Few weeks back, we were having a conversation about how Saliba is the best CB in the premier league. Martinelli was on fire, Eddie was scoring, Partey was bossing that midfield, Xhaka looked a version 2.0 of himself and Odegaard was compared to De Bruyne.
Today, Saliba is looking a shadow of himself after returning from the world cup. Martinelli is being subbed off for Trossard, Eddie missed couple of chances against City, Partey is out injured, Xhaka seems slower that he ever was and Odegaard has lost that magic.
However, we are still at the top with a 2 point lead against Manchester City, with a game in hand. We are 23/24 games into the season, so you can’t call it a luck. You can win 5 games when the stars align, but maintaining it for over half a season is not possible unless you are playing well. All these comparisons just to point out that even if we are not playing our best games recently, we are still managing well. I know we lost against Everton, shared points with Brentford, lost another one against City before getting on winning track by beating Aston Villa but that just 3 games where we couldn’t keep the intensity of our game as we have managed for the rest of the season.
It won’t be long before we see Ode back in form, Partey back on the pitch, Martinelli making fun of opposition players on the left wing. Premier league is tough, ask the City guys with some of the best players in the world, managed by the best manager on the planet, sharing points with Forest.
We have not won the league from god knows when. We have been out of Champions league since Wenger’s last season, and that was few years back. We have a pretty solid chance to make it to the Champions League football, and a very decent one to win the league. Lets get back to support the team and if you see any Chelsea fan out there, don’t forget to remind them that Trossard is playing better than Mudryk.
Short but a positive one today, hope you are having a good time. See you on Saturday.
read the room MA, don’t just bring on Eddie for Trossard…they’re ripe for the plucking so don’t make us less likely to score a second
we might win this fixture, but the fact that we possess no managerial nous whatsoever is difficult to take in games like this…my grandmother could manage this gig, considering the lack of rotation and tactical rigidity…this game desperately called for some f0ot on the throat type tactics, but instead we get same old, same old…fingers-crossed we can find a way to get this over the line
Xhaka must have reminded MA about their “deal”, after being subbed off in the previous two matches
certainly not going to scoff at 3 points and a clean sheet, but if we’re going to play chicken shit football for the remainder of the season we could quite easily find ourselves in a similar situation as last season…here’s hoping that Jesus will be back in the not too distant future
Wasn’t pretty, but a moment’s brilliance from Martinelli won us the 3 points.
Everton and Dyche shouldn’t be a problem for us at fortress Emirates on Wednesday night.
Sorry to see the Cardiff result, K’phobe but hope our 3 points eases the hurt somewhat.
TRVL,
All Arteta has to do is keep Xhaka on the bench. He has the squad to do that now. Absolute madness, but true to form, for Arteta.
What’s the bet that Xhaka plays with Partey against Everton who has to do the work covering for the wandering Xhaka.
Time for bed here. cheers.
It’s only a matter of time before we’re exposed for playing Jorginho in a deep-lying position, in the same vein as Villa did when Coutinho was on the pitch…I bet Maddison would have been salivating at the space and time prospects, especially on the counter…hopefully Partey will be on the pitch to start mid-week, as Jorginho will get overrun by the size and pace of Everton’s midfield, which is quite a pathetic notion considering where they sit in the table…being at home, against such inferior competition, I can hope that MA grows a pair between now and then and puts out our most offensive starting 11, which should in no way include Xhaka or Jorginho…with Chenko venturing up into such advanced spaces, maybe we could even have Trossard tucked in behind Eddie, with Marts and Saka out wide…I doubt it though, as Xhaka we’ll undoubtedly get the starting nod, as per usual
after watching the incredibly leaky Villa keep a clean sheet against Dyche’s Everton, it makes me even more upset about our failure to secure a victory against that very same club a few weeks back…let’s hope that we don’t fall flat again in a couple days from now…it’s high time that we put forth a convincing performance before we totally forget what that actually looks and feels like
Morning all
I liked the false 9 Trossard played yesterday, which afforded him more space and play a similar industrious role to Jesus. Certainly, shows Eddie’s flaws as a 9 or false 9. By occupying the 2 CBs more space was left wide for Xhaka well er …….. to be Xhaka!. Now Martinelli on either flak in the box where Xhaka took up residence due to his lack of pace would have been perfect.
To reinforce a point I know is getting boring but…. Xhaka’s stats from yesterday:
90 minutes played
1 tackle
46 successful passes from 49 – most sideways and back.
1 long ball success
Is this acceptable from a starting midfielder for Arsenal? Have you noticed how Xhaka easily finds spaces because opposing players don’t deem him worthy of attention unless Xhaka’s in their box and even then he gets a cursory glance.
Xhaka creates chaos around him and Mikel thinks this is a good thing. Jorginho pulls strings and has an eye for a defense splitting ball in the channels hoping Xhaka won’t intercept such mesmerizing passes.
Jorginho is worth having the Xhaka free roll. Party is back and Trossard can be equally effective from MF or False 9. He’s not quite quick enough to be out on the wing. The old indside right/left position would also suit Trossard.
I’d like to see KT at LB and Zinchenko in MF with Ode and Jorginho.
Arteta has various interesting formation strategies he can engage now, and even more if Bolagun was recalled to give City and Manure something more to try to anticipate.
The The title will be won by the team with the strongest mental belief that overcomes tiredness and general fatigue as the last 14 games wind down. Obviously, fitness is a key role, but mental belief is at the very core of winning for every winner ever to have achieved greatness. In this case the PL title is greatness for the winning club.
Misguidedly, Arteta thinks Xhaka’s mental belief is the role model, but the reality is that Xhaka is just mental full stop. Xhaka’s nowhere near Vinny Jones’ hardness or Roy Keane for that matter. Even Vinny could play between kicking players and grabbing their nuts ala Gazza. Ditto Keane.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wQXEOBzl5_0 very funny Gazza account.
It’s easy to see why Xhaka doesn’t get injured, he doesn’t make any tackles where the stiff of an opponent coming in for the tackle: then up in the air Xhaka goes pulling a face that scares troglodytes perfect for the camera, which Xhaka always seems to know his best angle for the multiple broken-bones agony face close up.
Will Xhaka make it onto the big B movie screen like Vinny basically playing himself in every movie, as Vinny does?
I have no doubt if Xhaka was to grab hold of Bruno Fernandezes’ crown jewels the Internet would go into meme melt down.
Visualise this: all teeth right out of his flapping gums; bulging cue ball eyes and three Adam’s apples would be the stuff Disney would love for a future villain look. Maybe Syd mishap with Buck in Ice Age?
Be honest how many of you would want to see that on full screen close up?
Ok I’m done with my Xhaka is shite for the day. His stats proved me correct once again.
Have a good Sunday and all is well with you all.
Ah Tony
Yesterday had its upsides but being inside Carrow Road certainly wasn’t one of them. Terrible display. But at leat I saw Marquinhos score his debut goal for the Canaries and set up the first. He didn’t look all that great physically but you could see the Arsenal coaching in him as he made those little runs inside.
Still, saw all the family but it’s 14 hours of driving I’ll never get back. I’m thinking of sampling the delights of Rotherham in March but I’ll keep my counsel til there’s signs of improvement before then… If only they’d sent Marquinhos West instead of East for some championship experience. My nephew was keeping me abreast of news from Leicester. In my old age, I was getting g really confused as goals were flying in then disappearing off the score sheet. It sounded a lot more convincing than a 1 nil win.
Here’s a funny one. Cardiff now have their own ironic version of that awful super mik song.
We’ve got super Sab Lamouchi
He knows exactly what we need
Kipre at the back
Robbo in attack
We’re going to the premier league
ARE WE FUCK!
Just seen some highlights. That disallowed Trossard goal – I know White’s arm is clamped by his side but the Leicester defender is actually holding the keeper’s arm/hand. Bizarre defending.
Anyone know why Ode wasn’t Captain yesterday? Seems a strange one I can’t remember ever seeing a player who’s been Captain all season being on the pitch and not having the armband.
I think it was all to do with the one year anniversary of that awful war Marc. The symbolism of handing our club’s leadership to a player who’s a national of the nation that is the west’s new best friend (collectively forgetting that Ukraine also contains some pretty nasty people who, prior to their war with Putin, was hardly an ally) . It’ll all be peace, light and neutrality again when the noble Norwegian takes the armband back.
You planning on going to the home game with Everton on Wednesday? I want to see them absolutely trounce Dyche and the Toffees just like last season.
Don’t know about you but I greatly enjoy Spuds v Chelsea games. Spiky, full-blooded affairs with analogous amounts of genuine hostility. I remember a screamer that Matic scored when they met in a semi final a few years back. This afternoon, je suis pensioner of course.
https://youtu.be/QoSaW-QfbMo
Get the fuck in! What a beauty.
after watching this weekend’ s fixture list, I’m starting to comprehend how and why we’re presently at the top of the table…firstly, a strong start to our campaign, which was a far too common complaint of mine during the second incarnation of Wenger, post-Highbury, when he seemed ill-prepared for the start of League action…now, of course, this ultimately guarantees nothing, as a season can easily be derailed in the second half, as we know all too well, but I would much rather be fending off the competition than endlessly chasing the frontrunners
secondly, and of even greater importance, as the presumptive top League in Europe, life in the PL has become increasingly transitory, both from a player and managerial perspective, which can massively effect performance levels…when you combine this with the overtly defensively-minded tactics being deployed by many, as teams scratch and claw their way into hopefully not losing their golden egg PL status, the level of play has dropped off massively…most of the top contenders have one particular style of play, which for the most part is far from expansive, so that whomever can roll out the same lineup and score, even once or twice tops, is in a rather advantageous position…the only club who’s manager has really put a substantive stamp on things is ten Hag, who thankfully had a whole host of internal issues to deal with early on, or we just might be chasing them right now
when we look around the Premiership, we’ve seen City struggle at times, due to the fact that Pep has made several changes to last year’s preferred 11 and has failed to properly incorporate Haaland, which is a rather scary proposition considering his contributions thus far, as Pep has rarely played with a more traditional target man…not a viable excuse, as he’s been managing far too long to not be more tactically flexible, especially considering his personnel options
Spurs have been rather hot and cold in large part due to the fact that Conte is unwilling to sway too far from his preferred wingback-dependent tactics and regardless of his recent acquisitions this team is largely ill-suited to excel in the bus parking climate of the PL…you can’t just pick up an aging Perisic and a couple players from teams who have likewise struggled for goals and think that championship runs are in the offing…I appreciate Conte’s piss and vinegar approach to managing, I just don’t think they’ve got what it takes, as presently constructed, especially knowing that Kane could seek “greener” pastures sooner than later and we all know that Conte’s not a stay for the long haul type of manager
Chelsea have spent a ridiculous sum, yet Potter doesn’t seem to have the cachet and/or acumen to deploy the brand of football we witnessed at BHA…most larger clubs find it difficult to fully embrace less possession and a more counter-dependent style of play, even though this would make far more sense, as no one has any evidence whatsoever to suggest that Potter knows how succeed with vastly differing tactics…I strongly believe that any top boss should be salivating at the possibility of managing this blue chip wet dream of a lineup, especially knowing that Nkunku is on the horizon
whereas Pool has suffered a plethora of injuries to key figures at the same time as they’ve never been weaker from a midfield perspective…at one point Klopp attempted to slow their attacking pace as a means to hopefully hide some of their defensive deficiencies, but this failed to produce the desired results so he returned to his preferred tactics post-haste…I would assume that Pool is a CB and a midfield piece away from challenging for things and if this club were so foolish as to cut ties with this giant of a manager, it would undoubtedly come back to haunt them for the foreseeable future…in fact, they should be far more petrified by the notion of him moving on of his own accord
as for Newcastle, they’ve shown how pride, togetherness and some pace on the wings can lead to some rather unprecedented table climbing, so long as you’re defensively sound…unfortunately they lack the end product, at least at this juncture, to compete for the highest of heights…in many ways, they typify what is both right and wrong with the PL, as it presently stands
so whereas I’ve been harsh on Arteta for his lack of tactical flexbility and squad rotation, they just might be the reasons why we stand at the top of the mountain, as this rather unsettled PL environment looks kindly on those who have the luxury to stand pat…now this isn’t to suggest that he’s outmanaged the opposition, as the opposite has been the case on far too many occasions, but it just so happens that his largely static approach makes some sense in light of the rather unusual present circumstances…after all, there’s functionally little difference to his approach this year to last, when we failed miserably when it matterd most, it’s just that those variables, which are outside of his control, have changed just enough that we’re enjoying success with a glaring lack of managerial nuance, minus moving Xhaka into more advanced positions…let’s hope this is enough to secure the title come season’s end, but I’m just not convinced yet that our manager has the onions required to get us over the line
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LNME69yK9_g
Link from Rich on LG last night.
it’s high time that we had a convincing victory, as that has eluded us since the end of the TW, so here’s hoping that we use this home affair against a rather lowly Everton squad to get things properly back on track…fact remains, if you can manufacture a couple or 3 goals, this game is done and dusted
I know that it might seem far-fetched, considering our recent transfer business, but I believe that we should go all in for Bellingham come the summer
Hectic week. The above link was an U18s game against Chelsea with our most promising Hale Enders with ESR on for the first half and Jacob Kiwior (15) out for the 2nd half.
Was the first chance I’d seen Jacob and was very underwhelmed, but he was playing as an AM where my understanding is he is a DM and back up CD.
ESR looked more like he was going through the motions and avoiding heavy contact for most of the game.
Good to see the other youngsters if you’re an expat or Gooners from foreign shores.
I don’t have time to write so I’ll leave a song where the title says it all for tonight:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SHhrZgojY1Q
We Won’t Get Fooled Again!
Meeting await. Have a good one.
TRVL
Had a few more thoughts re your 100s of stitches comment.
1/ Long sighted abattoir worker?
2/ Ice Hockey
3/ NFL
4/ Football (soccer)
Funny how things get stuck in one’s mind until it’s worked out. No need to say, just a good conundrum 🙂
Tony—pretty good score on the guess-o-meter…hockey(high sticking incident and visor cut during a fight), football (American) when sacked and hammered into one of my lineman on the way down, Football(soccer)–bad cleating that pulled down my shin pad, which led to a horrible infection, Baseball—another horrible spiking while trying to jump over a sliding player in order to make a double-play, Mixed martial arts—took up training in my late 30s as a way to stay in shape(had a couple of buddies in the sport)…of course, when training you can’t always control what’s going to happen when things get invariably heated, and, finally, I was a bit of a high strung kid so I had several violent encounters, one that included myself and another going through a single pane of glass and another where a broken bottle led to 22 stitches on the back of my bloody melon…it sounds worse when they’re addressed all at once, but thankfully it’s been a few years since my last stapling…have a good one