Good morning, everyone.
The international break has wrapped up, and the last Arsenal player still standing is Martin Odegaard. He warmed up for the rest of the season by assisting on three goals for Norway in their 4-2 victory over Israel. Now, I can’t state this with absolute certainty, but I’m pretty confident that he’ll manage at least three assists in every game for us until our season’s grand finale on the imaginary date of May 43rd.
Just to be clear, this isn’t me giving gambling advice. I’m not liable if this doesn’t play out, especially concerning the additional days. It’s merely a gut feeling because it’s like every time I think the world can’t get any crazier, it does, making this prediction seem like the logical next step.
Note to self: when this happens, create a remake of that Tom Cruise movie – Born on the 44th of July.
Anyway, the key takeaway is that we’ve made it through this international break relatively unscathed. Fingers crossed! The early hiccup was with Riccardo Calafiori. We’re still waiting on a more official update, but if it was seriously dire, we likely would’ve heard by now. So, the prediction of a 2-3 week break for him seems to hold water.
I noticed Brazil faced a real thrashing last night without Gabriel, losing 4-1 to Argentina. From what I gathered, he was replaced in the starting lineup by Nottingham Forest’s Murillo – quite an exciting player. Unfortunately, with Brazil trailing 3-1 at halftime, Murillo was taken off. I decided to check out the Forest Reddit, and found this comment:
“Murillo’s going to get dragged off at half time now. On a yellow card having contributed to all three goals conceded. Look how they massacred our boy.”
Not the debut he would have hoped for. Ouch. But it can’t be entirely his fault, so I dug a little deeper to see what else went wrong. Interestingly enough, Brazil is managed by a fellow named ‘Dorival Silvestre Júnior’. Hmm, Silvestre, huh? Note to Brazilian football: probably best to steer clear of appointing any of the following individuals as coach for the national team:
– Felipe Mustafi Alves
– Andre Denilson Campos
– Mattheus Diawara Oliveira
– Artur Papadopolous Macedo
– Benicio Bischoff Reis
– David Luiz Luiz
– Fabio Chamakh Marques
– Julio Emery Gomes
– Steve Squillaci
This isn’t a definitive list, but it’s a good reference for how to manage your hiring strategy for one of football’s legendary teams. It also highlights the significance of having Gabriel, so hopefully, the decision-makers and the new Sporting Director are on top of that new contract deal.
Speaking of Andrea Berta, there’s been talk of an announcement this week. With several days left in the week and no game until next Tuesday, there’s ample opportunity to integrate him before the rush of matches returns. We’ll see if anything unfolds shortly.
This evening, all eyes will be on the Arsenal Women as they encounter Real Madrid in the Champions League quarter-final at the Emirates. We’re trailing 2-0 from the first leg, courtesy of some avoidable goals, but Saturday’s 4-0 triumph over Liverpool should have boosted their spirits for today. Real Madrid, enjoying a successful spell after victories against both us and Barcelona, will be tough. Let’s hope we have what it takes to advance.
As always, Tim has done an in-depth game preview over on Arseblog News. If you’re free tonight and feel like cheering the team on, tickets are still available.
Nothing else to report as of now, but if you’re seeking something to listen to later, consider joining us on Patreon for an episode of Waffle. It’s a podcast where James and I discuss everything but Arsenal – think of it as a slightly quirky Interlull Arsecast Extra.
You can unlock all our Patreon content for just $6 a month (+VAT if applicable) at patreon.com/arseblog.
For now, take care and enjoy your day!
