Let’s not fool ourselves. We are playing against Man United, with a relatively new manager, with lots of new players with little or no chemistry and Harry Maguire. At home, any point dropped against the current Man United is a loss. Most importantly, we have strengthened our team spending 200m+ and winning these sorts of games are the difference between a Premier League winner and runner ups.
WIN. Anything less is unacceptable. It’s a home game with 60k people cheering their hearts out for 90 odd minutes and the players and manager need to give them back the same love.
Right, that’s on the emotional front.
Arteta was out there justifying Havertz’s performance in his first three games in Red and White, by referencing Ben White at RB experiment, Saka’s movement from LB to RW, Xhaka’s performance, Odegaard’s first two months and then some more. The only problem with this analogy is that, we were re-building a team at that time, and we lost a lot of games in that process. It’s 4year+ for him as Arsenal manager now, and if he expects the same judgement for a player bought for 65m, then he is deluded. Kai will be judged harshly. Mikel will be judged harshly. Every player and staff that’s seen on camera will be judged. Because, we finished second and we spent money to be better than that.
In the team news, Tomiyasu is back for selection after a red card. I’m sure now Partey is going to start at RB because Arteta is stubborn and I was wrong in guessing that he will switch back to the playing XI that worked pretty well for us last season. Kai is going to start again. Nketiah, after doing well for the game time he has got, will be replaced by Jesus because… why not.
The only things consistent in the current setup are Saka at RW, Martinelli at LW and Arteta’s stubbornness.
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It’s going to be a long season with lots of games, and we have let go Holding for pennies and Tierney on a loan. Timber is injured, leaving us short in the defence. Or, rather, Edu and Mikel thought it’s a good idea to let two defenders go after discovering that a player they brought in has sustained a season-long injury. If they cry for help later, they should be shut down by someone at the club. You can’t create problems at first and then ask for a fix.
I’m sorry, I was frustrated when I found out we let go Holding for a meagre 1m to Crystal Palace. It’s not like CP plays in the Championship. It’s not like Rob Holding is a bad defender who is here at Arsenal for 6 weeks. We are talking about a defender who has won things, at one of the biggest clubs in history and is still 27 years of age. 5 solid years ahead of him.
Anything less than a win against United is just going to further alleviate this frustration.
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We must win against a poor United, with no CF, Varane out with injuries, Onana still settling and Then Hag only aware of counter attacking football. We have a team in form, with no significant injuries and a much better bench in Trossard, Rice, fit ESR, Nketiah, fit Tomiyasu etc. There are no excuses, let’s beat them and show who the boss is.
If you still ask me, I would like us to settle back to White at RB and Gabriel + Saliba partnering at CB. Partey in the midfield, compliment with Rice or Kai. Nketiah should start ahead of Jesus.
We should also be careful about the f*ck ups we do once in a while. Champions are concentrated for the whole 90 min in their minds, even if their body doesn’t support.
I hope we end the weekend on a good note. A win will boost the player’s confidence and 10 out of 12 points is a good place to be in. This is going to be a hell of a season, and we need to make the most when we can. At some point, we will be visiting Anfield and Etihad, where ‘not losing’ would be a good result, so let’s make the most of tomorrow.
Right, that’s all me done. I’m in the clouds celebrating my 31st with little or no network, but will be back by tomorrow’s match.
Hope you are well, and having a good weekend.
Cheers.
You old bastard!
Haha, appreciate it Marc. 6 hours drive in the mountains is taking toll these days. My back hurts more than Thomas Partey at RB.
Mate wait till you hit 49 (I’m hanging onto 49 as long as I can but I’ve only got 6 odd weeks!)
Haha, hold tight. 50 is the new 30.
Seeing Nathan Ake scoring a header from corner for City reminded me that we hardly scores from headers. Just like the throw ins, we need to improve on that.
Martinelli has it in him, but he needs to be more precise. Saka/Ode do not have headed goals in them. Eddie, may be.
Good piece Ambarish you’ve definitely got a new knife sharpener and more precision with your points..
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Marc you’re still young my friend at 49, I’m 19 years north of you with KP 8 behind me. If you’re going to the game I hope it’s a corker for you and us..
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Guess I’m old enough to be your grandfather, Ambarish. 🙂 Reality is I’m just a Gooner where age is but a number.
Tony
Yes there tomorrow – should be a good day out with nice weather forecast.
No idea how the result will pan out – both teams have been poor so far. We’ve spent and ManU haven’t spent anywhere near what I thought they’d do. Obviously the take over has held them back.
Anything other than a win will be a disaster for Arteta putting him under huge pressure for our next 2 matches Everton away and the Spuddies at home. End up dropping points in either of them and the crowd might just start turning on him.
Chelsea currently 1 nil down at home to Forest.
Partey injured and out for tomorrow echoes the build up to the Chelsea game a few years ago when Arteta’s hand was forced, the young players were brought in and his career saved. Now he will have to return to last year’s defence. Luck has saved him from himself once more. Let’s be honest,utd are very poor. Ambarish has called it correctly, nothing but a win will do. After tomorrow we will have played 3 of our 4 matches at the Emirates. These points are precious.
Evan Ferguson is at it again. Can’t see him in an Arsenal shirt under Arteta’s ‘style’. Pity. He looks so much like a young Shearer, though obviously a long way to go before he can truly be compared to that legend. It’s his all round style really that put that into my head,he can score them all,tap ins,rockets,headers,great hold up play and very strong already at 18. Arteta would probably catch him looking at him sideways,decide he was a rebel and tell Edu to sell him for a box of milk tray ( arteta has been rehearsing for a role in their ads). Ah well.
Tony,
All good here thank God, still able to get to the pub when the mood takes( and the brownie points secured). Hope you’re fitting in some r&r yourself,even if you’re too busy really!
KP,
Mixed bag for you today. Good win for Haverfordwest but Cardiff! What’s the feedback on Runnarson today? Charlton finally won,managerless as they are. 3 big ones tomorrow. Old firm,followed by Villa at Anfield and then the make or break game. There is no club I despise more in world football than utd. There was a period there I simply couldn’t watch the games,they became so stressful for me. Not so tomorrow, utd are very poor and if we don’t beat them there will be no excuses. It’s away to Everton I dread,even though they are putrid.
Memo to silly bollocks.
If you play players in their right positions, the chances of serious injury diminish.
First Timber
Now Partey
Heard he has also been playing Rice, with a calf injury as well. He will breakdown next.
It’s only 100 million, Arteta.
Fuck knows what the insurance premiums must be at the club
Absolute fucking shambles.
Almunia
It’s getting pathetic frankly now. Need to rebuild, need improvements, need bench, need players to adapt, and what not.
We finished second. We added 200m worth of ammunition. There is no excuses after that. We are playing United at Home against a team which is in rebuild – when finishing 8th for 2 seasons in a row were justified for us.. if we don’t beat them, I don’t what’s gonna be the next excuse.
If fans start finding excuses, it’s not a good view. We did it with Wenger, and some of us are now doing for Arteta. We never learn, do we?!
And selling Holding for a million dollar is still on my nerves. It was pathetic, I have been positive towards Edu for bringing in Marti, renewing contracts for Saliba, Saka, Marti but that sell was pathetic.
For 1m, you sell your academy players with no caps. Period.
If we loose tomorrow, which is highly likely, with Partey out and a piss poor manager in, we will be 8th in the table. Welcome to the new season with Arteta’s shit shows on full display.
Morning all
Doing my usual early morning Internet news surf where I came across this article by Rob Draper. Rob has been a sports and most notably for me a football writer for maybe 40 years. I first read him in the ‘Today’ daily long since gone.
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Rob’s always struck me as a balanced journalist where his impartiality generally forms good reads, as in the below link. The piece goes on to explain with more details why the ever changing landscape of football tactics is needed and certainly by the American style of statisticians eventually running our game as in the AFL.
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It’s happening now and we’ve watched it grow over the last 4+ years with Arteta coming in and prior to that with Gazidis investing in Arsenal’s data company, and it’s come to the point now that you can’t play without it.
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Where this data malarkey falls short is that footballers are not robots and never will be in my lifetime; juniors? Who knows? Maybe AI football is the future, but it will be soul less.
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It also fall flat on its face when you have a manager, as we have in Arteta who either doesn’t understand the data or thinks he can improve on it, which of course, he can’t.
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Simply put, Arteta is not Pep and never will be nor will anyone else be because with managers like Pep, Klopp and potentially Ten Hag & De Zerbi, they are unique visionaries. Luminaries of the elite management world game.
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The more we see into Arteta’s managerial life and thinking with Arsenal, the more I see his time numbered because he is not of the level required. His convoluted presser yesterday proved that in his loquacious need to explain that as each game evolves, so must the tactics where today’s football is all about adaptability; something Arteta is clueless at even with his coaches telling him what’s going on.
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Today’s game? Partey is out injured, so we can expect a back four of:
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Keeper – Ramsdale
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defense – White – Saliba – Gabs – Zinchenko
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Midfield – Ode – Rice – Havertz
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Up top – Saka – Jesus – Martinelli
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As hard as it is to say, I don’t see us beating Manure even though we have home advantage.
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Equally, I don’t feel we’ll lose. I believe our boys will fight to the death and scrap out a score draw – 2-2 anyone?
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As we know from the link each teams’ data where our lads will have been hard at it working their algorithms to the max looking for something to break the stalemate before and during games.
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Whilst I’m all for improving the game with including guide stats, I think that’s all they are; guides because when the chips fall where they fall with all the data fully used, there is always going to be the bounce of the ball or rub of the green in “LUCK” that often determines the score more than anything else, other than a piece of brilliance from an individual player that turns games on their heads;
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The very reason we love the sport so much, and we become tribal about our clubs, isn’t it? The unpredictability of it is what brings the suspense that keeps us glues to our screens whenever it’s possible for us to do so.
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See you at the game and have a good one LIR
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https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-12474119/ROB-DRAPER-Arsenal-superb-season-Arteta-fiddling-team-knows-analysts-poring-Gunners-evolve-die.html
Let Arteta have his adaptability but so long as it is equally followed by accountability.
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Not too much to ask for is it?
just a couple points of interest:
(1) considering United’s rather lacklustre form thus far, combined with the fact that they might need to employ a few newbies on this day, one might normally expect nothing less than all 3 points, especially on our own turf…that’s far from a given nowadays, with Arteta at his shoehorning worst and not a speck of new blood to lift our spirits, and as such I would suspect that a draw seems to be the most likely result…maybe just maybe the only silver lining comes ironically in the form of another injury, which will see Partey sidelined for the foreseeable future…of course, I certainly don’t mean to make light of his present predicament, as it’s not his fault that he’s been reduced to the role of MA’s inverted plaything, but his absence almost undoubtedly puts the kibosh, for the time being, on MA’s fever dream plans…birthed during a 4 day Ayahuasca cave retreat, this clusterfuck of relative nothingness has appeared more regressive than progressive, so maybe a return to some sort of normalcy might allow us to win the day
(2) as for Saturday’s results, I saw a few things of considerable import…most notably the productive outings of City, BHA and the Spurs…in regards to the former, I can’t help but think what sort of fucked up nonsense MA the “assistant” would have tried to employ were he still coning it up at the Etihad…let’s face it, their in full machine-learning mode, so much so that Pep’s brief absence will somehow make them better in the end…as for BHA, their electric, when at their best, and DeZerbi is showing why maybe having a chance to work on your craft before plying your trade in the best league in the footballing world is the best course of action…just wish we had even a modicum of their sense of urgency in the final third…as for the Spurs, this could be a classic new manager bump scenario, especially considering the toxic environment last season, but if that’s not the case they could be a tough out come derby time
Really good points VL 🙂
Tony-as per usual, we’re on the same page on most matters…have a good one
2X “they’re” instead of “their”
Tony
Read that article as well.
Absolute bollocks all this data.
Haaland, Ferguson and Son all scored hatricks, and Bellingham scored another late winner.
Great players and motivating them is what it’s all about, not more stats and data bollocks and confusing the players with all this absolute crap.
No wonder we concede so many goals after 1 fucking minute, the boys heads must be all over the gaffe with all this crap.
Also in the mail, I read English clubs spent the highest total ever on transfers.
Yet how comes then, silly bollocks 2 mustered only a million for Holding from Palace?
The money is clearly out there.
Let’s hope the boys ignore their managers egotistical instructions of a manager and beat United playing raw and real football
Lads
Colwyn Bay was a blast. 1 nil down, 2-1 up. County really dug in and look to be over their euro legacy hangover.
Glad I didn’t go to Ipswich where Cardiff blew a 2 goal lead to lose (2 silly deflected goals as well).
Closer to (our LiR!) home, this afternoon’s game is not firing me up. Arteta’s presence is slowly killing my love of Arsenal. Sob! Woe is me!
Almunia
Good result for the Addicks. Was it Nietzsche (sp) who said out of chaos comes order?
“Let’s hope the boys ignore their managers egotistical instructions of a manager and beat United playing raw and real football”
Problem with that is we win which keeps Arteta in the job longer. A little pain now will save us from a lot of pain further down the road.
Really happy the Colwyn Bay game went well’ I guess Cardiff are always going to rollercoaster their way through the league.
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As for the quote the Internet revealed this:
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‘The quote “Nietzsche said order comes out of chaos” is from the movie Blazing Saddles, not Nietzsche. The most celebrated quote from Nietzsche to that effect is: “one must face chaos to give birth to a star” from Thus Spoke Zarathustra.’
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Any score predictions?
Stellar comment by Tom on LG:
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“There’s been enough evidence from Arteta, whether by deed or statements, that he treats players like cattle, and if a video showed up of him taking a lead pipe to someones knee, more than a few here on LG would say it’s some elite treatment the rest of us obviously never heard of it and we should just shut the fuck up.”
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Like KP my enthusiasm for AFC will return once the cancerous growth lknown as Arteta has been removed.
Killroy
Tom’s one of the good LG posters and very knowledgeable about the game and from what he said recently is out with and ACL injury. His takes on the injury have been really incite full, from the horses mouth as it were. Her also takers sarcasm to a new level that’s often funny in an intelligent way.
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I’m with you and KP, as I would imagine many more are, but I’m not going to be driven out by Arteta sucking the life out of our club in football terms that is. We are Gooner lifers and it’s worth the ride for me for the last 60 years.
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Bit like being married really without refs and VAR. Some you win, lose and draw. 🙂
It’s like we’re back to Arteta year one with no real systemic identity and a confused squad that’s really 14 players. Crocks waiting to to trip on a buttercup or overgrown daisy and the fanboys praying for divine intervention or at least VAR being on our side ruling all Manure goals offside.
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Any bets toothy Fenandes getting a Red for being in the ref’s face too often.
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We’ll know in 4 hours.
Tony
Nice one. I have seen Blazing Saddles so it must have entered my noodle that way. Fake news, as Trump would say.
Marc
You’d be flayed for suggesting a loss might hasten Tets’s departure in other places but I wholly agree. In essence we could be so much more with an experienced and collegiate manager. Enjoy the game mate – it’ll be good to know about observations you have afterwards.
Killroy
I always found Tom to be not just knowledgeable but also entertaining. He regularly rides a coach and horses through the usual muppets’ arguments.
Almunia
I bet you’re watching that rather fiercely fought game in Glasgow at the moment. Fingers crossed for the Bhoys. How’s about a top 5 global derbies in terms of intensity? I’ll put mine up and anyone else is invited to give it a go.
1. Old firm derby. By miles. Big historical/sectarian dimension.
2. El clasico. Barca (sorry Killroy) v RM. Although not same city derby, big historical and political element.
3. Liverpool – Manure. The two biggest teams in the UK.
4. River – Boca in Argentina.
5. Racing – Independiente also in Argentina.
Other considerations. NLD. Fla – Flu in Brazil. That one in Egypt where hundreds died. West Ham-Millwall. Cardiff-Swansea. Benfica – Porto. AC – Inter and Roma – Lazio.
And not to forget Haverfordwest v Aberystwyth!
Don’t expect any formation changes this afternoon lads. Tets will be thinking…
OK, TP’s out because I fucked him up. I know, maybe try Jorginho there or Elneny…
Marc
I echo KP’s sentiments and looking forward to your observations.
Tony
I don’t suppose Pumpkin is still at your place? I think we might need him. But I’m still going for a single goal victory.
KP got our daughter to give him a rub in BKK.
That’s rare I get the line up almost right just had Jesus wrong.
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Hope that’s a good omen.
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Keeper – Ramsdale
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defense – White – Saliba – Gabs – Zinchenko
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Midfield – Ode – Rice – Havertz
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Up top – Saka – Nkethia– Martinelli
Tony
Cool. That’ll do. I feel more reassured now. Miaow!
I’m just not feeling any pre match tension these days when it comes to Arsenal. Gabriel back as you predicted and Eddie Unket starts.
Great minds Tony. Although in our case, addled by years of misuse!
Pool and City have be laid their PL markers with sound wins before the international break, what can Arteta do and what happened on the way to the Emirates will be very important to our play?
Looks like 433 before 60 different plays as it’s Manure.
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Guessing Arteta didn’t take the short cut today.
two big questions for me; firstly, can Havertz show some box-to-box tendencies, which haven’t really been required thus far, and can Eddie stop continually kicking the ball directly at the Keeper a time or two and can he finally redress his first touch wonkiness…as to the above questions, I’ll believe it when I see it…the only silver lining might be that oft-times when MA is forced into doing the right thing due to injuries, he’s lucked out, like when he had to play ESR and Marts a few years back…this time it’s not so much about the introduction of a new player into the starting mix, albeit this would have been a good time to give ESR a go. but about MA not having the horses to pursue his now preferred tactical script…finally, if we can’t beat a United lineup with two slower deeper-lying DMs and Martial up top, the shit’s going to hit the fan
Looking at the Manure side I think I would have preferred Jesus to start to get at Lindelof and Martinez who’s more Jesus’s size. A fresh Eddie at 60 minutes could do more damage, especially if Maguire is on.
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Will Gabs be game rusty, as he can be at times? His first start so we’ll see. Havertz again preferred to ESR, Trossard or Vieira. I just don’t see it, so going to watch him closely today.
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Big worry is if Casimero and Anthony attack our left while Kai is on free role walkies. Zinchenko just won’t cope even with Gabs help who will leave gaps doing so. Just think if we had KT. Then there is Zinch inverting leaving so much space for the ball in behind.
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There’s the other thinking that Arteta has got it all covered and we’ll spank Manure by Mikel’s galaxy-ness that Ten Hag just won’t be able to compete with..
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I’m sticking with my first thoughts.