Finally! No football for months and it was probably the most boring phase of this year. Football is back, Ladies and Gentlemen.
We are up against Nottingham Forest today at home and City has made it a must-win already. We can feel the pain of Klopp’s Liverpool for 3 years in row when they competed against Pep’s side. The only way to beat them is by outperforming them each week for 38 weeks in a row. There is no margin for errors and a slip (like ours, last season) could cost you the title race. We can’t have that slip, can we?
But, lets not complicate it today. We have a long season ahead to talk about the possibilities. Today, it’s time to re-stock your fridge and enjoy the afternoon. Today, we celebrate the start of a season for one of the best teams in the world who is on the rise.
—
For the starting XI, I’m guessing Mikel will stick to the the players who started in Community Shield against City. All the players are fit and available for selection except Gabriel Jesus. A back 4 of White, Saliba, Gabriel and one of the Timber/Zinchenko, will be pairing with Rice and Partey in the midfield. Odegaard will captain the side, Saka and Martinelli keep their places on the wings and Kai Havertz will get a nod ahead of Nketiah. Arteta loves his new toys, and I would appreciate it if he plays Timber ahead of Zinchenko. There is no bias here, Zinchenko is injury prone and Timber against a Forest side is a good game to judge if he can make the LB his own.
Rice has shown some glimpse of his game against City and his pairing with Partey is gelling well. He can go forward, he can track back, is athletic and have good shots in him. He has got to justify the massive faith Mikel has shown in him by making him the costliest British transfer till date. Pressure, but he is in Premier League winning player of the season for Hammers in last few years and I’m sure he can handle that. How much he makes that position his own, remains to be seen.
—
No game is easy in Premier League. Forest was one of the teams that beat us last season and hammered our chances of title win. They had a lots of incomings last season and they were in mix in the relegation battle throughout the season and still they did beat us. You can’t take them lightly and Cooper would have utilized the season break to make these players work together. A tough game, yes. Can we win it – yes. Should we try winning it big – absolutely.
It will be hard fought battle. Not only every game will matter, but also the no. of goals you score and the clean sheets you can manage. Lets win big today, lets start the season on a high and show to the rest of the world, it wasn’t a Leicester-esque season earlier.
Right, a short one today because the game here starts at 5 PM and only a couple hours left for me to reach to the restaurant that will play the game. Hope you have a good day. Enjoy the game, lets keep the worries for other 37 weeks.
Cheers!
And if you happen to go to Emirates, I would be grateful if you can click some pics of the new makeover stadium and Arsene Wenger’s statue for me.
Thank you Ambarish for the post and encouraging us towards new season with lots of hope on our family ARSENAL..
Hope, we’ll back with more efforts and positive thoughts…Our all gem players are completely fit for the season….we have to win this season at any cost….Hope, we’ll not repeat that mistakes which was done in previous season….hope our defence system is more stronger than previous season…!
Need all players contribution is important…all playing 11…I guess, The field position should be okay with 4-3-3 pattern…!
Attacking is a good way to get the season cup….but I repeat, defence is more important….. we’ll not give a highway to make a goal of opponents…!
Hope for the best…Cheers
We are ARSENAL ❣️
Divyanshu
Hi mate. I hope you had a good summer.
Am I the only one to think it’s odd that Gabriel is on the bench?
Starting XI looks like Galaxy brain:
.
Martinelli – Havertz – Eddie
Saka – Partey – Ode
Timber – Rice – Saliba – White
Ramsdale
.
SUBS
Reiss – ESR – Tommi – Gabriel – Vieira – Kiwior – Jprginho – Trossard – Hein
.
Don’t know what to make of the formation and starting XI, but then nothing new under the sun with not so generational but definite master of con.
Hey Kroenkephobe
Why Gabriel on the bench ????
Any issue or something else ??
It’s really odd…!
From previous post:
Brilliant KP.
It’s mothers day here so our daughter has come to visit with Pumpkin for the first game.
She said she thought she had to bring the mascot as Win wasn’t working.
.
Seems like Partey at RB with White in his natural CB and Saliba moves over to deputize for Gabriel. Rice at 6 with Havertz at 8 playing a CM role with ode more forward.
Neketiah playing to be in the shop window? Can’t see why him instead of Trossard?
Kilroy that’s the only explanation I’ve got.
head scratcher to say the least but then MA is often copying Pep and he is known for tinkering, only difference Pep got Nouse, Arteta got nothing.
What the f is that backline. Why Partey at RB when Tomi is fit, Gabriel is fit, Zinchenko is fit and Timber can play at RB.
That’s just another – galaxy brain thing.
Anyways, up the arse..
#COYG
30 minutes delay in KO because they can’t get the fans into the stadium.
Tony
I’m hugely reassured to know that Pumpkin is in the house. Hope you all have a great weekend.
30 minute delay? They’re weeding out all the Arteta sycophants and sending them to a gulag.
You, too KP. Guess you got to pass the Arteta love test.
The new turnstyle system is as shitty as Arteta is in managing. Still 35k fans waiting to get into the stadium, typical for AFC management now extending to stadium crew and management. Who will be effected mentally most by the delay in KO.
That was some brilliant piece of football from Martinelli and a brilliant goal from Eddie.
Goal ⚽
Stunning from Saliba, and can we just say Saka is phenomenal and best in his position in the world.
DK
And the 2nd one 🔴⚪
Now Saka…..come on guys… cheers
What a beauty. No one cuts in like Saka.
Exactly KP
What a Goal
Now, I would love a clean sheet from this point.
What a safe…!
Miss the chance…..no issue…next time our ball touch the net…!
It’s all a question of quality versus quantity.
Timber alone 🌳 is better than Forest 🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲
Good first half everyone pulling their weight in the system with few mistakes. Saliba clearly not as comfortable at LCB as he is assured at RCB.
Let’s see what changes Arteta makes in the 2nd half. I’d match Forest’s 3-4-3 switching to 3 at the back especially if Timber needs to come off.
Something makes me think that Timber injury might not be too serious. He walked off and his facial expression was quite relaxed.
Good to see Forest have come out somewhat. It should mean more goals.
Won….but frankly, not happy the score line…!
How we concede the goal…WTF
Nothing changed from last season except 1, Arteta spent 65mill on a dud and he will be judged by it. Glad to see that, as it will be enough rope to hang himself and be kicked out of the door.
.
No changes:
Still can’t keep a clean sheet at home, still doesn’t use all subs, Arteta is still shite at the in-game management, galaxy brain galore and can’t set up a competing starting XI. The sooner he is out of AFC the better.
.
Needing to bring on a defender in place of an attacker against Forrest says it all, fuck off you poor imitation of a manager, end of story.
Tony
Phew. No pumpkin and we draw that game.
KP Junior when out to get Pumpkin to join us on the sofa after they scored until the end of the game. Just to be safe.
.
Give my thoughts tomorrow.
.
Have a good one all
Tony
Brilliant stuff. That young man is going to go far. I give him full credit for the extra 2 points.
Killroy-have to agree in that regards….it’s clear that he’s given all the new boys assurances regarding the starting 11….so what we have here is a manager who spent an absolute fortune on players who haven’t the requisite passing or finishing skills to take us forward…only a couple of class moments by Marts and Saka, the former being the MOTM…Eddie had one fortuitous strike, that was heading directly for our former lightwieght backup if it weren’t for the deflection and Ode was telegraphing his passes far too often today…I don’t give a flying fuck about the possession stats, as that was always going to heavily favour us, and the Timber injury is more than a little disconcerting…maybe it had something to do with playing on the wrong side of the pitch for only the 4th time in his professional career…more to come later…Cheers
Table is about right we are in the company of Palace & Fulham, while City hang out with BHA and Newcastle. How the fuck did we end up with Harvertz and the Bar Codes with Tonali, almost forgot we still have Moe & Curly pissing away money at Chelsea rejects.
We’ve got super Mik Arteta
He knows exactly what we need
A £35 million right back at left back
The best DM in the league at RB until he moved
We’ve got super Mik Arteta
Thank fuck we don’t have a manager who make subs on 70 minutes like clock work though..
to be fair, there were some brief periods throughout the match, especially in the first half, when I was rather impressed by some of our one-touch passing and off the ball movement, but in the main there was far too much wasteful possession and not nearly enough definitive chance creation…an all too familiar refrain during MA’s tenure…It’s not like I don’t understand the underlying tactical gist, but in order to achieve such lofty heights you simply must have the personnel this brand of football requires and neither Rice nor Havertz really fit that particular script…furthermore, you can’t have passengers on the pitch, unless they’re potting goals for fun
I think it’s important to remember that the whole point of replacing Xhaka was to add some more pace and directness to our attack and to have someone who could cash in on a higher percentage of those grade A chances that invariably arise as a result of our opponents doubling-up on Saka and Marts out wide…unfortunately, Havertz was a non-factor until the 90th minute, which begs the question, why the fuck was he still on the pitch…meanwhile, Eddie was once again showing you exactly who and what he is, a relatively untidy player who can poach on occasion, but who butchers his chances on a regular basis…now good on him for getting on the scoresheet, but that shot was literally heading straight for an already grounded Keeper if it weren’t for an incredibly fortunate bounce
finally, if I were Tierney, ESR and maybe even Tross, unless Jesus isn’t returning anytime soon, I would seriously contemplate pushing for a trade before the current window closed…with this in mind, I might likewise be concerned if I was Partey and Jorginho, as I can only assume if both Zinchenko and Timber our fit, they will be deployed on opposing flanks and we know full-well that Rice and Havertz aren’t going to be watching from the sidelines too often
are fit
Have to agree with the room Arteta’s just added more pets to run into the ground. Partey at RB is a misnomer for that position. To play him there reduces his efficiency by around 30%+, as he doesn’t have the speed to carry into fast transitions in the way Timber and Klopps FBs have. It’s a needless tactic!!! Especially against a feeble Forest.
.
I think we got what we feared in that 3.0 Arteta is basically the same and equals the next level is the next level. Arteta is so anal and full of himself that he represents Wenger 2.0 more as each season goes by. Sadly, it’s the last decade of Wenger Arteta is replicating.
.
What about Havertz? Pretty uneventful & unmemorable performance for me. Memorable is not so important for me as Gilberto Silva was an unsung hero who merited far more credit for his unselfish and largely unrecognized brilliant 6 work.
.
A GOAT for that position.
.
For Havertz it’s unmemorable performances thus far. It’s really hard to fathom just what the best role for Havertz is? He displayed very fast accelerated pace at times, especially near the end of the 2nd half. He’s not our Smudger as a CF as Alan Smith was a robust skinny and lanky scorer of goals for fun.
.
I see ESR playing 7/8/9 far better than Havertz if he ever gets some continued game time. Havertz is too easily knocked off the ball that clinical ball technicians can be.
.
A ring rusty game with collective fitnesses issues a few games off correcting that showed throughout the game for both sides.
.
As for Arteta, it’s no change! All the same issues are still there and where we are still fragile and likely to collapse or implode at any time. Was that a title winning performance, one where we laid our marker down for all to see that we are here to claim what is rightfully ours?
.
Well, no actually. It was a grim hang on to a one goal lead because our manager after almost 5 years here is still clueless with his in-game management. Einstein’s definition of madness once again rearing its head here.
.
Ok a plus point. Harvertz is better than Xhaka I announced during the game to which junior replied Pumpkin is better than Xhaka and he had a point the lad. Certainly quicker with lightning quick reflexes who would never have ended up on the floor cuddling/nurturing the ball as Xhaka repeatedly did during his too many years with us.
.
Junior asked me how I felt at the final whistle and I said relief. How would we have reacted if we had been at Forest when Forest scored? A much stronger panic than at the Emirates yesterday I’d wager.
.
That was not a title winning performance scraping past Forest at home.
.
However, it was the first game, so my real first judgement will be after 10 games when everything has had time to settle into the league’s rhythm.
.
My biggest and expected lesson from the first game was that Arteta 3.0 with his £billion+ team is no better than Arteta 2.0 or 1.0 with his £600m/£400m team. A the end of the day it’s still Arteta in the manager’s chair, where I think if he had a £1.5billion team we would still get Arteta 1.0. That is Mikel Arteta the manager. Mikel the coach is his level.
.
The only thing that changes are the players names.
.
Haver a good one fellow pain suffering masochists the season is going to be a long and winding road as in the words of there song.
.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jl5vi9ir49g
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PEJTRKQFbCw
One to gently rock your morning coffee
Anyone goy any clues as to why Timber came out for the 2nd half when obviously injured?
Kai Havertz stats against Nottingham Forest
51 – Pass Attempts 88.2%
3 – Prog Passes
2 – Key Passes
0.22 – xA
2 – Shots
0.12 – xG
4 – Fouled
6 – Prog Carries
10 – Prog Passes Received
5 – Touches in the box
1 – Tackles
2 – Fouls
1 – Interceptions
3 – Aerial Duel Won (of 7)
Make of that what you will, but to me looks like a £30m player and behind ESR if he ever gets a chance.
I enjoyed your analyses lads.
Certainly not the perfect start. Just watched a bit of match of the day, ie the parts without the pundits.
Everton’s defeat was pleasing. Bernie L looked at his best in Fulham’s goal. The Toffees deserved to win which made their loss sweeter. Woy the Bwoy getting lairy on the touchline against Sheffield was comedy gold. Geriatric twat should have been standing in his manager area. They should have yellow carded him (and taken away his driving licence) .
Arteta doing his usual touchline bullshit is hugely depressing. He’s an idiotic fuck. The knives will be sharpened again for Partey if he continues in that silly right back hybrid role. I fear he’s next in line to have his reputation and value trashed by legohead. Marseille on a free transfer (ie one where he’s paid to go) will happen this winter.
Looking forward to watching Spurs without their K(c)ane – limping, hobbling and shouting into the wind about the injustice of it all. Looks like Richarlison is being given the first crack at replacing His Royal Lispinesse’s goal scoring ability. Harry himself looks to be bringing his uncanny silverware luck to BM. First German chance at a pot – failed.