International week, who is still alive?

Posted on by WalterBroeckx

By Walter Broeckx

The more news that comes out in the open about Fifa and Uefa the more I hate the internationals. I have never been a liker of these matches anyway but the way we are proven right about how corrupt these organisations seem to be the more I hate them.

Of course anyone is not-guilty till they are trialled in court and found guilty but there sure seems to be some very odd and strange things happening in both organisations and the linkup person between them, in this case Platini. And maybe, just maybe we now are going to find out why Wenger doesn’t like Platini that much. Wenger who has a very strong aversion from corrupt things and well…. the least you can say that anyone who has linked itself to Fifa is more or less in it.

Would any person wait 10 years for his money to be paid? I don’t think so. So there does seems something suspicious going on with the payment of more than 1M euro from Blatter to Platini.  But hey ho, probably for thos who don’t really need 1M on their bank account this is all very acceptable and normal. But I am not in circles where such payments are made so I wouldn’t know.

But because of me being an Arsenal supporter and Arsenal having too many players out on international duty I do have to keep an eye on these matches. The final result are not what I am really interested in. The thing that makes me look at these matches is: are all our players still fine?

Now of course this is not always easy to find out. You can see when a player starts or not but he might come off with an injury or even play with an injury and still go on. We have had enough of these in the past.

And how do you check Alexis in South America? Rumour has it that he would be injured and will miss our next two matches. Of course that would be a big blow for us and him but for the moment nothing is confirmed so we just consider it to be as real as the transfer rumours. Talking about playing he did score the second goal for Chili in their 2-0 win over Brazil. It seems that Chili has reached a new high after winning the Copa America against Argentina, they now also got the scalp of Brazil. Not bad for a country like Chili who won almost nothing up to now.  What a difference an Alexis makes…. All the speculation about Alexis being injured and not able to play against Watford or Bayern are maybe a bit premature as he also played the 90 minutes against Peru and scored two more goals and had an assist.

The English internationals did all right I think. Theo scoring another goal with a good run, good first touch and a cool finish is great. Let us also keep our fingers crossed that this time he doesn’t get injured.  And in the second match Oxlade-Chamberlain scored a goal and Gibbs played so we can think that they also will be fine when we return to real football next weekend.

When I checked it yesterday it seems that Özil is also in good shape. A penalty foul on him and an assist, that makes two assists I think in the tables where they keep the assists. I have heard that Özil now only needs 2 more assists to be the best assister in international football since they started counting such things.

Santi Cazorla is another player on international duty and doing excellent. Little Santi scored 2 goals against little Luxembourg. Good finishes. Wait till he bangs them in for Arsenal. The only thing missing from his game for the moment I would say.

Aaron Ramsey wrote football history for Wales as they managed to reach the final stages of a European championship. I would say well done Aaron but the thought of you now having to play the whole summer holds me back. But for Wales it is a big achievement one could say and so I wish him well but don’t you dare to get injured Aaron. And in the last match of his campaign he also scored against Andorra.

Our two goalkeepers had mixed days. Ospina played and won 2-0 but then Colombia lost in the second match 3-0 against Urugay. Cech didn’t play in the first match and they lost 2-0. But he did play in their last match when he won 2-3 against Holland. One of the goals for the Czechs was a great own goal from “the little boy inside”. Gooners worldwide finding it funny.

When we look at friendlies (OMG… pffff) we can see that Giroud has made an amazing start for France in a friendly as he scored 2 quick goals to kill the match off in Denmark.

And just when finished typing this article I found out that Joel Campbell has scored the only goal for Costa Rica in a 1-0 win against the USA.

And from our other players like Bellerin,  Chambers we got no real news and we like to think: no news = good news.

So up to now a rather smooth way how the international break is going but I still feel bad about it.

For years we have been hit by injuries at important moments in the season. Van Persie being the number 1 victim over the years but he was not alone. It has probably cost us titles over the years.

And that is why I feel sad about the injuries that have hit Manchester City in this case.  It seems that they have lost both Aguero and Silva for at least 4 weeks and  the word in the street is that Aguero might even be longer. Now as an Arsenal supporter one might think that I enjoy their injuries as it might cost them points in the next weeks.

But to be honest… I don’t feel any joy at all. I only feel the same feeling that I had before when the internationasl are being played: It is sad to see players being sacrificed on the altar of Sep and Michel the money exchangers.  I don’t really want other players to get injured playing international games. Not Arsenal players but also not of other teams. If they do get an injury let it be by playing in the PL.  Or not get injured at all. Because the best players playing and then fighting it out amongst each other is how the PL should be won or lost. Not by matches played for the benefit of Fifa and Uefa.

 

PS: For the long term readers we have here I want to remind them of the fact that on this day 2 years ago our regular writer Adam Brogden passed away in a tragic car accident. May he rest in peace. We will remember him.

Recent Posts

20 Replies to “International week, who is still alive?”

  2. You also missed a mention for Young Chuba Akpom. I know he’s out on loan but he made his debut for the England U21’s this break and hit the framework and scored with the final touch. I didn’t see the game but reports indicate he had a good match. Which is always nice to hear, he also didn’t appear to get injured!

  3. The Arsenal players did well in the interlul. The player that also shone is Chuba Akpom. He scored & made many chances for the under 21s.

  4. Thanks for keeping me updated on Chuba Akpom. I know a few other youngsters also made an impact. Serge Gnabry scored a goal for Germany I found out after having written this article

  5. An excellent week for the Arsenal. Goals everywhere. Injured players coming back and no new injuries. Hope they carry this form into the premier league. This should be our season. I think there were more goal by our players in this Internationales than players of any other club

  6. RIP Adam.All thoughts to his family.Really decent of you to put that up Walter and as always not let his Untold presence slip away.
    COYG!!

  7. I haven’t heard of who Adam Brogden was, but now I have, Let it be on record, my profound thoughts are with his family. Let him rest in the Lord. Amen. We will continue to loath the international break ment for playing for the Fifa, Uefa, Caf and other Fifa’s confederations organized competitions until Fifa in particular are cured of the serious ailments they deliberately infected themselves with. In the interim, let’s continue to be patient and keep tolerating their organized games and those of their affiliates until they are cured. There has been news in the media that their ailments are being diagnosed and the kind of ailments they have, have been identified and treatment will soon be administered on them.

  8. Positive stuff.

    All our players seem to have built on their confidence, with most of them finding the back of the net too. This is all very good news.

    No injuries as well, which is good too – I remember losing Jack to that reckless tackle from Agger in the friendly against Denmark at Wembley.

    Also keeps certain people quiet. Why is it that whenever we get injuries we are never allowed to call it bad luck – it is always Arsenes fault. The usual suspects then add the injured players to their list of injured players to beat him up about! I saw a list the other day and it was very funny and as usual short on facts. It included Jacks above injury when Agger broke his foot and players who had been put on long term leave like Eduardo, Ramsey, Diaby, Sagna and Jack – all injuries caused by late tackles!! It even included Jacks injury against man Utd’s McNair and Debouchy’s dislocation courtesy of the Arnoutivic push. All included as part of the evidence against Wenger! Priceless.

  9. They all appeared to have a decent inter-lull but It does look like the Ox has continued his habit of giving the ball away in poor positions. His passing was mostly poor all over the pitch (yes he made an assist and they certainly weren’t all poor, but too many were!) and he lost the ball in his own half 4 or 5 times. It’s forgivable in the oppositions half as you’re trying to make the ‘killer’ pass but in your own half that shouldn’t happen. Scoring a goal doesn’t make up for such poor play.

  10. Andy.

    The Ox didn’t have his best performance for England but he didnt hide and he took his goal really well. I wonder whether he was just trying too hard and forcing the play – forcing the play on a fast pitch like that artificial one, didn’t suit that.

    He needs a run of games because Wenger himself said he suffers at times with confidence – and that will come with games.I think he has the ability to be a top player.

  11. Andy and proudkev

    Regarding the Ox, I see we are in agreement.

    This is what I said yesterday in the ‘What is happening to our players’ thread:

    “Chamberlains an odd one. He does some wonderful things but has an alarming propensity to give the ball away in the most dangerous of positions. Personally I think he’s just trying too hard. I still think he has what it takes to be a top top player, he just needs to calm down a bit.

    And today from,

    Andy

    “His passing was mostly poor all over the pitch (yes he made an assist and they certainly weren’t all poor, but too many were!) and he lost the ball in his own half 4 or 5 times.”

    proudkev

    “I wonder whether he was just trying too hard and forcing the play”

    They say imitation is the greatest form of flattery 😉

    Or is it just a case of ‘great minds think alike’

  12. When put like this:

    Alexis 3 Goals

    Santi 3 Goals

    Giroud 2 Goals

    Theo 1 Goal

    Ox 1 Goal

    Ramsey 1 Goal

    Campbell 1 Goal

    That’s 7 different scorers for a dozen goals from our boys on International duty.

    Plus the loanees:

    Akpom 1 Goal

    Gnabry 1 Goal

    Pretty impressive stuff?

    Could it be some kind of record I wonder?

    Despite such a wonderful effort from our boys I doubt it well get a mention in the media.

    Much more likely they’ll dig up another piece of **** to follow Red Nose and Fat Sam in slagging Wenger off.

  13. Good to see our players doing ok, and I am sure they may enjoy it and get something out of it, but I cannot stand international football, it is corrupt, often boring and not necessecary for anything except lining the pockets of the corrupt, or those that squander.
    And we have yet more next month …..great……

  18. Hope that where he is , Adam is happy in watching his beloved Arsenal going from strength to strength , and approves of all that came after him.

  19. Have you ever wondered why the National team managers continue to pick a large number of our players for these games ? This despite ‘them’ and those pundits and ostriches telling us that our players are crap .
    That the other international players are far superior to ours ,and are not even fit to lace the boots of those great English ‘legends’ you see frequently on your tv.
    I for one would like these managers to listen to these learned experts and leave our players out of their squads .
    Somehow I feel this will never happen ! Damn !

  20. Jambug.

    I will aceept great minds……!

    PS: I didnt know Adam but sorry to hear about what happened.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *