May 22 – July 29, 2022

From The Parent Trap to The Shining, what is it that draws writers to them?

What to do when artworks warp, melt, crack and crumble away

We’re back for our final Football Ramble Presents showcase of the summer!

There's a different flavour to today's episode of Ramble Meets as Andy gets to know not just a single person, but one of La Liga's most beloved clubs.

Celta Vigo has had a rich but turbulent history, from impressive spells in La Liga and the Europa League to almost falling out of professional football altogether. Andy is joined by Celta players Nolito and Joseph Aidoo, who tell us just how special the city and their fanbase are. We also speak to Vigo residents, including renowned Swedish journalist Alexandra Jonson and Mexican-born fan Paula Anton, who explain just how this unique city and club became home.

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Martin Odegaard has claimed that Oleksandr Zinchenko could play as a winger after joining Arsenal from Manchester City this summer.

The Ukraine international is the club’s fifth signing this summer, after Gabriel Jesus, Marquinhos, Matt Turner and Fabio Vieira’s arrivals, but there is some confusion as to where he is likely to play in north London.

Zinchenko played predominantly at left-back for Pep Guardiola’s side, but operates as a central midfielder for his country, and the latter is where he is expected to line up for the Gunners.

Odegaard has sung his new teammate’s praises, adding he could well feature as a winger also.

“I’ve seen (Zinchenko) play a lot and I really like his qualities, I think he’s a really great player,” Odegaard told The Athletic. “I think he can play both positions, sometimes as a left-back and midfield,

Nikolaj Moller has scored his fourth goal of the the pre-season campaign with FC Den Bosch, where he is set to spend the season on loan from Arsenal.

The striker spent a short stint with the Dutch side last term, but has really hit the ground running since returning to the club on loan ahead of the new season, adding his latest goal against fellow Dutch side Rosmalen.

The 20 year-old is yet to make his senior debut for Arsenal, but is rated highly in north London, and has been likened to Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

The striker has some way to go before breaking into the first-team at Arsenal, with Eddie Nketiah, Folarin Balogun and Gabriel Jesus ahead of him in the pecking order at present, but some crucial first-team football this season could help him to bridge the gap on his rivals.

Balogun is likely to leave on loan also, but his next destination is yet to be decided.

Oleksandr Zinchenko – Everything Arteta wanted Xhaka to be for Arsenal.  by Victor

With Mikel Arteta clearly sold on the idea of being tactically unpredictable for opposition teams, he needed the crop of players he inherited from Unai Emery to be tactically flexible in unlocking opposition defenses, while maintaining a balanced tactical shape between defense and attack.

One of those he very much entrusted with such tactical flexibility is Granit Xhaka; a player who many Arsenal fans believed was never really good enough and should be escorted out the exit door at the Emirates Stadium. The gaffer, however, upon his return to the Arsenal saw what many couldn’t see in the Swiss, especially from a tactical point of view. Having modeled his coaching style after that of his mentor – Pep Guardiola, the Spaniard knew exactly the kind of football he wanted his team to play and Xhaka was of course integral to the system to be implemented.

Firstly, Arteta wanted to build a team capable of playing from the back while utilizing players that are naturally comfortable in possession under pressure, and also occupying positions where they can carry-out the aforementioned style with their preferred foot. Playing a left-footed Centre Back in Gabriel was one, with a left-footed Left Back obviously the second, while a left-footed Centre Midfielder was the third piece of the puzzle. The latter is where Xhaka comes in. Instead of a right-footed Centre Back or Left Centre Midfielder playing straight and short passes to a team-mate hugging the lines; but always coming deep to receive a pass, a left-footer occupying the same position on the pitch can easily curl a pass unto a team-mate in an advanced position on the lines to beat the opposition’s press.

Secondly, talking about tactical flexibility, we have seen from the manager’s first full season at the helm, the various tactical shifts he loves to employ during the course of a match: from full backs playing inverted roles which allows box-to-box midfielders take up more advanced roles, to the left-sided midfielder (usually Xhaka) taking up a role I personally call ‘the half-centre midfield role’ where he covers for the overlapping left-back.

Arsenal have been extremely busy so far in this transfer window with five new arrivals already here, and now Edu has given an interview, ostensibly talking about the arrival of Oleks Zinchenko, but he has already given a deep insight into the planning that has gone into making this window a success. “…Our main focus in the beginning of the transfer window is try to get the players that we target as soon as we can to enjoy and to be here and to be together and to start the season the way we planned it as well.”

The Arsenal general director also told us that there is still a long way to go, to find solutions for the players that are not likely to get any game time if they remain at the club, and also to keep their eyes on targets that are on our list to fill the positions that are still in need of reinforcement. “We have a plan for every single player in the squad, and that’s why I said there’s still a lot to do in this transfer window because we have to balance the squad in the best way possible. For the players who probably aren’t going to have a lot of minutes here, we have to expose the players to have minutes in another place to keep developing the player, keep the player’s valuation et cetera, so that’s the way we plan it.”

Edu was then asked about his impression on the way we have done our biusines so far in this window, and he replied: “I’m pleased, but to say how close is difficult because there’s still a lot to do, we are in the middle of the transfer window and things can happen. What we have to be is really focused and be prepared for every single situation, opportunities maybe can happen, clubs can sometimes come to us to see if there is a possibility to get players on loan or buy players. We just have to be prepared and I think we are very much prepared for almost everything.”

Considering the deals that have already gone through, and the promise of more to come, surely Arsenal fans should be excited that we are going to end up with a much improved and well-balanced squad for our assault on trophies this season.

I, for one, am VERY excited about our new season…..

Mikel Arteta has made it clear that, having secured a good amount of our incoming transfer targets, it is now time to start thinning out the squad, which has grown drastically over the summer with our new signings and our returning loanees.

We already know that Arteta has given a contract extension to Mo Elneny, who everyone expected to leave, and Rob Holding doesn’t sound like he expected to be leaving any time soon, and now we have the Portugese defender Cedric Soares making it clear that he has no desire to leave his “dream club”.

“Arsenal was always my dream club since I started to play in Southampton,” Cedric told ESPN. “I always had the goal to move to Arsenal, and this didn’t change.

“Of course you are more happy when you are involved.

“Being involved here in a massive club like this, with the project we have and the goals the team is fighting for, I want to be here.

Fabrizio Romano has told Arsenal to sign Lazio’s Sergej Milinkovic-Savic this summer.

The Gunners have already made moves in the transfer market, bringing in Matt Turner, Marquinhos, Fabio Vieira and Gabriel Jesus, as well as now landing Oleksandr Zinchenko.

It remains to be seen if we’ll still be in the market for a central midfielder after the Ukrainian’s arrival, but Fabrizio has told us to sign the ‘underrated’ Milinkovic-Savic.

“At the moment, Lazio have received nothing for Milinkovic-Savic. So I know Lazio so well because here in Italy we know how they work on the market and the president Claudio Lotito is really strong in negotiations when it’s about his top players.

“And he said a few weeks ago that he would only sell Milinkovic-Savic in case one of the best clubs in the world will put one of the best proposals for Milinkovic, and from what I’m told they want around €65-70m.