Good morning. If you haven’t had a chance head over to yesterday’s article and read Greg’s comment on “It’s Coming Home”. His little essay got stuck in the spam folder until this morning. He explains what the song is about and what “it’s coming home” means. It’s a nice sentiment and I get it but I’ve heard the song on twitter now one too many times. Which is to say that I’ve heard it twice. Since I’m not part of that generation that grew up with the song, it just sounds tin eared to me. Kind of like “You’ll Never Walk Alone”.
I am not complaining. It’s a departure from variations on “Guantanamera” or any of the half-dozens songs that every team’s supporters sing (with slightly adopted lyrics). It’s just not a song I grew up with, so I don’t “feel” it the way so many others seems to. Anyway, I’ll give it a rest now. Have fun over there in England (or wherever you are) and just remember it’s the hope that kills!
The World Cup starts back up again tomorrow morning with a killer match between Uruguay and France. France and Uruguay are 100% evenly matched on my system. Literally, exactly the same score. So, I used this handy feature from Google to do a coin toss and… France. My gut says France too so, I like that call. I know that Uruguay will sit back and be spoilers in this match, with Cavani and Suarez bursting out on counters all game, and I think that will negate much of France’s advantage, which is the speed of Pogba, Mbappe, and Griezmann. I think this could be a good game.
In the second match we have Brazil and Belgium. System says, Brazil, but only if they can find a way to get Firmino integrated into the attack. I’ve seen a few articles this morning saying that they are going to start Firmino at CF tomorrow so we will see. On a side note, just to show you how dumb my system is: England are better than Brazil by.. 0.06%.
And lastly in World Cup news: I had a chuckle at the Jonathan Liew article about how England are finally fighting fire with fire and are fouling as much as they are fouled. This England team have Kane, Alli, Trippier, Dier, and Kyle Walker – all current or former Tottenham players and Tottenham are the snidest team in the Premier League and well versed in the “dark arts”. For example, Dele Alli has been booked more than any other player for diving and you just watch them play for a few minutes and you will see them leaving studs in on challenges and the like. Ashley Young is a world famous diver and Manchester United are one of the other top filthy teams in the League. But the part that’s truly funny is the idea that none of this was happening until little England stood up to big bad Colombia.
Anyway, from an Arsenal perspective, I’ve been saying that Arsenal need to be more rough and tumble. The one foul that I see most often in the League right now is the one that stops the counter attack. It’s rarely carded anymore so it seems to happen two or three times a game. Man City are especially effective at this tactic and it’s one of the ways that I think Pep keeps his team from being cut open on the counters.
On to the Arsenal news!
I wrote a stats piece on Sokratis over on The Arsenal Review and I have to admit that I was pleasantly surprised by his numbers. I’ve read the other pieces which tended to cast a worrying tone (which I do all the time so I’m not calling them out) but Sokratis looks like a player at the peak of his powers. He’s tackling less, fouling less, passing at the best rate of his career, and he’s an uncompromising player in the air. Overall, I like everything about him except two things: 1) his injury record (he has a fairly serious injury every season) and 2) we have to replace him in two years (at best) and it will probably take him a full season to adapt to the Premier League. But we’ve been over all that and I think we all agree that we don’t care if Arsenal throw away money on old players!
I also see that Jack Wilshere is tipped to sign with either Fenerbahce or West Ham. So, that means West Ham for sure then. I hope he does well. Always liked the kid.
Enough from me. Have a safe 5th of July.
Loved Greg’s essay. Didn’t know all that history. But my reaction is much like yours. I’m bugged by it rather than moved by it. I guess it’s the memefication of it. Besides, the football ISN’T coming home (the cup? maybe.. unlikely)
I think the key player for France will be Giroud against the low block of Uruguay. If he can be the battering ram and score or set up someone on the edge of the box, they will win. If they get too desperate, Uruguay will punish them on the break.
Glad to see you’re on board with Papa…. The Pope..The saviour.. The philosopher. Meh..whatever. He brings experience and should help guide Movropanos, Holding and Chambers.
Some rumours Mustafi is of interest to Juve. Who also might be getting Cristiano Ronaldo for 100m euros. If true, I think it is a good deal for all parties. Juve get to project themselves as among the elite again. (And hope for a CL win) and players last longer in Italy so a 4 year deal isn’t all bad. They’ll likely sell some players. Mandzukic to ManU apparently. Alex Sandro to Chelsea? Higuain to Spurs? To replace Kane to Real?
The transfer circus is hotting up. It’s fun looking at it from the outside. Serie A will be interesting if Roma will all of Monchi’s signings can mesh together.
I would be genuinely shocked if Ronaldo went to Juve. Unfortunately with Ronaldo, there’s more to it than just transfer fee and salary. There’s image rights, merchandizing share (Juve sell a fraction of merchandise that Real sell) etc. I can’t see it. After Jorginho/Mahrez to City, I actually don’t see much movement at all for superstars happening this summer.
His relationship with Real had some issues. Plus it just makes sense for Real to let him go.
As for image rights. I don’t know. It opens up a new country to him. He could probably demand a greater percentage of any additional merchandise Juventus sell. Fiat might cover some of this stuff too. It strikes me as win-win-win.. but maybe he just uses this to re-up at Madrid
Agree with you gents more often than not, but Im going to strongly disagree on ‘Its Coming Home.’
Terrific tune, made even better by the Lightning Seeds vocalist. I absolutely love it, and I always dig it out at tournament time. I don’t see it as being specific to England… I think it speaks more to passion for the game, and harbouring (often hopelessly optimistic) dreams of winning the world cup. It could have been written by Uruguayans, long ago winners. Or Swedes, long ago finalists in 1958. It could have been written by Spain supporters 30 years ago.
England supporters know, in their hearts, that they have been the poor relations of football since they won the tournament in 1966. And so the song isn’t jingoistic at all… it’s hopeful, it’s a yearning and it’s rather sweet, I think.
Three Lions on his shirt
Jules Rimet still gleaming,
thirty years of hurt
never stopped me dreaming
I… really like it. If Im in a pub in London and I hear that belted out during a world cup tournament, it raises my pores. And you know that I’m not an England supporter.
Coming home is not only about experiencing the sheet thrill of your team winning a world cup… it also plays to the fact that England is the home of the great game, where it was founded.
The beauty of cup football is that as long as you’re in, you have a shot. I think ‘It’s Coming Home.” captures that perfectly.
Official name, Three Lions (Football’s Coming Home).
That (Euro 1996) was a really great TV experience all round. Baiddel & Skinner were hillarious (even revealed that the Bulgarian keeper was wearing a wig), and the song cemented the whole tournament into place.
I totally nerded out this morning and watched all the videos of the training, etc., on the dot com. A few things stood out:
Lacazette and Aubameyang appear to have good camaraderie; hopefully that translates to chemistry on the pitch (if Emery chooses to use them together).
Rob Holding appears to have taken on the Per Mertesacker role of surprisingly-skillful-defender-for-his-size-and-being-good-natured-about-it. I like the kid.
Gazidis, looking like a secret service agent with his sunglasses, shared a few words with Ramsey at the training ground. I sincerely hope it was to the effect of, “ok if we announce your signing of the contract tomorrow?”
Lucas Perez in training. I wonder if there might be a place for him in our squad. I hope so. Ideally, we’d sell Welbeck this summer (sorry, Danny, I do love you), and use Perez as our early Europa and domestic cup striker, etc. He certainly fits our desired age profile, turning 30 in September 😃No, but seriously, folks, I think he’s an extremely hardworking player, and he’s a team player as well; I think Emery will like him.
Didn’t see Leno. Saw Martinez and Cech, though. I’d be happy to go into the season with a GK trio of Cech, Leno, and Martinez, though I suspect the latter will move on (along with Ospina), and we’ll see a trio of Cech, Leno, and Macey.
I always like watching the pre-season training. Spirits are generally high, the players can be seen joking with each other (does Aubameyang ever stop smiling? I love this guy), and coaches be coaching.
Sad, sad man.
I blame the World Cup days off. Relief cometh soon, brother. If not soon enough, get help 🙂
On Tim on Sokratis, interesting stats. Really nicely worked analysis. Glad that he looks better when you dig into the numbers. He and Torreira (toes crossed) seem to bring something we’ve lacked… fight. A bit of nasty. A bit Keown and Winterburn. Kos was tough as they come, but he’s not that. Torreira looks a go based on his father’s comments but even if he isn’t I’ll always love him for hip checking the great Ronaldo and leaving him on the ground.
I know it’s final 8, but I do wish the contests were more evenly spread. What I mean by that is that I was that England and Sweden each had a separate, tougher test. Oh well.
I’d have liked to see Uruguay go further, but fear that France are too good for them. Speaking of which, check out Jorge Valdano’s piece on Mbappe in the Guardian.
And speaking of dirty Spurs and United, Liew’s is the only mention I’ve seen of Ashley Young’s clear red card tackle.
Ha! To be truthful, I do this every summer, not just on fallow WC days! Every year it’s the same for me: I get all juiced watching pre-season stuff, the optimism builds, and then I come crashing down after losing the opener…entering a familiar pattern of a rebound from Oct-Dec, disaster in Jan-Mar, then plucky charge from Apr-May.
Let’s hope the record changes this year! At the very least, I have to believe it will be different. Perhaps we’ll simply find different ways to drop points! No no no. That way madness lies.
I’m predicting England will beat Sweden in what’s being billed (ok, I’m the only one billing it) as The Battle of Scandinavia (yes, I know about Anglo-Saxons, too, but bear with me…there is more Scandinavian ancestry and heritage in England than is generally assumed).
And yes, France should have too much for Uruguay.
The record is going to change. Arsenal are going to play nothing but 7 nations army for the entire season.
Well done on Sokratis, Tim. He’s the hero (Gyro) of Arsenal.
France and Belgium to win tomorrow.
Really hoping Belgium beat the Babies of Brazil tomorrow. Without their first-choice fullbacks in Alves and Marcelo, Belgium might get some joy down the flanks against the likes of Fagner (surely an unfortunate phonetic rendering of the German pronunciation of “Wagner”?) and the (admittedly quite good, considering he’s back-up) Filipe Luis. On paper, Brazil have one of the best squads in the tournament, but have rarely looked like it.
Also, I know I shouldn’t say such things here, but Fellaini has actually played really well in the WC. In my opinion.
I really hope so, too – Neymar is almost as loathsome a character as Dele Alli.
That said, Martinez is what happens if you make the entire plane out of Wenger’s last 5 seasons. I think pound for pound Belgium have as good a side as Brazil but Tite is a much, much better coach than Martinez even if he has his weird favorites. I just don’t remotely trust them to defend against Brazil, particularly if Firmino starts. His movement, Neymar’s skill and Willian’s running are assuredly too much for the clownish Belgian defense.
I think Brazil is likely to win the tournament as the teams left who can defend don’t have enough firepower to beat them and the teams with enough firepower can’t defend. Uruguay probably is the best shout and I sort of expect them to beat France if Suarez can produce anything but I’d still tip Brazil as favorites in that matchup.
Jack, Ronaldo’s done. Clear from Champions League final and World Cup that’s he’s lost a couple of yards of pace — the burst of acceleration is gone.
I said after the final that Madrid should flog him. Glad that Senor Perez is listening to me. 😏
A hundred million Euros fora 34 y/o past his prime? Incredible business for Madrid
Ronaldo was clocked at 34 km/h, the fastest of any player at the tournament.
In one sprint, I presume. Ive seen Ronaldo play 5 games since late May. He’s not the player he was.
I thought he was the best individual at this world cup.
To paraphrase the old lady at the table next to Meg Ryan and Billy Crystal, I’ll have what you’re having 🙂
It’s not that Real don’t want to sell him, it’s that Juve cannot afford him. Real, as I understand it from my friend who is a die-hard Columbian Real fan, would love to dump Ronaldo, Bale and Benzema and possibly Ramos to start the rebuild because they recognize they’re behind Barcelona.
But Juve cannot possibly make up the gap with Ronaldo’s demands with regards to sponsorship, merchandizing, image rights etc. Ronaldo’s brand is bigger than Juventus’. That’s a fact. Ronaldo would probably demand a share of all proceeds outside of match-day sales.
Well, they can afford him. They bought him.
And Im sure they did the math. Still, I think that this is better business for Real.
Just read Greg’s little mini-essay. I knew all the facts already, but getting the personal and cultural point of view from a (thoughtful) Englishman is interesting to me as an American, and makes me more sympathetic to how the song seems to make English men roughly my age feel.
But let me just say, the reason I find the song/hashtag annoying now is nothing to do with the stuff Greg mentions, and in particular I think it’s totally fine for the English to reference the fact that they gave the world the beautiful game.
But, as Greg points out, in 1996 the primary meaning of the song’s refrain was about the fact that the tournament was being *hosted* in England. Whereas since this World Cup is in Russia, the primary meaning I take from English fans bandying the phrase about on twitter is that they think they’re going to *win* the tournament. This is very different.
Obviously I have no idea how many fans actually believe this, and I’m sure a lot of those that are getting all excited about the team, in their heart of hearts don’t really/fully believe England will win it all.
Still, it strikes me as hubristic to interpret a 6-0 win against Panama and a 1-1 pk win against Colombia, as any sort of sign that England just might get the job done. Of course, they *might* do it, but last time I checked there were 7 other teams still in it, most of whom have matched or exceeded the quality of England’s performances. Nothing wrong with dreaming big, but something irritatingly narrow-minded about genuinely allowing oneself to believe that one’s team has a very good chance of winning when the evidence does not support this belief (not saying England have a worse chance of winning than most/all the other teams–and obviously their draw is much easier than the other side–but just think they have no reason to think they’re one of the best 2-3 teams still in it). It’s a bit like how Liverpool fans like to declare “this is our year” every August.
Finally, quite apart from overconfidence about England’s chances, if you’re saying “it’s coming home” in triumph as *victors*, as opposed to “it’s coming home” as *hosts* inviting the world to your country for a football party, it has a very different, and less appetizing, connotation: basically that the rightful place of the World Cup, the symbol of being the best at football (rather than just those who introduced the game to the world), is in England. Whether or not England go on to win the tournament, that sentiment just strikes me as obnoxious.
It’s just a song for Gods sake, and one which gets sung quite regularly at international games. I very much doubt that there are that many over here (in the UK) who genuinely believe England are going to win the damn thing. We’re just enjoying the moment which may last for a few more days yet.
yeah, fair enough. I certainly don’t mind the song, or English fans singing it. at all!
On reflection, I guess i just don’t like hashtags….
Or Spurs and friends (aka this particular English side).
PFO – you have to remember that it’s also a catchy tune that has never really gone away (YNWA-style); and that it is now essentially the England team’s anthem. Yes the ‘coming home’ now links to actually bringing a trophy home – but it’s not like it was dug out of the archives for this tournament with the concept of taking football from the hosts and bringing it home – it’s a fun song that an entire pub can sing to drunkenly and jump up and down; and I guess highlights the difference between how important England has been to football (by no mean the most important thing, but having the sport codified here and then spread around the world by English industrialists and sailors – after the industrial revolution Britain instigated free trade and, compared to their previous protectionism, began exporting industrial technology so that newly industrialising countries like Germany etc could become markets for English goods – so they set factories up with British machines and set up football teams for the workers) – plus the success of the Premier League & its status; all lies in direct contrast to how piss poor the national team has been for 52 years…so yeah I guess it’s a desperate hope for some glory again, rather than a hubristic entitlement – that’s my reading of it anyway.
I’m not a huge fan of the England team as I find it hard to get excited about all the flag waving, not to mention turgid football and players I don’t like – but there is something special about belting “Three Lions on the Shirt!” in a crowded pub where everyone is going mental in a good natured way…..I mean compared to ‘Jerusalem’ for the cricket (or rugby? i forget) “build Jerusalem on this green and pleasant land”, or any of the slightly more crass expressions of nationalism “Rule Britannia” or, (perhaps controversially on this site 😉 ) the never annoying “USA! USA! USA! USA!” or god knows what other songs there are.
So yes – I get it that the British press are a reactionary, blinkered and disgustingly nationalistic cess pool, and god knows how many England fans are complete bellends, and so I can understand distaste with seeing the song referenced everywhere; but in addition to Greg’s contribution yesterday, it just really is a fun, good, drunken song that expresses the hope of a nation without shoving how great that nation is down other nations’ throats.
I don’t mind if you call the USA out for our jingoistic nationalism. We kind of suck as a nation.
I wouldn’t worry – most nations are pretty gross when it comes to flag waving and all that stuff (just America seem to do it bigger and louder than everyone else ; ) )
I’m growing more cosmopolitan as I grow older – and the Arsenal blogosphere is a microcosm of why that approach is so much better; we all have more in common than most will care to admit, and excessive patriotism does no one any favours!
I wrote the above without reading Greg’s comment last thread, and Im glad that we largely agree. Greg must have have arrived late in the box. Like Ramsey 🙂
eager to watch the france/uruguay game. simple, if uruguay score first, they’re likely to win against any team in the world cup. i want to see them go behind against the french and see how good torreira is; that deep, low block suits him. let’s see some dynamism.
eager to watch the belgium/brazil game as well. belgium may play well but i think brazil is about to peak. mexico played their best match against brazil and still lost 2-0. if brazil peak tomorrow, belgium will lose. i don’t believe belgium’s defense can stop brazil. i love kompany and appreciate vertonghen but the belgian fullbacks are suspect. that’ll likely be where belgium loses the game. we’ll see.
My detested neighbour has £50 on Belgium at 16/1 (pre tournament), so out of malice I want Brazil to win today. If not France will have to finish the job in the semi for me. How small is that?
The WC winner will come from these four teams today for sure.
Thanks for the shout out and interesting comments on Three Lions. These things end up being pretty personal I guess. I have friends who think World in Motion is the superior song, even though it’s objectively not. Probably because my friends are Mancs and therefore in typical Manc fashion automatically prefer Manc band New Order because they too are Mancs from Manchester and Manchester is the greatest city in the world (if you’re a Manc).
Enjoy the football today chaps, yeah France Uruguay should be a lot of fun.
Lloris. What a save. This world cup shows why Spurs are better than Arsenal, all over the pitch. Spine, back to front. Lloris, Vertonghen/Sanchez, Dembele, Eriksen, Kane.
Sobering. We have a lot of work to do
Neymar’s twattery doesn’t give me sufficient reason to bet against Brazil or root for Belgium. I think that Brazil has too much class, all across the pitch. GK, CB, AM, DM, forwards. They should start Firminho instead of Jesus, who has been a bit of a disappointment.