Sixteen Arsenal players joined national squads for Trump’s World Cup Extravaganza and Fan Exploitation Event. As a result, Gooners, should they so wish, could have had an interest in several teams other than their own national side.
Raya, Zubimendi and Merino: Spain
Saliba: France
Gabriel and Martinelli: Brazil
Hincapié: Ecuador
Rice, Saka, Eze and Madueke: England
Ødegaard: Norway
Havertz: Germany
Gyökeres: Sweden
Trossard: Belgium
Timber joined but had to pull out of the Netherlands squad
To this list we can add ten Gunner alumni:
Tierney: Scotland
Xhaka: Switzerland
Kolasinac: Bosnia
Balogun, Turner and Trusty: USA
Ryan: Australia
Tomiyasu: Japan
Pépé: Ivory Coast
Martinez: Argentina
Ospina: Columbia.
I found the bloated group stages pretty dull and watched very few matches. This was primarily because most games looked uninteresting at a competitive level: either totally mismatched or both poor; or broadcast times were inconvenient. To be fair, some of those games that appeared mismatched on paper proved more difficult for established powers to negotiate than either they or I expected. There is also a school of thought in the Goonerverse, with which I have some sympathy, that this overblown jamboree is merely a distraction and, primarily represents a significant threat to the welfare of our best players, particularly to those who were running on fumes at the end of last season or were carrying injuries. A summer on a sun lounger with copious Factor 50 or leisurely exploration of some of the world’s finest museums and art galleries might have been far more beneficial. However, players clearly view participation in a World Cup differently.
Among those who left early, Tierney had a couple of unspectacular cameos for Scotland – no reprise of his superb qualifying goal; Hincapié apparently played well for Ecuador but achieved notoriety as only the second player to see red for covering his mouth when asking an opponent the time of day; Martinelli scored a crucial 95th minute winner for Brazil from a penetrating pass from alleged Arsenal prospect Guimaraes, to take Brazil past Japan; Gabriel looked somewhat less secure than usual without Saliba to his right; pleasingly, Tomiyasu looked solid at centre-back for Japan after all his fitness travails; Havertz led the line well for Germany and scored three goals; Gyökeres worked hard for Sweden, looked good at times, scored one goal in their romp against Tunisia but was in Saliba’s pocket when Sweden meekly lost to France; Kolasinac looked reasonably solid but barely mobile at centre back for Bosnia; Pépé had some moments for Ivory Coast and scored their two goals against Curacao to secure second place in the group; Balogun had an excellent start to the tournament with a couple of goals but achieved notoriety as the beneficiary of a POTUS phone call to Infantino arranging ‘suspension’ of his one match suspension for a red card; Trusty looked busy but unspectacular for the Trump Allstars; Ryan’s sole appearance for Australia was as a surprise goalkeeper substitute for a penalty shoot-out against Egypt – he didn’t save any; was Ospina actually there?
Up to the quarter finals, Arsenal players had contributed directly to 20 World Cup goals, the most of any Premier League club. Although the ‘Round of 16’ threw up a few interesting games (Mexico vs England, Brazil vs Norway and Argentina vs Egypt), the competition became interesting at the quarter-final stage. Arsenal player involvement remained prominent. The only team in the quarter-finals without a player with an Arsenal connection was Morocco (if we ignore rumours of ‘strong interest’ in Bouaddi). Saliba had played in every game for France since the group stages, despite rumours of a back issue and sciatica. This was said to have required pre-match pain-killing injections and to involve the possibility of surgery before next season. However, he wasn’t called upon to do anything strenuous in France’s quarter-final as Morocco were surprisingly passive throughout.
After Spain’s quarter-final victory, Merino had started only one game but had made 5 substitute appearances and spectacularly provided their ‘get out of jail card’ with two late winners in consecutive knock-out rounds to help Spain reach the semi-finals for only the second time in their history. Meanwhile we had seen only cheer-leader duties for Zubimendi and Raya. In contrast, Trossard started every game for Belgium, scored a pair of goals against New Zealand, and had a couple of outstanding performances. However, in the quarter final, he played on the right to accommodate Doku, and, while busy but not overly influential, was surprisingly hooked after an hour. Nonetheless, he was probably Belgium’s best player in the tournament.
England squeezed past Norway for whom Ødegaard had looked in good form and contributed three assists on their way to their first ever quarter-final. He produced another good performance here, dictating the pace of the game as when at his best for Arsenal. All four Arsenal players in England’s squad played a part in this quarter-final. Rice started but looked a shadow of his normal self, clearly drained by the illness reported earlier in the week. His lacklustre performance was unsurprising when it was revealed that he had been bed bound for nearly three days before the match! Montezuma’s revenge? He was hooked at half-time – much to his relief, I suspect. Madueke also started, contributed a few dribbles and crosses but, as is too common with him, provided little useful end product and was rightly replaced by Saka at half-time. Saka still looked below his best but contributed far more than Madueke and dinked several tempting balls to the far post that none of England’s front men met. Up to this point, Saka had started only twice and had come on as a sub four times, contributing three assists but no goals. I was impressed by how carefully Tuchel had managed his minutes but his ongoing fitness was clearly a concern. Eze came on for Rice at half time, taking over Bellingham’s ’10’ role with the latter dropping into Rice’s deeper role but the Arsenal man failed to seize his opportunity and fortunately for England, Bellingham was moved back into his starting position when James replaced Gordon midway through the second half and Eze was moved wide but, sadly, to no greater impact.
The fourth quarter final featured an ex-Arsenal player on each side and a player of tentative interest. The rehabilitated prodigal son, Xhaka, captained Switzerland, and the shameless exhibitionist, Martinez was glove-butler for Argentina. The alleged player of interest, (imho, a remote possibility), was Alvarez, who, almost certainly, seems destined for Barcelona. He scored Argentina’s critical second goal in extra time, and it was a cracker! Xhaka had an influential World Cup throughout, scoring a penalty in a rout of Bosnia and acting as mainspring of the Swiss mechanism but his team-mates lacked flair and fell short against Argentina, in part as a result of a second yellow card for a foolish dive just after Switzerland scored an equaliser. Martinez wasn’t tested much in the match but might have done better for Switzerland’s goal.
And so, there were just 4 teams left. In the semi-finals, the teams with the largest Arsenal representation, England (4) and Spain (3) were both competing for the privilege of reaching just their second World Cup Final. In the first semi-final, France, including one of our defensive rocks and an alleged transfer target in Barcola, faced Spain. France’s only Gunner had a major, perhaps decisive impact on the outcome. Saliba collapsed off the ball after 30 minutes with no-one near him. Later it emerged that this was due to his back problem and sciatica. At that point, France were trailing 1-0 and, thereafter, neither looked as defensively secure nor likely to get back into the game against a Spanish side that was imperious throughout and ran out deserved 2-0 winners. As has become Spain’s normal practice, Merino came on as a late substitute but on this occasion didn’t score. Once again, neither Raya nor Zubimendi got off the bench.
Only Declan Rice, of England’s Arsenal contingent, played in the semi-final against Argentina, having confidently asserted in a pre-match interview that he had fully recovered from the illness that had impaired his quarter final performance. Indeed, Rice played well for 60 minutes and his driving run and lay-off to Rogers was key to England’s goal. Alongside Anderson and Bellingham, he was instrumental in denying Argentina’s playmakers space and time until England scored. However, after 60 minutes, Rice and James both looked ‘leggy’ and England ceded possession and midfield control and, as a result, came under repeated waves of Argentinian attack (including alleged Arsenal transfer target Alvarez). Rice’s and James’ belated replacements, O’Reilly and Burn, failed to stiffen England’s resistance and the rest is history.
Despite his strange substitutions against Argentina, I did think that Tuchel had managed Saka’s minutes pretty well, given the concerns about his fitness, but starting Saka and Rice along with Eze in the meaningless third place play-off seemed perverse. At least Rice had the honour of captaining his country. Saliba dropped out of the French team due to his back issue and his absence proved significant.
From kick-off, the Arsenal players took control of this game as England showed far more desire than France. Rice opened the scoring from 22 yards in under 3 minutes after a driving run from near halfway. Saka was bursting regularly down the right, had a goal correctly ruled off-side then had a shot deflected for a corner from which Konsa headed in Rice’s trademark corner for 2-0. On 36 minutes, a superb Saka ball out of defence set Rashford free who fluffed his one-on-one with the keeper but eventually returned the ball to Saka who passed it into the net. Before half-time, Saka ran through the centre of the French defence onto a beautiful Eze through ball and slotted it home. England were in dreamland! However, the second half was a different story and France played as well as they had done in this World Cup. They scored three – the third pure artistry – and Olise missed three but on 87 minutes, Saka completed his hat-trick from the penalty spot to stretch the lead after Spence was fouled in the box. However, Dembélé pulled France back to 5-4 before Bellingham scored a superb solo goal. Once again, as Rice’s legs looked to have become heavy, England’s midfield had been overrun. However, the late addition of Bellingham and Anderson restored midfield force to secure the bronze medals. Reassuringly, in his post match interview, Saka protested, “I’m fit! I’m fit!” On the other hand, at the end of the game, Rice looked completely spent and he collapsed to the ground. It was good to see Rice, later, share a joke on the pitch with a very relaxed looking Saliba. All three Arsenal players selected in the semi-final for England gave excellent performances. Unsurprisingly, Madueke did not get off the bench.
There were no Arsenal players on the field when the final commenced and this was a turgid affair between a technically excellent Spain and a gang of Argentinian spoilers sent out with a clear anti-football strategy under the eyes of a passive referee who failed to use his cards early in the game to restrain the South Americans’ violent tendencies. At least the referee did eventually find his cards. Spain’s victory had to await three key changes that influenced proceedings: Merino joining the fray on 75 minutes, Fernandez getting a deserved second yellow on 90+3 minutes and Zubimendi replacing Rodri on 99 minutes. Merino was heavily involved at both ends of the pitch, crafting a goal for Williams on 96 minutes that was harshly disallowed because Otomendi collapsed when Merino’s heel brushed his toe, later heading inches wide when a hat-trick of winning goals beckoned while at the other end he made several key interceptions and took a Messi shot full in the face; meanwhile, adding to Spain’s midfield dominance, he suffered several bouts of Argentinian GBH. On 99 minutes, Zubimendi replaced ‘the player of the tournament’ for his first minutes of this World Cup; he was quietly efficient, making the change seamless. Seven minutes later, Torres scored Spain’s winner. As usual, Raya was a cheerleader and he warmly hugged his glove-butler rival Simón after the final whistle. The game was dreadful, the result was justice and, truly, a victory for football!
The contributions to the World Cup of the players on Arsenal’s books when it commenced are summarised in the table below based on data from soccer world cups dot com.
As the dust settles on another World Cup, we can begin to assess its impact on Arsenal’s forthcoming season. Clearly, the biggest concern has to be Saliba who had apparently been managing a back problem since late last season that culminated in his collapse against Spain. We wait with bated breath to learn whether he requires surgery which will doubtless impose a long absence. Hence the reported interest in Konsa and Stones. Saka’s performance and hat-trick in England’s last game and his assertion of fitness allayed the anxiety generated by his non-appearance as England drowned in waves of Argentinian attacks without an out-ball. I am optimistic that he will be fine after a rest and will be champing at the bit to make an impact on his return, as hopefully will Declan Rice, who looked even more in need of R&R than anyone else in England’s squad and there are rumours of longstanding neuralgia in a thigh. Clearly, Madueke will benefit from more work on his final ball over the summer. I am sure the Spanish Gunners will be looking forward to first team action in August, as will their team-mates scattered among the also rans.
A final word is required on this calumny of a competition, soiled by attempts to satisfy an obsession with maximising revenue which led to sponsored ‘hydration-breaks’ (aka commercial breaks) whether needed or not, an allegedly execrable 30 minute half-time show (as reported to me as I didn’t watch it) to give the final the air of the Super Bowl, countdowns to kick-offs (yuck!), a meddling POTUS, and the introduction of souvenir rings for players, mimicking a Super Bowl tradition. Hopefully, we will leave Disneyfication behind as football leaves Trump’s U.S. and returns to its traditional homelands.
The soul of the game has certainly been damaged by this competition. Hopefully, football will recover but, unfortunately, I fear that Infantino and his Cosa Nostra will have other plans.
Thanks Bathgooner,
Awful corrupt World Cup but excellent analysis of the Arsenal involvement, worried about Willie but stoked for some real football after that Trumpian nightmare.
Thanks Bath, an excellent summary of the World Cup.
Sadly, given that Infantino has already got over 200
countries to vote for him to continue I think your conclusion
is spot on.
As for the Arsenal contingent, you (and DG@1) have named
the biggest concern, but I am hopeful on the rest. Ourselves
and C130y have by far the biggest number of minutes played
and the “it’s the same for everyone in the PL” argument simply
doesn’t hold water. We will only really know once we’ve taken
our medicine and seen the impact on the various players.
Let me put my cards on the table. I loathe and detest Trump and Infantino/Fifa.
But I love the World Cup. Have done since I was a boy.
And I thoroughly enjoyed the football on the pitch in this one.
I’ll throw out a challenging statement. For all its multiple failings, if you don’t love the World Cup, you don’t love football.
I realise many may disagree with me.
You can love the World Cup and cry for its soul which was soiled by so much of what went on in this competition. At least there weren’t the patronising comments about ‘ soccer’ that we had in 1994 . The competition was too big and so many of the early games were meaningless but if you’d had less teams we wouldn’t have seen Cape Verde defy Spain in a wonderful rearguard action . There were some outstanding games including Mexico v England and you can’t ignore a competition pitting the best teams and players against each other but FIFA are just as corrupt and unlikeable as when Blatter led them .
Given the product it’s hard for it to fail but it is a case of ‘ apart from that Mrs Lincoln how was the play’!
It would be wonderful to see a great World Cup in a traditional European football hotbed where storms and fierce temperatures weren’t an issue and the seat prices were much more reasonable and we could avoid a half-time ‘ crap’ show in the Final . I had friends who spent close to £20,000 following this competition. Thankfully the Balogun incident was the only issue that occurred where there was an opportunity for two of the most corrupt men in the world to collude .
Let’s hope the impact on Arsenal does not put us at a disadvantage next season .
Morgan Rogers says he has joined the biggest club in London after signing
for Chavski and that Cole Palmer is one of his best friends in life.
I’m quite pleased now that we have swerved that one, I understand he’s
just parroting nonsense but still.
Thanks Bath! Don’t forget Matt Turner who was on the US team and played in their match against Turkey.
Thanks to Bath for meticulous research and his insights into the tournament .
Mikel Arteta will have a lot of assessments to make after that tournament
OM@5
We definitely dodged a bullet. The child is clearly delusional.
UTA
Thanks Bath – a comprehensive review of a tournament I personally hated. The fingerprints of the clammy conspirators Infantino and Trump were smudged all over my TV screen and obscured the actual football to the point it wasn’t worth watching.
C100 will not like my perspective but I couldn’t enjoy the football when, from the off, it was so obvious that Jonny Binfantino and the hideous, orange exhibitionist were determined to get Messi and that disgusting Argentina side to win it.
Suspending suspensions on the basis of political interference, suddenly excusing gross political messaging, some very mysterious officiating, disallowing brilliant goals, half time Super Bowl shows – this wasn’t the sport I love at all.
It was a political photo opportunity for Trump and a political exercise for Infantino to get himself re-elected by tiny associations grateful for their opportunity to be eliminated after a bloated 72 game group stage – genuinely notwithstanding the valiant efforts of Cape Verde and Curaçao. Was Binfantino vindicated by the inclusion of those two ? You decide.
Thanks fellas, especially Potsticker for noticing Matt Turner was omitted. I was pretty sure I would probably have overlooked someone and there he is! I’ve added him to the list of participating alumni but can’t comment on his contribution as I didn’t notice him!
The latest fitness concern is allegedly Gabriel’s knees. At least, he’ll have a few weeks rest over the summer.
It’s been several decades since watching international football allowed me to see top players of whom I was unaware or had never seen play. The arrival of most of the world’s top talents into European clubs since the 90s and increasingly, recently, to PL clubs and regular broadcast/streaming of the Champions League allows us to see most of the world’s top players and a quality of football to which few international sides can aspire. Spain are a prominent exception at the recent World Cup.
Argentina displayed a level of focused brutality that is rarely matched in Europe. I don’t know if such behaviour is the norm in South American domestic football as I don’t watch it. The Atletico Madrid sides of the 60’s and 70’s might well have given them a run for their money, and Paraguay had a good go at taking the wrestling trophy but came a clear second because of the final’s post-match shenanigans.
In other news, POTUS has suggested that Infantino should be the next UN secretary-general. Please go! I think he would cause less harm there and he’ll get lots of travel, free lunches and photo opportunities. What’s not to like?
Thanks for an informative round-up, Bath. Only Man City (19) and Bayern (17) had more players at the tournament than us. Our 16 were tied for third with PSG. Barcelona (15) rounded out the top five. Arguably, those are currently the top five club sides, which backs up your point that we get to see the best players without needing to watch the Infantinofest.
One surprise in the players-by-club list is Crystal Palace, joint 6th with 12 participants.
How long before Infantino suggests that all 211 FIFA member nations get to play in the WC finals?
Ned, at least we won’t have to suffer endless fortnights of qualifiers.
Trev@12: You say that, but think of the opportunities it would open up for having qualifiers for the Club World Cup. No minute left unexploited for making FIFA more money. Someone has to pay for those homes, school fees and pension that FIFA reportedly provides for Infantino.
Bath @10
But he would be replaced as the Head of FIFA by Elon Musk and tied matches would be decided by drone combat instead of penalties . I hate seeing both points of view but this is a situation where the enjoyment of elite competition can be very special but the corruption so endemic in FIFA disenfranchises many people who love football .
Argentina’s disgraceful behaviour left ( and still leaves ) a nasty taste in the mouth but as each competition comes round my enthusiasm grows less and less . I am much more enthusiastic about the Euros where we won’t see Infantino , Trump or any Argentinians and it will be held largely on home soil
TTG – did we really see elite competition ?
We saw a team of thugs being allowed to foul and cheat their way unsanctioned to the final where, thank whoever you pray to, Spain spoilt the FIFA plan and beat them.
And then, in the true spirit of elite competition, Argentina turned their backs on the winners as they were presented with the trophy. Spain couldn’t even perform their trophy lift freely as they waited for that stupid oaf to be removed from the photos – which he naturally refused to be and had to be photoshopped out afterwards. Pathetic.
Here’s a very good exposé of Argentina’s nefarious activities over many years and FIFA’s facilitation of them:
In other money news, Man U and the Scousers are culling season ticket account holders they believe to be touts. How widespread a problem is this in the PL? Is it occurring in N5?
https://www.theguardian.com/football/2026/jul/22/liverpool-ban-ticket-tout-investigation-merseyside-police
Arsenal culled several thousand members a couple of seasons back who they suspected were touts because of their ticket activity..
Trev
I didn’t say the final was elite competition, I meant to imply that during the tournament we saw a lot of elite competition. I thought the best example was the game between France and Spain in the semi which was a brilliant example of how to overcome a side with a range of attacking brilliance . Argentina were loathsome but did show incredible resilience against Egypt ( where they got the benefit of several important decisions) and against England where Tuchel’s craven tactics played into their hands . A lot of the French performances were superb and Norway v Brazil was a fascinating game as was the Belgian demolition of the USA . I enjoyed Paraguay’s defeat of Germany but they were despicable when losing to France . England v Croatia and our game in Mexico City were also compelling games . You’d expect that with the best players in the world on show but many of the games were dull and defensive .
World Cup Finals can be very dull
1990 saw Argentina kick and scream v Germany who won 1-0 with a pen
1994 produced no goals and Brazil triumphed over Italy when Baggio skyed his pen
1998 saw France beat a Brazil who were missing Ronaldo and decidedly off- colour
2002 was a walkover for Brazil v Germany
2006 saw the Zidane headbutt and precious little football
2010 was won by Iniesta in extra time after a boring game
2014 was similar with Goetze getting the only goal against Argentina
2018 was an exciting win for France over Croatia
2022 was a classic between France and Argentina and Sunday was an abomination
Often the final is a letdown (see above ) but there were a lot of classic games in those tournaments.
TTG @19, I couldn’t agree more. Well remembered. I would have struggled to recall those details.
bath@18: Thanks for the memory jog on that. The Guardian article says the Merseyside Old Bill are getting half the assets they are seizing from the touts they arrest, so maybe that is spurring a new crackdown.
Saliba out ‘for an extended period’:
https://www.arsenal.com/news/medical-update-william-saliba-aVUca3q2han2
Many thanks Bath, that is an excellent resume of the World Cup and Arsenal’s contribution. My interest in this competition has lessened to a certain extent , partly fuelled by the corruption of FIFA and the location of the main host countries these past few tournaments.
I selectively watched matches of interest- some were outstanding and some were dire. I’ve also been extremely busy with bowls matches these past summer months which are played during the evenings and thereby clashing with the timing of many of the WC matches
Sadly with the present incumbent in charge of FIFA I can only see format getting worse.
Thanks Ned for the link. The good news is no surgery but given that
ominous sounding “extended” I am not sure the good news is actually
good news.
City’s Rodri also out ‘for an extended period’ with a back injury:
https://www.theguardian.com/football/2026/jul/23/blow-for-manchester-city-with-rodri-out-for-extended-period-due-to-back-injury
https://c.newsnow.co.uk/A/1319794699?-19387:844
Tzolis is a Gunner !
I wonder how many more extended injuries to players earning several hundred thousand pounds a week it will take for those paying those wages to push back seriously over the amount of football that their stars are having to play.
Tzolis official: https://www.arsenal.com/news/christos-tzolis-signs-for-arsenal-axDM85b0dBUW
He will wear Zinchenko’s old number, 17. Meslier has been given the vacant 30 jersey.
Ethan, Vieira and Reiss Nelson are all listed in the first team squad on the club site — at least for now.
Ned@27 – as a season ticket holder I am one of those who pays their wages and it pees me off royally. I realise that clubs receive some payment from the Evil Empire that is FIFA and have insurance payouts for injured players. I would be interested to see the extent to which those payouts compensate not only for wages, bonuses etc, but also medical costs and the extent to which a club’s season may be impacted by overuse of assets which FIFA has done nothing to develop.
Ned@27
Indeed the impact of not only a 48 country World Cup but of a season that for many players involved a Club World Cup ( not sure if that began last season or ended the season before !) , included lucrative tours around the world pre/ season and then in England anyway saw an intense league championship intermixed with Champions League or other European football, FA and League cups , international matches which involved qualification for the World Cup and then the tournament itself impose huge physical strains but also major mental stresses on the busiest players
Something has to give and in this case it is Saliba’s back , Rodri’s back, Rice’s hamstring and myriad other injuries .
In England we need a mid season break and we could also do with a smaller Premier League and a League Cup that might be played pre-season if the season could be adjusted? Player welfare is poohpooed by those who believe the vast riches available to players makes it permissible to impose massive demands on them . My sense is that FIFA are much more interested in making money than player welfare and quality suffers as a result and players careers are shortened perhaps drastically.
The Bundesliga and Ligue Un have 18-club top tiers. Following suit would be one way for the PL to reduce the number of games, although most clubs would probably be strongly against it for fear of being among the extra two to be relegated.
Another option would be to require PL clubs to field U-21 players in the League Cup (i.e., anyone in a PL club’s nominated 25-player league squad would be ineligible). It would also give more yoofs senior minutes and broaden the competition’s pool of potential winners.
Agree, it will be difficult to get the smaller PL clubs to vote for an 18 club league or
scrap the League Cup or get the smaller countries to agree to scrap international
qualifying tournaments for the higher ranked countries. All eminently sensible solutions.
Hmmm, it’s tricky. Unless of course we shorten games to four 15-minute quarters, cams for every player, and hydration breaks every 5 minutes. Also I want the World Peace Prize
for saving the lives of countless overworked footballers who would probably have died without my GREAT IDEA.
Welcome to Arsenal, our new No 17 Christos Tzolis!
That’s an exceptionally fine summary, Bath. I was only an occasional watcher ( England and a couple of other games featuring Arsenal players). Arsenal’s defence would have fared better than that of any of the national teams. Our midfield ( Rice, Zubi, Martin sub MLS) would have performed very credibly, but our attack, absent a fully fit Saka, wouldn’t have made the top quintile.
While in Finland, I have been assured by a young Greek/Finn waiter and fan of FC Brugge that Tzolis is a real force. Young man seemed to know his onions. I’m hopeful.
A very balanced and yet still encouraging piece on Christos Tzolis from Phil Costa on Arseblog to supplement BtM’s waiter’s opinion:
BTW @33. Did he really know his onions or are you surmising based on a short conversation as he took your order? Did you actually order onions as a side dish or part of a main? Did you suggest him going on Finland’s Mastermind with onions as a specialist subject? I personally don’t know anything about onions but I did have success growing them once or twice and the seeds are tiny.
But can he defend?
UTA
All further references to onions are banned. Yep, that’s shallot !
Trev springs into action on onions.
Bath@34: Thanks for that link. As you say, a balanced profile of our new No 17. It looks like we have got a six-year-younger version of Trossard, with a soupçon of Martinelli’s directness thrown in, for a net £20 million. Sensible business in this market. The proof of the pudding will be whether Tzolis flourishes at Premier League level at the second time of asking. Separately, I welcome his lack of tattoos.
Thanks Bath@34. Tallis could be anything basically so fingers crossed.
I can’t say I remember a thing about him from that Norwich game
he played against us nearly 5 years back
I do remember that Norwich game as being a grim watch after three
defeats to start the season, we were bottom of the league but ground
out a nervy 1-0 win.
Congrats to the BFG on his new BFJ! Good appointment for German football
I guess as they look like some root and branch values reform is needed.
When I was writing @42, I just thought imagine if Per was head of FIFA
instead of Infantino and made myself laugh out loud 😂
Matt @43, corruption seems to be so ingrained in that organisation that an honest man of integrity, as Per seems to be, would never attain the top job. Too many of the power brokers in there would have fr too much to lose if its Augean Stables were cleaned. No, just as happened when Blatter fell, the Cosa Nostra would elevate another figurehead on whom they had some leverage, who would ensure that the pig troughs continued to be filled.
Cheers Baff. Fine stuff. That must have taken a lot of work, and your efforts have produced an excellent piece.
In my opinion, the World Cup is a shadow of its former self. There is so much less jeopardy than there used to be because the prize is so much less valuable. It’s a mickey mouse tournament. I haven’t watched Formula 1 since they misapplied the rules in the final race of the season to wrongly deny Hamilton an eighth title. The bloke in charge of the FIA now runs the sport as his own personal fiefdom, cosying up to his own power base, ejecting anyone who disagrees with him, preventing people from standing against him and changing the rules so there is no limit on how many terms he can serve. Infantino is the same. Unbelievably, he is far worse than Blatter. I could not honestly work up more than passing interest in the outcome of this abomination.
The 48 team format gave us a couple of good stories and games. But they are hugely over-indexed while the many dull, low-quality games are forgotten/ignored. So the actual football wasn’t great either. For all the faults of previous editions over decades, the WC at its best has been about football. Infantino has made it about other things. The football is the excuse for all the stuff he really cares about. He should not be allowed anywhere near the beautiful game; he is a competant administrator and self-promoter, but he is not a football person.
Countryman @3. I don’t think you need to love the WC to love football, but i’d certainly have agreed more with the sentiment twenty-five years ago. Even an event as inherently magical as the WC has a breaking point though. After boycotting the last one (seems hugely arbitrary at this point), i was looking forward to this one. Being unable to take it seriously meant i could sit back and enjoy the games i watched. I made a conscious effort to put aside the nonsense, and instead of outrage i just shrugged because it was all par for the course. So i did enjoy it! But if FIFA are not going to run it like a serious tournament they can’t expect people to treat it as one.
The football no longer comes first and I definitely did not ‘love’ it.
UEFA are also an awful organisation. But right now they look squeaky clean, and like TTG I am much more excited about future Euros than future WCs.
In reply to a couple of posts from the last bar about Martinelli as a central player… i also think it might work, but i rather suspect if Arteta was willing to try it then he would have done so already. It’s not like we haven’t had multiple injuries in the position over the last few years. I would not be hugely surprised if, whenever he moves on, another club plays him there with success.
England have loads of wide players, even attacking midfielders, but no good strikers (Kane is not one for the future). It is a position we have not developed many top players in for a while. Might Nwaneri look at the current trends in football and decide that top strikers are a scarcer commodity than top wingers or AMs? Would a season playing that position be beneficial to him as a footballer, even if he ends up playing somewhere else? It just looks to me like both club and country have space for striker. I think he could also be a brilliant 10. I could see him taking the position off Odegaard/Eze in the future. I am not so sure he could get past Bellingham.
My main point is that i want to keep Nwaneri and make it work. He is a versatile player, and his position is yet to become clear. A loan could be a good option, but i think Arteta needs to get a good look at him in preseason and make a decision. It would not surprise me at all if he starts the opening game against Coventry.
I am very excited about Tzolis. Looks like an excellent player, great attitude, and just the right kind of profile to add to the squad. Welcome to The Arsenal, Christos!
@35 SP, the young man, a very charming fellow, was fluent in English, Greek, Finnish and Swedish and well informed on every aspect of onions in all four languages. Having met him once, I walked past his restaurant on three successive evenings gently increasing his awareness of the fact that his very positive verdict on Mr Tzolis was reverberating around the globe in the Goonerverse and increasingly gaining positive momentum. Unperturbed, he simply kept reassuring me that I was going to be very happy. Like onions, enough to bring a tear to the eye. Shallots to you too, Trev. Made me chuckle.
Berta describes Tzolis as very versatile with incredible technique. I guess that means there are many layers to his game which we will enjoy seeing peeled away at Arteta’s leisure. If it doesn’t go well for the young man it’s to be hoped he has a thick skin, if not a silver one.
Er Hello. If this wasn’t Ornstein I’d ignore it but …..
https://bsky.app/profile/northbankperce.bsky.social/post/3mrhxjuwep22d
Briefly Vini Junior, in the last year of his contract, wants to move to Arsenal. The club has approval all the way up to progress it.
Good explainer (but a long read)on City and their 115 charges
https://sportingintelligence832.substack.com/p/manchester-citys-115-pitting-ais
C100 @50
I read for three hours and then they said subscribers only past this point . Basically they are as guilty as hell but will use their vast wealth to fight any punishment legally .
But the PL are too far in ( and have spent ok much ) to drop this or let them off
What a nice way to make the half century. Well played , Sir.
I only got down to the paywall part, but holy moly they are disgusting.
Folks, not sure what’s happening with posts being sent to moderation (we haven’t made any changes). Thanks for your patience.
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