Morning.
A very quick blog for you today as James and I are recording the Arsecast Extra in a little while – ON A SUNDAY? WTF?!! – and I still have things to do like drink coffee, eat breakfast, and walk dogs.
I had a Euro 2020 except in 2021 light day yesterday. I really didn’t see much of Hungary v France, but a 1-1 draw was a bit of a surprise. Home advantage with fans playing a part, perhaps?
In the middle of the day, Portugal v Germany was tremendous fun. Lots of goals, some hapless defending contributing to the scoreline, and Cristiano Ronaldo being sad is always good. Will Robin Gosens become the Euro2020 player who gets a big move off his performance at the tournament and then goes on to be vaguely disappointing for the rest of his life? He was damn good yesterday though, and his header was one of the most aesthetically pleasing goals so far in terms of body shape, and where it ended up in the net.
In the evening Spain drew with Poland, leaving them with just 2 points from their opening two games. Alvaro Morata scored, then missed a glorious chance after Moreno’s penalty hit the post. Robert Lewandowski equalised for the Poles with a great header. What’s going on with all the missed penalties though?
Today, Italy face Wales, and at the same time (final game in the group stuff), Switzerland play Turkey. I think I’ll watch the former, but I just wonder if, as so much hinges on this game for the other two, we might get a decent game. Both sides have been poor so far in this tournament, and it’s not that I’m expecting them to be brilliant, but there is often entertainment in crapness. I guess that explains reality TV.
In terms of Arsenal news, there’s nothing happening. Granit Xhaka still hasn’t joined Roma, despite all the stories it was going to be done before the Euros. Ooops. We still haven’t signed anyone, but there’s time. I’m not ready yet to press the big panic button. We haven’t really been linked to anyone new, which is a bit disappointing as my hopes that every single professional football player in the world would become an Arsenal related transfer rumour before the end of the summer now look distant.
Surely there’s got to be a way to do this though? Not that I want to give anyone ideas, but there must be a database out there on one of the football sites that – excuse my ignorance of technical stuff – could be downloaded or scraped or whatever. Then you simply set up some kind of website/blog with a Twitter account, write a script which includes [player name] + [Arsenal] + [current club] + transfer buzz-words, such as:
- On the radar
- Sensational swoop
- Close but not done yet
- Personal terms agreed
- On the verge of
- Eyeing up a move for
- Advanced talks
- Arteta and Edu’s rebuild (this is giving me Bill and Ted vibes, ngl)
- And so on
Then simply schedule the posts to publish every 10 minutes, with a Tweet, and Bob’s your uncle. Like I said though, I don’t want to give anyone ideas.
Finally, nice work from the AST who, in support of our friends at The Tollington, applied to Islington Council to have the building listed as an asset of community value.
In order to support the @TheTollington in their bid to remain, we applied for the building to be listed due to its value to the local community. We went through the process & are delighted to hear the council have agreed to list the building as an asset of community value.
— AST (@AST_arsenal) June 19, 2021
The multi-millionaire landlords, who were given £1.5m by the government to support other aspects of their business, put the squeeze on Martin for back-rent which accrued during the period when the pub was closed. It’s not done and dusted yet, but this is a really positive development. When people talk about the Arsenal community, this is exactly the kind of stuff they mean. Whatever our differences as fans over various aspects of the club, coming together in support is great to see.
Speaking of which: remember, if you’re doing some online shopping, or looking for a service/business, why not see if there’s an Arsenal fan doing what you need. Check out Arsebiz!
Right, I’m gonna leave it there for today. Remember, James and I will be recording an Arsecast Extra for you a bit later this morning. Keep an eye out for the call for questions on Twitter @gunnerblog and @arseblog on Twitter with the hashtag #arsecastextra – or if you’re on Arseblog Member on Patreon, leave your question in the #arsecast-extra-questions channel on our Discord server.
Podcast should be out around lunchtime, so until then, take it easy.
