We have a game against PSG on April 29 and Thomas Partey, due to his idiotic yellow against Real Madrid, will be suspended from the game. Mikel, in his last press conference, wasn’t sure about Jorginho’s availability for the PSG game. So, we don’t have a DM for the biggest game of our season, the semi-final in Champions League. However, the positive thing is that we can use today’s game and the game against Crystal Palace on 23rd to find a solution.
There’s a problem as well to this. We are sitting on 2nd position and Liverpool has a 13 points lead with 6 games to go. We won’t catch up to them, lets be real. Also, there’s a very good chance (still) that we end up outside top 5 and don’t qualify for the Champions League next season . Forest is sitting on 5th position, only 6 points behind us. We have to not only prepare for the PSG game, but we have to make sure we don’t lose games, confidence and our form while doing so. A conundrum Mikel needs to go through!
Ipswich are a tight team. They will most likely get relegated after a sensational Premier League promotion but they can make fun of you sometimes. They don’t have anything to lose and this gives them some freedom to cause chaos. We have to manage this chaos, from the midfield. I’m a big Partey fan but we have only 2 games to find a solution for PSG game, and I would rather let him sit on bench. There are a few options we can try –
Move Timber to LB, put Ben White back to RB and promote MLS to midfield. A midfield of Odegaard, Declan Rice and MLS should be able to hold the fort against Ipswich and if it clicks, we find a solution.
The second option is to keep the defence line as it is, with Kiwior + Saliba as CBs, Timber on the right and MLS on left and introduce Nwaneri in the midfield. This is the best solution according to me, we are disturbing only 1 position (Thomas Partey) and keeping the rest of the winning squad in their position.
Mikel might also bring back Merino in the midfield and put Trossard up top, this is the most likely solution but I have never been convinced with Trossard as a striker. Against PSG, with Donnaruma in their goal, he wouldn’t be so much effective.
Back to today’s game. Calafiori will not be available along with the usuals – Havertz, Tomiyasu, Gabriel M and Jesus. It’s Ipswich last chance to survive the relegation and I am pretty sure they will put up a fight. This is the third consecutive year where we are playing on a Easter Sunday, and we have drawn the last 2. It makes me nervous a bit, but we should go through.
Also, it would be exciting to see one of the Nwaneri or MLS start in the midfield, because (I know you will come after me) ultimately we would have to improve on Odegaard.
We need to win, and we can do that in first half. Lets start the usuals, score couple of goals and then introduce Nwaneri / MLS in the midfield. We can start with that line up against Crystal Palace to practice one more time.
What’s the weather there? We have been suffering with this heat and the only thing keeping me sane is football. See you during the game, I have my set up ready.
Mikel has reverted to his likings, Merino in the midfield and Trossard up top.
Phew, could have shown some guts.
Ambarish
Appropriate to say Miguel should have shown his cojones.
Guess he does not want to expose his lack .
By the way , your midfield permutations seem most logical, including getting a solution for 29. Always felt that Arsenal is positive in play only when Partey plays and disrupts the back and side pointless meandering
Arsenal scores via a toe poke by Tossard,at that time against the run of play
Still not convinced with Trossard up top.
Now, that was a beautiful goal. Martinelli completes his 50th career goal.
Saka, as usual, the one who should get the credit.
2-0
Martineli with a simple tap in, after a backheel pass from Merino. Pre -assist by Saka .( who else ?)
Hope Saka is well.
Referee correcting the perception of Wicksy.Dont think that was a red
Fulham vs Chelsea is better
Half time is 2-0 Arsenal up.
4-0 final.
10 man Ipswich getting relegated at home.
playing a little catch-up this morning, as I wasn’t inclined to get up too early to watch us play a League 1 side…these fuckers have only secured 7 points at home all season, so if they don’t give a shit, why should I…as expected they’ve made a mockery of defending in their final third…on the Marts tally not a single defender was actually covering any of our 3 forwards…at first blush it looked as if Merino was having a cheeky go at goal, but upon closer inspection I would say that it was a deft pass intended for the onrushing Marts
it’s interesting how our finishing has seen a decided uptick when we’re more direct in our attacks, which is a breath of fresh air considering MA’s preferred sideways crawl approach…maybe it has something to do with our more recent “forced” rotational spell, which has given us a less robotic feel at times due to the fact that MA has had far less time on the training ground to grind away our more instinctive qualities…the only complaint I might have is that Ethan didn’t get the starting nod, as why even risk Saka against a side who wasn’t starting by far their most significant player, Delap…other than that it was a fucking cake walk…strangely enough it was seemingly more so prior to them going a man down, which is a bit of a head scratcher
more so the case prior to…
Marc—we had better be worried about the nature by which we exposed Real’s frailties as I think it has caused such in-house turmoil that they’re now leaning towards pursuing Klopp over Xabi…if that were to be the case he would likely go for both Saliba and Nico, then sell Junior to the Saudi League…furthermore, by the sounds of things the constantly flip-flopping Zubi appears to be favouring Real presently, which doesn’t really concern me, as I wish we would dropout of that wild goose chase once a for all…Cheers
once and for all
Hoopah
“Referee correcting the perception of Wicksy.Dont think that was a red”
Unsurprisingly , You don’t get it do you, the season is over so of course the ref will issue a red , I can guarantee you if the league was still tight the red card would have stayed in his pocket.
We are in the period where the usual suspects like you will say that decisions even themselves out because we get a couple of favourable decisions when we don’t need them..
It was a nasty challenge but still a harsh red – you see so many non event yellow cards that a tackle like that is more than a yellow but not quite a red. I have no idea what the solution is but we won at a stroll in a match that was like watching paint dry.
TRVL
Madrid’s summer is a concern to us – on top of that we need to get Gabriel’s contract tied down we could face a worse case scenario of having to replace both CB’s.
Marc—agreed with the harshness of the red, but it certainly didn’t help his case that Saka was on the receiving end…looks like Pool is on the precipice of tying United’s 20 domestic titles record…the commentators in the LC/Pool match said that this season will be defined by the glaring lack of a title race, with Pool rarely having to even look over their shoulder…fitting description…how terribly sad once again!!
I think it won’t be too difficult to tie Gabs down, so long as he’s actually wanted here, as it’s not as if that hasn’t come into question in previous years…the bigger concern is how we’ll navigate the Saliba scenario, especially if they’ve been given any indication that he’s unwilling to re-up until his present contract expires