I wrote a 500 word article about the things Pep taught everyone around him and then it hit me that you can’t beat him to his own game, so I started fresh.
Two managers, playing the same brand of football with equally technical players drilled for years are set to face each other in a major cup final for the first time and we will see who outclasses whom. Both of ’em have been fighting for the Premier League with Mikel falling short of his guru every single fucking time – but could this be a season where he can win the title and a beat him in a cup final? It starts today.
First, you can’t beat Pep to his own game. If Mikel has a game plan totally based on what Pep taught him during his City game, it’s not going to end well for us. He has to ‘unlearn’ some of that, take a leaf out of Wenger’s attacking football, score a couple and park the fucking bus like Mourinho used to. If you can’t score one, you have your own set piece strategy, make use of that. I won’t mind us winning 1-0 from a corner because it has been ages since we won something of importance.
Some Pep v Mikel stats
Ever since Mikel took over as Arsenal manager, we have faced City 12 times in the Premier League, Pep won the first 7, while in the last 5 games – Mikel won 2 and we have shared points the other 3 times.
In the FA cup, Mikel beat him in the 2020 season semi finals when we went ahead to win the only title under him. We lost to them 1-0 in 2023 though in the 4th round.
In the Carabao Cup, we only faced City once where Pep outclassed Mikel in a thumping 4-1 win in 2020.
The only other game where they both faced wach other was the 2023 community shield which ended in a 1-1 draw and we won it with penalties but I don’t give a fuck about it. Let Pep count it as a major trophy because he believes it counted as a quadruple for him.
9 wins for Pep, 3 for Mikel while they both shared points for the other 4 times. Mikel has been able to get points of the City in recent years so it’s not as bad as it looks. There’s a chance today.
Team News
We look fine. Except for Odegaard and Timber, everyone is available while both of them will be assessed before the game. I think Eze will play ahead of Ode even if the captain is fit but we do need Timber to make it. White had looked rusty, I love him but I have more confidence in Timber recently.
Kepa has been the keeper of the Carabao Cup. The tradition calls him to play today while a team that’s looking to win a trophy should play the best XI available. Is Mikel picking up Raya ahead of Kepa – it would be an interesting decision from him. I would go with Raya. There is no need for emotional crap when there’s a trophy on the line. Pick your best XI and Kepa will get his medal if you win.
Gyokeres is certainly starting for me. I won’t mind if we go with Madueke in place of Saka since the starboy has struggled a bit recently form-wise.
Wrapping Up
Right, a win today will boost the confidence of the lads and will motivate them to win some more. We are doing well in all 4 competitions and today could be a deciding factor of how we end up in PL, CL and FA Cup.
We are already competing with City in the Premier League – 9 points difference with 7 games to go and City has a game in hand. There is an Etihad visit lined up for us, so they are still in the mix.
In the FA cup, there is a very high probability that we would face them in semis or finals. They play Liverpool while we are against Southampton in the Quarter Finals.
Today’s not the end of it. It’s only the beginning and whoever wins it, will count it as first and use it for motivation for the rest of the season.
See you during the game.
On another note, BBC and Netflix have ruined the Peaky Blinders movie. It’s shite.
“but it doesn’t make sense se to play the first team with a 2nd string keeper”
Didn’t the team that won it play their 2nd choice keeper?
Wicksy
March 23, 2026, 8:58 am
City didn’t need Haaland but……
Agree with every word of that post.
Actually, couldn’t have written it any better myself if I tried.
Which only reinforces my previous sentiment, that anyone who sees things so clearly on one topic has to be a fucking troll when completely ignoring logic and facts opining on another.
You probably know what it is I’m referring to.
Tom
Thanks , but do you know that there is no known cure for TDS.
I left early in 2018. Really early. I wasn’t going to do that this time but the match had 2018 vibes about it. We weren’t quite as spineless as last time but still, after the second, I didn’t see us coming back.
I won’t criticise the selection of Kepa too much, I get it, but all the same it didn’t help. Not just the error but our ability to beat the press. Pep showed up, his shape was spot on and I think not selecting Cala and Raya hampered our capacity to play out the back.
I’d imagine the ManC shape would have been somewhat different even with just those Two present.
With Kepa, White and Timber we lacked a bit. Saka used to be a good out ball, less so right now. And the way he was beat for their first demonstrates his recent lack of sharpness.
But then, this comes down to management. We could all see the issues and Tets weakness, one that’s been obvious, in making changes came to bite.
First half was good, Pep made changes to change to game in the second. Tets sat back and rested without the job being close to done and when it no longer worked, hoped it would for far too long.
Hincapie needed to come off as much for tactical reasons as the yellow card. Saka for reasons of form. Tets has talked about the potential for subbing keepers in-game in the past, this was a day to walk the walk as I’m sure it would have helped.
I’m rarely one to throw out the whole baby with the bathwater. We did lots right in the first half. What I sensed after was players showing performative aggression, silly fouls and the like, as a substitute for cool heads and sticking to a plan. Perhaps because they didn’t believe in the plan or their ability to deliver. White on Cherki was the most obvious example. It served no practical use but gave us something, anything to believe that they were still fighting. It fooled nobody and almost seemed panicked.
We talked up the significance of this game beforehand, I’m not about to pretend it doesn’t matter now. I still think we’ll win the league, a quadruple would have been wonderful but in reality even doing doubles is hard. We’re likely to come a cropper elsewhere in the next couple of months so I’m not going to burn it all down on the back of this.
The lessons here are more about management. Arteta’s done a lot better this season in respect of subs and rotation, the perks of spending money, so there’s clearly been progression in that regard. As well as looking at his players he needs to be self critical about what he, in my view, got wrong here.
I’m also a little disappointed that there was no new merch on the back of this defeat. That P+F collab isn’t my cup of tea and new drops often help ease the pain. Or at least that’s what the marketing bods seem to think.
Kepa, White and Hincapie
Aitcho
Cheers. A very readable account of a depressing afternoon.
Before fans jump on the bandwagon of criticising Saka it is possible that his drop in form may coincide with the injuries to Odegaard this season as Odegaard’s first thought is to feed saka and then support him, this invariably meant that Saka would have more of the ball , plus previously Ben White tended to overlap more than Timber so there would be a triangle of players plus a striker , previously Havertz or Jesus who would also get involved in the build up .
What we have now is Saka isolated when receiving the ball as the opposition double up on him, yes Timber does support him but we don’t really play with a right sided no.8 plus gyokeres rarely gets involved in the build up.
Saka’s goal contributions have dropped off massively compared to the last 3 years , injuries are partly responsible but our slight change of formation is another possible cause as we tend to play with a no.10 rater than 2 no.8’s.
It could also be said that the slight change in formation hasn’t helped Martinelli or Trossard on the left as their goal contributions have also dropped off massively, probably because there isn’t as much space on the left .
Saka’s PREMIER LEAGUE goal contributions Inc this season
25/26……9
24/25…..16
23/24…..25
22/23…..25
Martinelli
25/26…..4
24/25…..12
23/24…..10
22/23…..20
I don’t think the arrival of Gyokeres has improved us offensively, the opposite in fact .
In the 23/24 season Havertz had 20 goal contributions, last season 12 with only 21 starts.
Gyokeres has 11 in 23 starts this season.
Our success this season has been largely due to our superb defence and keeper , plus set piece situations.
I believe that the club has a decision to make at the end of the season regarding Gyokeres, his technical level is obviously not good enough and if we persist with him as our main striker next season it will continue to hinder us as we can’t just rely on our defence and set pieces to get us out of trouble.
The city game at the weekend highlighted our short comings once city decided to relentlessly press us , lack of pace and lack of technique to beat the press could also be a problem when we face the top sides in Europe.
No doubt in the league game at the Etihad; city will press us relentlessly and Arteta will need to come up with some answers before then which may mean dropping Gyokeres as he will again be a passenger, it could end up being a rearguard action that will be a very difficult watch , let’s hope chelsea can do us a favour at the Bridge after the international break by taking points off city before we face them.
read this today and it summed up the amateur hour, blunt instrument robotic coaching methods of our little Spanish engine that couldn’t:
“Flummoxed by City’s decision not to press their backline, instead choosing to block passing lanes into midfield, Arsenal’s centre-backs and goalkeeper looked visibly confused as they passed the ball cautiously between them. Most Premier League teams sit in more compact mid-block, daring for opponents to attempt over-the-top passes. City’s version was this on steroids, something Arsenal were clearly not prepared for.
William Saliba and Gabriel are fine defenders, but neither had the ingenuity or wit to break out of their pre-programming. While Kepa Arrizabalaga, chosen over David Raya and destined to become the post-match talking point, resorted to punting the ball towards Hertfordshire on more than one occasion. It was a cool tactical move from Pep Guardiola, demonstrating there’s life in the old dog yet. That this one move exposed Arsenal so thoroughly must reflect badly on Mikel Arteta. There was no attempt to bring Declan Rice or Martin Zubimendi deeper to collect possession, nor was there a switch to jolt City out of their own tactical plans. But there was also the refusal by Saliba, Gabriel or Kepa to take a single risk with the ball. A slightly different input to their algorithmic patterns saw all three glitch out. That is surely a consequence of the manager’s tactical choice, drilled into his players on the training ground”
so whereas the issues surrounding Hip’s inability to defend as he normally might, due to his early yellow, and White’s bang average defending in wider spaces, certainly played a role in our loss, neither of these things help to explain why we were so toothless in attack…even if you want to put the blame for the first goal squarely on Kepa, we never looked like a side desperate for silverware, even during our most positive period early on, so any result other than a loss was highly unlikely
TRVL
You can’t blame the defenders – Arteta demands absolute obedience to his plan. The fault as always lies in Arteta not instructing the players to change what they were doing.
Think of the number of matches we’ve won this season where the forward play was abysmal until setpiece or own goal stepped up and opened up play.
He’s an incredibly 2 dimensional manager who’s somehow found himself at the helm of a billion quid squad.
I’m supposed to be impressed he’s competing? With what he’s spent that’s the bare fucking minimum.
Wicksy
Its possible Ode’s lack of game time has affected Saka’s performances – you’d expect it to have an impact but I also think Saka’s looked jaded and he’s becoming more injury prone.
I think he needs to be protected a little and with Madueke now in the squad there’s no reason to run Saka into the ground.
Next season will be worse with the World Cup in the summer and its highly likely England will go to at least the Semi Finals.
Will make our new managers first season in charge more difficult with a number of key players having a late return and a shortened pre season.
Great result for Arsenal women tonight in CL quarter final against Chelsea. Tough, resolute and ready to take on the opposition. The opposite of the men displayed on Sunday.
But then Renee Slegers is a far superior manager to her over emotional, pouting ponce of a counterpart in the men’s set up. 3-1 ahead before next week’s second leg
What was telling is some of the players could identify the problem but the rigid game plan they must adhere to left them wanting. Apparently Congo wasn’t happy.
A typical copy and paste comment from TRVL.
I actually thought Ben White played Doku quite well , all the problems were from our left back position, it was interesting to read an analyst saying that Pep targeted our left side as it would render Gabriel ineffectual when the ball was put in the box , and that is how it worked out, the fact that city put in something like 17 crosses and 15 of those came from their right wing is confirmation of that..
All will be forgotten in a few weeks if we come back after the break with 4 positive results against Southampton, Sporting twice and Bournemouth before we face city.
Alternately , Alarm bells will be ringing if we fail to qualify for the semi final of both cup comps and beat Bournemouth.
Southampton could prove to be our more difficult game as they are very good in transition so they will need to taken very seriously.
Wicksy
I think the Southampton match will be harder than some imagine because we’ll need to rotate.
We have 5 matches in 15 days including City and we’ll need players to be sharp – I’m not sure we’ll have much scope to rest / rotate players in the other games.
Who knows maybe we’ll whip Sporting in the first leg and make the second match a formality but I wouldn’t count on it.
Ben White
Despite his experience, deputy right-back (for Jurriën Timber) was unable to nullify Doku, who caused him serial headaches. Booked for scything down Cherki. 4
Ben White – 5.5: Brought in as the defensive specialist to slow down Doku with Jurrien Timber missing out through injury, White had a tough time defensively and left big shoes unfilled when Arsenal had the ball.
Ben White 5
Linked up well in attack early but had a tough time defensively. Doku had the beating of him in the second half and then booked for clattering into Rayan Cherki, who had just juggled the ball.
Ben White – 5/10
The potential concern for Gooners up against Jeremy Doku but marshalled the Belgian in the first half WITH HELP from teammates. However, when it was one-vs-one, he stood no chance. Booked and hooked.
Jeremy Doku (8/10):
A frustrating first half made way for a brilliant second as he ran White ragged.
Jeremy Doku – 7: The best of the attacking bunch, was dangerous on the dribble and kept White pinned back defensively when Arsenal typically ask a great deal of their full backs in possession.
How’s that for cut and paste you dimwitted fuckwad!! FU
TRVL
Averaging 5 out of 10 probably makes White one of our betters performers from Sunday!
The manager manages nil points.
Marc—it will be intriguing to see if other clubs will try to mimic what Pep did in the final…between the strategies employed by Lever, albeit to a lesser degree, and City, there’s a viable blueprint or two out there…now some teams won’t have the personnel required to pursue either, but it could be problematic further down the road in Europe when we finally face someone of note…that said, for some strange reason no one copied PSG’s strategy when it came to defending our set pieces, so maybe everyone will ignore the prevailing evidence once again…if you fail to take advantage of any opportunity that forces MA into adjusting on the fly you deserve to lose, as everyone and their fucking brother knows he struggles in those situations (even more so when the stakes are raised)…let’s hope that our most offensively gifted players have come to realize that MA’s robotic shit won’t get it done all the time, so instead of staying the course, when it’s clearly not working, they choose to go off script…Cheers
TRVL
The proof will be when we play City in a couple of matches – they do the same and we look completely flummoxed again and other teams will attempt something similar.
I feel, RS, much like Arteta, banked a lot of goodwill with an cup win, wins early on. Admittedly a Champs League win and CWC is a different level to an FA Cup.
All the same, early in the season, perhaps a hangover from last, we struggled. There were a few games where we found it difficult to break lesser teams down and now we’ve found ourselves struggling to make Champs League spots.
I feel she’s taken a conservative approach, not really playing to our creative strengths and not properly using Mariona, she should be much higher. I also feel she’s leaned into the old guard more than was healthy, players like Little needed to be managed more carefully and someone like McCabe, much as I love her, isn’t the future. The lack of game time for Nighswonger seems inexplicable given her reputation, I saw nothing like enough to assess her properly but the transfer makes no sense in hindsight given how little she was played
Infuriatingly both ManC and ManU have progressed, even Spurs are close and I fear we’ve rested on our laurels to a degree.
Not so long ago, the Women’s Derby was a gimme. I’m going this Sat, I have the six game bundle plus the odd game to top up, but even they’re able to give us a game now with the result earlier in few season as evidence of that as well as our creative struggle at the time.
I’m not sure if RS is that much a better manager than Tets, while Euro trophies are welcome, given their respective starting points, she had a Prem wining worthy squad to start with, it can’t be a like for like comparison.
Wicksy
March 24, 2026, 5:08 pm
Before fans jump on the bandwagon of criticising Saka it is possible that his drop in form may coincide with……..
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Another tactically astute analysis , Wicksy.
Agree completely.
I should probably just read all your football takes and pass them off as my own, if those two I’ve read are any indication.
As to your earlier TDS remark, I wouldn’t know, don’t need one.
I’ve been checked out from participating from my country’s political kabuki theater for decades.
Taking the piss and unmasking people’s shitty, self serving takes with actual facts is not synonymous with caring one way or another.