As much as I hate to be the bearer of bad news, Andrew actually isn’t back until tomorrow, so I’m back in the chair for one last dance today. I’ll just give you a moment to roll your eyes and let the disappointment sink in.
OK, come to terms with things? Good. Let’s crack on.
Not that there’s loads to crack on with, mind. With no international tournament this summer, at least none with any Arsenal interest, there just isn’t much going on. As Tim touched on yesterday, this does seem to create a sort of angst for some people, where the lack of news is interpreted as a lack of action. So I thought I’d try to put things into a little bit of a perspective by zooming out.
Tomorrow is fixture release day, with the opening day of the season still almost two months away. Two months! Have you any idea how long two months is? Two months ago today, Andrew opened the blog with this:
Arsenal are into the Champions League semi-finals for the first time in 16 years, having completed a famous double over Real Madrid with a 2-1 win at the Bernabeu last night.
The point is, two months is an eternity. Andrea Berta was two weeks into the job at that point. His feet should be firmly under the table by now and he’ll be on the phone non-stop, no doubt ruining the family holiday. The same goes, I’d imagine, for Mikel Arteta.
Personally I don’t see the lack of news as a lack of activity, I just think Arsenal are talking to various parties and, as things stand, there are still various ways for the summer to pan out, so it makes sense for the club to be keeping as many irons in the fire as possible. Do the preparation on lots of deals so you’re not starting from zero if something falls through because of price, competition, or even injury.
We’ve become so used to getting daily updates on every news story out there, it becomes harder and harder to switch off during the summer, but a lack of updates doesn’t mean a lack of work. The earliest first team summer signing I can find in recent years is Kai Havertz, and that wasn’t until 28 June two summers ago. Most — Gabriel Jesus, Oleksandr Zinchenko, Sambi Lokonga, Jurrien Timber, Ben White — have been announced in July and been more than available for the opening game of the season.
Anyway, tomorrow is fixture release day! All of that will be covered in these pages tomorrow. I think Andrew’s of the opinion that, basically, none of it matters. And while I think he’s probably right, I still can’t help but be excited about it each year.
It’s not just the first landmark that really signifies one season is over and another is on the horizon, but I think you can really see a season begin to take some sort of shape in your mind. Sometimes you see Newcastle and Chelsea away with a Champions League game (which ended up being Inter away) squeezed between them and you think, eesh, that won’t be fun, and you’re right. Sometimes you see a tough start to the season — trips to Aston Villa, Tottenham, Manchester City — and you think, eesh, that won’t be fun, and you’re right but not because Arsenal actually end up losing any ground.
A season obviously doesn’t take shape just with the schedule there for all to see. Last season it looked like we had a really nasty start to the season and we came through it well, only to drop points in some of the ‘easier’ fixtures that followed. Liverpool had one of the easiest starts to the season on paper but lost to Nottingham Forest before anyone knew Forest would actually beat a lot of teams. After five games there wasn’t much of a gap between us and Liverpool. By the time 10 had been played — and our run had eased, their’s had picked up — the gap was seven.
But in terms of meaninglessness, I still think it’s pretty enjoyable. I’m looking forward to scouring the 38 dates, making a mental note of when the derbies against them lot are, when Liverpool will be in town, who we play on Boxing Day (if we play on Boxing Day — my fingers are crossed), and when we can finally beat Fulham at home and Newcastle away again.
By then we’ll have a new striker, a new midfielder, a new backup goalkeeper, three new left-backs, new contracts for half the team, and no buyer for Oleksandr Zinchenko. Plus ça change.
There was an announcement yesterday that Renee Slegers will be on the BBC’s punditry team for the Women’s Euros — something Jonas Eidevall also did as Arsenal manager — and I’m looking forward to seeing her insights. Generally I think managers in those situations can offer so much more that former players would miss or not really appreciate, and that sort of variety of voice is incredibly welcome.
Also no the women’s side of things, the WSL yesterday announced a move from 12 to 14 teams for the top flight starting with the 2026/27 season, which really does sound to me like it’s way into the future but, well, obviously it’s just a year away. You can read more about the details here and hopefully it means more clubs across the country invest more and more into their women’s teams.
There’s also an Arseblog News round-up on some of the latest transfer stuff from Andrew Allen if that tickles your fancy.
You (and I) will be back in the safest of Irish hands tomorrow. I’m sure Andrew will return well fed, tanned, and delighted to be back at the keyboard. Until next time!