Well last night went how most of us predicted. It was all a little Spursy.
Hopefully by the end of this week, Gareth Southgate has done the right thing and announces he is stepping down to allow someone new to take over this England time.
it is quite clear that this England team has outgrown their defensive manager. No longer should we be looking to scrape through tournaments, beating lowly ranked teams, to then go out to our only decent opponent. Southgate is unable to get the best out of the attacking riches we have available.
Let him graciously step aside. Thank him and wish him well. then we move on.
As for the game being on a Sunday night, this is a disgrace. The game so late last night ended up losing its lack of community.
Everyone had been hanging around all day waiting for kick of. By the time the game started, everyone was lethargic, kids were falling asleep, and wives were looking at their watches itching to go home. Finals should be held on a Saturday.
Apparently, it was held so late last night due to the “American and Asian market”. But this was the EUROPEAN Championships. You do not get Eurovision held late on a Sunday.
And one big reason the NFL has never really taken across around Europe is because the Super Bowl is held so late on a Sunday. No one wants to be watching a major sporting event at a time when they want to be unwinding from a weekend and preparing for a week at work.
With both the Euro’s and Copa America now over, we turn our full focus back on The Arsenal.
Our first proper friendly is in 10-days against Bournemouth on some field in America. it will be interesting to see what sort of squad we send out.
After an international tournament, we usually see players get around 3-weeks off. By the time we play Bournemouth, everyone except for our English, Spanish and French contingent would have had at least 20-days off.
Ramsdale, Raya, Saliba, Rice, and Saka are our only players who were still involved in International football beyond 6 July.
For Bournemouth, I expect the team to be all those who did not travel to Germany or America for their countries, whilst Manchester United might see cameos from some of those who were knocked out early or saw little game time.
The Liverpool match is probably the game where every bar the 6 mentioned above will see some action. That would have given most of the squad their 3 week break and a weeks training.
It will not be until the friendlies in London that we see the likes of Saka and Rice. they will be given a proper rest with Mikel Arteta knowing he has a long season ahead.
One thing that is always interesting about these pre-season tournaments is the balance between Arteta wanting to give his players a rest, and the pressure from above for him to play his best players due to the money involved. There will be a lot of unhappy Yanks who have paid a lot of money if they do not get to see Saka, Martinelli, Rice, etc.
This week I expect to see us begin confirming departures. That then frees up the squad places for us to make some signings.
Have a good Monday!
Keenos
She Wore A Yellow Ribbon 