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.
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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.
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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.
Tony-my bad…I certainly wasn’t thinking that you were having a go, I just thought you had misinterpreted what I was trying to say, so I thought it might be prudent to clarify…Cheers
looks like Timber could be shelved for a lengthy period, something related to his ACL…he shouldn’t have been on the pitch after the break anyways, as it was clear something was amiss when he first went down…furthermore, I wouldn’t be surprised if MA shoehorning him in on his unfamiliar side might have contributed in some capacity to what could end up being a very serious injury…let the PR games begin
United got away with one today, as they looked totally discombobulated for much of the match…as for the Wolves, who many suggested were a team in utter disarray, they were an absolute pleasure to watch…unfortunately the ability to score still alludes them…if they figure their shit out, they could surprise some folks this season…hopefully we don’t follow down that same path, especially after not signing a single clinical finisher this summer
TRVL
Well at least Arteta doesn’t have a history of pushing an injured player back onto the pitch.
This injury with Timber is worrying. Just a thought was that injury as a result of the Forrest game or was it something that was niggling him? Another thought that entered my mind was if you play a player out of position will the risk of picking up an injury increase, decrease or stay the same?
Marc–good one bud–as someone who’s played a shit-tonne of highly competitive sports, I’ve seen guys get injured for all matters of things, including when they were deployed in totally unfamiliar territory, like a WR switching sides, from X to Z, or when a second baseman is shifted to shortstop etc…muscle memory is such an important aspect of one’s body dynamics that’s largely ignored or misunderstood…not to mention all the minuscule muscles that are actively engaged during any repetitive athletic act, which is why you can feel some considerable discomfort after hitting a bucket of balls following a long layoff, so whenever you flip your normal script it can be a cause for concern…of course, this might have nothing whatsoever to with this particular scenario, but I certainly wouldn’t be surprised if it played a role
Killroy-my previous post speaks to your injury-based comments/concerns
manner of things
Well said TRVL with the points you’ve raised.
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I’ve been a gym rat since gyms were available, but gave up rugby & football after my quintuple bypass. Seemed the prudent thing to do. 🙂
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I kept training under various cardiologists’ purview where I have an excellent heart team in Bangkok who have kept me up and running for the last 15 years with just the odd stent service (5) and where I still do ropes today at 68: sadly my 6-pack is a one-pack resembling a bag of potatoes and a work in progress.
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My point is I did various serious body conditioning training regimes I’d put together with different dymamic trainers that followed each other throughout my training year, in our family home gym of 100sqm. I’d do 10 hours a week early mornings CV and weights and conditioning for a mix of HIT, HIIT, Cross FIT, 160kg bag work, Body weight conditioning and weight circuits. Work hard and play hard & go hard or go home have always been my mantras. We can never avoid No pain, no gain so we just have to eat it up.
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I would imagine with your penchant for MMA, you’d be levels up on my home exploits.
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My advanced abs has been completed by few because of the intensity, especially if you do it to the correct tempo 0130. It’s not just core it’s full upper body as secondaries. Knowing your past, you’d eat it up and enjoy it, and then add your preferences for your age and younger, just to tune it up to the next level. As well you should, as you know your body’s capabilities.
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So for all my body conditioning and keeping a 6-pack until 65, some years ago on a short company holiday for all employees, the engineers wanted a beach football game against the management and owners.
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Great fun until I woke up the next day and could hardly walk where the engineers thought it collective fun (safety in numbers) laughing at our ministry of funny walks around the pool the next morning and for the duration of the break.
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I had the same concerns as you, and I suspect many others regarding Timber; he was an injury waiting to happen; the best TW signing out for possibly the season, but a few months at least.
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When Timber reappeared after half time, Junior and I looked at each other and said literally WTF? Why not Tomi we said almost in unison? It’s probably another negative record Arteta has chalked up fastest crocked new signing: 43 minutes?
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I’m only heartened by Crocverpool FC who need to employ more nurses and medics to tend to their adding list of? Well crocs, of course. If this continues I see Klopp looking for a new challenge where he is fully owner supported. Could that come at just the right time for us? I hope so.
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I said to junior last night I am losing my affinity with The Arsenal, which I know will come back once Arteta has departed and the right incumbent is in place.
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Marc
Arteta is the perfect definition of Sigmund’s definition of madness and the fanboys love him, which seems like all peas in the same pod to me.
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It must be difficult for you to see and feel it close up and personal, and be helpless and perhaps in a small Emirates’ minority still that feel passionately that Arteta is not the man to take us to future glories. That he is a very poor Pep 2.0. and I would in your seat, but I’d think past Arteta, as I would imagine you will, too. Tough as it may feel at times.
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Thankfully Klopp is scrambling, but still capable of being a nightmare for us the way injured animals can be. Their TW suits are all over the place, which is delectable to witness and long may it continue. Ten Hag is having similar issues with the take over.
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Chavs getting Lavia & Caicedo has just made the already decent manager capable of winning the top trophies into almost being City like in their embarrassment of player riches.
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Poch will get the Chavs purring far better than he did with PSG. It’s next level Spuds with the Chavs spending power.
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We will not be winning the title this season is my initial thinking after game 1 where I think Arteta is going to be very happy for 5 CL places this season; it could be his only saving grace from being fired when you look at his history in cup competitions – particularly Euro cups.
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Mikel probably needs another £500m to get the squad how he likes it and being happy to use subs. He’ll still be Arteta 1.0, though, so it won’t matter a jot how much he spends.
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As with Wenger, we have to wait for Josh and daddy to wake up and smell the coffee and see Arteta for the managerial fraud he’s been for nearly 5 years. A coach? Maybe, Yes: A manager? A big fat NO!
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Ambarish & Hoopah any thoughts on the above or others?
Tony
Sit-ups! 100 times a day. That’ll sort it…or just go down the herbal route. 🌿
Does anyone have chapter and verse on the Timber injury? I read somewhere that the physios checked him at half time and told Tets they thought he was OK? So whose head is rolling given the mistake that will cost the club millions and deprive us of what looks to be a player well suited to the system and the PL more generally?
Tets could have easily erred on the side of caution and said to himself, ‘Timber looks good and too worthwhile to risk in the second half. We’re 2-nil up and have plenty of fire power on the bench. I’m going to be mature and sensible and sit him down’. But no, the inevitable happens and he oversees another category error on his watch’.
I’m starting to wonder if Tets’s rigidity, control freakishness and insecurity are all wrapped up in one major and irredeemable character flaw. Manifesting itself as chronic inability and cowardice when it comes to making changes. In other words, a fear that he’ll be seen as weak if he adapts too readily to what’s facing him. A typically napoleonic small man complex. He radiates some serious short dick energy in my view. I cannot think of another manager who seems so persistently uptight and rigid. Even Tuchel and Mourinho have lighter sides to their personalities.
Lego meets Metal Mickey on an ersatz Dr Who set from the 70s. Exterminate! Exterminate!
Loquaciously brilliant, KP. 🙂
“a fear that he’ll be seen as weak if he adapts too readily to what’s facing him.”
Sums him up perfectly – to change means I got it wrong in the first place so therefore if I wave my hands about enough, bark enough orders at people everyone will see I was right from the beginning.
There seems to be some buzz that Timber has ACL damage and may well be out for 7 months. If true, Arteta allowing Timber out for the 2nd half and not subbing Jurien is just another stupid mind blowing mistake from our manager. par for the course for him.
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What does Arteta use for brains? Is he too emotionally charged to miss what most of us saw and questioned why Timber reappeared.
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Fanboys led by silly Pedro saying with all authority that Mikel said all the checks had been done at half time, and yet Timber collapsed moving backwards unchallenged a couple of minutes into the 2nd half. It would seem Pedro is an authority on all thing medical now he’s the installed Kroenke mouthpiece. I wonder how his 10-year plan looks now?
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From what I have seen of Jurien Timber he would have been key to any success this season he had done what most incoming players can’t do and fit in seamlessly into the side even being played out of position, which probably played a big part in the injury.
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Get well soon Jurien, you will be missed.
7 months – for crying out loud.
As for Pedro by the sounds of things (I haven’t checked out Le Bullshit for months) he’s very close to being hired by Putin or Kim Jong to head up their “truth” departments.
At least the fanboys will be happy – they don’t have to search or make up an excuse for another season of failure.
Tony
Regarding Arteta competence I would put him in the position of a better Manager and a shitall Coach. He showed up the way he deftly manages to ease open Kroenke wallet every time.
As to his his being a coach that appears only related to a single Sterling story ,maybe put out by City to push him out and into Arsenal. The Club has a few outstanding players capable of turning a match around, so that’s the dexterity we see and all appreciate, nothing to do with Arteta. Those who watched the Arsenal Documentary, can only see Arteta playing mind games with his squad. Showing players how to play was absent. So Arteta would rate as a shit coach. One can see deployment of City , now Chelsea, Brighton to see how players are deployed to intercept the ball every time with the least effort. That is coaching!
Hoopah
“showed up the way he deftly manages to ease open Kroenke wallet every time.”
Perfect description of a con man and don’t forget he uses the same skills on the supporters and the media.
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“Arteta would rate as a shit coach”
Like hand in glove. O watched the Chelsea v Pool game and they will be much better this season. Poch took a disorganized squad and turned it into a team that played well against a top 4 rival both will compete and take points off the usual suspects for the CL competition next season.
Here’s the rub, as we’re scurrying around securing backup Keepers and potential Timber replacements, we’ve yet to address our serious outgoing issues and/or brought in a single player with an eye for goal…meanwhile at Chelsea they appear to be on the precipice of adding the likes of Lavia and Olise, on the backs of acquiring the services of Caicedo, who should have been our priority signing this off-season…once they sort out their ranks and get both Fofana and Nkunku back into the fold, they could be a juggernaut for the foreseeable future…as such, this Arteta window is getting smaller and smaller with each passing day
now we’ve already been afforded a few potential boosts, regarding our title aspirations, as DeBruyne is going to be shelved for several months and United are going to be negatively impacted, as was witnessed last evening, by their inability to get their business done early in the window…that said, we had best stop shoehorning around and figure out a way in which we can max out our point totals in the first half of the season again…if we stumble at any point between now and Xmas, for an extended period like late last year, we could be properly fucked come the business end of the season
KP—big fan of your 9:16 Arteta-based soliloquy—I would suggest that he has a bad case of Imposter syndrome or perceived fradulence—now early on that would make some sense considering the nature of the appointment, which is likey why he leaned into the whole senior-laden squad narrative immediately following his premature managerial promotion, as that would logically allow him to spread the blame…of course, this mindset should naturally fade over time, especially with all the flowers being thrown his way, but his continued tactical OCD and gutless managerial decisions seem to suggest otherwise…with this in mind, I believe he’s so deathly afraid of being exposed as a fraud that he oft-times stays the course regardless if it makes any sense or not…Cheers
TRVL
The fanboys were gearing up to use the “rebuilding the squad” excuse for this season about how you can’t bring in a large number of players and except results straight away – Poch is about to show that up. They won’t win the title but they’re going to make large strides this season which leaves the fanboys with a serious problem – they can’t say too many new players and with Arteta having spent best part of three quarters of a billion they can’t claim lack of funds.
My guess is they’ll go full on Untold Arsenal and blame the refs!