A Mixed Day For England Against Their Oldest Foes
Jun 10th, 2017 by 'holic
So, I’ve taken a breather, enforced by a combination of wonderful cricket and the election here. I’ve been riling a lot of people about the latter so it is off limits on the blog. It’s a football blog after all. I don’t want to lose half of my readership!
It’s been a strange day today. The cricket was the sport of choice but the British summer being typically damp it didn’t encroach much on the football that followed it. The combined brains of Duckworth and Lewis (Overseas readers, just take my word for it) meant that England were triumphant but denied the pleasure of overcoming the old enemy, Australia, with overs to spare.
From old enemy to auld enemy in the fitba. Scotland, the motherland, have a set of players technically inferior to most of the big guns in Europe right now. England crossed the border running away with their World Cup qualifying group having not conceded a solitary goal in the competition. What followed didn’t reflect the large gap that should have existed.
At Arsenal we have become very familiar over the years with the supposedly lesser teams defending with discipline and frustrating us. Let me tell you this England team is no Arsenal and so after an early period of Scots pressure the game settled into a very recognisable pattern. The hosts dealt relatively comfortably with what little pressure England were able to exert in the opening 70 minutes.
Pleasingly, given the England team contained four Middlesex marshmen, it was transformed when Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain was introduced and within five minutes he scored the goal that looked like deciding the match. However, England’s clean sheets record came to an abrupt halt in a finish reminiscent of the 1979 FA Cup Final.
With three minutes remaining Lee Griffiths, from a free-kick foolishly conceded by Cahill, sent an effort past Joe Hart’s flailing left hand. It was messy but the Scots cheered at the salvation of a point. Those cheers turned to euphoria when they got another free-kick on the edge of the box in more dubious circumstances in the last of the ninety minutes. Griffiths sent it past the England goalkeeper’s right hand this time. An astonishing victory, surely?
Four minutes were added on, and in the last of them the hosts surrendered possession cheaply in their own half. The ball was swung to the far post, the keeper didn’t claim it, and Kane spared England’s blushes with an Alan Sunderland style strike. So the international derby ended as a Desmond.
A word or two about what appeared to be a friendly aftermath, with both sets of supporters applauding each other as the Scots departed the stadium. The English were held in the ground as a safety measure given the history of disorder that has often surrounded the fixture. I think there is a mutual respect developing slowly between the committed supporters of two national teams who are a long way from the summit of the game right now. Let’s hope it continues to grow and future meetings are as civilised.
Finally, it is hard to believe it is two weeks since that brilliant FA Cup Final win. The feelings that day generated have yet to dissipate entirely, which is pretty special. We have signed a new tough guy defender who was in the Bundesliga team of the season on a free transfer. Welcome Sead Kolasinac. We have finally expelled Yaya Sanogo, and although nobody has signed a new deal save the manager, we have not lost anybody significant, yet!
Thank you the Arsenal, and the England cricket team, for making some of us very happy bunnies tonight.
Have a great Sunday, ‘holics.
142 Responses to “A Mixed Day For England Against Their Oldest Foes”
I fear now I will lose a bunch of Aussies instead of a bunch of Tories.
My judgement is as poor as Prime Minister Sitting Duck. 🙂
D’oh!
Evening neighbour again! 🙂
That reminds me…..
OK, half-neighbour then. 🙂
‘holic
every night
round about this time
summer
dozens of ducks used to waddle up past my house
delicious slugs for to eat
but
the geese won’t let them up
.
just what happens
not a political statement
i miss ’em
Great blog Holic and just now an exhausted and very inexperienced English rugby team conceded a drop goal with minutes to go and then conjured a wonderful try to win the game.
A great day of sport…except the football. When I saw Jake Livermore starting for England my heart sank. Surely we can’t have sunk that low. He stayed on to just before the end too. Scotland were the better of two poor sides but Kane aside the Marshmen don’t distinguish themselves when representing their country. He took that last chance well.
Cahill is bang average , Walker can’t defend and I’ve not seen Hart save anything for years.
To think Jake Livermore has England caps and the great Geordie Armstrong never got one.
But the cricket was grand and so was the rugby and the Lions won too! But I did do some jobs around the house.
Oh and well played Gooner Corbyn ?
have a tune ‘hol
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hcPiip-xkyw
top man
cba, you know too well I love Niecey, ya naughty man! ?
I used to live in a summer house next to Brunel’s sounding arch, the rail crossing over the Thames at Maidenhead, before the traitor was MP.
The coots, ducks, and swans, would take it in turns to knock on the French windows for food.
We couldn’t afford it for long, but it was idyllic. I’ll not forget it.
coots, ducks
&
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IKnUL4lfKps
No dog in this particular fight, but encouraging to see Chambo continuing to exhibit such good form. Higher hopes than usual for him next season, hopefully the manager can decide on a position for the poor man.
Bit of nostalgia for those of a certain age … https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJpfrlz59Eg
Make that of uncertain age…
I can also remember this piece of chunky gorgeousness, mmmmmmmm … https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eEuskVNDlR8 … the lipgloss queen of the early ’60s. Huge in her day, every way!
Oops, not the link I meant, should have been … https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bkSqlwQCc9Y
well played ‘H re elegantly squeezing a bit blood outta that particular stone (of scone?) …
Notice the British & Irish Lions (tread carefully Theresa, some things are worth preserving beyond one’s career, old girl) didn’t make your weekend round-up. ‘Twas a cracker in the so-called 4th test against the unbeaten in 2017 Crusaders, who nevertheless seem to have taken defeat on the chin and recovered their groooooooooove pretty quickly (see below).
And like wot TTG said, hats orf to Gooner Corbyn; maybes unlikely comebacks are to become one of the themes of the ol’ John Selwyn Gummer = (hepcat Tory street-talk for summer, wot)
Up The Arse – over!
https://youtu.be/dRBYsINSUZ0
see above for a REAL reverend
Crusaders fans, Crusaders players, match commentators, Kiwi media en masse and Kiwis in the street are all complaining bitterly about the ref this morning. Naturally. They didn’t like him whistling up penalties all the time. They’re more used to being warned on the run to stop cheating apparently.
Personally I don’t think it’s the ref’s job to coach players during matches, but what would I know.
Morning cba. I’m in nostalgic mood, here’s one for you … https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rnLnwWjrIyk
No Ashley M-N in the starting
XI for the u20s final today but
the kids are 1-0 up against
Venezuela.
The Venezuelans might be a tired
as apparently the police were
called to their hotel last night
when a post match discussion
with the Uruguayans got a bit
out of hand.
Be nice to win a football final
for a change for England.
So Serge Gnabry was going nowhere to the extent that he couldn’t get into West Brom’s team and had zero prospects with us, but joins Bremen and trains on to such an extent that he has just signed for Bayern Munich.
Anyone think our coaching might not be worth a chicken’s tit?
cheers chris
the power of the internet
a man on the other side of the world
is responsible for an outbreak of almost in tune singing
and a teary eye on the missus here in Donegal
i live in a whitewashed cottage
with a half door
surrounded by fields and cattle
only john wayne shouting
“woman of the house , where’s me tae”
could make the cliche unfolding here Irisher
.
sláinte fella
top man
to be sure to be sure an’ bejaysus an’ begorrah
?
moooooooooooooooooooooo
Nice summary of the oldest of all international fixtures, Guvna. Tedious game but exciting denouement. I’ll take the draw. However I’d like some real football back. Neither of these teams will set the heather on fire. Much like the politics.
Not too far from Cong then, CBA?
heh dorset M
“no patty fingers , if you please”
.
.
no fan of millwall
but the balls on this fella
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/london-attack-milwall-roy-larner-football-sign-bristol-city-fans-fight-terrrorists-bare-hands-a7783686.html?amp
Ah, the curse of the Scottish International keeper strikes again. Where’s Frank Haffey when we need him?
Should you happen to bump into Steve T, go easy on him. He’s taking the news of YaYa’s departure from the club very badly I’m told.
Rain has finally come. The garden says thank you. 🙂
@25. Even I could see that Serge Gnabry had tremendous talent five years ago (or whenever it was) when he was on the verge of breaking into the Arsenal team yet did not manage to do so after he was not given anywhere close to the number of chances he deserved based on his performances in games he played. No doubt (???) there is much more to the story that we have not been told.
bt8b@32: The untold bit might be the knee injury Gnabry sustained at the tail end of the 2013/14. He was out for 28 weeks and never as much as got back on the bench after that. Even when he was loaned to WBA for the first half of 2015/16 season, he only got 12 mins as a sub.
It might be that Werner Bremen have better physios as well as coaches.
that’s the last poundland bar of toblerone i buy
fuck off
i know
close enough for rock n roll though
Ned, True enough about the injury but how many other Arsenal players, rhetorically questioning, have recovered from near season-long injuries to come back into the team?
apologies ‘hol
no politics zone
i know
though
michael gove ?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kO4DPI1hegc
is it possible to nail down yer own coffin lid ?
apparently so
?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=olwQXGG35oE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uzae_SqbmDE
“westminster , you sure got a purty mouth”
i miss tabs ‘n’ zico
smarter ‘n’ funnier
than you ‘n’ me
?
PROPER JOB
Powerfully Hopped
Cornish IPA
Finally found one.
Tabs ‘n’ zico musta been offered higher pay at another venue.
Sellouts.
I’m damned sure cba that there isn’t an ounce of cliche in you.
Gove and that Bojo bastard cosying up to Mrs Clownshoes as if nothing had ever happened is sickening. They are jostling for position at the next election this year.
?
In the interests of balance Michael Heseltine has given an insight into the silent majority of the centre ground Tories…
bt@43, last I saw of tabs, he was dancing on a table to tabla music. Very elegant too. I think zico was selling tickets (and optional extras) on the door.
Evening all. Nice post Holic on a dour affair. ”Twas a top day for sport. The Lions, the cricket and England v The Argies. All enjoyable in their own right.
Mrs May sadly tells you everything that is wrong with British politicians. Arrogant to the core. Noses so deep in the trough of greed that they have no interest in normal people. I loathe the self sanctifying career politicians who believe that their corrupt ways are acceptable. Well, they’ve all had a bit of a shock. Some might have to earn their wages from now on.
Incredibly sad to see the departure of dear old Ya Ya Sanogo. Possibly the greatest next best thing we’ve ever had. On the books for 4 years in domestic competition he has exactly the same goal scoring record as CBA and BTM combined. To justify his £30k a week he did manage to pick up 2 yellow cards. Personally i rate him that highly that I would say he is the forward equivalent to Gus Ceaser. Yes, he was that good.
All of that on the day that Serge Gnabry signed for Bayern. Deemed not good enough for Arsenal, 12 months after leaving he joins a crack German outfit who if memory serves me right were marginally better than us over two legs???
Looking forward of seeing who we are buying this week?
‘Holic, your @44 makes me think of the LBJ quote about J Edgar Hoover, “It’s probably better to have him inside the tent pissing out, than outside the tent pissing in.”
In the spirit of keeping this place a politics-free zone, why is Ramsey’s penalty for Wales being described as a Panenka? Don’t they have to be chipped down the middle? Ramsey put his in the side netting.
Steve T@47: How can you overlook Amaury Bischoff, Michal Papadopulos and Tomas Danilevicius in the pantheon of GNBTs?
Good point Ned but didn’t AW once say that Sanogo was the new Anelka? That I would suggest elevates to the top of the NBT list.
Totally dreadful.
Poor old Tarzan, still swinging from the same old creeper. That fella has smacked straight into too many tree trunks,. ??
well
if that’s yer attitude steve
i’m giving away your ticket
to the hottest show in town
“there’s only one take a bow son ”
“one take a … . .. “
50 up CBA. Thought that deserved some recognition??
here
have a biscuit
?
Is it a chocolate one. ??
@41
The Bar is a poorer place without them,
That’s poorer for their wit and insight,not their shekels.
Have a biscuit yourself.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Hz0UvIZw-Y0
NBT? Can somebody remind me – Next Big Thing or No Bloody Talent?
What I’m expecting to see any time now is an NBTTTGSTEL. I miss the original.
They don’t make movies like The Quiet Man any more, cba. But unfortunately America still produces far too many Marion Morrisons.
SteveT@50: Fair point.
We also had Fabian Caballero, Kaba Diawara and Stefan Malz, but surely the best NBT of all time is TGSTEL himself?
Peter Marinello and Jeff Blockley would surely have been candidates for NBT, too.
Park Ju-Young must be right up there.
Re: bathgooner @46. During the next dance session please pass along my regards to Zorba the Bengali. 🙂
Those optional extras you mention bring back memories of the CMC, PiK, Dr. C and a few others. It was a pleasure to see a few posts recently by Dr. F and one very recently by the Reverend AL. Summertime was always a good time to hear from these folks, and I’m hoping to hear more from the former regulars now irregulars this year too. 🙂
H2H bar duties must have been quite heavy this last season but I should have mentioned him at 65 too.
For CBA, leaked transcript from Buck Pal ;
“I would like to form a Government with the…”
“…No”
“Pardon?”
“You heard, f*ck off”.
Also, that “Cash for Ash” scandal, terrible wasn’t it, he was really only worth 40k pw wasn’t he ?
sorry, quiet monday
coyg
Appreciate the yearnings for some of the less regular visitors these days, but things move on and few websites have the same posters they had in years gone by. Arseblog has similarly evolved.
Just a reminder that I don’t like to see personal attacks on anyone who has posted on here. I’ll just use the edit option, not the spam button, for any regulars who inadvertently err.
Now, what are we all doing this evening/ afternoon/whatever it is where you are! 🙂
Catching up on Line of Duty here with a nice bottle of Rosso di Montalcino.
Seems like a quiet Monday.
Tuesday afternoon here, lunchtime
meeting with not a bottle of wine
in sight 🙁
Our business so far seems to be
Kolasineac (my spelling looks iffy)
comes in, Yaya goes out. A gain I
suppose.
Roll on August.
Lions beating a provincial NZ rugby side – meh.
Poms beating an Australian cricket team – you wouldn’t have known it living here. Defeats are not reported.
Now, the Arse signing Messi – has it happened yet?
UTA.
Have we signed anyone????????
Oh no, silly me. All renewals are now in.
?
🙂
Lacazette seems to be 60m this
summer, up from 45m last summer.
I wonder how much he’ll be next
summer.
18p after we sign him.
To echo Steve T @73 I see there has been no change whatsoever in Wenger’s backroom team who all have shiny two year contracts, probably all improved. Gazidis and his catalyst for change speech seems to have been ignored.
We will get someone reporting to Wenger on recruitment but that is the only change. Now we can expect to sell Sanchez and Bellerin having said they were not for sale and keep Ozil because there have been no bids for him. Plus ca change as they say where Arsene comes from!
Oh dear me. Still far too many contributors here with the glass half empty. Mine is still at least half full. I have no control over who comes and who goes and see no point in worrying about it. Indeed, I’m still basking in the glory of our FA Cup triumph. No doubt by the end of August we will have a squad good enough to challenge again for the top positions. City and United will have spent hundreds of millions of pounds and, like last year, will be favourites to win the league. Hopefully they will fall short again. Finishing in the top four will be very difficult and will be a real achievement, although for some will be a disappointment.
I was really pleased with the way we finished the season. Defence looks solid now, Xhaka and Ramsey look strong in the centre of midfield. We need to find replacements for the players who leave, probably Alexis, Ospina, and maybe Perez, hopefully keeping Ozil and the Ox. In addition, I think we need another creative central midfielder. I have no idea what should happen with Willsher!!
Reasonable expectations make for happy campers. Just saying. 🙂
…so why did we build a new stadium?
What a relief for the Manager, Board and owner. Only way to finally lower expectations to top 4 best-case was to narrowly miss out. What a cunning plan that was.
@76. “I’m still basking in the glory of our FA Cup triumph.”
A psychologically beneficial approach.
I see another of our former NBTs, Kyle Bartley, is said to be about to sign for Middlesborough in the Championship.
Chris/Ttg: TGSTEL signed for the Norwegian side, Rosenborg, in March and has scored four goals for them in 11 league games.
If the FA had the same rule as the French Football Confederation about clubs not being allowed to appoint managers over the age of 65, a lot of the grumbling hereabouts over the past three or four years would have been moot.
A word about irregular-regulars, if I may.
To the best of my knowledge, they all still read the blog with the same vigour they did in the past, pretty difficult to deny oneself the pleasure of reading ‘holic’s excellent offerings! They just chose, due to one reason or the other, to reduce the frequency at which they post comments.
Thanks Cent you said it. No reasons not to comment but honestly come here just to read all of your comments to console myself that all is well and we can still be hopeful for the upcoming season.
cent nails it. not only the gaffer’s blog posts, but pretty near all comments.
@76 devon stu nails it.
and considering the political turmoil in britain, y’all are pikers even at the moment. it’s all-consuming, with the orange one, here in the states.
England looks outmatched by France. The French appear to be technically much better and their young team looks exciting to watch. Mbappe hasn’t done much so far but has pace and poise.
Ox has given the ball away almost everytime he has attempted a pass. Very poor.
Cheers H! And all who sail in here.
You’re a star Cent, thank you.
There are two sides to every debate and the Wenger debate has about fifty. I was delighted we won the FA Cup and I will always remember a great day but last season was agonising in places. Just as I bask in the memory of Wembley I recoil in horror at the memory of an awful evening at Selhurst Park, a terrible night when we played Watford and the two humiliating nights against Bayern when I saw my side fold like a pub team.
Tempers ran high at the Grove last year and the internal rancour was the worst bit. The atmosphere away from home was poisonous at times and the Gazidis concessions to the AST calmed a furious fanbase.
But behind it all I had the impression we were being played. Wenger was never going to leave, was never pressured to leave and Gazidis either lied or has so little influence at the club his position is a joke.Like Steve T I’m amused at the way big transfer rumours coincide with the renewal period for season tickets and subside afterwards. We aren’t going to sign Mbappe and we certainly aren’t going to seriously bid the amounts quoted in the press . I wouldn’t want us to. He could be badly injured in his first match and we’ve blown our transfer budget. So please don’t try to stretch the credulity of faithful fans by playing the transfer rumour game.
Arsenal are a wonderfully run club with great success if you are Sunderland or West Ham fans. They are underachievers if you are a Marshman and as far as the elite of Europe are concerned we are not on their radar. I believe we should be and could be and never will be until there is serious regime change.
I don’t think expressing reservations about the integrity of the people who run our club is being disloyal to it. It’s that doubt about the integrity that is my big problem with the Kroenke regime although I do understand that the most critical voice in the discussions about Wenger’s contract was Josh Kroenke’s. I believe that there is a schism developing between Josh and his Dad about the way the club is run but the lack of change suggests that it hasn’t got very big.
So am I optimistic about next season? The answer is not as much as I could be. I’ve been this way too often before
So, by way of diversion, which clubs in the Premiership couldn’t beat the England team fielded against France?
9am tomorrow morning,2017/18 EPL fixtures released.
And only 8 Saturday sleeps till we play the first game of the new season.
So a couple of months of bickering between factions in the Bar/daft transfer gossip,before we start all over again.
How many LWCs were there in that loser England XI? And Ox – the last remaining* of Arsenal’s much vaunted young Brit brigade – still manages to look worse than any of them.
We’ve come a long way from Henry, Vieira, Petit, Pires and Wiltord. No wonder AW is reputedly on another French raiding mission.
* Rambo being a Welshman.
The frogs looked frighteningly overflowing with young talent, even if their opposition was weak as water. Eau dear indeed.
Chris,
Weak as water?
Didn’t sea the game as I couldn’t
find a stream.
But, June friendlies? What’s the
point anyway.
Punning season has begun. Where is Trev when you need a good water pun?
Coupla good ones by OsakaMatt @94 though. 🙂
With half the England side actual pond life from the Middlesex marshes, what do you expect, bt8? They should pull the plug on the lot of them, they’re a drain on my patience for sewer.
Running close behind OsakaMatt in the punning race was Chris who burst out of the spillway like the leading wave of a Spring flood.
… or ripple in a stagnant pool
??
Just don’t call me a drip, bt8.
Congrats on the century, even if you assisted yourself. Eau dear, eau dear, eau dear.
A veritable torrent you are, Chris. 🙂
Thanks BT, butt I’m all tapped out
now. Wouldn’t want to tarnish my
rep with mere wordplay just for
the lake of it. Dam, I can’t stopper
it.
Started like a steam engine but slowed to the pace of a salmon swimming upstream.
Horrific towering inferno in a 27 storey block of apartments in Kensington in the early hours of this morning.
I will be amazed if it doesn’t collapse such is the intensity of the fire.
Looks like something out of the Blitz during the war.
People have been jumping for their lives,many casualties.
Thoughts and prayers.
The pictures look horrific, Clive. Thoughts and prayers, indeed.
Interesting read
In a survey of London’s football grounds The Emirates …comes out on top in four of the six categories – location, view, facilities and police – to top the overall charts, but guess how the headline reports it.
http://www.standard.co.uk/sport/football/emirates-stadium-london-stadium-have-worst-atmosphere-in-premier-league-as-white-hart-lane-tops-a3563386.html
Typical media. 🙁
Pretty damning and sadly prophetic indictment of the landlords by the resident’s association:
https://grenfellactiongroup.wordpress.com/2016/11/20/kctmo-playing-with-fire/
It looks like the private construction company involved in the recent refurbishment of the tower has previous for sub-standard work in Sutton.
The dark underbelly of outsourced, austerity-era Britain.
Cent Nose. UTA!
Next season’s fixtures:
Arsenal v Leicester City Sat 12 Aug
Stoke City v Arsenal Sat 19 Aug
Liverpool v Arsenal Sat 26 Aug
Arsenal v Bournemouth Sat 9 Sep
Chelsea v Arsenal Sat 16 Sep
Arsenal v West Bromwich Albion
Arsenal v Brighton & Hove Albion Sat 30 Sep
Watford v Arsenal Sat 14 Oct
Everton v Arsenal Sat 21 Oct
Arsenal v Swansea City Sat 28 Oct
Manchester City v Arsenal Sat 4 Nov
Arsenal v Tottenham Hotspur Sat 18 Nov
Burnley v Arsenal Sat 25 Nov
Arsenal v Huddersfield Town Tue 28 Nov
Arsenal v Manchester United Sat 2 Dec
West Ham United v Arsenal Tue 12 Dec
Arsenal v Newcastle United Sat 16 Dec
Arsenal v Liverpool Sat 23 Dec
Crystal Palace v Arsenal Tue 26 Dec
West Bromwich Albion v Arsenal Sat 30 Dec
Arsenal v Chelsea Mon 1 Jan
Bournemouth v Arsenal Sat 13 Jan
Arsenal v Crystal Palace Sat 20 Jan
Swansea City v Arsenal Tue 30 Jan
Arsenal v Everton Sat 3 Feb
Tottenham Hotspur v Arsenal Sat 10 Feb
Arsenal v Manchester City Sat 24 Feb
Brighton & Hove Albion v Arsenal Sat 3 Mar
Arsenal v Watford Sat 10 Mar
Leicester City v Arsenal Sat 17 Mar
Arsenal v Stoke City Sat 31 Mar
Arsenal v Southampton Sat 7 Apr
Newcastle United v Arsenal Sat 14 Apr
Arsenal v West Ham United Sat 21 Apr
Manchester United v Arsenal Sat 28 Apr
Arsenal v Burnley Sat 5 May
Huddersfield Town v Arsenal Sun 13 May 15:00
France is overflowing with talent and we had Sanogo!
In fairness Kos is a great defender. HFB and Coquelin are somewhere between very good and average.
Awful news about the fire. Must be hell on earth in there. God bless all those involved
I see all these Saturday fixtures pencilled in for 3pm and then remember, we have the Thursday night tournament……
Beers on the Sabbath it is, then.
The fixture list looks ok. Clinching
another title at Old Toilet in the
3rd last game of the season is
my preferred way to go.
Get it done lads.
December seems to be the most testing month in that fixture list, especially including the New Year’s Day match against Chelsea.
February’s fixtures all tough ones but only three of them.
The start and finish should be, and I emphasize SHOULD BE, more manageable.
Yes, be in contention at the end of
February and we have a shot.
Plus of course the other key point
is not to take the Europa League
seriously – strictly squad players
and youngsters.
I know some disagree but for
me I’m not bothered how we
do in that – it’s an equal 3rd
priority with Hardaker’s Folly.
Winning the Ropey League might be the only chance we have of getting back into the Champions League, so we can’t treat it like a joke.
It’s a fair enough point but if we’re not
good enough to get in the Top 4 in the
League then we’ve no chance of winning
the Champions League.
I’m with Osaka on the Europey League. Play the League Cup team in the group stages. If they get through, and given the opposition it’s not impossible, then we can assess the relative merit of giving it a go against our chances of topping the Premiership.
Qualifying for Champions League is important as it means significant extra revenue for the club and it also helps in attracting the really good players as the really top quality players may not be interested in staying or signing for a club not in the Champions League. Feel gutted we didn’t qualify this year.
We must try and win the Europa Cup and for that we need to strengthen our squad. Knowing Wenger that won’t be happening. We will lose Sanchez and sign two or three players who are a level below (Lacazette) the A class players (Mbappe, Morata, Aubemeyang etc).
This is probably the third year running that we host the spuds in the first half and then travel to the lane for the return fixture. Too much of a coincidence.
An article on how Europa fixtures could affect our league games::http://www.givemesport.com/1077579-arsenal-fans-are-reacting-badly-after-premier-league-fixture-list-is-announced
ksn @122. From those six post-Europa League fixtures if we can get any more than 3 points out of the 15 on offer it would be an unexpected bonus. Only Brighton at home should be an expected three points. Relegation-threatened Burnley away I will fear.
Chelsea (A), Brighton (H), Everton (A), Man City (A), Burnley (A) and Southampton (A)
apologies ‘hol
a moment of madness
tell tabs ‘n’ zico
retro eff right off !
never liked the ne’er do wells
anyfuckinhoo
WEIRDOS
.
.
(howdy z )
?
bt8b@123: If Irtysh Pavlodar from Kazakhstan make it though from the qualifying rounds and we had to play them in the group stage, the away game would be almost as far east as Delhi, and a journey of some 3,700 miles from the Ems. A game against Kairat of Almaty, who are seeded in the qualifying round, would involve a journey of only a few miles less. Very big place this Europa.
in other news
?
NBN@126: Maybe one day EU will entertain, even encourage, the construct of a spiritual-financial Europe that includes India and China (who wants to miss out on the spending habits of millions of new lumpen-millionaires) and then Europa, or even “Champions League” will include such football luminaries as Delhi Dacoits and Beijing Buccaneers…
One can easily imagine a nonagenarian Arsène, still straight as ramrod if occasionally prone to forget the names of his players, walking over to the opposition bench in the sweltering heat and near invisibility of an August Delhi evening to exchange pleasantries with the iManager humanoid in charge of the Dacoits.
Nonagenarian you reckon, Dr F? I think even AW will prefer to sit out his dotage … after cloning himself to continue managing The Arse of course.
The fixture list after the Ropeadope
League games just convinces me
more that we should use squad
players and youngsters. 5 of those
games are away. Leave the 11 to
play on Sunday at home and have
them fresh for big away games.
Agree with Bath, if we do get through
then we can reconsider based on our
league position.
We’re a big club – if we pay it, they
will come. The most important thing
for me as a fan is to challenge for
the title. Doing that takes care of
CL qualification. Skulking in through
a 2nd rate back door after coming
6th – I’ll leave that to Manure.
Getting knocked out of a second-rate comp for losers is NOT an option. We’re in it, we win it. Jeez, if we can’t win Europey we should all be mighty embarrassed.
Chris @ 129: Arsène-Arsenal romance is a true amour fou…or dysfunctional interdependence 🙂
@131: I agree that we should be serious about wining Europa and if we can manage to keep our self-destructive tendencies in check we have the quality to. I am rather looking forward to our change of palette where the menu in Europe is concerned.
More fou than amour, imo.
My view is that we’re crazy to think we’ll ever win the CL if we can’t win the Europey. And as for your ‘change of palette’, it may be vegan compared to red meat but still better than a starvation diet. 😉
Does anyone know anything about this tournament? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2017_International_Champions_Cup Apparently we are meeting Bayern Munich in Shanghai on 19 July, but playing no one else in the event. So what is the format??
And which side will Alexis being playing for???
The bookies have priced us up as clear favourites for the Europa Cup, at prices varying between 6/1 and 10/1, ahead of AC Milan and Lazio.
There appear to be only about ten teams capable of winning it as it stands, although Spuds will almost certainly join in half way!
It’s a fair enough point but if we’re not
good enough to get in the Top 4 in the
League then we’ve no chance of winning
the Champions League.
Well we haven’t been good enough to win it for nearly 20 years, so we might as well be not good enough and win something as not be good enough and finish third.
Cynic knows.
A huge reason for the final PL positions of Chavski, Spuds and the Bindippers was an absence of European games for two of them and an early exit for Spuds.
If we play our first team in those EL group games with 5/6 away PL games after them against some of the strongest teams in the league, you can kiss goodbye to a PL challenge now, irrespective of who joins or leaves the squad.
If our squad players qualify from the group and we are not in the running for the PL, that’s the point to reassess the strategy but it would be madness either to prioritise the EL or to give it equal weight with the PL challenge.
@134. If you click one more time in the right place on the page you cited, Chris, you get this information:
The International Champions Cup (ICC) is an annual club association football friendly exhibition competition. It features club teams from Europe playing pre-season friendly matches, originally in the United States and Canada, but in the years since also in venues in China, Australia, Mexico and across Europe. The ICC was founded by Relevent Sports, a division of RSE ventures based out of northern New Jersey, a sports venture firm founded in 2012 by billionaire real estate magnate and Miami Dolphins owner Stephen Ross and Matt Higgins, a former executive with the New York Jets.[2][3] It replaced the World Football Challenge, which had featured a more even distribution of European- and American-based sides.[4]
As for the format, I think there is no winner just a series of random games organized by this company, mostly to bring clubs to places the company decides they ought to go.
Or maybe by cities that pay off the company that pay off the clubs who go wherever the bids are biggest.
You are thinking along the right lines, bt8b. Charlie Stillitano, the chairman on Relevent Sports, wants to close off European football competitions to all but the elite clubs and to tear-up the long-established league structures run by national football associations, as that is the way to make more money — or at least for the few to make more money.
https://www.theguardian.com/football/2016/mar/04/champions-league-leicester-relevent-sports-charlie-stillitano
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