I know you hate a Saturday afternoon match, it’s too early to fill your stomach with Guinness and a bad result means your whole weekend is ruined but think about the positives, a win today would put us above Aston Villa on goal difference and we match City’s point tally although they have played a game less.
The Eagles are tough nuts. They drew Man City at Etihad, almost won against Chelsea, and were leading against Liverpool till 75th minute when Jordan Ayew took a red card on himself to let Liverpool enjoy their title challenge. It’s not going to be an easy game for us; our Home form is not that great either having lost 2-0 to West Ham when we last played. We have an underdog team that tries to fight the big teams in a time when we are struggling to score having suffered some poor defeats and draws recently. It’s going to be anything but a boring game.
Team must be feeling fresh and rejuvenated. Boys had a wonderful 2 week break in Dubai and the sun would have done some good to their mind and body. Mikel Arteta was equally positive in his pre-match press conference :
We are recharged, full of energy and super motivated. The team is super motivated and we want to attack the second half of the season with a lot of ambitions and with the understanding that the team is capable of big things. They are convinced of that.
source : Arsenal.com
As a critic, I feel we don’t have enough to challenge either of City or Liverpool unless we bring in a CF who can score for fun and Mikel decides to be a bit flexible with his approach and in-game management. As a fan, we are still just 5 points short of the leader and the whole second half of the season is to be played. Anything can happen, we may pick up the form of our last season, some decisions might go in our favor which mostly hasn’t and we remain free of any injuries.
Team News
It’s the usual. Jesus and Zinchenko are still doubtful to play today, having missed the last game against Liverpool. Tomiyasu is away on his country duty in Asian cup. Both Vieira and Partey are not available yet.
Defensively, we have a problem at LB. Kiwior will start because we don’t have Tomiyasu. Midfield remains as is, Rice + Havertz. Up top, Eddie will get another chance to prove himself.
If I have to guess, Arteta is going to play Emile Smith Rowe today. There is just too much noise about him in the media, and Mikel knows how to not ruin his PR. It remains to be seen whether it will be a like to like replacement where Odegaard sits on the bench or if he decides to experiment on the LCM position and move Havertz up. Anyways, I want him get those minutes and I am pretty confident he will prove those Twitterati wrong who wants him sold in 30m.
A relief for Mikel is that Ayew is out for Afcon, Olise is out with hamstring injury, and Ward is out too. They are going to play without two of their best players and the captain.
Expectations?
I would love a big win. By now, it’s clear that Aston Villa has made everyone’s life tough by fighting for the Champions League spot. Goal difference would matter towards the end and we haven’t really been good in scoring big. There is a chance today, we play at home and against a team who, though loves to bully the big boys, have two of their best players out. Go and get a 4-0 win, shorten the goal difference with the leaders and keep a clean sheet.
Right, short one today because I have got a weekend off after ages. The more I try to limit my screen time, the more I fail. However, the limit won’t come on the cost of London is Red.
#COYG
Martinelli – 2 goals in the extra time.
5-0, I would take that.
Martinelli , the way he controlled when to hit ,is a proper striker.
Arteta got 2 onions instead of eye balls so scouting for striker
2 goals for Martinelli. The day of the Santo Gabriel
Arteta is not happy with the last Martinelli Deluge. Guess it went out of his non negotiable. Man is looking really distressed as he shakes his head in disapproval.
Why oh why the Kroenkes love to distress fans with such a character in charge ?
Hoopah,
Yeah he was meant to be hugging the sideline and not in the middle. It’s unacceptable!
Day of the Gabriels, rightly said. Someone should stick Martinelli up top in the middle and let him play for a bunch of games. You won’t need a striker afterwards.
I wish I was aware of just how much this Palace side wanted to rid themselves of their insanely negative manager, as I would have placed a healthy wager on the home side…it’s clear that they were worried that 3-0 wasn’t going to cut it so they gifted Marts the same exact goal, in the closing minutes, to hopefully ensure Roy’s ousting
as for our performance, it was even more lackluster than I had anticipated…of course, there will be some who will use this scoreline as proof that we don’t need to make some sort of statement in this window, but they clearly didn’t watch that lame-ass affair…it was so boring that half the crowd was gone before Marts potted his late-game brace, which would have been almost unthinkable if we had put on a much-needed masterclass…good on Marts though for scoring twice, especially as he was claerly being used as a scapegoat for our offensive woes…meanwhile the tragically poor Havertz was right back in the starting lineup, with the underwhelming Tross, minus his goalscoring strike, on his left and Zinchenko tucked inside…same old, same old…the only time we looked to have any life was once the aforementioned Havertz and Tross were replaced by Marts and ESR and Zinchenko started to play in wider space
*clearly being used…
Morning guys That has to be the most boring 5:0 win I’ve ever witnessed. TRVL I agree Woy will be say et tu Brutus? There’s downing tools and then……..
Football has been relegated for me at the moment and last night I was hoping to see fight and we got nothing of the sort.
Tony and Vieira
Good summaries of what we saw yesterday. We got lucky and caught a hitherto robust CP team in free fall. They might be in jeopardy but who cares? The sign their fans displayed was fucking ridiculous. It was far too wordy, reading more like the conclusions of an audit rather than heartfelt emotion. A sure sign of a club infested by wankers with irredeemably middle class values. If it was, say, Leeds, I think the banner would be substituted by a short, visceral, monosyllabic chant involving the words ‘off’, ‘cunts’ and ‘fuck’ but probably not in that precise order. Really poor effort by the self styled ultra club from the wastelands of Croydon.
Three ludicrously easy points. Arteta could have played and Arsenal would still have controlled midfield – the current version or the one when he was a plodding, fouling sideways passing player!
Oh and a few words about Woy. I read somewhere in the Observer today a cruel but not inaccurate observation that at the end of the game his face looked like his mind was wondering back to a sandwich he’d eaten in 1972. An accomplished bit of imagery. I have little sympathy for egotistical old dinosaurs who want to carry on working and being seen to be relevant way into their dotage.
He’s 76 and he should either come to his senses and get out or be led towards the door for his own sake and that of his family who’d probably enjoy his endless entreaties about 4-4-2 as opposed to 4-3-3. I know at that age, the last thing I’d want to do is go to a cold, wet dismal training ground in sarf London in the semi darkness and try and get a tune out of a bunch of overhyped primadonnas. Take the easy woute Woy – you won’t wegwet it.
And before anyone accuses me of ageism or hypocrisy (hipocwissy?), I’m 59 and stopped working properly about 10 years ago. My big (yeah right!) dick has stopped swinging and I don’t care!
I know, I’m such a predictable old fucker and probably got this out the last time we played Palace but this clip and Woy will be forever linked in my mind. Enjoy…
https://youtu.be/yzgS61zgPEg?si=6qnWBCDfnt5DrlXR
He has a wife you know…
Upstate
If you’re out there… I’ve got my fingers crossed for your Bills tonight against the Chiefs. If the Raiders can beat Mahomes and his mates (twice?) this season, then I’m sure Buffalo can get it done. I imagine the weather is fucking insane there right now. We had 2 inches of snow this week in Wales and the place nearly ground to a halt.
Are you going? Or getting the beers and egg nog in at home? Would love to hear about the tailgate party if you get stuck into that. Good luck mate.
https://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2024/jan/20/roy-hodgson-seems-cut-adrift-crystal-palace-gentle-decline-continues
Thought I’d copy this piece in case anyone wants some reading. Tragicomic really.
With the general level of “fuck me that was bad” going round about yesterdays performance I couldn’t be bothered to even watch the highlights but this is not a one off we’ve been having really bad match performances but getting results all season – ManU and City are the two most prominent that spring immediately to mind. We were lucky to get a draw at home to the Spuddies.
Now the fanboys are going to use yesterday as a “we’re back” after 3 losses on the bounce – well we’ve got Liverpool weekend after next.
I have no idea on how the result will turn out but the chances of a good performance – I’m not going to hold my breath.
Marc-you’re bang on regarding the fanboy response to the most gifted 5-0 victory in recent memory…in fact, several apologist-inspired articles were already waiting in the hopper just in case the inevitable happened against a side who were hellbent on sewering their tactically feckless manager…some will focus squarely on our more “shared” approach to goalscoring, which might have made infinitely more sense this time last year, whereas others will attempt to declare that our goal differential tells the real story, which is comparable to our closest competitiors, so there’s no need for panic…sadly, these are the kind of misguided messages that have led some, over the years, to not-so-secretly “wish” for a poor run of form in and around Xmas, so as to properly encourage some much-needed business to take place in the subsequent window…of course, no one really wants us to stack losses, but we’ve been so dismal in this particular window for so long, some are willing to risk short-term pain if it leads to long-term gains
as of right now, our only saving grace is the rather fickle form of all the top-end clubs, minus maybe Pool…so maybe just maybe we’ll be gifted a title in a similar fashion to our silver plattered 3 points yesterday afternoon…I would strongly suggest this is not the most logical path to success, quite the contrary in fact…I likewise can see why ownership might not be too excited about the notion of giving this 3 dressed up as a 9 manager another blank fucking cheque, especially considering how poorly his plans unfolded after the last two winter windows…regardless, we’re a rather toothless club up top, with not a single marksman in our employ, so if that sounds like a formula for success, we’re in full-blown trophy hunting mode…for those more commonsensical among us, this sounds like another accident waiting to happen…as such, I can only hope someone in a position of power can cut through the contrived nonsense and realize that something of consequence must occur in this window or we’ll most likely suffer another Groundhog Day-like occurrence this spring, for the 3rd year running
KP & TRVL on a roll making good reads. Marc I think the way Marts bagged 2 from the inside left position surely screams play him down the middle for the run in. Don’t waste money again.
Too simple for Mikel to work out for himself.
Finally, I’m sure I’m not alone in seeing ESR genuinely smiling back on the pitch. It’s been a long time since we’ve seen the hugely talented lad happy playing again.
The problem is he’s probably happy because Moyes wants him at West Ham and not because he sees a future under Arteta.
so much for getting any help from Pool…as usual, they just don’t drop points against the teams they’re supposed to beat(they’ve only dropped points once, a tie against Luton, this year)…instead they go on the road against the most in-form team in the last 8 matches, without Salah, without TAA, without a real DM and with no experienced bench players, minus Gakpo, and they leave with a clean sheet and 4 goals to boot…Klopp, my friends, is a real manager, who knows how to make in-game adjustments and develop a winning culture regardless of who’s available for selection…if it weren’t for ownership’s unwillingness to rid ourselves of Wenger in a timely manner, that giant of a manager just might have been prowling our sidelines…simply knowing the players he would have inherited, there’s no doubt in my mind that we would have won at least one, if not two, major titles by this juncture, especially if he was similarily backed
Vieira
The possibly missing consonant…. Sewering – skewering. Either way, it was hilarious cheers and both brilliantly descwibe Woy’s pwedicament. Nice one.
Yeah, anyone feeling hubristic about yesterday’s win is a proper Artetapologist. Forest away will be much tougher than this game
KP-sewering, according to the urban dictionary, refers to the act of betraying someone or putting them in an obvious disadvantageous situation…that said, skewereing would have likewise worked in this context…Cheers
I’ve learnt something in that case. I’d imagined it involved immersing someone in sewerage 💩which is ‘poosibly’ the most apt definition of the three. Where would we be without the variety and scatology of the English language?
Hi Ambarish
I put a clothes peg over my metaphorical nose and dipped into the pro-Arteta version of Pravda that is le grove these days. Loads of people moaning at plastic Pedro about how difficult /inconvenient it is to post on there for technical reasons.
Might be time to post a pro-LiR piece saying not only is it easy as pie to say something, you’ll also be given a fair hearing from an Arsenal loving readership that wants the very best for the team without cult-like idolatry towards Arteta. Just a suggestion.
KP
Some people love the confrontation – why else read something that could have been written promoting a dictator. I remember being banned for a short while following my remark that Pedro could get a job as a politicians spin doctor. It didnt go down to well.
KP-good thinking…Pedro likely won’t die on the Arteta Knows Best hill, but he will definitely take whatever measures necessary to curtail what he deems as negative commentaries being directed towards his managerial overlord, at least until it no longer serves him from a financial perspective…I know all about his vindictive self, as I can’t even view LG unless I go into full-bore VPN mode…on a side note, I do wonder if anyone was taking MA to task over his cringe-worthy Salt Bae video, which clearly didn’t sit well with some
as for more pressing concerns, we’re so far out of this transfer mix that instead of reading about any substantive links between us and any players of consequence, I’m being inundated with nothing burger articles about some potential outgoing periphery pieces, like Cedric, loan nonsense involving Nuno, Striker-related transfer speculation about the summer window and all sorts of seemingly “positive” reports about some short and long-term injured players…of course the first 3 points mean functionally nothing, as none of these issues will having any bearing on the business end of the season, but the latter point, regarding injury-related banter, suggests to me, once again, that this could be another “like a new signing” window at the Emirates…based on our collective experiences involving this old Wengerian trope, this could be another season defined by a litany of poor choices both on and off the field
New post.