Well, it’s gonna be a very short one as I am travelling but I won’t let you do the Carabao Cup analysis on a Champions League post. We are playing Brighton today, in about 15 min and Mikel has fielded a very rotated side.
Kepa starts ahead of Raya and will get support from the back four of White, Hincapie, Mosquera and MLS. Dowman – the 15 year old wonderkid gets his start today. The last time I was happy seeing a young one break into the team was Wilshere, and he turned out brilliant. Here’s to Max achieving much more than that. Everyone gonna cheer for him today. He will be supported by Merino and Norgaard in the midfield.
Mikel has gone with a strange front 3 – Harriman-Annous, Nwaneri and Eze. Now, I am all for rotation but we have 2 world class players in each position and against Brighton, we could have afforded a better challenging team. Every trophy is important, i hope it doesn’t come down to it but if it does, i seriously hope the bench will give us some relief.
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Anyway, lets just enjoy the game and see if one of the kids takes their chances and puts up an impression which makes Mikel’s life difficult. See you in 15 min.
So in the last week or so we have scored 4 goals from open play that were the result of beautiful free flowing football, and yet there are still some that need educating on why we are 4 points clear at the top of the prem , joint top of the champions league group with a 100% record and through to the quarter finals of the league cup.
What I would suggest to the doubters is to have a look at our 4 goals from open play against atletico Madrid and Brighton in the past week and educate yourself.
2 of the goals were the result of marauding runs from our full backs , Timber v Brighton and Skelly v Atletico, where they took 3/4 players out of the game with bursts through the heart of the opposition midfield.
Our first v Brighton was a thing of beauty, Hincape fizzed the ball to a marked Eze who had an immaculate first touch which gave him the space to roll the ball to Merino who’s delightful back flick fooled the defence to allow Skelly to give a perfectly weighted ball to Nwaneri slot into the corner.
4 open play goals in a week and there are the usual suspects on here who can’t bring themselves to give credit to the manager and players for producing such outstanding moments on a football pitch..
I’m sure you will all eat humble pie as the season progresses, we have players of the quality of jesus, Havertz, odegaard and madueke to come back, meaning Arteta will have great options when rotating for the cup games as the season progresses.
Gyokeres is probably my one question mark as the season progresses, Arteta has been very complimentary about the work he does off the ball but for me his lack of pace and technique could have a detrimental effect on the side, though he is good defensively from set pieces , not so good offensively unfortunately.
When Havertz and jesus return they can be eased into the side and then it will be a choice between the quick feet and dribbling skills of jesus or the more powerful gyokeres or Havertz who is somewhere in between the 2 , Havertz is certainly technically better than gyokeres and better in the air though not brilliant….ultimately Arteta may go with either of the 2 bigger players as they are better defensively and can occupy defenders better than jesus if we need to hit the long ball.
If gyokeres can find the net regularly in the league then the problem will be solved but I do have my doubts, 2 scrappy goals against atletico in about 8 games is a poor return in a team flying high at the top of the league.
you would be hard-pressed to find a single commentator, former player or pundit would agree with your “free flowing beautiful football” take…now that doesn’t mean that some wouldn’t heap praise on MA, as this is a results-based business and when things are going well the how and the why matter exceedingly less…the very fact that you believe the return of Jesus and/or Havertz will further unlock this imaginery free-flowing brand of football speaks to your much lower standards or the very real possibility that you’re legally blind…the only way the beautiful game will return to the Emirates is if MA does a complete about-face with his tactical approach or he leaves the building for good…right now our main organizational objective appears to be doing whatever it takes, even it means adopting a rather rudimentary blunt instrument plan, so that our perennial bridesmaid of a manager can get some sort of personal vindication, which makes sense in light of this poor man’s cult of personality reboot…now this “plan” could work this season, especially in the PL, due to the present weaknesses of our most logical competitors, but even so we would be wise to get ourselves a sizeable lead before those sides either get their shit together or use the window to redress their respective issues
“who” would agree
In the past the likes of Havertz and Odegaard (unless against a weaker team) were not free flowing. Were they obeying orders or just not up to standard. Jesus is fucked and when he does run it is usually up a blind ally.
Ethan and MLS are class and will only get better – with the recent additions the attack has improved but only in recent games – until recently the displays are dire – as I mentioned a few weeks ago the paint drying in my drawing room offered better entertainment.
if the manager uses the best tools available and does not shoehorn in the likes of Hazertz etc then possibly entertainment will improve. Get through the games at the end of November with commanding wins and opinions will change. It isnt just a few on here but most of the journos who are highly critical of the entertainment value so far.
TRVL
“you would be hard-pressed to find a single commentator, former player or pundit would agree with your “free flowing beautiful football” take”
Probably better to not twist my words to suit your narrative as what I said and I quote ” so we have scored 4 goals from open play that were the result of beautiful free flowing football”, and yes I doubt you will find anyone who understands the game who would disagree that the 4 open play goals we have scored this week were anything other than “free flowing football “.
unlike yourself, I have no actual agenda besides wanting our team to be the best posiible version of itself…I’m not trying to convince anyone to buy into whatever I’m supposedly selling, I’m just offering up my personal opinion on Arsenal-related matters…I call a spade a spade, regardless of who the manager is/was and I will continue to do so until we start acting like a club who desperately wants to be considered the best of the best…neither Real nor Barca, post Ronaldo and Messi, spent gobs of money trying to create a blunt instrument version of themselves simply to win titles, their objective remained unchanged, to emulate the best version of themselves, historically-speaking…now neither have reached that level as of yet, but that hasn’t stopped them from trying…they live and breathe free flowing football, they don’t dabble in it on occasion, like MA’s Arsenal
meanwhile back in North London, MA’s objective is more like that of the English National Team under Southgate…be in the conversation by adopting a defence-first approach, then hope and pray things fall your way when it matters most…at least Southgate had the excuse of not having the kind of training time a more complex scheme might require, but even he was smart enough to not undervalue the role of a Striker who could clinically finish…without Kane that side would be outside the top 10 (keeping in mind that their seeding was propped-up by some more traditional powerhouses, like Germany, Italy etc, struggling for form in more recent times)…so until we start to model ourselves after the greatest sides in Europe, not the one-offs or also-rans, we’ll likely get exactly what we deserve, jacksquat, which would be a real fucking shame considering the unprecedented backing our current manager has been gifted
NORG
Drawing room…😁. I’m imagining now that you live in an 19th century country pole enacting sense and sensibility with Madam NORG.
JT “I have been invited by Tottenham to the game, it’s a 5.30 kick off, they have told me to arrive at 5.29pm and they will take me round their trophy cabinet and have me at my seat by kick off” (TalkSport on TikTok)
John Terry was a nasty racist cunt as a player but this did at least provide a giggle.
Pole? Pile!
KP
Not as modern as 19th century. Original house built in the same year as the great fire of London and then in 1780 they added a new wing. Sounds idyllic but it is hard work.