7 years since we last played a Champions League knockout game! Luck has favoured us a bit, we are visiting Porto in couple of hours and I’m all excited for it.
Mikel Arteta in his pre-match conference acknowledged the experience Porto have in Champions League, that we haven’t played a CL game in two or three months and the other teams are well prepared and can beat anyone on a given day.
In the team news, ex Porto man Fabio Vieira and Thomas Partey were back in training but remains to be seen if they make the bench. Jesus, Zinchenko and Tomiyasu are out for the game while Timber is not yet recovered. If I have to guess, we would play with our strongest playing XI, Havertz in the middle with Declan Rice, and a front three of Saka, Trossard and Martinelli.
There’s something exciting about today. We are playing Porto on the back of two big wins 5-0 and 6-0 in PL and the confidence of the lads would be touching the ceiling. With a 2-legged system, you can always make a comeback if things don’t go in your favor at first, but I don’t want it to happen. I would love it if we bury the tie today with a 2-0/3-0 win and make sure we don’t let the 2nd leg come in the way of our Premier League run.
Premier League has a very certain way of play. Most of the teams prefer playing from the back, the movements and player’s position can be read in advance and Mikel or anyone for that matter can plan their strategies accordingly. Everybody knows how Pep is going to play and how he is going to set up the team on the field. It’s not going to change. He can tweak the system a bit but on a high level, it remains same. Teams from other leagues are not that predictable. You know very less about them, they can just sit back and keep a wall, or play on counter, or play a quick one touch football. And for some of these clubs, winning a game against Arsenal or Madrid is all they want. That’s what make them dangerous and that’s why the results often in CL (or Europe) are random. It comes down to “who put their body on the line”.
Can we do it today? We will get to know soon. Short one today, game is too late for me (1.30 AM IST) but I can manage a 4 hour sleep after a 7 year wait. See you during the game.
sorry I was addressing you Norg with my opening comment.
KP, I can see where your coming from, and my recent posts have all been positive that was from our momentum since the Dubai break. I felt if we followed the same tactics we’d get the result I predicted.
We played to not get beat by defending in the final 3rd as we always do with Ode running at full pelt flapping his arms and probably snarling. Does he ever get a tackle in on the deeper of the back four? Hardly ever. In that part of Ode’s play, he’s very Ozilesque.
Like you I was expecting a result and we shit the bed big time. Watching the game they contained us well. They knew where the ball would be heading to Saka or Marts. We don’t do central surging runs and dribbles because we sold Bolagun and have no-one who is capable. Jesus always ends up being dispossessed. Ethan Nwaneri looks to have very silky feet and fitted in perfectly in his last cameo. I would imagine he can play through the middle with good runs with the ball at his feet.
Ethan’s obstacle is the same as ESR, which is El B
If Porto get an early goal at the Emirates, we will be back to at least we can concentrate on the PL old chestnut. The familiar old Arteta story.
All we have is hope my friend. We can’t dare to dream, it only ends in tears and pain.
to no one’s surprise I have a tendency to go a tad overboard at times, which is undoubtedly the result of having to endure these anemic performances time and time again…to be fair to Porto they should have won this match by 2 or 3 goals, as they missed two or three golden opportunities, twice when Raya stupidly vacated his box and another when Galeno shockingly missed wide 2 feet from goal…now if this were against a defensive stalwart, like Juve of a decade prior, it would still be cause for concern, but for it to happen against a bang average Porto side is almost inexcusable…once again it’s important to reiterate that we didn’t register a single shot on target, yet our overtly negative tactician of a manager made but one sub, which saw a deeper-lying midfielder replace our false 9ish Striker, then he proceeded to publicly sewer the players for their lack of offensive output…which begs the question, just how ineffective does Havertz have to be before he gets the Vaudevillian hook like MA’s old buddy Willian???
now, of course, we could still rectify this situation with a decisive victory at home in the return fixture, but that’s certainly not a given in light of our propensity to cock things up when it matters most…for the time being I’ll try to remain cautiously optimistic, as we’re a substantially better team on paper, but I’m still not convinced we have the finishing skills required to win in spite of the manager
TRVL
What far too many Arsenal fans can’t see or get is the insipid performances outnumber the good ones.
Arteta will have a run of shit performances (with results in there) and then really shit results, just as the fans get a bit restless he’ll go on a mini run of good matches and results and the fanboys forget all what’s gone on beforehand.
Tony
I expect typing your posts can easily be achieved whilst watching last nights game. The quality was sadly lacking and typing lengthy posts at the same time should be quite easy.
The 70’s and 80’s were more free and easy. Players and celebrities were more accessible. A nobody like me has met lots of ‘somebodys’ during my years and in some cases more than just a passing word.
If I recall you were involved in the music industry. When I moved to London I lived in Muswell Hill – at the time it was bedsit / shared flat land and up and coming groups made it their HQ. Footballers were just as accessible.I worked in the East End – Lampard Snr could often be found propping up the bar in the Bakers Arms, Hurst & Peters were involved in the Two Puddings and Bobby Moore drank in the Burford Arms.
At AFC Terry Neil took us to 3 cup finals but after that we were very hit & miss under Don Howe. Then along came GG and despite not having the spending power of Liverpool and United he achieved a huge amount. He got caught with a brown envelope in his hand – probably the normal practice at the time. I am sure he could have taken us further but didnt get the chance. As well as trousering a large wedge he probably also caught DHW doing something he shouldnt on the board room table.
should be PHW.
Marc-when one closely examines the similarities between this and the latter days Wenger tenure, those with their blinders firmly affixed might be suitably shocked
common Wenger complaints:
(1) poor recruitment drives where we either settled or largely ignored our most pressing needs (i.e. the DM/Striker position)
(2) lack of tactical flexibility
(3) choosing favourties over the greater good
(4) monopolizing all things football-related, then surrounding himself with “yes” men
(5) never taking responsibility/always blaming others for oft-times self-inflicted failures
(6) cocking up the winter window
(7) having, at best, a pedestrian European record
(8) underachieving in the business end of the season
(9) fragile yet bloated ego
(10) passing the ball into the net tactical approach
sound familiar…btw this isn’t an exhaustive list, so feel free to add any I may have missed…Cheers
TRVL
Wenger got old and old people don’t like change or people challenging them – Arteta’s a whole other story.
Of course the biggest difference is Wenger just didn’t want to spend money (a very long completely different conversation) and Arteta spends (other peoples!) money like a drunk socialist.
Any time I get talk of “look what Arteta’s doing” I always have to smile – he’s got a fucking squad worth a BILLION £ anything he does is the bare minimum unless he starts winning PL’s or CL’s.
Marc-I’m a big proponent of the whole Wenger “didn’t want to spend money” gig, unlike many who claimed it was a Kroenke mandated frugal agenda…that was the Professor wanted to look like an under budget genius and not wanting to have anyone usurping his monopolistic control of the locker room…imagine what might have been if Arteta had simply adopted the most positive managerial traits of both Wenger and Pep
TRVL
11. Just plain stubborn.
Yes men hasn’t reached Wenger levels apart from the goalkeeping coach. Any that any good are seeking opportunities elsewhere.
Hi Marc
… spends money like a drunk socialist (hic!).
You know I can never resist offering some mild rebuttals.
Brilliant dissociation if I may say. Your mate Rishi has brought us the highest rates of income tax in living memory and your home girl Truss and Conservative posterboy Kamikaze Kwarteng fucked our economy quicker than it took for that lettuce to go rotten. Public services in shreds, recession, stagnant output – Britain is about as depressing a place as the inside of Arteta’s addled cabeza. Has your mortgage gone up yet? 😊I paid north of 35 big ones in tax last year thanks to your Tory acolytes.
You’re going to have to vote Labour soon because they’re going to be the only mainstream pro-capitalist party remaining in Ingerland after the Torys are vaporised – but you’ll be fine ideologically at least. Starmer is morphing into a more Thatcherite version of Tony Blair. Let that sink in.
Marc – In case you come to your political senses, I’ll keep a welcome in the hillsides mate 🏴!
You going tomorrow?
Kroenke
I hate to break this to you but we have a socialist government already.
It can call itself Conservative or Tory but its policies are left wing. Its why so many Tory voters will either not vote at the next election or vote for alternative parties like Reform.
Lol Marc – Friday joke day is a thing on the plastic Pedro’s site of doom.
Suggesting the Tories are socialist is akin to calling Putin or Netanyahu a pacifist. Racist immigration policies, privatisation, austerity, not giving a fuck about the impact of Covid and being in the thrall of markets are not in the modern Marxist playbook. You’ll have to try a bit harder than that.
You’re joking right? Either that or you’ve drank too many pints of Nigel Farage’s piss. Made my day that has. Laurence Fox level politics.
The quality of todays MP’s is roughly the same as the quality of the current AFC Manager. Both major parties struggle to put forward a decent leader.
The more I read media-types, especially Ornstein, discussing MA’s summertime pursuit of Neto, the more concerned I get about our MIT being in charge of recruitment…it’s not that I don’t rate PN, in fact quite the contrary, but considering the 80+m transfer fee, the massive wage package we will undoubtedly offer, his atrocious injury history and the fact that he primarily plays in the same position as Saka, this seems like a nonsensical “luxury” reach
not only does his present contract not expire until 2027, he will likewise have several suitors of note, so the Wolves will have considerable leverage, even if he tries to force his way out…in order to both encourage him to “help” with the process and lure him away from the competition, we will undoubtedly need to blow him away with our wage offer and other assurnaces…considering what we’re presently paying both Havertz and Jesus, it scares me to think what that number might look like, as his projected ceiling will be substantially higher…as for his injury history, he’s missed 88 games since the spring of 2021, a number that would even make Partey blush…as to the whole positional gig, it would likely mean one of two things, either he’s going to be shoehorned in or one of our present wingers will be sold on…knowing how Arteta has operated thus far, it probably means Marts will be moved and Neto will be playing on his “off” wing, ironically along side another shoehorned player, Timber
of course all of this is speculative, but Ornstein rarely offers up transfer tidbits about our club without it having some merit….not to mention, rumours regarding MA’s admiration MA for this particular player have been making their rounds for the past couple seasons…like I said earlier, I do like what this player brings to the party, but I can’t even fathom how our club, with it’s historical injury-related struggles, could ever pursue a player who’s spent so much time in the treatment room, especially at his age(23)…here’s hoping the adults in the room don’t kowtow to the whims of our manager again, like with Havertz, and we set our sights on our most pressing positional need, a readymade Striker with goals aplenty in his boots
as for our match against Newcastle, which I won’t be able to watch live, as I have a function I must attend, I wouldn’t be surprised if they counter-attacked us with pace, much like Porto, especially if Isak is back in the fold…the very fact that MA will be under some pressure to prove that our anemic mid-week performance was an anomaly, could leave us open to that sort of tactical approach…that said, our stubborn manager could quite easily lean into the same gameplan, as he believed there was goals to be had against Porto that we simply squandered, in the hopes of generating a self-absorbed “told you so” moment…who knows, maybe he’ll go off script and start a few from the splinter crew, so that he will have a built-in excuse if things go awry…Cheers
Norg
It is easier at my age to write directly after watching the game. Although when I watch I generally comment during the game and note the stats during the game.
Our overly emotional attachment to our club especially for me makes it all the more memorable together with the fact that our play is repetitive, as are our mistakes.
I’m just a few years younger at 68, and just getting my 6-pack back, I let slip at 66. After decades in gyms and sports I had accrued a few niggling injuries that needed 48+ months to completely clear up. TRVL will know what I’m saying.
Now I’m back in my gym at my house and enjoying getting fit again. Muscle memory obviously plays a big part. If you put in the decades, keep a good nutrition and maintain max fluid intake, you can keep a good late fitness.
I had a quintuple bypass in my mid 80s, so a big wake up call to my misspent youth, spent as you rightly remember in the music industry with all the cavalier sex drugs and rock and roll of that era. The stories you heard are all lies. The real events were far worse😂
Your comments and east end recollections made me remember times when West Ham players would come to give out our end of season medals. Johnny Sissons I think was one. Our club owner was an ex East End barrow boy, which covered many sins I later found out.
Musicians are really approachable if common sense is used, as it was back in the day with you no doubt. I was fortunate to have worked with some of the best from both sides of the pond with gold and silver discs awarded for my sound engineering craft.
As for tonight’s game where it’s on at 3am my time – for reasons only the football money makers know, we should, with home advantage, collect all 3 points.
The Bar Codes will have other ideas, of course, but I think the Arsenal faithful will be vocal after our Porto non event.
If you and Marc go, I hope it’s a good watch.
We just don’t know, do we? We could as easily score 5 as lose by 2! On paper we should win 3:1 if the Maya midget plays on his latest form.
Ramsdale plays and more likely to keep a clean sheet. Saliba looks like he needs a rest, so playing White in his natural position of RCB makes most sense. Make Cedric earn his corn even if only for 60 minutes.
ESR at 8 and Matinelli at 9 with I’d put Saka LW to link up with ESR and Nelson at RW.
Shake it up and give steady Eddie something to think about, right?
Sadly, this is El B we are talking about, so it will be wash rinse repeat all game with non sensical in-game subs and still get the points.
I’ll watch in the morning and hope to have something good to write about.
Meanwhile Ireland are schooling Wales with some excellent rugby from many of the Irish players. Wales are 2nd best all over the park.
Scotland v the Sassanaks a little later. Should be a very good game in my birth city of Edinburgh.
Have a good one………..🙏
Back to the drawing board for Bothwick’s England after repeated attempts to slow the a swashbuckling rugby the Scottish played at electric pace, you would be more used to seeing in New Zealand.
Great game for the neutrals and Scottish where acquiring shares in whiskey for a short spike would be advised.
Looking at fotmob it shows the only change is Jorginho at 8. Better than Havertz but weaker than ESR.
Wash rinse repeat and 3 points will have to do as Eddie Howe will make sure Newcastle show up unlike the last two.
Apologies for no match day blog.. been busy with the bread and butter job.
Jorginho starts in the midfield and Havertz up top. I would have still stuck with Trossard though.
Does Arteta even know there’s such a thing as roatation?
been busy with the bread and butter job.
Ambarish
I thought you were an IT Tech guy. I didn’t realise you had a side hustle running a sandwich shop. 🥪🥪🥪
I just want a routine comfortable win tonight with the added bonus of seeing those Geordie maggots (supporters and players esp. Trippier) crying all the way home. Not sure I’ll get it but one can dream.
Marc
He’s an utter arse, and his stubbornness and intransigent ways will fuck him eventually.
Jorginho was a difference maker against the bindips. Not sure we need two pivots against the barcodes.
You not going tonight Marc?
Eddie Howe is a twat too. His face would not look out of place on a Toby Jug.
Oh no it’s Tierney.
Kroenke
He’ll fuck us and the players.
Kroenke
Just couldn’t be arsed with such a late kick off on a Saturday – May or early season in the nice weather yeah but Feb – do me a favour.
If they keep taking the piss out of the match going fans eventually they’ll see attendances drop off.
Ode shdve walloped that
Poetic justice. Dodgy goalline goal. I hope they keep their feet on Newcastle’s necks.
Those nasty cunts can stick these two up their arse. Come on, show some physicality now, you bums.
Bruno G getting his own medicine today.
Genuine question – can anyone explain why we didn’t/couldn’t do this in Portugal?
Newcastle end half-empty for their goal. And they call them brilliant fans. Fickle cunts.
just finished watching the Saturday Night cake walk…Newcastle were so woeful that the in-game betting line gave them a 0% chance of winning in the 59th minute only down by 2…good on the boys for making the most of almost every opportunity that this poorly managed side gifted them …Howe better hope they win their mid-week Cup tie or he’ll really be feeling the heat, especially considering the lifeless nature of that showing…maybe the fact that they scored at the Emirates for the first time in about a decade will somehow lower the temperature in the room…if so, how terribly pathetic is that…fact remains, he deserves some heat after opting for such a defensively-minded gameplan with Karius starting and Burns on the bench…I’ve never been a fan of his, except as a stop-gap option…like MA, I just don’t think he has what it takes at the highest of levels, regardless of the operating budget…that said, I will give him his flowers for what he achieved early on at Bournemouth, but even that ended rather unceremoniously
I was quite impressed with the manner in which we pushed for corners from the get-go, especially considering their Keeper and our propensity to score from set pieces…still not sure if that was a manager-driven tactic or simply happenchance, but I truly hope it was the former…we were likewise really effective when pressing high, which was helped immeasurably by Howe’s inexplicable desire to play out from the back far too often…if it weren’t for the fact that Ode was way off the mark early on, we likely would have won by even more…Ode let his emotions get the best of him, which was nice to see, but it certainly didn’t lift his performance…following that, it was basically the Jorginho’s show, which is fine for a one-off, but surely not a recipe for success against better sides…hopefully we’ll face some stiffer competition before our return fixture against Porto, as our cream puff schedule before our first leg clearly didn’t help matters…regardless, the 3 points and the goal differential benefits were much-appreciated
Good morning one and all.
KP the Toby jug reference got me laughing. Quote of the week.
Do we put something in the away dressing room’s water or pump some type of Indica THC fumes or similar? Because lately away teams don’t turn up until the second half – if at all.
For at least 30 minutes in the first halves teams come to the Emerites full of fear with their deer-in-the-headlights football where our lot are playing as if they’d had a bowl or methflakes pre-game. If I were the marketing people at Duracell, I’d be using a few whippets from the PL, and add some Tik Tok style clips.
Not sure Raya was too much at fault for Willock’s goal, as we had collective switched off by the 84th minute with game won at 4:0. Also, we are still not there yet for a 90+ minute flat out pressing game. We haven’t learnt when to let them have the ball to take quick recovery rests.
I was thinking it was fortuitous we were at home at fortress Emirates. A trip to geordie-land after the Porto fiasco may well have fared differently.
The result was the right one on the night, but let’s not lose sight Newcastle have shipped more goals than Sheffield this season, with the most in the PL I think. Very easy to carve openings at will for us and others.
Along with you all, my gripe is why we needed to play our potentially – Havertz notwithstanding – best 11 against a side we could and did so easily dispatch.
Perhaps El B thinks the Dubai rest did all the recharging that was necessary and on reflection of results, it’s hard to call it any different.
Apart from the mid table player, Eddie is, and our frustrations of selling Monaco’s Banging’em-in Bolagun, our subs should all have been youth players including Ethan Nwaneri who should have had a run out at false 9 with his fleet of feet, at speed dribbling. That coming through the middle would be a new dimension for us. Sadly stunted El B’s visions are continual reruns.
Any questions of why no real rotation will be met with our next fixture is March 5th at Sheffield where a fully rested squad should make light work of Sheffield who are propping up the table in last place.
Another game to get our youths involved as much as possible. Only Eddie fails to constantly deliver, and paradoxically Havertz is not much better, but is a pet so starts.
No-one is going to buy Havertz unless we subsidise his leaving package. Forget the shop window and play players who are better, such as ESR, Nelson and Ethan Nwaneri who really looks a player to be equal or better to Saka in the future.
The kid oozes class and has that Nwanko Kanu feel with his football, and the way the ball seems glued to his feet. We’ve only seen glimpses, but what we have seen has been golden at times, as Saka was. I got high hopes for that kid.
Brentford at fortress Emirates on the 10th, and another late start. I am a fan of Thomas Franc’s brand of no nonsense in-your-face football. Pretty much the way our harassing football is played.
Toney will want to make a name for himself in the continuing “will he or won’t he” come in the summer. After reading TRVL’s thoughts on El B’s choice, Toney would be far better, but not perfect: a Giroud type play with less silky feet.
Here’s a thought, could we swap Havertz or Zinchenko for Toney?
Throw in Cedric now Alo Alo is finished, and Faulty Towers has had its day. If they really wanted to drive a hard bargain, we could blow the cobwebs off Elneny – tune him up a bit, and throw him into the pot on the table.
If needs must, Havertz and Zinchenko should be a sweet enough pot for Brentford. 🙂
All in all, this will be a tough game and a difficult 3 points to win, even at home. Franc’s side’s always turn up with high octane, quick football with the players to cause any side problems.
Porto midweek where, if we’ve dispatched Sheffield & Brentford, Porto at home should be a no-brainer. I know Marc the stats from history, but on law of averages being my scientific model, I feel we’ll win and win easy at the Emirates.
Just a gut feeling, so don’t shoot the piano player if I’m wrong. My gut told me we’d get 9 from 9 from our last 3 games and we did.
Lastly, in this short group of games, we will be entertaining the Chavs and the perfect time to really lay our marker with a convincing win before our trip to City on the 31st.
All in all I see positivity in spite of El B’s shortcomings.
I see no reason why we can’t collect maximum points including making the Chavs look pre Abramovitch poor, as we so often did. I’ll never forget Winterburn’s 30-yard screamer from out wide left.
https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=10154238818212713 Happier days…….. He had a sweet left foot like Pierce had.
That and dispatch Porto with a bloodied nose and march up to there Etihad telling them to give it their best shot swagger.
We’ve waited 20 years, so why not?
Have a great Sunday Gooners everywhere.
surprise surprise ESR had minutes on the pitch ahead of Cedric. Howe has had injury woes this season but his tactics have shown him to be a mid table manager. He was Wengers first choice to replace him – obviously by the time he made it Josh & Stan could see that Wenger was well past his sell by date.
Tony
Thanks for that clip reminding us of Nutty’s shooting prowess. Sumptuous goal.
Yeah, Eddie Howe just sounds a bit deeper and more erudite that other English managers rather than ever being the real thing. I don’t think he be there much longer (along with that awful idiot assistant) and will probably be relieved when it’s over. They ve already spent hundreds of millions with little to show from it, other that to have shaken off the yo-yo effect of relegation after promotion. But money’s no object do they’ll go for a bigger European name and shake the tree again. When Willock scored last night, he looked a little sad that he wasn’t still in red. Iwobi had a decent day yesterday for ‘one f in Fulham’ too.
If we’re going to follow the line that Arsenal have a genuine chance at winning the PL this season we need Chelsea to win the LC this afternoon.
With that said even with Liverpool’s injuries I think they have the edge.
Marc
It’s great to see them getting even more knackered in Extra Time. I hope the rent boys win as well.
This cup seems ultra meaningless these days. It reminds me of what the great Argentine writer Borges said about the Falklands/Malvinas war in the 80s – he described it as 2 bald men fighting over a comb. Maybe losing to the Hammers when we did was a blessing (but it didn’t feel like that at the time).
interesting to note that Klopp gave more minutes to his up-and-comers in the second half of a cup final than MA has since he’s arrived on the scene…now that’s a culture building moment…I so wish Arsene could have graciously given up the reigns several years earlier, when Klopp was on the make, as Jurgen would have never settled for a top 4 Wengerian reboot, unlike our makeshift MIT…as for the Final itself, it had it’s moments, with several posts being struck, a few glorious saves by both backup Keepers and a VVD goal being overturned, but with the lack of star power available for Pool it was always going to be a bit of a scrappy affair…right now I find it difficult to imagine us winning anything of consequence, but I’m certainly not without hope, as we’re a manager and two seminal pieces away from being a top 5 club in Europe…unfortunately by this time next year everyone will likely be vying for second best considering Real’s projected lineup next season
KP-good pull with the whole Borges “bald men” quote…I remember that from my University days when one of my Profs, who had just recently moved from the UK, spent an inordinate amount of time discussing Thatcher and the Falklands War…I still have my copy of Hugo Young’s One of Us