Tag Archives: She Wore

Cricket the order of the day for The Arsenal

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Good morning to all and especially good morning to the fantastic September sunshine we have.

With Arsenal not playing until tomorrow – a lunch time trip to Cardiff, today is one of those days where you are often lost as to what to do.

An early start tomorrow means you do not particularly want to spend all day today in the sun drinking. Today is the perhaps a day for sitting watching the cricket in the garden.

Yesterday Moen Ali made a mockery of the England selectors by taking a 5-for. It still baffles me that the selectors caused so much fuss picking Adil Rashid when at test level Ali is the better spinner.

An stylish 40 also makes you question why he was dropped when England have struggled with their batting in the last 12 months.

The dates for the tour of the West Indies tour have just come out for 2019. Anyone who has been on an England away cricket tour, it is something you have to experience.

Yesterday there were three bits of Arsenal news.

The first was the Europa League draw.

A fairly uninspiring draw.

Lisbon in October is a tempter, especially as I realise that I have already got the week booked off work.

Vorskla is in the middle of no where. A 3 and a half hour trip to Kiev followed by a 3 and a half hour train to Poltava. By the time you add getting to Gatwick and changing from plane to train you are looking at 10 hours. Fair play to all those that go.

Then you have Qarabag; as it stands Arse al are advising fans not to book the trip to Baku, Azerbaijan.

Arsenal playing the long game with Qarabag and Baku

With the final being there we need to make it clear that Henrikh Mkhitaryan must be able to play

We bow down to their politics now and we have no choice when it comes to the final

If UEFA force the game to be re-venued, they will have no choice but to do the same if we make the final and Mkhitaryan can’t go

The second bit of news was Reiss Nelson

Firstly the above picture began circulating. Indicating that the rumours during the week about him joining Hoffenheim were true.

A few hours later Arsenal announced that the 18-year old had signed a new long term contract with the club and all parties had got what they wanted.

Finally last night I was at the Emirates for the U23 game against Tottenham.

Using the ground for the Premier League 2 games is a brilliant idea.

With free tickets it enables those who can not afford, or are unable to get to senior games to see The Arsenal at home.

Yesterday there were plenty of dads with their sons and daughters. With fans becoming disillusioned with senior football, I can only see U23 becoming more popular.

Arsenal won 2-1 and missed a penalty. Tottenham has a man sent off near the end of the game.

I was most impressed by young centre back Daniel Ballard.

He was released by the club by Liam Brady as a 14-year old, he was resigned by the club in 2016 under Andres Jonker. Last year he signed a professional contract and captained the squad that made the FA Youth Cup final.

Now 19 I was hugely impressed of his performance yesterday.

So today it is cricket and gardening. Have a good Saturday.

Up The Arsenal

Keenos

We’re all going on a Europa League tour

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Despite it being Europe’s second competition, and the poor “banter” we have received from Spurs fans for not being in the Champions League for the second time this millennium, I ma buzzing for today’s Europa League draw.

As a travelling fan, I became bored of the Champions League. Bored of facing the same old teams. Bayern Munich, AC Milan, Barcelona. Been there, done it.

The competition became predictable, not just in Arsenal’s quarter final exits, with who we would play. Rarely did we get a trip that we had never done.

Then we get into the Europa League last season.

Whilst we revisited Madrid (to face Atletico) and Milan (to face AC), our run to the semi-final threw up some ridiculous trips.

The likes of Moscow (CSKA), Östersunds, Belgrade and Borisov were stars on the map that very had ever visited. Some nightmares to get too, others in the freezing cold and deep snow. The highlight for me was the trip to Cologne not too long before Christmas.

Arsenal might have lost 1-0, but it was a trip where the 90 minutes got in the way of a good trip abroad. It was a top trip with plenty of top people. Hardly any attention seekers or weirdos recording themselves. It was a proper Euro away.

So today it begins again with the Europa League group stage draw. As the highest ranked team, Arsenal are in pot one. But who else can we get?

So who do I fancy?

From Pot 2 a cheeky trip to Celtic is the stand out tie. A train up on the Thursday morning, watch the game, over nighter and then a train back Friday.

Real Betis are the best side in Pot 3, but they are also the side with the most enticing trip. An away game to Seville in September when the temperatures are in the 30s will give a good opportunity for some final beers in the sun before winter draws in.

Finally from pot 4 it has to be Slavia Prague. Prague is a great city, the beer is cheap. That’ll be a top away day.

It is gong to be another great season for the Arsenal away fans in Europe.

Keenos

JW Diaries: Meeting Smudger Part 1

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She Wore had an exclusive interview with ex Arsenal legend Alan Smith in Waterstones, Leadenhall Market last Thursday; Alan was there signing copies of his excellent autobiography Heads Up which details Alan’s start in non-league football through to his heady heights with The Arsenal.

In this first part, Alan spoke of the changes currently happening at the Club:

“I don’t believe anybody expects things to change too quickly. Twenty-Two years under one man (Arsene Wenger) and his methods, it’s a lot to change, a culture becomes ingrained in the Club along with attitudes to a certain extent”

“Emery will want to try to turn that around, he will want to bring in some more of his own players and pick the team on merit rather than reputation”

“What we need to see is a different approach and an improvement to the latter years of Arsene, more determination and organisation against the bigger sides”

“Against Chelsea it was disappointing that we were conceding chances, but at least we were creating quite a lot in the first half. Now we need to put the first two matches to bed; the season starts from here, start winning matches and try to go on a run”

“This season I believe a top four finish would be a great achievement, perhaps win a cup which of course will add to a decent season, but it won’t be easy, we need to have a bit more steel and a team which won’t rollover”

Next week, what Alan had to say about “the honour” of signing for Arsenal.

JW