Did you guys by any chance watch Arsenal’s women v West Ham yesterday? I couldn’t believe what I was watching as West Ham raced into an early 2-0 lead. Renée Slegers had been talking in her pre match press conference about not giving up on the title, controlling what her team could do – all very similar to what Mikel Arteta had been saying, certainly pre West Ham and then lo and behold, it looked like the same club were going to end what little hope the women had of chasing Chelsea down. When Chloe Kelly halved the deficit, perhaps there was a chance I thought but then West Ham went 3-1 ahead with just over 30 minutes to go.
Those 30 minutes were incredible. Katie McCabe started Arsenal’s comeback with an outrageous goal from an almost impossible angle. I thought her only option was to cross the ball from the left side of the box, almost level with the goal, but no, she beat goalkeeper Kinga Szemik at her near post to make it 3-2. Leah Williamson scored the equaliser just 2 minutes later with strong header from a corner and then just a few minutes later, Mariona Caldentey buried our winner from the penalty spot. it’s worth watch the highlights just to see McCabe’s goal. I watched it and thought of Kanu…..
For both the men and women, securing a Champions League finish is the best they can hope for in my opinion. The gap between them both and the top spot is too great.
Both teams are still in the Champions League though with Real Madrid being the next opponents for Renée Slegers side in a couple of weeks time and PSV Eindhoven for the men tomorrow night.
Arsenal and PSV have played each other a few times in Europe before but the most recent was during the 2022/23 season when both clubs reached the knockout stages of the Europa League. Granit Xhaka gave us a slender 1-0 home win but things went wrong in Holland as we crumbled to a 2-0 defeat.
PSV reached this stage of the competition through the playoffs having finished 14th in the table but along the way they did hold PSG to a draw and beat Liverpool 3-2 although I’m not entirely sure Slot fielded a full strength side for that one. The stand out result though came in their last match against Juventus. Trailing 2-1 from the first leg, they forced the Italians into extra time before beating them 3-1. But, they’ve lost both domestic fixtures since that night in February.
Academy players Nathan Butler-Oyedeji and Ismeal Kabia trained with the first-team squad earlier today, both no doubt hoping to make an appearance at some stage tomorrow. 17 year old defensive midfielder Ife Ibrahim trained. Another one to keep an eye on for the future perhaps.
My expectations are pretty low ahead of tomorrow’s game, not because I’m being negative but because not only do we go to their place with so many players missing, we’ve not been playing at all well either. Understandable to a degree I suppose as our injured are mainly attacking players but somehow, Mikel Arteta has to get more from who he does have available for the next three months. Easy to suggest, hard to achieve I’m sure.
Another but… we’ve actually been pretty good in the Champions League so far. To finish 3rd, ahead of many of the so called big clubs is no mean feat. We lost just once to a harsh penalty awarded to Inter but battered both Monaco and PSG, although we did have Gabriel Martinelli, Kai Havertz and Bukayo Saka playing then. Nevertheless, we still have a very talented group of players who just need to do a bit more and do it with a bit more purpose.
Do that and we might just be in with a chance of progressing through to the next stage when the clubs meet again in a weeks time.
Understand Andrea Berta is now the top candidate to become new Arsenal director in order to replace Edu. Discussions already took place, Berta left Atlético after building the team with key signings in the recent years. Talks at advanced stage, not done/sealed yet.
If he’s the man Arsenal want then let’s hope his appointment is confirmed soon. He’s a busy summer ahead…
Catch up in the comments.
rico
10 thoughts on “PSV thoughts & Sporting Director talks at advanced stage…”
Al m says:
Tonight? You mean tomorrow!
We have one chance against PSV and that is that the opponent has two off days
Good evening Rico, I watched the game yesterday and was not impressed. Too many loose passes going astray, weak defending for the first two goals and only some favourable refereeing allowed us to keep eleven players on the pitch. The goal just before halftime changed the game, the passing got better mad the introduction of Blackstenious put extra pressure on the Hammer’s defence. A nailed on penalty was rightly awarded but it took some almighty, and desperate, scrambling to deny West Ham a last minute equaliser.
Good entertainment maybe, but it was hard to watch at times.
Cicero says:
Whoever takes the D o F job needs to hit the ground running and just keep going.
Tonight? You mean tomorrow!
We have one chance against PSV and that is that the opponent has two off days
I did mean tomorrow…
Good evening Rico, I watched the game yesterday and was not impressed. Too many loose passes going astray, weak defending for the first two goals and only some favourable refereeing allowed us to keep eleven players on the pitch. The goal just before halftime changed the game, the passing got better mad the introduction of Blackstenious put extra pressure on the Hammer’s defence. A nailed on penalty was rightly awarded but it took some almighty, and desperate, scrambling to deny West Ham a last minute equaliser.
Good entertainment maybe, but it was hard to watch at times.
Whoever takes the D o F job needs to hit the ground running and just keep going.
Evening Cicero, agree, the defending was dreadful.
McCabe’s goal was pretty good though..
“Hard to watch” – it’s the Arsenal way…
I hate to say it but……if we had a striker like Thierry Henry it would be a joy to watch Arsenal.
unfortunately Henry’s dont grow on trees
Fabrizio Romano
@FabrizioRomano
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2h
🚨🔴⚪️ More on Andrea Berta and Arsenal story reported earlier today.
The negotiations are at advanced stages as Berta is giving priority to Arsenal as next destination.
All parties are confident to get the agreement done this month, with details still left to be sorted.
I wouldn’t mind a Bendtner right now, at least he’d be a target in the box.