It is here, another FA Cup final for the mighty Arsenal. We’re going for number 14. Mikel Arteta is going for his first as a coach. The young players are going for their first-ever trophy. We have Europe on the line.
It’s different this year and it’s a shame. I’ve never missed an Arsenal FA Cup final. I usually go with my football family, we meet up, get drunk, celebrate or commiserate together, and then it’s a beautiful memory forever locked (even the losses can be fun after).
It is FA Cup final eve and I am starting to get very excited about the possibilities of tomorrow.
Mikel Arteta gave a very good press conference, he looked calm, and he sounds very confident of having a good day.
Newcastle United will NOT be taken over by the bad folk that chop up dissenters.
I absolutely LOVE to see it.
Their fans, the greatest on earth, spent the last 3 months justifying the takeover, completely throwing all ethics to the wind… they were dreaming of Pochettino, MBappe, and spending £300m in a single summer.
Now they have nothing. Another season of Steve Bruce football. The hope that Andy Carroll might sign on for another year.
Good.
After that carry-on, they deserve Mike Ashley, and to have SPORTS DIRECT painted on their stadium.
My worry is that sports washing fund has just moved onto another Premier League club. I hope it’s not Spurs, who are rumoured to be looking for a buyer.
ONTO ARSENAL.
Arsenal inquired as to the availability of Jack Grealish and were told £70m. A silly sum of cash that basically says they don’t want to sell him this summer. I love the player, but we really don’t need to play with fees like that. We’d get better value from a distressed Europe this summer. If City can get Torres for £20m, then we should be looking to match that sort of value.
The Zaha rumours are also hotting up. Palace is not going to be a club with hundreds of millions this summer, but they do need a rebuild, and Zaha could be a good make-weight for them. I think he had the second most take ons in the league last season, and he’s readymade for the league.
If we are in for him, you’d have to wonder about the future of Pepe. I would not be surprised to see him moved on this summer and the fact he came from the Lille factory of talent via some Mendes dealings likely means there will be a club that they could find for him. I’m just not sure we’d get much in the way of recompense.
Interesting to see Lille getting €50m for a player with one solid season in Ligue 1 under his belt. That sort of price level would be obscene in normal times, why would anyone spend that in a depressed market? Even weirder when you consider they finished 7th this year. No Champions League. Notable that the same team were in the market for Pepe last year as well. Still, one thing is not in doubt, Luis Campos is a god of footballing talent.
Granit Xhaka had some nice things to say about the man who convinced him to stay in December.
“He convinced me to stay with Arsenal,”
“We had a very good conversation shortly after his appointment, and I can really only say positive things about him. He is a young, very meticulous trainer who gives more than 100% in every training session, who optimally prepares us for every single game.
“I have rarely experienced this. He is really a great guy as a coach, but also as a person and I have already learned a lot from him during the time he is with us. Many details that have made me even better.
“So it’s really a pleasure to be able to play under him.”
It’ll be interesting to see if he stays beyond this summer, I suspect he will.
Mesut Ozil’s agent has once again said his client won’t leave this summer. Super odd that the German doesn’t seem to care about football or playing at all. I hope Arsenal cut a deal and he leaves on a free. We cannot have his shadow lurking over the club for another season, it’s too disruptive.
FA Cup news has been hard to come by, so I guess we’ll save the chat for tomorrow after some prezzers drop and we get a bit of news.
I’m starting to get excited, I hope you are too.
