We are playing Sporting today in few minutes, in the first leg of round 16. Team sheets are out and although I’m a bit disappointed seeing Saka and Martinelli in the playing XI, we didn’t have much option left. Trossard is injured, Nelson is covering him. Eddie is still not back from the ankle injury, so Martinelli is up top, playing in the middle. I have been waiting for this day to see him play as the central forward, lets see what he delivers today.
We, fans, may say it’s a less important game when the league is on the line and we have almost made it to the Champions League football. But, there’s a trophy to be won at the end of this campaign and I hate to say but we have enough quality to make it till the end even while we rest our important players.
Partey and Gabriel are on the bench, much needed rest for the later but sort of a precaution for Thomas. Matt takes up his position from Ramsdale. ESR, Tomi and Rob holding are on the bench with some new, unfamiliar names.
Shame that Tierney couldn’t make it due to an illness and Zinchenko has to start. We are seeing Kiwior in action today, a signing no one expected but delighted regardless. It would be interesting to see how he adapts and develop alongside Saliba.
I hope we wrap up the tie today by keeping a clean sheet and scoring couple of ém against Sporting. Arteta knows it, and hasn’t gone with a completely changed playing XI. Jorginho + Xhaka combined with Vieira confirms it. Martinelli and Saka are regulars. Saliba is playing every freaking game along side White and Zinchenko. It’s a good mix, one to make a mark from the likes of Kiwior, Vieira and Nelson.
Short one today – midweek and work but I’m watching it with a bucket of coffee and some pasta. Hope you are having a good one, and Arsenal make the evening better for us.
And, a big LOL to SPU*S.
Cheers.
Good post, Ambarish. I worry about injuries.
Fingers crossed we get through unscathed. 😎
Header in from Saliba. This boy has been crucial to Arsenal, including crucial tackle if Edwards
WTF is wrong with Arsenal, heavy touches and playing out of the back given me a heart attack. Get your act together.
It is against Arsenal, but still what a goal off the corner kick
Hi hoop,
Their goal was terrible in my view. Kiwior is frozen and wincing under the challenge. I know it’s his debut but that was Squillaci-esque statuesque-ness. Poor.
For once can’t we get a ref team that knows how to referee and is not shitty.
1st halftime substitute bring on Ramsdale because Turner is a total waste in goal.
Saliba’s goal was impressive, nothing ore from this game till now. We are poor against a poor team.
We need goals here, lets go lads.
They are playing like a fucking Irish pub team with the ball in their own third. Get your act together and play defense like champions not like amateurs.
What did I say earlier fucking heavy touches and Martinelli misses a sitter.
Dejavu of our best player OwnGoal.
2-2 is okay result. Back at home in leg 2, we can pull this off.
Lazy and passive. We should have walked it. Having seen Sporting though, we should have too much for them in the second leg. But that kind of performance won’t get us to the final. Didn’t look like we picked up any injuries.
Someone remind me what Vieira has brought to the team for the 35m we laid out for him and Martinelli was way off his best.
a couple or 5 brief observations from today’s fixture:
-fun match to watch, at times, but with the openings Sporting provided there’s little doubt we should have left with a one or two goal victory
-I did think VIeira warmed up to the match as it wore on, which will hopefully be a catalyst for positive change in his rather unimpressive season
-it’s too bad Marts didn’t recognize the pressure coming from his backside earlier, as I think that could have been the decider
-I just can’t help but think that opposing team’s midfielders must be salivating at the possibility of facing a midfield that consists of both Jorginho and Xhaka…I fear the very real possibility that if Partey can’t remain healthy we could find ourselves having to sit deeper against pacier opposition and relying too heavily on attacking on the counter, which could mean a return to that rather ineffectual sideways-dependent 4-2-3-1
finally, I can’t get over the notion that we acquired a backup Keeper who appears to be less competent than even Leno with the ball at his feet…that’s 3 games running now that he ‘s almost gifted a goal to the opposition.
regardless, if we have the better part of our starting 11 available for the return home fixture, including maybe Jesus, I think we should rather handily advance to the next round
Martinelli should have realized that after running the length of the pitch that he doesn’t have the legs to go around the keeper and I screamed at my screen SHOOT!!! but as it turned out his legs let him down with a heavy touch.
Turner is a terrible GK and here we thought he would be a decent backup, well not really and another entry on the to get in list for the summer because he will be a disaster in the CL with better teams facing him.
KIllroy-the only thing I will say about the Marts situation is that both the Sporting Keeper and trailing defender made the best of a bad situation…the Keeper didn’t sit back thereby forcing Marts to either shoot from distance or complicate matters by going wide…meanwhile, the trailing defender stayed within Mart’s blind spot as long as humanly possible, which enabled him to be in a position to effect the play if Mart’s chose to go around the Keeper…of course, luck obviously played a role in the equation too
as for Turner, you know full-well my thoughts on this Nervous Nellie…there’s no way he can be relied upon should we continue to progress in this competition
as far as Vieira goes I think he needs to find a way to supplant Xhaka in that more advanced role…he can shoot from distance and he appears to know how to craft a cross into the box, but until he’s forced into being a fully-engaged participant in the process he will continue to be little more than a overpaid periphery figure…problem is the tail end of this particular season might not provide him with too many reasonable opportunities to get his shit right, as we can ill-afford to be carrying players with what’s at stake…that could become a dilemma going into the off-season though, in that if he’s hasn’t even progressed as much as an on-loan Lokonga, he might find himself on the outside looking in…if that were the case it would be another tough financial pill to swallow…he does have age on his side but I’m getting worried that we might not have the proper impetus to go big game hunting in the next window with the likes of Vieira, Xhaka, Jorginho, Lokonga, Eddie and Trossard still on the books
he hasn’t
TRVL – I was an avid reader when working from hotels, but sadly that has has slowed dramatically since my audio visual Room was finished. Whenever I was in Bangkok or Singapore I’d buy around 20 books at a time of current actors or new ones I’d been advised of. Like my music my book collection is eclectic as well with about 300+ unread currently.
I ordered the David Dein book and Michael J Fox: No Time Like The Future.
I guess Saladin will have to wait. Our family room is a modern loft style so we’ve got about 400 books scattered on shelves as it’a a very large room. Books for junior to read. We have a lot of biogs and trues stories I use to inspire my daughter and Junior. As you rightly mentioned provoking debate through whatever medium is an essential part of family life and life in general. It’s my way of letting others inspire as well, as us parents and that wealth is not an inspiration on its own: more inspiration has been drawn from the poorer side of life.
Michael J Fox is particularly inspirational for me considering my health history since my early 30s, which is not good reading. I loved the roles he played in the Good Wife using his Parkinsons disease to amazing effect. A truly great thespian if ever there were one.
Sorry I digress.
I thought the game was exactly what but looked like from a manager who couldn’t make up his mind to either go for it or let the bench and youth do their level best, which in my thinking would have retired with a better result.
Arteta played 2 levels in one team and they didn’t work. What was Arteta thinking of playing Jeorginho and Xhaka as the main MF pairing with Vierra who is still acclimating, but should have fared better in the league he was bought from. I expected more from him on his home turf. No denying he has talent, but I question if his skills set is enough for us going forward.
That is simply poor squad management of the worst kind. Another rookie mistake and if persisted with will close us the title.
We have 12 games in the Pl and a potential of 6 (?) games in the Europa league including the final. So, a potential of 18 games, which is not sustainable with our current starters playing every game.
Worrying in signs were that White who played well was exhausted at the end of the game running on fumes. Zincho as well as Saka, so let’s hope they can get to the International break on the 25th, so Saka and others can come back in the Red zone or worse injured.
I intimated yesterday we’d know how Arteta was thinking by his team selection. It’s clear he wants the double without the means (squad) to handle the potential game intensity.
What has happened in the past (last season) where we dropped our intensity falling back on side and back passes with little penetration in the final third. Our play from the back got sloppy through tired legs.
By going for the double this will happen again where fatigue is already setting in because of injuries and poor squad management not learning from last season’s mistakes of a squad too thin to meet the demands.
Arteta is perfect for Barca and when he goes we will see his mistakes continue and laugh at them. It’s the perfect place for a narcissistic glory and fame junky as Arteta is.
If I had a chance of a different manager such as Pochettino now my 1st choice of Ten Hag for the last 3 seasons is turning Manure round.
Junior & I didn’t get to bed before 3 a.m. and concluded that Arteta has more than a 65% chance of only claiming a CL birth missing out on the cup and Title to City or an outside chance of Manure.
I seriously hope I’m wrong, but the worrying signs are there for all to see.
Our players are literal warriors leaving everything on the pitch and being blighted by their manager’s mistakes, which from last night there were many, but let’s just start with the biggest faux pas: playing Jorginho and Xhaka in MF hoping Zinch and White can cover exhausting themselves in the process.
Kiwior looked better than he did playing AM for the U21s. A long way to go to get up to PL speed, though. ESR looked more comfortable in his movement where again he needs game time now.
Have a good one lads.
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