When the season began, I was positive and happy that we were competing for 4 trophies – FA Cup, Carabao Cup, Premier League and Champions League. I was hoping we would pick at least one of the them and put an end to our trophy drought. But things have not panned out as we expected.
Things started going wrong from January. We were ousted by Manchester United in FA Cup third round on penalty. City is most likely going to win this now.
Next was our Carabao Cup run coming to an end in semi finals, where Newcastle beat us twice – both home and away – with 2 to nil.
West Ham (loss) and Forest (draw) have killed our Premier League title chase. Yes, it’s still mathematically possible but we are 13 points behind Liverpool with a game in hand. Even if we win ours, that would be 10 points difference with only 10 games to go. I doubt Liverpool are going to drop that many points and I doubt we are going to take advantage of that situation.
That leaves us with the Champions League.
We are visiting the Dutch side PSV Eindhoven in the last-16 today for the first leg. Champions League are usually very unpredictable and you can’t take lightly any of the games. We have seen City only somehow managing to get into the knockout games of group stage, and we have seen some big teams losing out to qualify.
And the fact that we have a non-existent attack further complicates it for Mikel and team. We are going into the game without our StarBoy Bukayo Saka, our left winger Martinelli and without a CF (even a make shift Havertz). Defence looks okay, Ben White is back from his injury and MLS is back from his suspension. Saliba and Gabriel will hold the fort for us.
It’s not tough to guess who would be starting today, Trossard, Nwaneri and Sterling and it’s not a good sight for the Arsenal fans. We should try scoring first and hold on to the lead because we often complicate it for ourselves and I don’t want to see us leave everything for the 2nd leg.
The players must have been demoralised with the recent run of games and when asked about it, this is what Mikel had to say :
on how to instill belief into the players:
Well, try to explain how weāre going to do it and why we do things, and they try to deliver that in the best possible way. In the last two results itās been very different, in terms of performance as well, not getting the right result that we want, but weāve certainly been better, especially in the last game with the opposition. And the fact we still have gears, even with the players that we have, some of them have gears to take us to a different level. When it comes to that stage, itās about lifting the level and the standards, every individual has to be at their best. When we do that, with the team that we have and the connection we have between us, we are a really strong team.source : Arsenal.com
If we manage to get past the PSV in round of 16, we would face one of the Real Madrid or Atletico in quarters.
Right, so with whatever is available for today, I would personally love a back 4 of White, Saliba, Gabriel and MLS. Cala has been making some mistakes lately so MLS sounds a better option to me. Timber has been doing well but if White is fit, he has got better runs in overlaps and I would try him. Keep Timber on bench in case we need him later in the game.
A midfield of Thomas Partey, Declan Rice and Merino will start but I would never be happy with both Rice and Partey starting in a game. Pick Jorginho ahead of Declan and stick Merino on the left.
Front 3 has been a conundrum but the only option we have is, Trossard in the middle, Sterling and Nwaneri on either side of the pitch. Lets not put Merino up top and lets not expect him to score 2 goals every game.
Right, that’s all for today. The game’s a bit late for me, but I will be up and will see you during the game.
Cheers!
Marc—a battle of two rather cowardly disciples of Pep…at least Maresca has the excuse of being a first-timer on a club that has quickest trigger finger in the footballing universe
Raya
28 games.
Madhu
Iād say a max of 20 points for the last 10 games is the best we can expect so 75 point finish.
On our season average if it continues expect 65 points of very painful viewing.
Hoopah
Wet sawdust can spontaneously combust.
there will be a Rice-oriented agenda that will be set in motion due in large part to his well-placed strike and the prevailing narrative surrounding his more advanced positioning, but that would simply be another orchestrated attempt to bury the lead…when we’ve needed it most we’ve managed to secure 2 points from an available 9…furthermore, if Rice had that sort of shot sitting at the ready he wouldn’t have a grand total of 2 goals this season
I see the scrote has walked out from his tv duties.
Answer the questions, like any other manager has to.
Absolute cunt.
No one else’s fault, you can’t be a shit Manchester United side.
But yours, you slag.
FACup or league.
To all members of the Sky Sports team, please refrain from asking our “manager” about our lack of a bona fide Striker or this vindictive prick will purposely ignore the position once again come the summer…Thanks for nothing
prior to today’s match MA spoke at some length about Sterling’s positive impact at the club and about how he would play a valuable roll in the run-up, then he never even warmed up let alone played today…that about sums up our disingenuous twat of a skipper…just to be clear, I was only speaking about MA’s total fraudulent behaviour and not suggesting whatsoever that I wanted this shite player called upon…simply put, we’re not a SERIOUS club
TVRL
This fraud, has no fucking right, to treat this reporter, like a piece of shit on his shoe, no fucking right at all.
George Graham and Ferguson, Wenger, Clough, and Jock Wallace maybe, but not this slag.
If this new guy, has anything about him, he will sack him the moment he exits the next round.
Not great was it , at any other time in the last 30 years or so a draw would have been considered a decent result …not this time I’m afraid.
In the first half unoted were there for the taking but we didn’t do enough in the final third of the pitch , some times you have to take risks to open up a defence by pushing an extra body or 2 into the box but we failed to do that and played like we just wanted to control the game and wait for the inevitable opening goal that never came.
After united took the lead we were dreadful , the 2nd half display should concern the manager , if it wasn’t for Raya we could have been on the end of a good beating
The way I see it is our players are so programned to play a certain way and position themselves in a certain way that as soon as we have to chase the game and try something different our midfield and defensive structure collapses and the game becomes chaotic, and if anyone has watched United recently they would see that they thrive when the game descends into chaos..
Nwaneri is too young to be playing 3 games a week whilst travelling into Europe, he looked fatigued and there was no zip in his play today so I expect him to be out of the reckoning v PSV in the week, should be a chance to give Martinelli and sterling a run out and possibly an academy player up front as Merino’s legs had gone by the 70th minute today ..
Staying injury free for Europe is probably just as important as picking up points in the league as the title has gone and top 5 is as good as guaranteed unless we have a total collapse, Chelsea at home next week should put paid to that.
AF—if it were almost anyone else I might not take such offense, especially immediately following a match, as that’s when emotions are at their highest, but for someone who’s used this very same media outlet, along with countless others, to peddle his nonsense on a regular basis, you can’t act like a petulant child when your short-sighted plans blow up in your face…we know damn well that if things had turned out differently he would be the first one out there pumping the shit out of his own tires
as for the match itself, common sense seemed to suggest that after what we put on tape mid-week a few tweaks were required…surely Amorim wouldn’t have been so obtuse as to ignore such a scoreline when it came to his weekend prep…it’s almost as if he simply asked himself what would PSV do, then set out to do the exact opposite, after all our previous Dutch opponents did almost everything wrong when it came to their defensive zone coverage…as such, it was pretty obvious that this was going to be a bus-sitting/counter-attacking kind of affair…shit, Amorim has toyed with Arteta on 2 prior occasions using an almost identical tactical script
knowing this, we should have made the requisite adjustments…most notably, we should have used our backers for width then slipped Ethan inside…this is where late-comers and the “extra” bodies were finding little pockets of space, especially when their backline got stretched and dropped deeper when we made any wider runs…not to mention, this would be in keeping with our primary objective, to get as many set pieces as humanly possible
clearly their plan all along was to double Ethan, so we played right into their hands…instead we should have taken advantage of their slow and soft midfield coverage…just look of how much space Ode had tonight, imagine if we had paired him with Ethan, who’s a much better option from distance…their offensive shape was so narrow, I hardly think sending our backers further up the pitch would have left us too vunerable, especially if Rice was sitting where he should be 85% of the time, deep…which doesn’t mean I didn’t appreciate his 2nd goal of the season, I just think what might have been if instead of him it was Ethan seeking out those very same pockets…llke I said earlier, our overreliance on low percentage options up top can’t continue to be our plan A, B and C moving forward
I’ve got a really good feeling about a relatively unknown manager in La Liga, Inigo Perez…he’s 37 and presently in his first season as the Rayo Vallecano manager…he retired from the game a few years back then immediately joined Rayo’s staff under the tutelage of Bournemouth’s current skipper and his former Bilbao teammate, Andoni Iraola, who’s been rather impressive in his own right…interestingly enough both managers played under Biesla, when he returned to managing at the club level in 2011, after stints as both the Argentinian and Chilean national coach…frankly I wouldn’t be surprised if both landed major appointments in the not too distant future…I’m not saying this because either should necessarily be on our immediate radar, should we do the right thing and let MA go, but I think they might be two important managers moving forward…Cheers
Did Manu GK had to make a single save of noteworthy? Not that I can remember I did watch the whole match while advising my junior to stop fretting. As TVRL put it the team is setup to play only one way. There is no flexibility or footballing nuisance to adjust to match situation. It’s the same old regimented, constipated, rigid and frankly as boring as Man City’s football. There is no reaction to the situation either from the Mgr or the team. Frankly from the time I started watching Arsenal this is the most robotic boring football I have ever watched. Next season is going to be even more stressful as pool, man City, Chelsea and others will improve. We don’t have a clean run on runner up trophy. 15 points behind pool and with a possible maximum of 80 points coupled with dire , tasteless and boring football is not progress.
If you don’t look at alternatives you never know.
What was worrying yesterday was our inability to react when an average United team upped their game a level in the 2nd half , winning most 2nd balls and creating havoc in our defence without actually doing much.
The fair criticism of Arteta is that the players are programned to play a certain way and are very robotic in their movements which is fine when everything is going well , but this way of playing is flawed if things don’t go to plan.
Yesterday wasn’t the first time we have seen our game descend into chaos when we are chasing a game, as soon as a player goes off piste in trying something different to affect the game in a positive manner it tends to have a knock on effect throughout the side and we lose control of the game.
Arteta’s football is all about control of the game , I would say he hates it when the system breaks down due to a player or players not sticking to the plan.
For Arsenal to be successful under Arteta the players have to stick to the plan whether we are winning or losing, and I am not saying that is how I like the team that I support play, far from it .
I was and still am a massive supporter of Arsene Wenger and his style of football, his football was a joy to watch for 20+ years and he did it without spending big money, it was very difficult for him to win the league when the likes of city , Barcelona, Chelsea and united poached our best players with the enticement of bigger wages and ultimately winning trophies
Arteta’s football in comparison is functional and at times(not always) boring.
We are now in the top 3 teams in the country and top 8 in Europe playing this style of functional football and in all fairness we could and should have won the league at least once over the past 3 seasons but for city and Liverpool going on fantastic unbeaten runs, it was just our luck that when city faltered Liverpool go on a 25 unbeaten run in the league this season.
How will it all end for Arteta , probably in tears, unless we win the champions league this season or the league next season as unrest is building in the fan base.
As I have said previously, I am no lover of Arteta or his style of football but I do respect what he has done for the club and to call for him to be sacked now is ridiculous as we are as good as qualified for the quarter final of the champions league.
Many don’t believe we have a chance against either Madrid sides and they may be right, maybe the only way to get a result against either side is to play the way we know , functional , robotic , controlling football and must not get drawn into an open end to end game as real Madrid especially could make us suffer.
TRVL
Spot on as usual with informative and knowledgable posts, that need little adding to other than below where I’ll chip in with my 5 pence worth.
Once again, MA missed. the obvious tactic to beat Manure by playing 3-5-2, where flooding the midfield would have stifled Manure’s slow midfield pairing of Casimiro & Fernandez: the latter who is easily pressured into mistakes that upset his hotheaded and petulant emotions, which lead to his complaining instead of playing.
Instead, MA let Fernandez consistently find space in our midfield, because we were trying to flood Manure’s final third. Once again Cala’s poor slow reactions when defending led to their goal. I wanted Cala up top where he can score as well as drawing defenders to him leaving gaps to pursue. As a LB defending he is behind KT and level with Zinny.
A back three of Saliba, Big Gabs and Skelly had enough pace to deal with Garnacho & Zirkzee if fed with the odd pass through our lines.
A midfield of Timber – Ode – Ethan – Rice – Jorginho – Tierney would have given us a solid creative pairing of Ode and Nwaneri while allowing Rice and Jorginho to pivot to add attack or slip back to DM slot. Equally, KT and Timber, both no slouches had the pace to support the attack out wide or again drop deeper when the counter look on for Manure.
Our reaction timing is poor and has been all season bar Rice who clearly stopped Manure getting a 2nd when through one on one with Raya, as well as getting our solitary goal a rarity for our Declan.
Up top Marts looked up for it when he came on, and was lucky not to add to our scoreline with a thunderbolt near post effort Onana didn’t see, but instinctively blocked with his body: Marts needed to go across goal.
Either a Cala or Trossard pairing would have given us pace and or height in the box with Rice adding an aerial pressure when needed.
Sadly, Rice is one of the reasons our set pieces have dried up from corners because he delivers 1:3 dangerous corners we should be converting. I would prefer Rice to be in the box adding height and menace if nothing else blocking off Manure’s defenders’ paths.
As you and I say TRVL, MA is tactically stunted with same the ‘shit different day’ approaches, and why we keep dropping 2 points a PL game.
I’m convinced, as I have been for other like minded games, that the 3-5-2 would have stifled Amorim’s tactics when being hamstrung for selection of 9 injured players with another on a ban.
28 games this season for 55 points tells us the same tactical stupidity from MA is going to create the same results, and why my draw predictions have been unhappily correct too many times.
The end result was that, Manure had the better chances with Raya and Rice saving Arteta’s blushes once again in a game they deserved to win more than us.
How I hate admitting that because I never forgave Wenger for letting Manure stop our Invincibles’ way back when. Inexplicably, we dropped our levels as we let Manure get in our heads that fateful day at OT.
Moving onto the MA storming out of his presser: what fcuking childlike antics from a clueless manager, who only has himself to blame, not his players, as he continually makes the same selection and tactical mistakes other managers know he’ll make.
The usual tired answer from El B was ‘My players wanted to win, but our game wasn’t good enough today!’ Or words to effect.
If MA can’t handle questions he knows he’ll be asked by storming out on camera, how then can He handle the pressure of managing a side to winning the PL or CL?
Rhetorical question, I know, but there it is. The high level stress on MA’s face during the game showed he had no answers.
The real question is, what do KSE think of this season and MA not being able to handle the pressure that winning managers can, day in, and day out.
They take the piss or use other tactics to handle the press. Jose Mourinho last week pretended to sleep during a presser, Klopp had answers with his toothy smile, and Slot just speaks sense, where is his last presser he said he was only left with one tactical play: to make 3 subs and admit he shouldn’t have selected Szoboszlai, who was poor through fatigue & who rarely has a bad game.
Have any of the aforementioned, winning managers used the same tactics and players as MA has in a season? I bet anyone reading this is shaking his or her head.
I’ll leave this with you all, the last time MA talked about the next TW, he said we need 4 or 5 players. Still? That’s his go to answer each season and why is this so?
As Henry said as a pundit last week before our PSV game when asked a similar question by scouser Cara, “Ask Mikel”
Have a good one…..
In the last few seasons (after 2008) under Wenger and rightly so, the fan base was frustrated and fed up. Lots of us wanted him out and try new manager. There are always alternatives and its fallacy to think we don’t. TINA there is no alternative is a oft repeated political statement to encourage status quo. We have had 5 seasons and with money being spent , we seem to have regressed. Next season we will have Man City, Chelsea, Pool potentially coming back stronger. Will we able to hold on to our assets? Its all the fear of unknown. We should bravely get out and look for alternatives.
Narrative with Liverpool and Slot winning it is that Klopp left a good team and Slot improved it further. So why cant that narrative hold true for Arsenal as well. Let Arteta leave to good squad and AFC finds a good coach who will take this squad to the next level needed to win the PL?
AF thanks for making an appearance. You brought flowery , colourful epithets in the entire thread.
Even Prof. TRVL š made his piece so readable.
During such dire times nothing like good humour .
Think you’re pissed off now?
Wait till Leicester beat ManU on Sunday.