Morning all.
So the World Cup finally kicked off yesterday after with the hosts Russia, thrashing a Saudi team 5-0. Not much to get excited about from that game or result really as even England would have beaten Saudi but one player, who funny enough has been linked to us on more than one occasion, shone. Yes of course, it was Golovin.
They’ll be more even contests to watch as the tournament goes on I’m sure, well, one would like to think so. Today perhaps as Egypt face Uruguay, Spain play Portugal, two fixtures which should make good viewing. Morocco face Iran in a fixture sandwiched between the other two. I guess with all the rumours flying around about the little Uruguayan midfielder, we Arsenal fans will be paying special attention to that match. Elneny v Torreira,
All in all, Arsenal have nine players in Russia but that number does include David Ospina and Joel Campbell, both of whom are unlikely to be at the club this coming season. The other seven being Mesut Ozil, Danny Welbeck, Nacho Monreal, Granit Xhaka, Alex Iwobi and Mohamed Elneny. That number could have been much higher so all in all, we’ve got off lightly I’d say especially as only Ozil and Monreal are likely to go far in the competition.
Both Totts and Chelsea have twelve players representing their respective countries, Man Utd eleven and Liverpool, eight. Man City however have a grand total of sixteen players in Russia, which might just be good news for us as it’s City we play on the opening weekend of the season. Similar with Chelsea for the second league fixture too, depending on which countries their players represent of course, so perhaps the start of the new season isn’t as daunting as it might appear. Chelsea are in a bit of a mess too with uncertainty surrounding their owner, manager, Hazard and it’s not like they played anywhere near the level they had the season before last and I can only see them being worse this coming season than they were last. Add in the ‘new manager’ factor at Arsenal, a packed Emirates Stadium with fans full of optimism and excitement on the opening day of the season. Players who will hopefully be loving the changes implemented by the new manager/coaches being out to prove they are right for Arsenal, I reckon it’s the perfect time to play City.
In years gone by though, the Arsenal players who’d been away during a summer of Europe or the World Cup have always seemed to return later than the players at other English clubs, despite sometimes having played in the same team. That could have been an Arsene Wenger thing though, knowing his squad wasn’t particularly deep as far as strength goes, overplaying them soon after a big tournament could have backfired later in the season when injuries occurred because of it. Saying that, we’ve always had more than our fair share of those anyway and it’ll be interesting to see if a similar pattern appears this season, or will Emery rotate more because he’ll be able to having assembled a stronger and deeper squad. If he does of course and wouldn’t it be novel to go into a new season without players missing for a change?
The next set of fixtures to be released will be the Europa ones and depending on who we draw in the group stage will no doubt determine how the Spaniard approaches those matches. He’ll want to win the group that’s for sure, and he’ll want to win that big trophy for a fourth time too. The draw for the group stage takes place on 31st August so until then, it’s back to the World Cup, transfer rumours and then the new season can begin.
Exciting eh….
‘morning Rico, a fine post thank you.
How ever did Saudi Arabia qualify for the tournament? They managed something like 60% possession and didn’t get a single shot on target. They were hopeless in defence, no better in midfield and entirely ineffectual in attack.
It looked for all the world as though FIFA had rigged the draw to give the home nation an easy ride. After all they wouldn’t want to p**s Putin off would they.
Morning Cicero, thanks and goodness knows. Makes a mockery of the competition imo.
No doubt you are right re the opening fixture, it’s probably the only one Russia will win.
60% possession and no shots on target.
Now who does that remind me of.
Can’t think Potter….
Xhaka has signed a new deal at Arsenal.
That’s good news Rico.
De Gea has a “Karius” moment.
Definitely good news about Zhaka’s new contract. Good to know the Three Wise Men are hard at work.
It is Adam.
Four Cicero, don’t forget Fanny… 😉
I watched the last five minutes of the first half and all of the second half, of the Spain v Portugal match and thoroughly enjoyed it. If the rest of the matches can get near to that standard this could be a very entertaining tournament.
Watched it all. A really good game..
Rico I don’t include Gazidis as I think he is more of an administrator than a deal maker. The other three aren’t “fannying” around not even Famy. ?
I’ve watched all the games until now
……..Masoquista! ?
Morning Cicero.
New post up now.
And there was me hoping for some days of but Arsenal are ruining that by doing things during a summer.. 😉