Morning all. A quick Monday blog.
As an Irishman the less said about the football yesterday the better, I suppose. I actually had the first half on while I was making dinner, but turned off at 0-0. A wise decision, as it turns out.
Meanwhile, there’s talk this morning of a Leandro Trossard injury, which is just what we need [sarcasm font]. I don’t know how serious it is, but he came off in the first half so it’s obviously something. Another headache that Mikel Arteta will not need. He said he was praying that after this Interlull he’d have a squad that was physically ready and in good shape, he might need to say a few more rosaries by the sounds of it.
He’ll no doubt be keeping a close eye on his other two forwards who are away with their countries, Kai Havertz and Gabriel Martinelli, and keeping everything crossed that they come through their games on Tuesday without a problem. I know football fans have a tendency to see things through the possible worst case scenario, but if we find ourselves reliant on the goals coming from Gabriel Jesus and Raheem Sterling, we could have a big problem.
As for Trossard, I know he’s had some iffy moments this season. The red card against Man City, the careless pass which led to William Saliba’s sending off, and some performances which have been below the level we know he’s capable of, but he’s still a player I absolutely want fit and available. Perhaps not as a starter right now, but if you look at this Arsenal squad and try and envisage someone coming off the bench and making an impact when we need it, he is about the only one who comes to mind. So, let’s hope it’s nothing too substantial.
Today, Arsenal players in action are David Raya and Mikel Merino for Spain, and Jakub Kiwior for Poland. I look forward to tomorrow morning to read about how Merino’s shoulder actually came off in an innocuous looking challenge in midfield, flew through the air, and caught Raya straight in the face, blinding him in one eye. Meanwhile, back at base, a goalkeeper’s dinner and bonding session ended up with all of them suffering calamitous food poisoning, leaving us with only 14 year old ‘Billy Stopper’ available for Saturday’s game against Nottingham Forest.
Beyond that, there really is nothing much happening, so I’ll leave it there for this morning. There’s a brand new Arsenal Women Arsecast available right now, Tim and Jamie look back at Saturday’s 3-0 North London derby win, and take listener questions in part two.
And of course, we will have an Arsecast Extra for you in a little while too. We’ve put out the call for questions on Threads @gunnerblog and @arseblog and on BlueSky @gunnerblog.bsky.social and @arseblog.com with the hashtag #arsecastextra – or if you’re an Arseblog Member on Patreon, leave your question in the #arsecast-extra-questions channel on our Discord server.
Pod should be out around noon. For now, have a good one.
