Morning.
If you’ve wondered how next an Arsenal player is going to get sent off in a way you’ve never seen for any other player, I dreamed this morning that we were in a European final. The game kicked off, and one of the ball-boys ran onto the pitch to compete for a header by the touchline. At the same time, Kai Havertz went to kick the ball, and booted the pitch invader in the back.
The ball-boy dived like Michael Owen, wailing at the same time, and the referee gave Havertz a red card. In the first minute! I was furious. I immediately went to write a big long blog post about how I’m done with football now, that was my tipping point, but when I read it back it was a recipe for a tomato sauce to have with pasta. That made me more furious. Anyway, is this dream nonsense or a premonition? Time will tell.
There’s some injury news today regarding Gabriel Martinelli, via TNT Sports Brazil. It reads (caps theirs):
EXCLUSIVE! MARTINELLI ARRIVES AT THE HOTEL ACCOMPANIED BY THE NATIONAL TEAM DOCTOR, AFTER AN EXAM! The striker felt discomfort in his tendon, and left to undergo an exam, after training this Sunday. At first it doesn’t seem serious, but the player is awaiting the results.
Not terribly specific, but a little more digging suggests it’s a calf problem, and he’s a doubt for Brazil’s game against Peru in the early hours of Wednesday morning. With Bukayo Saka potentially out of action for the game against Bournemouth this coming weekend, it’d be a blow if Martinelli was out too. Untimely as well, given he’d rediscovered some form in the final third with 2 goals and 2 assists in the last 3 games.
You can imagine Mikel Arteta waking up this morning, checking his phone, and then making this face at the breakfast table:
