SAKA GETS ROTTEN BACK PAGE TREATMENT
PAPERS OUT OF TOUCH WITH NATION, AGAIN
It's all a bit dull in Arsenal land right now. The rumors aren't that spicy, the action is happening behind the scenes, and there's simply too much focus on England.
They lost to Iceland last night. Despite entering the game at the 65-minute mark, Bukayo Saka was the centerpiece of the back pages in a few papers.
I don't have a problem with Saka being scapegoated, as long as he's 🐐goated🐐 when we secure a massive win. But answer me this, if England has a mega game, and the scorers were Foden, Kane or Saka, who is getting the hero shot?
We've seen it time and again with Sterling, the three Black players who missed penalties… it's an extremely tired trope, and the bigger point here is that it’s not a sentiment shared by the nation. The papers are out of touch.
It’s crazy to see the BBC getting involved here.
I would have gone with Gareth Southgate as the lead and focused on the crux of the issue: No Benny Blanco, no big trophy in 6 weeks.
This quote from Sky Italia backs my thoughts from yesterday on Osimhen:
"Osimhen must fund almost the entirety of Napoli’s summer business. He has a €130m clause that no club seems to be getting close to. PSG remains a possibility, and Arsenal too, but not at those figures. Saudi Arabia seems like a life choice."
No one is dropping €130m on a striker unless they're delivering Cristiano Ronaldo-like numbers regularly in one of the best leagues in the world. 17 goals don't justify that kind of money. If his agents tied him to a release clause that high last December, they really aren't fit to be taking 10%. Even Harry Kane’s brother would balk at that number.
William Saliba has made some bold statements.
"We played against them [Man City] three times and made them struggle," he said.
"They feel, and we feel, that we are close to them. Next year, we will have an even better clash."
"I think I am in the top three defenders in the Prem," he continued.
"We finished with the best defense, I watch a lot of matches. I am a very humble person but, just like last season, this season I am in the top three defenders. I need to continue to work to climb even higher, but in terms of concentration, I have improved significantly. Before, I could play a top match but lose focus during a critical phase. That no longer happens. I am always on alert."
That’s the spirit you want to hear. Arsenal is gearing up for war and Saliba rates himself among the best — a hard point to argue against. He's in the top two for me, only behind VVD because of past achievements. Pound for pound, based on last season, it's Saliba all day for me.
Talksport is suggesting that Villa will sell Douglas Luiz to alleviate their PSR issues. Arsenal likes him; they've tried for him before. This is the guy that would top my list of midfielders to bring in as a #6. If we dropped £60m on him, Villa could replace him with Gallagher for £40m and acquire a homegrown player. It’d all work out very nicely.
That said, I don’t see Arsenal moving for a #6 this summer if Thomas Partey decides to stay. There's no room for another expensive player, and there’d be very little desire to keep a £250k-a-week player out of the matchday squad for a season. I’d imagine we’d pivot to an 8 if that was the situation.
Sky Sports covered the story of Santi Cazorla returning to Real Oviedo. The topic, as ever, turned to Arsenal, and he had this to say:
"I have a very special affection for Arsenal," Cazorla told Sky Sports. "I spent six wonderful years there and I know how much all the people love me there.
"Of course, I was fortunate to share a dressing room with Mikel Arteta, and now he is the manager. We had conversations about that, but right now I am not focused on anything other than contributing to this club, Oviedo, and continuing to enjoy football as a player.
Leaving the door open at Arsenal is great news. Fans really did love the Spaniard. I have no idea what he’s like as a coach, but can you imagine being a young player, getting technical sessions from one of the most two-footed players ever to have graced The Emirates? I can’t. Having Santi on the bench at Arsenal would be a huge win with the fans. I’d love to see it!
Ok, that’s me done. Me and Johnny dropped a new podcast yesterday for the members. I’ll be back tomorrow with some more words! x
When I read Pedro's post within the hour it was posted, I just knew that Un would be the passport carrying citizen of the state of denial, who would defend the indefensible.
Un wouldn't know what implicit racism is, nor understand what a dog whistle is. I would imagine that if the crowd threw bananas at black players, Un would argue they were just trying to provide due nourishment.
Unless the racist act is as stark as a 3-legged deer on roller skates, Un and his ilk would be in denial.
Pedro is not the only one that called it though, many people saw the insanity of using Saka as the face of failure when he only had 1/3rd of the game
"Showing Saka on the ground looking pissed off after a friendly defeat doesn’t misrepresent him. It shows our best player looking pissed off. Why does his skin colour matter? It doesn’t."
I agree with Un