Trainer from another organization?
Have Arsenal let Sam Wilson do freelance work in the off season with professional players from other teams ?
Or is Quinten in the process of proven his fitness to Arsenal after his injury?
Or are we signing Quinten Timber?
Zirkzee on the Dutch bench tonight, we might get to see what he’s like.
Saliba playing on the left of a back three and drawing compliments from the commentator, looking cool calm collected .
He is cool calm and collected 🤣
A bit of a soft spot for eh Rico? 😉
Correction, “For him”
Good night all. 😴
Morning Rico, yes it is morning and I’ll be going to bed soon.
That was an absolutely wonderful post and I’m not joking. 😉
Nobody calls Smith Rowe by his Christian name (can I still say that or will the Thought Police come a knocking?) but from now on, to me it’s gotta be Emile, no more of this ESR nonsense.
What about Ward-Prowse, nobody calls him James or even Jim or Jimmy, it’s just not fair.
I think you need to be named after a river, so if you’re called something like Avon Robertson-Smythe or say Fleet Armstrong-Whitworth then everyone will just call you Avon or Fleet.
I like any of Emile, Smith Rowe , ESR, or The Smith…. I don’t like Croyden Debruyne…. I’m sure there’s more.
Just giving a different view, is Zinchenko wondering out of position or is he getting confused bye being asked to play in seval positions, the problem is we don’t know Arteta’s instruction are.
The one thing, I never can understand is why managers ( all clubs ) buy a player who is say a left back but always play them as a right winger
Tierney, sorry Kieran! Is out of the Euros and heading home following his hamstring injury. He’ll return to Arsenal for treatment and rehab.
Both West Ham and Brentford have expressed interest in signing Reiss (Nelson).
I think he dropped the Emile bit because when he played abroad the commentator pronounced his name Emilie and the abuse he took from his English teammates was quite considerable.
My point about names is that pundits all have their favourites and it’s they who are usually referred to by their first name but when it comes to the others, like Bukayo and Declan, it’s Saka and Rice. It’s always ‘Harry’ seldom Kane..
Petty I know but so typical of our awful pundits, at least many of them…
Cicero, re Saliba, just a little. 😜
Names might be hard for some pundits to pronounce Rico, I remember one such who referred to a certain Arsenal legend as Terry ‘enry. 😉. Declan may be easy enough, but Bukayo may be a bridge to far.
Kane isn’t though Cicero, or Alexander-Arnold 😜
Two syllables and a hyphen? Too much to remember. 😀
😂
The English VAR strikes again….this time on the international stage.
Some things never change.
https://talksport.com/football/1932059/netherlands-xavi-simons-taylor-attwell-var-france/?utm_medium=Social&utm_campaign=talksportfacebook&utm_source=Facebook#Echobox=1719005013
I thought it was offside, the Dutch player was stood right in front of the keeper as the shot was on its way past him.
Arthur Okonkwo has been snapped up by Wrexham – no surprise.
So, Arthur has gone to Wrexham, I guess we’ll get a development fee.
Thames Armstrong-Jones looks an interesting player…
Looks as if Amario is going to leave…
The grass isn’t always greener.
Yep, that one came out yesterday, shame but understandable really.
Please delete it Rico. It popped up on the news feed and I didn’t notice the date. 😅😅😅 Silly me
No problem Devil.
Do we get a fee though Kev if he wasn’t offered a new contract? I read that the other day in relation to Hein and the other two young out of contract players were trying to get to stay.
I don’t think we will get a fee for OkonkwobRico, because he is 22 now. If he was Under 21 then yes
That’s what I thought Devil.
I thought Hein had agreed to stay and resign, which put more pressure on Ramsdale to look for a new club.
I don’t blaim the younger players for not sticking around, as it looks like Arteta will not give them any senior game time.
Maybe JM could help us on the subject of Gyokeres . He plays for Sporting Lisbon but how many of his goals have come against Porto or Benfica as opposed to the teams at the bottom
Good morning everyone
Maybe this can be of help to you with regards Gyokeres’ stats and all the games he played and in which he scored.
ooopssss forgot to put the link
https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/viktor-gyokeres/leistungsdaten/spieler/325443
Gyokeres, states look good not only his goals or assists but he scored 8 penalties 6 yellow cards and 1 red card but as Potter said we need someone like JM who may have seen him play.
Stats on their own are irrelevant without the context to which they refer.
Someone mention stats?
😂
New post up.
Red rag to a bull, Rico.😊