We had an exciting match week so far, Man City failed to win yet again against the mighty Everton, Unai Emery’s dream run has come to an end, Ange’s pressing football has stopped working and Tottenham are losing against the like of Forest, Chelsea couldn’t win against a Fulham side at home, and a 14th in the league Man Utd lost against a 17th ranked Wolves. Brilliant except the Liverpool win which takes them 9 points ahead of us having played 17 games. We didn’t get the set back which we needed the most, but we can certainly closer that gap against Ipswich tonight.
Here’s how the table looks so far. Liverpool are on a great run, Klopp might be regretting another year when Pep has fallen off a cliff and we have been equally poor if not worse.
Arsenal v Ipswich Town
We are playing Ipswich Town today at home. It’s a must win game if we want to remain in the title challenge. We will move to 2nd if we win behind the league leaders and the Chelsea’s loss has made sure we remain ahead of them having played equal games.
In the team news, Bukayo is going to be unavailable for quite some time due to the hamstring injury he picked up against Palace. White and Tomiyasu haven’t recovered yet, Zinchenko is a doubt but has a slight chance to make it in the squad.
So far, Mikel had 2 problems – injuries in the defence and no goals from the main man i.e. Havertz. Gabriel Jesus has provided some relief to the later problem by scoring a hattrick in Carabao and scoring 2 more in the 5-1 win at Cottage and he would most likely start but the absence of Bukayo Saka and Sterling is going to create some more problems to Mikel. We have Martinelli available, Trossard and Jesus plays on the wings but everyone and their landlady knows that our attacking options are from the right and Saka is the sole reason we have been lethal from there.
If it comes to keeping the right side equally dangerous in absence of Saka, I would rather prefer Martinelli shifting to his position and would love to see how he performs when he gets all the support from the wing back and midfield. We would also know if it’s a drop in his form or if it’s the unavailability of support when he plays on the left. So, he moves to the right and we stick Jesus in his position. That would be starting line up against Ipswich Town today.
We need to beat Ipswich, Brentford and Brighton by 4th of January to make sure we don’t try to solve un-necessary problems in the January transfer window. Rumours suggest that we have been looking for an attacking midfielder, and a Central Forward but Mikel’s one of the earlier press conference suggested that he will be open to bring a Winger. Now, I have been asking for a Saka’s back up from god knows when, but now is not the time. A Saka’s replacement won’t do better than him and we are not winning the league even with Saka. We need a prolific goal scorer and a left side attacking midfielder in place of Merino to get past Liverpool. For the Saka conundrum, you were happy with Gabriel Jesus and you were happy loaning a washed out Sterling so do with it.
Defence will sort itself out in couple of weeks. Zinchenko will be back and he is still above average. Saliba and Gabriel covers the CB and you just need one of the Timber and Calafiori to fix things up. Well, Thomas Partey is doing that job as well, so I assume it’s a NO PROBLEM from Mikel.
Playing players out of their positions can get you some odd results, both positive and negative. We have been on the positive side so far with Partey at RB but it won’t last long. Stick them where they play best and do a like-for-like replacement when there’s an injury. Suggesting Havertz can play at the wings and cover for Saka is not going to help you, the team and Havertz himself. He wasn’t magnificent in the midfield and he won’t at the wings.
Right, a short one today as well. I am finally back from the cold and it feels great. See you during the game, it’s a late one out here but there’s no work tomorrow.
Hope you are having a nice festive season.
Marc—speaking of Chelsea, there’s some chatter about the possibility of Nkunku wanting out and we might be a potential landing spot…I’ve always been a fan of this player but he certainly hasn’t been performing like his former self since returning from a lengthy injury last season…only MA would ever even contemplate the notion of investing heavily again in another out of form Cheslea player…if that were to happen someone should seriously investigate the possibility that he’s on the fucking take and this is all part of an elaborate scheme that would actual see us bankrolling their return to prominence
what we need now is someone to provide proper cover for Saka on the left and/or a readymade Striker and he doesn’t fit the bill in either regards…CN’s best positioned on the left, as a wide side player or an attacking midfielder, so unless MA’s planning on shoehorning a variety of different players on the right or he’s having a total rethink about the deployment of Havertz/Jesus up top, simply to accomodate Nkunku, this would be another square peg/round hole clusterfuck
don’t get me wrong, I would much rather have Nkunku in the 8-hole than Havertz, but we all know that there’s no way Kai’s getting benched no matter who comes in, so his arrival would in no way solve our open play goalscoring woes…as such, I think Cunha, Muani or Marmoush would make far more sense at this juncture…that said, I don’t think any of them are the kind of readymade world-class options we should be pursuing, unless we’re planning on targeting someone of that ilk come the summer
Happy New Year!
Hi Marc
Same to you mate. As D:Ream said, things can only get better. I saw something about Starmer in the Guardian which I think you’ll like. You’ll probably disbelieve it but it resonated with me.
Nkunku? And there was me speculating a few days ago about Chelsea has-beens.
And while I’m on, a very happy New year to all the glorious Gooners on here. You make supporting this team just about tolerable!
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2024/dec/30/keir-starmer-is-one-of-labours-most-rightwing-mps-study-finds
Marc – read this and weep. It turns out you and Starmer ARE ideologically joined at the hip. I told you so! My only criticism of the article was that it described him as one of the most right wing Labour MPs. I would’ve said he’s one of the most right wing of ANY of the motherfucking MPs in our entire shit show of a parliament.
Sorry Vieira – in my dotage I neglected to see that it was you that penned the Nkunku piece. In any case, I think Arteta should pass. He won’t of course.
County’s 3G pitch has now been laid and the first proper home game of the season takes place tomorrow, new year’s day, against Aberystwyth Town. I’m really happy that the lads are back at home and we’re hoping for a big crowd. Anything over 1200 will be terrific. Lots of kids and women’s football in the run up. We’re 3rd, Aber are bottom. What could possibly go wrong? I’ll post the highlights or uchafbyntiau as they’re known in these parts. 🏴🏴🏴
Only problem is there’s a yellow weather warning so fingers crossed it’s not postponed.
KP—“just about tolerable” is pretty high praise for the lot of us, considering the circumstances
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, you have a genuine gift when it comes to the manner in which you express your thoughts and feelings, regardless of the subject matter…never change…nothing but the best to you and your loved ones in 2025
Happy New Year guys may 2025 bring you and your families prosperity, health, happiness and of course new managers.
Special shout out to Ambarish who gives us all an outlet to have a moan on!
Hear hear Marc and Vieira.
In Ambarish we trust.
TRVL
The questions that always is in my mind is why would MA think that the Chavs are selling any player that was good enough for the PL squad?
The I knew Sterling was right inside 20 seconds is now we’re considering sending Sterling back from the Internet.
The thought of giving a long injury suffering player to MA to Artetarise just sums things up.
As you said before has Kalstrom had a son?
Decided to join you all with his game as it’s KO is 00:30am. No idea if I’ll get through the 2nd half depends on the football sans Saka…..
“First Arsenal, now England? Why scouts and FA insiders think ‘mega-talent’ Myles Lewis-Skelly is destined for the top with bumper new contract on way for Mikel Arteta’s breakout star
Scouts have highlighted multiple attributes to Mail Sport which help him thrive
Join Mail+ for more exclusive scoops, in-depth reporting and analysis from inside the Arsenal camp”
From the mailonline and begs the question what has Skelly done that Ethan hasn’t?
I’m not complaining about Skelly, as I called for his first team inclusion a long time before MA played him, so happy he’s being recognized, but something not right about Ethan’s treatment or lack of playing time and when he does play why isn’t play directed through him?
For me Ethan is in front of Skelly and needed more. Rice’s football fantasy is preferred to Ethan’s obviously more talented a dn visionary play.
After all Rice is a CB/6 who is dreaming of 8 & 10. Because of the latter, I think Rice has devalued himself to maybe £70m with no big clubs in for him as RM are all over TA, Saliba and probably Ode next season when he scores more goals.
I could be wrong, but I don’t see Rice having the skill sets to play for the top 5 in Europe including UK although Manure would probably buy but not Slot.
Happy new year to you all.
In October this year It will be 60years since my first visit to an Arsenal game. For my 14th birthday my father was supplied with two tickets for the East Stand upper tier by a friend who worked for the FA. Perhaps AFC can provide me with a present and get rid of El B – preferably before October. Through good times and bad I looked forward to attending every home game but the current style is similar to watching paint dry.
A few weeks ago in the space of 9 days I lost two friends to prostrate cancer. One was 5 years older than me, the other 5 years younger. Diagnosis is the key to beating this form of cancer – a finger test doesn’t hurt anybody.
Brentford could be a tough one today.
Tony—unfortunately I won’t be able to watch this one in real time as I must attend our traditional New Years Day brunch…this was a dreaded event for years, especially in those days when I would pull all-nighters on New Years eve…below you will find what I thought were some interesting news tidbits:
“Arsenal’s interest in Tyrick Mitchell may seem unexpected given Mikel Arteta’s recent defensive strategies. Arteta has favoured versatile defenders who can play multiple roles, which has seen players like Kieran Tierney and Oleksandr Zinchenko fall out of favour. Mitchell, a more traditional left-back, represents a shift towards a straightforward defensive role, suggesting a tactical evolution at Arsenal”
clearly MA’s trying to set a record of how many LB one manager can employ at a given time…that said, maybe he’s about to give up the whole inverted clown show gig…I only hope that’s an indication of his intent to get someone of consequence up top, but I highly doubt it
“Arsenal spent most of last summer searching for a striker to bolster their ranks but failed with moves for Benjamin Sesko and Joshua Zirkzee”
this coming from the same rag that spent all last summer pretending that MA had no interest whatsoever in getting a real Striker, so as to not ruffle the feathers of MA’s gangly German bestie…please make note of how he described MA’s efforts in this regards (“failed with moves”)
“Marmoush has featured predominantly as a centre-forward this season but is capable of operating in a deeper role or from the left. Arsenal have a long-standing interest in the player and are ready to firm up that interest with an approach. Frankfurt are understood to value the 25-year-old at between €40m (£33m) and €50m (£42m), having failed to convince Marmoush to sign a new deal. Only compatriot Mohamed Salah (30) has been directly involved in more league goals than Marmoush across Europe’s top five leagues. He leads the Bundesliga for assists and ranks behind only Bayern Munich’s Harry Kane for goals. Frankfurt are set to make a huge profit on the player, having signed Marmoush from Wolfsburg on a free transfer 18 months ago. He has 35 goals in 65 games across all competitions since making the switch to Deutsche Bank Park”
couple of interesting notes here: (1) “predominantly as a centre forward”, lord knows MA will deploy him elsewhere, (2) “long-standing interest”, which is likely bullshit…probably trying to suggest that MA predicted his uptick in form and that this isn’t just a knee-jerk reaction to his team construction miscalculations, and (3) why can’t MA ever find a free transfer gem like so many others…not to mention, if we were really observing him for some time, why weren’t we the ones who rolled the proverbial dice when he was available for nothing??
“Arsenal could look to cut short one of their Premier League loans to free up a space for another temporary signing during the January transfer window”.
I guess you get what you paid for…we pulled an 11th hour weasel and got an out of form on the relative cheap and he’s simply performed as such…it’s a bit of a reap what you sow shit show
Cheers
Happy new year guys. Cheers KP and Marc. This place would not have survived this far, without my readers 🙂
Match day post is live.