Former Arsenal goalkeepers Wojciech Szczęsny and Emiliano Martinez at Full time. Both their sides have made it to the round of 16 pic.twitter.com/5nNTgDlkr5— Doc (@karthikadhaigal) November 30, 2022
I wonder what might have been if Arsene kept Szczeny and spent the Cech Money on a field player in the summer of 2015. He wasn’t the keeper then that he is now, but he was on his way.
Did Arsene decide not to keep Szczesny? Or did Szczesny decide he wanted out at Arsenal? I mean, I know we signed Cech before Szcz went out on loan, but I recall there being a reported 'falling out' between Szcz and then keeper coach. Not sure the real truth is out there, but with Ospina getting time, and whatever else happened, it was clear Szcz wasn't the undisputed #1 at the time.
Wasn't it like right after the cigarette? I could see that getting underneath Arsene's skin. Btw I have no clue, history is a blur
That’s kind of the international game, though. When you have superior talent and not enough time together to form a real cohesive tactical plan, counterattacking will win you most matches.
I would assume that once Arsene signed Cech, that Szczeny decided it might be best for his career to leave.
Mexico is eliminated. A brutal 2 years of soccer for Mexico- Lost Gold Cup- Lost Nations League- Failed to qualify for the U-20 WC- Failed to qualify for 2024 Olympics- Seattle defeats two Liga MX teams en route to CCL title- Run of 6-WC run of reaching the knockouts ends— Brian Sciaretta (@BrianSciaretta) November 30, 2022
Did we ever have a worse summer under Wenger than 2015? The only player we signed in that entire window was Cech. my memory was the Woj was still erratic and inconsistent back then. So my working theory is that the off-field shenanigans coupled with inconsistent performances was why he let him go. Add this to list of topics Wenger hopefully covers in his memoirs
He has a memoir out, tbf. But yeah, it was inconsistent play and smoking in the shower was the last stand.
Transfermarkt value is a pretty good proxy for talent Mexico €176m - 29th worldwide Canada €187m - 27th worldwide USA €277m - 17th worldwide The 13 most valuable Americans are 25 or younger. 8 of Canada's most valuable 9 are under 25. For Mexico, their top 10 players are all 25 or older. Looking ahead 3-1/2 years from now at the next WC hosts and players who will still be in their prime, things look bleak for El Tri.
Watching my Tar Heels on ESPN, the ticker across the bottom of the screen just indicated the Costa Rica v. Germany game tomorrow will be the first World Cup game to be officiated by an all female crew. Here's hoping there's no controversy, footballing or otherwise.
Things were bleak for us last cycle. Things can change quickly with just one or two really good youngsters. MX is just too football crazy not to be 1 or 2 in concacaf. Having a bad cycle might be good for them. They rely on crosses way too much.
was watching futbol americas guys on ESPN before the WC and they were saying how stupid it was that the coach brought no younger keeper to get experience. their 3 keepers are 37, 40, 35. they could have brought a younger one as the 3rd keeper to just get a feel for the next WC but that wasn't his jam. that segment made me wonder if that was why martinelli, antony, and rodrygo were brought to the WC even as non-starters at their respective positions.
They've never had 26 players allowed at a world cup prior to this year. There's zero reason not to get some young guns some experience just by being there. I'll bet less than 5 teams use even 23 players this tournament, and zero who don't get any flack for it.
I do remember the inconsistencies, but he was still a relatively young goalkeeper when he left and there were moments when you could see what he might become.
eh, the szczesny that was with us was never going to get this good. he needed a full jolt of rejection to develop any dedication. confidence is important for keepers - or fabianski would be a better keeper than he is - but szczesny was closer to cocky and he was already full of that pickford/mustafi thing where, on any goal, he was up and ready for someone to blame. he had that bendtner thing where, in his mind, he was already great and the smoking thing was just an indication of it.
The physical ability was always there. I’m not sure he needed or even got a full jolt of “rejection”, he may have just needed a boost in confidence and the consistent playing time of being the clear #1, which he got at Roma. I will concede that his development as a keeper probably benefitted from splitting playing time with Buffon in his first year at Juve, something Arsenal couldn’t offer, but Buffon was gone in his second year at Juve, so Szczeny clearly demonstrated he was the future. In addition, good keepers have to be both cocky and confident, they are cut from a different cloth than field players. Our current keeper has an abundance of both cockiness and confidence. Finally, your point I may disagree about the most, smoking is an addictive habit that is often very difficult to break, not an indication of someone who thinks they are great.
Morocco!! Best celebration of this tournament so far? Well done. Belgium... WTF?! Just goes to show you that rankings and quality-on-paper can be meaningless I didn't watch any of CRO-BEL but apparently Lukaku missed a hatload of excellent chances.
I had the games off and on this morning, but Ian Darke was going on at one point about some infighting among the Belgium camp this week.
Meanwhile France has used all 26 I heard. Thanks largely to them clinching before 3rd game. Time will tell if that was a master stroke by DD
Lots of talk here about Mexico being a very old team with not much coming up. Is Belgium in the same boat? There's been a lot of talk about their golden generation failing to achieve, but what's their future look like coming up?