Morning all.
In the end, I decided to watch that ridiculous match last night and I’m glad I did. It was fun although I was a bit disgruntled to see both Declan Rice and Bukayo Saka in the starting eleven. They both had really good games though, Rice scored England’s opening goal and Saka went on to score a hat-trick. Post match, our number 7 told the world he’d been fit and had wanted to play more. Another downtick for Tuchel whose tactical decisions throughout the tournament will continue to be scrutinised for a while yet. Now our English players can go off and have a well earned break.
It was good to see William Saliba on his feet and mingling with the players, in fact I thought the game, as well the post match “stuff” showed great respect between two sets of players. M’bappe sulked on the sidelines for a bit but eventually even he joined in with the gathering. No, I’m not reading anything into the conversation and smiles between Bradley Barcola and Bukayo Saka.
Yesterday, news broke that Chelsea had agreed a £118m deal with Aston Villa for Morgan Rogers. I had hoped he’d join Arsenal as the footballing media told he would but for that kind of figure, well, no thanks. I think he’s a very good player but shouldn’t £118m be getting a world class player? Looking at the kind of money which has changed hands so far this summer on signings, it’s clear the English/Premier League market has gone mad. But what about Rogers though, why would he not want to be playing Champions League football next season?
Never mind, what Arsenal do between now and the end of the transfer window matters far more than what the west London club are up to.
Now that the World Cup is into its last day, things should become more clear, especially if Arsenal are looking at Spanish or French players. Or even English players although I cannot think who from the latter. Jude Bellingham perhaps? I jest of course.
Let’s not forget though, whilst we all want to see a couple of top notch players through the door, Ethan Nwaneri and Max Dowman are a year further down the line and both could play a big part in this coming season’s campaign. Christos Tzolis is expected to soon become an Arsenal player, replacing the outgoing Leandro Trossard and in midfield, Myles Lewis-Skelly is quite likely to feature a lot more than he did last season.
Also, Arsenal have a few players they need to move on because to bring players in, spaces need to be created. Gabriel Jesus, Reiss Nelson, Christian Norgaard and Fabio Vieira are all listed within the 26 squad players on Arsenal.com so right now, there’s no room for more.
Lastly, good luck to David Raya, Mikel Merino and Martin Zubimendi for tonight. They might not play but I hope when they return to Arsenal, they do so as World Cup winners. The thought of that ghastly little number 10 in blue and his equally as ghastly teammates lifting the trophy tonight is enough to put me off my breakfast.
Catch up in the comments.
