England

27th March 2016: England impressive and Ozil hopeful

Posted on by TremendArse

Happy Easter Sunday. You’ll have noticed my posts having been shorter recently and, I’m sure you’ll be devastated to learn, that trend will continue for the next few days. .

Partly because of the international break and the resultant slow-down in Arsenal-related news, and partly because I’m still acclimatizing to a dramatic change in my availability to blog. So bare with me.

I did manage to watch England last night though and have to say that for once, they were very, very impressive – mentally, tactically and technically. Despite going two-nil down in Germany, the Three Lions earned a deserved win over the reigning world champions thanks to goals by Harry Kane, Jamie Vardy and Eric Dier.

And though the Tottenham connection is undoubtedly a little sickening, Kane and Dier, if I’m honest, weren’t even the best Spurs players on show, because Dele Alli was the outstanding performer on the pitch I thought, grudgingly putting all club loyalties aside. He produced a couple of moments of close control and skill that have made me completely reconsider my assessment of his abilities. He’s not the new Jermaine Jenas after all – he’s England’s Paul Pogba.

Anyway, the collective England performance filled me with hope that 50 years after England’s one and only trophy win, based on last night, a second may not be as unlikely as most people would have previously thought heading into this summer’s European Championships in France. It also made me more resolute in my belief that Wayne Rooney really shouldn’t be in England’s starting line-up with everyone fit, no matter what he did in qualifying or his status as the country’s highest-ever goalscorer.

From an Arsenal perspective, Danny Welbeck started and played well from the left before being substituted and, very worryingly indeed, taking a seat on the bench with a massive ice-pack on his knee. Hopefully it’s nothing too serious, for obvious reasons. The only other Gunners’ representation on the night was Mesut Ozil, who started for Germany but was pretty peripheral to be honest, fluffing one decent opportunity by miscuing his shot on his weaker right foot.

But that’s okay because he was sensibly saving himself for us. And speaking to German newspaper Welt am Sonntag, Mesut explained that he thinks Arsenal are still in the race for the Premier League title:

I do not think it impossible. Although there are only a few games left, Leicester have a run against some of the big teams to come. We ourselves must in any case not allow any more slip-ups. The hope of the title is still there – we have the players for the title. They deserve to be up there; Leicester fight for every point. We see in every game that players of Leicester want to achieve something. We ourselves have not been focused in every game and that is not possible in the Premier League since there is no opponent you can beat easily. Leicester have been great but there are still a few games. I think we still have a chance to catch them up. We must, of course, hope for mistakes.

Well, I guess he’s right and he’s right. It’s not impossible but we need mistakes from those above us and lots of them. For now, all we can do is hope and try to take maximum points from our own remaining games.

See you next week.

7th October 2015: Walcott wants striker role for England

Posted on by TremendArse

Hello and welcome back. Theo Walcott held a press conference while on international duty this afternoon and says he’s ‘buzzing’ after Sunday’s performance against Manchester United and wants to play centre-forward for England.

I know everyone would like to see me up front. Playing there for England, that’s what I want to do.

With the two Dannys, our own Welbeck and Liverpool’s Sturridge, not in the current Three Lions’ squad due to injury and caution respectively, Theo clearly has a greater chance of getting game-time through the middle than he would have otherwise. Whether England have the players capable, or willing, to provide Theo with the requisite service for him to be a success is another matter.

I say ‘capable’ because there’s no English midfielder with even half the creative ability of a Mesut Ozil or a Santi Cazorla, and ‘willing’ because I often get the impression that unlike other top countries, our national selection appear to be in competition with, rather than in alliance with one another. They all want to steal the show, hog the limelight, score the winner etc and very often that means they make the wrong decision when in possession.

Anyway, so long as Theo returns fit and healthy to face Watford on Saturday week, I couldn’t care less if he plays up front or in goal for England, because until we reassess what attributes we rate in a footballer as a country, we won’t be winning anything, so none of it matters. Qualify, don’t qualify – we have as much chance of lifting the Euros next summer as Newcastle do of winning the Premier League this season.

Elsewhere, Ozil has been speaking to German publication Bild about Arsenal’s upcoming Champions League clashes with Bayern Munich and the Gunners’ chances of winning the domestic title. He said:

It is true that there is a lot of pressure on us in the Champions League. We can beat Bayern, though, if we play at the same level as against Manchester United. I was a bit surprised to see Bayern beat Dortmund 5-1. Bayern’s results show that they are in great form. We have a lot of respect for Bayern, but we are not afraid of them. We are playing at home and we know how to score goals and be successful against Bayern. Of course, it will not be easy, but we have the potential to beat any team. We have a great team with a lot of world-class players. Our goal is to win the Premier League title. I think we can achieve it this season if we do not get any major injuries. But the season is still long.

Meanwhile, Ozil’s Arsenal colleague and fellow German Per Mertesacker has been discussing Arsenal’s attacking play in the United win, suggesting the players should be more convinced of their potential for such stunning football. He said:

It’s very important that they find each other in the final third. You could see the little pass from Theo Walcott to Mesut Ozil, how important that was, just a tiny little ball, and on the break we are very dangerous. The start was not shocking for us, I think we are capable of doing that, but we have to kind of remind ourselves that we can do such things.

Maybe one way of reminding themselves would be have the three goals from Sunday played on a loop in the changing rooms before every game but what’s also important to remember, is that the mesmeric quality of our football last weekend was all rooted in a collectively high level of effort. The harder you work, the luckier you get, or whatever the saying is.

Right, that’s where I’ll leave it for today because there is nothing else to talk about thanks to our old friend, Cloid. The lingering c*nt.

Til Thursday.

5th September 2015: Theo bags brace as Cloid continues

Posted on by TremendArse

Welcome back. I was going to watch England’s game in San Marino today, but then I remembered I’d rather go to a back-street dentist for some molar extractions, before settling down to watch the Chelsea season-review DVD dressed in a Spurs kit, so I gave it a miss and vacuumed my car instead.

England’s consistent selection of James Milner in midfield and a Wayne Rooney who’s about as mobile as a mountain as a lone front man irks me enough, but to then see them send balls straight out for a throw with their ‘first touch’, whilst playing amateurish opposition on a Sunday league-level pitch is just too much for the footballing purist in me to put up with I’m afraid.

One day, I hope there will be an England manager who picks a side based on which players are compatible with others to create a coherent ‘team’, rather than select ‘names’ because of their profile, but until then, actual tournament football remains the only time I’m inclined to give the Three Lions a watch.

Anyway, a quick check online tells me Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain started on the right of the England attack and Theo Walcott bagged a brace as a second-half substitute. The goals will obviously be a boost for Theo’s confidence, even if they did come against the traditional whipping boys of the European game, and hopefully he can add to his England tally against Switzerland next week before returning to Arsenal reinvigorated in front of goal and primed to put four past Jack Butland when we host Stoke.

And speaking of Premier League football, Nacho Monreal, who overcame a slightly indifferent start to his career in north London after moving from Malaga to establish himself as first pick at left-back ahead of Kieran Gibbs, has been speaking to the official site about the English top-flight differing from La Liga and also how he’s changed as a player as a result. He said:

I’ve always said that it’s a different type of football here. In Spain there is more of a focus on tactics, technique and positioning, whereas in England it is more physical. The fans like seeing box-to-box play and lots of direct runs, so I think on a physical level I’ve improved because you have to get used to English football. I’ve certainly got better in that regard. The Premier League is one of the most popular leagues in the world and in Spain virtually everyone follows the Premier League as it’s very entertaining for the viewer. There are lots of staff working for the Spanish national team who watch lots of English matches and come here to watch us, so I don’t think it has much of an effect on my chances of being selected.

Nothing to argue with from Monreal there because everything he says is true; the Spanish game is more cultured and calculated whereas the Premier League is your go-to division for break-neck speed football, well, most of the time anyway.

And he’s certainly improved his physicality in the challenge. Initially, he seemed a bit stand-offish when it came to attacking the ball but ever since he was forced into a stint at centre half last season, I think the Spaniard has improved his overall defensive game immeasurably, whilst maintaining his naturally composed distribution at both ends of the pitch.

I suppose my only gripes with his game would be his crossing could be more consistent and he could get on the scoresheet a little more often, as he showed he’s quite capable of doing at Old Trafford in the Cup last season, but other than that, he’s probably the best left back we’ve had since a certain turncoat nearly crashed his car and defected to the dark side.

And I have to say, I like the fact both our current first-choice fullbacks are so comfortable in possession because I think it has a massive effect on our overall ball-dominating desires. I mean, for all of Bacary Sagna’s defensive solidity at right back and Gibbs’ lung-bursting efforts on the opposite side for instance, neither of them are in the same class with the ball at their feet.

Of course Sagna’s departed the club but I think the same deficiencies hamper Carl Jenkinson and Calum Chambers if i’m honest, and given the amount of possession our fullbacks often enjoy because of the way we build from the back, having two players like Monreal and Bellerin (or Debuchy) aids our particular style of play TremendArsely.

Til tomorrow.