Arsenal – Huge impact this tournament will have on Arsenal’s top four hopes. Biggest names on the team sheet: Gabriel Jesus, William Saliba, and Bukayo Saka. Will also probably see Gabriel, Xhaka, Ramsdale, Tomiyasu, and the 29 year old from North London. This could be a huge distraction for Arsenal.
Aston Villa – Coutinho, Douglas Luiz, Emi Buendia and former Arsenal keeper Emi Martinez. Also Matty Cash, who plays for Poland.
Bournemouth – Just two players for sure, both for Wales, Moore and Mepham. Which sounds like a buddy cop film!
Brentford – Two players? Maybe three? Looks like Jensen and Norgaard both play for Denmark and they just signed Mikkel Damsgaard, another Danish player. Weird how teams concentrate on certain nationalities.
Brighton – The Guardian says “half” the team will be going, but they only name Lamptey and a few guys I’ve never heard of. Shrug.
Chelski – HA! I used Chelski. Was that actually ever funny to anyone? Isn’t “ski” Polish? And now days it’s just an anachronism since they don’t have a Russian owner. Anyway CHELSKI have a bunch of big names going, Cucurella, who they just paid 62m for, Sterling, Reece James, Kante (I forgot he’s still playing), Mendy, Koulibaly. They also have small names like Christian Pulisic.
CRY PAL CRY – Just two – Andersen and Ayew. I might bump them up on my premier league predictor.
Everton – New signing Onana will probably go, as will T-Rex Pickford. Honestly, if they still have Frank Lampard as manager after the World Cup, I’ll put them lower in my predictor.
Fullhams – pretty much no one.
Leeds – No one likes you, Leeds. Looks like they have 5 players who I’ve probably heard of but don’t remember.
Leicester – They have four English players who COULD get called up but probably won’t.
Liverpool – The Guardian just say “half” the squad. I guess that means the guy who runs around and points and the guy who puts in crosses.
Man City – “The majority” of the squad, says the Guardian. Five England players. But Haaland does get a few weeks off.
Man U – Nearly the entire team! If you needed any further proof that they are definitely not finishing in the top half of the table, this is it.
Newcastle – Pretty much just Trippier and Guimaraes. Unless Southgate gets his head out of his butt and picks World Class midfielder Joe Willock.
Nottingham Forest – Two Welshmen and a Canadian.
Southampton – Bednarek, Salisu, and Lis.
Tottenham – hugely hit by the World Cup, though weirdly the Guardian says that they won’t have hardly any players out. Most important are Kane and Son but Hojbjerg, Lloris, and Perisic will all go, I think. Anyway, could be a potentially season killing tournament, especially if Son and Kane come back tired or – gods forbid – injured.
Wet Hams – Rice, Aguerd are assured to go others might get picked. Not a lot of impact however.
Wolfs – Neves, Moutinho, Sa, and new signing Goncalo Guedes.
There we have it. It looks like Arsenal could be in for a rough new year, though Spurs will also face a tough time. Man City may have all the money in Qatar but they will be significantly hit by the World Cup. All the “big five” (plus Tottenham) will have a significant number of players out for the World Cup and I have to wonder if a club like Crystal Palace or Brighton might be able to capitalize on it and take one of the European places?
Didn’t realize Haaland won’t be involved in the World Cup. That alone makes them presumptive favourites.
Also, re the Amazon show (on which I agree with your comment from some days ago) – I understand pretty much any reason to watch or not watch. But appreciating the club’s ‘openness and transparency’ isn’t one of them.
That just sounds weird at a time of un-official consensus that it’s ‘legally difficult’ to talk about certain things. I’m not criticizing the show – of course the whole premise of entertainment products is to entertain. Just, why pretend it’s something it’s not?
While the number of key players there from a team and fatigue/injury at the World Cup obviously impact players/teams, there are other intangibles to consider as well around motivation and how they respond.
Salah wasn’t the same last season after he just missed out on the Afcon title to Mane. Ozil never recovered after being scapegoated for Germany’s exit.
In the last games before the World Cup, will players give their 100% or subconsciously ease off?
From an Arsenal perspective, including our rivals, I’m curious to see what happens with two groups of players.
– Brazil players: World Cup is I’m sure a much bigger deal for them than premier league or champions league. If players like Martinelli or Richarlison don’t make the squad, how do they react? If Jesus plays a key role in Brazil winning (Ronaldo) or not winning (Higuain) the World Cup, what is his hunger/confidence like when he returns? Bad defeat could scar Allison/Ederson or Gabriel/Thiago Silva.
– English players – could Kane become a national villain like Beckham in 98? English media/tabloids are vicious – what if Ramsdale or one of the defenders makes a key error leading to a knockout goal? Potential racial abuse like after the Euros?
Question is who goes deep into the tournament? France, Spain, Brazil, Argentina, Belgium, Germany and England likely, but if the last few cups have proved anything, a big name country or 2 will fail to do so.
I’d look at who has the most players from those countries. In all honesty, guessing at this is a crapshoot. One of Rumsfeld’s “unknown unknowns”.
The bittersweet is that we’ll want to see how our players play, and play well. All eyes will be on Saliba, Jesus, Martinelli (who Vinicius will keep out), Saka and Nketiah, who’ll be representing Ghana.
p.s. Tim, I reckon that all 3 Gabriels will be in the Brazil squad, although G11 will struggle to get serious game time. You mention two.
I’d be surprised if Martinelli goes.
He’s got three caps and a grand total of 81 minutes.
Current world rankings:
1. BRA (Jesus, Gabriel, Martinelli, Marqhinos)
2. BEL ((Lakonga)
3. ARG
4. FRA (Saliba)
5. ENG (Saka, Ramsdale, White, Holding, Smith Rowe)
Not all have made their national teams at this time but who knows who may get called up and who may miss out.
Yellow card for the Pulisic dig.
He’s such an overrated player. If he was British we’d all be making fun of his tenure at Chelsea. 19 goals in three years at Chelsea isn’t atrocious but the way some Americans talk about him, you’d think he was a 20-goal a season player.
Not forgetting Xhaka, Zinchenko, Turner & possibly Martinelli if he has a great season. It looks like Arsenal will be the most represented club at the World Cup which will probably impact our continuing season when they return completely knackered or broken.
I have to say that I really feel for the Korea players when they return empty handed.