Layth's Take: From NW8 to HA9 on a wet day in North West London
From Lord's to Wembley on a rainy day in the capital as England beat Finland at the national stadium
Hello,
Happy Wednesday,
A busy day for me yesterday, as I covered county cricket at Lord’s, before racing from NW8 to HA9, to report on England vs Finland at Wembley Stadium.
Such days are why I became a journalist, and why I love being a journalist.
You can read my newspaper copy below, but, despite such dank and dismal weather, it was an enjoyable day’s reporting from two of the most iconic sporting venues in the world.
The view from the Wembley Stadium press box before kick-off on Tuesday evening. CREDIT:
What was far less enjoyable was the fear that Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard may miss the North London derby following his ankle injury this weekend.
We’re still waiting for Arsenal to confirm the extent of the injury, but it’s fair to say the Gunners captain could be short for Sunday’s crucial game.
No doubt the club will issue some sort of statement soon, but to go into such a big game in N17 without Declan Rice and Odegaard, as well as minus the intended physicality of new summer signing Mikel Merino and possibly Riccardo Calafiori, is concerning to say the least.
Yes, you can play Jorginho - omitted from Italy’s squad this month - as well as Thomas Partey, but you’re losing plenty of pace with that pair when attempting to recover the ball.
In other news, surely the time has come to forget about Ben White rejoining the England camp at any stage soon.
This was confirmed by Three Lions interim boss Lee Carsley after last night’s game when he insisted he is not planning to speak to White about playing for England, adding that the Arsenal defender had asked not to be contacted.
It means that Arsenal supporters can rest easy during international breaks, knowing our ‘Benny Blanco’ and/or ‘Love Island Maldini’ - you decide - is safe doing non-sporting things during such times.
Even if, as someone who follows the England team, I feel that the Three Lions would be significantly boosted by White’s presence.
However, it’s White’s choice. And that should be respected.
Asked whether he was planning to speak to White before the next round of England games, Carsley said: "I've not planned to, no.
"We spoke about this in the squad selection. Every player that is eligible to play for England is in with a chance. As far as I'm aware he asked to not be contacted. If that changes, that will change.
"I think it is important that we have real competition all over the pitch, and the more players we have available to pick from the better it is."
So that’s that then.
To be fair I thought Liverpool defender Trent Alexander-Arnold impressed at right-back last night, following on from his excellent performance in Dublin.
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Report from Wembley Stadium
Here’s my official newspaper match report from the Wembley Stadium press box on Tuesday evening.
Match Report: England 2-0 Finland: Report by Layth Yousif at Wembley Stadium
A Harry Kane second half double on his 100th England appearance was enough to seal victory over Finland at Wembley Stadium on Tuesday evening.
Kane's brace ensured England made it two from two for interim boss Lee Carsley, whose good start continued in front of 70,221 at the national stadium.
It has been a rare old week for the unassuming Carsley, thrust into the spotlight with his redoubtable refusal to sing the national anthem, which rabble-rousing right-wingers insisted the former Irish international defender should do, or be sacked.
Such arrant nonsense sparked widespread debate on the subject, which prompted the thought that singing the national anthem should be a personal choice. Because being monitored for singing a song that underlines the divine right of kings to lord it over us and the rest of the globe is the type of dictatorial totalitarianism that Britain has always prided itself in opposing.
After the anthems were sung - or not sung as the case may be - Kane was awarded a golden cap to mark his century of appearances for England.
The Bayern Munich striker then proceeded to play in a pair of equally gilded footwear that saw him grab a second half double against the increasingly obdurate Finns.
They say the Finnish language is said to be extremely difficult to decipher, even if Markku Kanerva’s Finland team had been certainly able to read Carsley's England in the opening 45 of their Wembley test, as the sides went into the break goalless – boosted by the fine form of Finland keeper Lukas Hradecky.
Speaking after the match, the redoubtable Carsley said: “I’ve coached a lot of games where we had to work to break down a team.
“It was important we kept making them defend and keep believing we’re going to score.”
Hradecky continued to thwart England after the break, as the Bayer Leverkusen captain and goalkeeper pulled off several fine blocks and saves to keep the home side out.
However, the pressure eventually told, when Trent Alexander-Arnold intercepted the ball, before playing an intelligent pass to Kane who, ducked inside Robert Ivanov with quick feet, prior to teeing himself up to emphatically fire home past the worthy Hradecky - via the underside of the bar - to make it 1-0 in the 57th minute.
The satisfying strike was Kane’s 67th international goal, but the Munich captain wanted more.
As England dominated, prompted by Angel Gomes’ worthy work on the ball that featured 124 passes during the match, Carsley made a number of changes, including the overworked Bukayo Saka, who was replaced by Noni Madueke in the 66th minute.
The Chelsea star made an impact shortly afterwards when pacifying a looping ball from Jack Grealish.
The 22-year-old Stamford Bridge forward then laid the ball to Alexander-Arnold, before the Liverpool star exchanged passes with the Chelsea attacker, who promptly cut back for Kane to unleash a fine drive to double the home side's lead with 14 minutes remaining, making it 68 goals for his country - and counting.
Speaking afterwards Kane said: "I try to never set limits on what I can achieve.”
Kane is England's all-time leading goalscorer with 68, which is 15 more than Wayne Rooney's previous total of 53, and is now only 25 appearances short of Peter Shilton's England record.
"I know playing in this team I am going to get chances and if I get chances I feel like I can score many goals,” the striker added.
"I am going to keep going as long as I can and who knows what we can reach.
"Some of the top players in the world have scored more than I have so there are targets there to try and achieve."
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Report from Lord’s
Below is my official newspaper report from the Lord’s Media Centre on Tuesday afternoon.
The view from the Lord’s Media Centre on Tuesday afternoon. CREDIT:
Report from Lord’s
Here’s my official newspaper report from the Lord’s Media Centre on Tuesday afternoon.
Obdurate Ollie Price thwarts Middlesex on a dank day: Report by Layth Yousif from Lord's
Gloucestershire 154 for 5 (Price 56*, Roland-Jones 3-56) trail Middlesex 377 (Davies 91, Holden 77, De Caires 64, T Price 5-81) by 223 runs
Wet weather on a desperately dank day in north-west London, along with an obdurate Ollie Price, thwarted promotion-chasing Middlesex’s hopes of making further progression on day two of their Division Two county championship clash against Gloucestershire at Lord’s on Tuesday.
The visitor’s 23-year-old right-handed batter reached his fifth half century of the season, as the west country side moved to 154-5, after the hosts were eventually bowled out for 377.
The Durham University graduate’s gritty unbeaten 56 from 123 balls was amplified by the fact that Middlesex’s bowlers found swing and seam movement on a filthy day under leaden skies in NW8, that saw only 41.4 overs bowled in total.
This was evidenced none more so than by Seaxes captain Toby Roland-Jones, whose worthy spell of 3 for 12 in 16 balls either side of an early lunch saw Gloucestershire lurch to 74-4, still needing a further 74 to avoid the follow on.
However, Price’s character and determination were enough to steer the visitors past the required baseline, despite Roland-Jones ending a frustrating day on 3-56, supplemented by Ryan Higgins 2 for 47, before bad light, then rain, halted play for the day at 315pm.
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PS:
It was good to note that the FA marked the sad passing of Kevin Campbell before kick-off last night, along with Sven Goran Eriksson’s untimely death, as well as Craig Shakespeare and Tommy Banks. RIP
