It was a long wait – 6 years since we have last played at the grandest stage of all. It did longer than it should have (study Newcastle), and it did take a lot of money but that’s not a concern for today. We are finally back in the mix and the least we can do is, enjoy the evening with some Guinness and football.
We are playing PSV today at Emirates. We have a healthy team and apart from Martinelli who stretched his hamstring on Sunday, everyone else is available. Since the lads played on Sunday, we could probably see some rotation but without disturbing the team’s chemistry. Ramsdale might make a comeback in the #1 role, back line would probably be the same and Arteta’s infatuation towards Havertz might earn him his spot back in place of Vieira. Trossard will start in place of the injured Martinelli and Gabriel Jesus will most likely be starting ahead of Eddie. Having options that do not cause any drop in performance is going to help Mikel while picking the team. Personally, I would not rotate much from this, even if their a NLD on sunday. It’s a home game, less travel and next few games can have all the rotations and rests for the players.
source:Arsenal.com
PSV Eindhoven, is currently sitting on top in the Dutch league with 4 wins out of 4, and will be equally high in confidence. What’s concerning is that, they have only conceded once in these 4 games and it will prove to be a challenge to score against them. I haven’t watched them personally, so I’m not sure what kind of football they play but they have scored 13 in this process and that would only indicate an attacking game with a solid defence.
Fun fact : In the first season at Emirates, it was PSV who beat us with a 2-1 aggregate in the round of 16 in year 2006-07.
It’s not going to be easy but then none of the games in Champions League are. There is a benefit in topping the group stage that you get to play the 2nd ranked from any other group. We must also keep that in mind.
A win will be brilliant today. Starts our CL run on a positive note, and keeps the confidence high for the upcoming NLD on the weekend.
A busy week for me, so I will keep it short. See you during the game.
#COYG
Fresh from talking absolute bollocks about subbing the goalkeepers during the game, yesterday ‘Tets’ was appearing in the annual team photo, done with naturally the dog, Win, right in the centre of frame.
Once a cunt, always a cunt.
Let’s see if we can actually beat PSV tonight, they fucked us over 2 nil last season.
I hope the refs send the cunt to the stands if he keeps getting out of his box.
As for the return of the CL, with this manager we have been shafted with, I am not really looking forward to it as much as I should be.
Factor in the never ending needless group matches and I am hearing the greedy cunts from UEFA want to reduce the sporting jeopardy element even further, with more needless games, UEFA is going the same way as the skuzzy European Union.
Fucking useless, bent and socialist, so everybody gets a few bob and all we get is mush.
Anyway rants over, Tets will still find a way of annoying the fuck out of us the sensible fans and fucking it all up.
Cunt.
AF
It’s nice to sometimes just enjoy the football. We can keep the complaints for the later part :))
More games, more football to watch., AF, watch these Two songs just before the game to set your mood. 😂👀
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https://youtu.be/JXgmQDFhPjo?si=x_1eirdlscVtbS13
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https://youtu.be/4a5vaIsaxB8?si=8duIoj7K6qSaa9rX
Ambarish
PSV will come to win, so will not be parking the bus. Their stats show they shouldn’t be taken for granted or Arteta be too cautious.
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Personally, I’d play ESR as 8 with Trossard out on the LW and Jesus at 9.
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Zinchenko is going to be our weak link on the left where Rice is going to have to cover a lot of ground tonight and next Sunday with Partey still out.
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If we play to our strengths, we should nick it by a goal. 🙏
Tony,
I think the excitement will get to the boys. A big 3-0 win or a very poor performance and I seriously it’s the former.
Hardly 90 min left
Ramsdale could be in trouble with Raya getting back-to-back starts…we likewise need to up our game when it comes to our communication skills on the pitch, especially knowing that this, minus Marts, is clearly MA’s best 11
good for Saka to pounce on that rebound…I was starting to think he didn’t even have a functioning right foot…we still need to be much sharper in front of goal, as it should be 2-0 by now
Zinchenko was an awfully lucky boy, as that just as easily could have been called a penalty
Raya’s a level or two above Ramsdale with the ball at his feet, which begs the question why did we pay so much for Ramsdale then re-up him in the summer
Trossard’s goal – beautiful. Whisper it but the team is ticking tonight.
good strike in the corner of the net by Tross…we need to go for the throat now, especially against a team who’s so open on the backend…of course, this doesn’t really help us League-wise, as no one will give us so much time and space in the final third
Raya’s face is all nostrils isn’t it. I wonder if these two (who are brother and sister in the league of gentlemen) are his parents.
https://youtu.be/YOtpgz4L5d8?si=gMheWYieAu37jLFU
Fucking good GK mind.
Manure are losing. How’s this for a rarity – I want lisping Harry Kane to be on the winning side tonight.
If Havertz can’t get off the snide in this affair it might be time to put him on the Cup Only fixture list
I like the notion of having some variation within our tactics out from the back, but let’s not get too carried away with all the paddycaking in and around our box
And it’s… Pissing about at the back time!
I’m watching the game with one of the twins. She called Jesus’s goal 30 seconds before he scored.
it would have been almost criminal if we weren’t up by at least 3 at half…I can’t remember the last time we’ve outnumbered the opposing team inside their own box so fucking often
Can someone explain that first half? Are PSV worse than Fulham? Why do we look good for practically the first time this year?
PSV clearly spent a little too much time watching our PL tape thus far and figured they could go toe-to-toe in a wide open affair…I get it, considering our laclustre form, but they should have ditched the plane and brought the bus
KP-they’re committing so many players that they’re completely exposed on the backside…no one in the PL plays us in such a reckless fashion
my hope is that we contiue to push for more goals so that MA can actually allow some of our bench players, like ESR, to see some significant minutes in the second half
Ramsdale’s trying to hide inside his coat…either that or his swearing up a storm so he’s trying to hide his mouth to avoid from being caught
Jesus needs to take that first time instead of trying to get too fancy
Still no ESR WTF
finally from the milk carton emerges ESR!!!
Is that a lesser spotted Smith Rowe I see on the touchline?
I’ve just had odegasm! 💦
That goal reminded me of a Mark Hughes goal for Manure in a cwc final against Barca in the early 90s. Sublime.
It’s starting to look like Ode might have sharpened his boots in the offseason, which could be crucial moving forward…no more closing his eyes and hoping for the best, as now he’s looking for the corners
Morning all and a great game it looks like I missed and True Visions that are not true at all have decided to give 1 channel for the CL and just run back to back CL games in no particular order. At 2am the Manure’s game and then maybe ours after I have no idea as they don’t publish a time table for the CL. This we also have to pay extra for. It’s not the money just the terrible service.
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Enough of the ‘poor me’ and through your comments I have a semblance of the game in my mind. 4 fucking nil! Certainly shut AF up, which made me smile this morning.
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Mind you, LIR lacks that brimstone and something extra without AF maybe it was the 2 songs that assuaged you into a believer last night? Or are you Bob’s alter ego?
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Anyway, it’s good to see Alf Garnet style lives on in the modern day. 🙂
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Can’t write on what I didn’t see even though I can see pictures conjured from the game from the match reports. 4 different scorers on the sheet would suggest the bus was never parked, and PSV came off second best trying to match our usual game (as VL said) where I would imagine this played into our tactical game, which Arteta appears to have got right and, for the moment at least, Arteta has banished our past Euro nightmares in the Europa league.
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Let’s take this game and use it to start looking like real PL challengers with Pool and City – starting with the NLD on Sunday.
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Ambarish? What was your take on Havertz’s last night. His stats are underwhelming again on the ball, but perhaps he was pulling defenders around off the ball breaking their defensive shape, which is an equally important part of his game at 8?
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Nice feeling to wake up to and to have a quiet confidence going into Sunday’s game.
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Have a good one LIR.