Here’s the simplest of statistics of the game against Southampton. We had a 60% possession. We went 1-0 up, thanks to a Xhaka boom. Our second half performance fell off the cliff, and our subs, brought in to make difference, was too late and too little.
We were not clinical enough in front of the goal. Our intensity in second half was poor and Southampton were clearly the better side in that second half.
We have seen this pattern earlier in Arteta’s reign. Remember Lacazette, not able to run after 60min? It was Jesus this time. Remember the anxiety you have had each time we scored, because we weren’t able to maintain the lead? Yes, I do.
Why?
We are over playing. We were fatigued, both physically and mentally. I am all for 70 games a season, but if it is affecting your performance, it’s not a good tactic innit? We are fighting on two fronts, but I don’t think it’s sustainable with a thin squad like we have. Curse Wenger as much as you want, but he did know how to use the Europa / FA Cup games to blood youngsters and not burn out your playing XI.
We do not have enough quality on the bench. An injury to ESR hasn’t helped, but there is a massive drop in performance when Eddie replaces Jesus/Martinelli and Vieira comes on for Odegaard. Sambi is no match for Partey and we don’t have a rotation option for Saka at all. However, Arteta’s 82nd minutes subs haven’t helped much in giving game times to any of the bench players.
When Eddie had a run of games in last season, he was prolific. Strikers feed on confidence (remember Lukaku?), giving them 10 min towards the end won’t help. Arteta needs to fix his rotational tactics, not because we don’t want to see the same playing XI for 70 games a season, but because when it’s not possible due to injuries or for any goddamn reason, the replacements are confident enough to keep up the team performance.
We need a Partey’s back-up. Sambi is not the answer, not with the game he shows these days. Do we need a Neves? Yes. An injury to Partey at any stage in the season would mean an end to it, how come we were so naïve to recognise that? Or did we recognise it but decided to ignore it? I don’t know.
Saka needs to be rested. Nelson was starting games under Emery, he can’t be so sh*t to not cover Martinelli when we are 2-0 up. We also had decided to keep Marquinhos, can he not cover Saka against Bodo/Glimt – because if he can’t, why the f*ck we didn’t loan him out to grow?
Before you decide to remind me that it was only the second game where we have dropped points, I must say we have seen these patterns earlier and it hadn’t ended well. Also, I have a very high expectation from a manager leading the best club in the world, who was appointed in December 2019, and haven’t made it to top 4 yet.
A season where Liverpool is sitting in 8th, every top 6 teams are dropping points except City; there is an opportunity to grab. Win the ones you are expected to, and mix it with a bit of hope and you never know. I’m a realist but it’s a two horse race till now and it always looks impossible until it’s done.
On a positive note, we are still top of the league, 2 points ahead of a team Pep built over years. Drink some hopium, and believe we will keep it like that till end of the season.
Hi K’Phobe
I saw that story and felt for the animal. I always say to people when asked about Thailand and my answer is always the same, “always expect the unexpected’. How would you sum Thailand up, KP? Farangs (westerners) rarely win in court when taking on a Thai or the Thai system in general.
Arteta needs to go on an intensive introspection course – about 5 years should do it for him to get the point. He should take Ultra Pedro and his Pedro-lites with him. Seriously, though, I’m far from convinced we’ll be in the CL next season.
Like you said earlier I hope I’m wrong, but the red flags of repetition are totting up, as are the groundhog days appearing again.
Would you give Edu a new contract extension?
LOL K’Phobe…I couldn’t tell if Tony was responding to me, believing that I was actually you, which would have been incredibly ironic considering that the panty-waste gang on LG, like the simpleton Nigel, felt I was you all along, or that he was simply responding to an earlier comment of yours…regardless, it’s nice to see that some more like-minded and astute individuals are now gravitating towards this blog…as such, maybe I’ll involve myself on a more regular basis again…onwards and sideways
Goodness Gracious……. Great balls of fire! Very sad to hear about Jerry Lee (although I was initially surprised that he was still in the land of the living…). A brilliant pianist and a real pioneer in the conservative south. And the energy on stage. Tony – I’ll be super jealous if you ever met him although his heyday was possibly before your time?
That film where he was played by Dennis Quaid was one of the best music biopics I’ve seen and Quaid does a perfect job of being Jerry. I liked that film too because it didn’t shy away from his, ahem, marriage (to a 14 year old? Played by Winon Ryder).
Jerry Lee was a rather unique cat, as he truly marched to the beat of his own drum…interestingly enough his death was prematurely announced by TMZ 2 days prior, which was quickly retracted, only for him to pass some 48 hours later…methinks that TMZ has become such a powerful “news” dissemination entity that they’ve actually acquired some sort of Minority Report-like technology…now that’s some 7th sign shit!!
Hi Vera Lynn, got to hold my hands up I got you and K’phobe mixed up yesterday. You made me chuckle because I read that from Numpty Nigel Pedro-lite about getting us all confused. You’re right he genuinely thought we we’re all the same repugnant source of questioning Arteta’s real credentials and still vociferously are in unison I might say. Oh the irony.
Great to have you with us The Real Vera Lynne.
Hi K’phone I never met any of the Rat pack or Jerry Lee. Needed a time machine for that. Albert Collins was probably the only guy from that era I worked with. Trevor Morais, Peddler’s drummer and many more bands/artists including Quantum Jump (Kenny Everett TV show title song) and Murray Head.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hchOYs_d_Bw
Met Phil Collins at Trevor’s farm studio when he was with Brand X recording after a French and Canadian tour with Trevor. Amazing man!
You talked about me writing something, but if you want to read 2 honest unrated books from the 70s and 90s, I’d seriously suggest these 2.
https://www.amazon.com/Stairway-Heaven-Led-Zeppelin-Uncensored/dp/0060938374
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Feel-Robbie-Williams-Chris-Heath/dp/0091897548/ref=pd_lpo_1?pd_rd_w=mR7uw&content-id=amzn1.sym.2d229339-2f42-4596-a90d-b81a4f52d6d3&pf_rd_p=2d229339-2f42-4596-a90d-b81a4f52d6d3&pf_rd_r=22PB9BNNX2FVCV0HXNAQ&pd_rd_wg=HEfHd&pd_rd_r=64dae35e-357a-4856-a468-d109bee63f9c&pd_rd_i=0091897548&psc=1
I have both and loved both. It’s fair to say I have a more intimate knowledge of Led Zeppelin with time spent with Jason Bonham in the States and UK. I had a place on the beach and Jason’s bass player lived in the next village. The Manor at Chiddingly was owned by Peter Grant: Zep’s manager with a moat et al. It was featured in the movie “The Song Remains The Same”. On the back door of the Manor was the sign: “The rules of this house are there are no rules!!”
As for the inimitable Robbie, I have never met him or anyone connected to him, which is a shame. His book is brutally honest about him and his mental and emotional issues all laid bare and stripped back for all to read.
When you read the book it’s easy to understand why he’s so misunderstood.
Back to football City should get 3 points from Leicester. Could Bournemouth beat boring Spuds? Hope so.
Chavs drawing with Brighton would be very welcome, as would Villa beating Newcastle who are a team to keep an eye on when it gets to the pointy end and only 4 CL places up for grab.
Have a good weekend guys.
The Real Vera Lynn TMZ probably gets that many calls a day 24/7 where I’m sure their tentacles are far and wide particularly in the main cities and from people selling stories; paparazzi, freelance journalists and the public looking for 15 minutes of fame.
An old Etonian deputy editor from fleet street was a friend through business. We only read about 10% of what’s uncovered by the roving reporters using any means possible legal or not to nail the story. Was a very interesting period of my life. The in house legal team decide what odds the paper is prepared to take to publish which stories.
You got mot love Mad Jens:
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/sportsnews/article-11364885/Former-Arsenal-goalkeeper-Jens-Lehmann-faces-fresh-vandalism-claims.html
to love*
Hi Tony and TRVL
I do (still love mad Jens that is), although I’d probably draw the line at being his neighbour. Although I think I’d automatically be on his side if he was the German to start WW III (!) in his community.
You asked what I thought of BKK. In reality I only had two spells working there (once in 1990 and then in 04/05 immediately after the Tsunami) so I’m far from qualified. The first time was brilliant but the second was very sombre and I was almost relieved when I eventually left. It took its toll dealing with other people’s tragedies for a month. Nevertheless it was a vibrant, colourful place but you couldn’t help but notice an undercurrent of poverty and a sinister atmosphere when people were demonstrating. I was always accommodated on or near wireless road which became tiring after a while. I can imagine it being a bit more soothing if you’re able to find some tranquility.
I’m off to Antalya in Turkey today with the kids. Ms K is staying home with the pets, one of which was on her last legs when we booked the trip. Football, Efes, reading and herding three moody teenagers who are even bigger pains in the arse than me. What could go wrong? Oh yeah, Midnight Express if we’re not careful!
I can imagine your 2nd stint being emotionally & mentally draining. A lot of the poverty is down to their love of sleep. They sleep anywhere including on the backs of motorbikes. China began its subtle takeover in 1910 when the Chinese hard working families came over and the Thais kept on sleeping.
It’s an endearing country and a constant challenge to live here, but once you make friends in the right places such challenges become normal things to deal with.
Junior is playing golf for his school in tournaments for the next 11 days from Monday. Our daughter is living in BKK with her BF looking for a job after just graduating, so we’ll have the house to ourselves which is going to be a novelty.
Never been to Turkey, K’Phobe, did a year in Greece, though.
Have great holiday with your fam.
Chelsea is 2-0 down to Brighton. Looks like Brighton players and Stand in coach know Potter inside out.
But seriously Curcurela has been the biggest waste of 70 million ever. Busy running around pointlessly, pushing to appear bigger than a puny defender he is. Their saving grace is Tiago da Silva. Superb positioning. If Saliba plays alongside Tiago, he can be an stratospheric defender
Brighton are 3-0 up and it is hardly 41 minutes. Chelsea is a top Championship League level team,. Potter is good enough to Potter around EPL
Brighton 3 up against the Chavs and Spuds 1:0 down to mighty Bournemouth.
Encouraging for us.
Trussard would fit nicely into our attacking MF. Could you imagine Trussard having Xhaka free role?
See what the 2nd half brings.
Hoopah, Brighton are Potters team he built over several years. He’s been at Chelsea 5 Minutes. The WC period will give all PL managers time to reevaluate their seasons thus far. It will depend on what the suits give him as back up and TW money. Give Potter 2 TWs and in that time he will have got the Chavs playing his way as Brighton are now at its core.
Spuds got lucky again but Chelsea didn’t disappoint.
Wonder what Mikel is going to serve up tomorrow?
What odd’s would you have got on Brighton 4 Chelsea 1?
Aside from that Newcastle are slowly picking up results – Howe won’t be there for long but he’ll give them a solid base to build on. In a couple of seasons City and Newcastle will be all but guaranteed top 4 with the other teams chasing the remaining 2 spots – you’d have said that Liverpool would be in there with them but you wonder if Klopp has run his course with Liverpool.
At least the fans boys will be able to maintain the “all Arteta needs is another £300 million and he’ll make top 4 next season” although with inflation that could soon be £500 million!
I have to agree with you, Marc,Arteta is a cheque book manager whose ceiling is well below what Arsenal should be entertaining.
For the good of the club, Josh really needs to remove his Arteta love goggles, because it’s quite concerning that Arsenal are almost 19 years without a PL title, and not getting any closer.
I can see United, Newcastle and Chelsea finishing above Arsenal and Arsenal in 5/6th, depending on whether the Spuds tank.
You have to wonder at the mental state of individuals within a fan base that are desperate to constantly be taken in and fooled by Arsenal’s PR machine that churns out false excitement.
Arsenal’s lack of ambition is incredibly grating and impossible to defend.
with all these familiar namesakes popping up on the Red, surely the LG brain drain is almost complete…it was only a matter of time before those with a fully functioning brain and/or even a modicum of real footballing insight sought refuge from the seemingly endless contrived narratives of the paid hack, Pedro…one can only hope this trend will continue until just such a point in time that the LG echo chamber will be little more than Nigel, England’s Best and Positive Pete sitting in a darkened room whispering the same nonsense into each other’s ears, followed by the words “pass it on”
Hi TRVL
You will have noticed I’m not the most prolific of posters, plus Arsenal are such a magnet for inertia, they just don’t provide enough genuine excitement for us supporters to chat about.
Good to see you still fighting the sycophantic narrative.
Cheers Herb…every since Pedro had his spine unceremoniously removed, immediately following Wenger’s dismissal, he’s somehow morphed into Arsenal’s resident “flat-earther”…his constant peddling of nonsensical analytics, in an attempt to justify all things Arteta-related, combined with his overtly slurpy stance on anything and everything being churned out by our PR department, whose budget appears to have grown exponentially ever since we got rid of those pesky scouts, makes me cringe…we’re not going to properly emerge from our post-move doldrums with slight of hand maneuverings and/or through the force-feeding of misplaced narratives, so the last thing we need is another little man with a paper pulpit preaching nonsense and performing daily Kool-Aid baptisms…on a side note, let’s hope that someone, besides the frequently unmarked Xhaka, wears their shooting boots tomorrow, so that we can post a somewhat convincing victory, which seems rather counter-intuitive considering the increasingly tepid tactics being deployed by our still novice manager…take care