Basically, every one of the our games this season is a must win for the title race but I like to hype things up a bit hence the title.
Yesterday, Man City showed us why it’s not going to be easy. They were 3-0 up by half time against Leicester, replaced half of their first teamers including Haaland, Stones, Rodri, De Bruyne by first hour mark and managed a very comfortable win. They further improved their goal difference to 50, seven more than us having played equal games. With only 8 games left, we are not going to win on goal difference anymore, covering this 7 goal difference AND matching the high number of goals City scores, is almost impossible.
So, what do we need to do? We need to win, every game for the rest of this season. There are other permutations and combinations, but we aren’t in that territory as of now. If we beat West Ham today, we go 6 points up against City, with an extra game played and I’m sure chasing us every week along with Champions League football will cause trouble even for Pep.
Back to today’s game, Eddie is back in the mix but Saliba remains unavailable. William has been phenomenal this season for us, and we needed him at this juncture but looks like the back problem will haunt him for some more weeks. Holding has been decent enough as a cover, so it shouldn’t be a problem till it’s a Holding v Haaland.
West Ham are not really rocking under Moyes but they are a very tough team to beat. Moreover, we are visiting them, they are in a relegation battle and these sort of games comes with a chaos that can benefit any of the two teams on the pitch. We need to maintain our calmness and composure, do not allow them balls in dangerous areas and keep up the high octane pressing throughout.
I’m guessing we will see somewhat a similar playing XI we have been seeing. Ramsdale in the net, White, Holding, Gabriel, Zinchenko in back 4 with Partey and Xhaka along with Odegaard managing the midfield. Saka on the right, Martinelli at left with Jesus leading the line at the top. One thing I would personally like to see is Trossard playing the Odegaard/Xhaka position, rotating with Martinelli and Jesus, but I doubt we will get to know. Mikel is very strict in his team selection.
Good news is, this team should be enough for Moyes.
Whatever happens in the end, we must go to Etihad in winning confidence and with the point difference advantage we have on City. That is why winning today and the next ones are very important. Hopefully we get a 4-0 win but I would take a hard fought 1-0 today, considering Moyes.
I will go with a 0-2 prediction for the boys, just because Ramsdale is not getting his deserved clean sheets from last few games. Hopefully, we keep a clean sheet today, we score couple and it turns out to be a easy afternoon for the Moyes.
Short one today, see you during game.
#COYG
KP
I’d agree with that selection or with Southampton’s lack of real attack, we could go 343 or 352. From the little I’ve read of Kiwior he’s predominantly left footed, which its why it’s possible Holding got the nod as RCB.
I feel he’s at least a loan away from being a useful starter for us if he makes it. That said Southampton would be a good test for the Pole.
It’s our collective fitness more than our mindset that’s at fault. We can be as positive and full of fight but without energy it’s useless. A wafer thin squad does this; it fatigues the squad. Injuries follow. The general considered opinion is that we switched off after going 2 up. The truth was we’d run ourselves into the ground and West Ham fed off that.
I honestly don’t think Arteta is capable of sustaining a last dash title charge because the City game will exhaust us too much to recover for the next game. We just don’t have the squad to do it.
Last ditch
I know Tony. You’re right. I’m just willing myself to keep believing because I’ll be deeply disappointed if we don’t win it (as we’ll all be). Moreover, this was a Leicester-type season if ever there was one and it’ll will be nigh impossible to repeat. Everything was in our favour til recently and we needed that help. I just hope Ode and the boys can do it still, irrespective of what Tets says. He and the club would never do it, but I’d get GG AND PV 8n the dressing room for Man City.
Cardiff have 3 keys games left. Stoke, the cheating cunts of Rotherham and a home tie with Sir Neil Warnock’s Huddersfield. They also might be lucky on the last day away to Burnley who could well be on the beach by then. Despite scoring first and playing a strong first half, I always had them down to lose to the Blades.
KP- I’m holding onto hope as well, brother. It’s all we have right now.
Somewhere else
Sid the Popoulous has thrown a cat among the pigeons
“ there is nothing wrong with Saliba’s back, he is just frozen out “
But there is no dare to take it to the bank, do guess it is just a cat among the pigeons
Tony, as you’ve menntiined me, ‘m not sold on De Zerbi just yet for very understandable reasons.
Just as we can see his win V a pretty crap Chelsea as no fluke, his double losses to a not much less crap Spurs were probably no fluke too.
In short, a series of underwhelming appointments in Italy and a spell in a fourth tier league isn’t much get me enthused. He may turn out to be the next Villas Boas. it’s way too small a sample size to suggest he’s ready for a big club. I wasn’t in favour of Arteta using us as work experience, De Zerbi would be much the same, an experiment.
I get that he’s flavour of the month but this time last year many of us would have taken Potter seriously over Arteta. We’ve all had our moments of considering fashionable at the time managers in favour of our own. The list is long and full of flash in the pans. Roberto Martinez anyone? Owen Coyle?
Not saying you’re wrong just not right just yet.
I’m still monstrously fucked off after yesterday what I’m struggling with is alongside that I’m not in anyway surprised.
I’ve been waiting all season to fuck it up and was just beginning to think maybe he won’t and bang. We take a hammering against City and he’ll manage to gift Fat Frank the only point he’ll pick up as manager at Chelsea.
Fuck Arteta and fuck those who support him.
I’ve always been a big supporter of Wrighty’s, both on and off the pitch, but his recent take involving the preposterous notion that Haaland wouldn’t improve our attack is indicative of what’s gone wrong at this club ever since RVP left the building, irrespective of your personal thoughts about this rather polarizing figure
once Wenger had lost his administrative wingman, our transfer policies took a decidedly negative anti-star turn…with each passing year it became increasingly obvious that Wenger wasn’t interested in having anyone inside the clubhouse who might usurp his monopolistic control, so instead of making the necessary moves he hid behind the disingenuous new stadium frugality narrative and the ludicrous belief that passing the ball into the net was the only pathway to greatness
now the vast majority of managers would undoubtedly be sent packing if they continued to spin such nonsense, unless the intended results were forthcoming, but this didn’t apply when it came to our Professor, as he knew full-well that he could package up just about anything and it would be lapped up en masse by his “how high” minions…unfortunately this not only hurt the product on the pitch, it likewise led to the development of a rather twisted organizational dynamic
on the one hand, our misplaced superiority complex, which was a logical outgrowth of both our former boss’s unbridled arrogance and our pre-move successes…whereas on the other hand, when Arsene’s tunnel vision tactics and transfer window cockups led to the onset of the Wenger Cup era, an inferiority complex seeped in…during this phase the finger of blame was pointed in every which direction except inwardly, almost as if there existed some sort of League-wide conspiracy
sadly, this troubling dichotomy hasn’t left the building, as our present manager’s actions on and off the pitch have done little to remedy the situation..in fact, in many ways, he’s simple picked up the same illogical and debilitating mantle…as such, we continue to settle too often in the transfer market and tacitcally-speaking, then we’re quick to blame things outside our control when things invariably go pear-shaped…so it’s my belief that until we embrace the notion that we deserve nice things and stop espousing Wenger-like “equilibrium” nonsense, we will continue to be a fringe player in the European footballing landscape
sorry for the length, but I had to get this off my chest…Cheers
TRVL, no need to apologize, because we all come to LiR to get something of our chest since the club is at the moment looking to be floundering or doing at the business end of the season what Arsenal does best, collapse.
Morning all
Aitcho
I completely agree with your thinking re De Zerbi, I would have wanted a larger sample. I doubt Arteta will be leaving this or next season regardless of where we finish, so we might just get a better view from more sides of De Zerbi. Either way, what we want and what we get generally aren’t the same. I never wanted Arteta. 4+ years later I still don’t want him.
Busy day ahead so will leave LIR with this DM article.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-11982777/How-shape-shifters-taking-football-teams-playing-evolving-series-formations.html
Marc, It was only a matter of time. Sad but true. Let’s hope we keep our CL birth.
TRVL
That us in a nutshell. With LG it’s recollections may vary from the myopic bunch with few exclusions.
Here’s a thought will ESR make a comeback at Southampton and save Arteta’s blushes as before?
just when I thought the narratives surrounding the title race couldn’t get more ridiculous, I accidentally discovered an article from the Independent entitled “Why Arsenal losing the title race could be for the greater good”, which suggests that our potentially pending failure could finally embolden the typically toothless FFP to do their fucking job…seriously??? is Wenger writing under a pseudonym??
no one would have dared to have suggested such notion when Klopp’s Pool finished the season with 90+ points 3 times, yet only won a singular crown,…only poor old conspired against Arsenal could evoke such a ridiculous “kick in the dick” sentiment…it’s like we’re the second coming of LC, except that we’re most definitely not, as we have a storied history that places us well within the PL’s upper crust, unlike that one season wonder…so the very notion that we would take any solace from being some sort of Benthamite sacrificial lamb is some fucked up shit…once again another sign of the disrespect we’ve so rightly earned for our years of disingenuous finger pointing and self-inflicted mediocrity
such a notion
New Post.. or rather a rant..