Which Arsenal players go to the world cup?

[africe]

Saliba is going and very likely starting with injures France are having.

The IQ in negatives should be about Southgate if he don't take White.

Honestly White strikes me as the kind of guy that wouldn't be even slightly bothered if he didn't get picked, would probably be happy with the chance to hit up Marbella mid-season or whatever it is that he does with his free time. But yes Southgate would have to be braindead to not bring him along.

 

[Yousif Arsenal]

Honestly White strikes me as the kind of guy that wouldn't be even slightly bothered if he didn't get picked, would probably be happy with the chance to hit up Marbella mid-season or whatever it is that he does with his free time. But yes Southgate would have to be braindead to not bring him along.

Yes white don't think he'd care about it i bet he won't even watch the world cup.

 

[14Henry]

I know White is more a centre back but even at that it still doesn't make sense if he isn't in the squad.

Hes arguably been the best RB this season along with Trippier. He could easily perform better than most of the CBs going too.

 

[razörist]

With the World Cup kicking off in just over three weeks thought I’d look at how many of our squad is likely to feature in the tournament.

Our current squad is:

Aaron Ramsdale
Matt Turner
Karl Hein

Kieran Tierney
Ben White
Gabriel
William Saliba
Rob Holding
Cedric Soares
Takehiro Tomiyasu

Thomas Partey
Bukayo Saka
Martin Ødegaard
Emile Smith-Rowe
Fabio Vieira
Albert Sambi Lokonga
Mohamed Elneny
Granit Xhaka
Oleksandr Zinchenko
Catalin Cirjan

Gabriel Jesus
Gabriel Martinelli
Eddie Nketiah
Reiss Nelson
Marquinhos

Of those the following have played for a nation at the World Cup.

Ramsdale
Turner
White
Saliba
Cedric
Tomiyasu
Partey
Saka
ESR
Lokonga
Xhaka
Jesus
Martinelli

So that’s 13 players in total. ESR is probably not going to be fit enough to even make the England squad and probably wouldn’t get selected anyway due to other more in form options.

Of the rest:

Ramsdale - Seems to be a set third choice after Pope and Pickford. Pope was chosen above him against Germany

Turner - Picked up an injury but if fit seems likely to start for the USA

White - Hard to predict Southgate and there’s a lot of injuries at RB. If he sticks with a back 5 at the WC probably means Trippier starts at RWB. Maguire playing again for Utd probably means White would be on the bench but may be a chance for him at CB if he’s ahead of Guehi and Coady and Southgate doesn’t decide on Dier - Maguire - Stones

Cedric - Not played for the NT since March 2021. Unlikely to go to Qatar as Dalot and Cancelo are in great form for their clubs.

Saliba - Likely to go to Qatar now that Varane is injured. Less likely he’ll start ahead of “bigger” names like Kounde, Upamecano and Kimpembe.

Tomiyasu - Nailed on starter for Japan if fit

Partey - Nailed on starter for Ghana if fit

Saka - Will go to Qatar if fit. Less sure if he’ll start. Competing with Foden, Sterling and Grealish for a starting spot but the last two haven’t impressed this season. Unlikely to start over Chilwell and Shaw at LWB.

Lokonga - Not included in Belgium’s squad for last round of fixtures. Unlikely to go to Qatar unless injuries as Dendoncker and Onana are starters for their PL clubs.

Xhaka - Nailed on to start for Switzerland if fit

Jesus - Will be on the plane for Qatar if fit. Unsure whether he’ll start as Richarlison is preferred and has a chance to be fit for the tournament. Also competing with Firmino who’s been in good form as well this season.

Martinelli - Borderline case to make the squad despite great form. Has tough competition in Rodrygo, Vinicius and Neymar. Anthony probably shades him as well due to National Team experience.

Other chances:

Gabriel Magalhaes - Even though he’s not played for the NT there’s a good chance he gets in the squad. Very unlikely to play as Thiago Silva, Eder Militao and Marquinhos are all ahead of him.

Eddie Nketiah - Was supposedly recruited by Ghana but their FA has now ruled out selecting him.

Fabio Vieira - Yet to make his senior debut but named in the 55 man squad. Unlikely to make the final 26 man squad in a stacked Portugal side.

So that means we’re likely to send a maximum of 10 players to the World Cup and of those only four are likely to start every game.

Partey and Xhaka are the only really key players of those four this year so let’s look at their groups.
Group F
Brazil
Switzerland
Serbia
Cameroon

Switzerland are second favourites to qualify for the next round after Brazil. Cameroon are a solid side though as proven at AFCON and Serbia are no mugs either.

If the Swiss qualify that’ll likely mean a last 16 match against Portugal who would be slight favourites. Get through that it’d likely be Belgium, Spain or Germany who’d be strong favourites.

Group H
Portugal
Uruguay
Ghana
South Korea

Bookmakers have the Black Stars to finish bottom of their group which does look tough on paper.

Despite a poor AFCON tournament they did get past a heavily favoured Nigeria in the qualification playoff and have a stronger all round squad than South Korea. They have a history with Uruguay as well after the notorious 2010 quarter final.

If they do manage to qualify they’d likely either play Brazil if they finish second or Switzerland if they finish first.

Both Switzerland and Ghana probably have a ceiling of last 16 this time round which would mean Partey and Xhaka would be out by December 6th. If they somehow get to the quarters then it’d be December 10th.

In that worst case scenario that still leaves almost three weeks until our next league game. It’s a worry for Partey rather than Xhaka to play three games in a space of a week due to his fitness record but seen as neither Ghana or Switzerland are pre-tournament favourites there’s a good chance they’ll have plenty of recovery time.

Basically all this means we’re in a great position after the World Cup to get back a well rested squad. We don’t have any players who are nailed on starters for the contenders and only two first XI choices who are likely to start for underdogs.

Yeah this is what I wanted to know. Perfect, thanks. Well above your usual standard of posting.

 

[14Henry]

City basically have Ederson, Cancelo, Stones, Walker, Dias, KDB, Grealish, Foden, Gundogan(if he hasn't retired from IF), Rodri, B Silva and maybe a few more likely to get to at least the quarter finals if not further. I'd say we have it better the only worry is keeping those staying at home match sharp which Mikel seems to be going to address with friendlies.

 

[A_G]

 

[GDeep™]

Other than Partey, I’ll be backing all our boys.

Can’t back Partey for obvious reasons.

 

[RunTheTrap]

How many of our boys do you think will be starters?

Turner
Jesus
Saka
Partey
Xhaka
Tomiyasu
Saliba

7 players as starters is a major improvement over the nonsense we had at the Euros. I think we only saw Xhaka, Tierney and Saka. This shows we are gaining more respect on an international standing. I hope to see Ramsdale, Gabriel, ESR, Vieira, Patino make a leap and contribute for their countries in the Euros.

 

[GoonerJeeves]

The question is who will play. I would assume Ramsdale will be on the bench, probably Martinelli too. White? The rest will probably feature heavily.

 

[razörist]

Can we see this for other clubs like City please?

 

[Nunowoolmez]

How many of our boys do you think will be starters?

Turner
Jesus
Saka
Partey
Xhaka
Tomiyasu
Saliba

7 players as starters is a major improvement over the nonsense we had at the Euros. I think we only saw Xhaka, Tierney and Saka. This shows we are gaining more respect on an international standing. I hope to see Ramsdale, Gabriel, ESR, Vieira, Patino make a leap and contribute for their countries in the Euros.

I'm not sure about Jesus being a starter tbh....hes not exactly been scoring much recently & Brazil are stacked up front.

The others, yes I think they all start...

 

[Gooner Zig]

Pretty sure Saliba is going to start, Deschamps said he's going to play a back four which to me means Saliba has to play (could be wrong though).

 

[A_G]

Can we see this for other clubs like City please?

 

[Mrs Bergkamp]

From our best 11, the only ones staying at home are big Gabi, our LB's and our captain. That's pretty good but Arsenal comes first, so hoping no Gunners get knocks or injured.

 

[A_G]

@razörist here’s a better way to visualise it:

 

[razörist]

@razörist here’s a better way to visualise it:

Wow u elite bro

 

[A_G]

Wow u elite bro

I stole that spreadsheet from OnlyOne.

 

[razörist]

I stole that spreadsheet from OnlyOne.

I didnt really like it

 

[Riou]

Turner : starts for USA, don't mind as he isn't a starter here.

Tomiyasu : starts for Japan if fit, worried he will exacerbate the injury he has.

Xhaka and Partey : both definitely start for their countries, which is a little worrying considering how important they are to us (especially Thomas and his injury issues!)

Saliba : should be starting, but hopefully with Deschamps being a weirdo he won't.

Jesus and Martinelli : think this is just a learning experience for Martinelli and he won't play much, but Jesus will get plenty of minutes (if not starting then as one of the first subs) worried as Jesus is our most important player, please come back ft!

Ramsdale, White and Saka : Aaron won't start as Pickford deserves too, Rammers should look to be displacing him for the Euros next...Ben I can't imagine him playing much, especially with the way Southgate operates...Bukayo 50/50 on, form wise he should but Gareth could keep his favs playing outwide too (hopefully he does)

Only Jesus, Tomi, Saka, Xhaka and Partey will be getting serious minutes out of all our main players going...with the rest hopefully not playing much at all (fingers crossed!)

 

[Riou]

Watching this World Cup in the same way I watch the AFCON, due to it's scheduling.

Want teams with our players in them to lose quickly, so we can get them back ASAP...except if they make it to the semi final, as once they have gotten to that point I will be voting for them to win it (like I normally do with Arsenal players at international tournaments) as they won't get any more rest if they go out then anyway.