Good morning, well that’s it for internationals, and not a moment too soon if you ask me. Bring the real madness of football.
Yesterday, Granit Xhaka played 90 minutes for Switzerland in a 2-1 win over the Czech Republic; while Martin Odegaard also played the full match for Norway, beaten 2-0 by Serbia. Hopefully that means the captain isn’t feeling the effects of the injury that kept him out of the win over Brentford, and he’ll be 100 per cent for Saturday’s derby.
Now it’s all about sizing up players when they come back, with some question marks over one or two. I already wrote about Thomas Partey and Takehiro Tomiyasu this week, so let’s see what kind of updates we get on them as the week progresses. Fingers crossed on both counts, because all the focus now is on the weekend, and then the penalty schedule that follows.
Elsewhere, Flo Balogun scored for the England Under-21 side who beat Germany 3-1. Watch the video here. Those are some beautiful quick feet to touch, then turn your body to shoot with your weak foot. Clearly the loan spell in France is working well for him, with 5 goals and 2 assists in 8 games for Reims so far. And let’s not overlook the fact that this is a team that currently sits 17th in the table, so it’s not like I’m sucking in a multitude of opportunities on a team that is crushing the opposition.
He spoke last week about the decision to send him out on loan this season, saying:
Before I moved, Mikel (Arteta) just wanted me to develop as a man. It was like an open response and it was for me to interpret what he meant by ‘developing as a man’.
By moving abroad, I’m starting to learn what he meant by that. It not only means on the court but also off the court. I think by the time I get back I’ll be in a better place to compete than I was before I left.
It’s interesting, because you probably could have made a pretty decent case for him to stay. In a season where the schedule is packed and condensed, the more depth you have, the better, and with only Gabriel Jesus and Eddie Nketiah as recognized centre-forwards, having a third wouldn’t be a bad thing. Especially when you remember that Eddie started last season as a third option and, for reasons we don’t need to mention again, he ended up starting for the last 10 games or so. I don’t think those same scenarios would have played out to Balogun’s benefit again, but as a kind of insurance policy, it would have been understandable if Arsenal had kept him around.
But ultimately, the best thing for the player, and for Arsenal in the long run, was for him to go play. Despite all the talent and potential, which had people worried he might walk away without signing a new contract, he departed this summer at the age of 21 with just 31 senior appearances under his belt for a total of 1,278 minutes. many of them brief cameos as a submarine. That’s just a little over 14 full 90s. By comparison, Bukayo Saka, a couple of months younger, has played 139 times for Arsenal, with 20 full England caps under his belt as well.
How is a player supposed to develop properly without regular football? It just doesn’t happen, so the best decision for Balogun this season was to make sure he played a lot of football, even if the benefit to us, be it on the pitch or financially in the transfer market, would not be seen until a later date. .
Even William Saliba referred to this recently, telling Canal+:
From a personal point of view, for me it was better to go on loan to play, make mistakes, learn. I came back stronger and with new ambitions. These experiences showed me that football is complicated, but that you should never give up and believe in yourself.
So far that seems to be working fine. I would be very surprised if Balogun came back and had the same impact as Saliba next season, but if he comes back as a better player with all his experience on the pitch, and more mature as a person after a different life experience that has taken him out of his ‘zone of comfort’, then hopefully we’ll reflect that in what he does on the pitch anyway.
Right. That’s your lot for this morning. Have a good.
