Morning all.
The second World Cup semifinal was decided last night as England beat Norway and Argentina defeated Switzerland. For those of us old enough to remember the “hand of god” match, I hope Lady Luck is with England on Wednesday night. Why Declan Rice started last night I just don’t know because it was clear he wasn’t firing on all cylinders.
The only Arsenal players left in the tournament are Declan Rice, Bukayo Saka, Ebe Eze, Noni Madueke, William Saliba, Martin Zubimendi, David Raya and Mikel Merino. Barring Rice and Saliba, the rest have been used sparingly or not at all by their respective international managers.
The signing of Illan Meslier has similarities to when Arsenal brought Aaron Ramsdale to the club. Mr “I get clubs relegated” goalkeeper was the butt of many jokes as fans and media alike couldn’t believe the Englishman was potentially going to be Arsenal’s number one. Arsenal had sold a great keeper to Aston Villa the previous summer in Emi Martinez and I don’t think I’d have been the only one at the time to think Arsenal had made a huge mistake.
The goalkeeping situation at Arsenal had become a bit of a joke really as it seemed like we couldn’t get through a summer transfer window without signing at least one. We’re still doing it now. I’ve lost count of how many keepers we’ve bought and sold since 2019. As for Ramsdale, he turned out to be pretty good didn’t and he saved our skin on a number of occasions with a catalogue of wonderful saves. But, something about his game was clearly not quite right in Mikel Arteta’s eyes, or Inka Cana’s as in the summer of 2023, David Raya joined us on loan, another bonkers decision I thought, however, I could not have been more wrong. Ramsdale soon found himself on the bench for Premier League fixtures and the following summer he was gone. David Raya’s deal was made permanent and the rest as they say, is history.
I can recall watching a number of Leeds games when Meslier pulled off a few fantastic saves. I think that was the 2020/21 season when Meslier had joined on loan in the summer. Crysencio Summerville joined Leeds too.
The moral of this story is, Ramsdale turned out to be far from the liability keeper folk thought he would be. Meslier might not be too. A new club, different coaches and who knows but I’d rather be glass half full than half empty. The same goes for any player who we sign this summer.
Look on the bright side, he’s never been in a Chelsea or Man City squad….
Catch up in the comments.
There’s a new post up.
Afternoon Kev, Limey.
That’s good to hear Kev. Work I mean, not Alvarez. 😜
I see that Man Utd are close to signing Youri Tielemans for around £36m – seems cheap but no doubt wages and agent fees will be huge. Also Aston Villa are due to hijack the Newcastle move for the Swiss midfielder,so the whole thing could affect Arsenal.
Afternoon Gooners, afternoon Rico, yes, I will miss the Wimbledon tennis as well but mainly because to draws a lot of cabbies to SW19 meaning less competition for me in central London. 😉
Julian Alvarez to Arsenal is back in favour among the rumourmongers, apparently both Real and Barca have lost interest. Yes, of course they have…
Newcastle and Villa it seems are still adamant that they won’t be selling to Arsenal, so no surprises there then.
Arsenal U21’s are playing at Borehamwood this Friday, 7pm kick-off in case anyone is interested, I might have a ride around the M25 to check it out, so watch this space. 😀
Incredible weather, not great for the players though.
Something of record for Wimbledon, not a minute playing time lost to rain. 😎
Ha ha Cicero, and now it’s all over. I always feel a bit flat when Wimbledon ends. A great fortnight of tennis.
No Rico, most of yesterday’s telly time was taken up by two blokes bashing a ball over a net in front of a crowd of the posh and ex
C lister celebs. 😉
Good morning Cicero, all.
That kind of makes sense I suppose considering the test match players have been trying to play the short game over five days which really doesn’t work. I think there needs to be a clear divide between the two approaches.
Did you see Jos Buttlers swashbuckling innings against India? Incredible hitting.
Good morning Rico.
McCullum has only been sacked from the test job. He will remain coach of the crash, bang, wallop white ball teams. So will hang around like a fart in a phone box. 😟
Brendon McCullum has been sacked. Thank goodness for that.
Oh, ok, not listened to her before.
It was I think Vicky Sparks on 5live
She won Strictly last year Kev, I believe she competed to get over the abuse she’d been receiving in the media.
I liked both interviews Kev.
She was very good Rico
Well, I thought that Tuchel was smart in criticising the team Rico and expecting much more from the players, so that they don’t get carried away or the media. We have two more (hopefully) massive games so we can’t celebrate too much yet.
i thought that Norway came closer to knocking us out more than any other team this tournament, there was a lot of poor passing and poor execution during phases of play and if we do that against the Argies it’s adios Americana.
That’ll be Karen Carney Kev. She gets a lot of stick because she doesn’t speak with a plum in her mouth. She’s a Brummie through and through. A proud one too and rightly so.
Absolutely Kev, I’m sure there are a lot of players with his ethics but that doesn’t suit the media agenda. Look at the headlines following Englands win last night, they all have a negative twist to them..
I was listening to the Spain vs Belgium game on the radio a couple of days ago and the BBC commentator, a woman and an Arsenal fan I believe and very good at commentary so she didn’t get the gig for ticking some boxes, she made me chuckle after Merino scored the winner for Spain because she kept on repeating ‘the Arsenal man’ this and ‘the Arsenal man’ that, which I expect upset a few haters out there. Yeah, keep on rubbing their fecking noses in it, we’re the champions… 😉
I didn’t see that on any of my feeds Rico, it was most probably ignored as it was far too Arsenalcentric and we can’t have that, but once again Declan Rice strikes the right note he is truly a quality person as well as a quality footballer, the sort you’d love to meet and just have a chat with.
Morning Cicero, couldn’t agree more.
What a guy Dec is though, so decent and thoughtful.
Good morning Rico and all.
Declan’s actions at full time demonstrate the togetherness of this Arsenal squad, they are like one big family.
Long may this unity continue.
Declan Rice on Twitter.
“When the final whistle went, everything else the score, the rivalry, the countries we represented just faded away. All I could see was my brother standing there with heartbreak in his eyes, and in that moment, my heart broke too.”
“We’ve been through so much together at Arsenal. We’ve suffered after painful defeats, celebrated unforgettable victories, and pushed each other to become better every single day. He’s more than my captain—he’s someone I truly look up to. Tonight we wore different shirts, but that will never change what we have.”
“I ran straight to him because I wanted him to know he wasn’t alone. I wanted him to feel that hug and know how much I care about him.”
“Football can be incredibly cruel, but some bonds are stronger than any result. I’m proud of him—not just as a footballer, but as a leader, a fighter, and an incredible person. Before long, we’ll be back at the Emirates, standing side by side again and chasing our dreams together.”
“Norway until the end for him. England until the end for me. But Arsenal… Arsenal is forever. I love you, Captain. ❤️🤍“
Just for you Potter
Arsène Wenger:
“Gerard Houllier’s thoughts echo mine; he thinks what the national coaches are doing is like taking a car from our garage without even asking permission.”
— “They will then use the car for 10 days and abandon it in a field without any petrol left in the tank.”
— “We then have to recover it, but it is broken down. Then a month later they will come to take your car again, and for good measure you’re expected to be nice about it.”