In the words of Peaky Fucking Blinders, we have got a curse. Call it The Emery Curse, or the Emi’s, but we have one.
Last season, in the first game against Villa, we lost 1-0 after they scored in 07th minute and we never recovered. They were coming off of a win at City and they beat us. We did create some chances later on but never converted it. In the home game, we lost 0-2 when we conceded both goals in last 10 minutes. We were just 2 points behind Man City with 6 games to go, and a loss to Villa confirmed our title challenge was over. We needed a win so much at that point and they denied us. I hate them more than Spurs these days. The two losses costed us the title at the end.
Anyways, it’s a new season and a new fight. We take on Aston Villa at Villa Park today in a 5.30 evening kick off.
In the team news, there would be some surprises. Fabio Vieira is most likely going back to Porto on a loan so won’t feature today. Tomiyasu and Tierney remains unavailable due to injuries. We are most likely going ahead with the same team that featured against Wolves. A back 4 of White, Gabriel, Saliba and Zinchenko; a midfield of Partey, Rice, and Odegaard; a front 3 of Saka, Havertz and Martinelli. I would love to see Timber in place of Zinchenko starting today though, he is one for the future and improves our left side by a margin. Martinelli hardly gets any support from Zinchenko and that’s the difference between the outputs of him and Saka.
Gabriel Jesus is also not available as the rumours goes.
Mikel Arteta had to say this in the pre-match conference yesterday,
on how big of a test Villa away is so early in the season:
It’s one of the toughest places to go for sure. We know that, we’ve prepared really well to understand what we have to do to go there and win the game.
on the importance of getting a result against Unai Emery personally:
Personally? I don’t do things personally, I just have the will to win and prepare the team in the best possible way, regardless of who we are playing against.
source: Arsenal.com
It’s tough because we lost both games against Villa in the best season of Mikel Arteta. For the Unai Emery question, Mikel is fooling everyone including himself. He would have sleepless nights thinking how Emery got the better of him and I am hoping he has an answer to that today.
There are some things happening in the transfer window. Forest looks really interested in Eddie Nketiah and we have rejected a £25m and Forest will agree for £30m me thinks.
Fabio Vieira is going on a loan to Porto (from where we got him 2 years back). This one is a strange move, because we have sold ESR already and we would be left with only Odegaard as an attacking mid with no back up or competition. There are talks that the management is very impressed with Ethan Nwaneri and he would deputize Odegaard.
Merino deal is almost confirmed, he will be joining us from Real Sociedad for a £28m free. I have not seen much of him, but we know Rice is more of a #6 and we needed a #8 after Mikel decided to shift Kai up top.
We have also rejected a Wolves move for Aaron Ramsdale on loan + option to buy. We are in a favor of a permanent move for Aaron, and we have already decided a replacement in Joan Garcia from Espanyol.
Hardly a week left, there would be some chaos at the end, lets see how it pans out for us.
Right, that’s all for today. See you during the game.
Liverpool on fire making Msnure look like relegation fodder. Could have been 5 up by now.
Pool v City look mouth watering prospect games.
it appears Arne has slotted in perfectly.
Slot has Liverpool purring in a few weeks after replacing a legendary manager, and yet we still have this cunt in charge and his obsession with defensive percentage football.
Brighton’ spotty manager treated him like a mug as well.
So he deserves some respect.
I must say it’s still rather mystifying that so many seemingly intelligent people have been fooled by our paper tiger of a manager…maybe the fact that this isn’t our first rodeo makes us more susceptible…it’s almost as if our past experiences haven’t better informed us, in fact, quite the contrary, they’ve actually turned a sizeable portion of the fanbase into glutton for punishment types…I guess I’m just wired differently, it’s likely why I never revisited past relationships, especially those that ended badly…why the fuck would I…isn’t that the very reason why they’re part of the past…of course I’ve known all sorts of folks who’ve felt otherwise, but hardly a one who ultimately had something positive to say about their attempts to defy logic
so what exactly is it about our organization that seems to attract these types…we’re like some sort of cultish religious faction, where the congregation becomes so enamored with the messenger that they lose all their objectivity in the process…maybe it has something to do with the little engine that could narrative that was first spun during the Wenger’s second term, when money was supposedly tight and the underdog narrative was all the rage…of course it never made a lick of sense, as we had a brand spanking new stadium, the highest prices in the land and a multi-Billionaire owner, but it pulled all the right heartstrings…shit “I think I can” should have been etched into the Wenger Cup…now to be fair, the Arteta Cup seems to have a bit loftier goal in mind, but, like it’s predecessor, it still rewards failure…at some point in time an organization has to take the necessary actions when it becomes clear that the manager cares infinitely more about doing things “his” way than the far more plausible way
when you closely examine what’s happening here you can quickly see the negative effects of “his” way…besides a few settled positional pieces, like with Saliba, Gabs, Saka and Ode, everywhere else it’s a bit of a shoehorner’s wet dream…or should I say nightmare…as far as I can figure everything we do, minus the logical incorporation of Saka within the tactical plan, is predicated on the defeciencies/misplaced aspirations of 2 individuals, Havertz and Rice…this isn’t meant to suggest they aren’t worthy of some consideration, but they’ve quickly become a nonsensical preoccupation
Cheers AF===it’s been awhile since you last posted here…now that we’re in full swing, hopefully you’ll bring the heat on a more regular basis
Real.
This cunt has totally ruined my passion for the club.
And I have been going since 1970′ s, the Richie Powling days, if you know.
The fucking ego of the little cunt. You are a no mark slag. So jog on, you little cunt.
Slot will make him look a bigger cunt in the next few months as well.
AF—I just wish he hadn’t been so fucking fixated with adopting the worst possible traits of his former bosses, including Moyes…there was so much he could have gleaned along the way, which is why his choices have been so perplexing
AF
Welcome back and you are right about Slott. TRVL sung Slott’s praises here when we all thought not another Dutch manager after TH’s ill-fated Manure post.
I said around the season start that Slott could well be the next best thing from Holland after Yohan Cruyff where last night Slott tore TH a new one and making a solid statement to Pep’s City and us that they are firmly in the mix to win the PL crown.
KP
What is worse than a wag? A non relevant WAG.
Rooney, Vardy and Posh et al all need their publicity fix for their fame hungry life. The Beckham brand says it all, but what does the brand do other than make money from Saudi and other revenue streams their brilliant management team negotiate for them?
You have to applaud the Beckham king makers for their successful work keeping the family almost daily in the public eye. Shame Garlick and Lewes are not as successfully ruthless as the Beckham management – I mean The Arsenal brand is bigger than the Beckham brand, right? I do wonder sometimes.
They do have a son who thinks he’s a chef practicing hard for his muppet chef guest spot with the Swedish Chef’s demise. Apparently, he was an aspiring David Bailey prior to working out what a kitchen was, and was excited when he saw all the appliances he could play with: far more interesting than a camera lens I would imagine.
Unfortunately, KP, I get to witness such futility here now the Internet has made the world a much smaller place to live in. I left the UK because the future I saw did not compute with me or my thinking. ADHD with a touch of autism tends to make many things not compute with me unless it’s creative or interesting business.
The biggest motivation to get out was because I saw the UK becoming a nanny state, where I prefer to live by my rules not some idiot’s who somehow has attained enough power to make life a misery for others – choose any Brit government leader; they are all the same.
I didn’t see Brussels and EEC ruling the UK with their micromanagement of the Brit’s life. Dodged that bullet. We eat any size bananas here regardless of shape or bend. Pattaya has the world record banana eaters in situ but that’s not new news.
I know it’s frustrating waiting to check out of the UK, but you’ll be out soon enough and living your expat dream; that is a given, it’s just a matter of time.
TRVL
You and I could go on until the cows come home with tactics and me being a broken record about our misfit squad. I’ll keep mum and suck it up I guess, and try to write objectively. We both know, along with others here; what the problem is and who is responsible for the problems; just that our owners seem to be clueless, with heads in the sand types until we don’t make the CL this season.
Even for the Kroenkes that is too much of a bitter financial pill to swallow with our current CL wage bill.
You were so right about Slott.
Klopp who? I said a few weeks ago.
The press were fawning over him, and I like his calm manner, and the way the squad instantly took to Slott, which would have been no mean feat after such such a successful, legendary and much lauded departing manager.
Pool and City are the teams to beat this season where I don’t feel we are equipped to take either team on and win the title.
We will be back to 4th is a trophy with El B carrying on Wenger’s mantra. Except we’ll probably finials 5th because this season will be much finer margins more than previous seasons.
Does anyone think we can?
finish 5th*
Tony—it’s still early days, but it’s difficult to deny that Slot has hit the ground running…by not coming in too hot, like ten Hag, or trying to surround himself with “yes” men, like Arteta, Slot appears to have found a way to thread that oft-times tricky new manager needle without alienating his most senior members…this isn’t like a new manager bump situation, as that tends to only apply when a club is flailing and the previous manager is forced out…in that case, the players might be reinvigorated by having a new voice in the room and/or be intrinsically motivated by concerns about their own futures…this scenario is infintely more rare, as how often does a much beloved and highly successful manager opt out…as such, he was kind of flying blind and if he didn’t get things just right, it could have been incredibly messy, at least in the short-term
kudos to Slot and his staff for simply reading the room and acted accordingly…he didn’t try to bully the most senior players out of the club or shoehorn in a couple of his old players to forcibly reset the locker room, instead he targeted only a few specific players so as to not upset the apple cart, albeit with mixed results, then went to work putting his stamp on the tactical side of things…by the look of things he’s found a nice hybrid model that incorporates both Klopp’s quick strike offensive tactics and a more balanced possession-based approach, especially when they’ve got a 2 goal lead…I guess we’ll see if his message continues to resonate if they experience a bad run of form and/or if future contractual concerns rear their ugly heads after Xmas…Cheers
acting accordingly
I guess the key question from Saturday (and I only saw bits of it which makes me even less expert than usual) is, Would Arsenal have probably gone on to win had Rice not been red carded? Any opinions on that?
If the answer is yes, then Mr Amazing, Amazing, Amazing (triple barrelled twat henceforth known as Amazing³) isn’t really to blame for the draw. I saw the second booking which was fucking ludicrous because Rice was backing off rather than standing still. I used to use the Brighton player’s tactic when I played to try and get someone booked and to whack it at their bollocks at the same time.
The latest news snippet is that the ‘amazing’ El B and smiling Edu (whose facial expression looks as if he has just had a pineapple inserted up his arse) are to receive bumper new contracts.
What have they done to be rewarded – they have taken a leaf out of Vivien Nicholson’s book.
Fair comment TRVL it could all blow up and El B could go on a 20-game winning streak, I think the likelihood of either would proffer equal odds lol.
The elephant in Slott’s room: Salah, is happy, had a haircut and really enjoying his football again even though he’s saying this is his last season. If it is, then he’ll want to go out banging to leave his legacy intact. There has been a noticeable happy demeanor emanating from all we hear and see about Liverpool. I also agree with your view of their possession based, Klopp’s marauding counters and attacks in general, as they flood forward in numbers and attacking from all directions at pace.
It would take a string of injuries to derail Liverpool from gathering momentum this season.
KP
Rice gave the ref no choice for not retreating, as is the new law, and he was on a yellow. Stupid as it looks and is , it is also the law and Rice was play acting and got punished, so why take a chance. El B’s stalling tactics back fired. Rice also kicked the ball away, which is also a yellow, so take your pick.
That really is a difficult question as to whether we would have gone on to win? I’d say it was 50/50 as Brighton were pushing and we were ponderously countering. We were also tired, and still not up to full game fitness, which showed after the first 30 minutes.
Brighton had 53% of possession for the first half of a home game. We got gifted our goal by Dunk, and Maya had to pull off saves to keep us in the game before Rice saw red.
We looked leggy in the 2nd half, so like I said, it was anyone’s game. Fabien the young Brighton manager made the mistake by taking Mitoma off because, had he stayed , we would have lost. He had White in his back pocket and Willie found it tough with Mitoma once he broke into our box at speed with White done – naturally worrying about giving away a penalty.
KP, we are severely hampering ourselves by not having a quality 8. We have no, left attack. Only right sided and very little centrally.
Just to outline our issues look at our squad make up:
2 keepers with the back up a rookie
2 Naturally footed CDs in Willie and Big Gabs
5LBs
4 DMs
No 8 AM – we have to see what Merino will bring late in the season when healed
1 natural RB who plays LB and a CD playing RB not very well this season even with Saka
2 9s where both need 3+ clear chances to score or be gifted goals
5 wingers (Marts & Saka) including Reis, Sterling & Trossard
It’s a misfit shoe horning squad at best. We have no one on the bench who can change games or worry our opposition when we make our ineffective subs.
Tony
I’m not expert on hair manoeuvres but I reckon Salah has had as a few baldy bits painted over, carpeted or filled in too a la Rob Holdinho and our very own Gabriel M. Here’s an interesting snippet (pun intended) about Liverpool. Salah, VVD and Trent all have contracts which run down at the end of this season. The kind of ineptitude that Edu can only aspire to. Junior thinks we should get Trent on a free but I told him forcefully that I disagreed. An expert crossing machine with no big man in the box ain’t gonna make a difference.
While he wasn’t exactly running backwards from the site if the free kick, Rice to my mind was backing away. It’s a crap reason for the second booking in any case. We’ll do it against Bissouma or Sing next weekend and the Arsenal player will be booked for hitting it at him.
Good analysis by the way.
Viv Nicholson is a great analogy NORG. I was talking to someone the other day about pools (8 from 10) and the even more obscure spot the ball competitions.
I think Saturday might be viewed later in the season as a ‘what if’ moment.
Remember on other dogshit stinking sites if you ever uttered any praise for other teams/managers (yes I’m talking about piss poor Pedro and LG)?
Some absolute wanker like AFCF or Zacharse or even catweasle himself would come on and say…if you like Mauricio Pochettino/Tony Pulis/Jamie Vardy etc. so much, why don’t you fuck off and become a spuds, stoke, leicester fan?
KP
Them were the days we had no choice but to deliberate with neanderthals when they weren’t minding their caves……..
No one did caveman better than, Don. The funniest thing with Don was he was always blowing smoke up CC’s arse not realizing CC was Pedro who treated Don like a silly annoying puppy dog.
I migrated from online goober to lg when it stopped producing material. The ups? ‘Meeting’ you lot.The downs? Too many to mention. I got bored kicking against the pricks. There were some seriously knowledgeable people at online gooner too who understood Arsenal.