I have always found it to be a bit crazy that, after a long a gruelling League season, all of the top players have to pick themselves up and go straight into (mostly meaningless) international games.
England, with Bukayo Saka and Aaron Ramsdale called up, are playing in the Euro 24 Qualifiers so there is some sort of point, but why on Earth are they being matched against teams like Malta and North Macedonia, who would struggle against a team made up from League One players?
The Three Lions will be expected to win both games by 4 goals or more, so they are hardly going to be exciting, even from a neutrals point of view, never mind an England fan. Why don’t these minor teams have their own separate World Cup with other teams of the same calibre. This really annoys me!
But some players are in games that could be worth watching, for instance we have 3 Arsenal players in the USA squad (as I spoke about here) to play Mexico in the semifinal of the American version of the Nations League.
A Euro Qualifier that Gooners may want to watch is when Martin Odegaard’s Norway take on Kieran Tierney’s Scotland, and we have our newboy Jakub Kiwior picked from a Poland friendly when they face Germany.
The only other game I would recommend is seeing if Jorginho gets a starting place when Italy take on Spain in the UEFA Nations League semifinal.
I am listing every game that Arsenal players could be involved in, but personally I think that other than the above mentioned, they are mostly meaningless to me….
Thursday, June 15
Spain v Italy (Jorginho)
UEFA Nations League | Enschede | 7.45pm
Friday, June 16
USA (Balogun, Turner, Trusty) v Mexico
Concacaf Nations League | Las Vegas | 3am
Malta v England (Saka, Ramsdale)
Euro 2024 qualifier | Valletta | 7.45pm
Andorra v Switzerland (Xhaka)
Euro 2024 qualifier | Andorra la Vella | 7.45pm
Poland (Kiwior) v Germany
Friendly | Warsaw | 7.45pm
Saturday, June 17
Norway (Odegaard) v Tierney (Scotland)
Euro 2024 qualifier | Oslo | 5pm
Azerbaijan v Estonia (Hein)
Euro 2024 qualifier | Baku | 5pm
Iceland (Runnarsson) v Slovakia
Euro 2024 qualifier | Reykjavik | 7.45pm
Sunday, June 18
Italy (Jorginho) v TBC
Nations League finals | Netherlands
Madagascar v Ghana (Partey)
2024 AFCON qualifier | Antananarivo | 3pm
Monday, June 19
England (Saka, Ramsdale) v North Macedonia
Euro 2024 qualifier | Manchester | 7.45pm
Switzerland (Xhaka) v Romania
Euro 2024 qualifier | Lucerne | 7.45pm
USA (Balogun, Turner, Trusty) v TBC
Concacaf Nations League finals | Las Vegas
Tuesday, June 20
Scotland (Tierney) v Georgia
Euro 2024 qualifier | Glasgow | 7.45pm
Norway (Odegaard) v Cyprus
Euro 2024 qualifier | Oslo | 7.45pm
Moldova v Poland (Kiwior)
Euro 2024 qualifier | Chisinau | 7.45pm
Estonia (Hein) v Belgium
Euro 2024 qualifier | Tallinn | 7.45pm
Iceland (Runnarsson) v Portugal
Euro 2024 qualifier | Reykjavik | 7.45pm