Hello Andy,

Arsenal have a friendly against Liverpool in Philly on July 31st. I cousin in Norristown (you familiar?) I converted to a Gooner, many years back, went to the Brentford game. Had a wonderful time. Bought the ticket off some site and said he thought it was going to be 50/50 if it was legit. lol

Hi DHD - I have been keeping a low profile because if I show too much interest in the fortunes of our great club, it is a given the rot will set in. Forget Arteta, his coaching team, the quality of our players or the opposition, for in the end it has nothing to do with them, but all with me. If I hide behind the sofa (actual and virtual), and pretend not to be looking, perhaps good things will happen. It seems to be working so far, though worryingly not for The Darts, who are relegation bound.

Conceicao accused Arteta of insulting him, which is why he didn’t shake his hand at full time.
By pure coincidence Conceicao also accused Pep of insulting him when City knocked Porto out in 2020…..and accused Tuchel of insulting him when Chelsea knocked them out in 2021….just a coincidence though so hardly relevant

Greetings Old Man.....hope Bernard and Mee could find a feed wherever they are !

Barca - would like this, some star names and a mix of youth and experience. I think they are beatable and definitely don’t know how to sit in, defend and frustrate
Bayern - better than Barca but an up and down season. Like Barca we owe them one. Kane coming to the emirates.
Man City - we’ll likely have to beat them to win the CL but they’d be decent favourites in a knock out format. Would rather avoid them and City draw Real Madrid
Real Madrid - a glamour tie, they have top class players everywhere, would prefer not to get them just yet!
PSG - feel we could beat them, look what Newcastle did to them in the group stage. As with most of the teams at this stage they’ll have the CL knock out experience over us
Athletico/Inter - tie in the balance. Athletico would be another Porto. Fast paced prem football has recently suited playing against Italian teams but Inter are very very good, they would be tough.
Dortmund/PSV - tie in the balance and if we drew the winners it would be the one tie we’d be made very clear favourites for

According to David Ornstein, Benny Blanco or as he is mainly known by, Ben White, has signed a new, improved, long term contract. Previous deal was till 2026. Announcement expected later this week.

Ball was in play for less than 50% of the time played in the Porto game, yet only 1 minute of added time in the first half and 3 minutes in the second were added. None in extra time.

Weirdly we had a first leg ref where everything was a foul and a second leg ref who let so much go but both still managed to help create a stop start game that Porto craved

Really? Wow!

https://www.facebook.com/reel/1062535248181733

As Galeno strikes the ball, Raya is already well into his dive.

As Galeno strikes the ball, Raya is already well into his dive.

Nothing to see here, his right foot was touching the ground.

Benny Blanco has made himself unavailable for England selection.

Tomiyasu deal all but signed as well, and the best unkept secret is we’ll use the option to make Raya’s deal permanent this summer.

This summer will really be as much about the outgoings as those coming in. There are 5-6 first team squad players who will likely leave

He’s also signed his new contract today. The announcement video is his team mates talking about him.
When everyone at Arsenal loves him - and I pressume he was also popular and had no issues at Brighton and on loan at Leeds (Leeds fans loved him, I live here) then the issue appears to be Southgate and his coaching staff rather than Ben White.
Southgate has come out and said White made himself unavailable for selection and he’d be in the squad otherwise, and there is ‘no issue’. If Southgate so desperately wants him in the squad as he says he does then he must find a way to fix things and build bridges. Players simply don’t decide to not represent their country on the eve of a major championship just because they feel like it

Fair enough Chaps. You may be correct. I formed a different opinion both on the night and when I saw the replay from which the stills are taken.

There may be other angles that make things clearer.

What? DHD got it wrong, surely not!

Charlie George, Rich?

Have to admit that when Benny pulled out the first time, our family group (multi-generation, mullti- ethnicity) thought it was because there was about to be a tell-all expose in the media. Some thought he was about to be ‘outed’, but we all agreed pretty quickly that would be a MASSIVE positive for him, the Club and for the massed ranks of the support.

Can’t believe Clubs haven’t spotted the potential. It will be HUGE for whoever gets there first.

Potential semi final - Arsenal or Bayern Munich v Real Madrid or Manchester City


I think that is the 4 best teams left in the competition - heavily weighted draw on one side