- Transfers tales: the 20 players tipped as coming to Arsenal
- What is the one statistic that a club needs in order to win the Premier League?
By Tony Attwood
It was only yesterday that we had “Arsenal concern as Saliba admits playing through pain at World Cup” from MSN.
This is one of those “William Saliba has revealed” stories where at some stage in an interview or maybe even in a casual conversation, the player says “he has been playing through pain” in this case “for several months”, and we then find out that he has not been feeling “100 per cent” for days or maybe weeks.
And that got me thinking (which, contrary to popular belief, I do, in between writing articles), how often do most of us feel 100% just before we settle down to work – or indeed ahead of sitting down and writing an article? I suppose 100% fitness is more a concern when kicking a football than when tapping the typewriter keys, but it does strike me that much of the time, many of us have the odd twinge here or there, even when we are not professional sportsmen or women.It is just that for footballers, every twinge is written up, just as every fantasy suggestion about a transfer is scribbled down.
Apparently, Saka is playing through pain. And so is Saliba, who said, “I’ve had some minor niggles for several months. I’ve been gritting my teeth because there was the Champions League and the Premier League.” That is obviously a concern, and yet it seems no one can supply us with a “minor niggles” table. Indeed, I began to wonder if managers of national teams and, indeed, club teams are given a “minor niggle” chart for the opposition, before each game, so they can say to their own players, “give him a nudge on the left shoulder – he’s got a minor niggle there, and it will put him off.
“There is a real naivety among some journalists in that they never seem to realise that many of us don’t want members of the team we support to be mega-heroic and play for their country through minor niggles – we want them fit for the start of the new season’s training on 1 August. And I suppose that is because most of them are journalists first and real supporters of their club last. Of course, that is why journalists don’t mind players who sacrifice everything for the national team.
Arsenal have three players in each of the England and Spain squads, two Gabriels in Brazil, and one player with each of Norway, Sweden, Belgium, France, Ecuador and Germany. That makes 14, but if I have missed someone, do let me know.Either way it is more than a team; in fact – a team and three subs. And somehow we are expected to pick up the pieces (literally in some cases) get them fit, and start again on 21 August.And in case you still have some space in the diary, you might also like to note that it is Aston Villa away in the next match on 29 August, then it is Chelsea at home on 5 September (although of course these games can and will be changed for the sake of the TV companies), and Sunderland away on 12 September.
Finishing off that month, we have Brighton & Hove Albion v Arsenal on the 19th, and then we are back to the wretched international breaks, for there doesn’t seem to be another Arsenal game until 10 October (Leeds at home).Meanwhile, in the World Cup we have now had a player sent off for covering his mouth while speaking, which is just about the stupidest sending-off offence I have ever come across. It was Miguel Almiron, who I think used to play for Newcastle, and now plays for Atlanta United. For me the fact that FIFA introduced a red card for covering the mouth while talking has now taken us to the lowest depths of stupidity.
There really is nowhere else to go.Except maybe even more commentary about the mid-half water break (or in some countries, the commercial break on TV). I’m really not too sure why everyone is getting so worked up about everything; Fifa and its World Cup is a money-making affair which keeps the likes of Gianni Infantino and his mates in cash until the next round of internationals.
After all, by the time this is over, we have to wait until the summer after next for the next round: UEFA European Championship 2028 in the United Kingdom and Ireland.Which means next summer, countries will be playing the knockout stages of the European Championship, I suppose. It is good to know we’ll have something to watch.
