Well, that sort of aggregate takes away the fun from a game but it’s a good thing for us Gooners. We are in a 6 goal lead and playing at home. In the first leg, six of our players scored, Martin Odegaard twice and made sure we qualify for the quarter finals without worrying about the 2nd leg.
Martinelli is back in the fold after getting some minutes against Manchester United. Saka, Jesus, Havertz, Tomiyasu remains unavailable. Not much to talk about the game knowing that we are going to play either Atletico or Madrid in the quarter finals. Since we don’t have a fit CF to play, I would suggest that we put Martinelli back in the middle with Nwaneri and Trossard on either side but I know it’s not going to happen in this lifetime.
Rice and Partey should get some rest. Not much here but a lot to discuss about other things, lets go.
So, we failed to score against Forest, scored 7 against PSV and then saw a Declan Rice’s brilliant goal against United which led to us sharing points with our rivals; which brings me to the conclusion that we were lucky and luck runs out at some point. Still remember Mikel Merino’s 2 goals in his first game as CF? Well, he has failed since, and the 7 goals against PSV was an exception, not the norm. We will still struggle to score, after seeing the Liverpool v PSG games, you know how tough the Champions League run is going to be.
But hey, the club is trying to fix this infatuation of defence by bringing Andrea Berta as the new Sporting Director. I have no idea how successful Berta would be at Arsenal but there’s 2 things about him that excites me. First, he has worked with Simeone who enjoys a similar freedom to Arteta. One or the other won but that’s okay, I don’t want to see another YES man around the manager. Second, he was responsible for bringing in Griezmann, Oblak, Rodri to Atletico when they were little known. That’s a good CV for me. During Wenger years, I would have never thought that I would want my manager to forget about defence and invest in attack. What a turnaround.
PSG was brilliant last night. And in the first leg when they were unlucky to convert their chances. Arne Slot blaming it on the Champions League format because they got to play PSG even after finishing top in the group stages was funny. What did he expect? Enrique has done some good work with the Paris team and getting rid of Messi, Mbappe and Neymar has let others play with more freedom. I think they are going to be a very tough competition for any team who is chasing the Cup.
We have got Barcelona, Inter, Bayern and PSG qualified for the Quarters. Aston Villa and Arsenal will do today. One of the LOSC and Dortmund for the 7th place. Madrid will play against Atletico with a 2-1 aggregate and there won’t be any surprises I am guessing.
That’s a good bunch of teams. Next round will be spicy and the fact that we will play one of Atletico or Madrid in the quarters makes it even more interesting.
Saliba in the press conference before the second leg, said he wants to stay and win trophies with Arsenal. He is not bothered with the fact that his contract is expiring in 2 years and he will not leave before winning something. Big up for the lad. What it also means is that, he has got 2 years to give his everything and see the ambition of the club for winning trophies. If we do, he will stay. If not, he will re-evaluate his options. In modern football, no one is playing for a club because of their loyalty towards it (except may be Jamie Vardy). It’s either money or the ambition to win trophies. Arteta could very well be in his 67th phase but he has only two years to make them stay.
I think the club knows this, and I think that’s why we are seeing Berta being brought on. The club might have seen the money thrown away at the defence while we keep losing because no one can score a bloody goal.
Right, that’s it for today. See you during the game.
Wicksy
City are in turmoil and were before we hammered them. It was a pleasing result however a lot of so called lesser teams have also beaten them
PSG are on the rise – since beating them we have declined. The reasons for our decline are not just dodgy refereeing and unfortunate injuries.
We may be unbeaten against Liverpool for a couple years (bar FA Cup loss at home where £350K per week Havertz played like a 5 year old) but they have been consistent this season and for this reason it will be them lifting the PL Trophy and not us.
United, Chelsea & Spurs are all in a state – their demise has seen other unfancied teams rise up the table – teams with much lower spend than ours. When did Arteta say he would win the CL?
Wicksy
You are confusing results and performances. We’ve managed some good results despite average (I’m being polite) performances and have heavily relied on our defence to pull us through.
You can only get away with poor performances for so long before you get caught out.
“PSG are on the rise – since beating them we have declined.”
They also seem to be massively improving after some massive changes to the squad last summer.
Long back in the wild when lighting was by paraffin lamps , if left on for like eg a long post the wicksy used to become obdurate and toast.
Had to be be brought to level using a sane finger.
Guess some things don’t change. Hopefully get extinguished .
The problem with our RM tie is that it is over two legs. No way MA can win over two legs.
If it were a single final I’d say we have a chance, as with FA cups there are always upsets. Ancelotti has been there, got the t-shirt and video, so will know what to do with MA who can’t keep us in the simple cups, such as against a shit Manure who knocked us out on penalties and deservedly sitting 14th just 4 places off relegation.
Newcastle dumped us out of the caribou cup with a deserved 0:2 at the Emirates in the semi. MA had two legs two should have overcome the home loss but failed miserably.
PSG are a far better side without Mbappe, Neymar and Messi. Enrique has got them playing as a team, full of running and pressing. They reminded me of Barca’s Xavi, Iniesta and Busquets tiki taka play when losing the ball they would instantly win it back or create pressure by not leaving gaps.
If I were a betting man, I’d back PSG over RM and Barca. PSG made a very good Pool side look ordinary and into making too many mistakes.
The 7:1 was because PSV shit the bed. They were not much better on the 2nd leg as we put out some of our ‘for sale’ players with a few first teamers’ . They didn’t cover themselves in glory with a 2:2 draw.
I’d say we have as much chance of beating RM over two legs as we have overturning Pool to snatch the PL trophy away from them.
Happy to be proven wrong obviously.
Wicksy
I’m not worried about how our players compare to RM. But there’s a monumental manager mismatch. Ancellotti v Arteta. He’ll eat him. Say no more.
Far be it for me to suggest that anyone steer clear from our resident snake oil salesman, as I’ve been known to have a go with considerably less provocation, but now that he’s made his intentions well-known, maybe it’s time to let him feel the weight of our collective silence…just a thought…Cheers
as for Sunday’s fixture, this should be an interesting test for two sides who’ve struggled for goals in more recent times, at least when it comes to League play…for me personally Maresca has fallen into much the same tactical trap as his crosstown counterpart, who likewise became far too conservative/tactical stagnant when the pressure ramped up…at least Maresca has a far better excuse, in that when you’re managing Chelsea you know that every season could be your last, unlike MA who had the luxury of knowing that his job was always secure
let’s face it, this above knowledge should have actually emboldened our MIT, instead his already micro-sized balls tended to shrivel up at the most inopportune of times…until he makes massive inroads in that department we’ll never ever achieve elite status…the only reason we’re even in the conversation, albeit on the outskirts, is the glaring lack of dominant sides in Europe…Inter and Napoli are no Juve of a half decade or so ago, Barca and Real are shadows of their former selves, PSG and Bayern have both undergone some rather unsettling transitionary periods, where they’ve even been challenged domestically, and at home, Pool, Chelsea, United and even City have experienced downturns of varying degrees and lengths
this is why I’ve spent so much time lamenting the fact that we might have missed our window(due to our continued unwillingness to end this managerial facade)…with all of this in mind, this one reeks like a draw…here’s hoping it’s not a fucking scoreless borefest, which seems unlikely with Sanchez in goal
Hi Hoopah
Very poetic mate. The juxtaposition between flames and being left on too long that is.
It’s a favourite technique of many authors to use flames and fires as a means of describing the rise and fall of human relationships.🔥
We need to beat Chelsea this weekend if only to keep up some pre RM momentum. They really hit a wall a few weeks ago so no excuses.
Good morning fellow gooners. Just thinking with the New DOF being the Italian from Athleti and known for selling good, there are only a few who are unsellable in the current squad. Saka, Saliba, Gaby M and Ethan. Rest of the squad should be up for sale and if good offers come for anyone we should look to sell and freshen up the squad. Martinelli should be on the market and he should go if he needs to improve. Under Mikel he has regressed and lost all his natural abilities. He needs to leave to recover his mojo. So a good offer for him we should sell.
What say you all.
Hi Madhu
I’d make that list of current players not to be sold a little longer, not least so there could be greater concentration on the names left.
I’d add
Rice (imagine life without him?)
Ode (still the team’s ticking heart in my opinion)
Skelly (vying with Nwaneri to be Prince to Saka’s title of King of Arsenal)
Cauliflower (hugely versatile. I think he’ll replace Saliba when the inevitable happens)
Timber (terrific player)
And maybe even Raya (who has saved us points this season as all great gks should)
Alphatross and Martinelli a little more marginal but I think they’re worth persisting with.
But in brief, the main weakness in our squad is the manager. Were he to leave and be replaced by a manager with a track record of winning trophies, then I don’t think the squad needs much tweaking, other than a big, mobile centre forward of course.
The first thing that needs to be considered when discussing the new DOF is his purchases etc are going to need to work for a fuckwit of a manager who can’t form a coherent strategy for more than 15 seconds at a time.
As an example just think about the players bought when Arteta is pulling the strings who are midfielders – Ode, Rice, Partey, Havertz and Merino (I won’t include squad fillers like Jorginho who are a necessary part of the squad) that’s £285 odd million for 3 positions (and we got Ode on the cheap because Madrid needed to raise money) then tell me what our CM should be next season if we go and get the striker we desperately need? If you assume Partey will leave I guarantee you Arteta will want a big money replacement – Arteta is a fat kid in a sweet shop who buys for the sake of it and falls in love with players who don’t fit what we need so then has to shoe horn them into the team.
Until we have a manager and management structure with a coherent long term plan for what we want to do and how we want to achieve it we’ll continue to stumble around in the dark and always fall short when the pressure is on.
Madhu
This squad doesn’t need wholesale changes it needs direction.
That doesn’t of course mean that some players and positions can’t be improved on but until we make the critical change it won’t make a difference.
There’s also a huge issue with the salaries some of the players are on.
KP and Marc my hypothesis is that the manager will remain and call the shots. I don’t think Kreonkes are going to upset the applecart. MA is making them dance to his tunes. MA has understood that keeping in CL will bring in the necessary money and will keep Arsenals evaluation high. Kreonkes don’t care a shit whether we will win anything they are at the end of the day a Real Estate agents masked as sports corporate entity. They have prime real estate in London and would want the evaluation to be kept high. Having said that will they not wink if RM comes for Saliba and throws in 100 M . I mean ask for them everybody can be sold at the right price. In that case MA doesn’t have a choice and the DOF is known to sell well.
My personal opinion is that we have been playing the same way with the same squad for the last 3 season. If someone comes in for Ode and offer more than 50M we should let him go. We should look at slightly different profile to play at that position. I believe he is not ambitious enough in his passing. His pressing has been down as well. My personal opinion is that we need to play with two creative players and trust Rice to play at the base. MA will not allow that.
So in that sense I look at only Saliba, Mag, Saka, Ethan, MLS and Rice may be as nonsaleable. If someone comes in for Rice at 100 M + and we get Zubi I say let him go. Everyone else can go if attractive offer comes in.
Madhu
I think you’re taking the view of the Kroenke’s that was prevalent when they first took over the club. There’s a reasonable argument that this is not their current approach – the other sports clubs they own have won things and they’ve thrown money at Arteta like its going out of fashion (not just his spending but the money he’s been allowed to write off in devaluing players etc).
There are also stories that they’re looking to upgrade and expand the stadium.
Personally I think at some point they’ll get pissed off with the amount of money Arteta is spending without winning a title, Slot winning it in his first year having spent £40 odd million will not escape their attention either. You then have the fans – too many are still onside with Arteta but a 3rd season of bottling it and opposition fans taking the piss with chants will see fans turn on Arteta / the team that will result in less demand for tickets.
The big question is will Arteta decide to jump before he’s sacked or is he so self unaware he genuinely thinks he’s doing a good job.
Madhu
I think Ode would really flourish if he had a big, muscular running forward like Osimhen or Isak anywhere between 5 and 19 metres ahead of him looking for space all the time. I think he has the adventure and creativity, I’m just not sure he’s got the right player(s) in front of him. That’s down to stubborn el Bastardo as we know.
I’m in Mallorca at the moment and am deploying full full diplomatic skills to persuade Ms Kroenkephobe on a footballing expedition this afternoon to watch the gloriously named S’Arenal (any anagram solvers out there) take on Felanitx B no less in the senior Mallorcan ‘Honour’ league. Felanitx sounds like a cat from Asterix the Gaul.
I’ve never persuaded her to watch Arsenal with me (absolutely hates football) but is being lured with the promise of beers and tapas. S’Arenal indeed. I bet their manager is called Milek Arteta…
I need a live football fix. 💉💉💉
Kroenke
Agree 100% on Ode – put someone like Isak in front of him looking to make good runs then add Saka and a revitalised Martinelli (new manager please!) and we’d look a different team.
KP
Having devoured Asterix and the Gauls , Felatronix sounds a character made respectable so kids do not feel upset with what he does for a living in the Village.
😇
Abuse would lead me to walk away from Man Utd – Ratcliffe – https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/articles/cqx0dlz9g93o
People like Radcliffe are such un self-aware cunts. Billionaires in ivory towers. If I was a Manure fan reading this article, the first thing that would cross my mind is, ‘how can I significantly raise my abuse game in order to get this money-grubbing parasite out of the club?’
If Arteta and/or the Kroenkes were to make such a statement, I would devote even more time to abusing them than I do now!