West Ham host Arsenal on Saturday to kick off the weekend’s Premier League action – can either side emerge with an important win, given their recent inconsistent form? Continue reading “West Ham vs Arsenal Preview: Intriguing London derby awaits”
Tag: Mesut Özil
Southampton 3-2 Arsenal: 5 Talking Points
Southampton ended Arsenal‘s 22-match unbeaten run during an action-packed Premier League affair at St. Mary’s yesterday afternoon. Which players excelled while others struggled on the south Coast? Continue reading “Southampton 3-2 Arsenal: 5 Talking Points”
Newcastle United 1-2 Arsenal: 5 Hits and Flops
A slow-burner at St. James’ Park, Newcastle United succumbed to a narrow 2-1 home defeat by Unai Emery’s Arsenal side – after two goals in less than ten minutes from Granit Xhaka and Mesut Özil shortly after the interval. Continue reading “Newcastle United 1-2 Arsenal: 5 Hits and Flops”
France vs Germany: Tricky test awaits both in UEFA Nations League opener
France’s recent World Cup winners were greeted to a heroic welcome at their Clairefontaine training base this week. It’s now time to move on, though. The new season has already begun. International breaks are never too far behind. Continue reading “France vs Germany: Tricky test awaits both in UEFA Nations League opener”
Was Mesut Özil right to extend his Arsenal stay?
With the new Premier League season set to kick off this weekend, it’s easy to forget that Mesut might not have even been an Arsenal player a few months back… so did he make the right decision to extend terms and become the club’s highest-paid player at the Emirates? Continue reading “Was Mesut Özil right to extend his Arsenal stay?”
Arsenal 3-3 Liverpool: Firmino ensures points are shared in six-goal thriller
Roberto Firmino watched on as his effort bundled in after Petr Cech’s hapless parry, which proved enough for Liverpool to earn a point and avoid losing all three after a remarkable second-half fightback from the hosts – who netted three goals in the space of just five minutes. Continue reading “Arsenal 3-3 Liverpool: Firmino ensures points are shared in six-goal thriller”
Player focus: Özil quietly effective, temporarily silencing critics
Mesut Özil is not a big-game player. He fades when his side need him most and is a luxury player, one that Arsenal cannot afford – so say his critics, especially in the media.
Continue reading “Player focus: Özil quietly effective, temporarily silencing critics”
Player focus: Alexis Sanchez superb and influential as usual against West Ham
Alexis Sánchez was at his superlative best: netting a well-taken hat-trick, creating an assist as well as numerous promising chances too during Arsenal’s 5-1 thrashing over West Ham on Saturday evening.
Continue reading “Player focus: Alexis Sanchez superb and influential as usual against West Ham”
Manchester United 3-2 Arsenal: Gunners disappoint in important away clash at Old Trafford
A first-half brace courtesy of first-team debutant Marcus Rashford – as well as a deflected strike from Ander Herrera was enough to see United past their old foes once again, in a game that promised much more.
Gunners underwhelm as United take full advantage
Arsenal succumbed to defeat for the second time in a matter of days during a five-goal thriller at Old Trafford, despite the hosts clearly fielding a weakened side due to an unhealthy plethora of injuries to key first-team players.
Marcus Rashford – who scored two on his senior debut in midweek – doubled up with his first Premier League brace, against one of the league’s best goalkeepers in Petr Cech.
Bournemouth 0-2 Arsenal: Quick-fire double from Özil and Oxlade-Chamberlain seal away win
A first-half quick-fire double from Mesut Özil and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain was enough to seal a much-needed three points in a tough away fixture at Dean Court this afternoon.
It was far from a vintage Arsenal away display, but two goals in quick succession were enough to see Arséne Wenger‘s side through in a tough battle against Bournemouth at Dean Court.
Arsenal 2-1 Everton: As it happened
Thank you all, for joining me for this evening’s action in the Premier League! I hope you enjoyed following along as I much as I did commentating – make sure to stay tuned to the latest on my blog, where the football never stops! From me, I’ll be back soon, have a goodnight!
FT: Everton provided the hosts with a few scares here-and-there, but did not enjoy a consistent spell of pressure or attempts on-goal to really stretch the Gunners’ backline, when they needed to most.
FT: The eagerly-anticipated Manchester Derby commences tomorrow afternoon, and City will be hoping to win the battle for supremacy – even without the influential figures of Sergio Agüero and David Silva within the squad featuring.
FT: Arsenal leapfrog title challengers Manchester City, to go top of the Premier League – at least for the rest of this evening.
90+4: FULL-TIME! Arsenal 2-1 Everton. A joy to savour, end-to-end football at its finest, and there should have been a lot more than just three goals too!
90+3: FANTASTIC TACKLE! Gabriel celebrates his sliding tackle as if the final whistle’s just gone, quite some scenes.
90+2: SENDING OFF! Gareth Barry is given his marching orders after his second bookable offence, and the Toffees are down to ten with a minute or so to play now..
90: The fourth official signals for FOUR minutes of stoppage time.. Arsenal supporters will be pleading for the final whistle now!
89: CLOSE! Özil does excellently in-and-around the box to create a chance out of seemingly nothing, and patiently waits for space to open up – before rifling a swerving low effort goalwards.. Howard is beaten, but his strike crashes back off the post as Everton are handed another lifeline!
88: Arsenal SUB – Alexis Sánchez OFF, Kieran Gibbs ON.
87: Just before that, Arsenal could have been three-one up! A teasing delivery by Alexis finds its way into the path of Flamini, with only Howard to beat from close-range, but his headed effort is straight into the goalkeeper’s midriff as he’s able to smother the ball in-between his gloves.
86: EXCELLENT SAVE BY CECH! Deulofeu fires goalwards from close-range, and the Arsenal supporters collectively hold their breath as Cech makes a fine diving stop to his left, parrying away the effort as the Gunners scamper the ball clear once more.
85: Özil finds Flamini in a yard of space to his left… oooh! narrowly wide by the experienced Frenchman, who apologetically looks at his teammates.
84: The Gunners break with speed and intent as Alexis leads the charge, before Cazorla switches the play into the path of Özil and the momentum, dare I say it, has shifted slightly in the hosts’ favour once more.
83: Monreal with a smart clearance, out for an Everton throw-in as the visitors pile on the pressure..
81: A smart decision made by Wenger, taking off The Ox after a productive eighty minutes under his belt – important that he keeps all of his players fresh, especially with Ramsey being ruled out for a month after a hamstring injury, which was arguably the result of being overworked by too many matches. He got himself more involved in the evening’s action as the match continued, and could have had an assist or two, if only Giroud had a yard or two more to get by..
80: Arsenal now making their first alteration – Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain OFF, Mathieu Flamini ON.
78: OFF THE CROSSBAR! Lukaku heads goalwards, and his effort flashes off the top of the crossbar after an aerial battle with Koscielny in the box… still 2-1!
77: Free-kick to Everton, in a dangerous position as Monreal accidentally clips Deulofeu’s heels – who goes down in a tumble to the turf.
75: Fifteen minutes left to play, and there’s only one goal in it! Can Arsenal hold on? Will Everton recover to seal a point, or even three?
73: A perfect cross deep in the area for a Blue shirt by James McCarthy, whose delivery eliminates Cech from the equation – but between Lukaku and Galloway they hesitate, and the latter’s headed effort flashes wide of the near post, hitting the advertising boards behind the goal.
72: Lukaku is pictured limping in some discomfort afterwards, replays show that this knock has stemmed from a sliding challenge by Koscielny near the byline prior to his cross a minute ago.
71: A no-nonsense clearance from Oxlade-Chamberlain behind his own goal after Lukaku’s cross into the box spells danger – but for an important but risky intervention by the young Englishman there.
70: Everton making their second substitution of the game now – Aaron Lennon OFF, Kevin Mirallas ON.
69: Giroud is booked for a laboured challenge, before rattling the crossbar with a curled effort goalwards, with Howard getting nowhere near!
65: Ironic jeers from the home supporters as Gareth Barry is booked, for a cynical tug on Mesut as he evaded his initial challenge in midfield. Barry’s third yellow card this term, second booking of the match.
62: You get the feeling this could be a nervy finish.. Arsenal are doing everything right apart from score, whilst Everton are posing a real threat on the counter-attack and can strike at any time.
59: Two chances in quick succession for Olivier Giroud, both from Oxlade-Chamberlain, none of which meet the back of the net! First, he spots the movement from Olivier in-behind the Everton backline and fires a low through ball towards his path – but the zip of the ball evades Giroud and he gives up midway through his sprint to retrieve the ball, before Alex applies pace on a low delivery into the area, but Giroud slides an inch or two away as he fails to connect with it!
57: Theo Walcott and Arouna Kone are amongst the respective substitutes warming up, hoping to get some sort of game time this evening..
56: Chants of “Come on Arsenal” reverberate around the Emirates as the Gunners’ supporters spur their team on – they know one goal will change the complexion of this whole fixture.
55: SAVE! Howard is equal to Giroud’s acrobatic effort from close-range, after some unselfish play from Oxlade-Chamberlain sees the ball floated into the Frenchman’s path, but his effort swerves towards the near post and Howard makes a good diving save to react.
52: Everton SUB – Jagielka OFF, Funes Mori ON.
51: On the touchline, Ramiro Funes Mori is reportedly getting ready to come on in an alteration for Jagielka, who will not be able to continue any further.
50: Coleman opts for a long-distance effort, which stings the gloves of Cech, but nothing more.
48: Ouch! Jagielka lands awkwardly with trying to perform a sliding challenge to block Oxlade-Chamberlain’s advances towards goal – the ball trickles out for a corner-kick, but the English centre-back is feeling worse for wear..
No substitutions from either side, as the second-half begins!
HT: Barkley’s deflected effort on the stroke of the half-time interval now, means this game is nicely poised at two-one..
HT: Despite this though, you cannot take anything away from the hosts. Having started brightly, they are fully deserving of their lead – although it could be a wider margin than current viewing.
HT: Questions will be asked of Howard, as he could and probably should have done better with both of Arsenal’s two goals..
45+2: HALF-TIME! Arsenal 2-1 Everton, plenty still left to play for in the second-half.
45+1: Replays showed there was NO contact, and if anything, Deulofeu should have been booked for simulation.
45: The fourth official signals for just two minutes of stoppage time to play – as Deulofeu is visibly frustrated with the referee’s decision not to award a free-kick in his favour, after an adjudged challenge on him by Monreal..
And just like that, the tide has turned. Two-nil down, with half-time fast approaching, plenty of Everton players and supporters were looking understandably glum. But now, courtesy of a freak deflection off Gabriel, Barkley fires home and the Toffees have halved the deficit!
43: GOAL! EVERTON, IN A FLASH, BACK IN IT! ROSS BARKLEY!
41: Martinez and his side look glum, but it’s certainly not over by any stretch of the imagination. Arsenal defensively, are not the most convincing – test them, as they’ve done rather infrequently, and you can create a chance or two to score.
40: Thankfully though, it’s not too serious, and he’s back in the thick of the action once more.
39: Galloway receiving treatment by the physios, after a nasty-looking thump in the face as he galloped forward on the counter-attack, probing the Arsenal backline there..
37: GOAL! QUICK-FIRE DOUBLE! LAURENT KOSCIELNY, THIS TIME! Santi Cazorla fires a free-kick into a dangerous position, and Laurent Koscielny is first to it – heading goalwards past Howard, who again, should do better, but the Gunners are two goals ahead now!
36: In fairness though, the replays show the inevitable – Howard should have done better there, as opposed to standing tall and commanding his box, he is deceived by the flight of the ball, missing it completely with a flapping dive. Arsenal will take it, though!
35: GOAL! ARSENAL AHEAD! OLIVIER GIROUD BREAKS THE DEADLOCK! A similiar delivery to Özil’s free-kick, he curls the ball into the area and Giroud has the simple task of heading home from close-range!
33: CLOSE! Excellent delivery by Özil, but it proves frustrating as no-one’s on the end of it!
32: Arsenal have a set-piece in a dangerous area, as Lennon is penalized for a cynical bodycheck on Sánchez to halt the Chilean’s run towards the edge of the area.
27: CHANCE! SQUANDERED! Lennon weaves his magic on the edge of the area, before curling an effort goalwards. Cech is equal to it, but the ball bobbles on the turf and he’s only able to parry it – straight into a danger area with the goal gaping – but Stones is first to the ball, and fires narrowly wide with a first-time finish.
25: Not particularly sure that I’ve mentioned Romelu Lukaku or Ross Barkley as much as I should have, yet. Just shows how the visitors are yet to really utilise two of their most influential players..
24: The first yellow card of the match, met by a chorus of boos, is for Francis Coquelin. An honest sliding challenge on Galloway, it was undeniably a foul, but the follow-through took out the English full-back, and the referee gives the defensive midfielder his third booking of the season.
20: CLOSE! An excellently disguised pass by Mesut Özil after roaming through midfield, finding the movement from Sánchez to his right, but he’s unable to take a shot on-goal at the last second..
19: The rain is really starting to pour down now… it’ll be interesting to see how the turf manages to hold up, whether it’ll change the way in which either side approach the game, at least attacking-wise.
18: A free-flowing, intriguing match this has been so far. More of the same, please.
15: CHANCE! Özil’s one-on-one opportunity is thwarted by the quick reflexes of Howard, his outstretched leg enough to divert the effort wide of the near post – but it would not have counted regardless! Giroud penalized for an overzealous aerial challenge on Stones in the build-up, much to the Frenchman’s displeasure.
14: Sánchez showing another side to his all-impressive bow of qualities, his defensive contribution as well as his work-rate. Chasing back to help with his side out of possession, the Chilean forward does well to shrug off the advances of Coleman on the far side, and win the ball for his team.
13: The resulting set-piece fails to materialise for the hosts, but they’ve continued to pile on the pressure towards Howard’s goal nonetheless.
12: Oooh..! Bellerín swings a great delivery into the box, and luckily Stones manages to partially clear the danger, out for another corner!
11: Arsenal have started rather brightly today, Everton struggling to create much in the final third, having to do a lot of defending at the moment too.
10: WIDE! Gabriel Paulista looks on with regret as he angled his header wide of the mark, not troubling Howard in-between the posts despite getting himself in a good position to head goalwards..
9: An excellent sliding challenge by Francis Coquelin, greeted by a warm round of applause from the Emirates faithful as Bellerín advances towards the edge of the box – his cross is promising but a block by Galloway sees Everton have another set-piece to contend with.
7: CLOSE! Giroud fires narrowly wide from the resulting corner-kick, as the towering Frenchman was unmarked in the area and Roberto Martinez will not be happy with his side’s distinct lack of marking there..
6: Arsenal awarded a corner-kick as Oxlade-Chamberlain flexes his muscles on the flank and beats one defender for pace, before Brendan Galloway does well to make a last-ditch tackle as the ball trickles out for a set-piece.
5: A good one-two between Romelu Lukaku and Seamus Coleman on the far side; the latter of which fires a deep cross towards the area, but Aaron Lennon is unable to latch onto it, as Hector Bellerín sees the ball out of play. Goal-kick to come for the hosts.
4: Oooh! Arsenal pressing a high line, almost results in an early opener – as Tim Howard is forced into clearing the ball in his six-yard box, which is blocked by the path of Olivier Giroud. The ball fizzes into the path of Sánchez who does well initially to control it down in one touch, but John Stones does well to dispossess the Chilean and clear the danger away from goal in the process.
1: Gerard Deulofeu already causing a few problems for the Arsenal backline with his bursts of speed and agility down the right-hand side, he’ll be certainly one to look out for this evening.. Today marks the Spaniard’s third start since his return to English football with the Toffees, after a successful loan spell two seasons ago.
KICK-OFF! Arsenal vs Everton, and it’s live!
Just five minutes left until kick-off now! Amongst some of the results from earlier across the division, defending champions Chelsea succumbed to their fifth league defeat of the campaign – after just ten fixtures – with a 2-1 away defeat against West Ham, courtesy of goals from Mauro Zaraté and Andy Carroll.. another shock in London on the cards perhaps?
EVERTON: Howard; Coleman, Jagielka, Stones, Galloway; Barry, McCarthy; Lennon, Deulofeu, Barkley and Lukaku. Subs – Joel; Funes Mori, Osman, Cleverley; Mirallas, Naismith and Kone.
ARSENAL: Cech; Bellerín, Koscielny, Gabriel, Monreal; Coquelin, Cazorla; Oxlade-Chamberlain, Özil, Sánchez and Giroud. Subs – Macey; Debuchy, Gibbs, Chambers; Flamini, Campbell and Walcott.
CONFIRMED TEAM LINE-UPS!
Everton – WDWWDL
Arsenal – WWLWWW
FORM GUIDE, as follows:
EVERTON: Mohamed Besic, Steven Pienaar (both hamstring),Leighton Baines (ankle) and Tony Hibbert (knee) are all sidelined for the visitors. Tom Cleverley is expected to feature – but not for the full 90 – on his return to first-team football after a nasty challenge during their goalless draw with Tottenham over a month ago.
ARSENAL: Danny Welbeck, Tomas Rosicky, Jack Wilshereand Aaron Ramsey (hamstring) are all out of contention to feature this evening, as well as former Blue Mikel Arteta, who suffered an ankle issue during training on Thursday afternoon. The striker debate will be called into question once more – Theo Walcott or Olivier Giroud up-top?
Ahead of kick-off today, here’s the team news from both sides..
I pass on my sincere condolences to Kendall’s family, as well as the Everton hierarchy – who’ll no doubt be trying to deal with a tough time at the moment.
As for the visitors, they’ll be hoping to bounce back from a disappointing defeat last weekend against Manchester United – just hours after they’d heard of the tragic passing of club legend, Howard Kendall, aged 69.
After a morale-boosting victory over Bundesliga giants Bayern Munich in midweek, the Gunners will be hoping for more of the same as they entertain Roberto Martinez‘s side today.
My name is Mosope Ominiyi, and I’ll be delivering all of the build-up as well as the live commentary on the intriguing affair in north London.
Hello and welcome to my live minute-by-minute commentary of tonight’s Premier League fixture – between Arsenal and Everton at The Emirates.
Five things we learned from the Emirates Cup
Arséne Wenger had a perfect opportunity to introduce both talented youngsters and a few unearthed gems at the Emirates this past weekend in their annual pre-season tournament; what did we learn from it?
Arsenal won this year’s Emirates Cup tournament, for the first time in five years. Over the past few seasons plenty of criticism has been placed upon the Gunners for their inability to win trophies, but with back-to-back FA Cup triumphs, silverware is well and truly back in north London.
This in itself gives the club’s supporters plenty of optimism going into the new season – especially after they were only twelve points away from eventual league winners Chelsea last term, despite many of their key players being ruled out through injury at some stage of the campaign itself.
Pre-season is a perfect opportunity for players to stake their claim ahead of the curtain raiser, and Arséne Wenger’s men have been one of the standout teams in terms of quality, even without last season’s talisman Alexis Sánchez; who is currently resting after his success with Chile at the Copa América earlier on in the summer.
Here are five things we learned from the Emirates Cup tournament, which was played this past weekend –
1) Petr Cech is a welcome, and much-needed addition
No offence intended to David Ospina, or Wojciech Szczesny for that matter. But, Arsenal have not had a world-class goalkeeper for a decade. Now, they do. Arguably one of, if not the best transfer of the summer – signing Cech from a league rival, and Chelsea at that. The 33-year-old was frustrated at his lack of first-team opportunities last season with the Blues, which is to be expected considering he’s still a quality ‘keeper. However, Thibaut Courtois is ten years his junior, and has already boasted plenty of experience in La Liga as well as the UEFA Champions League with former side Atlético Madrid.
In-fact, Thibaut is highly-regarded as one of the best ‘keepers in Europe, and at such a young age, comes big responsibility. It was always clear that one of the two ‘keepers would not feature as much as they liked, because to rotate them equally could easily hurt the balance within the squad. Jose Mourinho utilised Cech when he saw fit, but it was not good enough for the Czech Republic international, who is still eager to be playing regular first-team football.
At 33, critics may suggest he’s not in his prime. However, goalkeepers especially in history have shown that age is just a number – playing regularly up until the age of 45 in some cases, and doing well too. Ospina did relatively well in his first season with the Gunners, it must be stressed. Did not make too many mistakes, slotted in when required and kept quite a few clean sheets too. He’s a good goalkeeper and deserves to be playing regularly; that was emphasised by his influential displays with his native Colombia at the Copa América where he single-handedly thwarted both Brazil and Argentina on a number of occasions. However, he’s not world-class material. Neither is Wojciech, at least, not yet.
Szczesny is a good ‘keeper, and continues to improve. Perhaps his loan move to Serie A side AS Roma will help to reiterate just how good he actually is, despite the recent smoking controversies that continue to surround the Polish stopper. Cech commands both respect (for his various achievements) and also confidence from his backline, which will definitely help the team defensively as a unit to concede less goals. That in turn, will win them more points on their pursuit of success..
2) Chambers and Gabriel make a solid centre-back pairing
Inevitably, all good things must come to an end. The centre-back pairing that has solidified over the past three seasons between Per Mertesacker and Laurent Koscielny, will eventually come to a halt. They’ll still be playing, just not as regularly as they’d like – Mertesacker is 31 in September, Laurent is 30 in the same month. Real Madrid have been heavily linked with a £25million pound swoop for the latter, which is a refreshing change from the inexperienced 24-year-old that Wenger snapped up from Ligue 1 side Lorient in 2010. That being taken into account, it’s also startling to think that Arsenal’s backline will go through massive changes over the next few seasons. With that in mind, in steps Gabriel Paulista. The 24-year-old Brazilian, who was signed for £10million pounds from Villarreal in the January transfer window, has shown encouraging promise in his first few months as an Arsenal player. Admittedly, his English is not very good yet. But, as he continues to develop and mature, there’s no reason as to why he cannot assert himself as a first-team regular for years to come.
His tough-tackling, no-nonsense style is likened to that of Koscielny’s, not to mention his aerial ability and quick acceleration that he boasts. Partnered up with Calum Chambers, who was predominantly a right-back up until a season or two ago, the young Englishman continues to mature into a fine defender who commands his area and is able to play out from the back with composure. Between the duo, a solid partnership is brewing. Watch this space.
3) Walcott needs his chance centre-stage
Contract talks have been ongoing for what seems like an age now, and although Theo’s been unlucky with injuries over the past two or three seasons as well, he needs a chance centre-stage to prove himself as the forward man Arsenal are longing for. Karim Benzema, Jackson Martinez, Gonzalo Higuaín and Alexandre Lacazette – but to name a few, have been linked with moves to the Gunners in recent seasons. None of which have joined, which could be seen as both a positive and a negative from the club’s perspective. They are looking for a player that can guarantee them twenty goals-a-season, without having to rely on the likes of Sánchez, so he can focus on creating more chances and being a nuisance for opposition defenders.
Walcott, could be that man. If he’s given an opportunity to do so, which he has taken rather clinically this pre-season. Just as he did in the final few fixtures of last term – namely his hat-trick against West Brom and his all-round display against Aston Villa in the cup final. In the Barclays Asia Trophy, as well as the Emirates Cup, Theo has flourished in a more attacking role. Next term, he needs the chance to do so on a regular basis. If he stays injury-free, there’s no limit to the possibilities at hand.
4) Mesut Özil continues to get better
Despite the constant criticism that continues to surround the silky German, you’d be lying if you said he isn’t consistently getting better as a player. After a stellar start to his career in north London, injuries and a lack of consistency hurt his form – and he was often accused of ‘drifting’ out of matches, where he’d only do one noteworthy skill, pass or otherwise throughout the ninety minutes, then go missing.
That has not been the case over the past twelve months, mind. Especially after recovering from his injury sustained last October, Mesut has continued to improve and looks a better player for it. Not only has he strengthened, with the typical assumption that he was not physical enough to survive in the Premier League at the beginning, but he’s also linked up well with his team-mates; showing exactly why Wenger forked out £42.5million pounds for him two years ago.
Özil has started to silence his doubters, and is going about his business quietly but efficiently. Chances created alone, Mesut tops the charts. Assists, which is one of his most eyecatching stats to date, he continues to add. Another dimension which is creeping in, is in the goals department. Five goals in all competitions last campaign, isn’t exactly the best, and he’ll be hoping to improve on that tally ahead of the upcoming season. Two goals and three assists in pre-season alone, something to look out for.
5) The future is bright at the Emirates
Pre-season proves to be a youngster’s chance with Arsenal every summer as the club look forward to showcasing the best talent within their ranks. Over the past few weeks alone, Wenger has given the club’s fans plenty to be content with – not least the talented youngsters that the Gunners boast within their youth levels. Alex Iwobi, Chuba Akpom and Jeff Reine-Adelaide have all taken their respective chances well to assert themselves within the pre-season squad, and were rewarded with opportunities to shine. All three did well, in similar attack-minded positions. This in itself is something to be encouraged by for the future, especially as two of the aforementioned have represented England at youth level; the other was unearthed within the French ranks and has already displayed startling maturity for his tender age.
Chambers, Hector Bellerín (who took his chance centre-stage this time last year) and Isaac Hayden – all of which are still 20-years-old, provide plenty of optimism about the conveyer belt of talent continuing to unfold in north London. That’s forgetting others too, such as Dan Crowley, Gedion Zelalem, Ainsley-Maitland Niles and Krystian Bielik to name but a few.
To conclude, the future is looking quite bright at the Emirates. Just like the present, then.
Mo and Sports 