Well, it’s the North London Derby time. One of the best teams in the world is going to get into sh*t and hope to come out clean. September is a tough month for us, we already have dropped points against Brighton – thanks to the referees, and we are going to play Tottenham away next Saturday with City coming up next. With a bit of dent in our confidence, we need the win. I will go into the matchday details in a later post and let me use this one to vent out my frustration.
Declan Rice received 2 yellows and is suspended for the Tottenham game. Why? Because a ref decided to fuck up. I am not getting into the discussion of whether it was right or wrong call. If it was right, Joao Pedro did the same and should have been sent off as well and the game should have continued 10v10.
First off, Veltman appeared to quickly take the free kick but the ball was still moving, which makes it illegal. Ref should have had a talk with both players and should have said play on. If you are hell bent on giving a card, because it’s an Arsenal player, you miss (or ignore, choose your words) the illegality of that free kick that was about to be taken. And why was no card given to Pedro when he kicked the ball halfway through?
At this stage, we don’t even want the referees to be RIGHT. We just want them to be CONSISTENT in their POOR REFEREEING.
Saka had to say this to BBC Sport :
I thought it was a bit harsh for us. We just want some consistency. Joao Pedro booted the ball halfway across the pitch in the first half and got nothing for it, and Dec got the slightest touch and was sent off. It is what it is; I don’t want to put the whole game on the referee as we still had chances to win it. It has been a good start. Today is a disappointment, but it is a long season.
source : bbc sports
Mikel Arteta On Declan Rice’s red card…
I was amazed. Amazed, amazed, amazed because of how inconsistent decisions can be. In the first half, there were two incidents and nothing happened. Then, in a non-critical area, the ball hits Declan, he turns around, doesn’t see the player coming and touches the ball. By law, he can make that call, but by law then he needs to make the next call which is a red card. So we play 10 against 11. This amazed me, at this level.
source:Arsenal.com
It’s such a shame that nothing has changed yet again this season. The ref was from Manchester and I don’t need to guess if it can affect your decisions on the field. It’s high time for neutral European referees who don’t care if you are playing in blue or red. The PGMOL is a circus that needs disbanding.
Right, that was on the ref. The next one is on Mikel.
We haven’t heard from Mikel yet but there were injury concerns for Odegaard and Timber. Declan Rice is out for sure because of the 2 yellows. It’s okay that we have Thomas Partey but we have seen drop in performance after the 60min mark. Against Tottenham, it’s going to be a high intensity game which require a very high level of concentration. Can Thomas do that for 90min? I doubt that. Jorginho, the same thing. So, we haven’t got a DM that can play 90 with the same intensity, our only RCM could be ruled out for the game and for LCM, we would be playing Merino – his first game in Arsenal color.
You see why I was worried when we sold ESR and loaned Vieira? Odegaard. If our captain picks up an injury, no one is their to do half his job. ESR was the closest, Vieira could have still covered but there’s no one else to cover that position. Declan Rice / Thomas Partey / Jorginho / Merino – fight for the other two positions.
Third – we needed a CF. We missed chances in the Brighton half. A proper CF would have converted atleast one. A scoreline of 1-1 with 10 minutes sounds like the best thing, but we could still have won had we converted.
Right, I was gone for a week celebrating my birthday in Jaipur, the pink city and a lot had happened before transfer window closed. We brought Raheem Sterling on loan from Chelsea. A move I would have hated if he was to be our first choice but everyone and their dog know that he is going to play those 20 min when Saka needs the rest. Mikel Merino finally made it, Calafiori was done deal long back, the deal for that Spanish goalkeeper collapsed so we loaned Neto for a season. Reiss Nelson left, Nketiah is gone, Vieira sent on loan and Aaron Ramsdale joined Southampton on a permanent deal.
A good clean up but I am not satisfied with the incoming. I don’t know we may have to start a fundraise to bring a CF to the club. That’s it for the day, I will be okay by next weekend and I’m sure we are going to enjoy a beautiful win against our arch rivals.
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Good piece Ambarish
Great game NZ v S Africa about to start
sorry Ambarish, but you can’t make up facts to fit MA’s usual “us against the world” narrative…he has enough people doing that for him already…even if JP had received a yellow for his similar-type actions that doesn’t mean he would have been sent off, as that incident was in the first-half and the yellow he received was in the second…now if he were already on a yellow, I might think differently
Rice did several things one should never do when you’re on a yellow…he not only stepped in front of the ball, when there was no immediate threat, he likewise kicked the ball away, then proceeded to flop-about like he had been shot, likely hoping to shift the focus away from his previous actions…by doing this, he forced the ref to make some sort of decision…what did he expect would happen? did he think that the ref would only card the BHA player, even though his actions were totally predicated on Rice’s previous actions…that would be some cake and eat it too shit…he should have just casually angled his run in front of the ball, to slow things down a bit, then retreated quickly…of course, it seems harsh to have someone sent off so early, but when you’ve already been carded you can’t afford to act in such a naive and idiotic manner
as for next weekend, we have several injury concerns, which could complicate matters in light of Rice’s suspension…Ode did take another knock while on international duty, albeit he played afterwards, so that appears somewhat hopeful…Calafiori likewise got hurt, although I’m not sure quite yet about the extent of his injury and Timber seems to be having a difficult time fully recovering from the injury that saw him miss the whole of last season…all that said, we should still be able to beat this Spurs team, at least based on what I’ve seen from them thus far…they should have Solanke back, but until they figure out their shit, from a tactical standpoint, we should be able to rollout a lineup that’s not our best and still win the day…look for Sterling to be in the starting 11…the only question is who will be the sacrificial lamb this time around
Ambarish, we are becoming the laughing stock in the footballing world because we always blame the Refs when loosing points. Why do City and Pool supporters don’t have that stigma, because City and Pool try to score enough goals to make Ref foul ups irrelevant. Our attack is anemic atm, and we have screamed for a competent CF for years, and here we are still in the same situation even though knowing this deficiency for seasons now.
In the Brighton game the Ref was a cunt, but this was never about inconsistency it was always about how to mitigate Refs screwing us over. You already know that Refs have it in for us at times by making wrong decisions, but Rice having a brain fart by kicking the ball away didn’t help because it now gave the Ref an opportunity to fuck us over. Rice needed to get out of the free kick area ASAP because Veltman was out to get him booked.
Rice forgot 3 things:
1. He was on a yellow card.
2. The next game is the NLD
3. Coning a Ref into booking someone else is a bookable offense.
Hopefully El B will tell him off and make clear that having brain farts are non negotiable, but then look who is talking, the master of brain farts.
Watched the Germany Nations league game and Havertz had a below average game. Twice hitting the wood work and putting a massive chance wide. But than he is good at drawing penalties by dragging his legs to make contact. What a deal paying £67mil but not for us but for Chelsea. There are clear possibilities for going into the NLD with critical injuries on top of the Rice suspension, hopefully the Sp*ds will be spursy
Morning all I enjoyed the Kiwia v Springboks instead of watching the usual England boredom.
Ambarish I skimmed your post last night and didn’t really pick up on your version of the Rice red but thought you sounded more like Pedro than your old self. A week celebrating your Bday has taken its toll with reality, but you’re forgiven blog meister for writing with a hangover.
TRVL & Kilroy have helped you see the err of your ways so I won’t add to the true events we all witnessed. I also don’t hold with the tin foil helmets brigade that Mancurian refs are biassed towards us; it’s a convenient excuse.
Now we are on wings and prayers our injury list sorts itself out before the NLD.
What I’ve seen of Spuds this season they look poor overall but this is the NLD where everything is left on the pitch.
It’s like a cup final, very difficult to predict because of the bragging rights from our tribalism……..
KP
Haverford County West losing 0:1 after what you said sounded like a close game. Was it hearts in the mouths stuff? Was hoping to see you’d got the win or draw.
TRVL
We just need the consistency at this stage. How many times have a decision gone against us and completely ignored for some other team.
Killroy
Good to see you. Agree with what you said, Rice should have been more careful after being on a yellow already, and we should have scored more goals. Hell, if we were clinical we would have won with 10 players even. But that doesn’t negate the fact that we are often on the other side of the stick.
Tony
Haha, it’s not just us, wolves moved a motion to remove VAR completely earlier because they were in a similar situation. The least we can do, is put some pressure via Saka, Manager, Club, Fans so that some of those bad decisions atleast don’t go ‘against’ us if they are not going in our favor. If Rice was a yellow, Pedro should have gotten a yellow.
You had me worried, Ambarish, as I had visions of you morphing into AFC forever or something from LG. We would have to have saved you from yourself………
Consistency, I’m 100% with you on that. Apart from the Rice incident I thought VAR has improved from review times to getting most right quickly. A move in the right direction.
AI refs shouldn’t be impartial, so may that is the way forward…….
Not sure about the NLD……..
Ambarish—I think it’s a bit more nuanced than that…instead of wasting so much time and energy conjuring up excuses for our cock-ups, MA should be dedicating every available minute on upping his tactical game…it’s one thing if he had his paid hacks spreading these sorts of low hanging fruit narratives, but when the manager himself stands in front of the world, with his tin foil hat firmly in hand, and constantly perpetuates the same nonsense, it’s a rather unbecoming look for an organization who wants to be taken seriously again…he should fucking know better, especially considering what transpired here when Wenger adopted a very similar post-match approach, during his latter years…tbh I absolutely deplore the fact that he’s always on the make, as the last thing we need is another built-in excuse for failure…not to mention, even if you did believe that the officials were collective out to get us, why would anyone think that these sort of public dressing downs would remedy that situation…in fact, logic would suggest that this would actually inflame matters
Hi Tony
It wasn’t the narrowest of 1-nil defeats I must admit. They had a number of other chances. County had some too but they weren’t as clear cut. Still, our lads really fought hard to the very end and I was proud of them. The manager has a brilliant tactical mind unlike Arteta!
A couple of away games next against Flint and Aberystwyth with a cup tie in the middle. The fixture computer has been tough on County this year. Imagine Arsenal’s first six fixtures were against City, Liverpool, Manure, Spuds, Villa and the Barcodes and you’ll get the idea. The next few games are more straightforward against teams weaker on paper at least . My second trip to Flint this season (they do a ground share like County are at the moment). Right up in the far, NE corner of Wales, within sniffing distance of merseyside. My trusty hip flask, a decent book, a few cans and some dried out sandwiches will sustain me for the 5 hour saga. Junior and I have joined the travel club so no driving. 5 quid to join and 15 quid for the bus. 🚌🚌🚌Life at the other end of football is great fun.
Brilliant, KP. Really happy for you both, sounds like fun with good energy.
“we already have dropped points against Brighton – thanks to the referees”
Sorry Ambarish but that is incorrect. We were at best poor in the first half if we had a competent manager we would have A) been leading by a bigger margin when Rice was sent off and B) would have managed the sending off better.
As for the sending off Rice was on a yellow card and kicked the ball away – yes the ref didn’t book the Brighton player in the first half for doing the same and we’ll see dozens of examples where players kick the ball away this coming weekend and aren’t punished but there’s a simple rule when dealing with refs.
Don’t give them a chance to make a stupid decision and be an even bigger cunt than normal.
on a bit of a side note, I read a couple interesting and rather informative articles this morning about the behind-the-scenes shit show known as Chelsea FC…it appears as if the public face of the club, Uncle Todd, hasn’t been behind most of their fucked up footballing decisions…I was under the misguided perception, like most others, that Clearlake Capital, who owns 61% of the club, was a “silent” partner, but since Poch’s dismissal new information has emerged…in fact, one of Clearlake’s co-owners, Behdad Eghbali, is pulling most of the strings…if this is true, I actually feel for the fatheaded American fuck, as he’s not only been battered by fan and foe alike, he’s likely been made ot bend the knee in the boardroom…sounds as if this situation is becoming so untenable that Uncle Todd might be sent packing fairly soon, albeit with a super-sized cheque in hand, so I’m sure he’ll get over it
TRVL
Why would you buy a company where 61% is owned by another entity?
More money than sense sounds like. I wondered why Marina left maybe it’s to do with the main owners?
As for us? Waiting on news for the impending NLD of our walking wounded……….
Tony
For reasons that are beyond me people seem to think the amount of money in the PL means that all of the clubs either make huge profits or would if they were run by someone else.
The simple truth is most clubs keep just on the side of FFP rules etc and do not make huge amounts of money for their owners to take dividends out of. A lot of it is foreign owners who just don’t understand what they’re buying into – remember when the Venky’s bough Blackburn at the end of their first season someone had to explain what relegation was.
Marc
True, although Manure seems to keep the entire Glazier family well fed with US$ from the club. Our club’s now worth far more than the Kroenke’s bought it for or have invested in with leverage money.
For the most part that’s true unless you’re Tony Bloom.
LIR
For a lot of the TW I banged the lack of MF drum incessantly, in the hope that it would miraculously have us changing tack and buying Eze, but we bought the cut price, on special offer of the supposedly strongly robust Merino who is now injured.
I bitterly complained that an injury to Ode would derail our PL winning season not that we are firmly on the said rails having dropped 2 unnecessary points.
From the DM:
“Arsenal hit with major injury blow as captain Martin Odegaard limps off in agony with ankle injury just six days before the north London derby against Tottenham
Odegaard suffered an ankle blow with Norway days before Arsenal’s Spurs clash
Mikel Arteta is faced with a growing catalogue of injuries ahead of big games”
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-13831309/Arsenal-Martin-Odegaard-ankle-injury-Tottenham.html
Low and behold it has happened and we have to wait with baited breath to see the seriousness of Ode’s ankle injury with the Norway manager saying it looks bad!
It’s possible we’ll go into the Spud’s game without Ode and Rice who will get an enforced rest.Jorginho is not the ready replacement who Spuds will run the sloth like Jorginho ragged. We don’t have another MF other than Nwaneri – so will he have the impact ESR had for us during that fateful Xmas period?
He has the talent plus.
We have Atlanta away mid week and then City away next weekend that is looking like Ode will miss both games or be played with injections perhaps?
We’ll have to see, but with El B looking more like Wenger 2:0 without the quality football, so will Ode go the way of our Jacky Boy Wilshire under El B, I seriously hope not.
More on the NLD later when we know who is most like to start……..
The reality staring at us is in the next 2 weeks we could have dropped 8 PL points where drop 12 points, and it will be impossible to win the league for us well before Xmas.
Every Gooner needs to pray to his or her god for Ode’s injury to be healed quickly…….
El B and fanboys will have their excuses now………….
Tony—if Ode can’t go, I would suspect that Havertz will play in the midfield, especially if Jesus is finally available…if not, I wouldn’t be surprised if Sterling started up top, with Jorginho in a more advanced role and Partey playing deeper, along side an inverted Timber…hopefully Marts gets the start on the left, as a front 3 of RS, Saka and Marts, could make some hay on the counter, if MA took the handbrakes off a bit…of course, he might try to employ the same toothless plan we saw against Porto, City and Bayern late last season, but I’m not sure we have the personnel to pursue that course of action
in other injury news, it looks like Calafiori left the Italian camp after his rather bizarre injury, which means he could be shelved for an undetermined period…considering our injury-related history, it was only a matter of time before our luck ran out…last year, minus Timber, we lost relatively few man games, when it came to our “best” 11, but that was never going to last, epsecially in light of how much MA has relied upon a fairly static lineup…this is why it was so pertinent that we dealt with our transfer businesss in a timely manner…not only to get everyone on the same page before week 1, but to likewise make sure those coming in are actually “game ready”
I would imagine that both Calafiori and Merino experienced a very atypical preseason due to the mitigating circumstances…neither played that much at the Euros, as Italy was knocked out fairly early, plus Calafiori was suspended for their last match, and Merino was really only a 20 minute/match sub, then both were given an extended break following…not to mention, when they did return to their respective clubs both were shrink-wrapped due to the commonly held belief that they were on the move…so the fact that they’ve both faced some injury concerns isn’t surprising whatsoever
Sterling is far more match fit than the other two, even though he came in last, as he played a lot throughout the preseason, which is likely why he was so shocked by his “healthy scratch” designation
All makes sense TRVL, Jorginho in AM land is a concern as he’ll be targeted for his lack of pace. I’d prefer to give Nwaneri the AM nod. Jesus will also be not match fit. Partey at 6 with Nwaneri at 7, Havertz at 8 and Sterling at 9 is our best available for me.
Spuds will feel more confident with our missing 2 out of 3 in midfield
I thought at the end of last season we’d got lucky with injuries.
I don’t know why you’re worried – we’ve got ESR ready to go.
Of course the fan boys will make all the excuses for Arteta as its all terrible luck and not his fault after all the other teams never have players sent off or injured.
Just read the Norway manager saying he doesn’t expect Ode to be available for the next internationals on October 10. I thought every 4 weeks now we have international breaks?
It’s just plain stupid. Why not stop for 4 weeks in the winter, and then do a mini league and get all the games done in 4 weeks.
Then leave the home leagues to play without meaningless breaks. Forget friendlies. It’s the clubs who produce the stars for their countries and pay their wages and upkeep.
That’s off the top of my head but I’m sure something better to be worked out that gives clubs a winter break, too.
Marc
ESR was always going to come back and bite El B. As TRVL said we had very few injuries last season but fanboys conveniently forget there is also a law of averages. Our players averages are much higher from red zone playing.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-13833255/Martin-Odegaard-pictured-using-crutches-limps-private-jet-picking-bad-ankle-injury-just-six-days-Arsenals-north-London-derby.html
Our Señor Emery is convinced he can turn Jhaon Duran from Chicago Fire in America into a world class striker in 12 months. When has El B ever said such a thing?
“Aston Villa ‘rejected FORTY offers for a highly-rated youngster’ during the summer transfer window… with Unai Emery convinced he can turn the star, 20, into one of the best in the world.
Aston Villa boss Unai Emery is reportedly very excited about one young striker Villa received widespread interest over the summer and rejected multiple offers”
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-13833181/Aston-Villa-rejected-FORTY-offers-highly-rated-youngster-summer-transfer-window-Unai-Emery-convinced-turn-star-20-one-best-world.html
If that’s ligament damage he could be out from weeks to months – our season (which hasn’t been very impressive to put it mildly) will quickly turn sour.
Tony—I wasn’t expressing my selection preferences, just what I thought might happen….I would likewise start Nwaneri in the derby, if Ode isn’t available, as I think he would make more sense than Kai in that right-sided role…we have quite an upcoming schedule, with 3 crucial away games in the next 7 days and 7 total matches in the next 21 days, so the sooner we start handing minutes to our bench players the better, as we might need to rely upon several of them in the coming weeks…of course, the next 3 weeks likely won’t define our whole season, but it could definitely set the tone…hopefully MA will somehow grow a pair before we run this gauntlet or we could be in for some overtly boring gameplans, which could prove problematic, as those tend to be more physical affairs and that could lead to further injuries…Cheers
TRVL
I thought your selection choices were what El B would choose, and also saw it that way. My addition was what and I you would would prefer as El B’s tactical and selection critics.
We’ve both been highly critical once again of our TW. If we compared our buys to a Monopoly board, we bought London Stations while other teams, such as City with Ilkay, got Pall Mall and similar.
Now our trains are running badly with break downs.
I Was banging the biggest timpani drums all summer about our MF and the need for an Ode injury stand in. Eze was the obvious choice who we could have easily afforded instead of Merino and Calafiori.
I think Eze’s buyout clause was about £63m? The perfect MF and false 9 Swiss Army Knife player. An attacking force not really noted for his defensive work, but that’s why we have enough DMs in the squad. El B allows Partey to give Rice freedom as 8, but doing so with Eze would be far more goal prosperous.
Nwaneri can because he got the minutes last season to be ready this season ….. oh wait …….. I was only dreaming; that is what Klopp or Pep and Emery would do. El B hasn’t got the far in his rookie 101 how to be generational book.
Got a few hundred chapters to go as he’s still working his way through Sunday league tactics and player recruitment.
I’m no all seeing mystic who can see the future, I just looked at the law of averages that Ode would miss games this season through injury. The kid has been played to death by club and country, so it was inevitable he would be sidelined through injury at some stage this season. The same as it is believed that after every 40K miles driven it is deemed likely the driver will have an accident be it minor or otherwise. I read once that 40K miles was the accident benchmark.
Had Nwaneri got a few games under his belt last season after his very decent showing with the few minutes he did get, he would be ready for the NLD, and give Spuds something new to deal with. Nwaneri has 2 quick feet and has the Kanu glide if you know what I mean even without the Kanu lengthy gait, and size 15 plates of meat.
With Jorginho, everyone and their dog knows his ponderous play, and also potential slide rule passes if he has enough time on the ball. The skills are still there, but in PL pace terms he operates in slo mo and easily nullified and dispossessed, which with our inverted walk-about fullbacks, is worrying and too much added pressure for Saliba and Big Gabs especially getting flustered when facing tricky pacy forwards.
Our biggest plus is Arry is in Germany. The lisping, easy crumbling diver isn’t our problem any more, and Son is a fading star who is still dangerous, but I feel now a little off the PL pace this season.
Our biggest problem is El B trying to overcomplicate in making missing stars’ compensations. It wouldn’t surprise me if El B wasn’t running musical chairs to get the starting line up. Our new keeper started as a 9, I believe. I hope no one told El B.
We will have to wait until around 1pm Sunday to see how we are going to line up to be able to hazard some form of prediction.
But, back to Ode and our Swiss cheese midfield now Ode is missing, and inverters not working because Ange Knows what’s coming. Not that they work anyway – remind me what have we won with this overplayed tactic Pep dropped 2 seasons ago?
Spuds down in 10th and misfiring means nothing in this NLD game because bragging rights are up for grabs. NLDs are lottery cup final games – each and every one of them, same Pool and Toffees and Manure and Shitty.
These games come down to who wants it more and dominates most controlling the frantic paced game.
We can only dominate for short periods in the first half generally. After about 30 minutes we fade from our gung-ho, guns blazing assault on our opponents, where they know if they can contain us, and keep the score level or be down by a goal by half time, they know they can get at us in the second half as Wolves, Villa and Brighton did and who were lucky not to take points from us.
Now we have City and NLD with Atlanta away in the middle minus Ode, Merino and Calafiori. Let’s hope no more are added to our walking and crutch aided wounded from training.
In other Havertz ass blowing smoke news, the German manager has stated that he believes Havertz is going to be elite and world class in several positions soon.
Now, the Germans are not normally noted for their humour, but their manager sounds like a right comedian.
Had me laughing with that one ………….
Have a good one LIR.
Tony—I thought that might have been the case…just thought it best to clarify…agree with your Ode take…in fact, we’ve been quite fortunate that Norway has been piss-poor on the international scene or he likely would have been injured much sooner…if Ode isn’t available, I have a feeling that Jorginho will play a more advanced role, as he can pick a pass on occasion…surely he’s the far more more palatable option, considering MA’s risk-averse tendencies, which is why many of our most prominent academy pieces have sought opportunities elsewhere
I’m likewise a strong proponent of your Eze initiative…unfortunately he doesn’t fit MA’s MO, as he’s a player who tends to be selfish in front of goal, which certainly isn’t a negative, he can score from distance, so he could likewise be our first set piece specialist in quite some time, and he can also create his own chances in tight quarters on occasion, which could be an invaluable quality against all those bus parking fucks…frankly I’m quite astonished that no one triggered his release clause, so maybe he wasn’t actively advocating for a move away…personally I’m of the belief that City would have been more aggressive in their approach if Gundo hadn’t been gifted to them…funny things is, we opted for the older, less clinical option, at least nowadays, when we brought in Sterling, which makes me wonder why we didn’t aggressively pursue that sort of profile piece during the off-season…as for all the bullshit about us getting Sesko and Nico next summer, I highly doubt that, unless they have shit seasons…if we can’t get them when the ask is significantly lower and there’s less real competition for their services, why would we be more successful should those two variables drastically change