I suppose Arsenal fans should be glad that some of our players are doing well on international duty, but it could also prove to be a problem for us when the more important business, in our eyes anyway, of the Premier League season starts again, just as it has in the past with players returning late and not being ready for the start.
At least the under 21 European championships do not have a third place play-off game, so our England defender Calum Chambers is now free to have his summer holiday after being knocked out by Germany on penalties. We still have Hector Bellerin involved in Poland, though, with Spain set to face ze Germans in the final on Friday.
In the confederations Cup there is a play-off so whatever happens the Arsenal players Alexis Sanchez and Shkodran Mustafi will not be free until after the weekend. With our first match of the new league season kicking off on August 12th there is little chance these four players will be available and with the Gunners having been handed a tough early run of fixtures starting with Leicester and then Stoke and Liverpool away, we really need to be ready from the off.
The other way Wenger could ensure this would be to get his summer signings done early but the squad jet off to Oz soon and nobody has been added since the Schalke defender Sead Kolasinac. Do you see Arsenal being ready?
Bob.