Ten games into the season and we should now accept the fact that Tottenham is doing exceptionally well and might just provide the third axis to the title challenge. I almost puked saying that. I’m sorry. At the very least, they are going to disrupt things. Ange is doing well with that shite and a bit of luck is favouring them too. They won 2-1 against Crystal Palace with ‘only one shot on target’.
Anyway, to hell with them. We are playing Sheff United in a 3 PM kick-off at home. A crucial game to get all three points and also to improve our home performance.
In team news, Thomas Partey is unavailable due to injury. Gabriel Jesus is out too (again) for few weeks due to muscle injury he picked up during Sevilla game. Timber is out for long anyway, rest all are fit. Jesus injury makes thing difficult for us because we are playing 2 games a week and Eddie Nketiah has failed to convert the chances he has got till now. I have been asking to put Trossard at CF because Havertz was not clinical in front of the goal while playing at Chelsea and he is not going to be clinical at Arsenal.
Will we start with a midfield of Odegaard, Jorginho and Declan Rice again? There’s a lot wrong with this. First, Rice should be the DM. Second, Havertz / Vieira provides a better attacking play at LCM. Third, Odegaard needs some rest and ESR should be given some games as he is fit now and is a direct threat. Playing ESR provides something different to our play from the wings strategy. It will happen eventually because Mikel has noticed Ode form but again, why wait till something goes wrong!
Our defence is stable. Tomi again at LB is we all want to see, and he should start ‘if’ performance is the parameter. He was superb against Chelsea in that LB role and it won’t be long before he develops a brilliant chemistry with Martinelli.
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Right, a short one today. I would love a 4-0 score line, with couple of goals from Martinelli and Saka each. See you during the game.
https://metro.co.uk/2023/11/04/newcastle-1-0-arsenal-new-camera-angle-reveals-if-ball-crossed-line-19775059/?ico=trending-module_category_football_item-0
One bone of contention sorted. Now for the other 2.
Havertz legs are so long , the fouls get accentuated. Ref was still balancing I guess
Nice one Hoopah the Forrest v Villa game is good to watch with some tidy football being played by both sides. Forest good for their lead.
Ola Aina https://g.co/kgs/GFe4c7
Left back worth a look.
Tony-let’s face it, MA was found out last season and as such a blueprint or actually two now exists…knowing that, it was imperative that MA/Edu allocated a sizeable chunk of our available resources on a player or two who could open up the wide-side channels for Marts and Saka and who could likewise provide some top drawer service and/or clinical finishing…instead we bought 2 defensive zone players, one of whom is out for the season, and a very expensive shot-in-the-dark proposition…now if we had got the latter for a steal and his wages reflected that, no harm no foul, as he could have been summarily benched and we could use those resources in January to redress our offensive woes, but that’s clearly not what’s happening here…in fact, he’s not fit to wear Xhaka’s, Willian’s or even Pepe’s boots, which seems almost unfathomable
right now, we’re in a not too dissimilar place as we were during those Wenger latter years when we had no viable threats from distance, no tangible directness to keep opposing defences honest and a plan that required us to shoot through a whole mess of legs or pass the ball into the net…under these circumstances, we’ll likely be in a shitload of 1-0 or 2-1 affairs, which could be incredibly problematic as we’re not the most defensively stout of teams, certainly not enough to win anything of consequence, and we don’t have the kind of clinical Striker that sort of situation generally requires…not to mention, we’re starting to look just as fragile and injury-prone as those earlier Wengerian incarnations, which could complicate matters moving forward as there’s no doubt teams will attempt to bully us whenever possible…I would suspect that unless we make some fairly major maneuvers in the winter window, top 4 is our ceiling for this season
TRVL- well put.
It seems posting these days is like our football – full of negatives unless we talk about life in our worlds. The football moves between drab and cavalier with the handbrake off, as it was mixes of both at Newcastle.
Then between games, its Emergency Medical AFC; patching the pets up, and get them back in the pitch, only to see them back a game or so later for much longer.
“Pain is only a figment of their imagination, because in my 20 years here I have seen Cesc play with a broken bone in his foot, and a player wanted to play for us so much he joined with a broken back, no ?”
We will hear Arteta say at half time. “He didn’t complain about the pain, no, he was a warrior”, Mikel no doubt will add, before telling his ‘band of brothers’ to all be warriors out there, but negating to tell them how, which was obvious by our chaotic roller coaster football.
You can’t complain about VAR when you only had one shot on goal in 100 minutes, and when they scored in the 64th minute.
We had 26 minutes to equalize, and we still only managed to register one shot on goal!
I mean seriously, the buck stops with Arteta and his bad choices of: Zinchenzo, Havertz, Vieira, Kiwior, Eddie (resigned), Tavares, Lakonga, Auba, Willian, Runnerson, Leno, Ramsdale, Bolagun Guendouzi, Cedric, Emi, Willock, Elneny Ozil et al.
I mean there are 19 players that, for various reasons, have become Arteta statistics and probably more that would make up 2 teams all discarded on a whim, just as playing Partey at RB.
Is there any reason why our best football – 90% of last season seems to be well behind us now, and has never recovered from such a rapid decline?
There is and it’s all down to A& E.
The players have to do what they are told or they become an Arteta statistic.
They have the power, money and supposedly the tactical nous to find players that fit Arteta’s constantly changing playing styles (known as phases of the process, which is still a mystery to all but Arteta)) that win nothing and end up confusing us, but not the opposition when you reflect on our past 4 years solitary glory; a luckily won FA cup.
Since then? Nothing.
EL cup couldn’t beat Emery twice? Nope, Carabou Cup, nope always blows that one. PL almost came 2nd, but blew that up, too.
“It’s not nothing what about the charity shield” the fan boys will cry for all their might – Arteta obsessives to the very end and probably after, as a famed Ozil obsessive still panders for his footballing messiah but added Eddie for some unfathomable reason.
“Oh dear god”, Gooners will sigh from the far flung corners of the world, “not that old chestnut”.
I’ll leave you with a poser:
There are currently 6 points between 4th and 8th, and it only takes a run of 4/5 wins to catapult a club to the top four places or 5 as it is this season for CL births.
Where do you see us finishing come May?
For me, it’s 5th again because Arteta is a 5th to 8th finisher, just as Emery was, so let that sink in.
CL football will likely save Arteta for 3 more years, which will see my interests in our club be relegated further behind hobbies and travelling.
Anyone care to state their Arsenal finishing number?
Just talking to junior who is away at his school’s basketball competition for the north. So far, he’s lost every game, but only lost to the best team by 10 points who have been flat track bullying everyone else. I said you don’t sound sore, son, and he replied I’ve learnt a lot dad from losing.
I asked him what he has taken from losing the most, and he said I’m going to go back to playing badminton and golf where you can only let yourself down and a team sport is only 2 people, so less mistakes than a bigger team that can derail you.
I’m smiling to myself as I write this because it’s typical junior logic; simple and mostly right. I’m more pragmatic when we lose for the players unless they have stunk the place out – something more common this season. Only finals can evoke lengthier troubling periods of “what ifs or if only’ for a loss.
I don’t see any of us being bad losers here; however, when our anger is righteous, we simply look inward to ask ‘why’ questions. VAR and refs’ conspiracies are just that; excuses for weak minded fans or Untold and Arteta fan boys.
The club is backing Arteta’s post game tirade and not asking him why we only registered one shot in 100 minutes when we had to get the TW right as Arteta said.
I guess Stan and Josh doesn’t think Arteta is quite ready for accountability just yet. Maybe in a season or 2, could be 3 knowing our luck.
Such deep joy to be a Gooner. 🙂
Here, here Tony…speaking our truth always without care or concern for the wag the dog nonsense of the Kool-AId choir…Cheers
hear, hear
https://www.theguardian.com/football/picture/2023/nov/07/david-squires-mikel-arteta-reaction-newcastle-defeat-arsenal
I think this captures the essence of Arteta, modern day Arsenal and that poor fucking labrador. Single-use trousers… Quite!
That was funny, KP. We need to find Almunia a cartoonist. The dog faces were excellent.
Got overrun by the day today and missed the Spuds fiasco. Might be available tomorrow. Looked fun from the highlights.
Invincible watch – After the spuds self-inflicted meltdown last night, only two unbeaten teams left in the top four divisions. Pompey and Mansfield.
You’re burning the midnight oil (or burning something…) this evening Tony. I bet it’s still warm and humid where you are. Winter has arrived in the northern Hemisphere!
Poor Win – you can imagine him simpering while chained in a kennel at London Colney all on his own listening to a continual loop of ‘good old Arsenal’. I hope he gets a chance to cock his leg on Arteta’s perfectly pressed trousers at some point. Canine karma.
Oh dear! Newcastle list to Dortmund tonight. The house of Saud will be sharpening the bone saws in case they don’t qualify.
Was just a last post before sleep took me, KP.
I’m up to my eyes in planning and writing film treatments. In-between those 2, I’m working on a 30 to 45 second advert to open the blog. I’ve found the blogs theme music, so very slowly piecing it all together, as there are only a few weeks before the end of the sale saga.
Just to get the blog off the ground successfully it’s going to take 8 months at least with trips to the UK and America with film crews to kick it off with an international flavor.
This takes me back to my music biz days but I digress.
As you can imagine I missed the Spuds fiasco against the Chavs; only read about it and saw some highlights I half watched with my head not really in the game.
Good to see the bar codes all but the shouting out of the CL. I don’t think God will be endorsing any Saudi Newcastle miracles any time soon.
Sevilla 3am tomorrow morning will see me happily sleeping, as I’ve vowed to not mess the next day up watching Arsenal under Arteta’s management. I can watch it in the morning with coffee and a relaxing vape.
Got no idea how we are going to set up but, with it being Burnley at home Saturday, I’d imagine he’ll play all his pets even if carrying knocks. Home and crowd advantage should see us run out a tough fought win or draw. We’re bereft of creativity past the halfway line, so we’ll have to see.
New post!