No fucking way. No one has forgotten the last time we played City and Etihad. Man City took the lead in the 9th minute when Erling Haaland scored from the centre of the box. We took the charge and played some attacking football thereafter and Calafiori levelled up from his left footed shot from outside the box of an assist from Gabriel Martinelli in 22nd minute. We kept playing some good football till the half time. Things changed a lot in those extra minutes. Guess who was the referee? Michael Oliver!
Oliver decided to award a staggering 10 extra minutes for the first half. Gabriel Megalhaes scored a brilliant header first and just before the extra time ended, Oliver gave a very controversial second yellow to Leandro Trossard to send him off. Reason being, Trossard cleared the ball after a challenge on Bernardo Silva within a fraction of a second after Michael Oliver had blown the whistle. The same referee who had not given a second yellow to Mateo Kovacic in a previous encounter between the same teams because he didn’t want to influence the game badly, gave a second yellow for Arsenal because the player kicked the ball in less than a second before the whistle was blown. Also, we haven’t seen a yellow for kicking the ball away after that day.
We were down to 10 men and we had a whooping 45 minutes to play against a lethal attacking Man City. Mikel went full Mourinho and substituted Bukayo Saka with Ben White at the start of second half.
In the 65th minutes, Myles Lewis-Skelly got his first yellow card in Premier League without even making his debut. Imagine the hate from Michael Oliver for a player in red and white that he awarded a yellow for a player on the bench. It was not like MLS was fighting someone, or causing any trouble. He was shouting to his team mate. Yes, everyone on the touchline shouts. Every god damn fucking minute of the 90.
Anyways, it was a day of attack and defence. Gabriel gave his best while City attacking every other minute. We kept our cool, never looked nervy and with some luck, we managed to keep our 2-1 lead till the 90th. There were 7 extra minutes awarded to the game and we all knew what was coming after seeing that. John Stones scored the leveller for City in the 9th minute of 7 extra minutes and the scoreline read 2-2 at the end. Haaland believed, after the game, that he was the descendent of King Leonidas of Sparta and started giving lectures to Mikel Arteta to stay humble. After a 2-2 draw. At Home. Against a 10-men Arsenal. With Michael Oliver as their 12th man. He might be the most lethal striker on the planet, earning more than anyone else in footballing world, but that age showed in his behaviour.
Team News
We are playing City again, tomorrow. At a very crucial time when we need the win to keep ourselves in the title race. And this time, the war is at our home, and without Michael Oliver. We have not forgotten and we will add to their miseries.
Myles Lewis Skelly red card was rescinded so he is available to play. Raya missed the Champions League game against Girona with a muscular injury and will be assessed before the game. I don’t want to see Neto between the sticks, he was very poor and lacked confidence in our last game and we need David Raya back to calm the defence down.
The usuals, Ben White, Tomiyasu, Saka and Jesus will be missing out the game. Saka is the one we will miss the most, as he has been prolific on that right side and he has always been the main figure in big games. Hopefully, Nwaneri won’t let us miss him after his brilliant Saka-esque goal against Girona. I am hoping Raya starts in the goal with a back 4 of Timber, Saliba, Gabriel and Calafiori. We will most likely see a midfield of Odegaard, Thomas Partey and Declan Rice. Nwaneri should start at RW, Martinelli on the left and Havertz in the middle.
No show (yet) in transfer window?
Well, we haven’t done anything at all in the transfer window so far. Only a couple of days left before it shuts down, and we went to Aston Villa in the pursuit of Ollie Watkins with 60m GBP which was rejected. So, we have the money but we are looking for a profile. 60m and some change would get you Sesko, or Mbeumo but Arteta likes players who can do the defensive job and I don’t see him getting an outright predator anytime soon. Watkins bid was a strange one, we need it more than ever but no one would have expected Mikel would go after him after showing so much trust in Havertz.
In the press conference today, here’s what he had to say when asked about bringing a striker –
It doesn’t depend on us. We have the intention, purpose and ambition to try to help the team and support the squad to be better and to finish the season really strong, and we are actively trying to do that.
source : Arsenal.com
This confirms the club and the manager are aware that we are lacking up top. With only 2 days left before transfer window shut, we will know whether it’s just intention or if we do something in real.
Right, that’s me done. It’s going to be a great watch tomorrow, and I am pretty sure we will come out on top. We need the bragging rights for next 6 months, and I mean a 3-0 win bragging right, not a 2-2 at home against a 10-men bragging right.
Also, I am pretty sure non of those players and the manager has forgotten the child-like behaviour from Erling Haaland and the cunt-like behaviour from Bernardo Silva. I want to see them faces sulked, embarrassed and hopeless.
#COYG
Marc – yes he has won PLs but that’s with Rodri and De Bruyne in the side. More Rodri than De Bruyne. Everytime Rodri misses his team is in trouble and that’s been evident all along.
What about his record in BM. Not winning a CL with them. He has spent 150 M this TW already.
Madhu
I’m not going to tell you Pep’s a shit manager – losing a top player will hurt any team and affect results but 1 player doesn’t make the difference in results that we’re seeing here.
Marc – iam not saying Pep is shit but he is overrated. The problem is that I see the same traits in MA. Man C football is as turgid as it gets. There was one moment which defined why this brand of football is so painful to watch. There was a through balla nd someone in the right was released. He run the channel and got to the ball near almost our corner flag and 3 passes later it was back to their keeper. Forward and way back to GK?
Arsenal Women won 4-3 against city today as well..overall a great day for Club Arsenal with our academy kids contributing heavily in Men’s team MLS was brilliant and stood out to Halaand the school yard bully.
Madhu—you might want to slow your roll a bit when it comes to Pep, as I would take him in a heartbeat over our current option…it was only a matter of time for cracks to show, especially with injuries to both an aging KDB and Rodri, who’s the best in the world for a reason….that said, it’s not all about them…his replacements out wide since Mahrez have let him down…Doku has had a tough time scoring goals and Grealish has bottomed out…if they didn’t have Haaland they would be lucky to be 10th
his style of play requires a different level of connectivity amongst the players and when your world-class key cogs are lost, it’s bound to get messy…for me, Real spends far more, on a per buy basis, than City, and no one’s calling out their 6 managers in the same time period…many of whom are still highly coveted…if I had one criticism of Pep it would be his inablity to finish out a championship game with a lead….now that’s bled into his League play…they’ve allowed 4+ goals times and he’s tied his record for most losses in a season, yet they still have a shot at a European invite…remember it’s not like they’ve been winning the Wenger Cup or the bride’s maid badge of honour, they’ve actually won real hardware…the settling narrative only applies when you haven’t won jackshit…Cheers
Let’s not forget the contribution of David Raya with those 2 world class saves in the first half..
In the first half I thought city were there for the taking but we were too passive , once again we needed to concede to spark us into action, the last half hour was nearly as good as it gets as city didn’t have a clue how to stop wave after wave of attacks.
It’s time for us to steam roller teams in the run in for the title , yes we will have the usual poor decisions go against us but the way to beat it is by putting the foot down , take the hand brake off and destroy teams.
A few weeks back I said it will become transparent as to how Nwaneri’s game has traits of Messi, his 2 very similar goals this week are evidence of that.
I know most on here have already recognised his ability, but people shouldn’t get fooled into thinking Nwaneri is a one trick pony because of the similarities in those 2 goals, play him through the middle and he will see the complete picture in front of him , he is capable of the slide rule defence splitting pass, he is capable of the disguised pass, and he is more than capable with with his quick feet and tight control to score Hazard /Messi like goals, plus he has an incredible effortless shooting technique.
Saka , Skelly and Nwaneri have years ahead of them and have literally saved the club hundreds of millions of pounds and they are Arsenal through and through.
there’s nothing wrong with celebrating any victory against City, even when it’s clear this side is the weakest on his watch…I’m never going to look that gift horse in the mouth…that said, it means considerably less than a win when best-on-best was required…between the miscues of two of their most senior players and their inability to craft chances in open play, without the use of crosses, they were in for one, unless we squandered all of our grade A chances(lord knows we tried)…far too often this season we’ve kept opposing teams in the match by our wasteful play, which is why injecting the kids into the lineup needs to be vigorously maintained, as they’re clean slates in that regards
furthermore, we had better find a way to have Ethan re-upped before season’s end (if it hasn’t happened already)…we can’t appear to be experiencing a mass youth exodus, especially after losing a couple of our highest rated prospects…it’ll be interesting to see how MA will attempt to spin that nonsense…bottom line is, nothing that happened today changes anything about our need for a proper Striker
Wicksy—just so things don’t get twisted, most of us on here are massive Ethan fans and have been calling for him to get significant minutes for quite some time now…he’s our purest scorer, by a good margin, even with Saka healthy…the only thing anyone said in opposition to your earlier post was that it was way too earlier to make such insanely lofty comparisons, which didn’t change after today’s tally…persoanlly I would have him starting along side Ode on the regular, even though I understand his usage out wide with Saka down and out…Cheers
Viera – the fact that you are alluding to Peps style and specific players playing it makes it clear that it’s not something that’s natural. He may have won all the things you talk about but it’s been with teams who have already had pedigree in their leagues and in CL. What kind of system is that when a player is not there the whole team becomes less effective and you might say they drop down several notches. Iam not comparing him to our current coach or any other. All I am saying is that if he needs a whole lot of money, specific players and can afford to suck up loss of millions on players as in Grealish, Doku, Kalvin Phillips etc to trail on his system that makes it impossible for him to coach many clubs bar a few handful.
Let’s not forget Partey today. He was pristine and his best. The way he glides with the ball in the midfield is a sight behold. Rice cannot replace him in this form and when he leaves I wonder even if it’s Xubi comes in he can do half of what Partey does. Absolute wonderful he was today.
Madhu
Yes , noticed about Partey yesterday and refrained from commenting because he also breaks quite often.
Frankly , during the last 2 years we been talking about his replacement, was my gut feeling to keep Partey as long as he can play because he positions so well , always with a forward pass. In a quagmire play Partey makes things happen subtly
Madhu—I have no doubt that Pep could do wonders with a middling side, as it’s hard to argue his mastery of the x’s and o’s…he might not win it all, as that typically requires backing, but I guarantee you that any organization who had the good fortune of having him in the building would quickly become the best version of themselves…of course, he doesn’t need me to defend his record of dominance, as it speaks for itself…I will say this though, sustaining a dominant brand of football comes at a cost, both financial and human, which can lead to managerial and organizational burnout, especially in more recent years with the substantial rise in player movement/wages and the entitlement that oft-times comes with that…this is why it isn’t really surprising to me that Pep tends to move on as soon as his vision and the club’s are no longer fully aligned…we know all too well what tends to happpen when someone stays on too long…Cheers
Ambarish—the biggest issue with Partey certainly isn’t his ability to provide a top quality performance, at least when he’s fully fit and totally engaged…problem is that far too often those things haven’t been a given…now this season has been rather anomalous, in that he’s never been more available…maybe he should have always been on one year deals or is that just a coincidence…as for the future, unless he’s willing to take a significant reduction in pay and bet on himself with a short-term contract, I would thank him for his services and move on…I kind of wish MA’s supposed “plan” didn’t require so many GD phases, as maybe then he could have played a significant role on a multiple title-winning side
As for our transfer window activities it appears as if the two best bets are a hail mary, in the form of Ollie Watkins, now that Villa appears to have acquired more depth up top, or Mathys Tel, who wanted United all along, but maybe they weren’t interested in providing him with the kind of ironclad assurances he required…just once it would be nice to be someone’s first choice option before we offered them unjustified wages and short-sighted promises…I certainly won’t be upset if we snag Tel, as he’s showed some glimpses of what could be a promising future, I’m just not sure a winter window is the best way to integrate a player of his ilk and lack of experience…that said, it’s better than nothing and it can’t be any worse than what happened in the last hours of the last window…I can only hope that whatever we promise him doesn’t put the kibosh on our Striker pursuits come the summer…who knows, maybe he can form a brilliant connection with the other young budding superstars already on our roster
Viera – the midfield of Partey, Rice and Ode hasn’t lost a match yet this season for Arsenal. It’s only when Partey is deployed in the square peg of Right back we have lost matches. Doest that say a lot. That begs the question of what is the contribution of our Analytics team and why don’t any of the coaching staff ram this into Arteta s head. Why not deploy someone else in RB or play 3 at the back of you don’t have anyone? All points that we have lost is due to this shoehorning Partey at RB and a midfield of Rice and Merino. Both of them doesn’t have the passing range of Partey and that not their game. To an extent Jorgi does posses that passing range from midfield but he is a spent force.
If possible I would retain Partey for a season more to see if he can provide some cover to Xubi if he comes in. Losing Partey without any replacing anyone with his passing range will make us more turgid in our attack. Passing vertically from center mid is a gift and we had plenty of it in the times of Cesc, Santi even Eong to an extent. Rice doesn’t come anywhere near this range.
In spite of Marc’s orange faced, little handed rapist friend, the world feels like a slightly better place this morning.
I’m going to watch that game again and enjoy it. My kids were sat with me last night and we’re getting irked by my shouting at no one routine during the second half.
Agree about Partey. Just play him at the base of midfield, in the middle, and let him do his thing. Kovacic and that little prick Bernardo had no answers and they got thoroughly bossed. One of TP’s best performances.
Marc
Shock? Horror? Probe?
UK could avoid US tariffs that the ‘atrocity’ EU is facing because Starmer has been ‘nice’, Trump suggests – UK politics live
Starmer’s obsequiousness towards your Fascist mate might save your company!
KP
Starmer has some photos of orange head.
Yeah NORG
Maybe like those ones that Putin has of Trump being pissed on by sex workers in a Moscow hotel.
What did you think of that display yesterday?
Madhu—first and foremost, we’ve only lost 2 matches, so the difference between having those 3 in the lineup and not is minimal; not to mention, Ode was out for a considerable period, so let’s not get too wrapped up in this sort of in-match commentator filler…my eyes don’t lie and this side, regardless of who’s been on the pitch, has played about 4 matches worthy of “real” applause…now some, like yesterday’s affair and the win over the Spurs, were enjoyable for other reasons, but both of those sides gifted us victories while in a state of relative disrepair, so I’m analyzing our performances accordingly…now if we had found ourselves on the right side of a 5-1 scoreline against City last year or the year prior, when the circumstances were vastly different, I would be over the fucking moon, but that certainly wasn’t the case yesterday
now this doesn’t take away from the fact that I’m a big fan of a healthy and fully engaged Partey, far more so than a free-wheeling, in and around the box 100+M dollar Rice…it makes me wonder what might have happened if Partey wasn’t such an unreliable entity just prior to our push for Rice, as maybe we could have used those monies to get Isak in…I can only assume that Partey’s off-field issues have complicated matters, as it’s difficult to rely too heavily on someone with so many obvious question marks…frankly, I’m shocked that he’s actually remained here and played nearly as much as he has…now he’s had a few stinkers, but more often than not, he’s performed admirably, which I’m thankful for
let’s keep it real though, MA always sets us up as a defence-first side, so the fact that we haven’t lost with 4 defenders, 2 of whom are world-class, 2 DMs, with Rice as more of a B2B variety, and the requirement that all of our forwards, including our supposed Striker, defend all the way back to our final third at all times, isn’t that shocking…that said, I bet that statement wouldn’t have resonated with you nearly as much if it made mention of how many draws were included within that “no loss” record soundbite and/or the circumstances surrounding our opponents in those partiuclar matches…just saying, as context matters…Cheers