It’s 745 in New York, I’m at the airport thinking about my UK brethren that woke up at 730am this morning and immediately started sinking pints. What a beautiful mess my home country is going to be today, I am gutted I won’t be there for the shame. I’ve never seen England in a final of a competition and I’m nearly 30. Quite wild.
The mural image in the picture was sent to me by Paul (check out his awesome Instagram), what a moment it’s going to be for a player that has truly blown-up onto the world stage in this tournament. He’s one of ours, there’s a small chance he starts tonight, what an unbelievable experience for him. He has everything, he’s a straight-A student, god-fearing, extremely humble, and everyone who works with him seems to love him. It is such a treat that Arsenal has a player with his technical gifts. Someone is going to need to give Jack Grealish break-up counselling when this is all over… the bromance is strong.
The game tonight is the one everyone wanted to see. The Italian’s have been sensational for the most part of it. Direct, fast, aggressive and spectacular at times. Roberto Mancini has put himself back on the map, he’s reinvented Italian football, but this is where the journey has to end.
Gareth Southgate has been on a similar journey. No one believed in him, but he reinvented the way English people look at football. He didn’t answer the question: How can I put all the shiny pieces in the same side. He built a team that could do the job. We control games, we’re patient, we knock the ball around like Spain when we want to, and we have the class to finish games at any point. We’ve conceded one goal all tournament with Jordan Pickford in goal. That is so impressive.
I really hope we can win it at Wembley. My first big football memory was that Germany semi-final way back when. My first non-Arsenal game was Turkey vs Wembley with my uncle in the early 90s. To go back to there with the man that missed the important spot-kick and win would really be a story for the ages.
It’ll be a tough game though, Italy are deadly all over the pitch. This game though is the one we all wanted. I have no idea what is going to happen, let’s just hope it’s a cracker and we’re lifting the trophy come the end of the game.
Also… those people that put on Twitter, ‘I’m English, but I really struggle to support our country’ need to get in the bin. I don’t mean to be childish, but you don’t have friends if you are writing things like that on the internet.
Onto a bit of Arsenal.
The James Maddison rumours are revving up to white-hot. The ITK rumour mill has Arsenal offering him a shit ton of money. The whispers I’m hearing are that the player wants the move, Leicester absolutely do not want to sell, and the fee will have to hit £70m.
YIKES.
Will this be like buying property in London? Extremely hard to swallow, but long-term, the right move. Or will it be like buying a timeshare to Monte Carlo from Gary down the Masons? Painful and more painful.
It’s an interesting move. Leicester were a top 4 side pushing for the title until Maddison picked up an injury. He’s created the 2nd most chances in the league behind KDB since he made his debut in 2018. He immediately addresses our creativity problem. There’s a lot of chat that his open play creativity doesn’t really match up to the big dogs, which is a fair call… but one of our biggest challenges last season was creating from setpieces. If you have someone that can provide like Beckham, you are in a great place. I don’t think there’s any way around it, he’s a very good player we lack, he’s in the top percentile categories you want him to be in, and he’s been very specifically working on the goals side of his game.
£70m is well expensive though.
Still, you have to thumb through what Arsenal are trying to do here… they’re trying to shortcut top 4 again, but this time with a younger profile of player. Maddison is 24-years-old, he’s on the verge of elite, and he’ll 100% hit the ground running. If you are calling Arteta a bum, that means you have no time for him to blood players, this is what you should be smiling about.
There’s the other side of the coin if you want to take more of a risk. Houssem Auouar for £25m seems like an absolute steal. He’s bossed Champions League knockout stages at 20 years old, he is technically outrageous, and he could be world class within a couple of seasons. But… there’s no guarantee he hits the ground running, there are worries about his attitude, and he wasn’t great last season. He feels very Samir Nasri to me, gifted, but a little unpredictable knowing what you’re going to get.
Again, who knows where this is going, but if we’re tapping up Maddison, I refuse to believe someone hasn’t said, ‘Arsenal, he’s going to be fucking expensive.’
I salute the ambition.
Arsenal are going big with the spine, padding out the squad with well-scouted youngsters, with the hope that these additions make the rest of our players infinitely better.
Imagine an attacking line-up with Maddison, ESR, Saka, and Auba. I mean, that is very, very sexy.
Next up should be Lokonga if the media is to be believed. He’s out of isolation and the paperwork is done. Another sharp siging if it works out. I like that Arteta has been getting intel from Vincent Kompany on the player. You know that not only will he get a talent read, he’ll be getting the character download, which I think is just as important based on some of our recent experiences.
Right, enjoy the game, stay safe, don’t put anything on the internet you’ll regret. Do NOT be that meme of the naked guy crowd surfing.
See you in the comments. x
Donnarumma at 22yo out of contract valued at €60m. So why not go after him as Leno upgrade?
Chiesa also valued circa €60m, 23yo, why not?? However ways it looks, defo better values for £50m!
England invented football, but it’s other nations who perfected the art form English fans sing about bringing the biggest trophies back to the home of football, fans of other countries take great pleasure in preventing that These types of rivalries is what creates atmospheres at football games, and as we’ve just seen first hand, football becomes bland without fans and the match day experience We have a legal system in this country, and when people break laws, and ruin occasions for other people, they should be punished to the full extend of those laws But take booing and cheering out… Read more »
Sid
Your Sister in law is a dentist and a hairdresser? Odd mix.
With 60m we should be able to get Martinez from Villa
Sid we don’t need to pay 50m just a hefty sign on bonus to Donnarumma even in the form of waged. Say, 30m over a 5 year contract. That’s 120k pw plus normal wages, say, 100k pw. It’s 220k pw and way below de gea
Donarumma has already agreed to sign for PSG. They are upgrading on Navas. This talk is unnecessary. Even if we had offered a contract, there was no way he wa going to choose us over PSG.
I hope once the dust settles, people will look back on this tournament as a success for England and Southgate. They did incredibly well to reach the final and were not beaten by Italy; it is what it is, penalties can always go either way. No manager gets everything right, but I think Southgate handled the tournament extremely well. I think the experience will prepare them well for next year. It’s a relatively young team and I fully expect them to be even better next time around. Same can be said for Germany, Spain and Italy, though – a few… Read more »
“Your Sister in law is a dentist and a hairdresser? Odd mix“
Not really, she works in a funeral parlour.
Moray
In that case I really don’t want to see the rest of her CV.
Rich and his daily libertarian lecture
No one said to stop booing at football games. The point is that there are many cultures different from yours and some consider booing a national item to be boorish and demeaning.
That’s all, by all means boo as is your right but he man enough to take the consequences should the powers that be decide it’s wrong
If England ever play China in Shanghai, travel to China and boo the Chinese anthem, see if they act like it’s all banter.
It’s not monoculturalism, is it?
Davi, I’m not sure a final spot was a great result for England, so much as the minimum attainable. They had a lot of advantages through the tournament: for example they played mostly home games and they also got to play non elite sides all the way through. The one real challenge they faced was Italy and ultimately they failed (though the first half was excellent). It’s unlikely England will get the run of the green like this again for many years. What should bolster them for the future is the fact that they have some very good young players… Read more »
DissenterJuly 12, 2021 13:42:22 Rich and his daily libertarian lecture No one said to stop booing at football games. The point is that there are many cultures different from yours and some consider booing a national item to be boorish and demeaning.That’s all, by all means boo as is your right but he man enough to take the consequences should the powers that be decide it’s wrong If England ever play China in Shanghai, travel to China and boo the Chinese anthem, see if they act like it’s all banter. It’s not monoculturalism, is it? —– Just knew Rich would… Read more »
England had a squad with talent like no one else. It was left to the Manager to set out his team fitting into his available talents. Instead the pedant tried to shoehorn into his scared ethos.
Time people realise that under performance is down to the Manager and stop getting swayed by planted leaks of the management to pliant journos to propagate their excuses.
If England failed with the best talent ever time to change the manager . Give a chance to someone more capable to win the WC
SA ””””’Time people realise that under performance is down to the Manager and stop getting swayed by planted leaks of the management to pliant journos to propagate their excuses.””””” Wonderful. Mancini didn’t clap the British nurses, didn’t wear rainbow laces, kneel down, have players fretting about hungry kiddies, get involved with the BLM sideshow nor did he mention transitions, no.8’s no.6’s , no, 10,’s nor did he worry about the opposition. he simply left that to the politicians and the other smart arses and quietly got on with his job. Wearing his immaculate Italian blazer and managing his Italian side… Read more »
Jamie “11 to 1 odds on Italy winning. I put 500 down before a ball was kicked and got 3-1. Weird” Mate, here is an example of the pre-tournament betting odds. I put £50.00 on Italy at 11/1. I mentioned this weeks ago. Average odds for Italy was around 8 or 9’s, so that’s why I took 11/1. I regret not putting more on but that’s playing the odds. France were the pre-tournament favourites. Before you call people liars, make sure you have facts to hand Jamie. Country Sky William Hill 888 Paddy Power France: 9/2 9/2 9/2 5/1 England:… Read more »
WengerEagle, July 12, 2021
00:26:40
Couldn’t agree more with this post.
Like wise with:
Champagne CharlieJuly 12, 2021
00:37:47
“Milan fans must hate domumura right now”
They should’ve payed him what he wanted.
Now PSG have just sorted their GK situation for the next 5-10 years
What a missed opportunity, Southgate got his tactics wrong and has a lot to answer for. Italy were largely beatable. They looked knackered and were in disarray in the first half. England could have killed the game then. But they reverted to their old defensive tactics. To give the 5th peno to Saka is incomprehensible. I like this England team which played very well at times and with confidence. This said, they had an easy draw and played most of their games at home.
Dear Bukayo I’m not going to patronise you and say it doesn’t matter… because to you it does. As an elite sportsman, I’m sure it hurts, and it hurts a lot right now. However, you’ll be stronger for it. Do yourself a favour, and every time you want to beat yourself up, turn it upside down and reflect and learn from it. You stepped up and missed. Many will focus on the fact that you missed. That’s a fact of life. Some people love to focus on the failure of others. However to me, the important thing is, you stepped… Read more »
Dissenter “by all means boo as is your right but he man enough to take the consequences should the powers that be decide it’s wrong” Boo as is your right? But then accept the consequences? That makes no sense, if you have a right to boo, then there shouldn’t be any consequences….. I’m not surprised that Dissenter + PMS2020 are fond of the China model, instead of fighting for freedom, they’d rather bend the fabric of a free society and turn this country into a carbon copy of China + North Korea They think cultural diversity means tip tapping around… Read more »
RichJuly 12, 2021 14:41:04
He’s probably spend £70k on a gender studies degree, something you could explain to any rational person in under 3 minutes
—
Actually it’s a first degree in Economics and a current science doctorate(ongoing)-in applied mathematics ,if you really want to know you afterbirth, you placenta.
Epic fail on your part,once again…You can’t even get your facts right,you fornicating vagina.
Try again…
Boo as is your right? But then accept the consequences?” Like freedom of speech becomes a problem when you falsely yell “fire” in crowded theater You come across as that England fan that is detested around the world. You seem to think the viewpoints of other cultures that are different from yours doesn’t count. Have you ever considered the fact that the Germans, Danes and other people whose anthems that get shouted down don’t do the same to the ‘god save the Queen” . Have you considered that some segments of their societies find it offensive? You have this tendency… Read more »
Jim Lahey “Also, the English fans don’t help themselves when you see footage of them attacking Italian fans in the stadium concourse at half-time.” That was fake news. Fake news in that a headline is given to an event that is incorrect. What you saw or heard about was before the match and it was England fans slapping general fans mostly of whom were English and they were getting slapped because not long before these people had stormed the barriers and were getting in for free to watch the game. There is always this underlying current of violence with some… Read more »
WengerEagle
Completely agree with you. I live in Ireland and I can safely say that there was a lot of support for the English team. The things which unraveled post match has turned the tide from sympathy to disgust. And all the because of so called ‘fans’ who went on a rampage against Italian supporters and their own players.
Just hope Saka and co who missed the penalty are mentally strong. And also hope that the authorities grow up a pair to take action against these unruly fans.
Dissenter You have no idea on what my viewpoints are on healthcare, you’ve just assumed And this isn’t the forum to discuss them My point about booing national anthems at football games is football related Nobody has the right to not be offended Otherwise all someone has to do is say “I’m offended” Then the conversation gets shut down, and everyone will have to become mutes, because snowflakes are offended by everything They think by feigning offence, they can then show others how virtuous they are Virtue and vanity are best of mates, they’re not really offended, they just really… Read more »
Rich, “If FIFA start dishing out punishment for booing a national anthem, the only thing that will guarantee, is much more booing” That’s the same argument libertarians make about trying to stanch out racism by dishing out punishments like stadium bans, by the way. “You have no idea on what my viewpoints are on healthcare, you’ve just assumed and this isn’t the forum to discuss them” Jeez, You’ve penned volumes upon volumes of your world views on this blog. I’m amazed you’ve just realized that “this is not the forum to discuss them” Unless your writings are just intended to… Read more »
“”””””””Custodial sentence? Death sentence? Community service? Corporal punishment? How about a good flogging, followed by some beheading?””””””””
Legacy of Violence: A History of the British Empire
Book by Caroline Elkins
Fascinating discussions 🥱
ok today, a new day. I checked how i felt about the game and i have to say, Southgate is still a coward… And I am still upset. Not as much but still….. This pussy should have watched the Arg Brazil final to get some ideas. If Italy was Brazil, then England should have played like Argentina who snuffed out most attacks through the midfield. England retreated so many times against Italy. Gave them the ball and pretended they were Athletico Madrid or some shit like that. Kane stopped playing in the second half. Sterling when he got the ball… Read more »