Looks like Zinchenko is on his way out. What with Califiori coming in. At least according to the Daily Express.

City rarely buys crap. My fear is there will be an over expectation from Saka. The media is rightfully praising him now but as you have all seen and from what I have seen over 20 odd years is they can also severely and unfairly cruel.

I don’t think this case is really about that. This guy only played 5 times last season for wolves so it’s not like he’s really competent enough back up to cover fa and league cup matches.

I read that after the recent outgoings we have only 2 slots available in the squad for non homegrown players assuming Tavares and lokonga are sold. Assuming we sell 1 of Kiwior or Zinchenko if Calafiori comes in it leaves the 2.

Might mean we are looking to sign another non homegrown keeper because Karl Hein is going on loan and they need 3. (He was also home grown),

Saka is very versatile. Apart from his dribbling and shooting, his positioning and link up play is outstanding. A real gem.

New rumor we are after Ajax striker Brian Brobbey. There better strikers out there but what I like about him is he is strong as a bull, low center of gravity. And can play with his back to the goal.

Tavares to Lazio, loan with obligation to buy for €7-8m. A low risk purchase that didn’t work out and we’ve all but got our money back. Move on

We had an opening bid for gk Dan Bentley from Wolves rejected….the bid….£50,000 haha

yeah when i saw the fee you realise it’s a box ticking exercise to ensure we don’t use up a non homegrown spot which probably means they are going to bring the spanish goalkeeper in as a number 2 when this gets done. This will also surely create an amazing piece of trivia for this transfer window as Arsenal will have signed 3 new goalkeepers in one window when Ramsdale goes (probably on loan)

Arsenal are advised to pay the £86M release clause if they want Swede striker Victor Gyokeres from Sporting CP.

We had an opening bid for gk Dan Bentley from Wolves rejected….the bid….£50,000 haha

Come on starboy and Declan

Your moment lads.

We should creaming this lot - if we had a left side. Dec & Bell have nothing outside them.

Kieron Trippier as a left wingback is a crime against nature.

We have this. We need to be positive. Get Toney and/or Watkins and/or Palmer on.

We’re going to concede

Need to get Kane off as we need an outball.

Falling back. Inviting pressure. Guess what happens next.

We are now making them look better than they are. Top tictacs Gareth.

Bellingham is playing left wing. Am I wrong. Just doesn’t make sense

SUBS you *%^@

Sub scores England though. Well done Ollie

Nunez could be in deep trouble after the Copa semi. If he doesn't get a suspension from all football for say upwards of 4-6 months, then the code is a joke.

Happy for England and its fans but frankly, I didn't expect them to go through. And its not because they don't have the talent. Man for man England has a generational team, not seen since the 90s maybe, compared to the major European power countries (Italy, Spain, Germany, France, Holland).

I thought Netherlands would go through because pretty much any manager in the competition is tactically better than Southgate. Nice man, bad manager. I've seen memes about Southgate's record. Its great. Finals and semi finals over the last 8 years. One could also ask were the Brazilian managers great in the 60s and 70s? Maybe they were but its been said their main job in training is rolling the ball onto the pitch.

Point is was Southgate gifted with very good English talent or was he a good manager or both? I predicted Spain early when the competition got started and see no reason for them to win it. The one thing the English side has in it that I've said is they play to the competition. The English side vs Slovakia in form would have lost the match.

The question is does Southgate keep his job after the tournament or does he have to win it to keep it? What if he loses on penalities?

Well done Colombia! Winning with 10 men. Hope they beat Argentina.

All the best to England!

In assessing Southgate it is surely only fair to look at the context of England's international record under all other managers. It has always been a poisoned chalice, and before him we only ever won one major tournament. By England standards (not Brazil, Germany, Italy and Argentina) Southgate is our second best national manager. Win it on Sunday and he could arguably be rated the best. One excellent aspect of his management is his readiness to play young guys.

Does anyone else think a bit too much about retiring ? I mean if you’re nowhere near your 60s yet.

This chasing big business, trying to paying mortgages stuff is exciting at first but gets boring. I used to love travelling all over the world doing business but feel frazzled right now.

That day you finally say yes that’s me done with work must be such an immense emotional feeling probably only bettered by paying off your mortgage.

just read Bologna want 50m euros plus bonuses plus sell on clause for Calafiori.

yeah walk away. That’s ridiculous. Player would have to be the real deal without question.

Arsenal have bid for 18 year old GK Tommy Setford who is English but plays for Ajax.

There was talk at the end of last season about Arsenal setting aside a much bigger budget to bolster the youth team having taken somewhat of a backseat to the likes of City and Chelsea in recent years

Lokonga to Sevilla on loan with option for €12m. The option rather than obligation is weak from us. The fee is quite low anyway so if he plays well Sevilla get a bargain, if he doesn’t they just send him back or negotiate down.

Still to be convinced that we can really sell players as well as we buy them. It always seems as though we’re too obviously desperate to sell so never have the upper hand in negotiations.

Hi Rich,

Lokonga had a relatively good season for Luton, bar a few injuries, and established himself as a PL quality player who could do a job for most PL clubs.

Can't understand why no one else is in for him, he's a £15-20m player all day long.

According to Ornstein a few people at Arsenal are bemused by that valuation anyway. They think a decent Euros has given Bologna licence to ask for a lot more than he's maybe worth.

Basically they want a 50 million pound deal plus deal plus sell on. At that point you are surely better off looking at Guehi or Branthwaite as you are all in with that fee. Or if you want a left back that’s a very good fee to get one so sign the most promising fullback under 25. If we buckle and relent that seems a mistake.

Shelley Duvall, Star of ‘The Shining’ and ‘Nashville,’ Dies at 75

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/07/11/arts ... -dead.html

England has such good players they might actually win it despite Southgate's best efforts.

Eight years to go and counting down the days.

On the other hand, has England ever had such a talented bunch of players?

Well....

i saw one of those awful cheese-dick youtube shorts things (so this is the pinnacle of scientific evidence, right?) where football fans were being asked to compare, position for position, Sven's 2004 Euro XI with Southgates.

David James / Pickford
G.Nevillie / Walker
Terry / Stones
Sol / Guehi
Ashley / Trippier
Gerrard / Rice
Lamps / Mainoo
Becks / Saka
Rooney / Foden
Scholes / Bellingham
Owen / Kane

One guy raised eyebrows by choosing Saka over Becks. And Kane and Walker got some votes but not many. Otherwise, it was pretty much a unanimous choice of the 2004 guys over the 2024.

And Sven couldn't get a tune out of that lot.

Nah. Threw a few punches. We all know how volatile South American football is. An international ban for 5 matches I'd say.

David James wasnt great but the back 4 in '04 much better than now. Ashley Cole light years ahead of Trippier at left back. We struggled with balance again in '04, still trying to cram the best players in to a team

When I've watched England this tournament I find myself more than any other match watching Saka and Rice rather than necessarily religiously following the ball. It is noticeable how they're used very differently. Saka in particular just doesn't have the link up play he does at Arsenal. Walker is a top defender but adds barely anything in the attacking half, he hardly ever passes to Saka, certainly not quick enough and often its a pass in to his feet with a defender right up behind him - see how Ben White passes in to space on the inside for Saka to run on to. And the way Arsenal play is to work overloads so they can get our most dangerous players in 1v1 situations out wide. This tournament whenever England have got the ball quickly out to Saka he's made something happen in a 1v1 situation.
It was a bit better v Holland as Walker pushed on more and Foden coming in to the right 8/10 position mimicked a bit of what Ødegaard does, but where Ødegaard is a very unselfish 10 with great vision I find Foden far more selfish and head down - still a wonderful player of course but not the best pairing for Saka compared to Ødegaard.

I've felt sorry for Rice as well, I don't think he's had his best tournament but the stats show him top all all players at the tournament for distance covered, ball recoveries and tackles. I do think he suits the 8 rather than 6 position. I think he can play 6 for us if we have a zinchenko type drifting in from full back to help build the play, but with england there is no such fluidity from the back 4, its very much a 4-1 formation rather than arsenal's 3-2 build up. It means the passing can try to be too vertical and there are fewer triangles created in deep spaces if the back 4 are all very flat, if the full backs stay high and wide then its even harder for Rice to have the responsibility to progress play through the middle on his own. He's also had 3 midfield partners in the team and he's been the one who has had to play the role he didn't play as much for us last season to allow the lesser players to be more comfortable in their midfield role.

Of course I'm bias to the Arsenal players in the team. I'm desperate for England to win it but I'm even more desperate for it to be Saka who scores the winner and is the star for the final