Letter from Lisbon
Hello from lovely Lisbon: It's sunshine and shades weather here - even if I'm still dressed for Storm Bert as we gear up for Sporting Club de Portugal vs Arsenal
Hello from lovely Lisbon, or as the Portuguese say Olá da adorável Lisboa.
You know in those blissfully peaceful moments when you wake up - after you’ve thought about your loved ones including the dog, as well as the Arsenal - especially if you wake up in a strangely oversize bed (thanks Black Friday for actually providing a genuine discount on nice hotel rooms) you wonder where you actually are.
I had that happen to me this morning.
Was I in Tirana, Milan, or even Newcastle, or Preston (Southport)?
It’s been such a hectic time travelling here, there and everywhere recently to cover Arsenal, as well as to write a few non-Arsenal football features, I really had to think where I was, as I stirred this morning.
Thankfully it came to me. Lisbon. Ah, Lisbon. Lovely Lisbon.
On a beautiful day, with the temperatures feeling more like late September, or late spring, I decided to head into central Lisbon and have a stroll around one of my favourite cities on the planet.
If I ever did decide to charge for my Substack I promise you that you’d get the full travelogue in all its magnificent* globe-trotting glory from wherever I happen to be in the world (*not magnificent).
However, as it is, I’m absolutely starving, and really fancy heading to the local pastelaria I spotted on the way to my hotel late last night, after traipsing back from Mikel Arteta and David Raya’s pre-match press conferences at the Estadio Jose Alvalade.
So, I’ll leave you with a few tweets of mine from yesterday.
It’s De Ja Vu All Over Again…
It’s the fourth time I’ve been to this beguiling city since I first came here when I spent three and a half riotous weeks with pals supporting England during Euro 2004, so everything seems strangely familiar.
In fact, when I walked out of Lisbon airport on a restoratively sunny Monday morning I had a real sense of de ja vu. And it wasn’t because I’d simply flown to this airport a few times over the last few years.
No, a long-lost memory surfaced because, during our raucous near month traipsing around Portugal during Euro 2004, myself and two pals had actually slept on a grass verge overnight outside Lisbon Airport.
The thing is I can’t even recall why, as we drove to Portugal and back, we didn’t fly.
All I know is the fact we woke up in the open air, on a sunny morning, next to Lisbon Airport. We dubbed it ‘Hotel Airport’.
To be fair, the weather was hot, so it wasn’t actually that difficult, as we’d spent the entire tournament camping all across Portugal for around five Euros a night, so it wasn’t a hardship at all.
In fact we’d probably had a better night’s sleep than we would have done at most campsites, as there weren’t any crazy Eastern European fans making an almighty racket at every campsite we stayed at, due to their engagingly heavily drunken exuberance at all times of the day and night.
I seem to recall Latvians with tremendously booming voices, and fans from the Czech Republic relentlessly busy imbibing copious amounts of unidentified white spirits, were particularly boisterous between the hours of midnight and 4am most nights.
Perhaps that was another reason my sleepy subconscious had wanted to confirm where I’d woken up this morning.
A lot has happened in those 20 years since Euro 2004 - but I’d like to think I’d at least upgraded from sleeping on a grass bank outside Lisbon Airport, or sharing dusty campsites at any rate…
……..
Arteta and Raya’s pressers
Back to Estadio Jose Alvalade last night for the obligatory pre-match press conferences.
It was absolutely fascinating listening to David Raya - who, for such a (now-once-again) confident keeper, seemed slightly nervous when speaking to Her Majesty’s Press. Boss Arteta followed, and he seemed slightly tetchy to start with, perhaps it was the travelling.
Anyway, in case you missed it, here’s what Arsenal’s Player of the Season so far said ahead of the huge clash at the same venue this evening.
on playing in front of a changing back four:
I don’t think it has affected me in any way. We had some injuries but we have a great squad and anyone in those positions we rely on to give 100 percent.
on whether he feels more settled now:
I think it’s a matter of adaptation. Everything has a process. At the start of last season there was a big debate about everything and a lot of noise outside, but from January this year I think it’s changed completely. I was more confident and after the summer I felt I was in the right place.
on whether he really arrived on the night of the penalty shootout against Porto:
It was a nice moment to save two penalties and get through to the next round. That’s a great memory to have in my mind because for many years we hadn’t gotten through to the quarter-finals.
on whether Mikel Arteta has worked on his body language and presence:
I think it’s something that you work on. You adapt to the circumstances and a new environment and that takes a process, but the group of players and staff make it much easier. It was just a matter of time that I was going to show what type of goalie I was.
on what it’s like to start the season so well:
It’s nice but it’s in the past now. It’s gone and it doesn’t matter anymore. We’re here now, we think in the present, focus on tomorrow and try to help the team as much as possible with good performances. We learn from the good things and bad things.
on how much of it is down to confidence:
I would say it’s hard work. I try to work as hard as possible every day in training and back myself so I would put it down to that.
on Sporting’s form this season:
We know what to expect. They are a really good team scoring a lot of goals, but we’re here to win the game and get the three points.
on their new manager:
Of course we know about it. They’re very similar and trying to do the same things, but we respect it’s a new manager.
on whether he wants to be in the conversation of the best goalkeeper in the world:
Well I have different aspirations but that’s a conversation for you guys to have. Of course it’s nice to be there but I just want to play football, be the best professional I can and be better tomorrow and the day after.
on what he needs to do to get there:
Time will tell.
on facing Gyokeres:
We know about his strengths, how he runs in behind and scores a lot of goals one v one. We’re going to try to keep him very quiet tomorrow. Hopefully we can do a great job and keep a clean sheet.
on the motivation to prove himself against the best:
It’s motivation for everyone to keep a clean sheet because if you do that you have a better chance to win the game. All 11 players are behind that.
on whether we will have more respect for them after the previous meetings:
We know it’s a tough opponent in good form in all competitions. They score a lot of goals but we’re focused on ourselves to play the football we want to play and to make it very difficult for them to create chances and to win the game.
on whether he is enjoying the new format:
I only had one season in the Champions League last season and this season is a bit different, but every game is important in this competition and we want to get as many points as we can to qualify straight away and have less games to play. We’re really happy to be here.
on how important it is to avoid the extra two games:
It’s going to be important. If you don’t get through to the next round straight away that’s two more games to play.
PS:
With the Arsenal delegation slightly delayed before the pressers started, it was instructive that I got the most engagement when, with a few minutes to kill in Sporting Club de Lisbon’s huge media theatre (you can’t call them Sporting Lisbon as it’s incorrect, as I have been reminded a number of times here), I decided to post a food pic of Lisbon’s legendary Pastel de Nada that I scoffed earlier in the day.
Well, the reaction I had was the most I had for any posts, football - travel or otherwise - yesterday.
To be fair, I’m not sure if it says more about me, or my wonderful followers and readers…
Speaking of Pastel de Nada, I’m off to grab a few with a coffee or two and do what I absolutely love when in Lisbon, and watch the world go by for an hour…
See you at the Estadio Jose Alvalade tonight, cheers.
