The Home Nations Punching Above Their Weight?
Oct 8th, 2017 by 'holic
A late afternoon was spent watching England and Scotland, so forgive the international flavour of the blog. I understand well that many are now disenchanted with internationals for the way they interrupt the League season. I was, maybe still am, but I have taken some pleasure in the performance of the home nations in this World Cup qualifying campaign.
Stangely that enthusiasm is less for the land of my birth. They have romped a poor group on paper with eight wins and two draws from their ten matches. The figures hide the fact that we have done so by playing largely functional football and getting moments of luck. Today, for example, the eighth win owed everything to what looked suspiciously like a Dele Alli dive against Lithuania.
I have some sympathy for Gareth Southgate, but not for his insistence that he doesn’t have the number of English players to pick from as most of his predecessors. Go tell that to Gordon Strachan, Michael O’Neill, or Chris Coleman. Scotland were eventually denied a play-off place by an injury time equaliser by Harry Kane at Hampden. Northern Ireland have made it and Wales play the Republic of Ireland tomorrow (Monday) in a fixture that will assure one of them a play-off place at least.
Go tell that to Heimir Hallgrímsson who has taken the Iceland team England fans will remember with a shudder to within a win of topping a group that includes Croatia, Ukraine, and Turkey. Southgate has a number of players that many off his peers would love to have. What we lack is quality, not quantity. What we have is the determination of our supposedly lesser neighbours who ally a work ethic with a willingness to play to their strengths.
Some will point to that qualifying campaign and say we should go with confidence, but whilst I would love us to reach the latter stages of the World Cup at least surely this group of players will not go to Russia with false praise and raised expectations. That might be a benefit. To not have the pressure of a confident nation and press pack behind them may just encourage them to dig deep and aim to prove us wrong. I would honestly love to see that. I’d also love to see Theo Walcott and Jack Wilshere busting a gut to make the plane for we can only benefit as a club from that.
It’s impossible to do a piece on World Cup qualifiers without mentioning Alex Iwobi, scorer of the goal that booked Nigeria’s place at the tournament next summer. He impressed a great deal when somewhat unexpectedly handed a number of matches the season before last. Maybe he too suffered from the raised expectations of Arsenal supporters, including me, when he was trusted to deputise for Mesut Ozil on occasion.
He had some tough times in the second half of last season but surely that was to be expected. It is all part of a young footballers development. Alex has knuckled down, seems to have done something about his stamina, and has bulked up. He has looked back to somewhere close to his best this season and a World Cup to look forward to should lift him further. Let’s hope he is on his way to becoming that player we think he could be.
65 Responses to “The Home Nations Punching Above Their Weight?”
Arsenal News 24/7
Nice post Holic . I watched a very one- sided Slovakia game interspersed with bits of Poland and that was an easy win too. I believe Jack will make the team easily if he stays fit. He is the class act in a field of selling platers.
Theo has been very unlucky at World Cups but is unlikely to get the call unless much changes in his season. I hope we do well but there is a real dearth in quality. Harry Jane is the only one approaching world class and Hart must be jettisoned as we have several goalies better than him.
Success for England would be last 8 but it’s hard to see it happening .
Tough luck on the Scots. They got their mojo back too late in the competition
Evening TTG. Nicely put re selling platers.
Bad news from Germany. Mustafi carried off having pulled up very sharply and hitting the deck. Expect an Arsenal 3 weeks out.
Beating Lithuania with a penalty doesn’t sound much of a win at all for England. But you look at that squad and think it would only be a mid- table Premiership team at best. How many of them would get into the German, Spanish, French or Italian squads let alone start? You could probably count them on the fingers of one hand and still have several fingers to spare.
I wish Mustafi no ill but if we have to nominate someone for s hammy he’s be close to the top of my list. Amazing he gets in the German side
I still can’t believe we paid £35m for Mustafi. After all those years of spending nothing… Still, with junk like Kyle Walker going for £50m thesedays, Wenger was once again ahead of the times, oly this time it was with spunking fortunes on average defenders 😉
cba – Mashup time
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sRlE-aalpX8
Harry Winks had a fair game today, but it was a dull one-sided affair in which anyone could have shone with a bit of effort. So frustrating to see a heap of spuds in the side while our (once) much-heralded Brit pack are nowhere to be seen.
It’s as hard for me to get enthused about England these days as it is for Theo to get into the squad while bench-warming. I find myself following France more closely in these qualifiers.
Mustafi out “for a while”…
If Chambers isn’t back or still turd, we are getting ready for the Mertesacker heroics once again.
International breaks tend to be more awkward by the years.
Sorry, first time poster
But I’ve been following for some months now.
Nice job H, I hope I’m welcome in the cliq
Watching England is like watching Arsenal at times. Loads of hype. Loads of waffle. Clueless people behind the scenes and a team that when you really analyse it, is average at best.
Welcome NG.
Hello NG and congrats on
the World Cup qualification.
Let me welcome you by
disagreeing 🙂
I think we shouldn’t write
off Calum just yet. It is
unlikely anyone has ever
been improved by a year in
Middlesbrough but still it’s
possible and I’d like to see
him in a few games before
he goes anywhere. Though
it does seem Mert and Rob
are ahead of him just now.
Good post. As an Englishman I listened to the Scotland game yesterday. No interest in the England game whatsoever. Will hope to catch some of Wales / Ireland later too ; should be a corker….there should even be an Arsenal player on the pitch !
Nice summary Guvna. Just too wee and wee Gordon agreed tho nasty Nikla disnae. ?
Welcome and congrats NigerianGooner.
Osakamatt and Bath G on T
Thank you for the warm reception.
Osakamatt
Watching Chambers always reminds me of a certain Johann Djourou (spelling?).
Zero composure, limited speed, poor reading of the game.
Nevertheless, I wish him to come good. But Holding has more to his game than Chambers, sorry.
Reminds me of the days of Djourou and Squilacci… #FaceInPalm#, #ShakingMyHead#.
Always was a heart in mouth moment each time opponents go on an attack
Welcome Nigerian. 🙂
Trying to figure out if the Wales-Ireland game is on TV at home or in a bar. Only a few minutes to get that sorted …
Welcome Nigerian. You are not the first from there to contribute, and if you turn out to be another Cent you will make friends here. 🙂
Thank you bt8
How’s Rambo playing if you’re watching the game now?
Thank you Goonerholic
I believe that I’ll make good friends here. Nice job here, please keep it up
It looks like Ireland have scored. The BBC website seems to think so at least.
The Irish Times on the other hand has not reported the goal yet. Hmmm.
The Irish Times has a link from the front page but not from the sports page, it turns out. Who knew?
The Irish Times reports this: “The Ireland end went absolutely beserk when it went in.”
Other newspapers probably reported it as “berserk”
Nigerian, Congratulations on Iwobi and Nigeria qualifying for the World Cup. I hope he can come up with some similarly massive goals for Arsenal.
NG@8: Welcome. No cliques here. Plenty of insanity, insobriety and cba, who defies categorisation, plus, of course, a master barman, but take us as you find us and you will be fine.
arsenal.com ten tricky questions on jack results: 3/10
Bt8 and NBN
Thanks very much.
Three things Iwobi needs to his game
1. Come out of his shell… This I think will be instantaneous if Ozil leaves.
2. Improve his shooting ability.
3. Get more selfish sometimes with the ball… Good attacking players do this sometimes, thereby taking charge and dictating the game.
I hope you have all helped Olivier Giroud by voting his scorpion kick at the fifa Puskas awards?
Spot on about Iwobi’s need to score more goals, and particularly game-winning goals. He has scored only seven in 65 games for the first team. six of which came when we were already ahead, and the other one in a 1-2 defeat.
NG,
Agree with you that Holding
has first shout at the moment.
Although I think Rob and
Calum have gone through
the same thing – bright start,
few mistakes, loss of
confidence. They’re both young
– just see if one or both can
learn from the mistakes and
come through as a regular.
On your later post – already voted
for OG 🙂
I don’t really see why Calum should have suffered a great loss of confidence, other than that torrid second half when Jefferson Montero exposed all his pace-related weaknesses at left back. From what I have seen of him, he has done a creditable job whenever asked to do a job at the centre-half position and the next time he is picked I would not be at all surprised to see us keep a clean sheet. Whenever AW perceives that tactically we need to approach a game in a more defensive way (due to an inexperienced player starting due to an injury to the first choice, for instance) it is not uncommon for us to keep a clean sheet. Which begs the question, Why don’t we approach games like that all of the time?
Or at right back, I should have said. There used to be a number of people, AW included I believe, who said they thought his best position might be defensive midfield but the debate seems to have stopped or put on long-term hiatus. Do people think he can not be a successful centre half?
Giroud hits the bar for France. Of course, that means he is saving up his more accurate headers for the weekend with Arsenal …
In the meantime, Hazard is wasteful by using part of his goal scoring allowance for Belgium and depriving Chelsea of their share.
If only things really did work that way.
And now a Giroud goal for France, if not a wonder strike. Sky Sports describes it as a Belarussian clearance “blocked by Giroud and the ball spins into the bottom corner” and “Slightly fortunate”
But they might also be saying Giroud was doing a good job of “closing them down” (whatever that means). 🙂
“Closing them down” sounds more like a technique used by bank robbers, but that is probably beside the point.
Djourou scores own goal versus Portugal, bringing back memories of when we had to endure his defending on a weekly basis.
I think neither Holding nor Chambers is suited to playing for a high line defending team like Arsenal because both lack pace. However, both could be very successful playing for a defensive team under someone like Mourinho or Pulis. No one can doubt their commitment and against teams which don’t have speedy forwards, I would definitely play them.
Kolasinac substituted at half time in Bosnia WCQ tonight.
Hope we haven’t got another injured player on our hands.
Bt8
bt8 I don’t really see why Calum should have suffered a great loss of confidence, other than that torrid second half when Jefferson Montero exposed all his pace-related weaknesses at left back. From what I have seen of him, he has done a creditable job whenever asked to do a job at the centre-half position and the next time he is picked I would not be at all surprised to see us keep a clean sheet. Whenever AW perceives that tactically we need to approach a game in a more defensive way (due to an inexperienced player starting due to an injury to the first choice, for instance) it is not uncommon for us to keep a clean sheet. Which begs the question, Why don’t we approach games like that all of the time?
I disagree
Check the opening games of this season an last season for the argument
Nigerian, I will take your word for it about Calum’s early season difficulties, having missed the starts of the last two seasons (when I was off the grid) completely including both games against Liverpool. Knowing how many goals we conceded to Liverpool both Augusts though, someone must have been at fault and if Calum showed he is not up to playing centre half in those games my opinion will need adjustment. 🙂
We don’t “approach games like that all of the time” bt8, because the same Arsenal team rarely turns up all of the time.
Calum was originally bought as CB cover for Per despite playing mostly as an RB at the Saints. But soon after his arrival RB became a Hector sinecure which basically left Calum nowhere to go with Kos, Per, Gab, Nach and later Mustafi, Holding and Kalashnikov all ahead of him for a central position and Xhaka, Elneny, Rambo, Coq and Jack contending for the next rank upfield. With Gab gone and several of the rest injured or lacking form I don’t see why he shouldn’t get another chance to prove himself somewhere in the back 5, but second-guessing AW these days is a fraught exercise.
*’for a central position’ should have been ‘for a backline position’.
Chris, Maybe I should have written “more” of the time then, not “all” of the time. If we can keep clean sheets when protecting an inexperienced defender should we not be able to keep clean sheets when playing our first choice defender in that position instead?
Do you think Chambers is any better than Jenkinson at a similar stage of their Arsenal careers?
I’d say much the same, bt8, but maybe a bit slower. However I think he has more promise. How’s that for a bit each way! 😀
So a summer off for Sanchez.
USA out of WC too..
Messi brilliant… Argentina in!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w-NshzYK9y0
…surprising qualifiers! 😀
Wonder if the USA being out of the world cup will be a catalyst for waning interests thus affecting future tv rights and end up causing the transfer bubble to burst.. causing Kroenke to lose interest and offload the club…
😀
USA out of World Cup. Fox Sports execs in USA are on suicide watch.
In our dreams, BB. 😉
Wherever Alexis goes he will turn up fresh and ready to go for the new season. Typical!
But at least Rambo won’t be World-Cupped. Nor any of our famous Brit squad for that matter…
The Swiss out in the play offs
would be handy too.
@49 BB
Positive thinking 🙂
Arsenal’s inability to tie down Alexis and Ozil to new deals shows a serious problem at club
Welcome NG, a brother from another mother.
Maybe I’ve involved myself in too much fiction. I saw most of Arsenal players not going to the WC, not involved in UCL (safe for the second string in the Ropey thingy), we’re winning the EPL and Ropey league with the FA cup(more like our birthright these days) secured.
Can we start the league games please?
Good morning.
Lest I forget, thanks Guv’nor for being a capable and reliable barman.
Re: The brouhaha over the rescheduling of our fixture scheduled for December 23. There is a very easy way to please all parties: Just go ahead and play the game on the 23rd and let the TV networks play the recording at whatever time they prefer on the 24th. They could even play it after the last train has left. Simple solution.
Re: Chris @44. I am inclined to agree that the careers of Chambers and Jenkinson look to be heading along similar trajectories, only Arsenal will have wasted a lot more money on Chambers if he continues to disappoint. It may be too early to write him off yet but Chambers has a critical year or so in front of him to show what he is worth.
Thank you arsenicDaemon
I read Ramsey was piss poor the other night
Still no news on Mustafi?
It’s a sign that the injury is very long term…. Typical Arsenal – always very predictable moves
Hello good folk. Hope you’re all well.
Welcome, NigerianGooner. This, from personal experience, is the best place to be.
Callum Chambers has just extended his contract with the club to 2021. Seems the gaffer rates him after all.
UTA
How strange (in a not strange at all kind of way) that the day after stories come out again that nobody wants Ozil, even on a free, his agent starts talking about how he wants to stay in England for another to or three years.
We should offer him exactly the same as he’s on now and see how keen he is 🙂
I could be wrong but this article:
https://apnews.com/3baab82c8c264d858d899dca69906edd/Hotel-worker-warned-of-shooter-before-Las-Vegas-massacre
makes it sound like the hotel failed to report make a timely report after having been told to tell the police that there was a man firing a rifle inside the hotel. Maybe because it happens in that hotel all of the time????
Sorry for the distraction.
*vows to return to Arsenal-related stuff*
NG@58. It struck me during the Wales-Ireland game that the creativeness of whoever Ramsey is playing alongside makes a big difference to Rambo’s performance. When Bale is there, Ramsey looks like a world-class No 10. The other night he shone brightly for as long as Joe Allen was on the field. But when Allen went off, Ramsey disappeared, only to flicker back into life when Woodburn came on, and then intermittently. It is a big ask of anyone to carry a national team alone, of course, but Ramsey seems to need that second creative talent to feed off. He then makes the sum of the parts greater than the whole.
A little light relief, I hope. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>