Good Monday morning, TSFers! I hope everyone enjoyed the World Cup Final yesterday. And now that the sideshow is over, we can turn our attention to Arsenal and the Premier League. The league season starts four weeks from Friday, and the Gunners face Manchester City in the Community Shield on August 16th.
Alright, we can spend a bit more time talking about the World Cup.
The Gunners did have three winners, after all: David Raya (who didn’t play a minute), Martin Zubimendi (who played his first minutes
in extra time in the final), and Mikel Merino (who scored the winning goals in Spain’s Round of 16 and QF). Merino also made two critical defensive interventions to keep Spain 1-0 up — blocking a Leo Messi shot with his face and sliding through to intercept a deep cutback. He does it all on the pitch. Arsenal keenly felt his absence in the late winter and spring, and I don’t think anybody really gave enough thought to the effect his being out had on the squad.
Rodri looked annoyingly back towards being one of the top players in the world, although I’d suggest that the slower pace of the international game suits the 30-year old much better than does the speed and physicality of the Premier League. Pau Cubarsi, Pedri, Gavi, Lamine Yamal — Barcelona (La Masia) just keeps churning out talented footballers, doesn’t it? If Hansi Flick ever figures out how to coach up a semi-competent defense…
On the other side of the pitch, Argentina did not cover themselves in glory. Their antics after the match — attacking Spanish players — were particularly gross. I guess that follows on from attacking players during the match. Enzo Fernandez can’t help himself, can he? He’s always been an ill-disciplined player.
I wonder what a Spain-England final would have looked like. I’d guess a bit more competitive than Spain-Argentina, but Thomas Tuchel’s bizarre decisions to not play Bukayo Saka and to take off Declan Rice in the semifinal ensured we didn’t find out. Ah well. Rest up, lads. I really hope the reports that we may not see either of them until after the first international break — the last two weeks of September — are premature.
