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.
“In that position it wasn’t because of the bug – I made it because I thought he was the best player to play in that position at the start of the game,” Arteta said. “And because there was a story there with him making his Premier League debut. Sometimes that feeling comes in and you think it’s the right one.”
Only our cake and eat it too fucktard of a manager would try to propagate the notion that even if Havertz were healthy enough to play Ethan was going to get his first PL start…if that was the case why not announce that before Kai’s gameday status had been determined, after all, MA loves him a contrived “feel good” story…I would bet my left nut that if Ethan had stunk up the joint he would have talked about how Havertz’s illness had forced him into making decison he wouldn’t have made otherwise
In other pathetic news:
“Brighton are expected to insist on an obligation-to-buy included in any loan deal if they decide to let him go in January, which could see Arsenal look elsewhere…Ferguson has scored just one goal in 14 appearances this season after ending the last two seasons with 16 goals in 61 games, but he has huge potential..The Gunners have not had a physical number nine for a while, and their style of play could be perfect for the Brighton star”
we had better not go anywhere near this half season wonder, as he’s not nearly good enough to be anything more than another underwhelming option up top…not to mention, he’s rather injury prone…personally I think BHA are just waiting for some sucker to come along and pay a premium for this rarely used front man in the hopes that he will come good again…what we need is a readymade Striker who can both craft his own chances and clinically finish, not some coin toss proposition…furthermore, we require someone who can raise MA’s tactical bar and not simply fit into a script that has never properly incorporated the Striker position
Cheers Tony & Madhu
Vieira
I’m having trouble processing the image of cheese buttons. Help, please…! As a confirmed camembertophobe and almost all things cheesy, I’m thinking about them and trying to suppress what the Scots call a boak. I’m starting to wonder if cheese buttons will forever live rent free in my Roquefort resistant mind. 🧀🧀🧀
I survived another day on the slopes with my band of misfits…a few minor bumps and bruises, but nothing of any permanence…then I proceeded to wolfed down what seemed like enough cheese buttons for a family of 5
KP—I don’t know all the particulars, but I could inquire if you would like…there’s several variations of differing descent, most notably German or Norweigan, and they can be sweet or savoury…kind of like a perogie, but with a thinner outer shell…you simply make egg noodles, cut them into palm-sized cricles, place a large dollop of your premade mixture, which should include cottage cheese, ricotta and egg, then fold them into a dumpling or tortellini-like shape…I like them best when they’re fried evenly on both sides until they’re ever so slightly burnt in the center…I’m sure you could find a whole host of more elaborate recipes online, but I prefer them in what most would describe as their most simplistic form…be careful though, as they tend to get really hot inside, so they’ll squirt a bit when first cut, kind of like in that Seinfeld episode when Frank, George’s father, was a cook in the army…Cheers
“Arsenal are considering signing Real Sociedad attacker Takefusa Kubo before the end of the January transfer window…He has four goals and two assists in 23 appearances across the La Liga and Europa League so far this term, and his versatility makes him the ideal signing for Arsenal…Kubo can play on both wings, through the middle and behind a striker, featuring in all these positions thus far in 2024-25…The Sociedad star weighed in with seven goals and four assists in 30 league games last term, and he ended 2022-23 with nine league goals and seven assists”
what’s with MA’s almost unhealthy infatuation with all things Sociedad-related? we’re talking about a side that has only finished higher than 4th 3 times in the last 40 years…now to be fair they’ve finished 6th or higher in each of the last 5 seasons and Isak’s success in the PL has undoubtedly raised their profile, so maybe they’re viewed by some as the Spanish equivalent of BHA or Atalanta, but I would hope if we were going to emulate another club we might want to set our sights just a tad higher
maybe now that his attempts to mimic the likes of Pep, Wenger, Moyes and even Pulis have failed to yield the desired results, he’s adopting a whole new approach, identify the best parts of an Europa-level Spanish side and slowly but surely relocate them to North London…first Merino, followed by Kubo and possibly Zubimendi, then bring in their DOF at season’s end, who’s already high on a shortlist to replace Edu…I must say, the whole thing is a bit too bizarro world for my liking
in regards to the player in question, his stats the last 3 seasons hardly jump off the page…as such, this for me reeks of settling…the underlying transfer costs and/or MA simply not wanting to bring in someone who might squeeze out his German bestie, shouldn’t even enter the equation, as neither should be high priority considerations when it comes to decisons of such import…MA’s continual pursuit of half-measure options have cost us dearly in years past, so it’s about time he stopped pissing around and put his big boy pants on…after all, it’s not fucking rocket science
wolf down
KP
Looked lively to me with missed headers being committed by both sides.
I watched the Chavs lose to Ipswich highlights this morning where they need to get the defense sorted out. They blow hot and cold up front, too.
TRVL
MA being MA again with his verbal diarrhoea, but has created a conundrum, does he start Havertz or Ethan at RW next game or does he drop Merino?
Tony
Agreed mate. I was beginning to worry about an unforeseen Chelsea renaissance, but some recent results have settled my disquiet. That they lost to Ipswich was pretty shocking given how absolutely piss the tractor driving, sheep shaggers were against us. Good to note that Brighton have hardly been pulling up trees recently either.
PS Thanks for taking a look at the clip. I know it’s not high end football but there’s a lot of commitment and will to win among these lads and the club is definitely on the up.
KP and other cheese lovers
Have you tried Baron Bigod? It is produced by Fen Farm near Bungay a few miles down the road from my Son.
If you like it warmed add a covering of fig jam to the surface, add slices of fresh figs and a sprinkling of Pistachios – bake for 4minutes at 150 C.
TRVL – the DoF position is a mystery. First you allow Edu to leave without having someone to replace him. Surely you have your strategic planning done for all key positions of a top club. Then you get into a window with no DOF and in charge of transfers. What does that indicate. It clearly points to the reason Edu left and now we go into Jan TW with Arteta in charge of recruitment. Does it mean that we will not get DOF at all? Isn’t it negligent and serious dereliction of duty not to have any DOF till now. Rumours are then floated on all possible names but no concrete development. This is in a season where Man City is probably at it worst and we are supposedly the most stable club yet we are fiddling with one of the most important position. Result is that Liverpool who just changed their manager are clear 9 points ahead at exactly half of the season games completed.
Not sure how to see this and also reconcile that the club is really stable and looking to win the league in a season when Man City is at its lowest point ever. What a serious lack of strategy from the club hierarchy or is it just power play and Josh is happy that we are being in enough revenue and winning trophies is really not his concern. Why give a novice of manager with no track record of anything the complete control over all things football? Bizarre state of affairs.
KP
I really enjoyed the brief look through and will watch more tomorrow morning. The picture quality is really good and what I saw there was some good football played.
I can see the appeal from the football and community that ties it all together.
TRVL
I think MA is terrified of handling elite high profile players like he was terrified when he took over. Maybe worried he’ll be openly challenged, such as KDB does with Pep. We know how MA reacts to dissent in the ranks.
Madhu
Good post we’ve seen MA’s steady transformation in to Wenger 2:0 now nearing its completion.
Problem is MA’s emulation is of Wenger’s last 10 years.
MA on transfers in the Jan window…..
“He said: ‘Signing somebody is not enough, that’s for sure because that signing has to score then how many goals? ‘It has to be a lot of things: sign and then score 20 goals from here to the end and you have a better chance?
‘Maybe yes, I don’t know, but I’m very happy with the players that we have and the amount of goals we’ve scored as well. It’s more than enough to win a Premier League, our numbers as well but the reality is someone is doing more so we have to be better, that’s life.’
When asked about the feasibility of a January signing, Arteta added: ‘I don’t know because the focus is on the players we have. If something stronger is in the market that we can afford and we believe is going to have a real impact in the team, we always have to be open for that possibility because we’d have the ability to improve the squad in the windows.
Mikel Arteta has stressed that Arsenal cannot rely on new signings to boost their title chance
Mikel Arteta has stressed that Arsenal cannot rely on new signings to boost their title chances”
Tony—here’s my beef with his comments, especially as it pertains to his “can we afford” narrative, to have the same individual who’s wasted gobs of money on half-measures and luxury purchases actually suggesting that we’re now limited in our ability to spend is fucking rich…maybe he should have thought about that a bit more during the last two summers when most believed, including many of his supporters, that we most needed considerable upgrades in the midfield(8) and at the top of the pitch, if we were ever going to take his little project to new heights
since that time we paid a king’s ransom for a DM, who wants very little to do with sitting deep, a gangly tweener, who’s clearly not the answer in the midfield or up top, a RB, who MA tried to shoehorn onto the wrong side of the pitch, a CB, who MA’s trying to convert into a LB, and Merino, who’s a slightly above average 8 and a mediocre 6, who MA can’t really play with Rice…it really makes me wonder where we might be by now if he had simply followed the most logical brief
firstly, if he had no intention of switching tactics or having a positional rethink, when it came to White, why even get Timber or Cala, both of whom I rate if healthy and deployed in their best respective positions…instead he should have got a bona fide world-class LB, who surely would have cost less than what we paid for the above players…keeping in mind that both Cala and Timber would have had substantially lower asking prices if they were on the market as LBs
secondly, after witnessing Xhaka’s best season by far, which was due in large part to him playing further up the pitch and our more free-flowing tactical pursuits, why wouldn’t we simply identify the best possible upgrades, given those tactics, then pursued them with the same vigour and financial might we used to secure the services of someone, Havertz, who didn’t fit that script whatsoever
thirdly, first we got rid of Balo, before ever giving him a shot, then ghosted the fuck out of the person we chose over him, Eddie, who was never going to be a top-flight Striker anyways…then the following season we sent Eddie packing, even though our only “true” Striker was out injured for a large chunk of that season, and still never acquired a single replacement or depth piece…as such, it was clear that MA was determined to put our collective fates in the hands of another shoehorned fuck, Kai, who doesn’t have a clinical bone in his body
the only reason why these points aren’t harped on more regularly is because we finished twice in back-to-back campaigns…had we finished any lower all of these boneheaded, short-sighted and nonsensical decisions would have been meticulously disected by pundits and media-types alike…if that were the circumstances, he likely would have been sacked by now…just so things aren’t misconstrued, I think it’s prudent to note that our top. 2 finishes had far more to do with the fact that everyone, except maybe City, were experiencing an organizational loll of sorts and NOT because any of the above critiqued moves panned out…nuance and context should always matter, even though that’s not a popular sentiment nowadays
“The good thing about that is that neither Jason Ayto, or I, or the owner has to convince any players. The players want to come to Arsenal because of what Arsenal is and how Arsenal is perceived, and that is a massive bonus”
what a delusional statement considering the amount of players who’ve actually publicly rejected MA’s advancements…there’s no doubt our club took a hit when Wenger stayed on too long, especially when it became clear that there was no definitive succession plan in place, then we took another hit when things got messy just prior to his ousting…this narrative certainly didn’t change when we hired Pep’s gimp…as such, I very much doubt that the kind of players we so desperately require now view this as a logical landing spot if winning titles are of paramount importance, even with our more recent domestic “success”
one has to only look at our roster construction under MA to comprehend where we stand when it comes to our ability to recruit…except maybe Partey and Rice, who clearly came here because we were the only organization who would allow him to fullfill his misplaced positional dreams, everyone else was either a sloppy second or someone, like Arteta himself, who would never otherwise get a legit shot with a club of any real historical consequence…even then it required us to offer some of those sloppy seconds ludicrous wages and problematic assurances…just think what a bona fide world-class recruit might demand to join our ranks…based on what we’ve gifted to Kai and Jesus, someone the likes of a Haaland could easily demand upwards of a million pounds per week…so spare me all the nonsense about not having to convince players to come to North London
“This January is Mikel Arteta’s 11th transfer window as Arsenal manager. He has recently passed his fifth anniversary in charge. In total, he has signed 30 players for a gross spend of £714million ($896m)”
enough said!!!
I’ll be interested to see what our lineup looks like with Timber unavailable, due to his yellow card accumulations, and Havertz back in the selection mix…still think we should be heavily favoured due to BHA’s recent form, but if they can find a way to effectively counter in wider spaces, we could be had…here’s hoping that Ethan gets the nod again, which shouldn’t be a stretch considering MA’s propensity to double-down on his selection choices after a victory…unfortunately I’m still on the festive clock, so I likely won’t be able to watch this one in real time…Cheers
TRVL
I can’t believe KSE are happy with what MA says? Can you imagine any other 2nd tier manager upwards being nonsensical in press releases? Having had to deal with a hedge fund CEO & CFO +++ for nigh on 18 months I can say from experience, you get fired for poor lip service that only makes sense to the orator while scoffed at by the rest of the readers.
I know you’ll understand where I’m coming from here.
To add to the ‘not interested list in MA’ is Cunha who is talking to Wolves to extend over joining us.
I’m sure there will be others; however, what elite player would come to a club with no TD/DoF?
2023-2026 EXTENSION (CURRENT)
Matheus Cunha signed a 4 year , $12,480,000 contract with the Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C., including an average annual salary of $3,120,000. In 2024, Cunha will earn a base salary of $3,120,000, while carrying a cap hit of $3,120,000.
So what do we think about results today?
Spud’s losing always gives me a happy feeling.
Palace v Chavs is a tough one to call after the latter’s display against the Tractor Boys, but I don’t see Chelsea playing that badly 2 times in a row, so I think Chavs get 3 points.
City v Hammers should be 3 home points to Pep.
No idea about our trip to the Amex, other than we should get 3 points but the likelihood is we come home empty handed because MA didn’t stick to his Brentford line up, and give Ethan more play through him. Let Partey and Rice share the 6 to keep the freshest legs on the pitch.
Not going to happen with Timber out and Partey shoehorned in at RB. Mitoma will be a happy chappy and run Partey ragged.
I think we’ll be lucky yo get a point.
However, Slot needs no luck to be entertaining Manure at Anfield. I could see an easy win by more than 3 goals, especially if the hapless Maguire is United’s intended colossus in defense. Should be fun to watch…..
What this means if the above happens in other games, is we need 3 points from the Amex Stadium. Oner point just adds to give Pool a potential of going 11 points ahead…….
Wonder what BS is going to come out of MA’s mouth if that happens?
Who will he blame?
Fortunately the Totterrers have a forward Kuleski adept at air kicks better than our Starboy Havertz.
A real piece of shit ,or maybe is menstruating.
lol Hoopah, always good to see Spuds being Spursy by losing.
City one up so should take 3 points.
All eyes on MA and his wonder motor mouth.
City being back to City and look back in the title race…