Just a few short days after the final and Gareth Southgate has decided to step down as England manager. And I always find the narrative in the media and on social media as quite interesting when this sort of stuff happens. Suddenly everyone is out saying what a fantastic job he did, how he did his country proud, how he’s changed the way we view the England team. There’s a fair bit of sycophantism going on in the aftermath of the announcement and whilst I appreciate that his record is impressive and that he certainly picked England up off the floor after the doldrums of the Iceland debacle in 2016, I do think we have to realise that there were challenges too with his premiership.

I’ve said it before, but he benefitted from some pretty tasty draws in some of the competitions in which England went deep in. This latest Euro’s was an example of that. So whilst I’m happy to say that it’s been great to see England get to semi finals and finals in the last eight years, with the draws that he had to get to finals and with the talent he has had at his disposal, you’d expect him to have got through a fair few of the matches for sure.

Now, what we can all admit is that he still played his part in doing that and even with his work in the England setup going beyond the eight years in charge, Southgate has been an important cog in the FA machine. So he does deserve some flowers. But you won’t see me going over the top with praise I’m afraid; he’s a very nice man, he did a decent job getting England to tournaments, but he clearly had his flaws and so now England need to find somebody who can go to the next level from a systems perspective, because England didn’t really have any tactical innovation and the over-reliance on certain generals for Southgate was a problem that hopefully the next England manager doesn’t suffer from.

A penny for Ben White’s thoughts today though, eh? He has been on camera before talking about his pride at wearing the England shirt and I am in no doubt that he would love to play for his national team if he got the chance. But because of the coaching and managerial set up it just became impossible for him and you don’t have to go far to find out some of the reasons why he decided he didn’t want to be part of the England set up. To be fair to Southgate, I don’t think it was him that White had the problem with; we all know it was Steve Holland his assistant who apparently questioned White’s integrity and professionalism, which caused him to declare himself unavailable for the national team. Holland was confirmed as also leaving yesterday and I think that could well open the door for Ben to go back to England. I guess it will depend on who the new manager is.

Whoever it is, however, they’d be mad not to pick up the phone and have a chat with Ben. I am in no doubt that he would have done better than an ageing Kyle Walker at this tournament just gone and it was Walker who lost his man on both occasions for Spain’s goals in the final. White’s relationship with Saka would also see benefits for England too and whilst I’m sure there will be a shout for Trent to finally assume his rightful place in at right back for England, I wonder if Ben shouldn’t be in with an equal shout there as well?

It can’t hurt to have a player of his versatility and I’m sure whoever the new coach is that comes in, he’ll not want to handicap himself like Southgate did by picking certain players regardless of form or fitness.

On the other Arsenal news front, well, there isn’t any. It’s weirdly quiet, I have to say, because you’d have thought the journo’s on the beat would be getting a sniff of things. But so far all we’ve had is some pretty spurious rumours and no real big shouts for something happening. I had a quick look just now about when we signed players last summer and the dates I found were:

  • 28th June – Kai Havertz
  • 30th June – Pablo Mari departs
  • 6th July – Granit Xhaka departs
  • 14th July – Jurrien Timber signs
  • 15th July – Declan Rice signs
  • 3rd August – Austen Trusty departs
  • 9th August – Matt Turner departs
  • 12th August – Marquinhos departs
  • 15th August – Raya signs
  • 27th August – Tierney departs
  • 30th August – Balogun departs

So looking at that timeline, you’d say we were behind on the business the club are likely looking to do, which is understandable based on the fact that there has been two international tournaments. But what that does mean is that if Arsenal are looking to get players in for a decent and fuller pre season, they need to get a wriggle on with their primary targets. Last summer we signed four of what you’d call ‘first teamers’ in Havertz, Timber, Rice and Raya. This season I would be surprised if we go for that volume, but at least one or two you’d think we’d want to get in sooner rather than later. We all know Calafiore seems to be priority number one, but other than that? It’s all a little quiet and that is strange given how condensed the period is for summer transfers to take place given that we go on tour towards the end of next week.

Perhaps the club have just accepted that we have to hold with what we have. Or perhaps there is an acknowledgement that we have to sell first. But that can be a dangerous game and it hasn’t really been one that we’ve played in recent years. Just look at the above; Havertz and Rice were in before any real major sales were made. This summer there’s talk of the likes of Smith Rowe, Nelson and Nketiah, but other than the other day with Smith Rowe and noises about Fulham and Palace, it hasn’t really felt like anything concrete has come out.

Maybe this is just the real calm before the storm, or maybe the start of the season is going to look very similar to the squad that finished the season before? If that’s the case I don’t think it’s the end of the world; we’ve got some great players who showed how good they are last season and I hope (and believe) we will be competing again at the top of the league, regardless of any potential incomings. But that won’t stop a few of us getting a little nervous if and when we start to see other clubs making big moves over the coming days.

Should be an interesting next week I reckon – one way or the other.

Catch you guys tomorrow.