‘Did you think you had Eze’ – asked a reporter from Thomas Frank. Thomas, appointed only recently as the manager of a shite club, responded in an attempt to create some humour by asking back –
‘Who is Eze?’
Well, he just scored a hattrick in a NLD after 47 fucking years and by the time 90 mins were done, Spurs fans were already at home, probably sobbing and blaming the cold. If you are one of those and delusional enough to think you own North London, let me just say that even with a 4-1 win, we were more frustrated than you lot because we couldn’t keep a clean sheet. You are used to losses so that was just a regular day for you.
Right, that was a brilliant evening for us Gooners. A 4-1 victory over Spurs, at Home, hat-trick from the man who had almost joined Spurs but the club brought him to Emirates in the last minutes, Saka dancing and fans staying and singing once the match was over. And we did all this without our first choice striker, and our best defensive player while Hincapie started his first game in place of Gabriel. Our captain was missing too.
We took the lead in the 36th minute when Mikel Merino set up a beautiful ball to Trossard who, very precisely, put it into the nets. Eze, doubled the lead in 5 minutes when he put the ball into the nets courtesy of Rice’s assist. We went into the break 2-0 and Frank made some changes hoping he could turn it around. I am pretty sure he is aware of the spursy nature of that team but hey, he is paid enough to at least try. Eze made it 3-0 only 1 minute into the second half, assisted by Timber but that lad was dreaming of something more.
Richarlison scored a good one from far away. When you play a high line and your goal keeper is involved in setting things up, this can happen. I don’t mind it more than Raya, who would be furious to not add this game to another one of his clean sheets. Frank made some more changes but Eze scored his 3rd in the 76th minute and made sure that no one but the red and whites celebrate the day.
Spurs were so shite we didn’t even need to use set pieces to beat them.
We had finished 2nd, three seasons in a row. We lost points in dead games, injuries derailed us and there were some very odd decisions from the manager. This season, we lost our best defender and yet Hincapie finished his 1st full game with a 9.5/10. Odegaard is out injured but Eze comes in and does better. I was doubting Trossard but he has proven that he can play better than Martinelli when he is given a chance. We have a saucy striker who looks adapted now, was out injured but we didn’t miss him. Saka was world class and will remain so.
Now, onto the next game in Champions League tonight against Bayern. Only 3 teams are with a perfect score so far, and two of them are playing each other today. Bayern sits at top of the table with equal points and same goal difference but have scored 3 extra goals than us. That also means we have conceded 3 less than them, in fact, we have conceded fuck-all so far in 4 games in the group stages and Bayern will test that today. We will be without our best CB partnership but Hincapie dropped a bombshell of a performance against Spurs so I am not really bothered.
To finish in top 8 and avoid 2 extra qualifying games later, we have to win at least 6 of the 8 games. After today, we will be playing Club Brugge, Inter and Kairat. Inter Milan is the third team with all wins so far. Frankly, it’s not a do or die situation for us but there’s always some uncertainty in Champions League. We saw Chelsea beating Barcelona last night, and Newcastle losing to Merseille thanks to 2 goals from the ex-Arsenal man, Aubameyang. Anything can happen, so make the most out of what’s in front of you.
Martinelli and Madueke are back in the team. Odegaard might also be available, though I doubt Mikel will bench the hattrick man for him. Mikel, when asked about facing Bayern, had to say this –
For sure, this is the kind of game in the competition that we want to face, and we’ve been very consistent in both competitions; they have been as well, and tomorrow is a great test for us to see where we are.
source:Arsenal.com
A very challenging game indeed, and the one which will highlight whether we have progressed to win something of importance of this year. Beat Bayern today and the boys will go home in confidence. Also, there can be only one team sitting at the top and we would love to be the one.
See you during the game.
get more middle class liberal cunts like Starmer spending their money on the club.
Art
Starmer is a cunt mate but hardly a liberal…would a liberal want a national ID card scheme or blame Britain’s economic woes on a few migrants? He’s a serious authoritarian like many in the top echelons of blue labour.
Wicksy
We all want to see our team win but at the same time we want to see better performances – we want entertainment. We were spoilt in the early years of Wenger with the whole country wowed by the sublime skill on display.
Over the last 5 years we have see so many mistakes that have cost the club a small fortune. There are a lot of managers that would have done better with a lesser spend.
This weekend
Arsenal v Wolves …a headed own goal
West ham v villa…..same
Sunderland v Newcastle…..same .
So what do they all have in common besides being headers from a cross from the right wing.
The common denominator is that the striker made a run across the face of the defender which put doubts in the defender’s mind.
There were nothing particularly special about any of these crosses, we will see a hundred of them during the weekend without the same result .
It’s all about the movement in the box from the striker and that is what gyokeres needs to improve on if he is to be a success at Arsenal.
Go back a couple of weeks against brentford and you will see Merino score with a header with a perfectly timed run across the face of the defender which makes it very difficult to defend.
Another question that should be asked is how can Haaland find space in the box with relative ease whilst gyokeres is more often than not grappling with a defender, the goal haaland scored at the weekend came from a basic cross and Haaland was able to make space for himself to plant the header past the palace keeper.
Apparently only 5 out of a 100 or so of gyokeres goals for sporting came from headers , that doesn’t surprise me after watching his lack of anticipation and inability to find space in the box ..
I can’t see Arteta changing the way we play anytime soon, the build up is usually deliberate with either of the 2 wide players delivering the final ball or shot , Arteta says he is happy with gyokeres contribution, we shall see who gets the nod when havertz, jesus, merino and gyokeres are all fit, it will need gyokeres to change/improve his game if he is to be a starter in the coming months.
AFC knew what they were getting when they signed the cheque. VG is a hand full and no doubt somebody is telling him what to do in training – clearly those instructions are not compatible with his game or he isnt compatible with the style of play the manager is setting out. Havertz is not better and Jesus is a crock. Merino is probably the better player but never going to scare opposition. All in all a sorry tale – I wonder how it well end.
NORG
Havertz will walk back into the team the moment he is fit.
Marc
You have got it wrong – you should say he will stumble back into the team the moment he is nearly fit.
Odegaard has returned and play slows down and he keeps passing to the right – perhaps his vision is impaired and VG needs to wear a clown outfit to be spotted or could it be he is acting on instruction.
Even TH14 & Co had problem games and when it did Big Tony would get involved and often scored or provided a telling pass.
Changing things around mid game provides problems for the opposition – I wonder why we are so rigid with our play.
https://youtu.be/v1ZwUpuU3pc?si=AYatMYLol3Er0E9H
Aaah NORG…Nice of you to mention TA. An Arsenal statesman. Mr Arsenal.
Remember this? The perfect response after the scum beat us in the semi final the year earlier.
Donkey won the derby!
NORG
Actually you’re bang on about Havertz.
KP
An Evening to remember – a 2-1 loss to Spurs at WHL. I was the guest of John Grays (Tyre chain in London & Essex) in his Box. After the game box holders and their guests were in the bar with players from both sides. Being one of the few AFC supporters we were fortunate enough to mingle with the Arsenal players. Tony could sink a pint in two gulps.
He goal mouth antics were rare but when we were up against it nearing the end of the game he would step in – on more than one occasion.
As much as it was a below par performance v wolves , the fact is they only had 3 shots on goal compared to our 16 , so it isn’t like we failed to dominate the game apart from a 4 minute spell when they scored.
For context City by all accounts were superb away to palace but only had 7 shots on goal but conceded 14 shots, city have been very clinical recently that’s for sure, what city have is 4 offensive players at he peak of their game ..cherki, foden, Haaland and Doku.
The expectation from the fans and media was that we would win at a stroll probably by at least 3 goals against wolves and because the expectation was so high it gave the impression that wolves gave as good as they got against us which couldn’t be further from the truth.
Yes, dropping points to wolves would have been a disaster but it didn’t happen , a week off will hopefully do the players some good and come out firing on all cylinders v Everton , luck is on our side as the Afcon has robbed Everton of the services of ndaiye and Gueye, plus injuries to Dewsbury hall and possibly grealish severely affects their attacking options, I can see Moyes adopting similar tactics to Wolves with 10 men behind the ball and hope to catch us on the break or from a set piece.
Eze is going through a period where he is not influencing the game , the difference between Eze and odegaard is that when we are in possession Odegaard goes towards the ball and plays deeper but Eze moves away from the ball and plays higher , hence the reason why Odegaard is on the ball more.
Is Eze instructed by Arteta to play that way I’m not so sure, but it would help him become more involved if he mixed his game up more.
NORG
“– I wonder why we are so rigid with our play.”
For Arteta, it’s all about control and discipline , meaning keep possession and take few risks with the ball to control the tempo of the game.
This way of playing has elevated the club to top 4 in Europe but it has it’s drawbacks as it inhibits the more naturally skilful players like Eze and Nwaneri , what we can hope is that winning the title or Europe this season will encourage Arteta to let the players play with more freedom to express themselves, though I’m not 100% sure that will be the case as he is a bit of a control freak.
ask Saka what he thinks of our current style of play.
So the Orange One is taking action over the BBC Panorama editing. Apparently he wanted to host the World Cup Match of the Day program but the BBC said no.
Norg
The system we play suits saka as it’s designed to bring him into the game as much and as high up the pitch as possible.
Norg
Pretty sure it would’ve been cheaper to give him the slot!
Where the fuck is everyone?
Match day post is live. Marc – looks like everyone got bored of landing on the same page.