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.
Madhu
“I can’t understand the penchant to for square pegs in round holes. ”
Ans – small duck ?
Okay , someone has to fill in the hole in the conversation when Art Fraud is not showing up, right ?
“While Arsenal’s primary targets like Alexander Isak and Benjamin Sesko seem unattainable until summer, Arsenal are reportedly considering other options such as Brighton’s Evan Ferguson. The potential acquisition of Ferguson might involve a loan with an option to buy, reflecting Arsenal’s strategy to find a cost-effective solution in the short term”
regardless of what’s being suggested above, by the sounds of things BHA is looking to secure an obligation to buy clause in any loan agreement involving this oft-injured one year wonder…they likely have the leverage required to achieve those ends too, as there’s several teams circling their respective wagons…to me it looks like a sucker’s bet, regardless of his age/size profile
you simply must ask yourself, why would BHA push for any such stipulation if they believe their own claims about his potential up-side…this simply tells me that they’re more worried about things going tits-up and his value taking a hit, than him coming good, as this could cost them a considerable sum and Bloom very rarely gets caught with his pants down…fuck, he can’t even get significant minutes in a side that’s been missing Welbeck for over a month and struggling for goals as of late
of course, I hope I’m wrong, as I too saw glimpses, but that was quite some time ago now…clearly something’s gone horribly awry along the way…whether it’s a behavioural issue or it’s as simple as their current manager is unwilling to rely too heavily on someone with such a spotty injury history, matters very little, as both should be considered serious red flags for our little project manager…after all, he’s certainly not a fan of problem child-types and the only reason MA’s really out their looking for top-side help is because of our own injury-related issues
speaking of bargain bin hunting, the other rumour making the rounds revolves around a little known Brazilian, Igor Jesus, who up until a month ago never had a MV above 9M…since that time his MV has reached new heights at around 15M, undoubtedly because we’ve been sniffing around…as is too often the case nowadays, he somehow has a 100M release clause, but those in the “know” believe he could be had for around 20M…this reeks of a classic South American transfer grift
now I get the thought-processs behind the whole cost-effective approach, as this isn’t typically the window when top talent is dealt, but this philosophy falls flat if we become unnecessarily tied to this stop-gap option, vis-a-vis an obligation to buy clause, or if we invest in someone who’s simply coming in for appearances’ sake and is unlikely to have an impact in the run-up…Cheers
For a good reason called El Bastardo
https://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/arsenal-mikel-arteta-aubameyang-row-34431037
Hoopah
How many other players have had the same treatment from El B. Quite a few I expect.
Tonight will be interesting. Isak was available in 2022. AFC have a good relationship with Real Sociedad and Isak was keen to move to North London. Our manager wasn’t convinced but has now changed his mind when the players worth is 125% more. A year later we purchased Havertz – made him our highest earner. Who would Saka prefer to play alongside?
“The Gunners have been criticised at times this season for being too defensive when going ahead in games and not building on their leads…But Arteta insists this is not an instruction he is giving to his players…sometimes the opposition forces you to do that, sometimes you are not good enough in certain areas to allow you to do that”
so let me get this straight, he started 4 midfielders, including Partey at RB, none of whom are going to scare any opposition in the final third, yet he staunchly claimed that his main objective was an offensive one…for fuck’s sake, he started Rice in place of Ode…I don’t think he has an honest bone left in his body
Hoopah—I’ve read a few articles regarding the breakdown of their relationship, as Auba has discussed it at length on a couple occasions…now of course this is only one side of the story, but I’m fairly certain if his account was too off-base MA, or his people, would have found a way to refute anything he felt was egregious…regardless, both have dirty hands in this regards, as Auba clearly took advantage of the situation at times, whereas our “in over his head” manager mishandled the situation…to make matters worse, he used the situation to turn the fanbase against the very player he had given both a highly lucrative deal and the captain’s armband, just a few months earlier
sadly, we’ve seen this ruse before, as Wenger had done likewise with Sanchez…both cases were amateur hour personified, as neither served the best interests of the club as a whole…frankly, I was more disappointed by Arsene’s actions, as he should have known better, whereas MA was swimming in it and looking for any scapegoat that might give him a bit longer leash…in the end, his actions have played a role regarding his inablility to recruit players of any note, as they clearly don’t trust him
as for today’s first-leg affair, it will be interesting to see our starting 11, as it will tip his hand regarding his priorities…if we field our best possible 11, it suggests that he desperately wants some hardware, regardless of the fact that it’s a second tier trophy, but if he rests several of our regular starters, especially those with niggling injuries or those who’ve been ill recently, then it will give the impression that he’s prioritizing our League fixtures…I’m hoping that it’s the latter, but considering our lack of hardware over the last half decade, it’s likely the former, as he needs something to spin.to his choirboys
Arteta going about as strong as he can so outside of an argument about Havertz coming in for Jesus next to no rotation.
Don’t win on the night or see players fatigued on Sunday and it could massively backfire on him. Personally I’d always favour the FA Cup over League Cup and ManU are bordering on an unknown quantity.
Tross is a lucky boy not to get at least a yellow for that little maneuver on Isak…how will the tin foilers explain away that?
I dare Marts to try and hit a post any harder
MA’s clearly desperate for silverware, maybe instead of putting out his best side in a second tier cup, he should have invested in a real Striker like Isak this past summer or the year prior!!!
So one of the best and most on form strikers in the PL and who was marking him?
Ode sort of got a shove and didn’t bother to track but where were Saliba, Gabriel, Timber, Rice or Partey?
TRVL
Sorry mate but you just don’t understand how higher thinking in football works – you don’t buy a really good striker to play as a striker that would be a round peg in a round hole. You buy a Giraffe who’s more midfielder and then get him to spend half his time dropping wide right than push up through the middle, you buy CB’s and play them as RB’s.
One day you’ll get it.
another ref gift, which somehow included a Joelinton yellow…let’s take this opportunity
enjoyable first 45, minus the scoreline…not exactly sure what’s next if Tross is actually injured
that’s what football is like when you take your chances…half my kingdom for a clinical finisher
sadly enough, Isak might have priced himself out of a move to North London
It’s nights like this that remind you that Arteta isn’t just a poor manager he’s a complete fuckwit.
Havertz bumper sticker “Got it all wrong”
Rice looks like he wants it not sure that can be said of a few of the others.
Marc—I prefer the term fucktard but fuckwit will do the trick
You say tomato!
I’m surprised that Isak’s coming off…maybe we already made an initial bid!!!
Too static and way too fucking constipated. I wonder if the pre match meal involved some of the Vieira family cheese buttons?
Displays like this give the lie to the idea that Tets cares about domestic cups. Sack him -he’s a lying bastard. Really shit tonight
Nobody taking anyone on and therefore no penetration and zero chances. Arteta is a piss poor con man.
“Too static and way too fucking constipated”
Enough about you Kroenke – what do you think of the football?
(BTW you’ve got to give me credit for not making that a Starmer joke!)
there was a perfect example of what’s wrong with our squad a few minutes back…on the counter Havertz shifted from the right flank into an open pocket of space in the middle of the pitch…he signals for a pass, which was quickly provided…he then sees Rice bombing up his left and leads him into a wide pocket of space…it’s the first time in awhile that we’ve had a numbers advantage in their final third, but instead of setting up someone else up, Rice takes a shot with his wrong foot, even though Willock’s now caught up and will easily block his misguided attempt with his foot…that kind of selfish bullshit isn’t going to win us anything
setting up someone else (no second “up”)
we’ve had all sorts of opportunities, as they’ve been rather sloppy at the back, yet still no goals to be found…even one tally could change the complexion of the return match, as Newcastle could puke all over themselves if they’re asked to defend a one goal lead for 90+ minutes
sad state of affairs, as we needed a clincial finisher or two before Saka went down…what now then??
Well well that’s a hard watch. I really wonder if we practice shooting at all. Martinelli would have buried prior to MA training him for sure. Even the corners are not going in anymore. Today we had around 15 of them with the same routine and nothing coming out of them.
I was telling my son there is no way MA is going to be sacked. It’s like Arsene as long as he gets into CL he is making enough revenue for Josh. The day he drops out of CL then there is a chance that Josh will think about sacking him. The other way is Barcelona one fine day call MA to be their manager then we will be relieved of him.
Arteta ball so ponderous , backwards and forwards, sidewards. Same rinse and repeat.
Since Arteta’s arrival we’ve been subjected to a whole host of rather embarassing post-match interviews where our MIT has offered up a plethora of excuses in an attempt to explain away poor results…typically he leans into a storyline that his most ardent supporters will easily glom onto, like something related to officiating, but not today…instead he went full batshit crazy:
Arteta admitted his side must be more clinical but also believes they were not helped by the match ball: “Very different to a Premier League ball, and you have to adapt to that because it flies different, when you touch it the grip is very different as well so you adapt to that.”
one can only hope that this was simply an epic brain fart and he didn’t actually believe that both sides were playing with a different ball…after all, Newcastle didn’t seem to require the same sort of adjustment period when it came time to produce…maybe he’s become such a pathological liar that he can no longer differentiate between fact and fiction…let’s hope there’s some sort of capacity clause in his contract so he can get the help he needs and we can bring in a real manager
Good morning all
Really enjoyable commentary to read this morning.
Needless to say I didn’t even bother looking for a replay preferring LIR’s version of events.
It’s a familiar old Wenger styled stats’ game:
3 shots on target and 10 off with 10 shots blocked.
70% possession
11 corners – no set piece goals from corners
And yet we lost 0:2 where MA is blaming the balls now for the high wide and handsome shots. I didn’t read the Mirror’s interview with MA, what is the point?
At the moment I’m finding less and less to write here because I don’t want to sound like a broken record because of MA’s continual repetitive mistakes and new BS.
Finally, a game that finishes just before midnight against Manure for me, but City, Pool and Chavs have got Saltford, Accrington Stanley & Morecambe respectively, in the cup so should be resting their squad with rotations.
MA will want to get bragging rights over Amorim and could well come unstuck Sunday if Manure plays like they did against Pool.
An interesting game I can’t call either way.