Ladies and Gentlemen, we took another trip around the Sun and celebrated like it’s the last one. But it’s not, and we have to get back to business in our personal, professional and football world. I will let you deal with the first two, but lets talk about football. We are playing Brentford today on their ground. It’s going to be a tough one because Brentford had a great home run in 2024, they are very well coached for set pieces and we have an injury to our best player.
It shouldn’t deter us though, we saw what happened with Chelsea after a great run and there’s a very good chance that Liverpool will have a bad phase sometime soon. We need to remain closer to them to take advantage of the situation and we need to win today for that.
Team news
Bukayo Saka is out injured for a long time. Sterling is suffering from a knee injury. Ben White and Tomiyasu have not recovered from their injuries as well. But there’s a surprize today in the lineup which we have been asking since long.
Here’s the line up to play –
Nwaneri starts at right wing. Timber and Calafiori are back in the defence so MLS has to sit this one out on bench. Declan Rice gets some rest for Merino with Thomas Partey anchoring that midfield, while Nwaneri and Martinelli starts on the wings and Jesus plays in the centre. There’s no Havertz today, not sure about the reason but I don’t have anything to complain.
We certainly are going to miss Bukayo but lets see what Ethan offers in his first ever Premier League start. I would have loved to see him play in midfield but if he benefits from Saka’s absence, he will have a big claim for that midfield position once starboy is back.
Right, I will keep it short today. Hope you had a blast and lets see out the first day of the year on the positive note with a massive WIN. Liverpool are not backing down and are probably in a place where they will go ahead and win this, but there’s always a chance and a win today will make sure we remain in the mix.
See you during the game.
AF—I agree with many of your sentiments, but he has been coveted by both Barca and Pool, who’ve done a much better job when it comes to identifying midfielders of import…I think the major stumbling block for any Pool move was that the player didn’t want to leave Spain and possibly jeopardize his role with the national side, whereas I think he would already be at Barca even if weren’t for their financial issues, as Sociedad doesn’t want anything to do with deferred payments or sketchy accounting practices…even so, I’m not in favour of this move whatsoever, especially if it happens before we get the offensive side of the pitch figured out…in fact, this move would basically cement Rice as an AM and Havertz as our first choice Striker, which should scare the living shit out of anybody who actually cares about us winning things…so, in most respects, we’re very much on the same page…Cheers
Madhu—in fact we’re actually playing more of a 2-3-4-1, which sounds exciting if it weren’t for the manager in charge…kind of like the vast difference between a lower tier manager deploying 5 at the back against a big club and the likes of Inter Milan or Atalanta playing with wingbacks, so they really only have 3 dedicated defenders… in our preferred formation you have Saliba and Gabs as the only non-advancing defenders, with a somewhat roving yet oft-times inverted Timber, the more deeply-rooted Partey and a less active inverted LB just ahead of our 2 primary defenders…Partey tends to stay more to the right, so that it appears as if he and Rice are a defensive midifield pairing, whereas Rice tends to occupy the lanes just to the left of the center whenever he’s retreating to defend…the presence of the inverted LB allows Rice to get forward, thus the reason why whomever is playing that position is typically more static…this is also why Marts has struggled…then you have Marts and Rice on the left and Ode and Saka on the right, followed by Havertz up top…Havertz is allowed to roam as he pleases but he will occupy the space between Ode and Rice more often than not, especially when we’ve pinned the oppostion in their own end, so that he can provide defensive cover when required and then come late into space in and around the box…so even though in theory it might appear like we’re an offensively-minded side, we’re in fact frauds in that regards, like our manager, as we have a shitload of defensively-minded players deployed in more advanced positions
TVRL- precisely we have many defensive minded players in advanced positions. Couldn’t have said it better. Coupled with the fact that Arteta sets up to have control rather than chaos which means that the opposition can organise as well. The defensive minded players are encouraged to maintain shape and control in the process break up plays in case we loose the ball.
Madhu—to make matters worse, we rely so heavily on “defensive” players in the final third that it puts an extraordinary burden on our wide-side forwards, as they have to constantly come back and defend, which is why it’s so surprising that Saka wasn’t injured in this way much earlier…this likewise makes it nearly impossible for us to counter with pace and numbers…as such, if MA simply deployed players in their best positions, then recruited accordingly in our positions of need, things could have been decidely different…I would contend that had he done so we would have won at least one of the past two PL titles and we would presently be in the driver’s seat, considering City’s present woes
if only we could turn the clock back to two summers ago, when we were only 3 starters, a depth piece or two and a manager away from establishing ourselves as a top 4 club in Europe…to achieve this ends we could have brought in Rice, for the sole purpose of being our world-class DM, then used the Havertz money to acquire a proper AM to play opposite of Ode..as for our other recruits, I like Timber but he hasn’t been the same since he was injured when he was improperly deployed on the left, which is very reminiscent of what has transpired with Cala, who was once a prized LCB but can’t seem to handle the demands of his new position…maybe, like Havertz, they too were unnecessary luxury buys, especially if MA intended to keep both White and Gabs; keeping in mind that I prefer Timber on the left over White, who was likewise shoehorned out wide (he was first discovered as a RCB in a real back 3)..as you can see it’s a convoluted square peg clusterfuck that’s both difficult to explain in proper english and a slap in the face to every “real” manager who came before him
some rather interesting results today, with everyone who matters settling for draws…the continued unpredictablility of this season has me thinking and here are a few of my thoughts:
(1) don’t sleep on Forest…Nuno has a knack for getting sides to buy in, at least over the short-term…in many respects they remind me of Brentford from a few years back or even Leicester City from 2016, when they were relentless on the counter regardless of the opposition…personally I figured that they would have tailed off a bit by now, likely as a result of a key injury or two, which could easily derail a team with limited depth at this busy time of year, but they keep chugging along…good on them, potentially bad for everyone else, as they’re playing with house money now.
(2) the inconsistency on display this season likely means there’s another twist in the title tale…in order for us to benefit whatsoever from Pool’s recent slip in form we need to first find a way to get 6 points over the next 3+ days, not suffer anymore long-term injuries and, most importantly, get our January recruitment drive right…now this might seem like a tough ask in light of our managerial shortcomings, but certainly not outside the realm of possibility, as even a blind squirrel finds a nut on occasion…I think if we can keep Pool within reachable distance and find someone with goals in their boots before the window closes, we could make a push on a side that will be dealing with their own contractual shit as the season unfolds, especially if their pending free agents remain as such
(3) our manager has really fucked us over again…time to make things right or get the fuck out
TVRL – Forest were impressive and could have scored atleast one more goal. Pool played much better in second half. Can we do one better today on Pool is the big question. You never know what team Spurs together and what they will come up with. Either way it will be fun to watch.
Looks like edu has got himself a very good new job in Forest. They are on the up and he has a task on his hand.
Match day post is live now.