I do actually want to talk about Tonali going to The Scum and some rumours that they are after Junior Kroupi next, and some of the Arsenal fan reaction that we’ve seen, but before then, shall we talk a little World Cup?

Firstly – and quickly, as I didn’t watch the US game last night – you’ve got to feel for Flo Balogun this morning. The man has been building up to this as his World Cup ever since he declared for the USMNT back when he was an Arsenal player, so to have it (probably) cut short is a bit of a kick in the balls. It’s a difficult one, that one, because in real time it doesn’t look like anything. Then it looks clumsy on the replays, but you can’t be raking your studs down an opponent’s legs and not expect there to be any repercussions. The US went through and now plays a Belgium team, who I wonder if they’ve used all their ‘get-out-of-jail-free’ cards in one go based on last night’s game. They were, frankly, a bit crap. But Senegal’s keeper had a mare for the second goal they conceded, and within five minutes the Belgian’s had been gifted an extra 30 minutes of this competition. Even then, they got a contentious pen to see them through. I have no skin in the game for either side, but it feels like karma and justice didn’t quite go the way you’d want with that Tielemans late penalty.

As for England, well, that wasn’t too impressive at all, I have to say. The Management asked me if England stood a chance of winning the whole thing, before a ball had been kicked last night, and my response was “probably not – France look too good”. My response has changed a little this morning; it’s not that France, Spain, or Brazil look so good that they will thwart England, it is that England looks so crap that they might thwart themselves. At first, for that first goal of the game for Congo, I thought that Spence was at fault. I’ve softened that stance a little bit, but the fact that Spence is playing right back at the World Cup is kind of bonkers. He’s just been part of a terrible Tottenham defence that nearly got relegated last season. He’s good going forward, but can’t defend for his life, and was part of an England back line that was all over the place.

The fact that Harry Kane bailed them out leaves a very bad taste in my mouth, but as I said to my brother after he’d hammered in the winning goal, maybe it is time for me to admit that he actually is a bit good. I’ve spent a very long time convincing myself that, for England at least, he is a master stat-padder with all the penalties he gets, but both of his goals last night were those of an elite marksman, so fair play there.

As for the Arsenal boys on display:

  1. Rice – Thought he was decent enough when playing in midfield. Against an opponent like that, though, I would have liked to have seen either him OR Elliot Anderson, not really both on the pitch. Congo surprised a lot of people by not just sitting in a low block and showing no adventure. They were impressive going forward and could/should have buried the game with Wissa’s shot off the post. That’s a real sliding doors moment that I suspect he’ll be having a few nightmares about for some time to come yet. When Rice moved to right back, he actually looked good. Having Saka in front of him and Eze playing in the right eight position probably helped that, because the Arsenal connection was enabling those players to build on the relationship they already have, but whilst the press are now speculating whether that is the answer, I doubt Tuchel will see it as a viable long-term solution. It didn’t really get the best out of Rice on the couple of occasions he played there previously, so I’m not sure it should be considered now.
  2. Madueke – A very Noni game, that one. In patches looked good; in patches, he just ran down blind alleys. He’s one of these guys that you think, “If he can just do x, he’ll be an elite superstar,” but, as I think Arsenal fans found out last season, I wonder if this is just him. His inconsistency drove Chelsea fans nuts; it had a little impact for us last season, and I suspect England fans who don’t watch enough of Arsenal will probably be feeling it too.
  3. Saka – On for Noni, and you can just tell that a not-fully-fit Bukayo Saka is still better than Madueke, even if it is just 30 minutes that he can do. He just does the simple things so well, or he at least makes complicated things look simple, and although he won’t be credited with the assist for the first goal, it was his involvement to dig the ball out to Gordon that made a key impact yesterday. His jobsharing situation with Noni probably works well for both England and Arsenal, but it is a shame that Saka can’t play the full 90. I think we’d have seen a lot more joy on that right-hand side if he did.
  4. Eze – Not a ton of things you can say. He came on, got a few touches on the ball, but other than a nice little interchange with the Arsenal boys on that right-hand side for Kane’s first goal, I can’t remember too much. I’d probably have to re-watch the part where he came on. Which I have very little intention of doing!

And that’s about it, really. England go through, but I can’t see them making it past Mexico at the Azteca stadium, where they play at altitude, and Mexio have lost like two games in something crazy like 50 years. But there you go.

So, to wrap up, a little on the transfer stuff, as Tonali is on the verge of joining the Scum for £100million. Decent player, would have been good at The Arsenal, but I just cannot fathom that price tag. It;s an overpayment of around £30million. I’ve seen a few Arsenal fans getting antsy because they’ve spent over £200million already, and there’s rumours they’re after Kroupi too, but I don’t think any Arsenal fan should be looking over the garden fence at that lot. If you are, then just remind yourself that this Scum team finished a point above relegation last season. They have bought some decent players, but we are talking about the need to be elite to challenge for the Champions League spots, and I just don’t see that from what they’ve purchased. And if they go after Kroupi, I suspect Arsenal will go and have a chat to Bournemouth as well, so we’ll just have to see how that tree shakes out. It’s early days yet.

Right, I’ll be offski. Have a good Thursday and I’ll be back tomorrow with some more musings.