Fuckin’ hell, we haven’t seen proper football since ages. We have three world cup winners in our squad, though Raya couldn’t get a start (remains a mystery to me) and Zubimendi played just about the minute you needed to finish a plate of tikka masala. Mikel Merino outdid Ronaldo in the world cup in about 1/5th of the minutes he played, but hey, we surely don’t want to be in a situation to give him a start.
Right, fuck those Spursy cunts, I am happy football is back and thr starting line up is out.
Raya starts in the goal – no wonder there. We have gone with a back 4 of White, Mosquera, Gabriel, and Calafiori – which makes sense considering Saliba and Timber are out. Mikel has finally come to senses and given Lewis Skelly a start in the midfield alongside Rice and Odegaard. We have got Saka, Havertz and Tzolis starting up front. Gyokeres wouldn’t like it to be replaced by a part timer but you can’t really do much if your manager prefers someone else.
That bench looks solid as well, Hincapie, Eze, Gyokeres, Madueke, Nwaneri, Merino, Zubimendi, Dowman and Kepa are players fit to start in any of the Premier League teams. Maybe not Kepa, but he is a Premier League winner so who knows.
Coventry – a club that’s back in the Premier League after 25 years would be hoping to put up a fight at least, and the first days always have some surprises, but I am sure it won’t be this game. I am very interested to see the front 3 combination, whether Havertz has improved him scoring ability and how he links up with Tzolis and Saka.
No Martinelli on the bench means it’s over for the Brazillian. I always liked him, and I have nothing but praise for the kid. He would certainly be in the list of what could have been, just below Wilshere, if things have gone a bit differently.
Right, that’s me done. My laptop finally gave up to the extent of no return, that’s why you don’t see a complete makeover of London Is Red before the season begins. I am still searching for a good one.
See you in the comments.
based on what’s in front of us we had better pot 8 or 9
Tzolis has some Alexis Sanchez vibe in him.. lets see how the season ends for him in terms of Goals and Assists before we make any comparisons..
Trvl
No malicious intentions mate.. it’s a good day, we are playing football as Champions and it’s a Friday.
not sure what you mean Ambarish by malicious intentions…all good on this end…as soon as I saw that 10 minute period where we had 17% possession I knew it was time for my MA-inspired catnap
sorry but this looks exactly like last season, minus a few brief Tzolis sightings, which were expected in his first kick at the can…the reason you add depth, besides for injury cover, is so that you don’t ever have to take your foot off the peddle…as soon as you see a drop in form/pressure you should sub players off immediately…I doubt that will ever be the case under this settling twat
First match of the season –
Kai Havertz(G), Calafiori (A)
Saka(G)
Odegaard(G), White(A)
3-0 to the Arsenal.
Champions of England on the route of another trophy.
Signing out for today. Have a good one, guys.
Marc
“Wicks’s
How can you say Tzolis has been a better fit? He hasn’t kicked a competitive ball,”
Because I know what I’m talking about, what I actually said is that he has looked a better fit , Tzolis was the best player on the pitch tonight , looked dangerous every time he was on the ball..
I also said that it would be 3-0.
Vera
“sorry but this looks exactly like last season“
So league champions and one kick away from winning the champions league
Of course the narrative will be that we should “score 8 or 9” or “Coventry won’t make 30 points” just as last week the narrative was “ city weren’t ready”.
I see it differently, I see an Arsenal side that in the last week have dominated a top quality side in Manchester City and dominated a newly promoted side tonight, Tzolis has given the attack a new dimension and as I have tried to educate the usual suspects on here of the importance of having all our offensive players fit and our attacking full backs fit and how it will naturally produce a better quality of football, and that is EXACTLY what we have seen over the last week with our full backs assisting 2 tonight and scoring one last week with the other 3 assists coming from Tzolis who should have been awarded man of the match.
the longest “one kick away” ever you simpleton narrative-bending fuck…here’s my prediction, you will go another season without learning a damn thing…that’s such a easy bet that Vegas wouldn’t even offer up odds
Wicksy
“Because I know what I’m talking about”
You said Arteta was amazing for 6 and a half years – you don’t know shit.
You’re just some dopey cunt who drinks the Kool-Aid. I said judge the player after a season – you’ve judged him on preseason.
Who knows what they’re talking about?
Marc—I would suggest that MA has been very purposeful with his tactics involving Tzolis, especially last evening…not only did he give him considerably more positional freedom than Marts ever had, he clearly wanted his teammates to target him in and around the box…of course there’s nothing wrong with that, so long that he’s not a bag of toys out there, which hasn’t been the case…football isn’t the only sport where feeding the hot hand applies, it’s just that I wonder if this had more to do with how he wants the rest of this window to play out than purely a matchday-specific decision…if Tzolis comes out looking like the real deal, regardless of the limited sample size, it might influence how we conduct our business between now and the closing of the window
right now Alvarez appears to be atop someone’s wishlist…the question is who’s…maybe Arteta wants him, maybe he doesn’t…maybe he wants to play him out wide left, maybe he wants to deploy him up top..maybe he would rather use a much smaller amount and get another defensive cover piece and wait until a later date to invest up front because maybe just maybe he doesn’t want anything to do with someone who’s not all in…of course it would be much easier to assess the situation if we knew more about Arteta/Berta’s thoughts/feeling about JA, but for the life of me I haven’t seen anything too compelling in this regards except that MA did say the following after yesterday’s match:
“As I said, I’m really happy with the squad that we have, and the main focus is to improve the players that we already have because we already have a lot of good things.”
yet it has been reported that his private actions would suggest otherwise:
“Reports indicate that Arteta has been much more direct in private, having personally phoned the Atlético Madrid forward to lay out Arsenal’s project, though the player has reportedly reiterated his preference for a move to Barcelona”
so, as per usual, you can just never tell with this slippery forked-tongue fuck…maybe at one point he felt a different way but when JA didn’t respond to his call as he had wished he pulled a 180 and doesn’t want us to pursue him anymore, which would explain why Tzolis has been featured so much in preseason and then again in our opening match…yet on the flipside, Neville, who couldn’t say enough good things about our gameplay or the manager last evening, as if he was on MA’s personal playroll, said flat-out that we would win the CL if a deal could be struck with the former City man…what a tangled web this fucker weaves…I’ll be so glad when this window is done and fucking dusted…even more so if we finally accomplish the most important component of our summertime brief…Cheers
Already we have seen a fundamental difference in the way we approach games this season , last season we had very few games where the game was done and dusted by the hour mark , Coventry and city were put to bed by the 50th minute and in both games we were able to stroll to victory.
The importance of killing off a game early is that it allows early substitutions and it allows key players to rest which in turn will reduce the possibility of injury as bodies will not be as fatigued.
The media and the know nothings on here (not Ambarish) will come out with the usual crap after a couple of comfortable victories of how Arsenal should walk the league, how the league is weak blah blah blah , I don’t see it that way as there will be many bumps in the road, look at our next 4 games, villa away , Chelsea home, Sunderland away, Brighton away , nothing straightforward there and I believe these 4 games will give us a strong inclination of how the season will pan out…
Usually I wouldn’t look at early season form as a guide but if we can put a marker down in these 4 games what it could do is psychologically destroy our competition for the title , alternately a couple of defeats will give the competition hope.
To be honest I am surprised how well the team has started as I thought we would struggle with so many players arriving back late , Villa away is always a tough game , yes they have lost players but they played well v PSG last week and Emery is a top manager so it will be a real test.
Has anyone noticed that our 6 goals in the last week have been from open play …….no, I didn’t think so ..
Vera
“ would suggest that MA has been very purposeful with his tactics involving Tzolis, especially last evening…not only did he give him considerably more positional freedom than Marts ever had, he clearly wanted his teammates to target him in and around the box”
I get that you and Marc are miffed that a player has come in and highlighted martinelli’s shortcomings in his first 2 games , but to suggest that Tzolis is given preferential treatment is delusional, watch how Tzolis when receiving the ball in space immediately fronts up the full back and backs him into the penalty area, once Tzolis backs the full back into his own penalty area he holds all the cards and has a multitude of options including
1) beating the defender on the outside
2) cutting inside to open himself for a shot at goal
3) squaring the ball for an oncoming midfielder to have a strike at goal.
4) use either the overlapping or under lapping calafiori to create chaos to the defence.
So far Tzolis decision making has been spot on, 3 assists is confirmation of that and very soon the natural progression will be goals for himself.
Of course Tzolis will be denied space as the season progresses due to his ability to attack the full back , but all that will do is create space for Saka on the right flank and this season if he remains injury free we will see a very different Saka who will have double digit assists and goals .
Wicksy
Tzolis is a replacement for Trossard – I don’t hold any ill will towards the player for joining. I won’t judge him until we’ve seen more than 1 competitive appearance – I’ve always said (and its been years across different blogs ACLF and Le Fuckwit mostly) that I’ll give any player coming in from abroad a season before judging them unless there are serious reasons not to.
What I am pissed off about is Arteta’s treatment of Martinelli – he’s a player who could have really been top level under a better manager. Of course your blinkers stop you seeing Arteta’s mood swings and poor treatment of players he doesn’t like.
Haven’t seen the first half but ManU 2 nil down – they really need to get their shit together.
Marc—agree with your more nuanced take regarding Tzolis…of course the stunned cunt known around these parts as Pricksy just can’t seem to wrap his head around any commentary that doesn’t perfectly align with his simpleton opinions…even the club and the manager, on whom he heaps undeserved praise, didn’t see him as starting material, which is why he wanted Rogers, Vini, Yildiz etc…to play there instead…like yourself, I’ll be fucking elated if he pulls a Sanchez and performs way above expectation
as for United, it hardly surprises me that they failed to impress today, as they’re still starting players who should have been replaced long ago, most notably Luke Shaw
“The way Martinelli is being treated at the moment, it really makes me feel uncomfortable,” former Arsenal striker Wright told Sky Sports.
“I know they might want him out, and a lot of people might say, ‘yeah, it’s time for him to move him on’. But there’s ways of doing that and it should suit him as well, how he wants to leave.
“Not being involved in the squad, not being spoken to, he doesn’t know what’s going on. And yes, I know this – he doesn’t know what is happening.
“He’s done enough with this squad to be treated with a little bit more respect than he’s being treated with at the moment.”
obviously MA’s trying to freeze him out in an attempt to force his exit…
TRVL
And of course Captain Cunt won’t ever learn that when you do this to a player you lower their sale value. I’m guessing Skelly was in the same boat – he’s being offered around but back in the squad. Only question is has Zubi been put on a higher naughty step hence Skelly getting game time.
TRVL
You’d think Wicksy could add two and two together and come up with four.
If Tzolis is this fantastic addition who’s first choice for left wing then why did he cost less than £34 million when we spunk money on defensive players like its confetti.
When was the last time Arteta got a player on the cheap? Only one I can think of is Ode and that’s because Madrid needed to raise cash.