Tag Archives: She Wore

The dullness is nearly over…

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Morning all.

Transfer window shuts tomorrow. Again.

This time it is the domestic window that shuts. Not sure what the point of the extension was?

Arsenal still have too many non-home grown players. But as do so many other Premier League clubs. It means the likes of Sokratis and Sead Kolasinac will not move out on loan.

The January transfer window opens in less than 11 weeks time. Expect the likes of Shkodran Mustafi, Calum Chambers, Sokratis and Kolasinac to move out on loan then. If they ever get fully fit.

What it basically means is that Arsenal will have to not register 2 non-home grown players. One will be a German that we are no longer mentioning.

The other will be a toss up between Sokratis and Mustafi. Probably all dependant on Mustafi’s injury progress.

Mustafi got the nod in the Europa League, so there are two schools of thought.

The first is that Mustafi is rated higher than Sokratis by Mikel Arteta, so will be resgistered ahead of the Greek.

The other is that Sokratis might be registered in the Premier League, so that they “share” the loads – one on the bench in the league; the other on the bench in the Europa League.

Who knows? And who really cares?

England were typically dull last night.

How Gareth Southgate is taking an exciting bunch of young players, from Jadon Sancho ,Marcus Rashford, Bukayo Saka, Mason Greenwood and more and getting them to play so boring and defensive is beyond me.

Southgate is a boring, bland individual. A safe bet for the FA. And he sets up his team in the same way.

Boring. Bland. Safe.

5 defenders with 2 defensive midfielders is just overkill.

He also clearly has his favourites regardless of form. From Mason Mount to Harry Maguire and Kyle Walker.

Maguire had a stinker and got sent off.

Why Southgate then took off Ainsley Maitland-Niles for Tyrone Mings is baffling.

Surely it would have made more sense to take off Kyle Walker or Reece James, and leave the bloke who actually plays left back at left back – and go into a flat back 4 in the process.

1-nil down and down to 10 mean and Southgate still has his 5 defenders and 2 defensive midfielders on the pitch. He then brings on Jordan Henderson.

Dull as dishwater and it ruined Maitland-Niles’s first start for England.

Good job Gareth.

Just been announced that London is going into lockdown. This means no mixed households indoors and will ruin many peoples plans to watch the football in pubs on Saturday.

Without going too political, the Government is making a mess of this, and whilst its actions might save a few an people from dying of COVID19, thousands more lives will be lost due to the restrictions.

It is easy to say “businesses can be rebuilt” but the lives associated with these businesses collapsing may not be.

Anyway, just be sensible.

Keenos

Most pointless international break in history slowly coming to an end

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Morning All.

Life is really starting to drag isn’t it?

I can handle the bad weather, can handle the COVID19 restrictions, but I can not handle dull as dishwater international windows.

Really. What is the point?

Tomorrow will be England’s 3rd game in the 2 week period. 1 a friendly, the other 2 glorified friendlies in the bollocks that is the Nations League.

The Nations League is an atrocious tournament.

The aim is to get the better teams playing each other more regularly in a competitive environment. The reality is it is just like the “International Champions Cup” that club teams play in during pre-season.

No one will ever really care about winning.

The World Test Championship can go in the same box as well.

Florian Balogun got an assist for England U20s yesterday.

Former Gooner Xavier Amaechi also nabbed himself a goal.

I remember there was a little bit of furore when Amaechi left Arsenal for Hamburg in Germany.

There was no denying he was a top young talent, and many expected him to break through at Arsenal as he came up through our youth ranks. But then he was overtaken by Bukayo Saka.

Saka is now playing regularly in Arsenal’s first team and recently got his 1st cap for the England senior team, whilst Amaechi is in Hamburg’s reserves and playing for England U20s. We backed the right horse.

The England senior team plays tonight and with Ben Chilwell out due to being an idiot and Kieran Trippier injured, it will likely be either Ainsley Maitland-Niles or Saka at left wing back.

At least I will be able to get a little excited over watching some Arsenal boys playing for England tonight, even though Gareth Southgate’s England struggle to excite anyone.

Other Arsenal news is Gabriel being named the clubs player of the month.

He has been very good, and it should be no surprise that he is named player of the month. New signings often win the award in the opening months of the season.

Matteo Guendouzi won it in August 2018 and Sead Kolašinac won it the year before.

It feels like that award might actually be cursed.

Last bit of news is Thomas Partey was pictured with an Arsenal shirt.

Not sure if these are official pictures, or just someone gave him a shirt and took a picture. Regardless, I am excited to see him play for the club.

Only a few more days to go before proper football returns.

We get through this together.

Keenos

England goal machine “invaluable” to Arsenal

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Eddie Nketiah equalled Alan Shearer’s record for the most England U21 goals when he netted against Andorra in midweek.

A bright start to the season for club and country has seen the Arsenal youngster demonstrate why he could be an important player at Emirates Stadium for years to come.

 

Nketiah’s record-equalling strike on international duty is not of great importance in itself. However, it is key in that he has demonstrated a genuine goal-scoring threat at the age of just 21. Granted, many of his international goals have come against opposition far below Premier League level, but you can only play against the team in front of you.

Indeed, Nketiah has made a similar impact at club level for Arsenal after he was recalled from a topsy-turvy loan spell at Leeds on New Year’s Day. In his first appearance under Mikel Arteta, he scored against Bournemouth in the FA Cup Fourth Round with a wonderfully taken strike. In the next round against Portsmouth, the Hale End graduate showed his striker’s instinct once again, nipping in at the near post to squeeze the ball in.

Appearing with regularity in Arteta’s starting XI after lockdown, Nketiah was rewarded for his energetic display at Southampton with a goal when his relentless pressing forced Saints goalkeeper Alex McCarthy into a mistake that left the centre-forward with an open net.

That goal conveys most effectively why he should not be underestimated under the tutelage of Arteta. His desire to do what is instructed of him to help the team to victory is rare in such a young player. Combine that understanding with his poaching ability inside the area and it is easy to see why the Spaniard and his coaching staff rate Nketiah so highly.

Tactically, he is an invaluable asset to Arsenal. In the same way Alexandre Lacazette looks to press from the front, Nketiah buzzes round the field tirelessly, intent and focused on winning the ball back for his side. Arsenal have two strikers who are willing to do the dirty work. This means they are more likely to produce a performance of high intensity for the full 90 minutes, which consequently increases their chances of victory. They struggled to do this last season, drawing as many league games as they won (14).

Goalscoring was another glaring issue for the Gunners last campaign. Arsenal relied far too heavily on skipper Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, who scored 22 of their 56 league goals in 2019/20, their worst goal-scoring record in nearly 25 years. Along with the dynamism that new signing Thomas Partey brings in central midfield, the option to rotate Nketiah and Lacazette should help Arteta as he seeks to ignite Arsenal’s attack.

Thanks to the presence of Nketiah, Arsenal also have the luxury of two goal-scoring number nines, a need their rivals have struggled to fill. Manchester United are paying Edinson Cavani, who arrived at Old Trafford on deadline day to complete a free transfer, around £200,000 per week. Spurs have also found it difficult to find a reliable, ready-made back-up option to Harry Kane. Their latest attempt to find such a player resulted in the signing of Carlos Vinicus on loan from Benfica, who they have an option to buy at the end of the season for £36 million.

If Arteta hadn’t given Nketiah a run in the side, he may have felt the need to add depth up front. However, he has been impressed by the young Englishman’s ability and application to this point and there is, without doubt, more to come from Eddie Nketiah in an Arsenal shirt.

Zac Campbell