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!
Viera Lyn
Troll cave? How old are you, eight? Do you think every opposition team we have beaten with some incredible football has nothing to do with Arteta? I have no idea what your problem is with him. Sure, if he makes a mistake call him out, but you call him out when we score 30 goals in 7 games!!!! That’s not normal fan behaviour, it’s signs of obsession.
On a mature note, it’s good to see Partey back. He looked rusty, but once he’s match fit he improves our team for the run in. Like Jiorginho, he lets Rice play the n a more advanced role.
This really could be our season. We’re coached well & we are even a threat at set pieces. 5, 6, 5 in consecutive away games, even City can’t do that…..!!!
He’s for real Kev.
It wouldn’t be a proper football blog without an in house misery. Perhaps he sees something nobody else does and all those goals really were pure luck and Tets is nothing more than jammy.
I’m enjoying it. I advised him to. Some people prefer blowharding but, you know what, at some point we’ll lose and he can rant about the manager, not spending £100m on Toney and seeing Emi for under value. Again
*selling Emi
I simply responded in kind to your juvenile first post, which was clearly a trolljob, as I’m a regular poster here and you’re merely a passing ship-type…btw simpletons, such as yourself, said some very similar things during Wenger’s latter years, when I spoke my unfiltered mind, and we all know how that ended…all I want is for us is to construct a world-class squad that can compete with the best and the brightest when it matters most and I still think he’s our weakest link to achieving that lofty goal…until then, you two recency bias wet dreamers aren’t going to deter me from speaking my truth…have a good one
upon further reflection, I recognize that it was my bad for taking the obvious bait…the beauty of this blog is that it provides us with a predominantly uncensored forum to discuss our Arsenal-related thoughts and concerns without fear of any Pedro-like reprisals, so I tend to overreact whenever someone enters the fray simply to ruffle feathers…the individuals involved know full-well that many of us on here feel a certain way about our current maanger and a few of his acquisitions, for a variety of totally legitimate reasons, so it should come as no surprise that some rather unflattering posts could be on display at any given moment…as such, only someone with an ulterior motive would respond directly to such criticisms in a derogatory manner…of course, they have every right to say their piece and I likewise have every right to respond, within reason, but I certainly didn’t want it to sully an otherwise good evening, at least from a results standpoint…Cheers to one and all
according to our manager, Saka was feeling ill and Marts simply suffered a minor cut from a cleat…not sure exactly why Marts needed to be helped off if that was the case, but let’s hope that the information provided was a truthful account of those two situations, as this month will be a vitally important one on two fronts…first we will face a Brentford side who at times defend well and will generally counter far more effectively than some of our recent opponents…then we will have our return CL fixture against a Porto side who will be bouyed by their late-game heroics in the first leg…finally, on the 31st we will head to the Etihad, where we haven’t won since January of 2015, to face off against an increasingly healthy City side…depending on what transpires between now and then, as City have to travel to Anfield this weekend, this match could have serious implications…according to the number crunchers, Pool have the easiest remaining schedule, followed by us then City, from a points per game standpoint, so we can only hope that questions surrounding the health of some of our key players doesn’t throw an unwanted wrench into the equation…fingers-crossed
Morning all
Pretty much a forgone conclusion and when Havertz gets on the score sheet after missing 2 sitters, I knew this was going to be a training match for us.
Pumpkin could set Arsenal up to win against Sheffield. Pumpkin is well known in the parts as an El B sage. As for you gripes about TRVL, mate I’d go back to LG where the morons suck El B’s dick for using a zippier better than Wenger. Have word mate.
This site runs well where we say what we feel.
If you don’t like our comments, LG will welcome you with open arms, Bob or whoever you are.
We prefer to have an open mic here for people who are objective, such as still complaining about El B’s lack of using youth & ESR. Last night was a perfect time to give 2nd half to such players.
Let’s see Islington Ken if we win the league? If we don’t, we need a manager who can win the PL and CL. So far after 4+ years Arteta is not that man until he wins the league unless you’re happy to nearly win things as Wenger did. Wenger was the nearly man after 2008. Nearly signed so many players and nearly won nothing but devalued tin pot FA cups any team can win.
I’d have rather had, Klopp or Pep when they were available; not a repeat mistake maker when it counts, and we fall short, and then you’re no where to be seen to prop up you messiah. Probably sucking on your kids pacifier with tears running………
Same as Wenger should have gone in 2008, Arteta should go if no PL this season after we should have won last season, but didn’t because of El B’s BS in the TWs.
Aitcho, I have no problem with your views, only LG tossers turning up to troll.
Islington Ken have you suffered from myopia long or is it a childhood problem never solved or you just like trolling?
We’ve won nothing yet league wise for far too long. You can be happy with that, but we are not, and let it be known why. Then El B excuse makers like you turn up acting like the muppet you are on a site that supports there club, not the manager who is yet to win a significant trophy after nearly 5 years.
We’ll stick to the facts and you can continue with your myopic views while we contemplate the bigger picture of being PL trophy less for 20+ years.
Sound about right to you, IK?
How about coming back when Arteta actually wins the league or CL? We won’t hold our breath…….
Norg & KP
Really enjoy your stories of past and present. I was complaining being cold this winter here with 12*C lol
We really have the squad to win the league bar as Ambarish eluded to we need a 20+ a season 9; Havertz only scores around 1:4 sitters against rank average bottom dwellers.
Arteta is consistent with his ESR & youth BS and in-game management. If I were a youth player, I’d have my agent looking around or hope Arteta leaves.
Pepe works better with youth as does Klopp and both are serial winners. Arteta? One FA cup in covid.
Says it all really………
but, as
One other thing, Islington Ken, when making your assumptions for the long term, do you have coaching badges and sports credentials to teach and train to pro level?
Probably not, But TRVL does. How do I know? Well a few of us have also become friends outside the blog.
Not too dissimilar to people who go to games with mates.
I predicted a 5 – 0 mauling knowing SU were poor but last night they were even worse. Whilst I am pleased with the result I am also disappointed that the opportunity to give valuable game time to younger players was missed. Perhaps the reason is El B is just a coach and somebody else needs to pull his strings. ESR on the pitch last night would have probably scored a hat full. We have a promising RB on the squad but El B chose to play Soarse, a player likely to be departing at the end of the season. Tony, you were right to mention young players should be seeking employment elsewhere as it seems El B does not have the ability to bring talented youth into the squad and prepare them to be the AFC stars of the future.
” Arteta is consistent with his ESR & youth BS and in-game management. If I were a youth player, I’d have my agent looking around or hope Arteta leaves.
Pepe works better with youth as does Klopp and both are serial winners. Arteta? One FA cup in covid.
Says it all really………”
Yes it does. We have a pretty good Academy which runs to end of a cliff or against a retaining wall – in case someone does not like heights- with El B around. So Arsenal is a loser here.
Huge clubs like Arsenal , Real, Barca, are all encompassing with teams accross the spectrum. An ambition to play at Senior level drives a Youth Academy to excellence and ultimately this is so satisfying to long term fans.
Comes in an inadequate person. Mind he being a trudger , might be good asset till a certain level. Thereafter , a club with Pedigree will move to the next gear with a better manager. What defines a failure to be eased off ? Lack of trophies i.e. capability to excell within 2 years. El B has overstayed by 2 years already.
Didn’t watch the match which was at an unearthly hour for me , but now have gone through a brilliant tongue-in-cheek commentary by RVL
Thank you RVL
So am perplexed why someone was so outraged by RVL commentary.
Unless it got in the way of the admiration of a twitching pert behind on the sidelines.
Damn it ,this is about enjoying our football and RVL has been quite appreciate of this as could gauge from his language throughout.
PS – Le Pottage ( Potty ) is very posts are on each other and sparingly about AFC, in case anyone lost his way
Sorry you missed the game live Hoopah. Have you seen some highlights perhaps? I was an idiot to be concerned yesterday. I think the score almost flattered them. SU are rapidly going backwards to the championship. It’s funny because I always imagine SU as one of the braver northern teams with a real willingness to dig in and not be cowed by the opposition. That was about as one-sided a PL game as 8 can remember.
Brentford next on Saturday night. Another late(r) one for you guys.
Tony & Hoopah—your kind and supportive words are much-appreciated…I’ve been very upfront about my glass half-full predilictions from the get-go, which understandably can be triggering for the weakest-minded amongst us, and until we live up to the very expectations that were supposedly behind the move to the Emirates, I will continue to speak the hard truths…I know full-well that I can come off as a pretentious prick on occasion…my educational background, combined with my wealth of sporting-related experiences, which I believe has afforded me a little more insight than the average bear, can give off a supercilious vibe that has the tendency to rub some the wrong way…such is life…thanks again and take care
Brentford have gone off the boil this year but can still cause some teams a few problems. We beat them at their place with ease but it may be a different story now the gambling man has returned. Perhaps El B will also have Porto on his mind but I doubt it.
Hi NORG
Just read this in the Guardian about Brentford’s absent back four.
With their tails up having scored 24 goals in their past five league games, Arsenal’s next one is at home to Brentford, an out-of-sorts team you might normally give some hope of causing an upset if only they weren’t currently missing their entire first-choice back four.
More good news. Imagine what we’d do without Gab M, Saliba, Zinch and Ben White all out injured?
KP—the football Gods are shining us as of late…how else could one explain our good fortune when it comes to facing a whole host of teams seemingly at their most vulnerable moments…I’m certainly not going to look a gift horse in the mouth…hopefully this doesn’t send the wrong message to management when it comes to the off-season, as the Independent just wrote an article suggesting that MA had it spot on when he overpaid for our positional tweener and human/giraffe hybrid, Havertz…until then let’s keep racking up the points against some relatively feeble sides
shining on us
let’s hope our return fixture against Porto looks a little like Bayern versus Lazio…at least so far
KP – you are forgetting El B has the mighty Cedric Soarse up his sleeve.
TRVL – AFC should beat Porto however it will depend on El B’s game plan and in game management.
NORG
And it all started so well for Cedric. Do you remember him coming on as a sub on his debut for us and scoring from a fairly long range effort? He’s not the worst full back we’ve ever signed (Andre Santos is – by a mile) but hell never be seen as a shrewd acquisition.
My second dose of live football tonight in the space of 5 days. Cardiff City Stadium to watch them against Huddersfield. The Bluebirds are back on the up after two straight wins. Keeping everything crossed that it’s the start of an Arsenal-type winning run.
https://youtu.be/Dfv4tK6R4H8?si=i_Ew1o4v4vUXtwlA
That Cedric goal I know you were waiting to see. A game played while Covid was in full swing. It seems like decades ago (which is probably for the best). Some Argentine bloke playing in goal, the rarely spotted marauding glaswegian left-back and a prolific CF with a dodgy barnet. Oh, and Saka on the bench which would never happen now. Another era.
Oh, and here’s a(nother) weird thing about our Cedric – turns out he was born in Germany!
The date of that game? 1 July 2020. Football in July!
Just wondering what we want to happen in the game between City and the Bindips this weekend.
If City are in the ascendency out of the two, does a LFC win suit us more? It also potentially softens them up for our game to come against them.
Or if City win does it dent LFC’s confidence and put us in just a two horse race?
For my mind it has to be that a draw is best. Providing we beat the Bees, we gain 2 points on each.
A nice situation to be in, providing our own form continues of course.
Any thoughts out there from people who know more about these things than me.
Norwich usually allow us to play as if it is a training game. The goal by Wilshere will probably be the one that is best remembered. I know live 8 miles north of Norwich and friends mostly support the local team. I mention I am a Gooner and they keep quiet. A local farmer was a presenter on Eurosport before taking over the family farm. He is a keen Norwich supporter. The talk at the ground is all about the coach they hope to nab from us.
Cardiff are due another purple patch but it is so hard for promoted teams to stay up.
KP – my limited knowledge is probably not as good as yours but remembering recent seasons City always hit their peak February onwards. If they win this weekend they will be in the driving seat and assuming we do likewise against Brentford we will slip into second. Will we stay there? I have a funny feeling United will be our stumbling block. They are still crap under ETH but they somehow usually get their game together when playing us.
NORG
Delia Smith aside, NC is a positive and generally friendly club. I went to Carrow Road for this first time last year and saw Marquinhos and his Canary Mates pluck the Bluebirds! I live in west Wales (ie 100 miles west of Cardiff) and reckon I drove 700 miles that day to experience crushing disappointment. But the burghers of Norfolk were pretty welcoming. I think I might possibly be the last Gooner to have seen Marquinhos play in England.. Sad really.
Trvl, what was that waffle? Supercilious? Lol.
Very few of your comments are suggestive of sparkling education background or a wealth of sporting experience. Or maybe they weren’t experiences at a particularly good level.
You’re an average bear on a blog of average bears, that’s why we’re on a blog waffling but I agree with the pretentious bit. However sounding poncy on a blog doesn’t give your anti Arteta dogma any more weight.
If your point can’t be made without pretending to have some higher standing, perhaps consider if your point is a good one on the first place.
That we overpaid for Havertz is pretty much accepted by all, the independent article you direct us to is hardly a revelation. But he’s delivered. If Wengerish principles of ‘qualidee and value’ are your thing then you’ll have to mourn his passing like other AKBs do. If improving the team is what concerns you, rejoice in Havertz. And the manager who brought him in. Moaning the loss of Xhaka, who was pretty dire until Arteta came over, to what Havertz brings is pointless revisionism.
Cheers.
KP-a draw seems to be the best possible outcome…anytime either one of those teams fails to get max points should work in our favour, so long as we get our business done…as for Marquinhos, still don’t quite understand what happened there, as I saw a player with something on offer…I just think we failed him by not finding him a landing spot that would both guarantee him minutes and properly develop him…he appeared to be half the player against lesser opponents, which is always a weird gig
KP a draw is definitely best outcome for Sunday. It’s time for us to shut that gap and assert ourselves. Both teams will also know realise the fight is three way. I suspect both teams know the game has to be won.
I don’t see Brentford posing a problem. Another good win adds to GD as well as points.
Then they have to chase us. And our GD means mere snatched 1-0s won’t be enough. They have to go for it. Looking for more Liverpool type implosions like at Palace a few years back.
The smart money is on ManC. I suspect some of that is because it’s ManC and the smart money has been on them all season. If we can come away from Etihad with a draw minimum then we’ll have more chance than that poxy 14% they’re giving us right now.
Norg, I recall being at the Ems for that Wilshere goal but sit lower corner of North Bank, opposite end of where it was scored so I don’t have the best view of the Clock End pen box. I’d like to say the fans around me and me included were blown away in real time as the players mucked about on the edge of the box. But in honesty, it was Wenger days and the fans around me, were on the “what the eff are they doing again? someone shoot” rage – our days of the walk the ball into the net cliche – then it went in. I and others cheered without not knowing exactly what had happened.
On some replays, I’ve seen you can hear an “oooh” during the replay itself. That was the crowd round my end watching the replay and realising what a great goal it was and going “oooh”. In our early banter years the football was still beautiful in parts.
I’m sure most of us will have a batch of goals we’ve missed or not seen properly for one reason or another. I think a few Nasri wonders passed me by just because I was too far away and sat too low down, Porto, Fulham? When Ems first opened I sat upstairs but I prefer vibes the view most times and moved down.
KP – A friend of ours recently moved to SW Wales – Pontyberem. We visited in November and it didn’t rain.
I have often been to Carrow Road to see Arsenal. Another friend is a season ticket holder and I take over a seat normally used by his brother.
Aitcho – I mentioned a week or two ago I often gave up my seats to friends just to stand with another group of friends at the Clock End – the atmosphere and banter was electric. However sitting in the east stand upper did allow for an excellent view for most of the pitch.
Another memorable goal was a few decades before Wilshere was born. A skinny long haired Irishman (17 I think) took his place in our midfield. His passing was out of this world. During the game a huge cross field pass found its way in the path of a marauding Geordie Armstrong who in turn clipped it towards goal. Big Mac met the ball with his head and Bang.
“KP a draw is definitely best outcome for Sunday.”
Sorry guys but so wrong – the best result is a 30 odd man brawl including the managers, followed by a pitch invasion and then each club deducted points.
On the other hand I’m not sure I could take the excuses from the fan boys when Arteta still managed to fuck it up!
Aitcho—simply-put, you’re a clown lol….where does one even start when it comes to your jumbled, word salad of a post?!?…shit-talking others won’t change the fact that you’re an insignificant poster who clearly has an inferiority complex of almost epic proportions…you’re but a gnat in my world…good luck with that bud
“You’re an average bear on a blog of average bears,”
Speak for yourself – I’m special my Mum said so!
Trvl
Lol, ‘smarter than the average’. Yet to see evidence of that.
Dump posting nonsense won’t make you significant.
I look forward to your next inane revisions of footballing history and anguish over stuff you made up.
What sort of supporter gets sad when their team bangs 31 goals in 7 games?
NORG, I’m a little post Brady, there wasn’t much quality when I started going and probably why we indulged Champagne Charlie more than was good for him. Qe were probably a basket case of Manu proportions at that stage but thankfully the media scrutiny wasn’t as bad. I don’t know how the hell we ended up with players like Woodcock and Petrovic.
When GG first came, despite his dour approach and ‘no superstars here’ mantra, we were really exciting at times. Rocky being a standard bearer for that. I think Limpar was the first proper star he brought jn. In hindsight, maybe it was on the back of a bung. Anders didn’t care about GG’s dogma. There used to be a pit of some kind in the East Stand where a lot of us youngsters would stand, right by the touchline. I used to remember GG shouting at Anders constantly to track back and mark and Anders either pretending to not hear or understand him. He was never going to last.