— AUBA⚡️ (@Auba) January 27, 2021
Morning all.
Well that’s good news re Aubameyang’s mum and selfishly, good for Arsenal that he’ll soon be back playing football.
There were a few odd results last night. Chelsea could only manage to draw at home to Wolves, Leicester City and Everton also drew as did Brighton and Fulham but the big shocks came at Turf Moor where Burnley beat Aston Villa and at Old Trafford where Man Utd were beaten by bottom of the League Sheffield Utd. I know I shouldn’t laugh as that could have been Arsenal not that long ago but I can’t help myself. But, Arsenal need to be aware of a Utd ‘win the next game’ attitude. They’ll want to make amends.
We have three fixtures in eight days to get through. Utd at home on Saturday before two away matches against Wolves and then Villa. Three tough matches but all three are very much winnable.
Martin Ødegaard was officially announced as being an Arsenal player yesterday so he might make the bench at the weekend. The Norwegian is a big fan of Cesc Fabregas and has modelled his game on him. Well, if he’s anywhere near as good as Cesc, we fans could be in for a treat.
He’ll wear the number 11 shirt. Ødegaard got stuck into training yesterday and according to a few NewsNow headlines, both Tierney and Ceballos were out there with him which is a big boost ahead of our next fixture.
Four days for Arsenal to sign a left back, can they do it?
There aren’t many days for the European football authorities to come to a decision about our Europa League fixture against Benfica either. We’re scheduled to play them on the 18th Feb but not only has their squad been hit by Coronavirus, Portugal is on the list of countries requiring a ten day isolation period here in England. In other words, anyone from Arsenal who travels to Portugal for this game would be out of action for us for just under two weeks. For the return leg, all the Benfica players and staff would have to travel to London two weeks prior to the match and go through the same process.
Logic says just play both fixtures at a neutral location where isolation periods are not in place. However, I’m sure any country would be twitchy over allowing Benfica staff/team into their country at this present time. Just as I’m sure Arsenal players and staff are already concerned about the meeting between both clubs in any case. It’s a big risk to take as Benfica’s situation sits today.
It’ll be interesting to see how this one is resolved over the next few days. Logic says play both fixtures in a ‘safe place’ but according to Sky Sports and other outlets, Benfica are objecting to this idea. Simple then, give Arsenal the bye and move on.
See you in the comments.
Morning Rico, thanks for the post, from what I’ve read UEFA might take it out of Benfica’s hands, why not just have a one off game in a neutral venue, fin…
It’s looking like Arsenal might send both Nelson and Maitland Niles out on loan this month.
Nothing regarding Runarsson going on loan – are we lumbered with him?
UEFA could resolve the Benfica problem by a best of three Rock Paper Scissors contest via Zoom. 😉
Hi Rico and all Kev I wonder if Runarsson is going to be dropped to the under 23 team as he learn with much less stress.
No matter were we play Benfica lets hope they check all players and officials
properly before holding the match
Good Morning everyone.
Shouldn’t UEFA solve the problem by organizing the match on playstation?? Or FIFA 2021??? Via internet there is no chance of catching the coronavirus. Arsenal can choose the best player, Benfica can chose theirs and voila……they play it on playstation.
If AMN and Nelson go on loan that will be good for both players and club…..if they are given playing time that is.
Morning Kev, makes sense for them to be playing regular football. Just hope whoever signs them, plays them. Runasson must soon go surely, our under 23 keepers are probably as good as him, if not better.
If the powers that be take the decision out of Benfica’s hands then it’s good for Arsenal I think as if Benfica refuse, we’re likely to be awarded the bye imo.
Hi Geoff.
Funny how Ødegaard was training yesterday, considering the negative spin surrounding him being injured.
Devil, send these guys to Oz and I guarantee they’ll get game time!!
Untapped resource here for loans imo.
Morning all.
The difficulty here is finding a neutral place to play the games , I am afraid that Europe and the rest of the world is in the grips of a pandemic and if international and cross border football suffers then So be it.
The powers that be in international sport seem incapable of seeing whats happening , take the Australian open tennis , all the players locked in a hotel for 14 days before the start and the Olympic commitee desperately hanging on to their Tokyo games .
International travel should have been curtailed months ago , but common sense doesn’t come into the equation where business is looking to make money.
It seems that odegaard is getting on with the our players already which is a good start for us , now to see how he plays along side them
Agree Potter, within a few days of the first lockdown.
I’m with you Potter, close the borders, only British passport holders returning home should be allowed into the country, but should be subject to ten days quarantine in a designated hotel and must pass two Covid tests before being released. Around ten thousand people arrived at Heathrow in one day last week. No wonder the death toll is so high.
It does seem strange that the general public can see it but our politicians are oblivious.
What government is going to shut down football and then have to answer for clubs going out of business, football and sport in general is also an antidote to the population going totally ga ga.
I can’t see Runarsson being any better than Matt Macey or Arthur Okonkwo for that matter, another very questionable piece of business. At least if Ryan doesn’t cut the mustard we can deport him back to Brighton… 😉
We could always play Benfica in a double header over the Hackney Marshes?
Where I agree is in International football, that’s an unnecessary risk with individual players jetting all over the globe.
That was my point domestic football should be ok if teams are sheilded properly , international and European travel however should be curtailed.
Ha ha re Ryan Kev…
didn’t we sell or loan Matt Macey out and if so that would leave room for Runarsson to drop to the under 23 and keep our senior list at the maximum numbers for international players
Scott, that is one of the reason why I want Arsenal to buy a club somewhere in another country, not in England, but in another country, yes even Australia and send their players there to train and play. I am sure it would be beneficial. However, I know this will not be allowed.
This is a good read…..about coaching methods and standards
https://www.theguardian.com/football/2021/jan/28/why-i-left-england-and-moved-to-spain-to-become-a-football-coach
I see Inter Milan are in talks over a swap,Sanchez for Dzeko.If that comes true both Sanchez and Mkhittaryan could be at the same club.Ironic,worst Arsenal transfer of recent years.Hopefully those days are over.
Devil, Man City own Melbourne City so there’s definitely a way it can be done.
That was a great read, Devil.
It’s a massive difference in what I see here in Oz, that’s for damn sure lol
Boring first half between Liverpool and the Toots.
Sanchez was ok Limey. 😜
Loved Sanchez,good weeks results for Arsenal.
Tottingham, the gift that keeps on giving.
There’ll be the gnashing of teeth down the Lane tonight.
Exits stage left with a big grin on his face 😊
Good night Gooners….everywhere. 😴
Good morning, Rico. So, the Baggies want AMN on loan for the rest of the season… last few days of the window and things are heating up nicely 🙂
Good morning everyone
Its not only the baggies who want AMN. I just read that there is a top four club who also want him on loan. And it seems that Arsenal prefer that he goes there instead of the wrong end of the table.
Scott, in the above article, you can see the difference between the amount of UEFA A coaches in the UK and in Spain. Premier league clubs in Spain will not accept coaches unless they have UEFA A licence. Yes even with the under 7 kids. The only exception, and that is very rare, is if the coach is a former national team player who has played over 50 times for the national team. In that case he is awarded a Uefa B licence but has to do the A licence course.
Up till the age of 12 countries like Holland, Spain, France, Italy, Germany and also Brazil, the coaches concentrate only on technique with the ball. A few weeks ago I read another article which stated that in South American countries they concentrate on using all their body to develop their ball techniques. There was a clip of a simple exercise which showed kids as young as 9 walking from one end of the pitch to the other juggling the ball with both feet. And in this clip there was a ball available for every youngster. And throughout the whole session , with the exception of the 4 a-side games in the last part of the session. all the players had a ball at their feet. And that literally meant a whole 45 minutes out of a 60 minute session.
Devil as you know, my son attends the football school where the theory is that they’ve taken the best of all training methods (hopefully).
Ball at feet, all about technique til 13/14 and now they’re learning tactics, nutrition etc etc etc
The silly thing is a lot of coaching in Oz has gone full 180 degrees now.
Most coaches are teaching kids to pass, move and receive from a young age.
Brilliant-they get to a decent level and don’t know how the hell to take on their opponent lol
Seems most here are 10-20 years behind the rest of the world.
Scott, in the South America and also to a certain extent in many parts of Africa, young players are encouraged to take on their opponent all the time.
Imo that is the right way. Because 1 against 1 situations are the best way to learn close ball control and technique. Even in the 4 v 4 games with small pitches young players are encouraged to take on the opposition rather than pass and move and get the return.
Devil, I agree.
I see professional players here in Oz with very, very average technique.
It’s slowly improving though…..