Before I proceed, I must thank The Gunners FR for allowing me to use the cover image.
Well, games are coming thick and fast. We are playing twice a week and the fact that we are competing on both fronts must be posing a conundrum to Mikel Arteta. On one hand, we are top of the league having won all but one and chasing a Champions League finish – though I believe we are title contenders this season. On the other, we are playing home and away midweek games, there is a good chance we can win it and ultimately qualify for Champions League.
However, this is a bit detrimental to the squad’s performance. We saw against Bodo/Glimt last week, when players were not playing to their full potential and looked a bit tired. Zinchenko is missing games because of injuries, Jesus was left out of the playing XI, Ramsdale is playing with a thigh injury (though it’s Matt Turner starting in Europa).
We have learnt our lesson from last season when couple of injuries derailed our top 4 chances completely. We have got options for most of the starting positions. In defence, versatility of Tomiyasu is coming as handy. White can play at RB and CB. We have a solid defender in Holding who can cover the Europa games. In attack, we do miss Smith Rowe. Vieira can cover for Ode but ESR has played at wings earlier and as things stand, you can’t replace Martinelli or Saka without seeing a drop in our performance.
Midfield is our biggest concern. Partey is a must in important games but is injury prone. We have to protect him at all cost for when it matters. Xhaka is built of steel but can you name a replacement of Partey and Xhaka without compromising our performance? No, Sambi is not the answer. I have complained earlier about our negligence to fix midfield, Edu and Arteta did try to sign Luiz from Aston Villa but you can’t wait for the last day to finish business. We should have strengthen our midfield last year, I am really hoping we do this winter.
The fact that we are fighting on two fronts, with limited options in midfield and on wings, requires a very careful squad planning from our Manager. Arteta hasn’t really impressed with his rotation tactics till now, but I hope he improves and believes in our bench a bit more. I don’t mind seeing Marquinhos, Nelson and Eddie starting against smaller teams in Europa.
If we are 2-0 up at 70 minutes in a Premier League game, Saka can be subbed. As fans, we want to WIN ALL, we can’t afford to concentrate only on either Premier League or Europa and that’s why it’s more important than ever.
Match Day
We are playing PSV today at Emirates. We need to finish at the top in our group to qualify for next round and avoid play-offs, which makes today’s game crucial. It would be interesting to see what team Mikel prefers, but I’m hoping we will see Sambi today. I won’t mind KT starting today in place of Tomiyasu, whom we need in Premiership in absence of Alex.
I would also like to see Eddie playing complete 90 minutes today. Fabio in place of Odegaard? Yes.
I doubt we are going to risk our wing positions, so another start for Martinelli and Saka today (?). If we are winning at 60 minutes mark, sub them. I am no manager and I’m an emotional fuck but I can see Saka is over-playing. I love to see him in every games but that would be a short term vision. We need him for next 30 PL games, and few important games in Europa in the later stages.
Right, that’s all for today. I would love to read what you think about this conundrum.
We have reached a very small milestone, LondonIsRedCom on Twitter has 200 followers now. Yay! Rome wasn’t built in a day!
Nice piece Ambarish. We Are short in midfield and wasted months in the summer doing nothing about it. Moreover, we loaned out Patino and Azeez when it might have been prudent to keep one (or at the very least insist on an early release clause. We’re just about holding it all together but by the skin of our teeth. Win tonight and the stress should abate somewhat but we need to get an Elneny replacement in January. I also expe t a deep FA Cup run – after all, it’s OUR Trophy.
Tonight should also be an opportunity for all of us amateur scouts to check out Cody Gakpo (although I believe he’s not the type of player we most urgently need).
Great news about your twitter followers. Please encourage as many gooners around the world to express their opinions on here – I love reading why other people follow the same club as me!
Interesting line up with Eddie and Jesus starting. Much needed rest for Martinelli.
Playing XI
Turner
Tomiyasu, Holding, Gabriel, Tierney
Sambi, Xhaka
Saka, Vieira, Nketiah
Jesus
Since Saliba solidity not there, there is a full midfield
The way the match is going can’t figure out anything. PSV seem very disciplined youngsters. Butter they don’t have any quality striker so it is Arsenal who is making dangerous firays. PSV soaking it up.
Arsenal should win this
Hi Hoopah
Arsenal should win this
Spot on. I saw none of the game and had to satisfy myself listening to commentary by Perry Groves. We’re nearly through as group leaders. 🍾
Huston we got a problem, Xhaka our player of the match! Looks like it could be a good problem depending on the formation and where he will play.
The 2nd place finishers in the groups will possibly face some difficult 3rd place finishers dropping in from the CL, like Sporting, AC Milan, Brokelona, Ajax, Juve, Athletico, Shakhtar and Sevilla. Need to finish top of the group which should be easy by beating Zürich.
Sorry guys was lulled to sleep. However later there was a thunderstorm here so had to unplug appliances.
Will watch the replay
Just watched the highlights, as my main Orbi router went down, as did much of the smart part of our house. As always when a system needs to learn, in this case, a new new RBR852 and the cheapest of the cheap mandatory Thai ISP fiber optic router, the handshakes often need repeating in this case a day and a half. So a day and a half later the local branch manager and his tech manager found that junior in his trying to help mode had plugged 2 ends of the same LAN into the switch.
Anyway, hard to learn much from highlights but we ground out a win with a Van Xhakalroy clumped half volley and in to the vacant net. Bless him! To be fair he should have had 2, missing a big chance in the first half.
Some juicy games over the weekend with the Chavs v Manure. High scoring draw could well be the end result. Spuds vs Newcastle with the Bar codes scalping Conte’s syrup. (of figs).
I honestly feel we are past the level of getting our arses kicked by Southampton and Ragnak Hasenhüttl and his shield maidens. Absurd humour attempt aside or the fact I think he looks more Viking than German. I think we’ll find our mojo back in a tough tie.
We have to get our fluidity and tempo right to control the lapses we’ve endured lately. It’s simple for Mikel, if we keep giving the ball away then put a player on who will slow the game down enough for us to maintain possession and thus our game plan.
Let’s win our way to staying on top into the Jan window and then at least add to our midfield. When was the last time we celebrated being top of the league over Xmas & New Year? Herb?
Biggest concern is that Jesus played again and Saka. Jesus needs a rest as from the highlights he’s slightly off his timing that comes with fatigue ands Eddie looked to be trying too hard and looked ring rusty.
On a positive note to end we have a great weekend of football that Junior and I will have a lot of fun watching and bantering about. Junior being Pedro-like stat nerd and me 60 years of watching gaining experience and 25 years playing.
K’phobe hope you’ve bribed Mrs KP sufficiently to get to a live game. I guess Bournemouth is an away game for you unlike Cardiff. Hope your son is enjoying his football as we did at his age.
Kilroy and co same wishes you all have a fun Gooner weekend.
Tony
2013/14 Arsenal were comfortably top going into and exiting the January TW.
Olivier Giroud was injured, and Theo Walcott’s season was over in the 3rd Round FA Cup win against Spuds.
If you remember, he only added the injured Kim Kallstrom, and was forced to play Yaya Sanogo in our CL Rnd of 16 match in Germany against Bayern.
The first match after the window was Moyes’ United. Arsenal were the only top six rival not to beat, or even score against United that season. This game at The Emirates ended 0-0.
It triggered a debate on 5Live between Mark Pougatch and Martin Keown about Arsenal’s continued obsession with handicapping themselves and never quite doing enough to realistically challenge for the PL or CL.
From a position of power in Jan 2014, Arsenal went on to lose 5-1 at Anfield, 6-0 at Chelsea, even Everton beat us 3-0, with the help of an Arteta o.g. and finished in Wenger’s favourite position – fourth – and then used the FA Cup final extra time victory over Championship side Hull, to steal yet another inflated contract.
*Wenger used the extra time FA Cup final victory over Championship side Hull to steal yet another undeserved, over inflated contract.
Herb
As soon as I started reading your piece about that season, the memories (nightmares?) came flooding back. I’m pretty sure I was a fully paid up member of the WOB fraternity by then, but it beggars belief at how Wenger was so tight and cautious when it came to transfer dealings except for splashing out smaller amounts on some real duds. Any other sane manager would have been knocking the door down for funds in order to (at the very least) keep his job. But such was his arrogance that he was happy to let standards slide because he thought he had a job for life.
Hi Tony
My Samsung is going to get a proper workout this weekend. Footie (including the South Wales Derby), England in the T20 WC and rugby galore. Should be fun. Liked your story about junior and the wiring. He’s a good egg for having a go in my view.
Thanks Herb your knowledge is enchanting and disenchanting in equal measures going back in time with you. About 2009 I was asking questions and the Groundhog Years came and went. Always conservative and, as you and KP said, Wenger was masterful at coup de gras with all who stood in his way where Gazidis knelt before his master who held the key to Gazidis making £millions over around a decade.
Wenger was the golden goose with a double payout for them both, though, not equally, of course. Wenger earnt £10s of millions or maybe 10 times what Gazidis did for being Wenger’s lackey.
Gazidis’s post Wenger contract extension CEO support videos were legendary I was surprised offers from Hollywood didn’t flood in. Another PL rookie learning on the job.
Hi KP
Yes, Arsenal really are very strange in their behaviour, most top clubs would have probably let Wenger go around 2010.
You’re quite right, his vanity and arrogance dominated all Arsenal’s decisions, I think he believed that Arsenal’s invincible season and the stadium move made him untouchable, when in reality it made him unbearable. When any heat was directed at him he had this annoying habit of reminding the world what he had achieved, as if we’d all suddenly lost our collective memories, and as if past success justified his many failings, one of the biggest, losing Ashley Cole over a paltry £5k.
He could be seen as the best and worst thing to ever happen to Arsenal in equal measure (although for me personally, it would be Henry Norris and Herbert Chapman), but during the second half of Wenger’s reign, after what could have been in 2008, the drop off was so significant, to me, it looked like Wenger wasn’t even trying to win either the PL or CL.
During this decline, and after losing our best players to more ambitious clubs, including van Persie to help United win the PL, we had the snake Ivan Gazidis brazenly lying about how Arsenal were going to be as big as Bayern Munich.
Perhaps that’s why they laughed when they were drawn against us in the CL.
The 10-2 aggregate put that argument to bed forever.
Arsenal will never be as big as Bayern Munich because not only do they not have those mechanisms in place, they have no intentions of putting it together to even try to reach that level.
What Arsenal do best is massively underwhelm, it is their M.O.
I think he believed that Arsenal’s invincible season and the stadium move made him untouchable, when in reality it made him unbearable.
Herb
That is almost poetic in its truth and beauty! A perfect synopsis of his fall from grace.
“I think he believed that Arsenal’s invincible season and the stadium move made him untouchable, when in reality it made him unbearable”.
So true KP and still is to me. He should take his ill gotten gains from us and fade to obscurity from today’s football. His first decade will always be legendary: just badly tarnished from the following 12.
I started Junior as my assistant tech on our Sonos ARC, Move, Play 5s in different rooms. Then he started high school, so his computer learning is increasing where now he has a 17yo coder as a GF who is just about to graduate high school with a 4:0 GPA and go to the Uni our daughter went to in Bangkok before going to Melbourne.
Junior’s just 14 and way larger than life than I ever was.
We’ve got 24 channels with the Switch 16 and Orbi RBR850 (4 channels) and local ISP provider fiber optic router (4 channels).
LAN Spaghetti junction best describes my office wiring where, in my defense, it’s taken 4 years to get to this mess; it was no overnight thing I’ll have you know, as now I have 21 LANs connecting 5 Orbi satellites around our 850 sq meters. Sorry not bragging, as it’s taken us 12 years to build our home adding additions until it was how we wanted. Sure you’ll do the same in Barca, KP.
Basically, I’m getting junior trained up for his future and for him to look after my tech systems when I’m 70+.
Any thoughts anyone on scores today?
Best we could hope for is a City v Brighton draw at a very long stretch of the imagination.
Ditto L’Pool V Forrest.
Chavs v Manure is a tasty game. Both with decent new managers although Ten Hag has the tougher job ridding the United dressing room of its toxicity (Ronaldo).
I feel Chavs will take the points being a home game, but a score draw would benefit us most.
Have a great dat KP and all and to drink your morning coffee with a little tune from one of my many fav artists:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UrpCffd-RhY
Listening to the blues in the afternoon got me to thinking if Alvin Lee from 10 Years After gets to wake you morning up, then Snowy White is a great way to wind the late hours away with your amour guys.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pZ1IYwtK5OQ
Hi Tony
That unbeatable-unbearable quote was Herb’s. It’s exquisite isn’t it?
Tony
Nice one. I’ll give that Alvin Lee a listen later. Lots of other teams’ results are currently going our way. I think Chelsea and Man U could be a high scoring draw. Spuds-Newcastle will be an interesting barometer. I can tell from reading between the lines that your son thinks the world of you – it’s really cool. Are you also planning to get him into biking and all the activities around that?
Anyway, have a fine weekend yourself mate. I’m sure we’ll be in touch as the games pan out…
Hey K’Phobe, Junior and I have had the benefit of spending literally nearly 4 months a year for his school holidays. I made sure I was never away during those months and our bond developed as it would most father/sons ion a similar situation. The ADHD connection helped Junior come to terms with it as much as me.
As for biking, when we lost a brother a couple of years ago and I made a video of the MC funeral, junior said he’d rather stick to 4 wheels. The international pres gave junior – junior patch member rights, as he was adopted into the club. The MC club is all about family first club 2nd.
The wheels have completely come off Liverpool – if they seriously can’t get it together top 4 is a pipe dream.
I see Patino scored for Blackpool against PNE in the derby today. They’re probably going to try and take him hostage rather than give him back to us.
Forest 1 Liverpool 0. Oh dear.
I thought Forest might nick a draw but to win where they could have won by 2 or 3 is perfect for us. L’pool looked toothless and out of ideas. Our kids are better and VVD is less commanding. Klopp has much to do to get the Bin Dippers firing again.
Yates looks a good player.
Tony
They play 150mph football and have no midfield – it’s going to take some serious surgery to get them back to where he had them.
Marc
Seem to remember during and since Covid Klopp has wanted more recruitment than he got. Now Pool are paying the price. Chav’s Manure draw would be nice and we’ll see how well Potter has settled with his squad.
I was one of the angered ones when we sold Auba.
His 3 misses so far, just confirmed I was wrong. He is sold.
Ambarish
As always when Arteta’s involved it isn’t that Auba was sold – he wasn’t we paid him millions to leave what makes it even worse is we’d just put him on a huge new contract – why? If Arteta didn’t think he was the right type of player for what he needed don’t offer the contract, if you’re not getting the right vibes from the player about commitment don’t offer the contract.
The fact that Chelsea paid money for him 6 months after we paid Auba to leave just rubs salt into the wounds. The next one will be AMN – turned down almost £20 million for him and will be letting him go on a free next summer.
In any other highly paid job with a managerial position this kind if incompetence would see you pushed out of a very high window.
Especially in Russia Marc.
Missed the Chavs v United game but happy with the outcome. Now if Newcastle can do the same at the Toilet Bowl or even take all 3 points, then results have pretty much gone our way.
Onward to Southampton neighbour of Bournemouth but that’s where the similarity stops.
S’hampton is a busy port next to the Royal Navy’s port at Portsmouth. Bournemouth on the other hand is where the wealthy snow birds go to retire and the money managers with their pier de terres on Sandbanks (Harry Rednap), Poole and Bournemouth.
Southampton should be very winnable. One win and draw then three losses on the bounce and time for us to finally put the bogie team to rest, Their BFG has always been a thorn when we needed points.
Not saying this is going to be an easy game for us, it won’t be and we still need to rotate Jesus; maybe leave it to Martinelli, Eddie and Marquinhos with Sake and Jesus on the bench.
We need to start playing 96+ minute games with playing possession front foot football.
0:2 to us is my prediction this morning with the caveat of not knowing who Mikel is playing.
AK Auba was a real conundrum at the time leading up to the contract renewal. Mikel should never have caved giving the ridiculous contract to Auba. If he wanted to give a contract, it should have been loaded with financial targets for goals and assists. If Auba didn’t like it, he should have been showed the door.
It’s that simple for an experienced manager, DoF & contracts manager.
However, as we witnessed in the All or Nothing series, we pandered to Mikel losing £100+millions in the process. Auba was Ozil MKII. At that time we were a £2billion+ going concern being run like a SME.
12 months or so on and we look to be being run better financially, although our TWS purchases have been loaded/leveraged on the club’s debts/worth, such as not paying clubs to take our dross and actually investing in players who will a give a decent ROI. A rarity under Mikel & Edu.
With us appearing to be acting like a club with a long and sound historical and financial pedigree where the squad is acquiring players who fit in their natural positions, and add value on and off the field, then what of Mikel?
So far so good, I’d say sitting at the top of the table. However, will unlearnt lessons from the past 3 years come back to haunt Mikel and ergo us? Can whoever is reading this confidently say Mikel won’t repeat his mistakes?
I can’t. See you at the game lads and lasses if you’re reading.
The Aubacle (Auba debacle – geddit?) was staggeringly good business for Killroy’s dear friends(!) Barcelona. In effect, they got paid by us for taking him and then made a shit load of clear profit selling him to Chelsea. I maintain that in a fair world, Arteta would be fined the same amount that Chelsea paid for him.
Not much of a cricket fan but you can’t skip an India v Pakistan.
Not looking good though, Kohli only hope left.
“12 months or so on and we look to be being run better financially”
I’m not so sure – AMN as I’ve already mentioned, spending £50 million on White who after one season is now being shoehorned into a position just to keep him on the pitch when his replacement was already on the books, Vieira who does look a good player but £35 million for back up when we have no midfield is crazy.
All managers make bad signings – it’s just how things work out but Arteta has the impulse control of a fat kid in a sweet shop.
Ambarish
It’s incredible how Pakistan can self-destructive in that way. They should never have lost that game with 5 deliveries to go. And playing a clearly nervous spinner for the last over? A massive no-no. Babar is a terrific player but I question his credentials as a captain. India got away with one. I didn’t see it all – was there any mankadding? Only joking…
A fat kid in a sweetshop just about sums it up. The Soton line up doesn’t look too threatening. No wonder they are where they are. If we can get our passing right, I think we’ll have too much. 2-0 with goals from Jesus and Martinelli.
Any defence that let’s Xhaka twaddle into the box and have a free shot like that are in serious trouble.
Marc
I agree. Soton look really poor. No energy, no press, Jo threat.
Hasenhuttl sporting his 80s terrace hooligan look today, rather than either of his other two looks : hard-up country squire or provincial geography teacher.
KP
I have had given up when 2 overs were left.
Day is only getting better. I don’t know if I should send my apology letter to Xhaka with a GOAT picture yet.