It’s been way too long since I did this but I’m hoping to get back into it and eventually get a regular schedule again. There will be a lot of shorter pieces like this or posting various interesting articles like I used to and eventually transition to more of my writing.

 

Arsenal

Watching Arsene Wenger’s last home game was nothing like watching the last game at Highbury. No stakes, no real excitement. Just a meh feeling. A 5-0 win definitely looks good but it had little meaning. There was some decent football on display but none of these players excite me.

Arsenal is definitely a Europa League team now. The new manager, whoever they may be, has a lot of work cut out for them. I wouldn’t mind a squad overhaul but it the moves that are made have to make the Gunners capable of getting back into the Champions League in one shot.

Like all Arsenal fans, or at least I think all, I’m ultimately sad Wenger is gone. I’ve been on the Wenger out side of things for a while now but I’ve always appreciated what he did for Arsenal. The Europa League exit to Atletico Madrid was disappointing even though it was expected. The team’s lack of leadership and real quality was clear.

On to the new era Gunners.

 

Champions League

I’ll keep it short as far as the Champions League final is concerned.

I hope Liverpool wins. If Mohamed Salah doesn’t falter on the big stage, and there’s no reason to believe that since he hasn’t so far, then Liverpool have a good shot. I would say they have an even better chance if they defend well and hit Real Madrid on the counter but that approach is unlikely. What I’m expecting is an open, fast-paced game. It will come down to goalkeeper mistakes/finishing chances. We shall see.

If Real Madrid win then hats off to them. Winning the Champions League three times on the trot in this era would be a superb achievement. Madrid has had an extremely tough run this season and there were very few times that it seemed they were on the ropes in the knockouts.

 

World Cup

There’s a World Cup this year and I don’t know about you but I’m not excited yet. Maybe it’s because of Russia, maybe Qatar or FIFA still trying to restore its reputation after the scandal a few years back. It just doesn’t feel like a World Cup year.

The growing behemoth that is club football also acts as a distraction despite the fact that most of the major leagues in Europe have been a formality for a few months.

I think/hope it will turn out alright as Brazil’s did in the end. No Oranje for me to cheer for but there’s still France and Spain, all the African teams and the federation of Lionel Messi, I mean Argentina. It’s his last chance and I really would like him to win the big one to end all arguments. Except he’ll still have his critics even if he carried Argentina to the final while using a mind-control device to guide Gonzalo Higuain on his key one-on-one opportunities, and organized the defense at the same time.

The sure favorites right now would be Germany, France, Brazil and Spain but there should be a lot of intriguing games. One other factor that will certainly provide entertainment will be the introduction of VAR, as reported here by CNN. 

I’ll probably do some more preview stuff as we get closer.