Before I begin, I want to thank you all for sticking to the blog. This is the 300th article on LONDON IS RED. I started this in March 2021 out of frustration; fans saw Arteta as the next Arsenal God without anything to back up those claims and I wanted a place where people can be critical of the team they support without being told off. We have celebrated the wins, we have criticized the losses and we will keep doing it. There’s no agenda here and we don’t worship any manager or player but the club.
The beauty of Champions League is that there’s a better wanker out there than you. Arteta loves to control the game and sometimes, it comes at the cost of boring, uninspiring football where you see your striker defending in your own box. Well, he gets to play someone who does it better and been doing it for much longer. If the rules permit, Simeone will jump on the pitch himself to add an extra defender. We are going to see two of the most defensively drilled teams play together in the Champions League today and you shouldn’t expect an exciting, goal laden match.
However, it’s a home game and with 2 wins in first 2 games, you have the advantage of going for a win. Atletico are one of the worst teams to play against. They crushed Frankfurt earlier with 5 different goal scorers and almost made a comeback against Liverpool at Anfield after going down 2-0 in first 10 minutes which they lost ultimately, thanks to an extra time goal from Van Dijk.
Team News
Both our midfielders in Zubimendi and Rice has earned 2 yellow cards in first two matches, and if they happen to receive another one, they will get a one match suspension. Playing them together will have the risk of missing out on both in the next game, and hopefully Mikel is not that foolish.
Without Odegaard, we would have to rely on a midfield of Eze, Rice/Zubimendi and Merino. Yes, Nwaneri is not going to get his starts anytime sooner and both Rice and Zubimendi shouldn’t be on the pitch, which leaves us with Merino. Against Atletico, I would be tempted to start Martinelli, he is in goal scoring form and can run through their defence.
Saka-Gyokeres-Martinelli up top does the job for me. Defence will pick itself, with Timber and Calafiori on either side and the best CB partnership will start.
Wrapping Up
You can’t relax against them. You can’t think 2-0 is enough. You can’t try to dictate the game because they will be tough to break and you simply can’t park the bus hoping for a set piece goal because that’s what they have been doing since 2011. What’s the way then? Attack.
We should go into the game with a positive, fearless mindset. We have a solid defence and with an attacking midfield, we could create them some problems. The game will not be played in the middle, so the onus lies on Saka, Gyokeres and Martinelli/Trossard to convert whatever they get in the opposition penalty box.
Also, we will get to know who the master of dark arts is. See you during the game.
Arsenal Goal scorers list is out for this season and I am updating it regularly. We don’t have the desired results from the front 3 so far, with Timber an Zubimendi in top 3 in Premier League; Champions League stats looks okay though. Take a look –
Wicksy
I was more inclined to play Zubimendi initially if ever we play with just one DM but Declan Rice has proved me wrong.
He has been ecstatic, and the competition around him with Zubi, Eze, Nwaneri is making him work harder. I won’t mind if we play him over Zubi in a single pivot.
Too early to rule then out of the race but they have lost their last 4 PL games.
They lost only 4 games last season.
I didn’t see last nights match but the result, the number of goals Liverpool have and are conceding (joint worst defence in the top 12) show just how fucking useless Captain Fuckwit is. He went to Liverpool who were clearly struggling at the back, had conceded 4 goals in their opening 2 matches 6 if you include the Charity Shield and what did he do?
The cunt went defensive.
Not coming away from that match with at least a draw should see the cunt sacked.
It will be interesting to see who is our first choice left winger once the injuries aren’t affecting selection.
clearly Rice reminded MA of his promises regarding going forward…how else would one explain Eze being shoehorned in on the right…who knows though, maybe he and Saka can conjure something up…not to mention, I would suspect that there will be some positional movement between Rice and Eze…regardless it just shows how little he cares about the offensive capabilities of his best and brightest, which makes perfect sense in light of the bully-ball tactics
We need to sharpen up – we’re making unforced errors and giving them chances.
Very much looking like a team that had a midweek match at the moment.
open play opportunity??? Tross might find himself in the doghouse if he continues with that sort of nonsense…he should have hammered it off a defender for a corner
that’s why you don’t hide his right foot on the right side of the pitch…still, you just knew it had to come from a set piece…maybe that will get Eze going
Kung Fu Fucking Tastic.
Great finish but if we’re serious about competing for the PL we really need to be able to score a first goal from open play on occasions.
It really was a daft free kick for the Palace player to give away in the first place.
Wharton and the ref have been our saving graces thus far…we likely should have scored from a set piece again
That kit?!? Two shades of baby shit. Mirconium.
Meconium…baby shit nonetheless.
at the stroke of halftime the commentator said that we had a 1-0 advantage even though we hadn’t “necessarily” played our best football, which is a rather telling statement about what he generally expects from a MA-run side
Have a feeling CP players can anticipate what the Arsenal players in front of them have been instructed to to do. They know about the inevitable crossing of the ball !
Very pleasing to see GG in the crowd. A proper legend as player and manager.
Even GG was bored shitless
Gabs got his balls rung
we’ll do anything to score a goal except play attractive football
Palace’s touches in the final third have been rather pathetic…thankfully for us