‘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
If you think a wide forward and a winger are the same thing that explains a lot about you and your comments.
Looking at the number of posts gaming with other posters , just wondering if Prikshit has been deployed to wean away erudite posters into trivial dogfights on the streets ?
Fortunately , given Ambarish maturity, no one of the great guys contributing on this excellent site have left.
Reminds me of my neighbour mongrel instigating my German Shepherds from accross the high wall.
wait for it – the gangling baby giraffe is set to return soon as our star striker. Viktor will be getting splinters sitting on the bench as he looks on at the clumsy play of Havertz.
KP – wet in your part of the world? I see County are maintaining their position just above mid table.
NORG
I wish. County have just moved from 11th to 9th in a 12 team league so still very much towards the bottom. They picked up a terrific 2 nil win away against Y Bala on Friday though including a screamer from the halfway line. Still scrapping it out but I’m feeling a bit more confident about their chances of staying up. Bit of a lull over the next few weeks but a busy Christmas/New Year programme beckons including derbies against Llanelli and Llansawel/Briton Ferry. I’ll send a clip of Corey Shepherd’s wonder goal.
Coincidentally, Brugge are managed by a guy called Nicky Heyen who was County’s manager before the present incumbent. A serious football brain who’ll give Stubborn el Bastardo a few headaches this week.
https://youtu.be/Q5U-2k-F_mk?si=Rx-UsjFRCooNQDL8
A beautiful goal which has lifted County’s season.
KP—it looks as if that ball perfectly struck the crook of his foot, which explains it’s almost straight as an arrow flight path…he could try to do that 1000 times over and never accomplish the same result, which makes it even more glorious
“Coincidentally, Brugge are managed by a guy called Nicky Heyen , a serious football brain ”
Nicky Heyen sacked 2 days ago.
Brugge struggling with injuries and form look like a team who should be taken care of without too much trouble.
If we don’t beat Brugge and Wolves then the alarm bells will begin.
We have a decent run of games up until the new year after tomorrow night with 4 home games ( includingpalace in the league cup ) and 1 away so very little travelling and no excuses as we look to widen the gap at the top.
Arteta fears Arsenal trophy hunt could be hindered by ‘dangerous circle’ of injuries | Arsenal | The Guardian https://share.google/osw8oHIDIJ2Pcolwh
Getting his excuses for failure in earlier than usual. If only that old syphilitic American git had given him 2 billion instead of one. Christ knows what the players must think when they read drivel like this.
As Jim Royle might have said…Dangerous circle? My arse!
I sense a downturn in results might be coming…
It all depends what is considered a downturn , we have just had an unbeaten run of 18 games (winning 15) so unless we repeat this incredible run of form in the next 18 games it could be considered a downturn.
I don’t think there will be a downturn of results , partly because our uocoming fixture list is favourable and partly because I expect first saliba(this week) and then gabriel(next month) hopefully to return ready for the title run in, though I doubt very much that another 18 match unbeaten run is on the cards.
Tonight is chance to give the likes of Nwaneri, madueke, martinelli, gyokeres, jesus, norgaard , Skelly and kepa some game time , I would imagine that Arteta is looking for the team to play on the front foot to allow our defenders an easier night, calafiori should play tonight as he is suspended for this weekend.
KP – I didnt realise there are only 12 teams in the league. My friend in Bergamo has already emailed me this morning celebrating their win over Chelsea.
El B needn’t worry – the return of Bambi on ice will solve all of his problems – Havertz will do it on his own.
Club Brugge should be an easy game this evening – a good opportunity to send out the youngsters to enjoy themselves but I doubt El B will change the team.
Yeah, Bergamo, Atalanta and their fans give me a more positive vibe than, say Turin and Milan in northern Italy. Plus they have a decent manager.
I think Chelsea might be regretting their tactics against us a few weeks ago. How the fuck they only picked up one red in that game is beyond me (although I’ve always thought that Taylor, unlike other refs, is one of the softest officials going when it comes to stamping out foul play). Until Caicedo got his marching orders, I think they all thought it was open season. That little arse fucker cucurrella chief among them. It would have worked a few years ago as it did for the likes of Terry, Drogba and Costa, but thank christ we now have players who will stand up for themselves and the club.
I want to see a strong team tonight not least because it’ll almost guarantee a top 8 finish. Experiment a bit more against that team (from Kazakhstan?) in the final round when it’s all done and dusted.
Having watched Wolves on Monday night (fuck, they were poor) we should find that game relatively straightforward.
perhaps El B could borrow the Ladies team for the Wolves game?
Dowman’s out for a couple of months after picking up an ankle injury in a friendly.
Not connected but I don’t like this current “fashion” of tiny or no shin pads and socks only half way up the shin – seen too many of our players pick up nasty injuries over the years.
I really feel for Ethan…I get why Noni gets the start out wide, as any chance to have him play in his best position is a positive, but to have Merino playing instead of Ethan makes me wonder if he’ll ever get the starting nod in our midfield, especially with Eze being deployed there recently
that’s what you can get from Noni if he’s played in his proper position…that’s never happening on the left
just imagine what we could produce if our manager wasn’t such shoehorning defensive-minded fuck
thankfully Brugge hadn’t just parked the bus
we could easily be on the wrong side of this scoreline, even with our peculiar makeshift back 5, if this Brugge side were better finishers…maybe that’s why Raya didn’t get the night off