So the Euros are nearly upon us and will hopefully distract us, and more importantly our rivals, from the transfer window. Ahead of Friday’s opener Arsene Wenger has been talking to Arsenal.com about the upcoming tournament.
Hosts France kick the whole thing off on Friday evening against Romania, while England start their campaign against Russia on Saturday evening. I expect to miss it as a drenched me will be on my way back from a day in the showers at Lord’s enjoying a day of test cricket, or not as the case may be, according to the weather forecast.
The Arsenal manager has hinted at a closer than usual contest, with the gaps that once existed between the competing nations now much smaller than has been the case in the past. It’s a fair point although Denmark and Greece in particular may feel this is a tournament that has always offered opportunity to countries without a track record of success.
“For me, the Euros are a bit more interesting, because the levels are a bit more level than at the World Cup. At the World Cup, you sometimes have big differences between some countries. That is not the case in Europe anymore.”
Quizzed about the chances of the hosts, and whether that would give them an advantage, Arsene spoke of the challenge awaiting France. Hit the ground running, and they will be at an advantage, but if they don’t…
“I believe it can be a handicap until you get to the level that is expected from people. After, it becomes a massive plus. France has won three times (World Cup and Euros) but twice at home.”
It would be a surprise to see the trophy lifted by someone other than France, Germany, or Spain but it has happened before. I don’t see England having the strength in depth, particularly defensively, to go the distance. It would be wonderful though to see one of England, Wales, Northern Ireland, or indeed the republic go all the way. My glass is half full.
Arsenal Tribute To Muhammed Ali
Whilst on the official club website I saw that Arsenal director Ken Friar laid a wreath at Highbury on Monday in memory of the late Muhammad Ali.
Highbury hosted the world heavyweight title fight between Ali and Henry Cooper on May 21, 1966. A crowd of 46,000 filled the old girl to see the fight, three years after Ali won their previous bout in five rounds at Wembley. Ali won at Highbury too, this time in the sixth. Ken Friar was instrumental in organising that evening, which I remember listening to on the radio with ‘holicdad. Ken recalled The Greatest fondly, as did all of us lucky enough to follow his career and life.
“No one deserves it more. I felt very emotional laying the wreath. The fight was probably one of the most momentous evenings ever. It was an electric night, the weather was great and we had everybody there. We had all the film stars in, we had George Raft, Diana Dors, Rocky Marciano. It turned out to be an amazing evening, especially with the way the fight turned out. Poor Henry, who I became very friendly with in later life, was cut to pieces but there was hardly a mark on Muhammad Ali. I met Ali. I was very fortunate there. He was awesome, in a word, he had charisma beyond belief and everything about him exuded fame.”
When Andy Murray Met Robert Pires
On a happier note, did you catch on the web earlier this week that Andy Murray recently met one of his sporting heroes and Arsenal great, Robert Pires, over a relaxed game of Petanque in Paris.
This forms part of Standard Life’s ‘Master Your Dreams’ campaign, where Murray took some precious time out of his French Open preparation to meet Robert Pires, the talented (and yes, Blogs, dreamy!) member of the historic Arsenal ‘invincibles’ side who remained unbeaten throughout their 2003/4 title winning season.
In this short film, not only does Pires show off his exemplary Petanque technique, the sporting greats acknowledge a shared love of football and Arsenal to address the big questions facing the sport at the moment. It might just change your opinion of Andy!
84 Responses to “Arsene Talks Up France, Well Played Arsenal, And Some Gratuitous Robert”
Whoosh!
Ex neighbour! That was quick. ?
Changed my opinion of Andy, ‘holic. I had him for a Tottenham fan.
No way, bt8.
Always a query between zico’s hated and us. Now we have context. 😉
Is it possible to root against Iceland?
https://www.theguardian.com/football/2016/jun/08/iceland-stunning-rise-euro-2016-gylfi-sigurdsson-lars-lagerback
I don’t share your enthusiasm for the Euros Holic but they may grow on me but I have no expectations of a bang average England side, with a core of LWCs and all that portends.
I would take Belgium’s challenge seriously as well as those you mention but I see England heading for a swift Brexit
Pires. Wow…He’s still awesome!
France will probably win it.. and Giroud top scorer!
😀
Ken Friar and Ali? An early incarnation of little and large. Nice touch and fond memories of the Greatest at Highbury.
Good morning, and welcome, iBtM. I trust you are well sir… 🙂
Morning all, and thanks for your continued metronomic production of blog posts Holic. I’m still here often but new fatherhood (getting on for nearly 3 years now) and finally having a job that’s a real challenge usually limit me to just reading.
Can’t help feeling excited about the Euros, despite all of England’s past ‘performance’. Not hoping for anything impressive but I’m prepared to be surprised. But it’s just the anticipation of a major international tournament that gets me – every game is high stakes, nearly every goal can make or break a team…getting back to the 3 lions, the only person who really makes my heart sink and brings my hopes down is Rooney. Not just because he’s been nothing special in the bread and butter of the league for years but also we know what happens with him in international tournaments – nothing!
Hey ho. I’m just going to watch as many games as possible and get right into it. Have a good day all!
Morning,
I drew Germany in the sweepstake 😆
Looks like drinks will be on me at the Post Tournament Vardy! 😉
Morning all. Enjoy your day at Lords, Guvna. Thanks for posting the Murray-Pires match. Most enjoyable.
Been waiting years to say this:
Will Wales park the whale?
(I can hear your groans from here.) 😉
Beach the whale?
Very easy to draw Germany, it’s France shaped with bits bitten out of it.
You should try drawing Norway. All those fucking fjords are very tricky.
Like an icebreaker barging through a narrow opening, Cynic. 😀
It’s about time my luck came in. May it transcend onto the club! 🙂
Watching Dundee’s finest, Dick McTaggart, box in the Rome Olympics in 1960 caused my interest in boxing to flicker temporarily but it was Cassius Clay’s arrival on the scene that really stoked the fire. From nowhere, watching the fight with Liston became an obsession. I recall too lying under the covers listening to Ali’s first fight with Henry Cooper.
As soon as we’re linked to Mkhitaryan..now Moaninho is after him as well… guess it’s a slow news day..!
Now that we’ve probably lost Vardy.. let’s get an upgrade on him instead!
I’ll be surprised if we do not sign at least 2 more players.
😀
Oh ..and for those looking for a good take on ALI from his opponents’ point of view,.. this is a good documentary :
http://tinyurl.com/jt9g35z
See it wherever you can if you have not already, entertaining and enlightening for certain!
😀
The scruffy lying Portuguese reptile will probably revert to his self-confessed strategy from his first spell with the Chavs. Look to see who Arsenal are focused on buying and nip in and offer more money. Tried and tested.
Piebury Corner burgled. Thieves break in to steal the cash box contents and then vandalized the place thru stuffing paper in the sink drains and flooding the place.
Spurs supporters, no doubt.
Burgling scum.
Leicester bid for Troy Deeney rejected by Watford. Who is caught between a rock and a hard place at the moment?
bt8b@14: Why not if their defence is fit for porpoise?
Mash and grab raid, Bayonne Jean?
I’ll get my coat myself…
Cavani with a big time miss against Venezuela in the last ten minutes consigns Uruguay to an early exit. Another famous striker moving down the pecking order?
bt8: Both Cavani and Higuaun have histories of crucial misses. Especially when given little time to dwell on the ball they can be erratic and frustrating. They have quite wisely chosen not to opt for PL where the best strikers have to be very fast in terms of reflexes. They are a level or two down from Aguero who IMHO is the best striker of this generation, and the best signing City had made since their facelift. Given the rest of the team if we had Aguero in the last few years we would have won a couple of PL at least.
Big fan of Sergi. Best striker in the league, hands down.
Doctor Faustus knows @ 30.
For those of you who like an Arsenal bargain, John Cross’s recent book about Arsene Wenger has turned up in The Works for a fiver, a mere 75% off.
Ways of our Olivier: http://news.arseblog.com/2016/06/giroud-talks-to-le-figaro-full-transcript/ .
Wishing him the best in the Euros, a well deserved top scorer medal and maybe even the winners though in paper the Germany team is more potent.
Tim Stillman has produced a very good analysis on Arseblog of our CF position and Arsene’s endeavours to fill it over recent years.
Bath,
Indeed Tim’s article is excellent
I think we can kiss Vardy goodbye, without too much regret. Sadly he is one of a large number of very ordinary England players.
Dr. F on point, as usual.
TTG, I couldn’t agree more. Apart from one VERY excellent season for Vardy, what has he done? These flashy, novel, flavor-of-the-month types really don’t do it for me. That is not to say, however, that I’m strictly missionary position. Or, wait. What I mean to say is … oh, to hell with it.
Vardy transfer would be the most humiliating act for Arsenal and,
footballistically, very immoral thing to do.
Homer oo-er! ?
Kante looks a brilliant all- purpose midfield player on his first half display.Lets spend the Vardy fee on him
Evening all. I was going to do a piece about Giroud, Kos, and this France match tonight, but it is dire. At Lord’s all day tomorrow, so I’ll be back on Sunday celebrating a classic England performance tomorrow night. Or probably not 🙂
Dire and Goonerholic are two words that don’t jive.
@39 Spot on TTG. Quality.
All the talk about Pogba, who in fairness is a quality player, but my thoughts exactly Ttg: Kante has been sublime in a poor game so far.
In fairness to Giroud he has led the line well on his own and took his goal well. He played one sublime flick in the first half. The French midfield needs time to fire but they would tear England a new backside . Kante and Payet are top quality and Matuidi would be great in the EPL.
Sly Patrice Evra has cost his side the win with a totally unnecessary foul. Unforgivable for a player of his experience,
Thanks BtM.
Or Payet may have saved him!
Payet in tears coming off and has only really begun to play for the national side in the past 6 months at what 29yrs of age? France were poor but unusually, showed a lot of character which is something I feel Deschamps deserves a lot of credit for. The heroes tonight for France were lessor lights like Kante, Payet & matuidi.
Deschamps showed he was not frightened of reputations by subbing Pogba and Griezmann and both decisions were spot- on. France look to me to be very likely winners and Giroud fits their style well although to be fair I could play in front of that midfield. Their full- backs need to provide their width and are both a bit long in the tooth. That may. E an issue for France later on but I don’t see there being many better teams in this competition.
There will be a queue to sign Kante and massive pressure to sign Payet after this .
I’d love to see Kante at AFC. But considering we have Coquelin, Elneny and now Xhaka – I doubt very much that we will be in the market for another DCM. But I can see Mourinho signing him as much as it riles me.
For what it is worth, Payet is about two and a half months younger than Vardy (29 March 1987 as opposed to 11 January 1987). Transfer value therefore that much higher. That much, I say. 😉
29 years of age seems to be when they blossom these days.
29 also being my age of course. 😉
Re: Jackster @1. I like hearing old incarnations of names. Now I just want to know what Ollie is calling himself these days.
Article says Flamini will not be at Arsenal next season. First time I have heard.
http://www.bbc.com/sport/football/36503044
Must finally be the end of the road for Kolo?
bt8b: No great surprise that Flamini has been released, along with Arteta and Rosicky.
I see that Palace have released Chamakh as well as Adebayor. Kolo Toure and Steve Sidwell, both also once of this parish, released by Liverpool and Stoke, respectively, too.
Enjoy the cricket, Guv’nor. A rare opportunity to be disappointed by England teams in two sports.
I briefly heard the idiot Lawrenson on the BBC and then ‘ the experts’ commentary. Is there an agenda to take a swipe at Arsenal at every opportunity? Giroud can hold his head up much higher than Pogba , Evra and Gruezmann after last night but no criticism. No mention of the exUnited player’s stupidity in giving away the penalty.
It’s enough to make you paranoid?
TTG.
If it makes you feel any better, Evra’s penalty was the height of stupidity. Not sure what he possibly could have been thinking but it must have been one of his “senior moments”
Have a good day at Lords, Holic.
It can’t rain on you all day – that’s just not cricket.
As it were. ?
And what’s going on ?
I thought we decided not to join the Euros ?
Think we’ll be leaving them sooner rather than later though, whether we elect to or not.
Oh well, carry on ??
Evra, stupid ?
Who knew ?
Pouring cats and dogs at Canary Wharf atm. Hope there’s a better microclimate at Lords for the Guvna.
Cats and dogs, bath ?
The Canaries won’t stand a chance ?
Granit Xhaka utterly anonymous against Albania. What exactly does he do on the pitch and what has Arsene Wenger bought?
BBC
Arsenal new boy Granit Xhaka has created as many chances as anyone else, played the most passes on the pitch and had more touches than any player.
You need a new telly Dapper Dan
Danny Murphy
Former England midfielder on BBC One
Posted at
15:03
There have been some strong tackles from Granit Xhaka, his disciplinary record isn’t great and that is something that he will have to watch in the Premier League. His passing is very nice, but he has a determination to get back and retrieve the ball, so he has a nice balance to his game. It looks promising for Arsenal.
I’d pick a Sony HD, Dapper Dan , if even Danny Murphy is saying something nice
I must get rid of this Sony Watchman. Going to keep the Walkman forever though! 😎
Did Granit have any rock-hard shots on goal?
Should have had a stone wall penalty though DDC!
We’ve got Granit puns ahead for years!
Ramsey failing to execute an easy tackle yet again and his man then assisted the Slovak goal.
Ttg,
I just can’t wait to erupt!
Well done Wales! Pressure already on England with Wales up next after Russia. Oooooh!
No use you slating Granit, Dapper Dan –
he played well and should have had a stonewall penalty ?
Heh Trev 🙂
No comments about England!
They deserved to win but Sterling probably played worse than anyone I’ve seen in an England shirt. Good job the lad doesn’t play for Arsenal or he would have been slaughtered.
If the defence had stepped out and pressed the ball for the goal or if Smalling had covered the big guy instead of our smallest defender we wouldn’t have conceded. Lallana, Walker and Dier were excellent . Wilshere looked good when he got on
loadsa “doctors”
where do all the dentist s
hang
man
elsewhere but with etc
It’s true Dier wasn’t Dire and Walker wasn’t a Wanker, TTG, but Lallana is one of those players who gives 110% and tries hard all day – but without ever creating very much (internationally). From before half-time I was willing Hodgson to get him and/or Sterling off and Jack on. At this level there really is no substitute for skill.
Instead he takes off Rooney who, to that point, had looked the class act of the side keeping us in control of the midfield and on top most of the match.
and teeth
At least the flanneled fools didn’t disappoint, ‘Holic, even if the muddied oafs did. You chose the right place to be yesterday.
Nice to see the Euros getting all the excited discussion and attention it deserves 🙂
Blonde Rambo Atrocities (un)Ltd.
Has the bar closed?
No TTG, just quiet. What are you having?
Thank you, good friends. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>