We are hosting Newcastle at Emirates in our penultimate game of this season. Our Champions League run came to an end in semi-final against PSG, and we have to visit Southampton next Sunday. We still have not secured the Champions League spot for next season and need a point to do so, even with 5 teams qualifying for Champions League from UK. None of these 5 teams competing for the place play against each other except us and Newcastle, and it can get very exciting on the last day of the season.
Arsenal will be playing Newcastle and Southampton, Newcastle has us and Everton to play against, Chelsea will go against Forest in their only game left, Villa against a very poor Man Utd on the last day, and Man City has games against Bournemouth and Fulham. If we lose both of our games, we will have to pray to the gods for other teams to drop points. If we share points in even one of the two games left, we qualify because of the healthy GD we have. Not losing today will be the key for us.
It’s also important because we are facing Newcastle, who has beaten us when we visited St. James’ Park in November, who killed our Carabao Cup run by winning in both legs in the semi finals and there’s a rivalry growing between both the teams – even though we are on the receiving end so far. We have been kicked, elbowed, dominated in the mid field. We had no answers to their fast paced counter attacks and we couldn’t restrain Isak most of the time. Today’s game is not only important for our qualification but it will also dent their chances to make it to top 5. That would be some revenge.
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There are some injury concerns for today. Declan Rice missed the game against Liverpool because of a hip-injury. Martinelli and Trossard were not 100% while Timber also looked shaky. All 4 will be assessed before the game, and Havertz can make an entry too afte he trained with the team. I think it would be too early to gamble on him even if he is fit. Mikel needs to learn to rotate not only when it becomes a necessity! A little bit of confidence to the likes of Nwaneri and MLS could have saved the injuries of Odegaard and Calafiori earlier in the season.
I am expecting a back 4 of Timber/White (depending upon Timber’s availability), Kiwior, Saliba and MLS. A midfield of Odegaard, Partey and Rice/Merino depending upon Rice’s availability will do. Saka will keep his place but the LW and CF positions posses a problem. If both Marts and Trossard are not available and Merino needs to be shifted to midfield, we will be left only with Saka as the option for 3 positions. If Merino starts up top, Jorgi might get a start today and Nwaneri has to fill the LW position. I am not confident in Jorgi against a physical Newcastle side but we have run out of options.
Hopefully, all of them makes it today and we start the best players in each position.
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Couple of transfer news – Zubimendi is almost confirmed while we look forward to renew Thomas Partey’s contract for 2 years (or 1+1 years). It’s not that bad because we are not going to offer Partey a 10m/year contract when he is in his decline and we can afford to let him go. It also allows Zubimendi to integrate into the team and he can play the role of Jorginho. The second one, Nuno Tavares is a done deal because of the obligation in his loan contract and we will fetch 7.5m GBP from Lazio.
There’s still no concrete leaks or rumours about our CF pursuit while the usuals – Sesko, Gyokeres remains the options. It’s going to be a very long window for us Arsenal fans, because we have some problems on the pitch and we need to address it immediately to not finish another season as a runner up. We also need a CB and a Martinelli’s rotation if Trossard is allowed to leave. I’m guessing we will see some major change because the team that has got us to No #2 three consecutive times (lets just say we finish 2nd this season, best case scenario), is lacking that edge to win the title.
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Right, that’s all for today. Hope you are having a good weekend and hope it gets better when we beat Newcastle 3-0 today.
Cheers
Saliba coming off not good at all.
Rice gets his goal
I think that might be our first tally in 3+ matches against Newcastle this season (50 shots)
I want to applaud the finishing skills he displayed, as it was a higer quality strike, but I’m always fearful about how things of this nature will impact our decision-making moving forward…now normally a properly run professional side will take things in stride and not allow these sorts of anamolous achievements to cloud their vision, but that’s not how we generally conduct ourselves…fuck me, Rice has tallied 4 goals of quality during the entirety of his stay here, but this management group likely won’t allow the facts to get in the way of their oft-times baffling plans, and somehow, someway we will start next season with Havertz and Rice as our two most advanced players
We gotta score 2 more to avenge some of the pain they have given us.
The new shirt got more red in it so that’s a plus, but overall an average one.
there’s been only a couple of times in which we’ve deployed an offence is the best defence tactical approach this season, which is peculiar as it usually works in our favour…I get that in this case it largely came as a result of Saliba being subbed off, but it’s sad that our still green thumbed manager can’t seem to think outside his little box unless the cirucmstances appear to be more dire
now Havertz is coming on for Saka and Ethan can be seen in the background looking like what the fuck about me???
Ethan for Odegaard, still got time Mikel. Come on, do the brave thing.
We are finishing 2nd. City can’t catch up on goal difference.
This Gooner has a trophy win to report, albeit for a team other than Arsenal. County won 3-1 this afternoon to claim Wales’s place in the Europa Conference. Preliminary rounds will be in equally small leagues, such as Baltic states, balkan countries, Irish league (sorry Almunia) Gibraltar, Luxembourg etc.
County and Arsenal qualifying for Europe on the same day. Really pleasing.
there’s a reason why some supporters, since our arrival at the Emirates, have found themselves in the unenviable position of “wishing” for poor results in August, December and even May…before that time no one concerned themselves too much with our transfer business because we had faith in the incomparable David Dein and the then unwilling to settle Wenger…conversely, since that time it’s almost as if terrible things need to happen in order to hopefully ensure that changes would be forthcoming…yet even when it seemed glaringly obvious that moves were required, both Wenger and Arteta have oft-times either wrongly stood pat, especially in January, or continually refused to properly address our most pressing needs
of course no one “really” wants their team to lose, but when it feels like you’re being held ransom(again) by someone who cares infinitely more about winning THEIR particular way than serving the greater good, you start to feel that the only way for us to move forward is by hoping that a period of failure on the pitch will finally spurn on the required changes…things are so fucking backwards here that you actually find yourself becoming incredibly fearful that if the reverse were to happen, and we experienced a purple patch at the end of a season or in mid-December, that all the wrong messages will be gleaned, which would be an almost unthinkable notion at any other “big” club
just think about how many times in the last 20+ years that both Wenger and Arteta have hid behind empty calorie results or cut and paste excuses, such as injuries and/or a series of officiating “blunders”, then used that bad “data” to inform our transfer practices…in my estimation we’ve never had a single logically conceived window where we targeted top-notch players for the sole purpose of redressing our most pressing needs and did so in a timely fashion…instead it’s been nickel and dime bullshit, the prioritizing of luxury “shoehorning” buys over those who fit a specific need and/or a complete unwillingness to upset the managerial apple cart by acquiring world class alpha-types
so I started to ask myself how do I think this particular run-in will inform the powers that be…will they use the two-legged Real win to wrongly infer that we’re on the cusp so only minor tweaks are required?…will they make more out of our recent form without care or concern for the mitigating facts, like how we managed to secure 4 of 6 points from Newcastle and Pool, even though the latter side had nothing to play for and the former were missing the best Striker in the PL this season…not to mention, we managed only one goal against Newcastle over 4 matches…will they somehow actually believe that things might have transpired differently if only Havertz had been available, almost as if they’ve forgotten altogether his struggles in front of goal when it mattered most, then not properly invest up top…yes, yes and yes
with this plastic man in charge I wouldn’t put anything passed him…in fact, I wouldn’t be shocked if not a single player of real offensive consequence arrived, only Jorginho, Tierney and a bunch of inconsequential afterthoughts left, Partey and Tross were re-upped and we spent the bulk of our resources on a defensive-minded MD, two defenders and a backup Keeper…sorry but fuck that shit…simply put, get over yourself and man the fuck up Arteta…if you really want to win major silveware, this can no longer be all about you…but I digress
I prefer to look at things more positively than some on here.
We have conceded 33 goals this season , the best in the league again. Liverpool have conceded 37 and the next closest is 43 and we have managed this without a number of defenders for a large part of the season.
White, tomiyasu, calafiori and zinchenko have missed a large chunk of the season , plus Gabriel and timber have been unavailable.
This is where the manager should receive credit for his organisation and defensive structure that he has installed into the players , to finish 2nd with 2 semi finals with a squad decimated from injuries is a testament to the ability of our manager to still get results despite being without first choice players.
The football this season hasn’t been great but what “fans” like TRVL fail to understand is that having 7/8 or 9 out injured for most of the season doesn’t allow the team to play open expansive football as we would end up in a similar position to Tottenham who also suffered injuries but their manager continued with the same style of open football.
City had a couple of players out but nothing like our crippling injury list and they are now sitting 6th in the league without a trophy.
TRVL has little sympathy for Arteta having to manage a half fit squad and then he contradicts himself with this comment about yesterday’s game
“even though the former (Newcastle)were missing the best Striker(isak) in the PL this season”.
Basically he is saying because Newcastle have one player out Injured we should have beaten them more convincingly, without acknowledging that we played the 2nd half without 3 of our regular back 4 …Saliba , Gabriel and Timber and rarely looked in trouble , good management I would say.
A fully fit squad allows the manager to play more open expansive football and I believe that is what we will see next season, there are too many ignorant fans who don’t understand the game and refuse to recognise how injuries have a massive affect on the style of football a team plays. Surely the performances of man city this season without Rodri will tell you something, pep made the mistake of trying to play the same way and the team suffered, it was only when he tightened things up defensively at the back and in midfield that they started to pick up points without playing open expansive football.
Having sub par LB’s not available has meant El B has had to use MLS.
KP – a good win for your ‘other’ team and European football to boot. I had planned to watch but our builder announced he would be with us this morning instead of next week so I needed to finish some preparation work before this morning.
Norg
Arteta inherited a £25 million left back who was a good player although injury prone, he then spent £70 plus million on two more left backs – ones a fucking liability the other is injury prone and is in a position where our best player in the position is not only a kid who came through the youth team but is not even a defender by trade.
That’s some special sauce if ever I saw it.
Marc
A friend who is a season ticket holder said yesterdays game was seriously down in numbers attending. 2nd playing 3rd should be a sell out but he reckons there were less than 50,000 there yesterday.
Norg
Doesn’t surprise me. A couple of months ago if you put your ticket on exchange it went in minutes I’ve had a couple lately not even sell.
The football isn’t a draw anymore – it’s like watching paint dry and bar a good CL run the season been more about others being poor than us being good.
https://youtu.be/KDBGMvu2c14?si=NaxBHbDduUVMLHcQ
NORG
Here are the unchafbyntiau (as we call highlights in this part of the world). Our forwards finished their chances, the midfield was dominant and the back 5 almost perfect. A wonderful way to end a very impressive season. The no. 8, Shepherd, had an outstanding game.
Pricksy—be ever vigilant as it appears as if your SCS (stunned cunt syndrome) is starting to flare up again…beyond that, it might be wise to get the polysporin ready because you’re going to need it after I rip you a new one:
(1) goals conceded—could it be possible that the very fact that we spend 2/3rds of most matches in the opposition’s half playing our typically turgid brand of sideways football has actually positively skewed our defensive statlines…surely it’s much easier to post more flattering defensive stats when you deploy a possession-based defence-first scheme…problem is this overtly conservative approach will generally limit your ability to diversify your attack, as it requires your frontline players to defend in deeper spaces far too often, thereby severely limiting their ability to counter with pace and numbers…furthermore, all these defensive requirements can take a considerable toll on your attacking options, especially when you consider the amount of high pressing involved in MA’s tactical approach and the lack of proper rotational practices(no wonder we experienced an uptick in injuries)…finally, let’s not forget that we lost or drew several crucial matches against bottom-half sides who registered only 2 or 3 shots on target, so the numbers you’re spouting are devoid of any meaningful nuance…context matters my blunt little instrument
as a bit of an aside, if we’re so damn good defensively can you explain the constant tinkering and the totally unbalanced investment strategy of our MIT…clearly he’s not quite so convinced that the numbers tell the full story…surely you can’t so easily dismiss the actions of your beloved manager(regardless of all your protestations suggesting otherwise)
(2) “White, tomiyasu, calafiori and zinchenko have missed a large chunk of the season, plus Gabriel and timber have been unavailable”—-what a load of shit…none of the first 4 you mentioned were ever going to be regular starters…Tomi has be absent for most of his tenure here, so if you think his absence was deeply felt you need to get your head checked…White was overtaken by Timber, and rightly so, and if you actually believe that he was the key to unlocking our more expansive selves, see above…as for Cala, he was a luxury buy, like Havertz, who only made sense if we were looking to deploy a more roving-type CB instead of an inverted backer…unfortunately that wasn’t the case and he likewise appears wholly incapable of handling the rigours of a starting role in the PL, especially shoehorned in out wide…in regards to Zinchenko, he had another nothing burger of a campaign and should have been shipped ages ago in order to raise funds so that we could invest up top…instead we had to rely upon a last minute reach like Sterling, who was either checked out or simply saving himself for his last big payday in the MLS…plus Zinchenko’s another fragile fuck that you can’t really count on…as for your last comment, Gabs just got injured you twat and Timber was available for the majoirty of the season
(3)”having 7/8 or 9 out injured for most of the season”—stop all this narrative-bending Arteta apologist nonsense…please feel free to name anyone of REAL consequence who was out for MOST of the season…of course Saka missed a good chunk of time, nowhere near most of the season I might add, but let’s remember that his injury happened early enough that MA could have lessened the impact of his absence in the winter window…instead your managerial overlord brought absolutely NO ONE in!!!
(4) “Basically he is saying because Newcastle have one player out Injured we should have beaten them more convincingly”—context matters you obtuse fuck…if you think getting 4 of a potential 6 points against them at this point, when Pool was home and free and Newcastle were without their talisman up top, is somehow equivalent to doing likewise a few months back, when the race sort of mattered, you’re even more delusional than I first imagined, which is a frightening thought
(5) expansive football?? expansive football?? who the fuck have you been watching?? this manager has played what might be construed as expansive football for the equivalent of about 2/3rds of a season in all of his time here…a sizeable portion of that was during Xhaka’s last season, then he killed all that momentum when he brought in his gangly(now burly) German bestie as his ill-suited replacement/upgrade…simply put, you’re a fucking joke who knows less about football than my former 12 year old self
time for your ointment my little gaping friend
So my prediction for the summer TW is as follows –
It looks like we’re after another DM.
Arteta’s practising his best John Wayne impression so he can drop the line “a transfer window without a full back is like a day without sunshine” so expect another LB.
He won’t buy a striker (or will buy a bench warmer) because that would mean dropping Havertz so to appease the fans he’ll go for a wide forward and throw Martinelli under the bus. Of course whoever plays on the left under Arteta is always going to struggle for goals / assists until he stops this stupid “inverted LB” tactic because they don’t get the same support as what goes down the right side.
Wicksy will be happy and try to tell us what a genius Arteta is and they’ll be a competition between me, TRVL and Artfraud on who can call him a cunt first.
I must admit I’ve got some mixed feeling about the promotion of Max Dowman to the first team next season…of course, I’m pleased for the kid, as he appears to have a promising future(hopefully here), but not sure if he’s going to get the kind of minutes that will help with his development…MA has struggled at times to properly embed our academy pieces, except when injuries have forced his hand, like with ESR, Marts, Skelly and now Ethan…now some are suggestng that his timeline has been pushed up a bit so he can provide some competition for Ode, who has performed poorly for large chunks of the season, but I’m not sure that a 15 year old can realistically play that type of a role…not to mention, what the fuck is going to happen with Ethan, who I feel got doghoused by MA due to some issues surrounding his potential re-up…we all know how salty our MIT gets when our blue-chippers require some clarity about their future and a decent wage, especially considering the shocking wage packages being offered up to some undeserved candidates…regardless, I wish nothing but the best for both Ethan and Max
btw Marc you know I agree with your sentiments regarding our window, especially now that United appear interested in signing both Cunha and Viktor, who has an extremely close relationship with their manager…for me personally, I would much rather we spend 200+M on two world class players than a similar amount for 4 or 5 coin toss propositions…this is why I can’t understand why we’re not in the race for Wirtz, instead we’re pissing around with the likes of Rodrygo, who hasn’t impressed me for quite some time, and Nkunku, who I favoured as a good fit for us prior to his time at Chelsea, but I no longer trust as a player of consequence in the PL…purely from an optics perspective, we should refrain altogether from conducting any business with Chelsea considering how they’ve played us time and time again…Cheers