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
KP
Rock Hudson was gay lmao and not adding to that. 🙂 YMCA anyone?
I think Martinelli is another out til next season casualty after Caicedo demolition of him. Ankle I think, so it’ll have to be Trossard.
It’s the little things cats do with perception. They sense when to be around and talk to you. The mock punch ups are fun with the way they retract claws as the paws hit you and nibble you for affection. All new to me and enjoyable.
Junior is staying with his sister and Pumpkin for the last few days and today in BKK. He’ll follow a live stream and do the Pumpkin honors before the game.
Tony-just about to head out the door, thanks for the “incognito” advice, but I’ve done that on a few occasions and it rarely ended well…usually I would get so wound up that it led to an extended doghouse stay…like I said, if this match had greater implications I would somehow weasel my way out of the whole gig, as this is his 4th time down the aisle…as for your Emery comments, I do wonder what might have been, especially if he had any say regarding personnel…that said, I just don’t see him so much as a front-runner, but more of an overachiever type, which likely would have resulted in a more Wengerian Cup feel with the occasional success on other Cup/Europa fronts…two observations from that match, Klopp looked as if he would literally bite the kneecaps off the ref, if given the chance, when Mings boot went high on Gakpo and only a yellow was shown and Kompany was cutting quite the Bond villian/Terminator figure in the stands
as for the Spurs showing, I almost wished they had won, as it might have muddied the managerial waters…Mason is no PL level coach, so I would much rather fan sentiment went in his direction than towards Arne Slot, or someone similarly progressive…it’s clear that the players have no interest in seeing Mason roaming the sidelines next season
looks like Tierney is definitely on his way out come the summer!!
TRVL
I agree Emery is more a cup winning manager than winning titles; I imagine his brief was to win the EL cup for us to go into the CL. I see Villa more in the EL than the CL cups and possibly bag another EL cup trophy for Villa.
Have a fun time at the wedding.
Xhaka picked at LB ahead of Tierney… Let that sink in.
And bench looks underwhelming.
Someone going down the aisle for the 4th time must be pretty good at getting married…
The reason we play in red us because we were given shirts by Forest I seem to recall.
KP
Professional and rich to survive 3 divorces I’d say.
Looks like KT is leaving and the line up confirms it. Maybe BL asked Arteta to show what Xhaka’s got left in the tank. Our slowest defensive liability benching our solid LB with greyhound pace.
As long as Xhaka goes, it’s up to Arteta to bring home the goods next season with his 4th year at squad management.
We need to take their fans out of the game with some early domination. At least it’s not the FA Cup.
Not enough movement up front
Odegaard…. Fuck me.
Not unexpected with our defense
Utterly fucking brain dead.
What a bunch of hopeless cunts. I fucking loathe Arteta. He innately knows how to kill his own fans’ faith.
KP
We are so predictable. I guess 2nd half will be similar to the 1st half. I’d throw ESR and the kids on in the 2nd half. They can’t be worse than on the field at the moment.
Having a vertical challenged CF pretty much takes the aerial challenge from us out of the game bar set pieces.
No Win the Dog bounce then?
We’re worse than the 1st half.
Agent Arteta doing City’s work for them. Pathetic.
But wait…. Here comes Vieira. We’ll surely be OK.
We’ve merely made up the numbers this season for another city title. We’ve all been had by the absolute cunts running the club, chief among them Arteta of course. A depressing and all too familiar chimera.
Fuck Arteta and all those LG cunts that have been rimming him for years. They fucking deserve him and they aren’t gooners.
Ambarish
Please delete any or all of my stuff tonight. I feel intensely embarrassed for caring about such a shower of shit. I hope we get fucking walloped by Wolves next week and fans turn up the pressure on Arteta.
TRVL
Your wedding might have been worse than a typical night in either Sodom or Gomorrah, but I guarantee it was better than what Tony and I watched at the city ground. Do not bother with and highlights/recordings. It was dire – take it from me.
I don’t have any thoughts that can explain today / tonight other than we have a manager who has no clue.
The wedding was being held at century old manor house about a 10 minute drive from my home, so I left immediately following the ceremony so I could watch the match before returning for the dinner and drinks portion of the event…what a sideways/backwards borefest of epic proportions…so typical of Arteta when left to his own devices…he chose a squad that included no width on the left and a whole host of players with hardly a direct bone in their respective bodies…the very fact that players didn’t even know where they should be on the pitch, which led to a plaethora of 2 foot passes, combined with the lack of movement off the ball, speaks volumes about our one trick pony of a manager…it’s certainly not surprising that we would be so lifeless after enduring all that amateur hour motivational clubhouse banter being propagated by our 3 dressed up as a 9 managerial placeholder…I’m just trying to comprehend how anyone could place such faith in a project that has dropped so many points against relegation level sides in the second half of a season where we were clear favourites following the winter TW…I guess the only silver lining is that no one can take the important work that needs to be done this summer lightly, in that if he doesn’t get some players of consequence who can take things forward in spite of his managerial deficiencies, we’re in deep fucking shit next season….time to get a buzz on so that I don’t get too chesty in a room half full of cunts…Cheers
my cynicism must be at an all-time high as I found myself unable to willing participate any further in this sham of a wedding involving my business associate and part-time professional groom…it felt like the whole thing had been orchestrated by MA’s PR team, as everyone spoke about them being soulmates, even though they had 7 marriages on their combined marital resumes…as such I decided to go home, puff a fatty and watch some NHL and NBA playoff games instead, so I could finally observe someone who knew how to find a way to win when the stakes were at their highest
if you think about it the only time we actual won a do or die affair was in the covid bubble under the most fortuitous of circumstances, with a team he largely inherited then almost immediately dismantled…now this isn’t to suggest that what was on offer then is better than what’s on offer now, but it’s intriguing to note that this manager has spent a previously unheard-of sum to build a squad that can’t seem to find a way to win when it matters most
so what does this say about the present state of the franchise? (1) this manager doesn’t have the tactical toolbox to take this gig to the next logical level…there’s no shame in that, except if you refuse to accept that reality and hang on to the detriment of the greater good…(2) some much-needed personnel changes are in order…we’ve overplayed some that aren’t good enough, we’ve ghosted some that didn’t deserve the cold shoulder and we’ve settled too often when it comes to our transfer plans…as such, maybe it would be best to not roll the dice again with a pair that have missed the mark more often than not…there’s a reason why we tried to pry Caicedo away in the 11th hour of the window, as these lightweights can’t compete in the summer window when they’ve got to compete against the big boys, which is an all too familiar refrain both on and off the pitch for this particular duo
if I had to hazard a guess, I would suspect that in order to raise funds we’ll have to sell some players I rate because many of MA’s previous pick-ups have little to no resale value, then we’ll feign interest in some of the biggest targets on the transfer landscape only to get punked again by the likes of Chelsea, United, City, Pool or even Newcastle…once the real big boys are done conducting their business we will pay over the number for a couple or three lesser lights, who may or may not be better than those we sold, then we’ll have to spend the rest of the summer reading countless contrived blog posts about how they were our original targets all along and that if we just have patience they will come good in year 4 or 5 of this obviously tactically-stunted project that everyone and their brother now has the blueprint for
now even if we somehow find a way to get the likes of Rice and/or Caicedo, which seems highly unlikely, I’m fairly certain that MA would leave us with a dearth of cover options in a variety of positions…take for example, if we got rid of Partey, ESR, Xhaka, Balo and Tierney, then we were unable to re-up Saliba, how would we possibly plug all our obvious holes if we spent 150+ of our supposed 200M transfer budget on 2 players who have a combined 4 League goals and 3 assists
so under those conditions we would need a serious CB option, another RB and LB, with Tomi maybe out until Xmas, two logical backups for both Saka and Marts, with Nelson leaving and Tross being too slow to play out wide, and someone up top that supplies something vastly different than the hot/cold duo of Jesus and Eddie…not to mention that we would be relying on Jorginho, Elneny and Vieira as our midfield cover pieces…now if we had someone on staff who knows how to satisfy that lengthy grocery list with a measly 50M you would think that we would know that by now, as the last time we spent 50M we overpaid for BHA’s 3rd best defender then turned him into a RB within a calendar year…Cheers
willingly participate
KP & TRVL
KP I felt your rightful anger and was thinking quietly what you were iterating with passion of a lover scorned with The Arsenal being your footballing paramour.
TRVL, I’m sure the need to imbibe copious amounts after the result; It was near 1am for me so first xanax of the season to manage my anger and find decent sleep. I really don’t like the Xanax morning after even taking .5mg, so only take it when I can’t get a melody or hook out of my head or the latest Arteta debacle of which there are too innumerable each season hence the bottle jobs.
To all
We looked like we were on the training ground still trying to work things out to play against Forrest; attack against defense less the odd counter .
For all our 82% possession we only had 3 shots on target vs Forrest’s 2 and we never really looked like scoring pats Cooper’s squeeze-box defense. We knew they needed 3 points to survive. We also knew Steve’s Cooper’s best plan was to score the first goal and then employ the meticulously drilled low block where keeping their shape they continually squeezed the area where the ball was leaving no real gaps to break their back line to get shots on goal – indeed all 3 of them in almost 100 minutes.
Fair play to Steve Cooper one of too many managers to out-think our generational one, leaving Arteta to scratch his head in disbelief; first, that HE ,Son of Pep, could be nullified from the first whistle by a guy who could play the lead of phantom of the opera without make up and new to the PL. Steve, who has not been blessed in the looks department, looked the most handsome last night deserving to stay up on that performance and club’s budget. I’d say Steve’s outward appearance is one of his strongest assets where people see only the clever and good man manager inside, and the excellent manager he is becoming.
Does Demi Roussos’s son own Forrest? You have to admire Forrest’s owner for his belief in Cooper who brought Forrest up from Championship league relegation last season to the PL and now keeping them up. That’s some feat and strong belief from the owner almost needing to go to the last game.
The thing I can never work out during games this and past seasons is why Arteta and Stuivenberg are engaged in what looks like by their body language and stressed indicators of “WTF do we do next?” Nothing of any real tactical influence on the game was the answer in there end. We huffed and puffed with Ode, Saka’s and Jorginho’s triangles and Xhaka just got in the way of Jorginho who had the right ideas, but too slow and old to execute them. This is how we’ve played up top all season.
When Arteta has had to make changes we lost the cohesive way of our intended play because of such limitations to our bench and always has been with Arteta who refuses to believe in players like ESR who looked thoroughly pissed off when Xhaka came off and sat next to ESR and completely ignored him.
These are pretty much the broken record, repetitive mistakes Arteta is renown for and no doubt will continue with for next season.
At the final whistle it was clear that Forrest wanted it more. No tin foil required as the ref and VAR seemed decent yesterday. We turned up and worked as hard as we could, but lacked the all too important ingredient: self and collective belief.
The final game next week will be full of hoopla and unicorns against Wolves. Tears will be shed by most of LG for Xhaka’s departure, but KT was always broken and not good enough people & LG said, but apparently good enough for Pep who likes our fastest player and defender in the PL. Their price? A straight swap for Cancelo, so another City reject poor at defending, but excellent inverter like Zinchenko another poor defender.
Call me old fashioned but why not just buy an elite 8 & LB who can really defend well?
One more game before silly season and my enforced disinterest because I do my best to not worry about things I can’t affect. What will be, will be – next season will start on time like it always does and the summer TW will favour the brave and respected clubs purchases of elite and potential elite players who want to play for them.
Isn’t it weird that the only players willing to come to us are the players in their twilight years or who are in the naughty corner waiting to be sold, as with Trossard and now Cancelo.
Let’s see what the summer brings and KP think this way: Cardiff are ok and you and junior get to have fun in your travels next season. We were 2nd and the next step for next season is to be champion’s or bust. If we spend another £250m+ in the summer window, KSE will want results or look stupid is as stupid does in the eyes of the well run clubs.
Oh and Arteta will want to spend another £150m+ in the Jan window. Then 6 players more of 2024 summer window and we’re halfway there with Arteta. At this point I expect daddy to call Josh to heel and find a manager who doesn’t choke or just keep making the same mistakes – both lead to failure.
2nd is failure in my book, but I’ll overlook this and expect the title next season.
Hi Ambarish
I saw your comment to Negative Nigel Tufnell. Well said. Any chance I could have an LiR poster for my bedroom wall? (although Ms Kroenkephobe will inevitably complain that it will clash with the curtains or some such bollocks!).
PS you know Nigel is actually Pedro right? I think you’re starting to get under his skin. And Pedro, if you’re reading this – I told you so about Arteta didn’t I, you fucking quisling!
More generally, I’m feeling numb this morning. TRVL – some typically brilliant writing there mate. The wedding sounded excruciating – soul mates indeed!
I’m Arsenal-ed out if truth be told. I want to avoid thinking about football for a few days, let alone try to rationalise and be philosophical about it. I meant what I said though last night about Wolves. I hope they rip through Arteta next weekend and that the supermik crowd start to see the truth about our most profligate and least convincing manager at least since before Bertie Mee.
Lads – any other topics that you want to put up for discussion will be most welcome! Wallpaper/vegetable soup/solar panels anything but Arse!
So not only are the club implementing an average 5% price increase for ST’s next season (6% for lower tier 4% for upper tier) but they’re also taking off some of the cup credits we used to get included.
The system used to be 19 league games and 7 cup credits for FA Cup / European matches, if any “A” rated matches appeared in these they’d be added to the cost of the following season and if we didn’t utilise all of the cup credits they’d be deducted from the following seasons cost. The new system only includes the 19 league matches and 3 CL group games.
Now initially this won’t have any increased cost and you can argue that the club is preparing for Arteta to fuck up because they know he won’t progress in either competition and that fucks with next seasons revenue.
I don’t for one second believe that they won’t try to gouge the supporters at some point.
The other thing they’re increasing is ticket utilisation – for the first time this season you had to use your ticket a minimum number of times or sell it on ticket exchange. If my memory serves me correctly it was 11 league matches this coming season its 17 of the 22.
Now I don’t have a problem with the club trying to make sure the stadium is full rather than paid for empty seats but there are matches I can’t make (midweek are a pain with work) and if we are at home on boxing day etc I have family commitments.
It needs to be noted that you can only sell your ticket if the match is a sell out – this season tickets on exchange have gone in minutes but what happens when they’re not being bought – are they going to start kicking out ST holders who have been going for decades?
Hi Marc
When I had an ST at Highbury, the problems were different.
Rather than sell them back, can you not find a workaround with a Gooner friend or colleague where they use it when you cannot and reimburse you full cost? That they’re worried about the appearance of empty seats after years of it under Wenger’s reign of terror is mystifying on the surface of it, but is probably to do with money somehow.
Renewing when I had one was a no-brainier throughout the 90s, but I should imagine you face the anguish of putting up with the current shit show AND face rising costs, while hoping we’ll eventually return to being a well run, ambitious and succesful club. The first one I ever bought cost me about 350 quid!
A propos of my idea about changing the subject, are you cooking anything nice for lunch?
Hi Tony
I’m thinking about some exotic trips (Southampton, Ipswich and Plymouth…) next season to watch the Bluebirds but they are arguably even more badly run than Arsenal. Plus they face a transfer embargo after the Emiliano Sala tragedy and the failure to pay his transfer fee so it’s not looking good. And get this – the Cardiff owner is a monumental cunt on a par with the Kroenkes. They sacked Sabri Lamouchi after he kept them up this season. A complete slag.
I might go local and follow my semi pro team about 6 miles away who I currently watch 4 or 5 times a year. They’ve made the Europa League 1st round qualifier too which could involve an away leg at a European footballing powerhouse like Estonia, Andorra or Armenia. And unlike Marc’s ST, mine will cost about 60 quid.
KP
Something this cringe worthy to take your mind off football like this?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JNFvApgNpO0
Err that wasn’t quite what I had in mind but it worked. 😊
That said, we’re off to Malaga (southern Spain) with the kids in a few weeks time.
What a crock of shite. A healthy way to wean myself of Arsenal is to list my top five worst Arsenal players of all time. In no particular order Almunia of course ,of the stupid head.Andres Santos the absolute useless Brazilian left back. Walcott who embodied everything that was wrong with the latter Wenger years. Arteta himself who was such a nothing player.And from the current crop it would have been Xhaka until recently but just pipping him is the sniveling diving cheating Gabriel Jesus who’s antics over the last few weeks have really triggered me. Now I feel a little bit better.
As for yesterday,you know how we all realised that Arteta was naked? I think some saw it for the first time. Silver linings and all that. There’s no way I can keep encouraging my son to become addicted to this bloody club. The fans are treated shambolically, it really is shameful.
off Arsenal
whose antics.
Dear oh dear even my literacy levels are dropping.
Good Brighton game where Mitoma could be 3 up by himself. Just when I was thinking he was having an off day, he exquisitely assists with a deft outside of the boot. 7 goals and 5 assists for the lad.
KP I’ve asked Ambarish to pass something on to you.
TRVL
Wedding always remind me of the over 50s arriving in Thailand who all seem to think they can dance in the bars. It’s like a disease.
Was thinking about Tony Bloom’s algorithms and when giving his interview more thought, Tony B was giving the rest the bird. It probably took 3 to 5 years to develop the algorithm enough for it to be profitable. Then over the last 5 years they will have fined tuned it to work globally. So, in effect, Mr Bloom is 8 years ahead of his nearest competition who don’t break the rules.
That was my take on it. Hope the hangover isn’t too bad.