Kai Havertz has picked up an injury in Dubai. We had a front 3 of Martinelli, Saka and Havertz – all of those are injured. We are left with Nwaneri (an 18 year old), Trossard and Sterling (who is on loan). It was clear 2 seasons ago that we needed enforcement in attack and we ignored it completely. I don’t care if it’s the manager or the technical director or the club stopping such a move, I know the money was there and we spent it all on defenders. We have this approach of making sure to cover all ifs and buts in the defense while praying for the god if something happens in attack. And the pryaer didn’t work, so we are going to pay the price!
Kai Havertz is out for the season. Not that he was a prolific striker but we lack even the half decent options in attack and him missing at this season puts our season in jeopardy. Ultimately, Sterling will play on one side, Nwaneri on the other and Trossard in the middle. It doesn’t give me confidence at all.
I’m not sure if anyone had given attention to the attack, at all! Gabriel Jesus is an injury prone player, everyone knew that when he was at City. Havertz was brought as a midfielder who is covering the CF position, but it’s not like he is a TH14 incarnation whom we have moved from the wings to the middle. We needed a striker and we didn’t have one since Aubameyang left. It’s such a pathetic condition that if the twitter ITKs spread the rumours that we are in the market for Eddie Nketiah, I will feel happy!
All this crap of ‘titles are won in the defence’ makes sense when you have Mustafi in your line-up. Not when you have a 17 year keeping the likes of Zinchenko (45m), Calafiori (35m) away from the starting line up. You, at this level, should have identified that talent, stopped yourself from spending 40 odd millions in the defence and used that money to get a CF. We were ready to pay 40m for Ollie Watkins, Villa were asking for 60. 60million GBP for a decent striker at 29 years of age is YES any day when you have Jesus and Havertz to pick from. If you were out of money, you should have sold Zinchenko, or shouldn’t have bought Calafiori and used some of that money to fix the main problem.
I’m frustrated. Havertz is injured for the season and we have no one to fix this problem. We did nothing in the transfer window.
You know what Mikel will do? He will try to fix it by playing Merino or Trossard in that position. Be brave enough, accept your mistake and develop someone in that role from the academy. You got MLS, Saka, Nwaneri who is saving your arse, go and develop someone for a change rather than crying in every press conference. If you can’t do that and the only thing you know is spending 100m to fix a problem, you are just Pep without trophies.
Right, a short rant today. Hope you are doing well.
1:1 poor defending by pool
Pool looking pool all half now 2:1 up. No one is picking Villa players up in the box. Villa could win this.
Real Madrid walking through City with consummate ease with Mabappe ripping City apart for 2:1 expect more RM goals to embarrass City.
Fcuking loving it !!!
Sorry 2:0 – 5:2 aggregate
Tony—City look lost up top with no Haaland and Gundo in for KDB…just a lot of useless possession with no end product…the only thing that makes me hesitate from calling this one done and dusted is the unusual nature of their particular fixtures against one another, but I very much doubt City have the horses to overturn this one
as for the Pool match, it’s 2-2 now and Pool appear to be in the ascendancy…it really should be 3-2 for the away side if Jota hadn’t butchered a grade A chance in the first half when he opened up his body to shoot and sent the ball miles wide
Nunez just went full-Havertz and missed a wide open net
I question Slot’s choice to withdraw TAA, as I think he’s played decently today, but I’m sure he’s worried about Villa’s countering prowess now that they’re dominating possession…plus I think there’s a bit of a disconnect between manager and player following all the chatter surrounding his potential move to Real…that said, I’m sure Slot wants him fully fit for their weekend fixture away to City, especially in light of City’s defensive woes as of late
what a challenge by our old buddy Emi
TRVL
I thought that TAA should have stayed on. Szoboszlai had a mere so was surprised he wasn’t hooked off. Poor decision making all game by him. Just a bad day at the office. He’s been good all season.
Could have gone either way but Villa looked stronger in the 2nd half.
Emery is putting together a good squad with an owner who wants to win not just make money like KSE.
Emi was his commanding self. Still say we would have probably won the PL if we’d kept Emi.
TRVL
RM with Mbappe had City contained and without Haaland they were toothless up top.
Need City to do us a favour next against Pool and need 3 points from the WH game to really up the ante against Slot’s Pool.
Hopefully, City will want bragging rights against Pool.
Consolation goal for City from a set piece MA style.
Mbappe is unplayable and with his devastating quick feet.
Didn’t see the City game but I’m hoping that when they scored a consolation goal in the 92nd minute, that one of their players hurriedly picked the ball out of the net and ran back with it to the half way line.
6-3 on aggregate. Thank you God. Real Madrid needed two games and still didn’t get a result as good as (our) 5-1. Cunts. The lot of them!
What we are seeing atm is Liverpool replicating our season of 22/23 when we blew the league when 9 points ahead.
Liverpool 2 away draws , both 2-2 is very similar 2 seasons ago when we drew away to Liverpool and West ham…both 2-2..
We went on and lost to city 4-1 at the etihad and coincidentally Liverpool are away at city this weekend.
As I have said previously , last season Liverpool were 5 points clear at the top of the league at the end of January and they went on to crumble with the exact same players they have now.
Of course Liverpool are still favourites but the momentum is turning in our favour which makes the title race very interesting.
Tony—one significant outcome from the CL results this week is the fact that several “bigger” and/or better managed clubs have crapped out…no Juve, AC, Atalanta or City in the round of 16, all of whom could have caused MA tactical balls to shrivel (as we’ve witnessed in the past)…not to mention, we will face either Feyenoord or PSV, whereas Athleti will play either Bayern or Real, so not only do we get one of the “weaker” remaining sides, one of those latter 3 “big” clubs will be sent packing before the quarters
I just wish we would have made the most of our last 2/3 windows so we would be much better positioned to take advantage of the present footballing climate, both domestically and abroad…of course we could still win something, but the margins are so thin due to MA’s managerial bungling…you would think that after shitting the bed in back-to-back years MA and his little cronies would be hellbent on doing everything within their respective powers to ensure that it didn’t happen a third time running(actually for a 4th time, if you think about it), especially with Klopp leaving his post, City facing some debilitating on & off-field issues and every traditional powerhouse side in Europe seemingly in a state of flux
as for our little trolling hanger-on, we’ve seen his “kind” before and I’m not just talking about that passive aggressive muppet Bob…as such, I think it’s imperative that I burst Pricksy’s not so thinly veiled “told you so” bubble by stating unequivocally that no one on here thinks it’s impossible for us to win anything of consequence this season, it’s just that we’re of the belief that it was made exceedingly more difficult as a result of MA’s misguided squad construction and roster mismanagement…so now we must rely on the failures of others, which is possible but certainly not what we should be banking on, at least not at this juncture, considering MA’s time in charge, the monies spent and whom he inherited from the off…so either you own your truth Pricksy or maybe it would be best if you just crawled back into the hole from which you came
The season is panning out how I predicted with Liverpool reverting to last season’s 2nd half of the season form.,
Good to see a few Arsenal “supporters” on here now showing some belief in the team winning a trophy, some would call it flip flopping but I wouldn’t quite go that far. Maybe even Marc may show some empathy towards the manager ..
Arsenal not signing a striker has never really bothered me as we are not a team who plays through the centre of the pitch , our game is all about overloading out wide, the striker has a thankless task under Arteta as it often seems that scoring goals is down the list of his priorities as he uses his energy closing down the keeper and defenders or dropping very deep to be the first line of defence .
That’s why losing our striker or strikers under Arteta has never really affected our ability to put the ball in the net,
I’d prefer my striker to conserve his energy for when he needs it most …in front of goal, obviously Arteta sees it different.
Losing saka and martinelli would have had more of an impact but for the arrival of the impressive Nwaneri, Arteta is very fortunate to have had 2 gems come through the ranks who have taken to the first team like duck to water.
Personally I would like us take a few more risks and look to thread balls between the lines to create openings but I’m not sure Arteta likes the thought of losing the ball in central areas as it makes us open to the counter too much , so what we have generally is the constant recycling of the football, I think we are a better side when we take a few more risks, maybe the arrival of Nwaneri and skelly will alter Arteta’s way of thinking as it would be criminal to put them in a straight jacket and not allow their natural ability to flourish, although so far there doesn’t appear to be any constraints put on them by Arteta.
As Arsenal “supporters ” we should be excited by as to what lies ahead this season , though that doesn’t appear to be the case on here, the words that spring to mind are Negativity, pessimism, cynicism, apathy …each to their own i suppose as some like to wallow in their own misery.
TRVL
Agree with your thinking that we should get to the last 8 comfortably with facing weaker Dutch opposition. If it were Ajax of old, I’d be concerned, but the Dutch league is poor. To lose to either Dutch club would be inconceivable to me with our Billion pound plus squad.
Also, like you we always dare to dream to win when things are possible, as they are again now, but still playing catch up, so are relying on a diminished City side who have learnt to lose so well, they do it often. Let’s hope they win at the weekend and bloody Pool’s collective noses.
Somehow, I don’t see that happening but am expecting a really feisty match with City wanting to spoil Slot’s party and Pool need badly to win. City appeared to have kept Haaland rested for that game.
We drew the same conclusions from the Villa game where Pool fluffed their lines with some horrendous misses, and his usual commanding area & brave performance by Emi, and where several Villa players who also had a few near misses of their own.
Both could have won yesterday, so just 2 points dropped.
In the past we have also missed chances to pick points up when trying to catch City or Pool, so we have to hope MA get’s it right this time. I’d feel more confident with Andoni Iraola or the current in form Nuno Santos, but it is what it is.
Isak has had a £150m price tag slapped on him from his buying price of £63m, so nice profit for Eddie if he gets it or still has his head intact with his current form this season, being 20 points off Pool, and hanging in there for a weak Europe birth next season. Surely, it must be on the chopping block not getting CL. If he stays I will be amazed.
If we don’t get all 3 points against the Hammers I would not be surprised neither would I be if we hit them for 6. it’s that kind of ill managed season, as you say resulting from poor transfer windows.
If we win our game in hand, we will be just 4 points behind Pool. Of course that is doable even with a lopsided squad with 4 LBs and no strikers of note as we can’t count Sterling as a striker as the Chavs didn’t but somehow MA knew Sterling was perfect for us after 20 minutes talking according to the press some time ago.
Same as our last 2 seasons: ifs, buts & maybes as we capitulated from poor management and TW windows. 2nd decade Wenger MK II.
Unless we drop unnecessary points and let Forest in, it’s a 2-horse race again where this is not MA’s first or 2nd rodeo.
Has MA learnt from the previous 2 seasons?
Time will tell. Hope life is good with you…..
KP
Junior and I watched both games in parts. After the 3rd goal went in RM visibly proper gears and too Mbappe off who had terrified the City defence all game with his hat trick. Clearly Mbappe is loving his time with RM and is essential if they want to add another CL crown to their trophy cabinet warehouse.
Really enjoying Madrid. Using Timekettle Fluent talk the Spanish haven’t seen before. we are very adept at using it to get to almost conversational level with people. They see the word translation pop up in real time and smile but when they hear the words spoken by a Spaniard with full accent, they are captivated and want to continue talking, allowing us to have good talks with people.
Obviously, not to your linguistic levels but good enough to earn respect from the people we talk to as they see it as we are respecting them, too.
We struck gold with our apartment as the maintenance man popped in to ensure the heating was good for us. He’s Venezuelan and speaks perfect English.
As always in my mad life, great luck happens to equal the extreme toxic parts of my life. Alvro asked if we could film together at a weekend as his wife works weekends and he’s never seen seen a Hasselblad let alone taken a picture with one.
As soon as we are jet lag free – still both suffering badly from and probably need another 5 or 6 days to finally be clear headed as much as my prostate meds will allow – Alvro is going to take us to Toledo one day and Segovia the next to film sun rise to sun sets to the places he’s flown his drone, so knows the sweet spots to film and shoot stills and video.
Junior and I told Alvro we were blessed to meet him and Alvro asked Ryan if he’s done any drone simulator software work. Ryan said he knew of it where it was on his hit list to do.
The firefly Alta X we’re buying, we have to be trained by Firefly to get a license go fly the powerhouse machine globally and have to notify govts in most countries to get clearance to fly on dates we want to work.
Then, Alvro asked what we were doing this Friday from 6pm onwards and I said we are home at night as we don’t drink, smoke or like bars or clubs. We hate the smoke smells and dislike being around intoxicated people. When not travelling for pictures/filming you will find me at home in the UK happily editing and planning for the next road trip around the UK to begin with. I won’t be going out much as I prefer being away from general people these days.
Alvro asked Ryan if he could teach him to fly a drone and will bring the software on Friday night as his first lesson with more to come before going to the 2 towns.
We can’t believe our luck because I’d gone online to find a tour guide that are Euros 400 a day upwards. I contacted 2, but was unhappy with their replies as they wanted to cram in too much, where we only want the best locations and time to film.
Al is an inexplicably incredible find who I’m sure will become a friend we’ll invite to the UK when we have the Firefly and have a friend in Madrid a city we are becoming very fond of as well, as its people.
What has struck Ryan and me the most is the lack of traffic and traffic jams. It’s like UK small town traffic where everyone gives way to each other and is a pleasant experience. Thailand & BKK is the polar opposite.
We have a week to 10 days to learn our new camera’s capabilities, as Ryan is picking up his Sony FX3 with 24 to 70mm Sony lens to get him started, for video and stills. A UK DOP friend is sorting out more lens for Ryan for when we’re settled in the UK, but a 70 to 210mm is all he needs to be able to find the veri-focal lengths’ DoPs at different F-stops, so he knows which primes to use for the work he wants to do. Primes always have the best F-stops compared to zoom lens and are faster.
Thought you’d enjoy a quick Madrid update with your Spanish connections and future move to Genoa.
What’s going on with County this weekend? Are you off to games?
“Maybe even Marc may show some empathy towards the manager ..”
Not going to happen – he’s a cunt and I’d pay money to watch him hang.
Iranian style – no quick lights out for that cunt.
Or a better example…American style waterboarding, dropping napalm on Vietnamese villages or carpet bombing women and children in the Gaza strip. Just in the interests of balance of course Marc. Your mate Trump makes the Iranian regime look like tree hugging peaceniks. I suspect you agree with that cuntage he came out with the other day that Ukraine started the invasion of their own country.
Are you planning on moving out of the south east before WW3 starts? I have a place in Wales you can use btw.
Kroenke
I was paying the Iranians a complement some people don’t deserve a quick lights out.
I would suggest you need a little help on getting some perspective on things – waterboarding can be done with a small water bottle and a tea towel, the Vietnam war ended half a century ago and no one has carpet bombed the Gaza strip (Israel doesn’t posses any heavy bombers hence the fact they can’t deploy the American bunker buster bombs that would be needed to hit Iran’s underground nuclear research sites).
You seem to be getting more hysterical by the day – if you’re not careful people will start to say you’ve got TDS.
https://youtube.com/shorts/x0w5Bqt7Hhs?si=9G5mqChZ1Sv0sJJe
This is funny – Saliba’s attempts to recognise Arsenal stars of old. Senderos will not be pleased.
Hysterical….after all the atrocious right wing shit you put on here (in the midst of some very good stuff about Arsenal), you’re calling me hysterical. Chutzpah overload time. I’m sure we’ll both cope, although you need to up your roasting game mate.
You going to the Hammers game? Pressure is on Merino to perform again.
TDS? I’m not up with your TLAs (three letter abbreviations).
New post.