Well, we are in to the final game of Europa League group stage against FC Zurich. A win today will guarantee a finish qualifying us to last 16 directly, saving us from the play offs.
There’s not much to say about the game except that it should be an easy one for us. Mikel can afford to not start our first playing XI and still be able to win it. It would be interesting to see to what extent he goes on for rotation, but I’m expecting few minutes for Elneny and Zinchenko since they are back in training now. Fortunately, Saka’s injury against Forest wasn’t a serious one and he is back with the team.
Xhaka remains suspended for the game, which opens up a place for Sambi to grab. Personally I would give it a rest to our wingers and let Nelson and Marquinhos start ahead of Saka and Martinelli. We need fresh legs against Chelsea this weekend. Same goes for Jesus, Eddie can have this opportunity to shine and get some confidence back.
Right, so what’s up with the title of this post?
When asked about the contract situation, Gabriel Martinelli said –
I am very happy at Arsenal. I said it many times, I love to be here. I love the city, I love everything about Arsenal so I want to stay.
Yeah, just need to get a pen.
In a world of Mbappe’s and Neymar’s, it’s nice to see a young player proving his mantle on the grandest stage of the world of football and still keeping his head down. I understand it’s a complicated thing, this contract negotiations. At times the club and players may not come to a conclusion and the partnership is broken between the player and the club. However, keeping it a bit decent is in favor for both the parties. You don’t need to be Ronaldo, playing for Juventus and forcing your way out.
I do not see any of our own leaving. It just needed to be pointed out.
Right, short one today, see you during the game. Game is quite late here, 1.30 AM, but I can afford to watch today. Hope you are having a good time!
P.S. – I have switched to a minimalistic theme, with dark mode feature. If you see something not working, do let me know. Google manages the ads and they might take a day or two to find perfect spot to place ads, hopefully they don’t ruin your experience.
Test
not minding the minimalistic approach whatsoever….sadly, that was another underwhelming European affair last evening, which included a plethora of backwards and sideways passes and the usual struggles when it comes to our end product…talk about a fortunate result, as anytime we get all 3 points from a long range shot, we should be exceedingly grateful…too much amateur hour play by those who clearly need more playing time and to be suitably coached-up, like Vieira, Sambi and Nelson…at least the latter was rather adventurous in his pursuits, unfortunately he couldn’t seem to find a way to not give the ball up cheaply in the end…at one point, he cruised past 3 defenders, which opened up the far side of the pitch, only for him to literally pass the ball to the only opponent between him and a wide open teammate, who could have waltzed into the box for a clear-cut scoring opportunity….when I see games like this it reminds me of some of our serious off-season miscues, as I would have much rather we had used the White/Vieira monies for the likes of Nkunku, Diaby or Osimhen…just saying
TRVL
I have lost confidence in Sambi unfortunately, still remember his run of games last season when he was good, but probably because we didn’t have Partey’s performance to compare.
At this stage, I won’t mind giving Azeez, Patino game time in place of him. They are on loan though, so we should just hope Xhaka and Partey remains fit when needed… which will be a lot.
White was un-necessary spending, can’t argue with that. 45m got us Thomas Partey, and we have a 50m CB whom we are trying to accomodate at RB because thr CBs we have are better than him.
In the final EL group statistics we had +5 and PSV had +11 in GD. That says it all where we are at the moment. Same problems as last year, not finishing in front of goal, Eddie not being the striker in the EL everyone hoped for, which begs the question where are the goals coming from? So far not from the front line.
Viera has not proven so far the 35mil that was spent on him was great value, he is too easy bullied of the ball combine that with Eddie who we pay +100k a week to draw defenses out of play, the Jan TW can’t come soon enough.
Killroy
Problem is all the rumours point to Arteta going after a winger and not the CM or 2 we desperately need. Jesus has played well for us but as I said at the time did anyone have him down as the striker or type of striker Artetaantiball needs?
What I’d like someone to tell me is if we get another winger where do Vieira and ESR fit into the squad because it’s not as if Arteta can or likes rotating.
Oh yeah meant to say
Ambarish – site’s looking good!
Ambarish – Like the dark version of the site much better then the light version. Now if the font size could be a bit larger my aching eyes would appreciate that..
Jan TW superb midfield reinforcement for Partey and Xhaka is needed since Sambi is yet not living up to what is expected of him. We have no one in the front line that can hold up the ball, if Jesus is not there with his trickery. That certainly is a problem. A fancy winger is nice to have but not a must.
If one was to project forward and really analyze how our club might establish themselves as a team of consequence, there’s no way this squad, as presently consrtucted, can compete with the best teams in Europe…that said, some moves could have been made which could have forced me to have a considerable rethink in this regards…for many years, we were either not allotted the requisite funds to compete or were unwilling to make the necessary moves, due in large part to Wenger’s latter days disdain for “superstar” players, so when we removed the latter individual from the equation and made some substantial adjustments regarding the former “financial” dilemma, it was imperative that the correct type of purchases were made…instead of allocating monies for young, budding superstar players, minus maybe Jesus, our novice managerial team chose to purchase the kind of players who, albeit not without quantitative skills, wouldn’t ruffle feathers and who would acquiesce to MA’s “ultimate” authority…this philosophical approach to recruitment will never yield the ultimate results…now it could lead to an uptick in results, at least in the short-term, but it will invariably lower the ceiling moving forward, as we already witnessed under the once-revered Wenger…to make matters worse, MA is no Arsene, so the chances of us overachieving as a result of managerial ingenuity is little more than a pie in the sky pipe dream…until we get the type of players who can score goals in a variety of differing manners, regardless of the opponents, we will once again descend into the all too familiar squeaky bum tactical approach to football
Killroy
Sure thing, I will fix the font.
TRVL
Can’t argue with your analysis, the problem is the “uptick” in results has seen us go from 5th to 8th to 8th to 5th and cost 300 odd million quid. In a season where ManU have a new manager, the wheels are flying off Liverpool and Chelsea have changed manager I still don’t think we’ll make top 4 – and all that’s before Newcastle really join the party next season.
Just how much money and how long will it take Arteta to do something of real note?
Cheers Marc…far too often those on the outside looking in with hang their respective hats on the “fine margins” argument, when in fact most teams who rise to the highest of heights are significantly better for good reasons…cutting edge recruitment, tactical nous and the manager’s ability to get the best out of his players, in that order, are by far the most crucial variables when one’s attempting to construct a perennial winning club…so far we’ve wasted considerable sums on players whom will never reach such heights, albeit some will wrongly suggest that the jury is still out in this regards…whereas from a tacitical standpoint, we’re bang average, and when it comes to “coaching up” we haven’t seen nearly enough in-house player development thus far, even though that was supposedly the primary reason for the MA’s hiring…as such, I can only hope that any further recruitment maneuverings will involve younger players who’ve already proven themselves and who’re high floor/high ceiling entities, regardless of the required investment…after all I would rather shell out 85+ for a blue chipper than the same amount for 2 or 3 coin toss propositions
will NOT with hang
Zurich was a poor game by our standards and when a team start kicking lumps out of our players, we just need to move the ball quicker and wear them down chasing shadows. We have the players to do that to a Zurich level team.
Marc, I think Newcastle have already joined the party with their upward trajectory and excellent manager in Eddie Howe even though Eddie’s got them punching above their weight for now. I wouldn’t rule Newcastle out missing out on a Europe place – not CL but they should make the EL cup.
Once the WC is out of the way, we can look more seriously at our chances and who is or isn’t depleted of their star players through injuries by Xmas. Personally, I would have wanted to stay home but that’s not fair on the lad’s desire to play against the best in the world for his country.
So, Chelsea tomorrow evening for me (7pm) with pretty much a full squad to pick from although Saka and Tomi will likely carrying small knocks.
“Mistakes” is gong to be the main key word for Arteta once again this season. “Learning From” are the other key words that will be the biggest factor in our finishing position.
So far we are top in spite of Arteta’s head down full charge into making the same mistakes.
If he continues that way, it will be his downfall and Barca will be welcome to have him at a cheque book club.
I’d be ok with Gerrard to L’pool, Klopp to us and Arteta to Barca with Edu on 1 year contracts.
Klopp would take us to another level as he did with Pool before the investment in players slowed down too much. With the current squad and about 3 players Klopp would want we would definitely be going toe to toe with City and the title each season.
Can we say the same about Arteta?
Tomi to stay home*
Spot on Tony…I would give my left nut to have Klopp patrolling our sidelines…just imagine what he could have done with inherited pieces like Saka, ESR, Marts, Tierney and Saliba and 300+ for recruitment purposes
TRVL, make sure you got plenty of milage in your right nut. It might be a decision you regret when you get to your 60s. 🙂
Good move to dark Ambarish.
What field of engineering do you work in?
Tony
I’m in IT, worked briefly in UK but now back to my hometown. I thought it’s obvious, an Engineer from India? Should be IT. 😅
New Castle is seriously gonna be a problem for big 6. They have money now, and ambition I suppose. Say whatever you want, but you not only need money but a good planning at the big stage. Stockpiling big names like PSG has done, yields inferior results than City, who have used their money wisely.
Abarish I was giving you credit for not following the herd. 🙂
The reason I asked was my company does engine engineering classes for Asia and often we have Indian and Pakistani students. My trainer has also been to India to do on-site training pre-covid. Now we only do classroom and workshop for company’s engineers.
I can’t see Arteta doing anything with future youngsters – he’s not good enough and he knows it. Saka, Marinelli and ESR had all shown something before he arrived, Saliba he sent on loan again when he could have used him alongside Holding bringing him through last season and saving £50 on White (what’s the worst that could’ve happened miss out on 4th?).
How many youngsters will we start on Wednesday? Wenger would have half as kids and half as backup / any first teamers who needed some fitness. Arteta’s idea of rotation is bringing in a £35 million Vieira for a £35 million Ode.
Your site really looks cool. You have done a superb work
By the way
Kilroy
you can pinch out to get a bigger size. Keeping phone sideways ( landscape ) helps to fit the line as well
Neville got slaughtered by Ian Hislop. Funny as.
https://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/gary-neville-ian-hislop-qatar-28414133
Wild World from Tea for the Tillerman by Cat Stevens is a great way to sit in the early morning sun and enjoy such a classic and first LP I ever bought.. Thought the song title sums up out world right now! For KP & Almunia & all gooners.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BsDEl82pqao
Anyway back to football. Chelsea tonight my time, but midday in the UK. We have to keep our TV pay masters happy, don’t we?
Still, I’m not complaining at least it’s better than 1am onwards.
If I’m completely honest with the Chavs on paper WLWDD VS WWLDW our last 5 results. Potter always gave good account of himself when BHA played us home and away. Potter is a smart young manager at Chelsea on merit for his work with BHA on a shoestring budget and excellent eye for talent, but he’s not generational I hear you whimper. He doesn’t have non-negotiable either nor do his players act up. Potter is an experienced man manager and formidable tactician.
Can we take 3 points from the Bridge? On current form: a hard no!
However, I’m banking on Arteta to up our game/form and tear up the past stats for the last 3/4 games.
Time to write some new stats/history with Jesus find the back of the net again. Anyone remember the 5:3 humbling we gave the Chavs under Arsne with Mr Chelsea John Terry tripping over his legs chasing RVP? If I’ve got the match right I laughed so hard with Terry’s arse & legs akimbo.
My gut tells me we should win this game. We have the squad and no long queue at the treatment table.
It’s impossible to predict: Potter is the more experienced manager and Arteta has the more settled first 11. I’ll wait until the team news is out and then think about how Arteta intends to take the points back to the Emirates. The biggest hurdle for both teams is scoring goals at the moment.
Potter vs Arteta once again and I can’t wait for the whistle to blow to kick off.
Tony
Auba will be an interesting one today – I can see him wanting to make a point to Arteta.
Whether he’s able to is another matter all together.
Marc
I was thinking about Auba, as this tie will be spicy for Arteta and Auba. Not sure he’d play his first competitive game against us at the Emirates, but Potter may well think Auba knows us well enough to start him. We’ll know what our lads think of Auba by the first few tackles.
Anyway, looks like Zinchenko at LB otherwise it’s the Arteta faithful 10, so no surprises. This game will be a good indicator of our collective fitness for around 98minutes.
Good line up of football with Emery taking on Ten Hag and Conte vs Klopp: good for the neutrals.
New post.