Morning all.
Twelve players from the first team squad are now away with their respective countries as international football occupies the next two weeks.
Jurrien Timber is back with Netherlands having missed the Euros and most of Arsenal’s season. Ronald Koeman’s team will face Bosnia and Herzegovina and Germany. He could be up against Kai Havertz in that match with Germany’s other fixture being against Hungary.
A new England, well, a new England manager has called up Declan Rice and Bukayo Saka for fixtures against the Republic of Ireland and Finland. Not too much travelling for our two players this time around.
David Raya and his Euros winning teammates will face Italy and Switzerland and our keeper is likely to play as Simon is injured. William Saliba and France will play Italy and Belgium. Leandro Trossard has been left out of the Belgian squad this time which is good for Arsenal although disappointing for him. As well as facing France, Riccardo Calafiori and Italy will play Isreal.
Having missed out on the Euros after Norway failed to qualify, Martin Odegaard will be back in action against Kazakstan and Austria, while Jakub Kiwior’s Poland take on Scotland and Croatia. Ukraine, including Oleksandr Zinchenko face Albania and Czech Republic,
Meanwhile, Brazil have two 2026 World Cup qualifying fixtures to play against Ecuador and Paraguay which Gabriel could feature in and in Africa, the ACON qualifying fixtures take place with Thomas Partey and Ghana Angola and Niger. Hopefully our midfielder will return to Arsenal as fit as he left but with his frail body, it’s anyone’s guess but the last thing we need is him being ruled out for the NLD.
Rumour has it that Mikel Merino is set to miss two months of football after picking up a shoulder injury in training. Four weeks of that time frame will be international football but he’ll still miss a chunk of our season, including our opening Champions League fixtures.
Mikel Arteta has options in midfield for the trip across north London. New signing Riccardo Calafiori is one, Jakub Kiwior is another as is Ben White but as long as Partey returns from international duty fit and healthy, I think he and Jorginho will start.
Back at Arsenal, the rest of the players have been training, including new signings Neto and Raheem Sterling. I’m looking forward to seeing what Sterling will bring to the team, after all, he’s Arsenal player for the next ten months so I want him to do well. Same with Neto who could start the domestic cup fixtures. Not having managed to sign a third choice keeper this summer, Tommy Setford or Alexei Rojas are likely to fill the role although it’s Setford listed on the Premier League website.
Other younger players on that list are Ethan Nwaneri 17yr, Salah Oulad M’hand 21yr and Myles Lewis-Skelly 17yr.
Nwaneri and Lewis-Skelly have been talked about this summer as both featured in our preseason fixtures but M’hand has kind of gone under the radar. The midfielder played against Bournemouth and Man Utd but missed out on the remainder of the friendly fixtures. Like Nwaneri and Lewis-Skelly, he’s listed as an academy player on Arsenal.com but all three are included in Arsenal’s squad on the Premier League website so we might just see him make an appearance or two depending on injuries and our domestic cup run. Starting with Bolton in the League Cup.
Catch up in the comments.
My biggest fear is injuries as far as these international breaks are concerned, especially when they are meaningless friendlies. Lets hold thumbs that our boys all return unscathed. We can ill afford any more injury setbacks.
I think we all share that worry. We have enough already.
Foden,Palmer and Watkins(sounds like Solicitors) all withdraw from England. Wouldn’t be surprised if they all play for their clubs as soon as the Premier league is back.
For sure they will, we should be smarter with our players.
And so it always has been Limey , It really shows that the players are not that bothered by the international game like most Premier League supporters.
Neto however is cup tied for the Carabao cup , so that one smacks of a panic buy .
Morning Rico and all,
I can’t stand any interanational matches or friendly matches during the season
Cranky Geoff
I’d forgotten that re Neto..
He certainly wasn’t linked to us before he suddenly moved so yep, I reckon a panic signing too. Shouldn’t have left our wheeling and dealing so late..
Maybe after being stitched up by the PGMOL/PL/FA gangsters, our own Declan Rice should probably withdraw, he won’t, but he should.
In fact Saka should withdraw in sympathy as well.
Kev maybe Rice and Saka play but score an own goal as a protest and the worst case is they get picked again to play for England
Rico are you joining the dark side with me and saying Edu and co are too slow when negotiating deals.😁
Still not sure if Edu got Sterling because Arteta wanted him or was it a panic buy
I’d love to see more of our players withdraw from international duty.
This summer, yes Geoff, they’ve been slow and reactive rather than proactive imo.
I said a few days ago that PSR was causing problems with all clubs balance sheets and ours were no different . We were in negotiation with Sociedad and Espanyol but could only get one over the line until Nketiah , Nelson and Ramsdale were settled. ESR went and Merino was able to come but the move for Garcia was compressed into too short a time to get a conclusion. I believe that it was almost tactical for other clubs to delay the deals to prevent us from concluding the ones that we wanted.
We got Sterling on the back of Chelsea needing to reduce their overheads . Had we got Sesko quite possibly the window and the current squad would now look considerably different.
If you check the figures you’ll find that our player sales in the summer window were £100 milion, while our purchases were, wait for it, £100 million. Coincidence? No good financial sense where P S R is concerned.
Leicester City have avoided any sanction by The Premiership over their alleged breach of P S R last season on a technicality around the date on which their accounts were published.
If the Premiership legal eagles couldn’t out wit the Leicester City board, I can’t see them getting much luck against the might of the Etihad lawyers over City”s 100 odd offenses.
I still feel that we could have moved on some bench player quicker if we excepted a smaller amount for them, while some of the players that went out on loan with the option to buy could come back at the end of the season having failed at there loan clubs, then we are in the same boat as now trying to move on players that no one realy want’s
I don’t think Party helped by one minute leaving the next thing is he is staying and not to mention Tierney
Geoff I get what you’re saying about sales but Edu can’t catch a break can he?
If he sells quicker and cheaper we’re told by all and sundry that we’re terrible at sales – and if he sticks to his guns and the value of the player and gets a realistic fee but later in the window he’s told ‘we’re terrible at sales’…
I honestly think that overall, that Edu had a good window, he didn’t panic and buy some big time bum on inflated wages who we wouldn’t be able to shift he targeted certain players and got some but didn’t get them all. I’m sure if we could have got Sesko, Garcia and Williams the money would have been found and we wouldn’t have signed Sterling and Neto, but those two are very much in the Jorginho and Trossard category and we’ve done ok there and not wasted a load of dough.
Btw your Baggy Greens are over here soon, they might even be here now, with 3 T20’s and 5 ODI’s up to the end of the month. Should be a very good match up…
Between now and the end of the year England will be playing
6 Tests, (Pakistan(a) New Zealand(a)
8 ODI’s and
8 T20’s…
They move a month off and then they’re off to The Jewel in the Crown,
India for 5 T20’s and 3 ODI’s…
They have a month off
Kev I agree it’s hard for Edu ect but it does not help when other clubs see Arteta does not want to play certain players all season, and then wants top dollar for them, I think we were lucky to get a good fee for ESR
Good morning Rico and all
The minute I saw that LEicester won the appeal against the EPL, was the moment I realized that City will be laughing all the way now. Because City will take it to court and win hands down.
Great win for Arsenal Women in last night’s Champions League qualifier against Rangers, 6 – 0 with Caitlin Foord getting four of them. 🔔🔔🔔🔔🔔🔔
Devil, there is a significant difference between Leicester and city, Leicester got off due to the fact they were dropped to first division during the time frame. So, the rules are slightly different.
Geoff, if what you say about Arteta deliberately not playing certain players and I guess devaluing them is true, then Edu did an even better job getting the fees he did for the players we sold…
Devil, I’m under no illusions about the case against Man City, the Premier League didn’t want it but the revelations of a German publication forced their hand as well as the spectre of the UK government creating a watchdog over the PL’s affairs. The whole thing stinks to me and whilst I don’t want government interference I kinda think it’s needed because of the whiff of corruption surrounding our sport.
I wonder if the situation at Sutton United is the thin end of the wedge and that over time this could damage the credibility of a nascent woman’s game in the UK..?
Morning Devil, all.
Brilliant result for the women, fingers crossed for the next game.
With transfers, I think it’s hard to view Arsenal’s summer until the end of the season. Plus, none of us truly know what the clubs finances look like. Let’s not forget that it wasn’t that long ago we took huge hits on Ozil and Aubameyang as well as Lacazette leaving for free.
I think the biggest mistake Edu made was telling us by the end of the window we wouldn’t be left feeling disappointed because now I do.
Are you referring to the transgender keeper Kev?
Probably he was , I was reading the other day about the flying bats in Australia cleaning up their league apparently fielding 5 transgender players .
Perhaps Geoff could give us a true picture.
Rico did you see my E-Mail ?
No place for transgender women in women’s sport imo.
I hadn’t Potter, I’ll check now..
Potter, the ladies’ teams don’t get much of a mention in Australia other than the world cup, however my understanding is the Flying Bats are a grassroots team and under the human rights laws, they are allowed to have transgender players.
Yes I was Rico and after seeing swimming become a farce and boxing I kinda thought that football would be the next in the crosshairs of political activists…
For me ‘women’ who were born as men but who want to identify as women and who want to compete in women’s sport, regardless of surgery or not, will only degrade the standing of women’s sports.
There are physiological reasons why women don’t compete with men and to anyone with a semblance of common sense those reasons are laudable.
But there is a strand existing in our culture who just delight in destroying everything they touch, for some pathological reason many of them are leftists and they have far too much influence because those in charge have been found to ultimately be cowards.
I’m with you Kev. I don’t care what anyone says, women who were born as me are stronger.
Also, the Sutton keep is 6 feet tall yet most other women keepers are shorter so that’s one advantage.
It’s politically driven Rico by people who spend their entirety spoiling other people’s lives, women’s football has been doing fine and doesn’t need this culture war BS affecting its credit ability…
But again I maintain the problem is mainly with those who lead these organisations and who lack the moral fibre to tell the troublemakers to jog on…
Agree again Kev.
For info, Mary Earps who is considered one of the games better keepers is just 5’ 8”
Also Kev, it’s not just in football and in sport, it’s the world. The world has gone crazy. Even my dog says she’s a cat… 😜
As long as she doesn’t say she’s trans 😉
🤣🤣
The greatest tournament in sport is the Olympics, yet the governing body of that organisation has done more damage to women’s sport than other in history. By stating that they judge who can compete in women’s competitions by the sex stipulate in a person’s passport. I’ve no doubt that there are genuine athletes that have transitioned for completely honest reasons, but I also have no doubt that there are many that are doing it solely for the chance to win in competitions they were not good enough to compete in as men.
As far as I’m concerned someone born with male chromosomes is male and under no circumstances should be able to compete as a female.
Rico, about a month ago there was a report that a primary school had bought litter trays for a boy who identified as cat. I kid you not! 🐱
Cicero, I read that one.. bonkers.
Catlyn Jenner is anti transgender in women’s sport which says a lot really after the life she has had…
Any truth in thr story claiming Odegaard has picked up an injury.
I can see in a year or two we will have the Olympics – Disabled olympics followed by the LGBTQ / transgenda games
Geoff, the Norwegian manager has suggested that Odegaard suffered a knock in training in addition to the injury picked up against Brighton. Not good news.
Morning guys.
New post up.