Brighton is a tough team to play against. They play high intensity, positive game and have Europe in mind. Having played 3 less games than Tottenham, who sits at the 6th position, Brighton could overtake them with a win. They are in a happy place but they know things can turn bad towards the end of the season, and won’t really be wishing to leave it to that. They will fight, and they will make things tough for us.
Today’s game comes with a relief for Arteta, both Solly March and Webster are ruled out of game and we are back in fine form. Saliba and Zinchenko are ruled out for the season, but Kiwior didn’t disappoint and Tierney is as good a player at LB. He might come up short in his midfield abilities, but I’m of the belief that a defender’s first priority is to defend well. Anything else is extra.
Having said that, I would really like him to excel in the three games left. Rumours about him leaving (or sold) is not a good news for me, I don’t know if we need to splash another 60m for a LB when we already have a lad covering it and doing well whenever given a chance. It would be like creating a problem and then fixing it.
For the rest of this season, we don’t have anything to win or lose now. I’m a generally optimistic person but everyone and their dog knows City are not going to drop points, and are not going to give away their 1 point lead with a game in hand. We feel the Liverpool’s frustration, in a short amount of time they have overtaken the title race. No doubt we have thrown it away ourselves by sharing points against the likes of West Ham and Liverpool after going 2-0 up, and against Southampton at home, but Pep is showing to us how hard it can be for any other team. Not only does he prepares his team tactically, he engrains in them a tough, winning mentality which allows them to perform at the top when needed the most.
It was nice till it lasted. It leaves us to the last three games, and I’m looking forward to finishing our season with 3 wins, and 90 points. It will keep the confidence high, make the incomings in the summer easier and gives us the confidence to pick ourselves up and retry again next season.
—
Back to the game, I’m expecting a a back 4 of White, Kiwior, Gabriel and Tierney. Jorginho would probably keep his place after a good game against Newcastle. Xhaka starts because he always do. We would see Saka, Odegaard and Martinelli behind Jesus, but I would personally like to see Eddie given a chance today. We are at home, we are playing Brighton and Eddie can do a job.
Trossard would like a game too, but unless we play in 2 competitions, I doubt we will see much of him. Mikel has his favorites and there is nothing wrong in that if it works. The only problem is, it don’t keep people happy. We need a strong bench, but good players don’t like to settle on the bench. A conundrum Mikel has to overcome, and we still have ESR and Eddie waiting, Balogun, Lokonga and Tavares returning, Saliba and Tomiyasu injured.
I would love to see a clean sheet. It felt sh*t to David De Gea winning the golden glove. I wouldn’t have mind if it was Ederson or Allison but lol.
Right, a short one today. Lets beat them seagulls and continue the quest of being the best out there. If you are saddened with missing out the trophy after being top of the table virtually the whole season, here’s some positive – we will be playing in Champions League next season, we will be fighting again for the trophy, Spu*s might not even make to Europa and London is red through and through.
#COYG
So it has begun with City’s fight against FFP breaches:
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-12098983/Man-City-launch-legal-fight-against-Premier-Leagues-115-charges-rule-breaches.html
Bob-not sure what you’re talking about when you posted that I might be missing the point…the only statement I directed in your general direction was in regards to the selling off of players, like Nelson, who can’t be sold as his contract expires this summer…as for the notion of replacing bench players with first teamers, I’m all about that shit, but I just don’t think this management duo has the ability to identify, minus the obvious, acquire, without paying above the number, or the onions/tactical nous to properly rotate a squad, regardless of the talent available for selection…maybe you simply directed your response to the wrong individual by mistake…have a good one
with talk yesterday and today involving a 3rd offer to Nelson and the hopeful signing of Ode to a long-term deal, it reminds me of how we’ve truly butchered this squad building project…by the time we’re done locking down Saka, Saliba, fingers-crossed, Ramsdale and Ode, combined with the bumper deals we already gave to Marts, Eddie(stupidly) and maybe Nelson, our briefly restructured wage bill will skyrocket before we even try to lure supposed elite level talent to the Emirates…once you likewise include Jorginho’s and Trossard’s overpriced salaries, we might be doing some bargain basement shopping unless we ship some of our better players, as it’s not like Xhaka’s 12+M transfer windfall is going to help much…no wonder we’re always sniffing around for players on a “free”…if we were smart we would have used our early transfer funds to lock in some readymade elite players when our more youthful up and coming blue chippers were on vastly lower wages, but instead we were too busy paying above the number for largely unproven talent and those who didn’t fit the script
Killroy, you may be right; we shall see! I’d hope with enough quality to allow rotation without an obvious drop in quality and performance, Arteta will recognise the need to allow players to recharge during the season.
TRVL, you seemed to be suggesting that we would be acquiring ‘bench warmers’ to acquire fresh ‘bench warmers’, I was arguing that if brought in 3/4 first team quality starters, you’d then have say 14/15 starters and Arteta might be inclined to rotate more.
We would get compensation for Nelson say 8/10m if he went to an English club.
There is someone at the club,or maybe they’re gone, who deserves immense credit for spotting Saliba and Martinelli and also a team behind the scenes producing saka,esr,patio,Eddie,Nelson,most of whom will either make it or command a decent fee. By all accounts a new batch are coming through with more players that will make the professional grade. Reasons to be hopeful I guess.
Back to cheering d hammers again tonight. All eyes on Rice once more. The silly season in the papers has begun particularly early this year,but the noise surrounding our interest in him is already deafening. Not my number one choice at that money,would prefer someone with endless energy like a young Kante. Got to be someone in that mould about to explode. Can we find him? Or tap the Brighton phones??
Hi Almunia
I’d be happy if the Hammers get to the final as well. There aren’t many English sides I’d say that about though.
Here’s a question. RM’s confidence in Ancelloti will be seriously dented after losing so heavily last night. Do you reckon there is any possibility that they’ll be looking to tempt our plucky little rookie manager away from us?
PS I thought your comment on the global dearth of decent goalkeepers was spot on. I would not be averse to trading Ramsdale (and Turner). I know he’s ancient but is Navas (Forest) still decent in your view?
Howya KP,
You’d know more about this than me but isn’t Arteta Catalonian thus rendering Real anathema to him? And vice versa? That aside Real only hire the biggest of names. Nagelsman turned down Chelsea by all accounts,is he expecting the call?
Aa for keepers I fear Navas is past his best. Have seen him lately and he is still a decent shot stopper but doesn’t have the presence you’d want your keeper to have,especially in the air. He’s also gone 36. I don’t mind an older keeper mind you. Schmeichel was turning 29 when he joined utd, van der Saar was 3 months off 36 amazingly,what a signing he was. Maignan was the big miss for us,he was very gettable before he moved to Italy.
Anyway word is that Ramsdale has just signed a new deal and you know how Arteta feels about acknowledging mistakes!
I think Arteta is from the Basque region (which is also mistrusted/disliked by the Franco-supporting central area around Madrid). But I doubt that would come into it if Arteta were interested. That said, 8f he has any connection to an Iberian club, then it’s Barca of course which could be a bridge too far. I could swear I saw some media reports (aka shite) linking him with RM. All those regional differences aside, they’d be perfect for each other.
The way this season has ended I can already feel the torpor setting in. Hope all is well with you mate.
Bob-you must have misinterpreted my commentary, as I’ve always been an ardent proponent of bringing in players with starting pedigree…in fact, I want nothing more than for us to add a couple readymade star quality players…that said, I don’t trust our current management duo when it comes to making such decisions as they tend to waste considerable time on more pie-in-the-sky type options, which never seem to materialize, then ultimately opt for lesser lights and/or cast-offs…furthermore, the fact that MA seems to give incoming or re-upping players ridiculous assurances undoubtedly complicates matters when it comes to issues involving squad rotation…in the end, most of our biggest stumbling blocks are self-inflicted, which are difficult to correct without making wholesale managerial/administrative personnel changes, unless you prescribe to the rather far-fetched learning curve narrative, considering the inflated egos involved
Bob-as for your Nelson compensation claims, I think you might be overestimating just what we might be awarded but I could be wrong…I realize that with him leaving before the age of 24 we will be receiving some form of compensation if he does remain in the PL, albeit that’s certainly not a given, but the number you suggested seems a bit high considering his current market value, which I believe is a mitigating variable…Cheers
Basque v Catalan, my ignorance on that is shocking, may do a little research!
Still would be amazed if Arteta was being considered for that job,couldn’t imagine Real fans being happy.
Fornals with a cracker. Hammers have their chance to end 43 years of emptiness. Good luck to them.
All well here my friend,hope the same can be said for you and yours.
for those who might have not watched the BHA/Newcastle affair, don’t be fooled by the final scoreline, as 2 of Newcastle’s 4 tallies came functionally within the extra time, once Brighton tried unsuccessfully to push for an equalizer…that said, Newcastle were the better team over the 90+ minutes, although it’s important to note that BHA fielded an largely rotated lineup, which included Caicedo and a newbie in the back 4, amongst other key changes
the rumour mill never ceases to amaze, for months we’ve heard all manner of claims regarding our “favoured status” when it comes to the Declan Rice chase, yet, seemingly without fail, these are invariably followed by a whole host of “alternative” options that our manager supposedly favours…the flavour of the day appears to be Florentino, a 23 year old DM from Benifica, who has a 20M market value but a 120M release clause…I’ve personally watched a handful of Benfica matches this season but only once have I even heard the respective commentators mention him by name…of course, that doesn’t always tell the full story, especially for someone in that particular position, but it certainly isn’t a ringing endorsement either
as we know these kinds of rumours are usually the work of zealous/crafty agents attempting to raise the profile of their oft-times under the radar clients, which could be plausible in this case too, as our penchant for secrecy/trickery could make us a logical trolling target…sadly, this “secretive” transfer model has not only yielded incredibly mixed results, it has greatly exacerbated an already tense period…regardless of the original intent of this particular rumour, I can’t help but think that it’s far more likely that Florentina will be wearing our kit come August considering our more recent transfer record
TRVL
Just take a look at the players Arteta bought and brought in, with the exception of Ode, would we get at least the same amount of money that we spent on purchasing them? For me I seriously doubt it. This indicates one of three things, either their talent was totally misjudged, we overpaid for them or Arteta ruined their valuation by benching them, playing them out of position and now they appeared to be out of form.
We are stuck with the not so dynamic duo of Edu & Arteta until they get hit by the door as they leave.
A truly excellent quote from the Athletic:
“For the second successive season, Arsenal look likely to fall just short of their objective. Last year it was the top four. This year it was the Premier League title. And to some, that makes Mikel Arteta a nearly man rather than the serial winner the club needs.”
Outstanding new description for MA, he is a “nearly man/manager”
What do we think of the Forrest game?
Hard to get enthusiastic over a game that doesn’t move our position. 2 games left and only pride to play for with a worn out squad limping home.
We got 2nd and that’s our current position to beat next season.
Pre season looks good, MLS all stars to begin with, then Manure at home followed by Barca also at the Emirates as well.
For tomorrow’s game it is anyone’s guess; Forrest still need points and Cooper is a good tactician with the players & budget he’s got, who work hard for him on and off the ball.
Wet finger in the air prediction of 3:3 tomorrow and 3 points from the Wolves game to finish on a high for the lap of honor.
Then hibernation time for me until pre season. That is unless Edu buys 3 £100m+ elite City level players and 3 £50M+ potential elite players, and a £25m cheeky gamble all done in the first 4 weeks. That would stop me in my tracks and cancel hibernation hence forth. 🙂
What are the chances?
Killroy
All managers have signings that don’t work out – even very good managers have expensive signings that in hindsight were a waste of money.
The issue with Arteta is he only destroys value in players – Ode might be worth more than we paid but that’s only because Madrid sold him on the cheap because they need cash quickly. They isn’t another player who Arteta’s been involved with buying who’s seen a significant increase in value there is however a long list of players who value he’s tanked.
Marc
Totally agree and a classic example of destroying value is Guen who was valued at one time at 40mill.
now I don’t have anything personal against Ramsdale, even though I would have much rather we had kept Emi, but to hear him lash out at those who’ve suggested that they’ve “bottled” the title run is a tad rich…I think it would have been much wiser if he had looked at the facts, read the room, then tempered his comments, after all not everyone has the luxury of bottling their gig then having their salary doubled
Ramsdale is reported to have said:
“‘I think it’s an easy way out – just a quick, cheap narrative from certain people who have not actually gone digging into stories of what we have achieved,'”
Well it’s not quick because I’ve been supporting the club for years, my season ticket isn’t cheap and picking up 9 points from 21 doesn’t take too much digging.
You’d have thought with the media training etc they’d know better.
Marc-it’s clear he was slurping the Kool-Aid at the time, which certainly isn’t that surprising…I wouldn’t be shocked if he had an Arteta-based PR brown-nosing clause within his contract, which btw functionally doubled his wealth
Perhaps that reassurance explained why Arteta was on particularly good form, going into detail about the influence of a chocolate labrador named Win that he has integrated into the Arsenal training ground. He said Win is “the perfect representative of who we are right now” and also revealed an arboreal influence on his team’s endeavours
This from today’s Guardian….It’s not the first of April right? t’s no wonder we’re laughed at by other fans as a soft touch. A chocolate labrador that appears to cock it’s leg and piss over the trees at London Colney is our secret signing. Never mind getting some proper midfielders.
Nuno Tavares will at least be hoping to return back from his loan now so he can give the ridiculously named ‘win’ some deep throat luvvin. And we might re-sign Alexis Sanchez so they can do a piano duet in time for Christmas in matching Arteta jumpers. What the fuck have we become? Can you imagine George Graham – he’d have a snarling, muzzled Doberman with sharpened teeth chasing Tony and Ray Parlour around the pubs in Essex.
For those who don’t know the UK dog food market(!), there is a brand of hard, dry dog biscuits called ‘winalot’. You’ll notice Arteta stopped short of calling the dog that because, er, apart from one FA Cup, it looks like Arsenal won’t win a lot during his tenure.
I hope the poor bastard gets canine counselling and treatment for his damaged ‘minced morsels’ (another British type of scooby snack of unknown meaty origin) after uncle nuno comes at him/her with his big Portuguese boner/bonio!
Yes, I’m going to end up in hell. 👺We have a shit manager and a therapy dog in his backroom team. Stuivenberg and Round will be expecting their p45s any day now.
https://www.theguardian.com/football/2023/may/19/arteta-targets-crucial-summer-of-tough-decisions-to-take-arsenal-to-next-level
Here’s the whole article if anyone can be arsed. I was reminded of that boy band lyric from Almunia’s side of the Irish Sea while reading this (Boyzone? Westlife? Both of them ‘in collaboration?)
You say it best…. When you say nothing at all.
At least it’s a distraction from all of the shite Grimsdale was spouting yesterday.
Interim Chelsea manager Frank Lampard says he tried to sign Norwegian forward Erling Haaland during his first stint at Stamford Bridge, before the 22-year-old moved to Borussia Dortmund (BBC)
Does this remind you of anyone? 4 clues
– He looks like a 6 ft 2 chihuahua
– Crap at zipping up coats
– Always talked shit about mental strength every time it was lacking
– Described finishing 4th as a trophy
the anti-Partey campaign is well underway, which is likely a sign that he’s on the chopping block…our club is certainly not opposed to using various mediums for the purpose of planting seeds…whether to gauge fan sentiment before making any definitve decisions or to manufacture support for some sort of club-based initiative, this PR-driven chickenshit maneuver rubs me the wrong way…a similar approach was likewise adopted when we orchestrated proactive smear campaigns against both RVP and Sanchez, under Wenger, then again whenever Arteta was trying to drum up support before ousting anyone who wouldn’t kiss the ring…I certainly hope I’m wrong and that these are just a natural outgrowth of his recent benchings combined with the time of year, but it feels a little too familiar for my liking…even if we’re really serious about our pursuit of Rice, of which I’ve got mixed feelings about, I would much rather have Partey for cover/positional competition purposes than a mixture of Jorginho and Elneny, especially with Champions League on the horizon…I’ve never seen a club/manager exert so much energy trying to feign transparency, except you know who, before he said fuck it and got all disrespectful towards the fanbase
KP-you’re on fucking fire today
Olive trees and fucking support animals, I’m never been more convinced that the treble is in our immediate future
regardless of my views towards the manager or his locker room antics, I wish nothing but the best for our boys in the match today…unfortunately I won’t be able to watch our rare late Saturday gig, as in my part of the world our fixture starts just after noon and I have to make an appearance at the wedding of a business associate…I guess that’s the only saving grace of our second-half bottling, as I would have been so fucking pissed if I had to watch a taped version of a title-clinching affair
on a bit of a side note, MA can talk all he wants about how we can still set a club record for most victories, but no one with the power of sight and a functioning brain will ever look upon this season as one of our greatest ever, unless City somehow cocks things up even worse than us
KP
Excellent puppy love song.
OK, going to hold my hands up here and say I miss Pumpkin’s presence and character and find myself looking at places he’d laze about the house, as I walk around internally. He’s had a profound experience with the connection he has with my daughter.
However, only my daughter needs Pumpkin as a life cat. Is this what our players need now? Life dog called Win? I just don’t see how that works or the rubbing hands and silly speakers at the training ground trying to recreate the Anfield experience, when the players all knew Anfield anyway and why not do it at the Emirates on the PA instead of disco speakers on sticks.
I’m all for Arteta thinking outside the box but not the planet. Thinking inside the box using reality and rational thinking with greatly improved squad management/selection and in-game management would be of far better use. It’s where we lost the title.
The bottom line is we don’t have a layer of hair from the doll face Persian covering the floors with assorted toys. Sure, we miss the little blighter, but he’ll never improve our business dealings or junior’s education – he’ll just be a very cute furry fellow.
If only Arteta could get the basics right after nearly 4 years and when he does periodically where it’s not sustainable, so more consistency is needed.
Simples really.
TRVL
Steve Cooper’s battle cry today is, ‘we’re not the same team Arsenal beat 5:0 at The Emirates.”
I think it’s fair to say nor are we mentally and physically and fitting square plugs into round holes due to injuries to play this evening. I’ll keep my guns ho prediction of 3:3 and see you lads at the game Weddings and funerals my pet hates. Still, there is always keeping a live stream on your phone with and air bud in one ear.
Better than nothing and never easy when watching from the trenches or from behind the big weeping willow.
Marc
Ramsdale has never been the best decision maker. I’m surprised he was allowed in front of the cameras unsupervised by an adult. Arteta doesn’t count.
Tony
You should ask your daughter to set up a face call with the little fella. Sounds like you’re missing him man. I sympathise. We have a black and white cat, and the little fuckers grow on you.
As part of that Peter Grant type persona I painted of you last week, maybe you should replace him with a silver back gorilla, a couple of Komodo dragons, a pool full of piranhas and an exceptionally well hung tapir? What could possibly go wrong?
Win’s days will be numbered when he lays a cable (or dog’s eggs – whichever you prefer) in Jesus’s snakeskin moccasins while he’s training. He’ll be off south of the river to Battersea Dogs’ home (or nearby Stamford Bridge) before you can say ‘we’re not chokers’.
If we’re not ready for Forest, they’ll be all over us scrapping for their survival. Same as Brighton but on a million lines of speed (which was not too disimiliar from my experience the last time I was there…). Strange as it may seem, I think we’ll put out a Newcastle type performance and win easily. 3 nil! Jesus x 2 and Martinelli. It’s what we do best. Pyrhhic, pointless victories.
At least we’ll be guaranteed of one victory later. Winning the managerial beauty contest (I hope paranoid ped isn’t reading this and gets another flufftastic idea – pouting, eyebrow-sculpted Arteta (football’s answer to Rock Hudson!) lined up against poor Steve Cooper – THE ugliest manager in world football.
Tony
Agree fans might like his passion but when its turned on the same fans who are asking reasonable questions its immature at best.
I saw the story about the dog and thought “just don’t do it don’t say a word”.
For anyone who knows me that’s about as unusual as Arteta not being a cunt.
Kroenke
Can’t make my mind up about todays game and what we’ll see. No doubt Forest will be up for it, what Arsenal we’ll see I have no idea. The bottle jobs who now the pressure is off will win comfortably so everyone can say we were so close or a team who are on the beach now the season is over for us.
Marc
Fair points. I’m just being a baby. I want to be pleasantly entertained tonight rather than being made to feel angry. That’s all it comes down to.
Yeah, the dog. I just couldn’t resist it.
Talking of dogs (!) I assume you’re going to Wolves to watch the game and wish them all a happy summer of tea bagging. Be good to get your thoughts afterwards on the lap of (dis) honour.
I’ve had about as much amusement from Spurs’s awfulness this year as I have Arsenal’s many wins.
Spuds lost and Pool losing has a nice feel to it. Emery has got Villa playing well – we’ll never know how good Emery could have been for us if he’d get the players he wanted. Villa will be a good indicator next season.