Mixed Blessings For World Cup Gooners
Jun 18th, 2018 by 'holic
Forgive what will be largely an England biased post even though our lone three lions representative, Danny Welbeck, wasn’t in the starting line-up against Tunisia.
Yesterday’s matches ended in mixed blessings for the Gunners. Mesut Ozil posted some impressive stats but a very ordinary Germany were deservedly beaten by Mexico. Joel Campbell, still technically a Gunner, was also on the wrong end of a defeat as his Costa Rica succumbed to Serbia by the only goal of the game. Happier were Granit Xhaka and Stephan Lichsteiner who both had to put in a shift as Switzerland held fancied Brazil to a 1-1 draw.
And so to tonight, a match that started and ended well for England against a toothless Tunisia.
With barely two minutes on the clock Jesse Lingard was denied an opening goal by the sprawling Tunisian goalkeeper, Hassen. It was a golden opportunity to settle the nerves. It appeared to be a matter of time before the nervous Tunisians cracked. An eleventh minute corner was headed goalwards by Stones, Hassen saved superbly but Harry Kane was left to tap the ball into the gaping goal. The unlucky goalkeeper departed the contest with a shoulder injury.
Coasting through the opening half an hour, England were then rocked when the brainless Kyle Walker swung an arm at a Tunisian attacker in the box and the Colombian referee, Wilmar Roldan, rightly awarded the penalty and booked the City man. Sassi’s excellent spot-kick beat the dive of Jordan Pickford and Tunisia were level against the run of play. Sitting by a window open to the north I’m sure I heard laughter on the wind from 300 miles away.
At the other end it was somewhat surprising that the rugby tackle on Kane didn’t result in a second blatant penalty. As half-time was arriving Lingard had another great chance but his toe poke struck the outside of the post. Gareth Southgate’s half-time talk had probably been changed by that foolishly conceded spot-kick. As the second-half bubbled gently into life Kane was again wrestled to the floor at a corner, again our Columbian friend didn’t see it. Nothing suspicious at all about that.
Midway through the half Southgate sent on his first substitute, Marcus Rashford, for the extremely disappointing Raheem Sterling. Quite how the invisible Dele Alli was still on the pitch at this time was a mystery. He finally made way for Loftus-Cheek with eleven minutes remaining of a tedious second-half.
At least Tunisia’s lack of ambition was penalised in the first of four added minutes by who else but Harry Kane with an unchallenged far post header. For the next few weeks he is an England player, not a Tottenham one. For the next few weeks we will remember he was once one of our own.
Off to suck a lemon.
111 Responses to “Mixed Blessings For World Cup Gooners”
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Bang
Lemons all’round barman. England played a great first 15’ but rolled up into their cocoons thereupon. Only Harry Kane prepared to take his chances.
I must have drifted into a reverie. I heard a commentator’s voice say England had played the finest football of this World Cup. I need to lay off the pickled onions at this late hour.
Nice one Guvna. Lemons are best sucked from the neck of a bottle of Sol, sir.
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Hard to work out what I think. Supporting a team with the three most dishonest players in the PL in Young, Sterling and Alli set against the natural pull you feel for the country of your birth. Kane is a great striker and the two boys who came on livened it up but apart from that only Trippier did particularly well . It’s almost exactly what I expected but the idiot referee was a wild card. I would have been very unhappy if that pen had been given against Arsenal and if we had been denied those two. Keown was right about Walker’s positioning for the pen though. As my abiding memory of Tunisia is a filthy merchant in a soukh in Hammamet telling my 8 year old daughter to ‘ fuck off you little cunt’ and then crapping himself when I threatened ( pre magistracy) to punch his lights out the result left me highly satisfied!
Harsh Ned. For eleven minutes I thought we did too. Shame about the other seventy nine.
Quite, Guv’nor.
TTG @6, what a horrible experience. I do hope that utterly disgusting Tunisian scumbag is an avid supporter of his national team and is in abject misery tonight. He deserves it as you deserve to enjoy this victory.
Understand TTG. My first overseas holiday was to Sousse in 1972. It wasn’t as it is today. Still undeveloped largely. The soukh was quite the experience for a 15 year old boy. I never felt the urge to return as an adult.
3AM kick-off here, which I didn’t wake up for
after the earthquake shenanigans yesterday
but I just watched the recording and England
looked the same old.
Tunisia deserved to lose after leaving the only
England player who can finish standing on his
own in the 6 yard box with 3 minutes to go.
Well 3 Golden oldies with differing memories of Tunisia.
I was in Hammamet in the late 60’s with a mate of mine.
Fabulous holiday,very friendly people.
I met my wife there,i was busy drowning when we first crossed paths,but that’s another story.
Have the Tunisians been “Soussed” then? 😉
I used to go to a great little Tunisian restaurant in New Orleans. Sorry guys. 🙂
http://jamilascafe.com
Nice stuff H. A good victory tonight. Hard fought and a game for me that was crying out for someone like Jack Wilshere. We had a midfield that lacked craft and guile.
Beat Panama, Belgium beat Tunisia and we qualify with a game to go.
So far it’s been a surprisingly enjoyable tournament I must say. Long may it continue.
Is the automatic name fill ever due to return H?
Just wondering.
@14
Agree about Jack.
Tunisia could have done with him in a midfield that lacked guile and craft.
As for England,i thought they played some great football in the first half,and on another day with a bit more luck would have scored half a dozen.
Tunisia just put 10 men behind the ball in the 2nd half which made it very difficult,and combined with the oppressive heat,i thought we did well to keep going and get the goal we deserved to win the game.
From ESPN:
“England’s Raheem Sterling looked particularly bothered by the tiny gnats circling his face before the start of the second half.”
No wonder he missed that chance with the goal gaping.
OsakaMatt. Things appear to be going well for your Japanese brethren. 1-0 up with 6 minutes played and 84 minutes to play against 10 men.
So it turned out bt8 after a twist
and turn. Osp made a couple of
good saves but might not want
to watch the replay of the winner.
Didn’t see game- but not another penalty ! We are getting like rugby!
this one was the stoniest of stone-cold
penalties TTG 🙂
Mad Jens has gone and changed his nickname to Annoyed Jens in the process.
Steve Bould has been kept on but is going to be even more of a token appointment than he already was, as he’ll share assistant coach duties with Enery’s usual number two.
Arsenal will play Sevilla in Stockholm in August. Will we be getting an on-site match report from he of the padded wallet?
Leno has signed, according to his former club.
A match report from Ozil, bt8?
Cynic@24: And according to his new one: https://www.arsenal.com/news/bernd-leno-join-arsenal
The coaching line-up:
First Team Assistant Head Coach, Juan Carlos Carcedo;
First Team Assistant Head Coach, Steve Bould;
First Team Coach, Pablo Villanueva;
Director of High Performance, Darren Burgess;
Strength and Conditioning Coach, Julen Masach;
Goalkeeping Coach, Javi Garcia;
Goalkeeping Coach, Sal Bibbo; and
Data/Video Analyst, Victor Manas.
Not exactly a ringing endorsement of the remaining old guard from Ivan:
I’m also pleased that Steve Bould, Sal Bibbo and Darren Burgess will continue their work with us. As we go through this period of change, we need to retain some continuity and they have an important role to play.
No number allocated to our new goalkeeper yet, I note. I wonder which of the No 1 and No 13 jerseys he is waiting for to come vacant.
Jack off then…
That sounds a bit rude actually….I mean LJW is off…
Gutted Jack is off. I really do think that he could have had a big future still with us. He played 38 games for us last season so his fitness can’t be that bad.
We give contract extensions to Xhaka and Elneny but apparently can’t find a place for Jack?? Then, having pleaded poverty for so long we let a player like that leave for nothing.
Very very disappointed with that. A big shame when you consider the positivity around the club at the moment.
LJW’s statement is classy and honest and suggests very strongly that Emery told him the truth about his likely prospects of playing. That is honest and hopefully Jack was treated with dignity and has a good career somewhere else. Selfishly I’d like that to be outside the EPL but I suspect it will be at West Ham. A few years ago I was convinced he would be the new Liam Brady. In reality he’s not really been the original Jack Wilshere yet because of injuries. Maybe he might have looked after himself better maybe Arsenal bear some responsibility. Whatever it’s done now .
Emery has hard decisions to make and old favourites will be upset. Today we bade farewell to one German keeper and welcomed another. Let’s hope Leno has as good a career for us as Jens did
I’m not surprised Jack is leaving. No player can be guaranteed a first team place and I couldn’t see Jack starting a first team game unless there were several injuries. The game has changed and got a lot quicker and Jack struggles to cover the ground these days. He can still find a pass but lacks the mobility. I can’t see another top six club coming in for him, even at zero cost, which says it all really.
For all those who are wondering this very question, Leno is 1.90m in height, whereas Ospina is 1.83m and Cech is 1.96m so we appear to have split the difference with a slight variance on the tall side.
Re: Cynic @25. Laconic match report writing guaranteed.
I would far rather have sold Elneny and Xhaka and kept Jack.
I must say that I do not get that logic at all.
Good article on our new keepers career to date over on espnfc.
Ned @27
Any info from the Monks on Javi Garcia’s credentials as Goalkeeping Coach. ??
I see our ex Polish fag puffing keeper Woj,had another brain fade in the WC today,costing them at least a point against Senegal.
With Egypt and Colombia losing,it has not been a very auspicious start for most of our boys so far,apart from our Swiss duo.
I’m sympathetic to Steve T’s views. Maybe Arsenal have some medical data which reflects unfavourably on Jack’s ability to sustain the number of games he played last season but he’s a much, much better player than Elneny and has done much more in an Arsenal shirt than Xhaka ever has.
It’s interesting to note that most of the Arsenal transfer conjecture is spot on although we are being linked with a ridiculous number of players. This suggests our deal team are much more focused than their predecessors. I’m giving Emery the benefit of the doubt as I sense he has a clear idea of what he wants to achieve. If Soyuncu joins as well this rather suggests Mustafi will leave and I suspect Ospina will be on his way . I hope Cech stays. He is a good professional and can still get plenty of games. Martinez would seem to have a bleak future though as Macey appears more favoured by the club but we have a new goalkeeping regime now. Incidentally I gave up on Szczesny some time ago and I understand he did not cover himself in glory today just as Ospina might have saved Japan’s second.
My sense is that the club is more tightly organised now and not run on the whim of Arsene which was infallible for many years but less so post Dein .
Clive@37: Javier Garcia was with Emery at PSG and before that at Sevilla, where he consolidated his reputation as the top young Spanish goalkeeping coach as Sevilla won its Europa cups. Between Sevilla and PSG he had a year with Swansea working with Fabianski among others. He started out as an assistant coach at Granada, the last club he played for before hanging up his boots (he was a right back, not a keeper) in 2010 after a modest career decade-long career in La Liga. He then went to the Spanish FA as a coach of coaches and goalkeeping scout before working with Espanyol’s U-21s (he is from Barcelona). Like his boss, he has a reputation for exhaustive opposition analysis, so his keepers are well prepared for matches. He also has a reputation for the thorough examination of his own keepers and methodically developing them through individualised training programmes. Credited with the dramatic improvement of PSG’s Areola last season, which got him into the French national squad. (Interestingly, Areola at 25 is only a year younger than Leno.) Generally spoken of as a consummate professional and genuinely good man, too. Seems to be the real deal.
As the selling clubs seem to be announcing the transfers these days…
Sampdoria’s president Massimo Ferrero says Torreira has left the club for 30 million euros.
So presumably headed our way.
… and would go some way to explaining the timing of Jack announcing his departure.
Torreira wouldn’t be stopping Wilshere from playing, it looks like the new contract for Xhaka was the thing that made his mind up. Torreira is going to be the rock that allows Xakha to stop being a half arsed defensive player and get forward, I guess.
There’s a lot of players fighting for CM and several
options for AM as well. Jack made the right choice
I think and the best of luck to him.
I guess Cech stays for the final year of his contract
and fights it out with Leno this season. If Leno works
out then Cech is off on a free at the end of the season.
Osp and Emi moved on now. I hope the new keeper coach
works out as I can’t remember the last keeper who was
improved for us. They’ve all stood stiller than Cech
facing a penalty.
On the basis of no information, OM, I think Cech might go out on loan for the season and Ospina stay.
The very best of luck to Jack. He is being realistic about his future. There is no doubt that injury has diminished his talent, and Emery is correct in his assessment that Jack is no longer an automatic starter. He is 26 now and still has some years to reestablish his career so I hope that fresh pastures will allow him to do so.
TTG@38: Martinez seems to have been treading water over the past couple of seasons. He hardly got a game on loan at Getafe last season (four starts and 32 games as an unused sub) and wasn’t a regular first choice at his other loan clubs, Sheffield Wednesday, Wolves, Rotherham and Oxford United. He has also faded from the Argentine national squad. Yet he used to be regarded as a terrific prospect. A project for Javi Garcia, perhaps.
I hadn’t thought of that option Ned.
Cech may want guaranteed first
team football and I suppose would be easier
to loan out and is on more money than
Ospina. Both of their contracts expire
at the end of next season but Osp seems
the one more comfortable playing out his
contract as 2nd choice.
I hope Cech stays as he’s better than
Ospina and I’m not convinced about Leno.
But it does seem he’s intended as
the new first choice because we wouldn’t pay
that money simply for a back-up.
Hello fellow gooners!
I must say I’m also thoroughly enjoying this Bizarro World Cup. There are so many unexpected results so far! I imagine the best teams will start displaying their prowess in the next round of games…
OsakaMatt, I hope the earthquake didn’t destroy any of your Arsenal paraphernalia. Japan did well to grab on to 3 points for the first time ever against South American opponents. I really didn’t think they could do it but that’s football for you!
A sad but unsurprising end to LJW’s Arsenal career.
Although as Steve said, Jack played a decent number of games last season, he failed to hit his old heights to dominate the midfield and run the game on any of the occasions on which I saw him and I fear he is yet another of our heroes whose career has been blighted by injury.
Without doubt Emery’s assessment of his future at Arsenal will have been honest but brutal for Jack to hear. I think this decision is the best one for both Jack and the Arsenal.
Good luck, Jack. You deserve it.
‘Sad but unsurprising’ summarises the situation well, Bath. While it’s tempting to remember the LJW of the 2-1 Barcelona game, the Jack of the 0-2 Osterunds game is fresher in the memory and, realistically, is closer to the current level of Jack’s capabilities. I wish him well in all of his future ventures (excepting those when he may be playing against us).
Interesting to see some commentary above on the relatives merits of Jack, Elneny and Xhaka. I recall reading a comment from Clive some time ago which said something along the lines of “Xhaka, Elneny and Mustafi are nothing other than average squad players” and then went on mention the low likelihood of a PL win if these three represent the club’s new recruitment standard. Wise words then, wise words now. It will be interesting to see how many of the remaining three are still with the club one year into the Emery era.
Cannons of Rhetoric,
All was well thanks, some broken glass
and an early wake-up was all the damage,
luckily for us.
Japan were in a bit of disarray the last
few months so I was surprised too, but
they’ve a good chance of making the
last 16 now. Curious to see how they
do against Senegal next.
iBTm
“nothing other than average squad players”
I hope we’re not saying the same about Leno,
Lichtsteiner and Torreira in a years’ time.
I’m usually optimistic about new players
and I suppose we are buying in the right
positions but they just don’t look good
enough to me – time will tell as always.
I disagree with comments about Xhaka and Elneny. Xhaka, in my opinion, is a terrific player and should now become the centre-point for the team. He has a great range of passing, able to pick the ball up from defence and spray passes wherever. He reminds me of Xabi Alonso the way of plays. He is not and never has been a defensive midfielder. With the right kind of skilful highly- mobile players around him such as Ramsey, particularly AMN and hopefully Torreira, we could have a midfield capable of matching and even bettering the rest. Elneny, for me, is the perfect squad player. He comes in, consistently does a good job and sometimes a very good job, and doesn’t complain when he’s not a first team choice. I wish Jack well but I am glad he’s going. I could see him becoming a bit of a problem at the club, had he stayed, with his understandable but unrealistic wish to be a first choice player. It would have been a sore the media would have loved to scratch again and again.
Sad to see Jack leave the club but it seems the right decision for both parties. Jack had several first team chances last season and it became clear by the end of the season that he is probably not going to be the player the arsenal fans and he himself expected to be. Injuries have played a huge part in that I really hope he goes to another league and not the premier league. His game would suit Italy or Spain much more than the rough and tumble of the premier league where he might keep getting kicked to ground. Best of luck to him and it was a joy to see him play for us – especially in his younger days around the 2010-11 season.
Agree with Devon Stu@51 about both Xhaka & Elneny. Xhaka was our most improved player by the end of last season(despite the lazy ‘no coaching here’ narrative) – his positioning and defensive awareness improved considerably. He is also one of our fittest players and started all our games in the league last season. He has rare attributes of a deep lying playmaker and comparisons with Xabi Alonso are accurate. The imminent purchase of Torreira and the contract extension of AMN would ensure he has a player alongside him who provides cover and tackles well. Everything points at Ramsey playing further up the pitch which might reduce the danger he poses with his untracked late runs into the box but will definitely make us better at pressing higher up the pitch. It is going to be interesting and refreshing to see the Arsenal play under new management and with substantial additions and alterations to the team. The world cup might be a blessing in disguise because other top 6 teams’ preparations would be hampered by their players participating in it and might give us that buffer that our new look team needs to gel together in the first month or so.
It has also been refreshing to see early completion of signings and contract renewals from the club. Only time will tell whether the new manager and signings are successful but by taking care of things nice & early in areas outside the pitch, they are giving themselves the best chance to do the business on the pitch. Can’t wait for the new season to start.
Bath and BTM. I must say gents that I don’t totally agree. There were games last season when Jack was poor. There were also games when he was outstanding. Will he reach previous heights? Who knows?
I’m amazed if people think that with the likes of Iwobi, Xhaka and Elneny in the squad that Jack would struggle to get game time? I would love for people to tell me what they see in Xhaka because I really don’t get it. I don’t see that he brings anything of note to a game. Elneny is a squad player at very best.
Unai obviously doesn’t care for Jack so he’s out (no dinero, ay dios
mio)
& he care for Granit and Moh
Jack is probably better player than Granit and better than Elneny
but he’s not better than both of ’em.
and that Lucas T fella is a small but powerful engine
swoosh
tattooed engine i might add
what a player he will be
I wish Jack well, Steve, I wouldn’t have been unhappy if he’d stayed, but I’m struggling to remember the outstanding games.
Stu and Desi are touting Xhaka as the new Alonso. That will be great if it happens. It will also mean that he’ll learn to break down opposition attacks instead of initiating them which will be a big positive for the team.
Bottom line for me is that none of the four you mention CURRENTLY has the talent to elevate our midfield to PL leadership or CL competitiveness.
Spain struggling to contain Iran who are playing as well as they did against Scotland in 1978.
Just saying.
Finding it very tedious at WC so far. Apart from the England game ( which would have been tedious if I hadn’t been English) and the Spain/ Portugal classic its been mundane fare. Goodness knows how mediocre a 48 team competition will be and can you imagine some of tge qualifying games if 48 make it through?
Steve T argues his case well. I thought Jack played superbly against Chelsea in the League but that was his high water mark but I can’t remember a great performance by Xhaka or Elneny in an Arsenal shirt ever.
But I have to back Emery so I will. I think Arsenal believe Wilshere has sustained a serious long- term injury or at least one that will deteriorate relatively quickly. Apparently Wenger told him last year he could leave so it wasn’t just Emery who felt he had a limited amount to offer.
I am enjoying us getting on the front foot on deals, getting most of our targets, not trying to play poker in the last few hours of the transfer window or making huge mistakes in pursuing stars like Higuain, Suarez , Lemar and Alonso . I think Gazidis was probably right that we could expect real change at the club. We are seeing it right before our eyes. But I’d like to see us play before I get too enthusiastic!
During the middle of the season BTM he won more than one man of the match award. I thought at times he looked head and shoulders above everyone else on the pitch.
If Xhaka turns out as good as Alonso then it will be one of the biggest turn arounds in world football. I wouldn’t be at all surprised if he was handed a new contract quite simply because we had no chance of actually selling him. I think we will have exactly the same issues as and when we try and off load Mustafi. We could lose large sums on the pair of them.
Xhakabi Alonso
I’ll bow to your superior recollection capabilities, Steve and drink to the prospect of one of the biggest turnarounds in world football in prospect with Mr Xhaka.
Spain lucky to beat Iran. Without VAR Iranian ‘goal’ would likely have stood.
@61 Ha! 🙂
BtM@49: Xhaka yes; Elneny most probably; Mustafi not so much.
There is a top player in Xhaka if Emery can find a way to get it out of him consistently. He is a superb long passer of the ball which gives us counterattacking options we haven’t had in a long time, and especially if we have wing backs firing on all cylinders, which, Nacho excepted, we didn’t have last season.
I know I take my life in my hands saying it here, but there is also a top defender in Mustafi. Unfortunately, he showed only the briefest glimmers of it last season and too many mistakes. Given the purchases and rumoured purchases of centre backs, I suspect Emery feels it will take too much work to make it worth keeping Mustafi except in the situation where Kos is crocked for good, and then Mustafi will be our only experienced centre back. So he may represent a seasons-worth of insurance against that eventuality.
“Xhaka yes; Elneny most probably; Mustafi not so much.”
and Iwobi not even that much
ballet dancer with his hands all over the place
ugly
What a sad conclusion to Jack’s Arsenal career. It appears he would have taken a wage-cut provided he could be guaranteed playing time, which Emery couldn’t do. I have to say I don’t think our medical staff come out of this smelling of roses; neither does Arsene Wenger who could have shown more care, concern and compassion. I can only hope Jack stays fit and is able to resume his England career.
In all things we have to back Emery, especially as we are signing the right players, and I couldn’t have ever imagined we’d have got four signings agreed before July.
It’s going to be fascinating watching the Arse lineup in the 2 games at the end of July against PSG and Athletico.
Mr Emery will have had the bulk of the squad for a month of pre season training by the time those 2 games are played.
Given there will only be 2 wks before the season kicks off,we will be watching for the first time,the new high pressing version of the Arse that will carry us into the first league game against Man City.
Given the games are only a couple of days apart,will we see a team A in one game and a team B in the other,or a mixture of both.??
With only 2 more friendlies against Chelsea and Sevilla,to fine tune our new strategy, we are facing a big leap into the unknown,both as supporters and players.
Only 51 days to go.
All seems to be proceeding according to plan.
How can the other teams know what to expect if we don’t even know what to expect??
Chiori Johnson seems to be the first of the six youngsters released by the club this summer to find a new club, Bolton Wanderers. Still looking are Marc Bola, Alex Crean, Aaron Eyoma, Ryan Huddart, Hugo Keto and Tafari Moore. Some once highly regarded prospects in that list.
Also three keepers. Jorge Bird has a review of all the keepers on Arsenal’s books at all levels in which he lists our first team No 1 and No 2 for next season as Leno and Ospina and predicts Matt Macey will be promoted to the first team squad as No 3.
https://arsenalyouth.wordpress.com/2018/06/20/how-does-arsenals-academy-goalkeeping-setup-look-following-recent-departures/
Interesting discussion in the bar about the relative merits of our current midfield options.
I concur with Steve that on his day Jack was a better player than either Xhaka or Elneny but those days are gone and BtM is correct that the sadly ineffectual Jack we saw against Ostersunds is the current model and the memories of the Barcelona game (several serious injuries and 5 years ago?) are just that – nice memories.
A new coach with clear ideas how to amend the problems in this Arsenal team is never going to build that team’s new midfield around a much loved but frequently injured player who has failed to make a full recovery from past injuries. Sentiment aside it would be madness. Indeed Gareth Southgate made that very decision for a tournament that will only last, at best, for a few weeks.
Even a year ago AW made the decision that Jack could leave if he could find another club that suited him. He did not. Allegedly Emery told Jack he wanted him to stay but that he would not be central to his plans and therefore no guarantees could be given on game time. Jack himself clearly does not believe that he can force his way into the team on the basis of his own self-belief in his own capabilities (fitness and talent).
It is a shame that Jack’s potential seems to have been blighted by the injuries he has sustained but he is not the first player to experience that, nor will he be the last. He has the potential to play still at the top of the game, though I doubt another top six team will take the gamble. I hope he succeeds wherever he goes and indeed that he does prove me wrong and recovers the magic he once displayed. I fully expect him to give us a bloody nose at some point.
Meanwhile our rebuilding must continue. I expect there will be considerable change in our style of play. Will it be for the better? Or worse? Who knows?
Bath @ 70,
Thanks for an excellent summation of the Wilshere situation. Spot on.
As for comparisons with Xhaka and Elneny, I think they are meaningless as each brings different qualities and depth to the squad.
The days of playing the same (best?) eleven all the time are a thing of the past and if we are to compete as a team on various fronts over a long season then we will need to utilise their different qualities on differing occasions.
UTA.
“Özil is overrated. He has extraordinary abilities, of course, but in big
games, he doesn’t show them on the pitch. Özil’s body language is like
that of a dead frog, it’s pathetic.” – Mario Basler
HOW DARE YOU
Spot on though, SSY.
In other news, Argentina…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z4uivPpzCGo
Sorry to hear that Cesc is returning to London for pre-season training. Excellent thoughtful, lucid, insightful punditry (in his second language) the likes of what we isn’t used to with the usual hoofers.
Top man. Always has been.
Great result for Croatia. I’m quite enjoying
the group stages so far, certainly they’re
less predictable than the dreary CL group
stages. You’d have to be a fairly duff tipster
not to name at least 13 or 14 of the last 16
in the CL every year.
Pity Peru went out so quickly, their game with
Denmark was entertaining and they didn’t
deserve to lose.
Hopefully Costa Rica beat Brazil 2-0 (Campbell,
Neymar o.g.) to shake things up a bit more.
Agree 100% iBTM and OsakaMatt.
The Champions League is the least entertaining competition by some distance.
What a rocket from Xhaka against Serbia to equalise!
serbia been xhaked. wow.
is this going to be a swiss roll?
Shaq so close
Loved Croatia and loving the Serbs and Swiss. If only Xhaka shot that well more often. Great strike! Lichsteiner is a serious competitor. Shaquiri is a snip if the rumoured price tag of £12 million is correct. A bit flakey but a real talent.
Shaq attack
a swiss roll indeed. great run by shaquiri.
did you see lichsteiner? excellent addition to our squad.
Hopefully Emery will give more freedom to shooting outside the box
Shaquiri has a £12m release clause. We don’t really need a player like him , Good though he is but he would be an excellent buy for a Fulham, Palace or West Ham. And you’d be leaving Stoke behind .
You’d think Shaquiri would pay his own release clause to get out of Stoke, TTG.
A young Jack:
https://youtu.be/ITVSdAzBjXY
A taste of what could have been…
If Shaquiri is the standard of player deemed acceptable these days, I’ll hear no more chat about how awful things were with the shit kickers we had in the 80s.
Thank you.
Things not going so well for young Iwobi.
who was dropped.
Must looked good for Nigeria, I wonder
why things went so badly at Leicester.
Not sure what to think about Xhaka’s political point-making after scoring against Serbia yesterday, whereas I was immediately distressed by Ozil’s appearance with Erdogan a few week’s back. Same sense of moral ambiguity as over Guardiola wearing a ribbon in support of imprisoned Catalonian leaders. Never want to be on the side of the oppressors over the oppressed. I am sure Xhaka and Shaquiri will get censured by FIFA regardless, although as FIFA controls the broadcast feeds of World Cup games you wonder why the cameras lingered so long on Xhaka and Shaquiri’s nationalist hand fluttering rather than cut away.
If this is genuine… oh dear.
https://preview.ibb.co/g90YZo/6_F7_E5_DE9_1_FC8_46_C2_B78_E_B3804_EE81_A5_C.jpg
Ozil dropped by Germany!
I’ve enjoyed the Mexico vs South Korea
game, neat football by both but Mexico had the
cutting edge, although the Son goal was a
cracker.
Ned,
I hope neither gets censured – on a human level
I understand Xhaka’s reaction given the family
history and he’s just a guy who’s Dad got locked
up for saying what he thought. I get they’re both
wrong in the wider picture but hopefully FIFA
brush it under the carpet as they’ve been good
at that in the past.
Cynic
I thought Arsenal had decided to drop their magazine next season
It ends in August, so I’m guessing that’s when subs end and they continue production until the end of the subscription period.
If that’s the final issue, it’s a chucklesome way to put the middle finger up to whoever decided to finish it.
OM@93: Trouble is, it is usually the wrong things that FIFA brushes under the carpet.
Brilliantly worked free kick for Germany’s winner and not just Kroos’s shot. The Swedes held their line on the six-yard box — six of them in a line marking zonally, but there were only two Germans there, one near post, one far post. Two more Swedes in the wall and two others marking two Germans back at about 12 yards out. So no forrest of bodies in front of goal for the ball to have to find its way through. The short free kick gave Kroos a better angle on goal for his shot and negated the wall (and was helped by Larsson turning his back on the shot). Gomes, on the near post, did not go for a header though the ball was coming his way but pulled his marker Thelin wider and towards the goal and then away from it, creating a space for the ball to go through behind Thelin’s back, while the four other defenders, with no runner to mark, all stood still on the six-yard line. Olsen, the keeper, did not move from the near post until after the ball crossed the six yard line, presumably because the thought Kroos was aiming for Gomez’s head so he had to cover that. So the ball just sailed though empty space and into the net (no one on the back post, as there never seems to be these days).
It takes some bottle when you are less than a minute from being as good as knocked out of the World Cup in the group round as defending champions to have a last gasp free-kick and put only four attackers within 12 yards of the opposition goal. And then some skill and I would think lots of practice to pull it off. I guess that is why Germany are the world champions.
Swedish player didn’t have to give up the free kick on the edge of the area with seconds left in the game. Germany won’t get so lucky next time.
I’m curious to se what team Loew puts
out next game. He couldn’t be accused
of hesitating to wield the axe this time
but I didn’t think they were actually any
better really.
bt8b: True. But you make your own luck.
Great point Ned. Ronaldo did something similar against Spain. It’s wha5 marks the winners from the losers. I didn’t see Germany in the first game but this is not a side that looks likely to win it. Two or three players are very much below the level of past sides eg Werner
Mexico out-thought Germany in the first game, at least in the first half where time and time again they got into the space behind the very attack-minded German wing-backs, Kimmich and Plattenhardt. You, Clive or I could still track back faster than either of them did when German attacks broke down. The fact that Ozil got back faster than Kimmich for the attack that led to the Mexican goal speaks volumes (though I think Ozil does a lot more of that than he is given credit for).
Werner was the star when Germany won the Confederation Cup and is seen as the pick of the rising generation of German players. Muller has been moved to the right to accommodate him, however, and this seems to have blunted Germany’s usual clinical finishing in front of goal and is not giving Werner the service he needs. It is odd because Muller is versatile and has often played wide and in midfield. It is something Lowe has to sort out.
Panama defenders distracted by the Maguire tussle just before the goal? Great header by Stones in any case.
Some England player may score a ha trick in this game. Given the possibilities at halftime I certainly hope it is Stones.
Hat trick that is. ?
OM: FIFA apparently can’t find its carpet brush. Xhaka and Shaqiri facing a disciplinary inquiry which could result in a two-game ban. And Serbia’s manager facing one for suggesting the referee should be tried at the war crimes court in the Hague. Football as war by other means.
Lichtsteiner also apparently facing a disciplinary but I can;t be arsed to read about it 😀
Yes, depressing stuff indeed Ned.
And deeply sad.
On the other hand, I’m sitting in a
bar in Japan at 2.30am with a large
group of Japan supporters who are
noisily celebrating an enjoyable 2-2
draw with Senegal. And waiting for
the 3AM Poland vs Colombia kick
off to round off a night’s boozing
and get the first morning train home.
So the World Cup can still bring
some old fashioned fun.
🙂
No work tomorrow 🙂
Well done England. Winning at cricket, rugby and football over the same weekend !
Does Ospina ever make a save without being grievously injured? He must be treated three or four times a game.
As for Szczesny he doesn’t appear to have improved any . Not a patch on Bernd Leno….and he doesn’t smoke in the toilet ?
It’s coming home! >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>