Yep, you read that right! I am going to stir up the controversy again. PGMOL and VAR has literally given the title to Liverpool with their decisions against the Arsenal. If we go back and check some of the decisions gone against us (only the clear ones), we would have 10 more points. And with Liverpool dropping points against Fulham today, we would be on the same points with 7 games to go. We were 1-0 up against Everton when the ref decided to award a penalty when MLS has done nothing at all to deserve it. That’s 2 points gone. We have had several such incidences this season and there’s NO accountability from Premier League.
It’s not in our hands to control this bias. PGMOL has been against us ever since a foreign manager won everything in early 2000s. What we can control is our performance! 2 points lost due to a bad decision has merits, but we also played poor in the second half and we should still have won it.
Anyways, Premier League run is over. We have Madrid next in Champions League, a very tough 2 legged fixture when we are surrounded by injuries. Things were starting to get better with Saka back in the team and Ben White getting some minutes but then, Big Gabi picked up a hamstring injury which will keep him out for the rest of the season. Our best part, the CB partnership, is broken 3 days before the biggest game of the season. I’m curious to see who Mikel picks up in place of him, will it be Kiwior in the middle or White takes up the place? Or, are we going to see another game with Thomas Partey at RB and Timber filling the Gabriel’s place?
Andrea Berta officially joined Arsenal when I was missing. Ornstein said, Gyokeres is on his list so that’s good. We need a CF for next season for a serious title challenge. We are not going to win anything if we have a make-shift midfielder in Merino playing as a striker.
on the changes we made to the starting line-up:
There were four players that couldn’t start the game after what happened with Fulham, and obviously the injury of Gabi, so that forces you as well to make some changes. Players deserve to play minutes, so I’m very happy with that. Everybody has to be important, has to feel important. They have so many games coming up right now, and we have to rely on all of them.source : Arsenal.com
Mikel accepted that the changes he made against Everton was a positive thing for the players not getting minutes so far. I understand that, but what I don’t understand is, why were they not getting minutes and the likes of Saka and Martinelli, Gabriel and Saliba – not getting some well needed rest when we were playing so many games? Playing the likes of Nwaneri and MLS because you have run out of options is not a good thing. They should be rotating when your first team players are OK and need some rest to remain OK. So, if you reading this, learn to rotate Mikel. And do it while the players are still in good conditions, not because you have run out of options!
Right, short one today. Hope you have a good weekend.
TRVL – thanks mate for your post on Pep. Points well made about those players. My argument through that post was to highlight the aspect of Peps and Arteta s coaching where they seem to stifle the natural instincts of players. I draw a parallel to cricket simply because I was closer to the game and had seen coaching and witnessed these debates. I am sure it’s the same in other sport but most likely true in cricket as it’s a highly technical game. For examples there used to be debate about bowling actions and tendency of coaches to alter them based on bio mechanics as naturally developed actions of some bowlers caused stress fractures. But rarely in those cases the bowlers are effective as that killed their natural ability. Same goes with batsmen if you coach them out of their natural ability to make them better in odd cases or might work but generally it seems to have failed. So nowadays with coaches are taught not to change anyone’s natural abilities but to teach them nuances of the game so that they can better adapt to International game and succeed.
That’s precisely my point football managers are supposed to maximize players ability and in some odd cases everyone manger fails. Pep I argue has missed scrutiny in this aspect due to his successes. It’s not just at city there is the famous case of Eto when he was at Barca. I am sure there are other cases but he has missed scrutiny.
Unfortunately for Arsenal Arteta is in the same mould and yet again I highlight Gaby M as his a prime case. His natural ability is stunted and he is not the same player. I am particularly worried for MLS and Ethan. These are academy kids bought up in a different way of coaching which encouraged their natural abilities. I wonder what Arteta will make of them. That’s my real worry.
TRVL
Totally agree with your thoughts and we’ll have to wait until September to see whether the writing on the wall when taking MA into the equation is going to sadly leave us once again average in certain areas that have needed fixing for a decade or more: namely our 9 and 8 positions.
History has shown these are not make do positions for also rans.
Had we signed Isak before Newcastle and Michael Olise from Palace instead of him going to BM and pulling up trees, we would be clear PL winners leaving Pool in our wake this season and possibly winners of the previous season.
This is purely down to one man: Arteta.
Can you imagine if we had added Eze to Olise and Isak? Two 8s from Palace who can both fit 9 or false 9s as well as their favored 8 position.
The cost collectively would have been not much more than Rice’s price including add ons.
Can Berta find such talent for the aforementioned positions?
Only time will tell.
Madhu
Agree with your Ethan & Skelly worries and feel MA will sideline Skelly at least for his discipline issues caused mostly by MA’s high line, and inverting tactics. He’s asking way too much of an 18 year old instead of nurturing, where he expects Skelly to be playing like an experienced 23 year old with 3 or more seasons and CL’s experience.
Skelly is a natural 8 not a LB.
All we can hope is Berta sorts our serial loser manager out. @nd best is not good enough for the years MA has managed us nor for his atrocious TW dealings that has seen too many ‘Stars’ go to other clubs and shun MA’s advances.
To me it looks as though MA doesn’t trust youth players and doesn’t want to teach and nurture our best young talent preferring g to let them go and but players below the quality we need.
I think he expects youth to be Saka’s level now forgetting that Saka got his nurturing from previous managerial incumbents MA inherited.
Marc
I wouldn’t want Mbappe playing for us as he’s too disruptive believing in his own hype without delivering what he’s potentially capable of.
I made my underperforming comment when looking at our own PL leading scorers thus far after 31 games and not the Spain league’s 15 game mark.
9 goals from 15 with the players he’s playing with for me is a poor return when you consider his cost and wages.
Premier League 2024-25 goal scoring leaders
Mohamed Salah, Liverpool — 27.
Erling Haaland, Manchester City — 21.
Alexander Isak, Newcastle United — 20.
Chris Wood, Nottingham Forest — 18.
Bryan Mbeumo, Brentford — 16.
Cole Palmer, Chelsea — 14.
Yoane Wissa, Brentford — 14.
Jean-Philippe Mateta, Crystal Palace — 14.
With home advantage I think we can get a draw at best.
I have a very odd feeling for today. We gonna see some goals and it won’t be from Madrid.
Ambarish—I’ll take your above comment with a large grain of salt considering your “feelings” regarding the whole officiating conspiratorial nonsense lol…truthfully, I wouldn’t be shocked by any scoreline, as it’s very difficult to get a read on either side right now…I would suspect that we willl get plenty of possession, but as we all know that rarely correlates with our actual goal production….meanwhile, this fractured Real side has struggled at time this season to score, especially against sides with good defensive habits…so the keys to this one will likely come down to our ability to convert our chances versus their ability to exploit the left side of our defensive line…that said, I do think it’s imperative that we get a result today, as I find it difficult to fathom a world where we overturn a negative scoreline at the Bernabeu…tbh they definitely appear ripe for the picking, but I’m just not convinced that MA has the onions or acumen this task requires
I’m sitting on the fence calling it a score draw with RM scoring late when we tend to fade.
RM has a much better bench that we do, but have some good players out injured with one suspended.
Junior is snoring on the sofa next to me bless him.
It’ll be tight tonight maybe 1-1 or 2-1/1-2.
Match day post is live.