Well, football gods aren’t treating us well so far this year. We started well against Brentford with a 3-1 away win but then gave away the advantage by drawing to Brighton at home. Newcastle beat us 2-0 at Emirates in the first leg of Carabao Cup semi final, we then lost to Man Utd at home in a penalty shootout which ended our FA Cup run. We did beat Spurs in the North London Derby but Emery made sure we grieve again against Villa. We are plagued with injuries with Bukayo Saka side-lined for a very long time, Jesus as well.
On one side, we have been out of FA cup and Carabao cup looks almost impossible since we have to visit Newcastle in the second leg and they have a 2 goal advantage. In the Premier League, we have been giving away points and chances to catch up to Liverpool who are sitting on a 6 point lead to us and got a game in hand.
On the other side, we are sitting 5th in the Champions League table with 13 points in 6 games and we have next two games against Dinamo Zagreb and Monaco. These are relatively easier games, though European nights are very unpredictable. A win against Dinamo today will make it easy for us to qualify for knockout stage.
William Saliba will miss the game due to the hamstring injury he picked up last week and it would take couple more weeks for him to recover. Calafiori and Nwaneri were back in training but they will need another evaluation before the game. The usuals – Saka, White, Tomiyasu, Jesus remains unavailable.
Arteta in his press conference gave the reason for playing Partey at RB – unavailability of players. Now I can understand that, when Timber was injured and we didn’t have anyone to play on the left. Recently, MLS has been sensational in the LB position and Timber is back at RB, but he has got another problem with Saliba’s injury. Take it with a pinch of salt but some of the publications were reporting that he might try Declan Rice at CB. Rice was playing in that position at West Ham academy. I would take that over playing Thomas Partey at RB.
Here’s what Mikel had to say about playing Thomas at RB.
I had no choice, I didn’t have another right full-back, just Jurrien, nobody else. Who plays when Jurrien isn’t available for his load is too high? The other day was the first time [he moved Jurrien to centre-back] but in relation to the way we have to play, we cannot have a right-footed player defending a right winger. I didn’t have another right-sided centre-back.
source : Arsenal.com
RW is another problem. Martinelli is not cutting it and I have no idea why we got Sterling in first place. A sane manager would send him back to Chelsea and recall Nelson.
Right, I am looking forward to the game. Mathematically there are 16 other clubs competing for top 8 with us, and a win today will make it smaller.
Lets do it. #COYG
Btw, I hate the right wing media as much as I hated the left ones. But at least I can see the truth about Republic TV. They show it they are making money in the name of nationalism.
They are like fools acting as fools. Left ones here acted like intellectuals, holier than thou individuals, who were fools as well.
There’s no true left ideologies left. Everyone is looking for money and power. The anti-left just show it on the face. Like the trump, like the modi, like the angela morkel, and that poland guy.
I am originally from Bihar, Madhu and Hoopah probably can relate – it’s the poorest state.
A socialist individual was CM for 15 year. There was an income tax raid on him when I was still in school, he had to dump cash in a river because he ran out of places to hide it. Fishermen found it the next day.
A fucking socialist. Give me a trump over him anyday. I can live with an idiot but not a scum. Probably whey 51% of Americans voted for trump.
Well Ambarish I will agree with you on the media but disagree with you on the right though. The nonsense Hindutva and right wing ideology is an absolute no no for me. Modi is a killer and rules like a gangster. RSS and it’s ideology is poisonous.
Madhu—I concur with most of your comments, especially those pertaining to the rise of the morally bankrupt at both ends of the financial and political spectrum…how else could one rationalize the connection that Trump, a silver-spooned fuck, forged with the disenfranchised classes…in him they see themselves, as they feel he’s actually a victim of a society that has attempted to fast track a fundamental shift in the way it operates with the rise of a variety of several once well-intentioned seminal movements(Me-too, BLM, LGBTQ etc…)during the Obama years…this new world placed many of them squarely within the crosshairs, as it required them to either change the way in which they conducted themselves, both publicly and privately and in accordance with “their” ever-increasing rules, or face their wrath
now this wasn’t a slow crawl commonsensical gig, this was a reparations on steriods “I’m going to get mine” fuckfest, so I can see why it ruffled so many feathers…so, at least in theory, the choice became either suck it up, tuck your head and spend the rest of your life apologizing for things you may or may not have done, or find an outlet for your growing frustrations by aligning yourself with a bunch of like-minded individuals and acting as if everything outside of this no longer mattered…thus the rise of fake news and the like…unfortunately Trump not only swims in this pool of unenlightened entitled despair, he found a way to harness it for his own purposes, without care or concern for the potential long-term consequences…this fuck isn’t even a Republican, he’s a morphing wannabe entertainer who was embarassed one night at a White House correspondent’s dinner and has sought his revenge ever since…hardly the kind of origin story that brings the best out in someone…so until this misappropriated restlessness dies down and/or the majority who sit somewhere within the commonsensical middle insist on a less radicalized course, this Caligula reboot will continue to run roughshod over the rest of us
“Arsenal are willing to do a big deal in January – but only if they can land a primary target”
this is simply setting the stage in case we do sweet fuck all in this window…it’s like the ghost of Wenger past
TrVL – what I find it hypocritical and outrageous is his call on Canada and Greenland. He is a bully and we all know. He takes advantage of being president of US and makes derogatory statements on the sovereign nations going to the extent of talking about annexing them. Any other leader says anything remotely close there will be calls for sanctions. Because Us and dollar has monopoly over trade and Is cannot be sanctioned it gives a free hand for him to ride roughshod over other nations? Because US citizens are not averse to elect a corrupt and criminal person as president doesn’t mean that the world needs to reconcile with that. He is a thug and no matter he carries a bible with him will not undo that. It’s despicable that half of the world bows to such a thug and as a bully he keeps bullying knowing pretty well that any balance of push back he can unleash his weapons on that country. This is the so called world order that we live in? He has 4 years of unfettered power since he doesn’t need to bother to re election. This is last term and he can unleash whatever mayhem that he wants. That’s the danger and whether the natural checks and balances in US works or not is to be seen. It’s predicted that Elon Musk in the next 4 year might cross 1 trillion wealth and the next closest rich man may be far behind. If this is going to become true then our woes are only beginning.
There’s a lot of wisdom in what you say about Elon, Madhu.
I wonder is dystopia that far away? 100 years from now with another few billion pulling on the world’s resources? Will Darwinism prevail and bring down dystopia with the strongest prevail?
Sounds science fictional but I find the corporations are just as scary bringing the Rollerball movie to mind with James Caan.
In our lifetime the super league is coming with relegation but the streaming rights’ billions will eventually suck the very soul out of football to something unrecognizable.
Meanwhile back on planet LIR looking forward to the game tomorrow as it’s a 10pm KO for me.
TRVL
I assume if I quote “like a new signing” it might not go down well?
” It’s predicted that Elon Musk in the next 4 year might cross 1 trillion wealth”
They say there’s a fine line between genius and being a madman.
Personally I think Musk splits himself equally between genius, madman and complete twat. The only prediction I’d make about him is he will at some point manage to kill himself probably trying some lunatic idea.
In the meantime if he helps the US reduce the size of the blob / drain the swamp it can’t be a bad thing – I’d stand back everyone Kroenke will have a complete meltdown at the idea of reducing the size of the civil service even if its in another country.
From Sky Sports:
“Until today, Mikel Arteta had seemed to imply that, while he’d like to do that, he didn’t feel it was an absolute necessity.
“That changed this morning, as an unusually on-edge Arteta openly admitted that they do need to sign a forward this month given the loss of both Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Jesus.
“Another interesting comment to have emerged from his press conference this morning was that the players themselves feel the squad needs reinforcing and that Arteta consults the players when it comes to prospective signings.”
as to his last comment, regarding the consulting of players, that probably has more to do with all the assurances that he’s gifted a whole host of players in order to secure their signatures…it’s still diificult to believe anything that comes out of his mouth, for obvious reasons…of course, I hope that reinforcements will be forthcoming, but only under the following conditions: (1) no more half measure Sterling-like 11th hour options, (2) no players on term that will impact our future plans, (3) no loans with obligations to buy, (4) no loans without an option to buy, in case they come good, and (5) it must be someone with a proven track record when it comes to goalscoring…fingers and toes crossed, as I don’t have a lot of faith how we conduct business
as for my political commentary yesterday, I just want to apologize if my words got twisted and actually offended anyone, as that certainly wasn’t my intention…I could literally talk for days on the matter, but the subject is a bit too nuanced for this sort of forum, so I’ll refrain from going ape in the future…as someone who has a profound contextual understanding of this situation, due to my former profession, I tend to take the whole thing far too personally…some years back myself and a fellow colleague developed then taught an optional half-course that spoke specifically about the rise of the Billionaire classes as a political superpower in the years following Ross Perot’s failed Presidential run(many professors and students openly scoffed at the notion)…we had both been greatly impacted by a course on totalitarianism, which was taught by a visiting Russian scholar, and it provided us with both the impetus and developmental framework that this undertaking required…Cheers
TVRL – no offense mate on anything you have mentioned. Politics influences us all in multiple ways so we do take it personally and we should cause it influences our lives.
If there’s a player we have missed in the last 4 or 5 games it’s Nwaneri.
The difference between Nwaneri and sterling or martinelli is like night and day.
I believe Nwaneri has traits of Messi in his game,(don’t laugh), he has quick feet a superb football brain and rarely stands still when he makes a pass, also he has a very short back lift when shooting, crossing or passing.
Time will tell if he can follow in messi’s footsteps, the Arteta brand of safety first football may hold him back but I’m hoping that a player as talented as he is can be let off the leash to cause havoc to the opposition defenders.
At present with have a very average odegaard being used as our playmaker and he is gone back to his safety first mode , for me Odegaard is a much more effective when he takes risks with and without the ball.
Some were fooled into believing that odegaard is a 15 goal a season man when just about everything he hit found the back of the net a couple of seasons ago, personally I have never been totally convinced of his ability to reach double digits in front of goal as he is not a great striker of a football , similar to Havertz really .
This season odegaard’s creativity has taken a bit of a dive but it is not unusual for odegaard to have a slow start to the season and finish with a flourish, let’s hope he can turn it around as he is not playing bad it’s just that the killer ball has deserted him, maybe he is just missing saka..
Will a new striker make that much difference who knows, personally I would like to see us tighten up in the centre mid area as against the better teams we look susceptible to the counter as villa showed last week.
Still lots to play for this season with a few coming back from injuries now , so we should be able to compete for the big trophies up until the end of the season, although we will need to be close to perfect in the league to have a chance.
Morning all
MA getting pressed in an interview:
A journalist said: “You clearly don’t share that same sentiment. Do you think it is essential to sign a forward…”
Arteta quickly rejected that and said: “Have I ever said no to a striker?” That led to a swift response: “No, but you don’t feel it’s a necessity do you?” The Arsenal boss took issue with that school of thought and said: “How do you say that?”
The journalist was then asked to be more specific with the question before the Spanish coach made his feelings known on the matter. He said: “My opinion is clear. We lost two very important players in Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Jesus. So we lack goals, we lack people, we lack options up front. That is clear.”
Nothing was added from MA. No solution or what is going to happen where we only have 6 days TW left.
Wicksy
Good Ethan & Ode points raised. I’ve been banging the Ethan drummer game time since early last season. In feel MA saw Ethan, as another Patino or ESR forgetting ESR saved his job. We are about to lose another top youth CD prospect to Manure. We are trying to keep like like we did the striker who left us.
I hate losing out best kids.
Ode does too much defending to score and take chances. His shots are rushed and he’s often too deep to play defense splitting passes. Managers are closing Ode down as their main tactic. Now they don’t have to double team Saka, this is easier for defenders to stop Ode playing effectively.
We’ve all here, especially TRVL, Marc, KP and me have been crying out for an elite 8 since before we bought White. It’s why we didn’t like White’s purchase, because we needed an 8 first, because also not having an 8 of note adds too much pressure to Ode to continually perform or we lose points, then some blame Ode for not being our expected superman.
Essentially, as we’ve all said here to win the CL or PL we need an elite 8 & 9.
Ethan needs to play 8 for me, but we need him to play RW. Ethan is never a Messi, but could be a new Bergkamp (inside right) or especially I see our Irish jig player Liam Brady in Ethan or him being a pacier Cesc?
So, I can’t get behind your thinking we still have something to play for. We don’t, only a CL place at best. We simply drop points too easily and MA is not fixing the reasons why we are playing such a roller coaster season?
We have an unbalanced squad, which is simply down to MA after spending £800m, and yet we still desperately need that elusive 8 & 9. Problem is good players don’t want to play for MA, and go elsewhere not wanting to play 2nd fiddle to our star man in only MA’s eyes: Havertz.
Who wants to play must-not-lose-football? Certainly not elite ballers with high footballing IQs.
MA is going to die on the need a quality 8 & 9 hill, and it can’t come quick enough for me and all here.
New manager with a quality 8 & 9 from his first TW, and we’ll see our squad in a new light who can challenge the right way and win the CL and PL by playing to our strengths with players in their best positions.
Wouldn’t that be a novelty players playing where they can naturally really deliver their best consistently. .
We are 3 pieces away from that: a new manager and elite 8 & 9.
That’s my belief and has been for 3+ years. Auba was decent but fell foul of MA, as we all know now.
TRVL
Consulting the players is the biggest cop out yet from MA. As if a player is going to say yes buy a replacement for me, boss, sorry my form is not good or if the players all say we need an 8, that is going to upset Merino surely?
Consult your captain, sure, and vice captain but the players?
Have a good one LIR see you at the game with junior…..
Wicksy—like yourself, I’m a believer in Ethan’s ability to uplift our rather pedestrian tactical approach, but it will require MA to care almost as much about providing him with service as he was with Saka…based on what we’ve seen thus far, that’s not likely in the cards…he might have to be one of those “come good in spite of the manager-types” I’ve been speaking about for some time now…now I’m certainly not willing to go so far as to compare him to Messi, but I’ve seen some rather positive signs that suggests he could be a key cog in the not-too-distant future(maybe even the present)
just wish we could see him in the midfield playing opposite of Ode…in fact, I would deploy Ethan on the right and Ode on the left, so as to play into their respective strengths…Ode can focus less on providing goals, as that’s not his bag, and more on providing service in and around the box, whereas Ethan can stay on his preferred foot, from a shooting perspective…this would undoubtedly benefit Marts on the left and likely leave Havertz unmarked even more than now, so he’ll get the kind and amount of grade A opportunities he generally requires…that said, I get how our present positional predicament might require him to provide some cover out wide in the short-term, even though it might be counter-productive when it comes to his development, as that position is already filled
as for Ode, he’s definitely been impacted by several factors, such as his earlier injury, which I don’t think has entirely healed, the wasteful players he’s attempting to provide service for and his inability to take his finishing to the next logical level…the first two are largely out of his control, at least for the time being, and the last one is mostly a self-inflicted deficiency, so he needs to do whatever it takes in the off-season to shore that shit up…that said, I personally feel like MA doesn’t put nearly enough emphasis on developing our shot-making abilities in training, much like his former boss here
besides all that, the way we setup tactically, with no other creative force in our midifeld, makes it exceedingly difficult for him to get any space and time on the ball, especially against the better sides…it’s the very basis for my desire to see someone of Ethan’s ilk playing along side him…just think of how many opportunities he might get after Ethan has potted a goal or two from distance…so whereas I’m not pleased by his output this season, I think with a few tweaks he could be restored to his former self in relative short order…Cheers
Tony—it’s certainly no surprise that we were on opposite sides of the globe thinking many of the same thoughts…great minds and all lol…I get the feeling that this whole “consulting the players” narrative is all about him cultivating a new, more palatable version on himself for wooing purposes, when it comes to recruitment, and/or to smooth things over with certain factions within the fanbase who are starting to question our future prospects with him at the helm…either way, it’s just more fraudulent behaviour by our managerial imposter…as such, let’s hope this isn’t another facade meant to soften the blow, should he fail to complete his transfer brief…btw the supposed difficulties of getting business done in this window don’t seem to be hindering his former employers…take care
seeing that MA’s plans right now appear to involve the signing of Zubimendi and Sesko in the summer and a January move for the 17 year old Norwegian midfielder, Sverre Nypan, it appears that he might be punting on this season and putting all his eggs in next year’s basket…not surprising in that whenever MA hits a self-created roadblock he generally tries to tie himself to yet another future phase or two…there’s definitely things to like about these particular players, except that the Zubi acquisition raises more questions regarding the Merino hire and likewise solidifies the fact that Rice will be shoehorned further forward for the foreseeable future…not the best of news…of course, this is all speculative and should be treated as such
Wicksy, Tony and TRVL – great points on our midfield conundrum and MAs bullshit. He can consult.players but his technical director who had to leave because of that? What a farce.
The way MA sets his midfield is a cookie cutter of this ilk. All managers now his std setup which never changes. So much so he has to sell ESR because in MAs mind he is luxury player and he needs only one creative outlet in midfield which is Odegard till he is at the club. So it was expedient to seel ESR to make room for Ethan in case Ode is not available. There is no imagination in MA and so the football is dour as his imagination. Ode on his part has lost much of what he used to do in his most fruitful year when he scored more than 10 goals. He rarely makes into box these days and his shots are feeble. His pressing has regressed and that may due to his injuries. He does look pedestrian to be honest and with your main creator having lost his touch and prowess, it would have been Saka in this setup to create something for himself. With him gone and our manager having no imagination it’s the dour football of progressing till the final third and taking a punt at Kai or Mart or Tross doing something. The corner routine have been sorted by opposition and so it’s doubly more difficult to score.
Iam convinced that even with Zubi and a striker purchase next window if MA doesn’t change the setup it’s the same football. There and there abouts but not good enough which may be good for the Kreonkes and Ma.
TRVL and Tony.
It looks like Nwaneri has gained Arteta’s trust on the pitch, something you couldn’t really say about the likes of smith Rowe, nketiah , Nelson or willock,
It also looks like Nwaneri is prepared to do the more difficult part of the game for a creative player , namely tracking back and pressing with intensity, which as we know will always impress Arteta sometimes more it seems than the creative side to a player’s game.
I wasn’t really comparing him to Messi as such as there will never be another messi as far as I’m concerned , I think it will become apparent in a year or 2 what I meant as Nwaneri becomes a permanent fixture in the side, possibly even replacing odegaard as I can’t see Arteta playing with 2 creative no.8’s unfortunately.
Let’s hope that Arteta doesn’t just look at Nwaneri as back up to Saka (or Odegaard) or he may go the same way as Smith Rowe etc, time is on his side but for me Arteta needs to win trophies and it’s players like Nwaneri, skelly and saka who have come through the academy and have made the step up with ease who will bring success to the club as it is in their blood.
Agreed Wicksy. Messi was a one off, but Ethan has a very high ceiling especially under the right manager. Agree with TRVL’s tactical thinking for Ethan, right side AMF is perfect for Ethan as he has the quick feet to get past the press or cut in from the wing ala Saka. Ethan has Kanu’s foot-glue ball abilities with electric pace from over 20 meters and is starting to get his shooting range for both pegs.
The problem is MA hasn’t;t fully bought into Ethan’s abilities which is why MA doesn’t direct play through Ethan. Different now Ethan is deputizing for Saka.
Wouldn’t it be cool if MA came up with the master stroke of playing Marts as our 9 with Havertz as false 9? Ethan RWB and Skelly LWB with Partey and Ode in the middle.
We could play 3-5-2 snuffing out their fast counters in MF and not have Rice being his wasteful self in their final third.
I liked Skelly last year where what little was said about him was positive about his potential, which he’s more than living up to.
Let’s hope we don’t lose the Colney creche, young CD to Manure.
All eyes on MA.
Another massive flaw in Arteta’s managerial ability is he doesn’t get that young players need to be developed physically as well as in ability. If you suddenly take them from no matches at the top level to starting them in every match they’ll pick up injuries.
One day I’ll find an aspect of Arteta’s skillset that I can actually say he’s good at that.
Looks like Fobmob and LS apps have this line up.
Maya
Partey Timber Gabs Cala
Ode Merino Rice
Marts Havertz. Tross
We have no real pace in MF certainly no recovery pace, so expect Wolves to break fast counters.
Seems wash rinse MA repeat football to me. Could well drop 2 points here when we should be bagging all 3.
Marc you’ll be older than me when you do🙄
Tony
I’m not holding my breath on it mate!
Some interesting matches for the neutral this weekend – Fulham vs ManU, City vs Chelsea and Spuddies vs Leicester.
All three have a team in who are losing far more matches than they either would expect or should.
Line-ups
Arsenal: Raya, Timber, Saliba, Gabriel, Lewis-Skelly, Partey, Rice, Nwaneri, Trossard, Martinelli, Havertz.
Subs: Neto, Porter, Tierney, Zinchenko, Calafiori, Kiwior, Jorginho, Sterling, Butler-Oyedeji.
—
No Odegaard and Merino. Nwaneri playing the Ode role most likely. Hope the kid proves me right and you all wrong – Odegaard needs an upgrade.
Ambarish
I hope Arteta isn’t rushing Saliba back too quickly – aggravating the injury could put him out for a couple of months.
Meant to add – Soccer Saturday put up a stat earlier in their last three PL matches Wolves have conceded 3 in each and score a single goal.
I thought Skelly had a knock. Not me Ambarish I’m a huge Nwaneri fan and concerned about Ode’s numbers due to MA’s tactics more than anything.
Great stat, Marc, let’s see how we do.
Should be 3 points for us unless MA fcuks it up.