Danny Welbeck Will Enjoy A Late Holiday
Jul 8th, 2018 by 'holic
Good morning all, which may or may not be true depending on whether or not you are English or Croatian and currently experiencing the mother of all hangovers. My apologies for the blank week. I have spent it in the garden bar an evening at Lord’s. There is much to catch up on.
On Tuesday three Gunners departed the World Cup. Stephan Lichsteiner and Granit Xhaka began their summer vacation early after Sweden scored the only goal of the match against Switzerland. That evening England sent David Ospina off into the sunset but not before his save from a Henderson penalty had threatened our progress. The only Gunner to remain employed at the tournament was now Danny Welbeck who may or may not have a small part to play in the event that Jamie Vardy does not recover from being gone in the fetlock.
The quarter-finals have taken place over the course of the last 48 hours and have cemented this as one of the best World Cups seen in many a year. France looked to be improving at just the right time as they saw off Uruguay 2-0 with relative comfort. Watching Olivier Giroud’s blossoming partnership with Killian Mbappe just fuels the regret that we didn’t unite them two summers ago.
They will now face their toughest test in the shape of Belgium who saw off Brazil rather more confidently than the 2-1 scoreline would suggest. There is no doubt that the winner of that first semi-final will be the favourite to lift the golden globe next Sunday, but is there to be a sting in the tail?
Forgive me, but for obvious reasons I have to wax lyrical about England’s performance in beating a decent Sweden team 2-0. The first goal was the key. Had Maguire not come up with that commanding header on the half hour, and had Sweden taken the deadlock into the final half an hour, we might have seen a very different ending.
Instead we conjured up a second header from the otherwise anonymous Alli, while at the other end Pickford thoroughly confirmed his manager’s faith in promoting him to England’s number one with a trio of excellent saves. The only regrets on the day were the numerous reports of young drunks, unable to cope with strong sunshine and alcohol, causing criminal damage in an Ikea store, jumping up and down on various vehicles including an ambulance. and generally alienating people here and overseas who may think they are representative of English football supporters today. They are not and we apologise for their stupidity.
Rant over, and we settled down to see if Russia’s dream could lead them to a Moscow semi-final against England. They too struck the first blow when Cheryshev struck home one of the goals of the tournament just past the half hour mark. Unfortunately the lead lasted just eight minutes, Kramaric heading the equaliser from close range.
The second-half stalemate hinted at another potential penalty shoot out, but that seemed to be slipping from the hosts grasp when Vida put the Croatians ahead in the first period of extra time. The Brazilian Russian Fernandes restored the status quo and so the contest would be decided from the penalty spot. What a shame that the man who had earned Russia the opportunity enabled their unfortunate departure by dragging his spot-kick wide of the post.
So it’s France v Belgium on Tuesday, and England v Croatia on Wednesday, to determine the 2018 World Cup finalists. I’ve made no secret of the fact that I have fallen out of love with England’s national team in this century, but have to say that this team of largely workmanlike players with few ‘star’ names has come together under Gareth Southgate, a surprisingly good leader, and have restored a lot of my faith in international football. Forgive me if I don’t give a threepenny bit about who they play for at club level for the next week. Good luck to them in their commendable efforts to bring ‘it’ home, however they fare.
82 Responses to “Danny Welbeck Will Enjoy A Late Holiday”
Well said, guv’nor. I agree with your sentiments, however conflicted they might feel.
Unfortunately, the downside of England winning the cup is that for years ahead the swampdwellers would remind everyone how they won it for us.
From what I have observed, the Belgians look the best team by some way, so we might not have to worry about any boasting.
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Nice summary Holic. Unlike our previous commentator I think Welbeck could be very useful. He has an excellent scoring record for England and from my point of view his strength and pace allied to his aerial ability makes him a way better option than the fairly useless Sterling who can’t finish .
I have been enormously impressed with Pickford , Trippier, Stones and Maguire whilst Henderson has played better than I thought possible. Southgate didn’t impress me at all in preparation wasting caps on Abraham , Solanke etc but he has played a blinder out here. I think we are slight favourites to reach the final then who knows? A World Cup Final? Hard to believe it’s happening
I’m looking forward to seeing Danny score the winning goal in the final when he scuffs the ball home after controlling the ball with his arse and kneecap.
Fine review Guvna. Your boys have done well.
The better team won each quarter final and the semi-finals look very tasty.
Southgate has impressively organised that England defence and built a team spirit I haven’t seen in an England team for a long time. Nonetheless I think they now face a greater challenge than they have had to date and it will be a bigger test of their quality.
Don’t forget the Spud spine in the team (if that’s not a contradiction in terms).
Torriera to sign next week by several accounts. Looks the business.
Haven’t heard many South Americans saying this is one of the best World Cups seen in many a year, ‘holic. A lot depends on your perspective, but I have heard from several people who echo your comments.
Based on their respective semifinal performances one might think England should be favorites to beat Croatia but I wouldn’t want to overestimate in this case when underestimating England has been the wise thing to do for so long. In any case, I will be happy if England go through, even if the odds against their winning the final would be worth a bet on at this point if for no other reason than the opportunity to win a large amount of money.
That does not mean I will have a bet on anybody, which I won’t. 🙂
Excellent stuff H. Couldn’t agree more.
As a proud Englishman I have been both surprised and impressed with our profession. I thought we were very impressive against Sweden. I’m very pleased for Southgate. He has always come across very well and I think he’s done a great job with a young squad. There’s absolutely no reason why we can’t beat Croatia although they will provide a far sterner test than we have faced so far.
I would love to see the side full of Arsenal players but the fact is, the ones we have are not good enough. How Danny has got there I really do not know. However, as previously stated, I would have added Jack to the squad. I’m still far from impressed that he won’t be an Arsenal player next season.
I’ve enjoyed the World Cup as a whole. I think that VAR has been a big success although it clearly needs tinkering with to get it right.
Very much looking forward to the semi finals and hopefully England progressing to the final next Sunday.
Just imagine the likes of Kyle Walker, Dele Alli, John Stones and Raheem Sterling as national heroes.
It’s enough to make you want to watch marbles instead of football.
Thanks all, particularly bath for whom the prospect of England celebrating another World Cup (however unlikely, I admit) must be appalling.
The longer the day has gone, the more scenes of absolute stupidity that pissed idiots unleashed on our streets yesterday. I understand how this must look like to those from outside this country, never mind our shores.
It isn’t a football hooliganism issue. It’s a wider social issue for society today, lad culture. It’s tarnishing what should be a wonderful rare moment of pride in being an England supporter.
True England fans despise the idiots as much as you do.
“Emmanuel Eboue was arrested by police following an allegation of
arson”
Someone from the AFC should help him with some legal advice at least.
H. Incidents of this nature have been going on for years sadly. But you are right, it’s a social problem. Too many as you say that can’t handle a combination of beer and sun and then deem it acceptable to act like savages. I will tell you some horror stories over a far more civilised pint at some stage in the season.
SSY, it definitely wasn’t Arsene. He’s away working for French TV.
🙂
Evening H
Good to see a new post in the bar.
Would have been a pretty barren summer without the WC,which by all accounts has been one of the better ones in recent years.
Quite funny that the too old/slow central striker that we flogged to Chelsea in the Jan transfer window,and who promptly stepped up to win another FA Cup winners medal with them,could well lead France to a WC final if they can overcome Belgium on Tuesday.
God does indeed move in mysterious ways.
On a sadder note,just read about the passing away from a brain tumor,of Alan Gilzean,one of the classier players to grace the Lane back in the day.
Even though he played for the mortal enemy,i always enjoyed watching him play,and would say he is one of the few from that end of the Seven Sisters road,that i would have been happy to see wear the Arsenal shirt.
Good to see you back in the bar Dorset,hope you are earning a shilling or two from the bunny chasers.
Was in Watford to see a band last night and the venue ajoined a pub that was full of England fans who had obviously enjoyed a few sherberts in the day and the atmosphere was….excellent . Fans of different clubs – lots of Watford fans obviously – but all getting along and having a great time.. Shame it was not repeated all over the county reading the above….
RIP Alan Gilzean, scourge of Arsenal, he scored regularly against us when I went to the Lane , and by all accounts a piss- artist extraordinaire!
Looks like we might have two DMs joining tomorrow. That may be it for the purchases. Guendouzi is hopefully a rising star and Torreira looks like a real warrior. I also hear Perez may stay this season .
Thanks H. ?
RIP Alan Gilzean – one of the silkiest wearers of the dark blue number 9 shirt whom I have had the pleasure to watch.
He played for a fine Scottish club too much beloved by one of our number but clearly lost his way when he crossed the border. Nonetheless a fine player.
Here is hoping Guendouzi will be a doozy. To be the first to say it. 🙂
actually i was serious about eboue
just keep laughing
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NIx4mM8zI7c
Didn’t know anything about Guendouzi
before today to be honest but I hope he
turns out as well as Kos who I think was the
last player we got from Lorient.
And if there’s anything in the stories that
Real Sociedad want Nacho we should tell
them to fuck off, politely of course as we
are The Arsenal after all.
Clive@13,
Cheers, Clive. I try not to waste too much money on backing the hounds, having to pay the trainer helps!
Will raise a glass to you all later, when I will be celebrating my birthday with several scoops of Rushmore Gold, our fabulous local summer beer.
Cheers all!
Enjoyed the post, Holic. Hoping fervently for an England WC visit, sorry mis-spelling, WC win (cough). 🙂
Alan Gilzean. My hero. Aged 10. (which was the shirt number he wore, Bath. Alan Cousins was our lethal number 9 at the time). Sadly, it wasn’t possible to buy replica shirts in these days so my mum had to knit me mine. She could plain and pearl the number 10 though, so only I knew I was Gillie when I played at Low Road Park in Auchterchoochty.
Having won the Scottish First Division in 1961/62 with Gillie’s goals making a crucial contribution, the Dark Blues welcomed the Bundesliga champions of that year, Cologne, to Dens Park for the opening game of the 62/63 European Cup and thumped them 8-1. Golden days. Golden Gillie.
RIP.
Happy birthday Mick.
Forever Young mate.
Forever Young.
????
Afternoon all,
Many happy ones Mick. Enjoy that Rushmore Gold.
My memories of Gilzean are mainly his battering of our goalkeepers down the years, and particularly Bob Wilson. Nonetheless his partnerships with Greaves and Chivers were a feature of Spurs in the 60s and 70s and my thoughts are with his family.
Little Jacky Paper has signed for West Ham.
I thought Bournemouth were a better side playing without Wilshere than they were with him.
Shows what I know, you might say, but the table won’t disagree with me.
Best of luck to Jack at Wham.
May his ankles be fine and his
only poor games against us.
Be quite a few joining new clubs
in the coming weeks I guess. Jenks,
Joel, Perez, Osp, Akpom at least
and then decisions to be made on
Aaron and Danny. I wonder how the
CB situation will be sorted out too.
Bob Wilson forgave him eventually. At that time the Spurs and Arsenal players use to drink together in Southgate. Hard to imagine that now. Frank Mclintock’s son even became a Spurs season- ticket holder !
I guess I’m one of the few but it did not sit well with me seeing LJW being introduced as a West Ham player. I still think he could have had a very big future as an Arsenal player. I wish him all the best but it really doesn’t sit well with me. Time will tell I guess but my immediate reaction is that we’ve made a big mistake.
I see that LJW has signed for Wet Spam. That always seemed his likeliest bolt hole as I really couldn’t see him enjoying the cosmopolitan delights of Serie A or the Turkish league.
Good luck wee man. I hope the cloggers target your ankles less than they did when you played for us. Thanks for some fine performances for the Gunners and one of the best goals I’ve ever cheered.
Cheers H! Fine post.
And cheers for retweeting that stuff about ‘wall fans raising the money to get the Ambulance repaired. Hopefully restored a bit of your faith.
I know a few LWC’s, all of the non-knuckle dragging variety (family a lot of them!). To a man (and woman – Auntie Mary RIP!) they used to wax lyrical about Gilzean. Pretty sure we nicked the Brady chant – ‘born is the king of Highbury’, from their, “….king of WHL’ version. Maybe wrong on that, but no doubt he was a very able and important player for any team he was a member of.
Nether the less;
Up the Arse and Fuck Off you sp*rz.
Nice one, Guv’nor.
I think this is only held to be an excellent World Cup because the results are turning out so unexpectedly. Much of the football is meh! You could have got long odds on the semi-finalists being France, Belgium, Croatia and England. Only two of the top 10 Fifa ranked nations.
Jack to West Ham? Rather shows the limitations of his ambition, in my book.
Will be very interesting to see Emery’s starting XI, especially the midfield if we land Torreira, and he is the anchor midfielder. Emery likes to play 4-3-3 so we’ll need two box to box midfielders either side of him; perm two from Elneny, Maitland-Niles, Ramsey and Xhaka. Ahead of them Mkhitaryan, Ozil and Aubameyang, which puts Welbeck, Lacazette, Perez, Iwobi, Campbell and Akpom on the bench or out on loan. And what of Eddie Nketiah and Reiss Nelson, neither of whom have been promoted to the first team?
Given Jack’s family are all Hammers supporters,it’s absolutely no surprise that that is where he has chosen to go.
Given his wife is also an East end girl,with close family ties in the area,i think if Jack did entertain any thoughts of going to the Turkish league or to Serie A,i think his better half would have told him in no uncertain terms he would have been going on his own. !!
Having said that,good luck to him,never quite scaled the heights that the supporters hoped he might,mainly due to injuries,and given he is still relatively young,hopefully he can have a good spell at the Hammers and stay injury free.
If you enjoy reading good interviews and want to understand Unai Emery better , read this interview. I wish we had this depth and clarity of insight in our sports press. It tells us much about the sort of man he is
http://7amkickoff.com/index.php/2018/07/09/the-full-english-translation-of-marti-perarnaus-interview-with-new-arsenal-boss-unai-emery/
Fascinating read TTG
Having read that from start to finish, i believe our Club is in very very good hands off and on the pitch.
Notwithstanding that the players buy into the journey of course,and that they are intelligent enough to put the new mangers tactical plans into action.
Stepping into the unknown for the first time in many years,and 2 cracking games to start the season and the revolution.
Thanks a mil TTG @33 above. Very insightful.
After reading the article, I feel like I should watch the 4 PSG/Barca & PSG/Real Madrid Champions League games from the last 2 seasons + perhaps 1 of the Seville games from Europa league finals.
Excited and giddy.
Question to you guy. If you were asked to make a decision of which player to buy – Xherdan Shaqiri (26 years old) @>20Mil & Riyad Mahrez (27 years old) @60 Mil. Who would you buy for Arsenal?
TTG@33: Tks for that link. Excellent read. Very insightful about Emery, and reinforces the wisdom of his appointment. I don’t think he will have to adapt greatly to his new club, although I do wonder who he regards as the ‘leader of the group’ at Arsenal.
Not only does the UK sports press not deliver such pieces any more, I doubt there are many UK managers who would be so thoughtful and articulate about their work.
@ 36, I’d bank the money and wait until someone decent came on the market at the right price, rather than chuck money at one of two average players, at least one of which has a shit attitude.
TTG@33, thanks for pointing out that superb article that gives an insight into Unai Emery the man and his coaching philosophies.
I have been an occasional visitor to 7am’s site over the years – like Holic’s establishment, it is a site with well written analyses and intelligent comment – and I have hitherto looked forward to his, now discontinued, weekly analyses on arseblog. I will visit it more often.
Back to the article, there are a great many interesting observations. Reading it, I am even more convinced that Emery is an excellent appointment and has the intelligence and skillset to give himself an excellent chance of building on Wenger’s achievements at Arsenal (accepting that nothing can be guaranteed and many circumstances can confound the best plans (c.f. Arsenal 2006 -2018)).
Welbeck is in the same position as Ramsey in having under 12 months to run on his contract. What’s Emery’s plan? This comment from the article may well be a clue ?:
“Now, as Guardiola says, if you have to win with a goalkeeper’s long pass to the striker and he scores with his butt, let’s do it also. I also train that, of course.”
Thank you very much TTG for posting that very insightful interview with Emery. I found this part particularly interesting as it shows real depth in his thinking:
“… coaching is very, very, very hard. And going on from there, coaching top-class players is even a bit harder. Why? Because being convincing is the key characteristic that you need for coaching: making players believe in you. Making them believe because you know a lot or because you have many victories with your name, or because you are really strong, or because your presence entails respect, or because what you say always happens… for any reason. Making them believe in you. And in the big teams, players are expecting just that: that the coach is always right. In a smaller team, the players expect that, but are more conscious that there is a bigger margin of error, that you lose a bit more. In a big team, you have to get every detail right: at training, at planning, in what you say and who you say it to. Everything gets a little bit more difficult. Maybe from the outside it can look that you have to work less, but no, it’s the other way around. You have to say the right things in the right moment, and make it help to win the match.”
Time for…
“garra charrua” is my middle name
I am just waiting for a flight back from that excellent place , Dublin, fortified by a pint of Guinness. I read Torreira and Guendouzi have signed although only a bungled video on social media has announced the latter! One of my companions today was a Parisian. Much banter about the WC obviously but he also feels that Emery was undone by the signing of Neymar who did entirely his own thing, upset club morale and was far too dominant at PSG. He believes he is an excellent manager and is interested to see how he does at Arsenal. He thinks he could do very well indeed
Tapera
I would sign Mahrez. He’s much more consistent and has a very high level at his best
100m for Ronald. Juventus must think
he can win them the CL.
RM will be in the market for a replacement.
France moves on; will be a very tough out on Sunday. HFB not scoring goals but working his butt off and all the little things a target man needs to do.
Bayonne Jean, I would remind you that this France team is filled with HFB’s (except for Lloris of course). 😉
Agreed that he is an important cog in the French machine.
OM@45: Isn’t Eden Hazard pencilled in as Ronaldo’s replacement at RM, though on the basis of today’s WC semi, Mbeppe would be the better buy.
Quite a performance from France today to shut down Hazard and De Bruyne. They will take some beating on Sunday.
Torreira signing official:
https://www.arsenal.com/news/lucas-torreira-join-arsenal
He will get the No 11 shirt, which means Ozil gets Jack’s 10.
In other shirt news:
Cech keeps No 1 and Leno get the No 19 vacated by Santi.
@45 & 48
How do you replace someone who to me is irreplaceable.
With the number of goals he scores every season,you would have to buy 3 players to replace him.
How many Titles have Arsenal won since Henry left. ??
Auba for me is the first genuine top line striker we have had since then.
I don’t count RVP because he spent half his career with us on the treatment table,and with Eduardo we never got the chance to find out,and nobody else comes close.
Be very interesting to see what Madrid do in the summer.
Good to see Torreira over the line, and unlike some of the delicate flowers who seem to get injured at the drop of a hat,i note that our new man has only missed 5 games in the past 2 seasons.
For those interested,there is an excellent in depth breakdown on Torreira’s attributes over on Arseblog.
Looks like we have picked up a gem,and at only 22 we have a 10yr career in the red and white to look forward to.
Clive@53: Thanks for the heads-up on the Torreira analysis. Not much to dislike in this description of him: energy to burn, efficient passer, great tackler, small but deceptively strong and schooled in the Uruguayan school of shithousery . Agree with you 100% about his potential. Ten-year playing careers are a rarity these days, though. There is only one player at the Arsenal who has been in the team for that long (and then only by 11 days), Aaron Ramsey.
Oops. Italics went awry there.
Clive@53: Thanks for the heads-up on the Torreira analysis. Not much to dislike in this description of him:
energy to burn, efficient passer, great tackler, small but deceptively strong and schooled in the Uruguayan school of shithousery .
Agree with you 100% about his potential.
Ten-year playing careers are a rarity these days, though. There is only one player at the Arsenal who has been in the team for that long (and then only by 11 days), Aaron Ramsey.
I’m back again!!
Who missed me? I’m glad Torreira has signed on the dotted line.
I’m still confused about the interest in Nzonzi though
I hope we can get a decent left footed right winger. Now Juve have splashed the cash, can we get Douglas Costa for £40 million?
However, if we can get Martial and Malcolm for a combined sum of about £100 million, that would be a shrewd piece of business. They’d be here for long with high ceiling.
Thinking of what Sane did to Bellerin gives me nightmares. Proper wide men is needed to unlock defenses.
On a side note, missing you guys for long is never an intention.
Life in Nigeria is cruel. Wouldn’t mins jetting outta here at the slightest opportunity.
However, if you really miss the Nigerian flavour? A crowd funding wouldn’t be bad for me… hahahaha
Up the Arsenal!
I’m extremely impressed by the way in which we have gone about our business this summer . I’ve hoped for years we could get the squad set up for the new season in good time but it’s always been a case of brinkmanship, often unsuccessful and one suspects that there was a lot of indecision behind the scenes . In fact I’m certain there was. Last year, the year we only signed Cech, the year we started the season with a team that lost 8-2 at Old Trafford and then signed five players in a couple of days a couple of whom should never have been near the club. I would have thought you want to do deals cleanly and crisply as early as possible. Arsene always likened it to a game of poker but this close season shows it doesn’t have to be like that.
It reminds me of the 2001-2002 close season when we signed Jeffers, Van Bronckhorst, Sol Campbell, Richard Wright and Inamoto in good time for the new season. Not all of those deals worked out well, in fact only Sol was a real success but guess what…we did the double that season!
Our new regime have started very effectively in the last two windows. Let’s hope Unai can turn them into a team
Nigerian Gooner- good to have you back! Costa is a great shout. Personally I’d flog Mustafi and get a better centre back. Hopefully the sales of peripheral players might be enough to buy Costa who must be affected by the Ronaldo move. But we won’t be splashing much more cash unless Ramsey leaves
Back after a hiatus and i am going to start with a dampener about that Unai interview, it has too much reference to Pep and i don’t like that one bit. Of course, pep is probably the referral point right now in the world when it comes to managers but i just don’t like him at all. Anyways, Unai does come across as being extremely self-critical and obsessed to win, traits of a very good manager.
Our signings have been very good, we won’t buy a left-sided winger unless we sell Welbeck which i don’t foresee. Mustafi sell or keep is a dilemma but i would say sell provided we get a soyencu or benatia.
Finally about its coming home thing, i understand how big it will be for England and totally respect the emotions behind it but honestly, it’s getting annoying this coming home thing. Must admit this is their best chance ever to win it though, Croatia are tired and France notoriously failed in the euro finals, so this is it for the English. The reason i am annoyed about the coming home stuff is the absolute fest it will lead to, ex- world cup winner deli ali passed it to golden boot winner kane who then squares it to best right back in the world walker who taps it in—— you get it right, oh lord.
Clive@53,
I particularly enjoyed Phil Costa’s analysis of Torreira, that he is “schooled in the Uruguayan school of shithousery”.
We really needed someone like this to show the rest of the squad what is sometimes needed to help the team win.
nk you TTG
Selling our fringe players can fund a left footed winger for our right wing. If Costa is to cost more than £40 million at 28 years old, I’d rather take a punt on Malcolm. Unless Emery sees his compatriot, Lucas Perez as a solution in the interim.
Players I’d sell include
Ospina £5m
Jenkinson- Auction
Holding (loan) £1m
Mavropanos (loan, once Koscielny is back) £1m
Elneny (If Nzonzi is coming in) £10m
Welbeck £15m
Akpom- Auction
Perez (If Malcolm or Costa is coming in) – £10m
That’s about £40m
People want shot of Mustafi, I doubt it will happen. He’ll be the one to help Sokratis settle (German speakers). Mavropanos (Greek), as a kid might not do that well.
Same way Xhaka will help Liechestener (spelling??).
Ned @ 54 & 55,
Shithousery is an admirable trait when it is your side, no?
It’s coming home.
That is all.
Pigeons to roost?
England score early!!
***Realises he watched the first half without benefit of beer and peanuts and rushes to correct the situation.***
Hey, ‘holic. 🙂
Almost
Holic will almost certainly cover this defeat in his brilliant and very measured way. England lost tonight , I thought deservedly over 120 minutes but had they sustained their great start they might have won.
But no English fan expected as much as this before the tournament started and given the age group success we have had the future for England is bright…..but this was a wonderful opportunity. I wonder if Harry Kane is starting to wonder if he will ever win anything.
Err.. The Golden Boot?
Unless Lukaku does something extraordinary in the last game.
Start The League Already…
Up The Arse.
England very spursy after all that.
Third place match to feature B sides, just like any preseason friendly.
On the bright side, we won’t have a load of Spurs and Manc knobbers put on a pedestal until the end of time.
Bummer. Fantastic accomplishment to reach the semis. Otherwise what TTG said at 70.
Midfield was ‘our’ weakness tonight. Maitland-Niles should rectify that in four years.
Good run.
Totally agree Cynic. Up the Arse!
Interesting comments form Emery regarding our new young signing Guendouzi.
” He will be an important member of our first team squad ”
At this rate there will be few nervy players before the final squad of 25 is announced.
What TTG said @70. Modric was a big difference. England lacked and such creativity in midfield once the early spate of long balls for Sterling to sprint after was done. Ali seemed anonymous and Kane lacked service; England had only two shots on target all game. The defence played well apart from two lapses, but that is a couple too many at this level.
Some further investigation is warranted, but the stats seem to show that Guendouzi has just one assist and no goals in his 30 games for L’Orient, which is a remarkably meagre return for a central midfielder. He has scored for the French U-20 and U-19 sides, though.
So having spurned two opportunities to finish Croatia off in the first half when they were rocking, England finally ‘Spursed it up’.
I wonder why that might have happened?
Well done Gareth Southgate, a likeable and dignified leader who took this creator-free team further than reasonable people expected.
I understand why LJW wasn’t selected but when you have a midfield of Henderson and two runners, you do have to rely on set pieces to score. In truth, England got further than their talent would have led one to expect.
Time for the real football now.
Remarkable random stat: When England won the World Cup in 1966, Alf Ramsey, at 46, was more than year younger that Gareth Southgate is today. Would never believe it from looking at the photographs.
Any truth to the rumour that Croatia manager Dalic’s only message to his side at halftime was “Lads, it’s Tottenham…” ?
Evening all. I’m on a live ABW transfer special tonight. Keep your eyes peeled on Twitter if you are interested.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>