The end is in sight for the final Interlull of 2024. A final round of friendlies, World Cup and Euro qualifiers takes place over the next few days before Arsenal reassemble for a Saturday night London derby at Brentford.
In the meantime, here’s a roundup of Gunners-related material from international managers, ex-players and some of the current stars…
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Stale Solbakken on Martin Odegaard’s fitness…
I’ve just come from a 45-minute meeting with Martin, he is getting better and better. He’s gradually stepping things up. It has been more or less three weeks without any special training, so it is important to take it step by step. Both he and Arsenal probably hope that he is available for the Brentford match [on 25 November].
Source: Eurosport.no
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Leandro Trossard on his recent performances at Arsenal…
I am very satisfied with my performance at Arsenal We are doing well, and I am happy that I can contribute to that. A permanent starting place? I don’t think anything needs to improve. I am doing well and can’t do more then make it as difficult as possible for the coach. For me it doesn’t really matter where the coach puts me. I have played just about everywhere in recent years. Where the coach puts me, I will play my match. I don’t really have a preference.
Source: HLN (via Sport Witness)
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Hector Bellerin on Mikel Arteta and Arsenal’s title hopes…
He’s a coach that is constantly learning and I think that’s what’s good about him. He’s able to adapt and he’s able to learn from his mistakes and he’s able to become a new Arteta every season. Since he was a player, he was already coaching. He was already coaching some of us. You could see he had great ideas. I remember he used to talk to us about how he thinks the game would go and how we should press and stuff like this. And it was great. And we all kind of knew that at some point he would step up and be a manager. For sure [they can win the league]. Very young players in that team now have a lot of experience like Bukayo [Saka] and I think that’s one of the things that we were missing that they now have. So I’m sure that every year is just going to be a better one for them and I think that’s where Arsenal deserve to be for sure.
Source: Sky Sports
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Julian Nagelsmann on fielding Kai Havertz at left-back for Germany…
We have different formations depending on how high the opponent stands and defends – Kai won’t always be in that position. I have a lot of ideas for him because he is an exceptionally good footballer. It’s a very good option. He won’t always play as the classic left-back that you might know.
Source: RTL (via Evening Standard)
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Juliano Luciano Spalletti on Jorginho’s performance for Italy in their 5-2 win over North Macedonia (which included a fourth consecutive penalty miss)…
Jorginho should be congratulated [for his performance]. He did not angle the ball very well but the goalkeeper made a good save. He remains a special penalty taker for Italy. I told him that he will take the next penalty as well and he said yes.
Source: Post-game press conference
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Mo Elneny on Arsenal handing him a new contract after he suffered his ACL injury…
I was really emotional because when you get the love from the people you love, it’s special. And this club for me, it means a lot for me. It was one of the best days of my life because I got the love back from them. They feel how much I love this club and the way they talk to me and say good things about me makes me really love this club even more.
Source: Arsenal.com
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Gilberto Silva on Arsenal’s plans for January…
I heard that they were maybe looking for some midfielders especially because of Partey being injured at times. I’m not sure if it’s 100 percent going to happen but obviously, they have to be aware that this is a very short window and very specific. You have to be like a fisherman sometimes, to grab the right player that you really need that’s going to help you to win games and to be useful for the rest of the season. Also to improve the way you play. Speaking to people there, Edu many times, they are working hard to have the data and what they think is right for the club in terms of targets. The market is very competitive as well, sometimes you have to be fast and not lose the opportunity.
Source: Web Summit (via The Mirror)
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Bukayo Saka on Declan Rice having a goal ruled out against Malta by VAR…
Honestly, let’s not make comments about VAR tonight! I think let’s just focus on the win, the three points and be positive about it.
Source: Hayters
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Ex-Arsenal Vice-Chairman on Mikel Arteta’s VAR rant at Newcastle…
In 101 minutes of football we only had one shot at goal, so you can’t really say that the team deserved to win. It is what it is. There is a process in place for how they deal with these things and I just think it was a little bit unnecessary. I don’t think it did the image of the club any good. It wouldn’t have happened [in my time]. But we’re in an emotional game and these things do happen, I think it’s unfortunate, and you live and learn.
Source: TalkSPORT (via The Mirror)
It’s amazing how much Arsenal and England are dependent on Saka
Even against Malta, Southgate put Saka on at 46 min as he wasn’t sure England will win against them
Ah now Deino, don’t force us to remind you of all that happened during your time (great times though they were).
So funny.. how the Mirror decided to edit the conversation that Dein had been having on talksport..I listened to that whole interview…and he clearly says…”101 minutes of football was played..only one shot at goal”…but here’s the thing…he then goes on to say “so the team didn’t deserve to win”…directly right behind that..he then says “but they didn’t deserve to lose .”
That “important” last part, has been left off of every media outlets reporting of said interview…
Serious question..why?
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Clicks
We’ve got a while of very little going on so I wanted to pose an ‘unrelated to the article’ question (because I’m already quite bored). Why isn’t George Graham thought of with the fondness of Arsene Wenger or even Mikel Arteta? His highlight reel: – Former Arsenal player who won a legendary double in 70-71 – 2 league titles as manager – only one less than Wenger in half the time and arguably Arsenal’s most historic night at Anfield ’89 – Brought us our only European trophy in the club’s history – FA and League cup double in 1994 –… Read more »
Maybe the fact he managed spurs? Just maybe. Imagine if Wenger turns up there and he’s not really trying to get them bankrupt and relegated.
Personally I didn’t watch him a lot and I can’t judge
I honestly think even if Wenger managed spurs he’d still be adored at this club, not to the same extent but still to a large extent. Because you not only could see what Arsenal meant and still means to him, but at this point what Arsenal is as a club is inextricably tied to him. He established our identity as a club who plays attractive, technical, attacking and definitely NOT-boring football, and he came to personify the values of the club of human decency, doing things “the right way” and self-sustainability which to some extent existed before he came but… Read more »
I honestly think that if Arsene had been offered the sp*rs job he’d have told them where to stick it. He’d probably have been more polite about it though.
That’s by far the least important point I was making
Wenger’s ego was bigger than his love for Arsenal.
Partly his personality – he was quite difficult to warm to with his Sargeant Major persona and the vague feeling that it was always all about him. And partly that he went to Leeds and The Scum which left us wondering how much of a genuine ‘Arsenal man’ he really was/is (I know he still has an Arsenal front door mat and a room full of Arsenal memorabilia but it’s as much about perception as reality). I think most Arsenal fans respect his achievements but to love someone there needs to be a degree of adoration and I’m guessing there’s… Read more »
*only UEFA European trophy. Won the Fairs Cup in 1970.
But yeah, it is a bit weird. I guess it’s because his style of football wasn’t considered that revolutionary, in comparison to Arsene.
Good point. And George Graham was in the side that beat Anderlecht in the final.
So… Managed one European victory and played in the other.
Not bad George, not bad.
He took money from transfer deals for himself!
Without minimising criminal activity, I think this was pretty widespread.
Alex Ferguson is widely known to have done the same in the early 90’s.
We have better standards than them
George Graham was known in football circles as a bully (the same quality in Alex Fergusson is presented as a virtue), which stopped the likes of Andy Townsend and Gary MacAlister signing for us.
Yeah all credit to George, without him NO Arsene, without Arsene we would be still playing at a 40,000 Highbury, don’t get me wrong i would still love for us to be there but to kick out residents and redevelop area was not an option, we had only won 1 FA cup final from the double side which he played in 1971, he got the success ball rolling in his management with our 1st trophy in years in 1987 league cup, before our classic league 89 title then 91, 2 more FA cups & a European CWC, i get why… Read more »
Fuck this interlull, fuck the next one and the last one and may all interlulls fuck each other
Won’t that just spawn more interlulls?
Oh man. 8:47am on a Monday. Needed that laugh. Thanks Nate.
No because they’re so boring they will actually lull each other to sleep while fucking
Now that is an odd image
Nice to hear from Ecky. The goals we scored when Martinelli started his run in his own half, a pre-injury Bellerin would have been the only defender in the game that would have had a chance of catching him! His injury was such a shame!
This is the 2nd article in which you’ve referred to the Italy manger as Juliano Spalletti. His name is Luciano.
Lucky Luciano
He’s Juliano to his mates
Dein chatting shit, Wenger used to pop off at refs every week.
Too true. I can’t see Arsene standing for the levels of federal dishonesty we’ve been seeing recently.
Never heard him, I was listening the other way so I can’t comment.