It’s now a week since my jaunt through Poland, Slovakia and Hungary, and at last the manic energy of the season has dissipated. I can’t say I didn’t need a break, but then again I did find myself watching England v New Zealand last night. Football is a drug, though watching that ponderous exercise in climate acclimatisation made me want to check into rehab.
**Ah, the Champions League final**
There’s no point in going back over that agonising ending blow by blow — I’ve missed that boat and nobody needs to embark again — but it has got me thinking about Arsenal, and Europe, and for me at least it’s adjusted the dial slightly. The painful truth is that we’ve now lost 5 European finals in a row, four of which were at the death.
Most Arsenal fans of my vintage wanted the league above all else. It’s the ultimate test of endurance, and after 22 years it was increasingly a millstone round our neck. But experiencing the electric atmosphere at the Emirates as we edged to the final, then again at the final itself, made me want the European Cup more than I probably ever have.
Nothing is binary, so it’s never going to be a case of prioritising one over the other. But how I would now like to do the same for our European hoodoo as we just did with our league one.
**Squad building can wait. Or can it.**
A semi-final then a final in the Champions League is progress. But there can be no standing still, and I’m sure there won’t be. Moving for Jeremy Monga shows we’re in for the country’s best youth players, but I expect the bigger transfers will now wait till after the World Cup.
How has Berta’s record been so far? Of the 8 players we signed last year, I think you can only really call Norgaard a mistake, based purely on game time rather than his performances. Kepa at £5m was good backup business, even if he’ll be remembered for one moment only. Both will probably leave after one year. Zubimendi was impressive then overplayed, Hincapie is a warrior and Mossie is a jewel at £13m.
Gyokeres struggled to convince but adapted, remembered how strong he is and ended up our top scorer. Madueke was excellent in the Champions League final but needs to do that far more often, especially at £52m. And Eze is a slice of luxury we all cried out for.
So really, pretty good. I couldn’t tell you what the average % success rate of signings is, but we bulked up our squad and all of them, to varying degrees, helped us win the title.
**The start of the season could be interesting**
Declan Rice will end up having played close to 70 matches this season if England go deep in the World Cup, and there are plenty of other players similarly running on fumes. He and others who go far will need a bare minimum of a month off. If any of our players make it to the final on 19 July, they have just a month until the Premier League starts on 22 August. Our sports scientists will earn their money working out how best to rest them, but I imagine there are a few options:
* You give them a full break then don’t use them at the start of the season
* You give them a shorter break but a fuller pre-season, and hope
* You give them a decent break but very little pre-season, and hope
Option one will be easier if the overall quality of the squad is raised again. But what if we have a huge game in the opening week?
Much will depend on how far our players’ teams get, I suppose. But one thing is true: those disappointed not to be at the World Cup, like Calafiori, Lewis-Skelly and Mosquera, have an excellent opportunity to stake their claims at the beginning of the new season.
Right, onto the World Cup we go.