WELCOME, GABRIEL!
Arsenal finally announced the Brazilian defender. They kept it fresh and teased the announcement with a group chat call between Luiz and Willian.
‘Who was Guest number 3 going to be on the call?’
I thought it was going to be Kia, but that was a June gag, I should have been wiser. It was Gabriel!
I have a BUSY day today so I’m going to keep this sweet and short. Did the order of that phrase jar you? Good. I’m messing with your damn mind because it makes me feel powerful.
First up, good news, Mikhi has left Arsenal. A mutual agreement for each party to go their separate ways ends a pretty bland tenure and probably one of the least satisfying transfers of the last 10 years.
Beep, beep, beep… what’s that you hear? It’s Arsenal doing a 3-point turn on Holloway Road to head the other way on the AMN and Martinez exit plans.
Beautiful prose, I know.
I’m not quite sure the u-turn came yesterday. Ex-Chelsea boss Sarri has said on numerous occasions (before he’s sacked) that professional execs never make decisions based on one game. Whatever the process is/was, I’m pleased that the club is planning to keep two players that have turned their careers at Arsenal around with great performances.
I’m writing this a few drinks deep, so take the information with a pinch of ‘okaaaaay mate…’
In short, what a day.
Mikel Arteta picked up the second trophy of his tenure. It might not be a major one, but a win against a full-strength Liverpool side is certainly not to be sniffed at. I honestly didn’t hold out much hope of a victory. It felt far too early in our preseason to deliver any sort of competition against one of the most brutal teams in the world.
via Arsenal Instagram
Well, here we are, 3 weeks after our FA Cup final win, it’s here, the season curtain-raiser… Arsenal vs Liverpool in The Community Shield.
It’s hard to say it’s not an important game. All games have a psychological value, a big win sets you up for a confident start. A big loss can send you into a nervous territory. We need a good start this season, we need to set a new tone after the horrendous first 4 months of last season. We need to signal that the new era was, in fact, kicked off with that stunning FA Cup final win.
Both teams will be unfit. We’ve only had a few training sessions. Liverpool are in the same position as us. It’ll be a leggy game. There really was no other option. If you blitz your players after they’ve spent two months playing 3 games a week, you will absolutely pay for that later in the season when you need energy in the legs.
Good evening my darlings, it’s a pleasure to be talking with you.
Mikel Arteta dropped his first press conference of the new season.
Weird right? Like, wtf is going on here? It feels like the Champions League final was only last week. Now we’re back in the mixer for the Community Shield.
… but who needs him when you have Mo Elneny back in the side banging in goals from 30 yards?
Two BIG pieces of news in football yesterday were:
Harry Maguire found guilty of assault and BRIBERY. I absolutely love all the ‘he’s a good honest boy’ pieces doing the rounds. I don’t even need to have been there to know how that scene played out.
‘Oi, speaken sie English mate? Look, let’s do a deal. Do you know who I am?’
You can imagine it… it was me when I was 19 years old, waving around 30 Euros because I’d heard the foreign police were open to it.
Shocking form from a man who really should have taken his mates to a private island. He earns £190k a week and he’s taking holidays like he’s earning £9 an hour in First Sport in Lakeside.
The second major piece of news is 33-year-old Lio Messi has told Ronald Koeman he wants out of Barca. I liked one of the Spanish papers takes on it.
‘The meeting wasn’t friendly and Koeman insisted he’d be inflexible‘
Can’t knock that sort of attitude.
I think it’s a great thing for Barca. Sell Messi for £150m to one of the petro-dollar clubs, get 60m off your wage bill, the rebuild with Matteo Guendouzi and Lacazette as your centrepieces.
Joking aside, who the fuck is going to pay a massive transfer fee and £70m a year? It feels like a weird threat to make of Barcelona, unless he can argue his contract is null and void because of covid… but even then, who is ponying up £70m a year? Crazy money. Let’s see if he’s truly going to stay, or he’s just kicking up a stink to show who is boss.
The third BIG piece of news is that THE Arsenal went all hype culture on us and dropped a fresh friendly with the MK DONS.
I was half in the game half out, but it was a fairly pre-seasonish performance. A lot of our big names were missing and we threw a lot of kids at the game. Odd that AMN started, not sure what that was all about. No Hector. We saw Willy Saliba in an Arsenal shirt and he looked comfortable on the ball and more than capable of dealing with the physical side of England. I think he’ll be a class act for us and suspect he’ll have a big role, though maybe not immediately.
Two early goals from Mo Elneney and Saka set nerves at ease. MK pulled one back from a stunning Rob Holding own goal. The second half saw some new faces and one of them scored. McGuiness with a bullet header into the top corner. Then Reiss finished the game off with a penalty at the end.
My guess is that Arteta is going to give the Community Shield secondary attention. The players just had an exhausting season and I would imagine Arteta understands that the most important thing he can deliver in September is a fast start. This team switches off if there’s nothing to play for, so keeping them in the mix is what he has to deliver.
Still, it must be hard. Players aren’t settled yet and there could be a lot of coming and going over the next few weeks. Far from ideal, I just hope the comings arrive earlier in the month. It’d be ideal to have our major problems solved for day one of the season… namely, a functioning midfield.
Short one today, have a good one!
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