‘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.
Wicksy
Just remind me of the clubs who have won the PL over the last few seasons and then repeat that a striker isn’t a necessary requirement to win the PL.
As for no options – bullshit these guys a paid a lot of money go find one. The problem with many modern fans is they think players have to cost a lot of money. Why not find the next top striker before we have to pay the club who did precisely that 80 million (or more) quid?
Marc
You are obviously using Berta as a scapegoat..
Marc
“Just remind me of the clubs who have won the PL over the last few seasons and then repeat that a striker isn’t a necessary requirement to win the PL.”
How about Liverpool last season ….
Nunez 6 goals
Jota 5 goals
The vast majority of the goals were scored by salah and Diaz who play out wide.
So it appears that a striker isn’t a necessary requirement to win the league .
Wicksy
No everything is Arteta’s fault and responsibility.
Wicksy
Don’t be stupid – Salah is a striker and the other player to mention is Haaland.
The team that wins the PL will 9 times out of 10 have a player who’s scoring 20 odd PL goals a season and be in contention for the Golden boot.
Our problem is the lack of goals in open play because we haven’t had a top quality striker since Auba left.
a good striker will occupy two defenders. A classy midfield (we have when Havertz and Odegaard are not playing) will have rich pickings when a classy forward is playing. Look how many goals the midfield scored when TH14 was playing.
Marc—good on you for calling Pricksy out for the whole Pool had no striker nonsense…until we have a wide side player potting 30 for fun any such argument has no credibility…btw any fucktard with a billion dollar budget could devise a defensively-minded/sound side…every top manager in the last 30 years, minus maybe Jose, earned that moniker by finding a way to go forward without leaving themselves totally exposed at the back, thus the whole the best defence is a good offence expression…the only comp for MA is the one-off fraud, Di Matteo, due to his defence-first mentality, and he was sacked before Xmas on the heels of his CL victory…btw this whole “parity” narrative he’s been spewing is total bullshit in that he’s trying to suggest that the PL has upped the ante from a level of play aspect, whereas it’s the exact opposite…the parity exists because the top sides have struggled for consistency/form and many of the remaining sides had their best talent plucked during the offseason (very few have performed at a similar level at their respective new clubs, which explains some of the inconsistencies)
TRVL
I don’t know about you but when you’re spending hundreds of millions I kind of expect to buy good players as a minimum.
Of course they’ll always be players who aren’t suited to a particular league – Veron is always my favourite example top player just wasn’t suited to the PL who don’t work out but that’s never been the issue with Arteta.
TRVL
“good on you for calling Pricksy out for the whole Pool had no striker nonsense”
If you had a football brain you would know that Salah is a winger /wide player the same as saka who scored 20 goals in the 23/24 season playing on the wing, and despite saka scoring 20 goals you were all calling for a striker …..
Wicksy
Imagine Saka’s 20 goals, plus a striker getting 20 plus goals, 10 – 15 from the left and then add CM and our goals from set pieces.
That’s called winning the PL and having a cracking chance in the CL.
No one (with half a brain at least) thought because you had Pires / Ljungberg etc getting a lot of goals you didn’t want a striker up front.
Once again you’re trying to twist facts to fit an Arteta narrative – what next scoring too many goals isn’t how good teams win the league?
And Salah might be a wide forward but he is not a fucking winger.
Marc
“And Salah might be a wide forward ”
Thank you , now all you have to do is admit that he’s not a striker then we will have fully educated TRVL on the intricacies of attacking positions in the modern game .
Will also point out that a player scoring 20 plus goals in a season doesn’t automatically make them a striker, if so then Frank Lampard’s 22 goals in the prem in the 2009/10 season would put him in the striker category, but of course we all know that lampard is a midfield player , just like we all know that salah is a winger/ wide player as I stated earlier.
you’re such a simpleton fuck Pricksy…that’s why your little more than a novelty act on this blog
Thank you , now all you have to do is admit that he’s not a striker then we will have fully educated TRVL on the intricacies of attacking positions in the modern game .
However having a proven striker allows the pattern of play to change . I am certain the amount of football TRVL watches he is well aware of the modern game. We are not calling for a super Mac, a Mariner or Smithy but somebody that will allow for changes during the game that will frighten the life out of the opposition’s defence.
Current form shows we are currently not top – Arteta needs to deploy change or ??????
Norg
“However having a proven striker allows the pattern of play to change .”
This is true , but I’m not sure that buying a striker(gyokeres) who is lacking in technical quality and pace will move the needle , but I’ll be happy to be proved wrong.
Cheers Norg….there’s no doubt in my mind that most regular contributors on here understand the more nuanced aspects of the modern game, even if they don’t always know the correct verbiage(of course that means jackshit in the grand scheme)…as for our resident blunt tool, Senor Pricksy, I’ve probably forgotten more about the game of football than he will ever know
Slags like this fella are why , we have no European Cups and mickey mouse teams like Manchester City and Chelsea have 3.
Anyone who defends this moronic cunt after the leeway he has been given is a serious cunt or simply mental.
Is it me and I am a cunt as well for supporting them since Swindon 69 or has he been given a billion to spend on players?
What’s the cunt won with a billion?
Fuck me if he played poker, he would be living on the fucking streets.
UFraud
Yep it’s all my fault , how perceptive of you.
Like you, I went to Swindon 69 and also Leeds 68 at Wembley but as per usual we came back for more and was rewarded with the fairs cup in 1970 followed by the double in 71 and I’m sure like me , you attended those finals as well as the the title decider at the lane 5 days before we beat Liverpool in the final.
Times are different now but I will point out that under wenger we finished 2nd three seasons on the bounce before the double success in 2002 , history can repeat itself this season , we don’t have the attacking flair of the great wenger sides but we do look like a side that hates losing and that may be enough to get us over the line , Henry/Bergkamp/Pires/vieira would walk into today’s side, wenger paid peanuts for Henry, Pires and Vieira whilst Arteta has spent fortunes in a desperate attempt to bring trophies to the club, I’m more than happy to criticise Arteta when warranted but at the moment he is making good tactical decisions and managing the team well despite the chronic injuries we have had this season
It appears that on here you all struggle to enjoy the game and get more joy in being proved right when we lose a game, everyone to their own I suppose.
TRVL
“, I’ve probably forgotten more about the game of football than he will ever know”
And yet you don’t know that Salah isn’t a striker …maybe that’s the bit you forgot..
nice try you little clickbaiting halfwit…when you actually contribute something of substance to the conversation I’ll address you directly…until then, kindly go fuck yourself