We all had our hopes pinned to the relegation bound Nottingham Forest drawing against the might Liverpool. They were unlucky, do were we… because Nunez scored a goal in 9th minute of extra time which allowed Liverpool to keep their points advantage at the top. They now sit at the top, 4 points ahead of Man City and 5 points from us, where we both have a game in hand. A loss to them last night would have made everything more exciting.
Anyways, you don’t win titles because of someone else’s downfall. You win because you have the heart and courage to fight, and convert into performance on the pitch on gamedays. There are still 12 games to go, both City and Arsenal will get chances to go back to the top, if we take or it let it go like season is what will decide our fate this season.
We are playing Sheffield United tomorrow. They are having a rough time, and most likely will be relegated. They are 20th, with 13 points having won just 3 games in 26 which they have played and there is no way we should lose to them. I would even expect us to improve that goal difference by few goals.
We have some positive news from the fitness point of view. Thomas Partey is expected to make the matchday squad after months, Zinchenko and Tomiyasu might not make it tomorrow but they are close as well, and we could see them back in a week. Timber has started training with the team, he won’t play for a month at least but he is recovering well and we need everyone we can have for the remaining 12 games and the Champions League run.
We ran out of options last season because some players were out injured, others were fatigued and we don’t want to repeat that this season.
Mikel Arteta had different views for playing against Sheffield United, when asked about what challenges they will pose, this is what he had to say…
They’re a really difficult team to beat. I’ve watched four or five games now with the City game, the way they started against Villa, and then obviously the game took a different route, but as you mentioned they are extremely well coached. I know Chris really well and I admire his teams, a lot of things that he does with them. It will be Monday night football and it’s going to be a tough night.
source: arsenal.com
Look, we don’t like to play against the bottom teams. They sit back, they let us have all the possessions and sometimes Mikel Arteta don’t know what to do with that. We need to break that, because that’s what Sheff’s are going to do.
Right, a short one today. I will be back before the game tomorrow. Hope you are having a nice weekend!
Marc, we’re all special in our own unique way. And unique in our own special way.
Here, we’re just average bear blog posters. With our own unique views.
it’s time to get back to some football talk and away from the passive aggressive trolling nonsense of the above sockpuppet-types…enough said
still not too sure about the our continued re-upping campaign that has gifted some rather periphery pieces and/or oft-injured players both term and considerable raises…first it was Eddie, who has clearly shown that he was undeserving of being kept here, especially on a wage that has likewise hampered our ability to move on from him…then came Ramsdale’s new deal, who shortly thereafter was reduced to little more than a bit part Keeper…he will undoubtedly be difficult to sell off, let alone for a profit, as his wages and lack of playing time certainly won’t attract those willing to spend top dollar…now there’s talk of us pushing to re-up Tomi, who appears to be made of paper mache…don’t get me wrong, I like what he brings to the table from a cover perspective, due to his positional flexibility, but oft-times the best ability is availability and he fails miserably in that capacity…finally, I wouldn’t be surprised if Jorginho, based on his agent’s constant attempts to use the media in order to secure his next, and possibly last, lucrative deal, was the next name on our re-upping docket…to be frank, none of these players moves the needle, from a championship pursuit standpoint, and could likewise take a spot from someone who could come in and actually make a real difference moving forward…just saying
on a brighter note, I’m feeling incredibly positive about our ability to take another 3 points against a Brentford side who appears to be experiencing several key defensive injuries…speaking of injuries, let’s hope that MA’s early assessments of both Saka’s(ill) and Mart’s(minor cut on foot) early departures against SFU were on point, as we need our best forwards available for our upcoming CL fixture…with that said, it will be interesting to see who gets the start against Brentford, should they be available for selection…it’s been quite awhile since we needed to show our hand when it came to our prioritized pursuits
TRVL – we all know there will be no rotation. If Saka only had one leg he would be on the team sheet. If he needs a rest then tough. Next on the list is three touch Havertz.
NORG
Arteta’s inability to be able to rotate successfully wrecked out season last year chances are he’ll do the same thing this season.
Ode and Saka have both looked a different level since the winter break. We have a week off next week followed by an international break after that its away to City. Even giving a player a small break can make the difference and after the money Arteta’s spent he has no excuse to use the squad at his disposal.
Going out to Porto will not only be financially damaging it’ll wipe out a lot of the positive vibe the team has at the moment Arteta cannot afford to cock it up.
Calling people average on here is mean. Maths joke with lashings of tumbleweed. I’ll get me coat.
Marc—I get the feeling that the pending break will lead MA to make a concerted push to have his preferred 11 on the pitch for both the Brentford and Porto fixtures, under the guise that if there’s a setback there will be some recovery time available in the weeks following…with City facing Pool this weekend, there’s little chance MA will intentionally rotate several players for fear of missing a potentially vital opportunity to make up ground…now if his “medical” team strongly suggests otherwise, we might see a different face or two out there…personally I think he prioritizes the PL title due to what transpired last year and the fact he thinks it’s a more realistic undertaking…not sure if I agree, as the same team, City, are likely standing in their way in both regards…from what I’ve witnessed there’s maybe only one team in the CL who measures up to either Pool or City, which is Real, who could end up doing us a favour if they’re matched up with City in the next round
when Arteta was asked specifically why ESR, Eddie and Nelson didn’t come off the bench, he said the following coach-speak gibberish:
‘We discussed things and we cannot play every player in every game,’
‘Those players played a few games ago against Newcastle and they had opportunities to do that.
‘Now we have five subs, before we had only three, so we have another two players happy.
‘That’s the way I take it, but you always have players who want to be involved and play, but unfortunately it is impossible.
‘It’s not in our hands, it’s impossible to achieve that so they know that.’
Asked if he had pulled them aside to discuss their amount of minutes, Arteta added: ‘You cannot really promise anything.
on a more positive note, MA did say that we will be shopping for a top level Striker, come the summer, regardless of our more recent purple patch…so for all those half-wits that have blathered on about our goalscoring numbers since the closing of the window, even your managerial overlord knows this isn’t sustainable with our current roster…that said, I’m still not totally convinced he will follow through, at least not from a “top level” perspective…fingers-crossed
on the heels of Darwin Nunez’s spectacular 2 goal performance in Europa today I thought it might be interesting to compare his production to that of MA’s off-season acquisition, Kai Havertz, espcially now that the latter has seen some time in the CF position…some within their fanbase openly criticized Klopp for his perceived overpayment, especially when Nunez struggled to get his legs under him during his first season in the PL, meanwhile Havertz has largely underwhelmed two different fanbases since his arrival in the UK…this season, Nunez has 16 goals and 11 assists in 39 total appearances, only 13 of which were over 80 minutes, whereas our disappointing addition has managed a rather meagre 8 goals and 3 assists in 37 total appearances, 22 of which were for 80 minutes or more…so if anyone is questioning Darwin’s contributions, considering his price tag, what should one logically conclude about our German albatross?…I would gladly take Nunez, who can likewise play out wide, for the extra 10M, over our version of Where’s Waldo
keeping in mind that Nunez makes 140,000/wk, compared to Havertz’s astronomical 331,000/wk wages
TRVL
Gibberish translated. ESR, Nelson & Eddie do not train as I like – especially ESR. When he is on the pitch for a few minutes he does not follow instructions on how I want play to continue instead he tries to drive forward and not sideways pass. By the way I, the mighty El B am as stubborn as a mule.
NORG
If Roy Castle and the politically dodgy McWhirter twins were still alive, you’d now be in the Guinness book of world records as the only person to have visited Wales and not experienced rain.
I don’t recall Pontyberem exactly but I was down that way last year settling an account with a man who carries out surveys on bats that nest in your roof in connection with some planning permission we were obtaining. Modern life is sooo exciting. We’re about 45 miles west of there on the coast of the Irish sea.
I’m stewarding tonight as Haverfordwest County take on Penybont (Bridgend) seeking to stay at the top of the bottom half (In an end of season mini-league).
One sleep til Brentford doesn’t have quite the same ring to it as the Beastie Boys’ ‘No sleep til Brooklyn’ but it’ll have to do.
KP
you should have a good evening for a match – no rain. Bats can be a nightmare. A couple of years ago the church (100M) from the back of our house was having roof repairs. It only has one service a year but it is Grade 1 so still carries its protection clauses. The bats looked for temporary roosting sites near by. Leaving a light on in the roof space of the old part of our house deterred flying visitors. Nearer to the Church is a Barn conversion – they are also converting old cattle sheds – home to several bats. They have had to create a ‘bat’ hotel before planning permission could be granted.
KP
Ultrasound units can drive bats off the area or so they say.
New post.