Well, it isn’t exactly the title decider yet, because there are games left and City can go on to lose some of them. But it does feel like one. Arsenal competing against Manchester City, with 5 point lead having played a game more. Beat City and we will most likely win it after 20 years. Lose against them, and we would have to involve Gods.
Premier League is ruthless! I was drafting article two weeks back about how going to Etihad with 11 point lead would be immense and even if we drop points against them, the league would still be ours to lose. Since then, we shared points with Liverpool, West Ham and Southampton. We have 6 more games left, some of them are tough – Chelsea (H), Newcastle (A), Brighton (H), Forest (A), Wolves (H). Only the last 2 can be termed easy ones, but then Southampton was bottom of the table and scored 3 past us at Emirates. Our run of games is surely tougher than City.
And this makes our game against City this Wednesday, a must WIN.
We have some problem going on, in our defence. Saliba is out injured, and we are leaking goals. Twitter wants Thomas Partey as an inverted RB and Ben White moved to CB. I’m not sure how useful that would be, when your midfield is gone and Ben White, who haven’t played at CB this season will suddenly have to face Haaland. In my opinion, Holding is what we have, and should start at CB. He wins headers, he is good defensively and his lack of pace needs to be covered up. How? I don’t know. Probably the same way Xhaka’s has been done whole season; it’s for the manager to think.
I doubt we will change anything. Arteta will stick to his playing XI. Tierney won’t be playing at RB, no it’s not going to happen. And rightly so. To fix one position, you are not going to ruin 3 more. Best way would be to give extra classes to Rob and hope he sees Diego Costa in Haaland.
One change I would like to see, is Trossard starting. He has been brilliant for us since January and he needs to be there in our most important game of this season. He can replace Vieira, can’t do any worse right? Though Xhaka would be back and everyone and their grandmother can guess who will start.
We need the best of Partey. The one where he was playing a single pivot, distributing beautiful passes to the front 3 and delivering a constant 8.5/10.
Lastly, we need Jesus. We spent 45million on a CF to score goals against big team, in games when it matters. Use your City departure as a motivation. Jesus wanted to have more game time as a CF, which was primary reason he left City. He needs to deliver when he is getting chances because I have seen Eddie doing equally well. If it’s only about the linkup play and dropping deep to support midfield, what changed between you and Lacazette? CF needs to score goals. Someone had to say it.
We have progressed this season. Even if you are Arteta hater, you will acknowledge that some of our games has been magnificent to watch. Our football has improved and the players have grown from 19 year boys to 22 year old men. Even if we don’t make it at the end, these players will have our support. Those songs in the away ends won’t die irrespective of the outcome.
We needed a fight to begin with, we have seen our lot fighting and winning. It’s a battle reduced to Master v Apprentice.
Right, that’s all I have for the City game. It’s not the size of the dog in a fight but the fight in a dog…
If you are feeling low thinking about our dropped points and about the rest of the season, here’s a news – Spu*s have appointed an interim manager in place of the sacked interim manager who was appointed after their manager Conte was let go.
This feels like when Wenger was holding on with grim determination and we played City twice both times we lost 3 something. Why? Because Wenger was predictable.
With this line up so is Arteta.
In the words immortalized by Greavesie “It’s a funny old game”.
We know we don’t have much of a chance but there’s always hope until there is none. The under dog will always have its day and we can hope today is our day. All Junior and I want is a mountain of controlled fight from us in whatever way Arteta has drilled the team.
After that, it’s a free for all end to end gung ho football by taking the game into their own hands.
Let’s start
And so it goes
Loose defence
why in god’s name would Holding engage with Haaland so high up the pitch considering the ball played into him…he’s too emotional of a player who has a glaring lack of self-awareness…as soon as I say it Holding goes all bull in the china shop again
Tony-I agree with your earlier sentiments about MA constantly running back the same old shit and hoping for better results…if it wasn’t goood enough for the lesser lights and Pool, why the fuck would it do the job against a far better side…Pep has no problem allowing us to get the bulk of the possession beacuse he knows exactly what’s on tap
we should be a legit 3 goals down by now…maybe their wastefulness will come back to haunt in the end, but that feels like a considerable long shot
nothing like being a willing passenger in possibly our most important fixture to date…Xhaka’s presence on the pitch means we can’t press high and we can’t contain them on the counter, as Partey is left in no man’s land time and time again…you can’t lineup with only 1 DM with the petrified Holding on the backline, which is why I felt we needed to deviate from our increaingly vanilla tactics…right now the only tactical adjustment is that Marts is shifting into the middle of the pitch at times to man mark Rodri, which means that even if we turn them over we have no width on that side of the pitch to counter…we look like we’re a regulation team that came to the Etihad in the hopes of not getting embarassed or somehow, someway eking out a tie
increasingly
TRVL
Arteta’s a one trick pony. What we’ve just endured because it was no pleasure to witness was the exact definition of madness perfectly demonstrated by Arteta’s selection and tactics as a serial bottler or choker take your pick.
What will Pep say at half time? Keep the score down to 4 lads for poor Mikel.
if someone was watching this match and they were unfamiliar with the standings, there’s no way they would think that we’re battling for the crown…in fact they might think this is a replay of City’s weekend FA fixture against a scared and overmatched championship side
based on our usual shot to goal metrics, we only need about 20 unanswered shots to tie this match at 2
I can’t imagine that MA can walk out of that tunnel without substitutions at the ready, as that was capitulation at it’s finest
of course, I’m watching them return and not a switch to be had
TRVL
Said the same to junior. It’s madness.
old man Xhaka strikes again…pathetic attempt with his preferred foot on one end then a cheap giveaway on the other, which led ot a chance and a subsequent corner…Pep must just lick his lips when he knows Xhaka is required to be a box-to-box player, as no other manager would ever make life so easy for an opposing manager
Xhaka killed Martinelli’s game and so nullified our left attack.
people would be calling for any previous manager’s head if this was what was on offer in such a self-proclaimed battle for the title…what’s the point of subbing like-for-likes…in fact, Trossard provides little width and Jorginho is just a more diminutive version of the card thirsty loser who just left the pitch
masters against pupils here thus far
two decade wait to get back to the top of the table and this is what our tactical lightweight conjured up…if this keeps up we’ll have secured 3 points from a possible12 in the last 4 fixtures
this match has been so pathetic that MA is going to actually give ESR some minutes…he’s yet to start a single match this season, which would have been hard to fathom when games kicked off in August…for some reason this performance reminds we of a dire affair, with Wenger at the helm, against West Brom…I would bet you half my kingdom that if Pep were being honest he would say that this has been one of their easiest matches in the whole of this season
you know you’re a weak-ass opponent when Grealish is being the heavy
like I’ve expressed all along, until we acquire players who can manufacture goals in spite of the unimaginative tactics of our paper tiger of a manager, this type of underwhelming affair, when it matters most, will be all too commonplace
An unforgivable display from a clueless manager. Almost 4am so time to sleep 💤
just Arsenal being arsenal…when will this carefully orchestrated facade end…what an embarassment of riches
Absolute piss. Another fucking embarrassment. This predictable defeat will stay in the mind long after we’re posthumously awarded the title because of City’s massive legacy of cheating. Another Arteta cunty masterclass of confusion and unpreparedness (ditto the last three draws which were losses really). 2016 Leicester-lite. Once City are banned we’ll find ourselves still lagging behind others. Depressing as fuck.
KP-at least in 2016 we defeated the eventually champion in both our meetings…this was an absolute joke show especially on the heels of all the chatter by our neutered manager in the lead-up
So expected, so unsurprised with the result, so unsurprised Arteta’s fucked it up it’s just hard to develop the feelings I used to have when Arsenal lost a match let alone threw away a Title.
This is why I hate Arteta – he made me stop loving Arsenal, I go to matches but its not what it was, I enjoy wins but they’re not what they were but when we lose instead of it fucking up an entire weekend it’s well what’s on telly.
Cunt.
All of those sycophantic cunts on Le Grove – paranoidPedro, England’s worst, afcf, positive, negative, Nigel twatfluff, Zachrimmyarse, thick boy rich and poor hapless Bob will be quiet for a good while after that.
YOU WERE WRONG, WRONG, WRONG
#thereisanupsideafterall
Marc
Very well put. They’ve become a difficult team to like (and that’s just amongst Gooners!) and Arteta is the embodiment of that. A nasty, petty man baby and a stubborn idiot that thinks far too highly of himself. A pretty major choke given where we were before Liverpool. You start to wonder where the next win might come from. I’m expecting Chelsea to break their 5 match losing streak against us.
Kroenke
No you’re wrong wrong wrong – we were never supposed to challenge for the title this season (although Arteta told William we’d win the CL this season) its all about next season when we’ll do it – until we won’t and the next set of excuses will role out – can’t complete with oil money, can’t compete with teams in red, can’t compete if we play of any day of the week that ends in a Y and on and on.
It makes the Trump sycophants look rational.
Kroenke
Fat Frank will get a point out of us then we’ll lose to Newcastle. After that the pressure will be off because the title will be out of sight so we’ll settle down.
We used to laugh at the Spud’s for giving up massive points leads.
NO width, NO directness, NO high press, NO sitting deep and countering with pace, NO sense of urgency, NO passion, NO sense of purpose, NO cutting edge, NO savvy adjustments, NO timely subs, NO backup plan and NO chance in hell of winning…they had more goals than we had shots on target…if I didn’t know any better I would think the fix was in, as that was a pitiful performance of epic porportions
Morning all
TRVL
All I got to add is NO MORE Arteta!
Pedro binned me for the ultimate sin of stating more than once that we will never win the PL or CL with Arteta!
KP
I’d managed to numb myself before the start to act as an air gap to my brain and emotions. Poor Junior just asked questions he already knew the answers to. His mates stayed up to savage him, which he took well, but was left scarred far deeper than his teen acne. This was junior’s first title run in and you can see it hurt him deeply.
Ambarish if you’re feeling the same, I feel for you. It doesn’t get any better my friend, this is what you have signed on for with The Arsenal, and the song will remain the same until we find a manager worthy of our club, targets and fans. Doesn’t matter about age, a Gooner is a Gooner with Gooner emotions.
This season we had The Good and some bad, but last night was our ugly where we got exactly what we deserved: a lesson in football where we were lambs to the slaughter as every team is who goes to The Etihad in the PL.
There is something inherently wrong with Arteta. He’s a roller coaster, reactive manager who frankly doesn’t react very well during games or make the right team selections in the first place, – since day 1 on the job. Arteta is the pretender to any managerial crown, in financial matters as well as a poor judge of recruitment where his young key/elite in the making players don’t want to play for Arteta. Why? Because they see what we see ands hear the poor player management skills. As for tactics? We just saw Arteta’s inflexibility in all its gory twisted logic as our tactical blue print to beat City, which lasted all of a miraculous 7 minutes.
Had Ramsdale not pulled off some good saves and City’s players misfiring in and around our box with 9 shots on target we would have lost lost 7:1.
I don’t believe Arteta can right this ship because it’s soft in the middle. Deep down the players don’t trust Arteta which we saw in their nervous play last night. He’s still got the dressing room, but our key players will be starting to question Arteta’s tactics and ability.
What will Josh do? Is he blinded by Arteta’s stinging high 5s and Spanish staccato & flowery, and yet empty words?
Marc’s right we’ll win when it doesn’t matter.
Saka and Saliba? What of their contract extensions? Will doubts be creeping in of 3 more years with Arteta?
I’ve no idea where we will finish quite frankly, it really doesn’t matter now because we lost the crown we were pretenders to all season and just keeping warm for Pep.
2nd doesn’t work for me, never has. It’s a tougher road to travel, but the rewards are worth it far more. For junior and I we’ll support the players, but the winning emotion is lost that was hanging by a thread all season.
Each game will be a reminder of how Arteta serial Bottler choked on his own stubbornness and lost the PL trophy as a consequence.
Love my club, not the manager. #artetaout
Only one song to play this morning lads
https://youtu.be/AJ2jDdOfRwM
Sad but true. Hope all is well with you and yours, Almunia.
Sick as f**k for a long time Tony,but out of hospital now and hopefully turning a corner. How could I not be improving with Arsenal bringing such joy to my life!!! Hope you and your family are thriving Tony, have to say I’m empathising a lot with Marc,for my own sake I’ve pulled back from Arsenal until Arteta goes. Can’t find the same joy in it anymore. Fortunately it seems he’s on the hitlist of every top club in Europe. Just trying to figure out why they all want to kill him….
Really sorry to hear you’ve been sick, sounds really bad. Hope your recovery is quick now you’re at home. I don’t blame you giving Arsenal a rest until the club sees sense and pays Arteta to leave like his players he saw fit to squander the club’s money on. I’d hold similar views but chatting here with KP, TRVL, Marc, Ambarish, Killroy, Aitcho, Hoopah and other Indian Gooners. There’s always a laugh to be had as none of us take it seriously if we’re really honest with ourselves. It hurts, but the pain is short lived as it’s expected.
I said recently that we’re Arteta’s smaller club to practice with while the cheque book clubs await.
Be well soon, my friend, and I look forward to when you’re back to being a regular here.
Very good to hear from you Almunia. I hope your recovery continues. We’ve all missed you and hope that life starts to get back to normal.
I’m feeling the same way about the club, willing myself to be a bigger man and not get so wound up by the inevitable. A self-imposed sabbatical pending mikelito’s decision to listen to the little boy inside and fuck off somewhere needs to happen swiftly. I will be doing cartwheels if some other club (Spurs?) comes in and ends the Arteta agony. It can’t come soon enough. The Kroenkecrooks need to see his continuing tenure as a genuine obstacle to future success. If he stays, the defeats, sharp and prolonged losses of form and managerial incompetence will continue to plague the club, so much so that it’ll feel like the great chihuahua’s last few years.
The Johnny Logan analogy is spot-on. I’d also like to think Tets is rapidly approaching his ‘Waterloo’ moment. Arrogant Belligerent Ballbag Arteta (ABBA).
Don’t worry though mate. You can soon shift your attention to those other perennial underachievers in County Mayo!
All the best mate.
Almuniasaynomore-glad to hear you appear to be on the mend, I wish we could say likewise about our beloved club…I just wish that our current manager had spent even half the time he’s wasted on trying to convince anyone who would listen that he was the man with the plan, on actually devising a viable way in which we could have logically navigated our first real title push in some two decades…I don’t include 2015-16, in that we never had a sizeable lead in the second-half of the season and subsequently finished the year 10 points back
unfortunately Arteta has adopted many of the worst traits of his 3 most notable mentors, Wenger, Pep and Moyes, minus his desire to play a somewhat hybrid version of the “beautiful game” previously and currently deployed by the first two aforementioned managers…his tactical stubbornness, unjustified favourtism and selection miscues are very reminiscent of a latter days Wenger, whereas his doghouse-dependent man management techniques are akin to those of his former boss at the Etihad, which is incredibly problematic as we have neither the personnel or financial wherewithal to reasonably pursue this course of action…in regards to his Moyes connection, he has a tendency to get skittish when the skates are raised, which invariably leads him to deploy some unnecessarily defensive tactics at the most inopportune of moments…frankly, besides his more media savvy posturing, he’s a cut and paste poor man’s version of his most influential mentors and he will likely struggle to reach great heights until he grows a fucking pair