Morning.
It’s a very quiet Interlull Sunday, so this is gonna be a short one. Any Arsenal related chat seems to be centred around the fact that Kai Havertz apparently started at left-back for Germany last night, which is a bit unusual. He scored a goal early on, but Turkey came out 3-2 winners in the end – in part because of a penalty awarded against the Arsenal man for handball.
I can’t find any footage of that, any of the clips that were on Twitter have been disabled due to copyright claims. Like, who is protecting what with that kind of stuff? I know, rights holders and blah blah, but seriously. Thank goodness we have protected the digital well-being of a friendly between Germany and Turkey.
I’ve read that the penalty was kinda harsh, but maybe it’s the sort of thing that happens when you put a forward in a defensive position. I don’t know, nor do I really care. He does seem like quite an unlucky guy though. Was it always like this, or did something happen just before he joined Arsenal?
“Hurrah”, thinks Kai. “I am very happy to be joining a real football club”. He turns around, smashes a mirror, which in turn smashes another mirror, before he opens an umbrella indoors, steps on all the cracks of the pavement as he walks under a ladder, then fails to put a stamp on the chain letter he received … on FRIDAY THE 13th!
If you are out and about today, please keep an eye out for a four-leaved clover, and if you find one, send to Mr Kaivan Ruprecht Havertz c/o Arsenal FC, London etc etc. Beyond that, there’s not much going on.
For some stuff to pass the time today, the Mohamed Elneny interview on the official site is worth your time, as he talks about how he discovered he’d suffered an ACL injury, his recovery, the support from the club, and all the rest.
I knew, because normally when you do a scan, within 45 minutes you know. I was panicking. I couldn’t stay at home. I walked outside and saw a car behind me. I thought “who is that?” and saw Dr Gary, who had literally just arrived. He hugged me, and I looked at him and said “ACL?” He said it was. I couldn’t handle myself afterwards. It was one of the hardest times for me. It was really hard. I’d just come back from injury, I was fighting so much to come back into the team and play. Finally I was playing, scoring, feeling good – and then this happened. He said it was the ACL, and that they are going to be with me.
Finally for today, I did very much enjoy Olivier Giroud scoring France’s 14th goal against Gibraltar in the 91st minute then running off celebrating like it was the vital goal in a tight cup final. To be entirely fair, being that supple at the age of 37 is not something to take for granted, and how often does anyone get a chance to make it 14-0? Still, there are very definite shades of ‘Well done, he’s 13‘ off it though.
Right, that’s enough for now. Have a fine Sunday whatever you’re up to. Catch you tomorrow for more, and an Arsecast Extra too. Until then.