Festive season here, but you knew I would make it before time. Another Tuesday night Champions League football where we are playing Sevilla away. A crucial game for both the teams because lose this one, and the days ahead are going to be tougher.
Playing XI is already out and Zinchenko made way for Tomiyasu. I think it’s a pretty good move because Tomi is better defensively, and has a better work rate than Alex. He can run forward equally well and if the strategy is to play a back 3 of Tomi, Saliba, Gabriel with White drifting into the midfield when we have the possession, then we are in a much better defensive set up. Tomi can have that overlap runs and I think, when given time, can build up that connection with Martinelli.
Jorginho starts again with Odegaard and Rice, which confirms the Thomas Partey injury news. I have been a great fan of Partey and his ability to control the midfield and his inch perfect passes, but hey if you are injured most of the time and can’t turn up to the most important games, what’s the point of it. However, I would have preferred Rice in that DM role and Havertz / Vieira / ESR in the attacking side of it.
Odegaard keeps his place after a dismal display against Chelsea. Again, the manager do not want to disrupt the chemistry based on one game performance from the captain, but personally I feel it’s time we shift ESR to the right side of the midfield, and let him sync up with Bukayo.
Gabriel Jesus starts up top, we need goals and he has a pretty decent record in Champions League. I hope he improves that today.
We are in 2nd position after losing to Lens and a loss today would mean we would have to catch up to both Lens and Sevilla. We should be aiming to wrap up the group stages as early as possible, but we don’t have a decent record in Spain drawing 3, winning 3 and losing 11 in previous 17 games. Sevilla is in a good form having restricted Real Madrid to a draw in their last encounter which they could have easily won.
Anything but a win today would make life tougher for Mikel Arteta and his side.
Right, a short one today, game is in another 30 min and I hope we come out as winners. See you during the game.
So absolutely zero rotation from Arteta for a CL group game that a billion £ squad should be able to comfortably manage.
To make matters worse its not as if the current line up’s been tearing things up and putting in stunning performances.
Arteta’s going to burn the squad out and end up seriously injuring a player -odds it’ll be Saliba or Saka.
Though we have the initial chances, we look disjointed. I hope pick ourselves and be a bit more clinical.
we’re right back to functionally playing a 4-2-3-1, with two DMs and no real sense of urgency…to make matters even worse we don’t have any real wingback activity, so it’s a shitload of double-teams and boring sideways nonsense…just think MA spent a quarter billion dollars and somehow we’ve regressed
just as I’m about to post the above comment, Marts scores on the counter, which is the kind of directness we desperately need…good for him, but still such a rarity with MA in charge…ironically he might get an earful from our MIT for shirking his defensive responsibilities lol
our efficiency in front of goal is so piss-poor we can’t even pot goals when no one’s in net…I expect more for Ode when given such a golden opportunity
according to the commentator, we’ve lost 5 of our last 6 road matches against Liga opponents
could be a crucial goal by Jesus, who’s looked lively tonight…just wish he would bring that knack for goals in the CL to our PL campaign
our movement on and off the ball has been significantly better in this half…Sevilla will make a push, so we need to be ready to pounce when they dedicate more players forward
spoke too soon…now we’ll see if MA has the onions to push for a third or will he want us to sit back and absorb pressure for 30+ minutes
we had better score again or I fear this one will be tied up in short order…still not convinced by the Raya experiment thus far, as he hasn’t helped us offensively and he appears to a notch below Ramsdale when it comes to shotstopping
Rice should have kept running
looks like our 70M not-so-super-sub is coming in
you know you’re having a bad day on the pitch when Havertz replaces you…maybe MA couldn’t watch Ode getting bullied off the ball anymore…he could use some off-season weight training, it’s not like the extra muscle will make him that much slower
that’s the rare time when I would have suggested that Saka pick out a teammate rather than taking an odd angle shot on goal…we actually had a numbers advantage in the box for once
based on Havertz’s contributions, that 72M Pepe investment ain’t looking quite so pathetic
very fortuitous 3 points…I’m starting to think that even if Raya had punched that ball into his own goal he would still be the unquestioned number 1 Keeper
Hi Vieira
Sorry mate. I was watching on my phone so couldn’t post. Phew….
Tony
Unlike Lens, this game IS worth watching.
Just had the Police round complaining that my arse was squeaking too loudly…. 🍑📢📢📢
Plus Lens and PSV drew.
And Cardiff humped Huddersfield away! 🐦
KP-no worries, I’m just used to venting online when I’m watching the boys play…our 3 points combined with the PSV/Lens draw could allow us to take control of this group when we play Lens at home…still not convinced that this team, as it stands, considering the tactics being deployed, has what it takes to make a deep run in the CL…sure hope I’m fucking wrong
Jesus’s hammy concerns could leave us in the unenviable position of relying far too heavily on Eddie’s stone toes…I would much rather we use our 70M flop up top, at least he provides us with a target man for crosses into the box…this might also open the door for Tross or ESR to get on the pitch in the 8-hole, instead of having Jorginho sitting deep next to Rice, which provides us with very little at either end of the pitch