Wednesday night kick-off at 7.30 PM, we are going to play Crystal Palace in the Carabao (EFL) cup quarter finals. We have probably got the easiest draw out of the 8 teams and as frustrated as I am with our Premier League run and football we are playing in general, there’s still some hope. I had written enough about my frustration in my last post so it’s time to see the brighter side in this one.
First, we are doing well so far in Champions League. If we win another game there, we will most likely qualify for round of 16. Though we have been shit in Premier League lately, we are sitting third behind Pool and Chelsea and on a 6 points difference to Liverpool who have a game in hand. Lets say they win that and we would be 9 points behind but there is still 22 games left and it can go any side. We should be concerned about our game and the way we have been dropping points against small teams but it’s not over yet.
I’m sure you would agree to me if I say that Premier League and Champions League takes the priority over Carabao Cup, but there’s a very important factor here – CONFIDENCE! If we win against Crystal Palace at home, it would not only put us closer to a title where Newcastle, Tottenham, Manchester United and Liverpool are competing but can also give us back some of that confidence which we are lacking lately. A loss would further demoralise the players and the manager and there’s a hell lot of game still left that will decide our season in December itself.
So, lets go out and win this, and let us use that confidence of a win in Premier League games.
Arsenal v Crystal Palace
Carabao cup is interesting this season. No nonsense in quarter finals.
Newcastle will take on Brentford, Liverpool will visit Southampton and Man Utd and Spuds will compete against each other to make into the last 4.
The single biggest reason we should try and win this, is that Spuds are in contention and we don’t want them their hands on a trophy however small it is.
In the team news, we won’t have Ben White or Calafiori available. Mikel subbed Declan Rice against Everton due to a nibble so he would probably get a rest. Jorginho can start along side Partey and Odegaard and frankly I want to see us field the best XI available simply to win this and grow our confidence back but Nwaneri has been dominating the Carabao Cup for us with 3 goals and he deserves to bench Odegaard for this game. Ode, after back from an injury, shouldn’t be playing 2 games a week when there are much important games left plus Nwaneri has been very good so far whenever he has been given minutes. He is direct, looks more to score than Ode and we surely can develop him with these game minutes.
Injuries are a concern but if you were to play your best playing XI in a Carabao cup game against Crystal Palace at home when you are competing in both PL and CL, then you were wrong to begin with. Lets be clear here, our 2nd team is also a Mikel-bought one and if we are paying the likes of Jorgi, Sterling, Merino some good money and if they can’t win us a game against Crystal Palace, then the manager have to take the blame.
It’s a crucial one, this game. Lose and our confidence goes down through lift. A win here would give us some much needed confidence and that could help us play better in coming days.
Short one today, hope Winter is treating you well. See you during the game tomorrow.
TRVL
With all of those misses you must also be wearing a giraffe neck outfit. The big day is tomorrow – winter solstice. Our house is decked in greenery – apparently in the UK the official time is 21.57 and not sunrise. At 21.57 I will be past caring.
looks like Rice and Cala are back for tomorrow’s rematch with Palace, which should make things easier if MA starts the latter at LB and Timber in his best position…although it can be difficult to beat a team twice in the same week, this one should be a cakewalk
Norg—as opposed to peacocking, I was Kai Havertzing all over my backyard…if MA could have seen how hard I worked at not scoring, he would have likely signed me on the spot for a cool 300 per
the big question of the day, who the fuck is Alberto Moleiro?? I know he’s 21 and plays for Las Palmas, but the numbers don’t jive…the headlines say he’s scored 13 and assisted on another 11, but that’s misleading, as those are his total stats over 128 games, whereas this season he has 4 goals and 0 assists in 17…some are convinced that he’s the next Iniesta, but the above statline seems to suggest otherwise…furthermore, he has a 20M MV, but the insiders are claiming that we paid some sort of 60M release clause…that doesn’t seem right either
of course, he could be fucking fantastic, but I feel if that were the case I might have heard more about the next Andres Iniesta by now…the author did suggest that Pool were looking to bring him in, but I’m not sure how serious their interest was…mind you, the same individual likewise stated that he wasn’t sure if he was coming to be an immediate first teamer or if he was one for the long-run, which did give me cause for pause, as it’s not like he’s 16 or 17……I guess all will be revealed at some point between now and next summer…definitely one to keep my eyes on
It would appear that MA has admitted to being terrified when taking over at the Emirates?
Explains the weaknesses in him that still remain today. Non-negotiables were/are because he has good communication skills that come with empathy and understanding, especially when dealing with hormonal or precocious talents need the opposite of being ruled by fear.
MA doesn’t have that special Cruyff, prime Pep, Klopp, Slot, GG, early Wenger of go express yourselves as his tactics, Chapman et al all had ways with their players and there were some lovable, beer monster, crazies over the decades that were testing.
Simply put, MA cannot walk in those manager’s shoes and never will. He’ll end up like Moyes, his mentor is my best bet, as I subscribe to Graeme Souness’s take of MA being the nearly man.
I mean would any of those managers have a few speakers on stands around the training pitch to emulate Anfield culdron? Seriously? Wouldn’t have going to the emirates and using the stadium sound system at least add a tad to the bizarre thinking?
Pickpockets and Win the dog et al haven’t helped our cause, have they? Made us laugh with the banality first, and then shedding tears with the lack of results and seeing the futility of the future but helpless to affect change……….
All we can do is hope MA archives what looks like the impossible or KSE decide they want real trophies, realising back in America that those who know the game will have Bantz for KSE if we won the EFL cup.
A very minor cup only just above the CS and below the FA cup is nothing to crow about with an £billion squad still missing 2 major pieces.All pieces should have been filled last by year. Doesn’t even paper over the 5 year and counting cracks.
Game’s too late for me, and there is no game to switch over to if we are our usual predictable selves. I’ll watch in the morning with the ability to move the game forward if needs be better for my footballing sanity…….
All MA does is use his flowery Spanish nuances in English to sound important and intelligent not realising he has to use intelligent words with honest and reality meanings , too.
You can’t think straight when you’re terrified. You get copious amounts of cortisol when under stress where prolonged stress produces more harmful amounts and why an athlete needs rest to reduce such levels.
https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/articles/22187-cortisol
I’ll leave you to make of that what you will as, I’m no doctor, but I have trained all my life, had a full 6-pack at 65, and only a few kg away from it again at 69, which I have plans to do for fun next year…..
Never stop challenging yourself lads, that’s my motto. Age is just a number until it isn’t and life leaves us.
Back to hapless MA, I would wager he’s as terrified now, as he was when he took over with all the swings and misses for the PL crown, which is repeating itself again.
Nothing he does produces results the other than his way of playing by numbers where our set pieces kind of prove this theory, don’t they. Golas by numbers if you like.
Palace was an anomaly with the open goals where VAR might have had different opinions with the hindsight they get in replays. Let’s hope they don’t turn up again where getting the points should be a formality at home. We will, of course, make it difficult for ourselves with MA’s playbook.
Tony
I’ve pretty much always thought Arteta was a nearly man – talks a good talk but rarely backs it up. One of the problems with Arteta is he manages to pull off a few good results every so often getting within sight of achieving something special and then trips at the final hurdle (usually a low bar).
What might finally fuck him is Liverpool and Chelsea seem to be on a resurgence, even if City are kicked out of the PL Arsenal are no longer in pole position to take over at the top.
If anything we look like we’ve regressed this season, we could even be looking at a scrap for 4th if we don’t liven up.
Marc
Totally agree and just hope KSE see the light sooner than later.
City losing at Villa just perfect.
Villa are making lightning counters with City looking vulnerable every time. They could ship s few in this game.
Would you take Palmer from Chelsea. For me he would be a great buy, Marc.
Watching Villa and I think Duran and Roger’s such quality buys where we bought Havertz and Sterling.
Enough said!
Rogers adds a beauty to break Pep’s heart.
Villa paid £8m for Rogers which can rise to a staggering £16m
We pay 30+m for Merino. Some talent spotter Efu and MA were/are, right?
Tony – Villa is the local club here and they are enjoying their football again. The run that Rogers made pls tell me one Arsenal who can do it or even allowed to that in MAs setup. There was one ESR who was wrecked before he was sold. He was capable of such a run now to an extent Timber can make but he will be coached out of it.
I thought Villa will pay for their poor finishing but now seems to be in a strong position.
Shows Monchi had still got juice finding gems.
Madhu
Duran’s run was sublime and Roger’s is do strong on the ball he made his goal brilliantly with intelligent football.
City are so easy to beat these days.
We need 3 points with the usual suspects looking likely to add points this weekend.
We’ve all said what could Pep do with an average squad and little money to buy?
Now we know. Cheque book manager same MA
Summed up Villa made City look very ordinary today other than a Foden solo effort in stoppage time.
Pep’s PL dominance is over well and truly..😂
Having a complicated 2 days (I really need a beer and yes I’ll be cracking one any minute now) but been out and about doing Christmas stuff – got near a radio and City have lost again!
What the fuck is going on up there? Too many of their players are still top quality and would walk into most PL teams but they can’t buy a win.
Johnny Vaughan cracked a joke on the radio the other day that they’re doing it on purpose to try and lessen the FFP punishment by pleading “we’re shit you can’t punish us”.
You have to wonder.
It’s been quite some time since Pep’s been so bereft for answers, but the reasons why things have gone pear-shaped are easy to see…he’s got no real width, minus when Doku’s playing and he’s been injured for a sizeable chunk, he’s got players that are ill-equipped to play certain roles, yet they’re required to do so, like with Kovacic and Gundo, which has made them exceedingly more vulnerable on the counter and far less effective going forward, and some of his transfer missteps are coming home to roost, as with Grealish and Phillips, who should have been a seminal figure in their midfield by now…furthermore, Pep has never favoured an out-and-out Striker, so there’s been some serious servicing concerns ever since KDB’s decline has set in and they haven’t been able to stretch opposing defences…it’s all well and good to be experimenting with defenders taking up advanced positions when everything’s clicking, as they tend find wide open spaces in the final third, but when things aren’t going as planned it’s far more likely that you’ll get burned on the counter than score a goal…if it weren’t for our set piece wet dreams, we would be in a very similar position
Tony—did you see my MA anniversary “roast” post at the bottom of page 3? I only say that because your above post about MA being terrified early on was of a similar nature
Ornstein wrote an article about who MA’s preferred target would be, should we buy an out-and-out Striker, and I’m still not convinced that Isak’s at the top of his wishlist…of course, there’s been ample chatter in this regards for several years now, going all the way back to his time at Sociedad, but I just can’t see MA, considering his tactical approach, going all in for this pacey, get-in-behind Striker…we’ve been bereft of directness for 4+ years now and never once has he bought a player to help remedy this situation, so why would he be so deadset on doing so now…personally, I think he would be a great signing, but only if he was going to be used properly and was able to remain relatively injury-free between now and season’s end
Thanks for the tweak Ambarish. The comments fonts are aOK.
Now leave well alone
Credit for the goal should be to Big Gabs Magalhães. He used his frame and outstretched arms to hold back Palace defenders. Thereafter it was an easy – peezy to Jesus.
We survive only because of Jover
Good strike by Sarr. A groundshot hugging the turf all along. Raya is susceptible to groundshot
the Jesus purple patch tour continues…it does make me worry that this is taking place right before the opening of the window though
Raya was lucky with his first fuck up, but a well-placed shot by Sarr evened things up anyways
I just knew that if MA started Jesus he couldn’t stop himself from putting Havertz in the midfield, a position that he’s never earned the right to play
Jesus with a second strike. His positional luck is on the ascendant
he breaks a 23 game League drought, then scores a brace in a matter of minutes…go figure
based on this start, we should win 12-10
good on Raya for saving Saliba’s blushes
I’m not liking how Saka’s holding on to the back of his leg