I am not really a fan of Mikel’s animated behaviour at the touchline. Arsene Wenger ruined us all with his perfect fit suits and the red tie, and used to be the calm and composed figure on the touchline. Arteta on the other hand, is totally opposite to that. Micromanagement often ends with the shouting on the touchline and trying to control every aspect of the game from the manager box.
At times, it’s frustrating to watch that but it wasn’t last night. You know why? Because Klopp isn’t a messiah and he has done the same to us at Anfield. You get what you deserve.
Does this look familiar?
I am sure Jamie Carraghar loved it when we lost at Anfield and Klopp did it for 15 minutes. Though, he is having a mental breakdown on Twitter now because Arteta did the same and because Martin Odegaard, a 25 year old decided to click a picture of a staff who has supported the club before he was born. After a WIN. At HOME. As a COURTESY.
So, yeah. Both Jamie and Klopp can fuck off because what goes around comes around.
Right, just wanted to get that off my chest first. If you want to have a laugh, don’t forget to check you know who on Twitter.
3-1 against Liverpool is always a thing to celebrate. Even after a loss, they still top the table so it’s not like we are beating a 11th position Chelsea (lol).
The first half was our usual self. We started well, scored one and then missed a few. A messy own goal made it 1-1 and some of us thought it’s going to be the same old story where we are going to regret the missed chances and the goal we gave. However, Martinelli forced an error out of VVD and Alisson and Trossard came from the bench to score another one.
Win keeps us in the title race. City has played 2 less games and of course they will make life tough for everyone else. There’s going to be 15 very important weeks for our lads, and there will be slip ups. Aston Villa / Tottenham are going to create problem, Man United is picking up their form, West Ham / Brighton can win against any opposition on their day.
The winner is going to be decided by ‘who manages the least fuck ups’.
Tony
ESR said something in the week. Now we are 6 in front it is an ideal to give minutes to Youngsters and not El Neny.
Our Allo Allo extra on then.
at last one of the youngsters but also Soares. Six in front and all three of todays youngsters should be on the field
Elneny and now Cedric in both on the way out.
Arteta lives in the past. Arsehole could have given chance to youngsters..
Okay the Academy kids are not of Arsenal as per this Evertonian .
After all keeping our solid defence in place he would not have been risking
Nwari is good. Maybe should go on lian to a good Club with a proper Manager.
Our Resident Shit will do shitall coaching.
Like Saliba developed at Marseiles
Actually Nwari is already good enough as a squad player.
But , if ESR could be destroyed with fake injuries ,any crap is possible here
A pleasing, if slightly surisingly easy, win. GD boost as you say Tony.
Marc
I agree about the way Rice acted after he scored. Showed a lot of class.
How does one best explain this goal differential wet dream…of course it’s clearly a positive result, but it only makes sense if Moyes is fired tonight and it’s subsequently revealed that this was the plan all along…I decided to watch the match from bed, as it started at 9am, in my neck of the woods, figuring that it would be a sleeper of sorts…for the bulk of the first-half that narrative rang true…in fact, the game had the feel of a typical scrappy, disjointed Hammer/Moyes feel, which made it appear as if MA got his tactics all wrong once again…we were misses our chances, Havertz was playing so deep he was oft-times the 3rd or 4th man into the box, and at one point he literally ducked out of an open header to offer up a trailing Tross a much more difficult attempt on goal…then seemingly out of nowhere everything changed on a dime
first came a poorly defended set piece, where we had our pick of the litter for who wanted to make the final touch, which is very unHammerish-like, followed quickly by an obvious penalty call on a very unArsenal-like stretch play to Saka, then the floodgates opened for good…I can’t even remember the last time Saka was that open, behind defenders, in the center of the pitch, let alone the fact that we scored from distance and made two other such attempts…I’m chuffed by the result, but this game made no sense whatsoever
Hi Divyanshu and Hoopah
All well lads?
West Ham wet shocking weren’t they, but the players really turned it on today. Banished the ghosts of those two piss awful defeats by the Hammers this season. It reminded me of those days 20 years ago when Bergkamp, Henry, Pires and Ljungberg dominated teams.
I agree that the game we just saw would have been excellent opportunities to blood Walters and Bandeira as well as Nwaneri (who reminds me of a very young Wayne Rooney on the ball). Senor Stubborn el Bastardo is to blame.
Interesting to see what Villa can do against ManU.
Senor Stubborn El Bastardo
😂😂
KP nobody can up you on the choice of words
The table position looks good, now on to the same in the CL knock out stages. I wish we would have scored at least 1 more to have a better GD then City and tied Pool in GD. This GD figure will be more and more important. Eddie does Eddie things like loosing the ball, sorting out his feet in the opposition box and not being able to hit the target and when he does, straight at the GK. We need a CF very desperately if we want to win the EPL or CL.
Hoopah
I agree – I think Arteta will be known as Senor Stubborn el Bastardo from this day. Post this name on LG will receive an instant ban.
a few thoughts from today’s affair:
(1) I don’t know what can really be taken from this match, minus the surprising one-sided scoreline and our unprecedented record when it comes to set piece
(2) we simply must address our Striker position first and foremost come the summer window…our glaring lack of clinical finishing is bordeline embarassing…offhand I can’t think of another title contender who were ever as bad as us in front of goal…furthermore, I can’t think of the last PL winner who lead the League in set piece tallies…maybe the old Drogba-led Chelsea sides
(3) I think we need to sell ESR this summer…it’s not like I want him to move on, but his somewhat mystifying injury record, combined with the fact that I’m not sure he would have started today, even if he were “available”, speaks volumes the negative vibes surrounding his relationship with our present manager
(4) no matter what happens this season, we need to find a way to rid ourselves of our Havertz albatross…it’s clear that MA will shoehorn this where’s Waldo of a player regardless of the circumstances and as such he needs to be shipped and then replaced by a readymade option…he’s a bang average tweener, who can’t seem to buy a real goal, which is shocking considering how much we’re fucking paying this sad clown
the only reason more hasn’t been said about his stint up top is because expectations, goal-wise, are so low right now, from the Striker position, that it doesn’t really matter who starts…it’s so nonsensical that in his couple starts we’ve very rarely crossed balls in, minus on set pieces, and he’s oft-times the 3rd or 4th player into the box during open play…so not only can’t he score with his feet, he’s so pathetic there’s no plan to feed his head either, which says it all considering that he’s the tallest player on our squad
(5) I fear that Raya is another half measure Keeper option…he has no commanding presence in the box and his shot-stopping capabilities are rather average, it comparison to the rest of Europe
(6) for those who will place far too much empahsize on this particular scoreline, please keep in mind that we were playing a Hammer’s team without their midfield general and who don’t have a “real” Striker available…this Moyes-led shit show actually had the duminutive Bowen playing by himself up top even after they were chasing the game…now he’s a gamer, but he would struggle against the worst defensive teams in the PL under those conditions
all that said, I’ll take a 6-spot all day everyday and twice on Sunday
Before July 1st we need to sell some of the academy players as they are pure profit. FFP/PSR has now real teeth and we need to buy a few players. ESR, Nelson, Eddie and the ones out on loan need to go and I don’t mean terminating their contract. Money has to come in. We easily need to spend another 200mill to strengthen the squad and close the gap between Pool and City.
.
If wee only had some talent spotting personnel in the club than this would be so much easier, but we have useless Edu who still lives of the Martinelli discovery but drew a blank with Marquinios plus other Brazilian players are on the radar for City and competing clubs. This summer TW will either be another interesting one, but more likely Tets will buy another GK and a left footed CB as he really is bad at buying attackers as in Havertz and even Jesus is only good for a back up on the wings.
KP, brilliant as ever. Great comments guys TRVL on point with all points, and a great win here’s my 10 pence worth:
As for us, I saw in the Pool game and yesterday the remnants of our topping the league form from last season before we shit our pants. It’s there again, but can Tets keep it going for the duration? I think the players can unless Arteta goes all galaxy brain again with inverts and stupid RB ideas.
We could win this PL, as we have the players to do it. Same last season, but injuries and shortsightedness in the Jan TW killed us.
Now, there is no excuse unless Rice and Saliba get injured. Rice has become Partey plus for us. The goal yesterday spoke volumes where Rice brings that layer of added security at the back and surging runs from defense, to late runs into the box all our brilliant Ljundberg used to make.
We have the players but can Senior Stubborn el Bastardo keep getting the tactics, selections and substitutions right?
Prayer mates out lads…………………
Do we dare to dream again, Graeme? I could do with a happy dream of Ode lifting the PL or CL, but both would just be perfect for us all.
mats*
Do we dare to dream, Lads – not my sons mate.
So as to not sound too harsh, as I spent a lot of time criticizing things following our 6-0 thrashing of West Ham, the most positive aspect of our victory was getting off the schneid, so to speak, against this particular side, since the time of the Rice acquisition…now it might not seem like much to some, but from a psychological standpoint it could prove vital…as a team who has shown a propensity to cave when the going gets tough, anytime you can get over a mental hurdle, it’s beneficial…we performed poorly against what appeared to be an inspired Hammer squad twice already this year and utlimately came up short…at least on paper, we’re a vastly better squad, who had likewise acquired their best player and captain, so when we couldn’t find a way to raise our level to best a weaker squad, it wasn’t a good look, as it simply validated the aforementioned “choking” narrative…so to get things righted could be pertinent moving forward, so long as our MIT knows how to properly use this as a motivating force, which certainly isn’t a given
Hi Vieira
Off the schneid…. Nice turn of phrase. I guess it has its origins in Yiddish.
I would imagine that the players’ confidence levels are significantly raised from the turn of the year. The skill comes in determining why we went from being so shot shy to a team capable of beating Liverpool convincingly and running roughshod over the Hammers.
Replicate each type of performance home (LFC) and away (WH) and it could be enough….
But you just know, deep in the bowels of London Colney, a certain polo-necked, eyebrow-plucked cretin has been up all night and is poring over his flip chart, coloured felt tips at the ready with a new plan to get an extra 3.27 percent of xg or some such bollocks out of the team. The upshot? Burnley 1 Arsenal 0 this weekend!
Cheers KP—I would suggest that the fastidious narrative about our MIT is more factitious than originally thought, in that if this were the case one would logically expect that he might have conjured up a plan B or even C by this juncture…I think it’s more likely that he’s a worrywart, who’s deeply consumed by the thoughts of others, due to his imposter syndrome, and as such it’s negatively impacted his ability to grow as a manager…this is undoubtedly why he gets locked into a specific plan and/or the deployment of a variety of underwhelming players even when it’s clear that a drastic change is required…that said, your ability to paint a picture is uncanny
News notes for the day:
(1) the pending re-upping of both White and Tomi—in regards to the latter, not sure why this was required, as his deal wasn’t up until the summer of 2026 and with Timber on the mend, I can’t quite understand why this was a priority…now he’s played admirably at times, but he’s still nowhere near the needle-moving defender we were expecting when MA paid weill above the number for him…in fact, his market value, several years later, is still below what we originally paid for him…this concerns me a bit, unless we’re simply trying to ensure the best possible return if he were sold, as his play hasn’t been to the level where a preemptive strike raise was necessaary…not to mention, it worries me that MA is still thinking about having Timber play on the wrong side of the pitch
as for Tomi, his re-upping seems a bit more logical, from a business standpoint, as he would be entering the final season of his contract this summer…that said, he’s injured far too often and as such I hope we’re planning to shop him this summer, as his MV is currently 10 to 12M higher than what we originally paid and an extended contract would give us considerably more leverage…he’s shown the ability to play on both sides of the pitch, which certainly is a bonus, but for a role player the best ability is availability and in that capacity he’s been incredibly disappointing
(2) time now for a blast from the past special interest story—no one can forget the winter window in which the brokeback Kim Kalstrom arrived at the Emirates…for some, it was the cherry on the top of Wenger’s typical winter transfer window shit sundae…in a full circle moment, it was announced recently that he’s been appointed as Sweden’s new head of football…of course, no one blamed him for the fact that Wenger opted to buy a more senior player who was on the mend from a broken back, but it’s still interesting to see someone who’s career defining moment, for most of the footballing world, made him the butt of jokes until this very day, rise from the ashes…from what I read and heard, he seems to be an intelligent, well-spoken and refreshingly self-aware individual, which is likely why Wenger favoured him, so kudos to him…that said, his new gig certainly won’t be a walk in the park, as both the men’s and women’s Swedish national sides have been struggling for a few years now, so here’s hoping that his back can handle this rather weighty task…it certainly won’t be as easy as getting paid big bucks to score one measly PK against Wigan in a FA semi then go quietly into that goodnight…Cheers
it was announced recently that he’s been appointed as Sweden’s new head of football
Vieira
I thought for a minute there you meant old chihuahua-head himself rather than Kallstrom. It was a shame about the KK farrago… I thought he was a decent hardworking footballer.. That is until his vertebra broke and Wengo still saw fit to sign him on a short term loan. He could have joined our Swedish pantheon – Anders Limpar, Stefan Schwartz and Freddie. I have no proof whatsoever for this but you have to imagine a few brown envelopes were swapping hands over that deal.
Evening all, as Dixon of Dock Green would say, you remember that, KP
Just a little squad talk with Ten Hag having assembled £1.2B squad. Bar Codes into the top 10 with the beheading moneyed Real Madrid skip to 4th, some 4th richest squad and with Mbappe coming in the summer that will add much to their squad costs.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-13086311/Man-Uniteds-expensive-assembled-UEFA-Real-Madrid-slipped-English-trio-fourth-Bayern-Munich-Harry-Kane.html
Dixon of Dock Green – showing your age now Tony.
“Arsenal are losing patience with Germany midfielder Kai Havertz and are considering selling the 24-year-old this summer” (Fichajes—Spain)
of course this seems like a totally reasonable take for those of us with the power of sight and who likewise aren’t smitten by anything and everything Arteta-related…that said, it’s highly unlikely that this will ever materialize considering the ridiculous fee and wage package our learning curve duo gave this underachieving waste of space…even a drunken Raul wouldn’t make that deal
Same idiot bought Cedric when his club couldn’t give him away for free fish and chips. El Bastardo pays silly money and 4 year contract or something.
No one is buying Havertz for £50m and £300k rumoured to be.
We’ll end up paying his contract up Ala Ozil & Auba.
Rumours Barca want Martinelli and Mitoma my favourite LW or 8.
Who’s replacing Alonso? If Arteta then expect Saka & Saliba to follow Arteta only for Barca to sack Arteta as they only really wanted the aforementioned players. Arteta was the expendable.
Klopp, after half a season recuperating will be champing on his mashers to get back with Barca calling or will it be Pep?
Norg, that was a long time ago. Flowerpot men on weed and a stoned Dougal from the Magic Roundabout.
None of it made sense to me and nearly drove me to drugs. So I decided to use my bicycle and used training wheels when stoned 😂
Tony, We didn’t get a TV until I was 8 (end of 1959) – not much of what was available for viewing has stuck in my mind. I was already listening to music that none of my friends were interested in (Errol Garner, Oscar Peterson etc).
Captain Pugwash I remember well – mainly for the inuendo – similar to the Goons on the radio.
Havertz is a massive and expensive mistake. There is no way he can be off loaded without making a huge loss – one that Stan will not be impressed with. Why did we buy Cedric and why did he get minutes on Sunday. Sundays cameo role meant he got bonus minutes and Mrs Cedric (who El Stubborn likes) will be quite happy.
If Arteta leaves will he try and take players with him – not a chance.