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
Rice just passed his in-match Arsenal interview with flying colours by doing an oh so Arteta like thing…upon receiving a pass 8 to 10 feet from goal, basically dead center, I must add, instead of putting his foot through it he gave up a wide open shot to pass the ball to his left, which invariably led to a missed oipportunity…at that exact moment, somewhere deep within Arteta’s wall-to-wall fur-lined man cave, the littlest of bonors emerged
btw Big Sam might want to revise his earlier comments about his managerial prowess…what a fucking massive dickhead…he was great in Tommy though
how fitting would it be if City lost today and Arteta looked like even more of a useless twat than he did the day prior
Hi Tony
If you’re into the science around sport tactics and selections, there’s an interesting biopic of a guy called Billy Beane who developed this way of spotting cheap, talented baseball players. He managed to turn the Oakland A’s around. There’s some schmaltz of course but Brad Pitt plays Beane and it’s a pretty good glimpse into baseball trading. Film is called ‘Moneyball’
I’ve got this image of you Tony as a massive seagull (an albatross?) in a parallel universe on a BHA blog, called ‘Brighton is Striped’ hosted by a brilliant guy in India, where you’re talking up Josh Kroenke as the genius behind Arsenal! There’s a twat called Bloomophobe on it and another called ‘BenWhitesaynomore’ who talk utter shite!
Almunia
As you can see from last night, I hit rock bottom with Arteta – the nadir of the deepest hellhole. I’d be hung, drawn and quartered in certain places for hoping we lose to Wolves but the little fella and Kroenke need to hear the anger. If it wasn’t for TRVL’s hilarious report of that wedding, I’d have been reaching for a crisp bag and some solvent.
Here’s my 5 worst ever players, inconveniently formed into another of those 5 a side teams.
Until recently my GK would have mirrored your choice, but Runarson is an arse-wipingly bad choice between the sticks. It’s not just the fact that he’s shite, it’s that the Arsenal leadership sought to pay a transfer for him and deemed him suitable for our first team squad.
Eboue? Lichtsteiner? Debuchy? Nah – I’m pinning my hopes at the back on the rapid and technically gifted Stepanovs, the baltic Beckenbauer.
Midfield 2. Johnny Jensen. (I was at thof when he scored for us. New year’s eve against QP hahaha in a 1-3 setback). Kallstrom alongside him in a volvo mobility scooter.
Kaba Diawara? Baptista? Chamakh? Bendtner? (fuck I’m getting suicidal just typing these names. ..) No – I give you Monsieur Sanogo (who hit a hattrick for Charlton if I recall correctly) .
Yours were all brilliant. I had to offer 5 others as is our custom. You could imagine them playing each other and both conspiring to lose.
TRVL
I think it could happen mate. He’s made 9 changes to the first team. Taking the piss, just like they’ll be taking the piss out of the PL when the legal case starts.
Tony-imagine this, two self-involved twats, with not even a modicum of self-awareness, choosing U2’s I still haven’t found what I’m looking for as their first dance…I know this to be true because I approached my previously thrice married buddy afterwards and said I loved his cheeky song pick and he was completely oblivious to the obvious irony…if it weren’t for my buzz at the time I think my head would have exploded all over his smug fat face
as for the whole Bloom gig, I’ve always been a proponent of pursuing those from behind the scenes instead of plucking individuals from their respective squad…it’s a bit like the old adage if you give a hungry man a fish, he will be fed for a day, but if you teach him how to fish, he will be fed for a lifetime…that said, I highly doubt that an organization who opted for the used car salesman Raul over the duly named Diamond Eye actually cares about getting things right
KP-unfortunately Moneyball didn’t yield any truly tangible results, minus the economic benefits for a few higher ups with already stuffed pockets, as they never won a GD thing and have now become known as the worst club in baseball…this year things sunk so low that they purposely shate all over themselves, on and off the field, in order to secure a move to the city of Las Vegas…could there be anything more ironic than seeing the once Moneyballed club moving their operations to the epicenter of glutonized life…actually the only saving grace of this little not so David over Goliath tale, besides it being a good read, was that it opened the door to more progressive, vastly younger, well-education outsiders, like Theo Epstein, who took this more analytically-inspired blueprint to two teams with title curses and completely flipped their respective narratives in a relatively brief period
44 days ago Arsenal was 8 points clear…Happy Anniversary Legoland Bottler!
I just want to publicly apologize to all the snowflakes out there who prescribe to the keeper-inspried notion that the term “Bottler” might be a triggering word…I can only hope when your Mother tucks you in tonight you’re able to get a good nights sleep
It’s always telling when a 20 year Striker, Orban, from the Belgian League no less, already has us all figured out:
“The Premier League is my ultimate dream. Manchester United, Liverpool or Manchester City (laughs).
“I don’t really like Arsenal that much – it’s like they don’t want to win titles.
“They play and sell players – that’s it. I want to go somewhere where they win prizes.
“At Real Madrid they don’t have time for tiki-taka there, they just grab titles.”
if he’s so sure of his assessment, at this early stage, just think of who else prescribes to this rather troubling yet insightful notion
Keeper-inspired notion
TRVL
“44 days ago Arsenal was 8 points clear…Happy Anniversary Legoland Bottler!”
You missed off that City won the title with 3 games to spare.
Marc-you know me, I hate to pile on
TRVL
Certainly adds weight to why players are wanting other clubs.
“Quite a negative post from me today – but Arteta induced. He is to blame for the monstrosity yesterday. I just hope there is method behind the madness, because to me, it looked like a self-inflicted wound with no upside.”
End of Pedro’s post today. The next post will be the Arteta rallying call to action wash rinse repeat.
Some things never change.
Hi Tony
I’m surprised paranoid Ped’s catweasle shaped napper hasn’t fallen off with all the swiveling it does. Add your quote to the only other two honest things he’s written in the past few years. The post mortem of the EL semi final defeat over two legs to Villareal and the target of his sneering semi-racist ‘good ebening’ bullshit, ie Unai Emery. When I pulled him up on it, the only defence he could offer was that his partner was from south America. The other moment if truth/lucidity came after last season’s late choke.
I sense a paradigm shift is in the air with regards to Tets and Bunga-Bunga. If ESR and Flo are sold, there’ll be a long overdue revolt. You, me TRVL, Killroy, Marc, Almunia and many others will be able to say ‘we told you so’. As if that matters.
Kroenke
It’s highly likely we’ll see Tierney go as well – the fan boys will have to come up with some new songs as with ESR and Tierney gone 2 of the favourites will be fucked.
Just a shame they can’t come up with some new ideas.
There have been posts about Saka being knackered, even in games with a good 7-10 days break. My take Saka is disillusioned, disheartened and confused. Naturally, his normal exuberance which gave us scintillating football is gone.
Saka has grown up at the Academy along with his mates ESR, etc. His contract is coming up, and has been coming up fir an year. Saka can see what has happened to ESR after Tetsie conned him into signing with a sign of No 10 shirt to boot. And look at him now. So Saka is under tension.
Looks like Arteta will be pushing out ESR, Balogan and Reiss Nelson. Tierney is leaving,. Saliba has made his point about why it was wrong not to have been given a chance. Incidentally, back problems cannot be ascerto without the opinion of feeling by the player. So would not be surprised Saliba has paid back, neither is he signing a contract.
Under above circumstances looks like the likes of Pedro and ot hv er accessories Corneta, Worst of England, etc would have helped to enable the decimation of the Club and it’s essence.
Long live Red London
KP
I’d really love it. I would. I would really love it Keeganesque.
Hi Hoopah
I think Saka and some of the other players might be mentally jaded. I also think teams now know how to handle him within Arteta’s system. He’s often surrounded now by 3 or 4 players as soon as he gets the ball and they’ve worked out that out-to-in run that he does to take the ball. In the longer run, he’ll be fine but we shouldn’t rule out City (who else?) trying to get him.
Are you watching the IPL? Who’s your tip to be the winners?
If this management team knew anything about squad building and egos weren’t a mitigating managerial factor this summer would go as follows:
(1) keep Tierney and inform ZInchenko that a more equitable selection gig was on the horizon
(2) re-up Saliba, even if it required Arteta to eat a little shit along the way
(3) don’t re-up Nelson, unless he would take less than 45/week, which is 3 times his current wage…if this doesn’t materialize we need to buy a burner that can play on either side of the pitch
(4) sell Lokonga, Holding, Xhaka, one of either Elneny or Jorginho, Pepe, Eddie and Soares, then loan out Vieira to a first division team willing to provide assurances regarding playing time (likely need to keep Tomi due to his present injury)
(5) retain ESR, then coach him up so that he’s more positionally versatile
(6) buy a starting RB with high-end pedigree and a clean injury history, thus allowing White to be a proper cover piece both at RB and CB
(7) buy a more defensively minded DM for tactical and cover purposes
(8) bring back both Marquinos and Nunos, then give them playing time as wingbacks in a 3-back system in Cup games and against some bottom half squads…plus they could be late game subs out wide for Marts and Saka
(9) buy two seminal midfield players-most pressing need, so the bulk of our budget should be spent in this area
(10) bring back Balo, which means that once again our arrogant manager needs to swallow his pride and make amends
(11) get on the training pitch and do what you’re supposed to do, coach-up players and get your tactics right, which means it’s high time that we shook our one trick pony narrative
these are all plausible and reasonable expectations if our management team cares first and foremost about our club’s best interests…this would require only 5-6 additions, with 3 of them requiring considerable investment and the others being savvy scout-dependent maneuvers…any notion of actually enabling this fool to conduct another “rebuild” after the monies he’s already spent would be inexcusable…if this is what’s in store he should be removed from his post immediately
The dog jokes are inevitable and are already flying in.
“Arteta bought players a dog to teach them to win and the only thing they were taught was how to roll over..”
TRVL
Not arguing against your plan but a few observations on what it says about Arteta’s recruitment.
1) Zinchenko after costing £30 million isn’t good enough to displace the player we already had.
2) White after costing £50 million is going to be back up for CB & RB, both CB options already being at the club before Arteta.
3) Partey after only a couple of seasons is now not good enough and cost £50 million.
4) Vieira needs to be loaned out after costing £35 million.
So we’re looking at over £150 million that hasn’t been spent well and that’s without going into the bones of the money Arteta’s cost the club by destroying player values or paying them to leave after giving them new contracts.
At some point the Kroenke’s accountant is going to wake up!
Killroy
That’s actually quite funny.
I’m going to go and have a little cry now.
Marc-I definitely agree, which is why I said we must take egos out of the equation…mistakes were clearly made, but in order to rectify the situation, for the greater good, they must be willing to own their mistakes then do whatever is necessary to move forward, instead of acting like all but a select few are disposable entities who can be constantly replaced, especially when it involves non-footballing issues…Cheers
there’s been considerable chatter in recent days about Arteta’s midfield transfer wishlist, which seems to include Rice, Gundogan and Mount…of course, no one’s surprised by the first or likely even the 3rd name on this list, as both have been rumoured for the last couple of months, whereas Gundogan’s name makes some sense too, at least in theory, due to his prior connection to Arteta and the fact he’s on a “free”…to be frank, none of these players answer our most pressing questions, unless you’re asking someone to name 3 midfielders who’re obviously better than Xhaka
don’t get me wrong, I do rate Rice, but I haven’t seen enough from him, either with the Hammers or the national squad, to invest so heavily for him…now maybe if there’s some sort of player swap + cash deal in play I might rethink my position, but paying anything over 70 for me is a non-starter
as for Mount, he’s had impressive patches with Chelsea, but once again he’s not worth the homegrown bump, as he lacks the physicality and stature we require…this isn’t meant to be disparaging, as there was a time when I relished the possibiitly of us acquiring him, as he was a real energizer bunny type with a knack for scoring from distance, but this version was rather fleeting
in regards to Gundogan, it’s no secret that I have a real affinity for this player, but there’s no way we’re in the position to offer this particular player considerable wages and term…in many respects he’s a luxury player who fits nicely on a championship level club with a deep bench and even deeper pockets…it’s clear that he has thrived under Pep in an oft-times periphery role, as he’s been known to score pivotal goals in the business end of a season when Pep’s competing on multiple fronts and constantly rotating his lineups…this isn’t who we are presently, as we need our own DeBruyne and Rodri…we need the kind of players who impose their will, regardless of the opponents, not someone who’s afforded space and time because he’s surrounded by superstars
the one obvious omission from this list, Caicedo, is a bit disconcerting, as he might have a bigger up-side than all 3 of the players in question…I still worry that we might have burned a bridge in January when we failed in our attempt to push his transfer over the line by encouraging him to engage publicly in the process…in fact the player might be pissed too, as he left himself exposed, then we didn’t even come that close to meeting BHA’s evaluation…we’re like a living, breathing example of what not to do when it comes to transfers
finally, and just to reiterate a previous point, we need our own DeBruyne and Rodri, instead of continuing to pay over the number for perpiphery or past their prime players from other “big” clubs…maybe if we would just do the hard work ourselves we could actually unearth some top quality players of our own who weren’t on the tips of everyone’s tongues and/or tied to ridiculous release clauses…due diligence anyone?
just finished watching Stan and Josh on the court hugging their Nuggets players, who earned their first trip to the NBA finals in their 47 year old history…first the Rams and now this, maybe their investing in our club because their starting to get a taste for winning, too bad they’ve handed over our keys to someone who doesn’t appear to have the managerial acumen or onions required
Great posts lads thanks for there laughs and smiles.
Arne Slot is the new Spud’s relegation zone battling manager. His style is vertical, crisp and rapid. Levy is either a genius or penny pinching because of his overspend on toilet bowl. Arne is reported to be good at brining on youth players offering further evidence that Spuds are going to do a project youth next season, but with or without Kane is the number one question for the poor Spuds supporters sitting in 8th praying Villa loses and they win to get into the Europa Conference cup.
Will Arne Slot be the manager to beat Mourinho, Conte and further predecessors? Can Arne better Ten Hag? Will Arne still be with Spuds by Xmas because spuds have become more Spursy?
I might take a punt on the last one with monopoly money with junior. You never bet real money on Spuds. You have to wait until they are a real team. I can only imagine how this new manager is going to be met with wild and joyous adulation having been sold Arne is the new Wenger with even less experience, but with only 4 years managerial experience it’s slightly bettering Arteta’s tally.
I have it on good authority Arne will use this song to motivate the Spuds and sing in the dressing room. Funny people the Dutch. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bj40JtpqI0U
https://www.google.com/search?client=safari&rls=en&q=arne+slot+tactics&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8
Tony,
The question is can Slot persuade Kane to stay (unlikely) or bring in a striker to replace not only his goals but what he brings to their team? The added problem is the Spud supporters will want a big name which isn’t going to happen so any new player and the new manager will be under immediate pressure.
Totally agree Marc; looks like Saka has signed. He needs looking after or he’ll end up like Jack W. Ska was a shadow of himself in the run in. I think the WC was too much for Saka at his young age.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-12115021/Arsenal-ace-Bukayo-Saka-signs-new-long-term-contract-stay-Emirates-2027.html
I really feel for ESR. Atrocious treatment from Arteta regards game time. Not as if we were winning well without him.
Tony
Agree 100% on ESR – can see him leaving whilst Vieira stays.
Marc and Tony
The other problem with potentially selling ESR is his current value. I cannot see him being worth more now than he was at this time last year (when he was also on the fringes of the national team).
Fucking disgraceful. I really hope he stays – when he’s in full flight, he’s a lovely player. Any sensible person at the club would surely say stick rather than twist but if our genius manager thinks his face no longer fits, then it’s game over.
“Any sensible person at the club would surely say stick rather than twist”
Ah, KP, now we have to look for what isn’t there. So far the oversight committee for TWs in and out has been poor, more crap, than vertical needle pushing buys. Martinelli got the same treatment at the end of a previous season – of little game time and it being good for him being on the bench. Would have been better playing him and improving our GD.
I detest the way Arteta treats players other than his pets, which I can’t see changing.
Tony-as a big fan of Slot I would have loved to have seen him here, as our squad profile makes far more sense and lord knows we could use some more directness in our attack…he was probably not a big enough name to appease the Chelsea owners, but considering both the present Spurs and Chelsea lineups it would have made infinitely more sense if Slot went to the latter and Poch returned to his former club…maybe those potential miscalculations will be to our benefit, at least in the short-term…that said, I do rate him much higher than MA, as he’s far more tactically astute/flexible and he always seems to find a way to maximize the potential of his players, irrespective of what the so-called experts might say
KP-I do agree with your ESR assessment…now most organizations of consequence wouldn’t try to sell-off a recently re-upped player with his age profile and potential for a vastly reduced price, but with our duo in charge you just never know…on a positive note though, I’m incredibly pleased that Saka has made it official, which means that we have two potential frontline cornerstones on term, but now the “real” work comes…can they actually get Saliba to sign on the dotted line in a timely fashion so we can conduct our transfer business early in the window…if we can’t manage to get him re-upped and sign our two most important acquisitions within the first week or two of the TW, which is going to be a real tall order for our sloth-like managerial duo, things could get increasingly frantic in and around the club
TRVL
With Saliba, what do you think the reason is for the delay? His pay offer, a greedy and over insistent agent, another club buttering him up, a distrust of Arteta, a thirst for major trophies or a combination of the above? If its several factors we’re fucked and he’ll need to be sold. That said, there seems to be a tight lid on negotiations which at least suggests they haven’t been acrimonious. Maybe it’s to do with filming rights in the changing rooms?
Saliba’s absence through injury looks to have been the key onfield setback this season. By implication, does that make him an even stronger candidate to be our player of the season?
Ambarish – given where are in the season, and to alleviate the speculation about the TW, how about putting together a poll or article with a virtual awards ceremony for the good (Saliba), the bad (Arteta or Edu…) and the ugly (Xhaka/Steve Cooper). It might help alleviate the gloom and give you some close season material. They used to be very well received in ‘the Gooner ‘ back in the day. I can offer some ideas about survey questions if you’re interested.
TRVL, I would like to get involved in Arsenal chat on here but over the last few days or so the number of passionate posts against Arteta and Edu makes it almost impossible. Your conviction in particular, leaves little room for debate.
We finished 2nd but if anyone was somehow unaware of that, they might have thought we’d finished say 5th or lower again. Any progress, you seem to argue is in spite of Arteta rather than because of him, player that played better this season than last, our improved pattern of play etc.
Am I seeing things so wrongly or is it that you have taken a personal dislike to him and objectivity and perspective has taken a back seat?
I’m a newcomer and I don’t want to rock the boat and I don’t want to come on here and appear to champion Arteta but at the moment it feels that it would come across that way.
PS Brilliant news about Saka. Great character and a solid gold human being. He’s not the type of kid that will ever let up and will as always give his best. He’s taken a first step to being a Gunner for Life (like Lord Tony Adams and Sir David of Leary – Almunia, let’s put our thinking caps on and think of more one club gunners). But at the very least, I’m certain he’ll be worth a king’s ransom in a few year’s time.
As dear old Ian Dury might gave said, Reason to be cheerful, part 2 of 3!
Hi Bob
I think that’s the manager’s burden after such a shattering collapse. Forest was an incoherent display that brought back memories to me of cup losses and that terrible period (last season I think) of soul destroying defeats to Leicester, Wolves and Burnley. All at home iirc.
I don’t subscribe to the idea that he selected the team on purpose as a strategy to get the Krankies to splash even more money. And nor was it designed to test players in other positions with an eye on next season. No, it was merely just another shitshow and a series of huge errors on his part that conspired to produce a supine and deeply depressing loss, arguably more dispiriting than the one against Brighton. I fear we’re at a point with him that this might be ingrained and that he has no ability to improve.
Second IS a creditable finish, but blowing that league lead may have done lasting and irreparable damage within the club. More ruthless organisations might thank him for getting us into improved positions playing better football but I think a betting man would get better odds on us choking again next year than winning something meaningful. As a community, there can’t be too much glass half full thinking about Arteta at this precise moment.
A snipper from wickapedia.
“On 29 November 2019, following a series of poor results and a winless run of seven games, Emery was sacked by Arsenal.”
Arteta’s record over the last 8 matches won 2, lost 3 and 3 draws. Now for my money that is as bad as the run that got Emery sacked. One of the wins was against Chelsea a team so poor they’re lucky they’re not going down and how long has Arteta had / how much has he spent compared to Emery? The fact that its the second season where Arteta’s bottled it in the final run in just adds to the case that he’ll just do the same thing all over next season.