The Last Dance

Norg

I’m not really a fan of 3 at the back – Gabs and Saliba pick themselves, White’s been excellent at RB this season which as I’ve commented before asks why did we buy Timber? He can play at LB but its not his natural side.

My preference bearing in mind the players we currently have would be 4-2-3-1 with some fluidity in players movements. The back 4 would be Timber (LB lets see what he can do there), Gabs, Saliba and White. A CM of Rice plus a replacement for Partey who I think is leaving this summer (I like the idea of a double pivot where both players can defend, break up play but have the skill set to get forward (a bit like Vieira and Petit) and support attacks. Martinelli/Trossard, Ode and Saka playing off a real striker.

That would mean a summer shopping list of a new CM, a Striker who can bag a minimum of 20 PL and maybe backup for Saka if we really don’t have anyone in the squad who can cover after sales.

Out of the first team squad I can see / wouldn’t be surprised to see all or some of ESR, Jesus, Zinchenko, Partey, Eddie and Ramsdale all go which means we’ll also need another keeper.

Ambarish

Yeah I think we’re on the same wavelength on the back 4 – my only question would be if Kiwior isn’t good enough to play as reserve LCB why the hell did we pay €20 odd million for him?

All manager have players who don’t work out but Arteta’s constant pissing money up the wall makes me think he’s on commission from the agents.

Marc

He will be a good back up for Timber with Zinchenko gone. We are going to play 2 games a week for most of the next season.

Tomiyasu can manage RB. The only thing I would like to see is him being used at CB when we need to rest any of our 2 CBs. Or get a decent enough back in that position.

What about midfield? Because there is going to be a lot of changes I believe. We might see Partey leaving.

Killroy

Playing Partey costed us that game. He got injured and his value has dropped significantly. One of those brain fogs from Mikel.

Martin Keown believes “Unai Emery cost Arsenal the Premier League title this season” and claims “the Aston Villa manager was ‘desperate’ to beat his former club.”

What a bunch of clueless drivel, Unai has figured out Arteta as he also beat him with Villa Real in the EL. Emery fully deserves to revel in that success because of the way the Arsenal hierarchy treated him. Revenge is a dish best served cold.

Ambarish

As I said in my earlier comment I think Partey’s gone this summer so we’ll need a replacement.

If we buy a striker as we’re being linked with and Arteta’s plan is to go with a midfield of Rice, Havertz and Ode he’ll being playing Jorginho until he breaks him and then wondering why our season has fallen apart.

Killroy

The fact that Villa did the double over us when we only lost 5 PL matches all season should be enough to tell you everything you need about Emery’s ability over Arteta.

Mirror’s Football writers have given their verdicts at the end of the campaign and voted for best manager:
Unai 7
Pep 2
Ange 1

Oh snap, that got to smart with all the Arteta fan boys, not one vote for Tets.

Marc, Ambarish

The manager should be able to have both systems in his locker which he can change to suit the opposition being played. In some games Wenger would go with a back 5 – Keown being just in front of the back 4 or as a man marker when playing United. Keown marked his man in more ways than one.

Morning all

Alright, Bob!!!!!!!!!!!

Ambarish

I agree the name calling should stop if it even really started.

Let me clear this up for you best I can.

Aitcho is a troll whose soul purpose is to disagree here and hope to get someone banned or just take pleasure bring negativity to a positive blog where we enjoy chatting together with you and Hoopah and anyone who has views that make sense.

How do we know? A troll is someone who wants to disprove incontrovertible facts, such as 2nd is losing not winning.

Back in LG days Bob asked me for help with his very talented musician son who was looking for some areas to work on to improve both his song writing and production thinking, where after hearing the foundation of one of his songs, I was able to give some direction, and would be happy to offer further and introduce Bobs’ son to a successful engineer and song writer/musician closer to Bob’s son’s age.

There were other areas I was more than happy to offer other ideas that came to mind later after listening to the track in my Room and pulling it apart. The biggest issue was it was a melody rap song with little compression. That needed to be pushed much higher and I suggested studio techniques to talk over with the studio engineer, such as using keyboard bass lines. The song needed some different additions to make it stand out, which I again made suggestions for context mostly to get the creative juices flowing.

It’s well known on LG that Bob’s wife is a respected Dr of psychiatry or similar field and Bob oft decides he is one too.

Because we were back channeling via email I stupidly told Bob of some shit I was going through at a time where he had triggered me, so much with his reply, that had I been in England I would have had it out with him face to face.

For context, the last time I hit anyone was in 1980 was outside O’banians (similar spelling) when a big Peuto Rican chap decided I shouldn’t be with a PR woman coming out of the Irish pub while on tour with Madness, in Chicago.

I saw the knife late and threw the biggest marching power driven overhand right cross that connected perfectly on his frothing open mouth causing his jaw to break with pain to match. I was bundled into a taxi head first by pub security now outside, and driven to the Embassy hotel by “Huggy Bear’s” doppleganger who asked if I’d leave his fare on his meter once knowing I was with the English band in town. The Nutty Boys had been having their fun, too; it was 1980 and America loved the British accent. It was Madness in Chicago.

Lucky punch? Not really I was into martial arts self defense; it was instinctive. Anyone reading this I would urge take up Krav Maga as it could save your life some day, especially in the world today, which I’m sure TRVL and ex early MMA proponent would agree. I played men’s rugby at 15 and had had beatings in the orphanages and from my adopted father. Not poor me just life shaping.

Bob fanned the flames at a time when my depression was at it’s worst by writing back words to the effect of saying ‘drop the poor me’, and in that moment, I was done with Bob and sadly his son, too.

I was helping your son, Bob, and you were seriously grateful. We all knew about your gifted son from your candor on LG that he also has spectrum issues, as often highly creative people do. You told us how he’d come through a psychotic episode, and really doing well, and you were happy for my connection even to the point telling me your son told you he likes the way my brain works. Quelle supris!

We both reside in spectrum. We are gifted and cursed in equal amounts. We understand each other’s torment because we live our own. Something you’ll never understand unless you live it and I don’t mean vicariously.

I, as I did too many times in LG, let my ADHD handbrake off and said Fcuk You and that was that, I deleted you from my life.

Bob, as you have said before, you and I are adopted. Here’s where that story differs. Your adopted parents were Cambridge grads that afforded you a very comfy life, and you live in a wealthy part of London. My childhood was the polar opposite. I left home or I was going to give my adopted father 12 years of payback. I elected to take care of myself at 18. By 24 I had been award gold and silver discs and ran tours throughout Europe and North America. Very few achieve that, Bob. As I said gifted and cursed.

So, for all your smarts you denied your son much potential help. I’m sure he has gone on to much better levels now, as I’d expect that kind of raw talent to do. I genuinely hope he is finding his mojo in music.

If you took the time to be a regular reader here, you’d see that this Arsenal platform is one of intelligent discourse about our beloved team and other subjects we all enjoy reading and writing.

Ambarish is all the moral conscience guide we should need, but it never has been needed, as we all respect each other greatly, where those who want or have time for are back channelling by email where we have become good friends.

You had that chance, but decided you would be you.

I’m deep into the spectrum and am open about it because it might help others understand themselves. Your myopia seems to think it’s “poor me.”

ADHD is a very all consuming spectrum issue that attaches itself to other parts of the spectrum alphabet soup. For me it’s most likely some autism and OCD driven by ADHD. Rory Bremner also has similar issues who like me had no idea for way too many years what was affecting him and why our brains are always data gathering making focus a nightmare.

Everyone here knows me, so let’s look at you.

Junior, at 12 had you well worked out. He said to me Bob just runs round in circles getting nowhere fast. He said you liked to nastily snipe paradoxically; his word at 12 because I looked up at him smiling knowingly. He added grey areas and nuances were your get out of jail free cards always finding a way to spin. That was junior’s impression of you. By your own admission you admitted similar that drove your teachers mad.

You come across as a smart arse, but can’t pull it off consistently so go the paradox trail. The broken clock analogy chimes in here.

Now junior is living in BKK, in a condo at 15, and attends the most privileged and advanced mathematics school run by a university with 10 students to a class. 3000+ students for a handful of seats that money can’t buy a place. Fall below a 3:0 and your history.

He wants to be a robotic architecture engineer and songwriting musician. At 15 he is the young “Giant Khon champion of Thailand” He’s done TV interviews and been invited into the adult palace Khon group, and will eventually be part of the very highest shows for the king and visiting dignitaries. His networking will be very cool, as it is at his school where the Thai elite send their kids if they can gain entrance.

The sky is the limit for junior and he will only be limited by himself.

I guess we are all different, Bob. I’ll be honest, I simply don’t like you as a person.

I could care less what you think of me it will not change my life in any form. Anyone who can trigger me enough to want to dispatch maximum violence in me, is not someone I want to talk to or have in my life at any level.

My last words to you here was “I don’t need people like you in my life.” It’s still true today.

Now let me spell it out to you.

I have no problem you posting here, as is your right. You are fully ware of the room temperature and can read a room as well as understanding that we are a blog of winners: in our private lives and wanting glory for our club, especially after 20 years in the PL wilderness.

You like to quote facts; well the facts are you are saying the same hollow, lame excuses of we’ve improved and we’ve…… and we’re …… but reality, Bob, is we have won nothing of note in 5 years.

One Covid FA cup.

If you and Islington want to celebrate this fervently together all getting pissed together with that special Kumbya moment; by all means do so.

6000km away this non alcohol liking Gooner didn’t feel the faux celebrations of 2nd.

You see 2nd and something to celebrate, and I see losing.

Another reality check is we have collapsed 3 years running: all in April.

You are welcome to your thoughts, Bob, but why try to convert a room who are 100% against your anti winning logic. You’ll convert no one and just cause ill will with a very happy bunch of posters who collective look for ways to improve our club – we see this as certain players in and out, and new manager who can win the title spending nearly £700m, and not be the also ran, El B is.

We all support the same club, Bob. Just differently.

Here’s a thought start your own blog, Bob, where all the Islington celebrators can write freely on your platform and we won’t bother you.

Why? We’re happy here, we don’t need to piss on other peoples chips or happiness you and Aitcho seem to take delight in doing and wrap it up as banter.

If you want to address me, I’ll simply send you a seal because that is what I think of you. Nothing’s changed, Bob.

Post away, but leave me out and I’ll do the same. I just send Aitcho seals now if I see my name mentioned I can’t be bothered to read his drivel after TRVL has factually downed Aitcho’s trolling. His posts are wasted on me as I just scroll by.

Now Bob, I’ve highlighted nothing above you can’t find on LG.

No new revelations, they are all there to be read if one is so inclined. Certain facts you relayed by email I have kept private because karma drives my moral compass, and I don’t break confidences even of people I dislike.

I have neither called you names nor called your character into question. I’ve simply quoted Junior who doesn’t like you either and was very accurate.

Since you have decided to come back, I have just let the room know my stance, as far as you are concerned. I consider these people my friends so prefer they understand why I won’t be acknowledging you here after this post.

I’m sure you’ll feel assuaged by this.

I understand why you are the way you are: Arsenal is your life socially, and club wise, and as with Stroller, you feel compelled you should deter the detractors. I hope the club recognizes your fervor.

Very noble of you, Bob, but I doubt either of you will get a statue.

FYI the LIR detractors here only seek a way to win. I know this is a difficult concept for you to understand, but there it is. For a time this season here we dared to hope, too, but blind faith isn’t us.

You and Aitcho do similar, but support a manager who can’t win anything to save his life after spending nearly £700m in 5 years. Fact! 88522 Fact! Maybe next season, eh?

For a winning rookie generational manager think Alonso, not El B.

You’re hanging onto blind faith that El B isn’t going to make the same mistakes during the coming season regardless of who he bought. We beg to differ, as in 5 years the song remains the same.

Emery wasn’t the long term answer, but with £600m+ he’d have brought us at least one PL trophy. After all, he missed 4th by one point with a rag tailed squad he wasn’t allowed to improve with his own player choices.

First full season with Villa and he’s playing CL football next season.

No one knows if Gasparini or the other 2 new PL incumbent managers all siting 10, 11 and 12th have what it takes to manage us, but for sure all will take points from us next season with lesser squads, such as B’mouth.

El B has spent almost twice what B’mouth is worth as a club. Let that sink in.

Ambarish
I hope this clears things up here. No one here wants discourse El B causes that enough on his own.

Don’t worry about censoring the room, you have enough to do, and you know we all highly respect you and will keep things, as you would like the blog to be.

We also would like to welcome more posters as the more views the merrier. Trolls are better suited with Pedro: the master of the alter egos.

I won’t address Bob or Aitcho further.

A sad song for a sad end to our season, but a beautiful song of loss:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6FHvP_Yv0wE

For the uninitiated I first got to hear about Garth from an article about 2 heavy metal, grizzled, road crew from Iron Maiden who were off tour. They were offered a Garth tour and took it for the money, but actually loved every minute and continued to work for him.

That resonated with me having met such veterans of the industry and learnt much from them, and so I took a serious interest in his music and songwriting.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WqXwQTXoXZM

See what you think.

Have a good one LIR

Tony,

We had private e mail correspondence around personal issues, you are now sharing some very personal details on line which is completely out of order. You have a habit of over sharing your personal life which is your choice but to share some of mine is seriously wrong.

Ambarish, could you please delete Tony’s post, thank you

Bob
Nothing has been shared that isn’t on LG from your posts.

Be thankful I helped you maybe even grateful.

Bullshit Tony! I’m gone.

This is interesting though unlike VAR get’s the boot.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-13439587/Premier-League-table-without-VAR.html

Tony

One down, or out or whatever .

Good day all

Hoopah

Are you near the coast?

Tony-so as to not pile on, I will simply say bravo and thanks again for keeping me in the loop…Cheers

Tony
That could have been 95% shorter, much less out of order to Bob and much less of your made up backstory. Again. How many times do you need to try and convince us you were adopted and have adhd? Let it go. If you’re odd, you’re odd, that’s not adhd.

Tets has spent £584m, stick to facts not your fantasies. I have no idea why you think imaginary fights and martial arts expertise make your footballing opinions any less shit. Last week it was £1bill, this £700m, this is why your views are trash.

All I’m seeing from you and Vera is fantasy and LG related bitterness. Let it go.

Emery was 4 years ago, he was dross. He was dross as PSG, he shit the bed v City this season, you saw the team he put out. You’d trust him with £600m only because you were wrong about Tets. Let that go too

The foolishness of you coming on a blog to shit on the fans, proper fans, many who go to games, support the club, through thick and thin, sometimes very thin, beggars belief.

Dismissing that support as nothing more than idiots doing kumbya shows me the issue. You don’t get it, you don’t understand the club the fans and what it means to people. You also don’t get competitive sport. This is why people become dismissive of tourists and armchair fans. Fools like you make them look bad.

Arsenal related content is not a vehicle for your delusions of grandeur, your delusions generally.

By all means, put up your seals, post more of your fables, if you want this blog to be a Vera and Tiny Tone chat-shit-fest. You’re not getting banned. In truth, I’d feel bad if this was taken from your life on my account. But I’m more than comfortable addressing the boneheaded views of oddballs on a blog who are too petty to let grudges go.

Haven’t you and ‘Junior’ got a Mars rover to design or something?

Tony
Again
You have no idea if 10, 11 12th managers will take points off us. Nothing in recent form to ussher they will

This is your stock in trade. Make up imaginary scenarios, footballing and otherwise and then get all upset over them.

This time last year you were gassing De Zerbi. How he had patterns of play that would mean he could deal with injuries and less money.and no Saliba. Even De Zerbi doesn’t agree with you, he wants more money and is now leaving to get it.

You just follow the anti Tet crowd with no clue at all.

I was thinking about the games we lost last season it was 5 games, 2 of them were against a Villa team in the hands of Emery. Looks like he got the beat on Tets.

Unfortunately for Emery the guilty party was Raul. Emery started well even though he had no say in the players taken on – they were Rauls choice – look who there agents were.
Aitcho – you think Emery was dross yet 7 out of 10 pundits for a national daily thought otherwise. You do not like Emery it is obvious – I am not that keen on Arteta as a manager and even less so when he was a player.

We all have our dislikes and are free to criticise. Quite simple really.

Tony is an interesting guy – we both share the same music tastes and I expect we probably know the same people from way back. Outside of football he is also prepared to help me progress in business in his part of the world – it is amazing what friendly chat can lead to.

Marc-I get your back 3 trepidation, but we’ve employed a couple different rotating zonal coverage schemes that all involved the same kind of movement that are required in most modern day versions of a 3-4-3, so it wouldn’t be a very difficult transition…if it weren’t for MA’s personnel missteps and more conservative tactical inklings, which left us with no recourse but to deploy a more rudimentary version of Pep’s system, with a light tweaking each summer, we might have already left City in our wake…sorry but what’s on offer now won’t get it done here, so long as Pep remains at City, or in Europe, where better managers will generally make those who can’t make in-game adjustments pay for their overtly static scripts

phase 1

Xhaka sliding left to cover the advancing LB…I get the thought-process, as this would allow Tierney to bomb up the left, then Xhaka, who was already occupying the deeper-lying pivot role, could simply drop on a 45 degree angle to the left whenever possession was lost on his side of the pitch…the problem with this tweak was that it often involved Tierney charging recklessly to the endline and sending a seemingly endless amount of crosses into a largely unoccupied box, as we had no true target man…as such, we tended to give up possession too cheaply, which required Xhaka to be called into action as a LB far too often…unfortunately he had neither the foot speed nor the defensive capabilities to properly deal with a pacey counter attack…this is what ultimately led to MA’s pursuit of Zinchenko, who was a LB by trade and supposedly had the requisite amount of ball skills to play as a pseudo-DM in that inverted role

phase 2

when Partey sat deeper, just in front of our wider sitting CBs, so White could provide the always double-teamed Saka with some much-needed help…this was simply an attempt to correct the the deficiencies of the previous model…with Partey as the pacier pivot, Xhaka was now being relied on as more of an offensive cog, which added considerably more on the left and added more men into the box when we were attacking from the right…White’s presence allowed Saka to get some more 1 v. 1 looks, which enabled him to get into the kind of spaces where he could either shoot with his preferred foot or provide service into a now more player-committed box, at least from the backside…the problem with this approach was that it was difficult to rely on Partey, due to his health concerns and it left us too stretched at the back with little hope of getting the required amount of defensive help from the sloth-like Xhaka when our opponents countered with pace

phase 3

when Gabs was required to provide cover on the left when Zinchenko was deployed in the inverted role, which was meant to give more front side help to our now fully-engaged high press and to likewise provide more sideways passing options in our far more possession-dependent tactical approach…this was fairly successful as Gabs was a left-footed player, so this sort of movement fit him nicely, and it likewise left us in better stead to deal with the counter, as we had more players available to provide defensive coverage due to our more static positioning in the middle third of the pitch…problem with this tweak is that it left us facing a lot of bus sitting sides, who would simply double team our biggest goalscoring threats, Marts and Saka, and not allow Ode, our only real creative force, any time on the ball

so what the fuck is my point, esepcially as it pertains to us making a tactical shift into 3-4-3…I believe that with a few savvy transfer decisions, now that we’ve added one of the premier DMs in world football, we could become one of the most exciting and dominant teams on the planet…we must act fast though before our manager makes more settling big money moves, like with Havertz, or sells off one of our high ceiling players, like Marts, who could light things up if we simply revamped our tactical script

on most nights, towards the end of the season, we deployed a system that looked much more like a 2-3-2-3 with Saliba and Gabs sitting deepest, White, Jorginho/Partey and Tomi on the next level, and Rice and Ode splitting left and right, just behind Tross, Havertz and Saka…so the notion of deploying a 3-4-3 isn’t radically different, at least from a defensive movement standpoint…the big difference is that a 3-4-3 would vastly improve our offensive zone pursuits, if we acquired a high end wingback on the left, another box-to-box midfielder and a clinical Striker up top

Gabs, Saliba and White make for a near perfect back 3, as they’re all well-versed in the movement it would require; not to mention, White came to our attentions when he was deployed as a true RCB in a back 3…Rice would sit at the base of the diamond within the midfield 4, with Timber out right and someone new opposite of him, then Ode would be at the top of the diamond, more centrally-placed so he could provide service to all areas of the pitch…on the outside you would have a combination of 4 pacey players making over and underlapping runs, thus eliminating the opposition’s ability to double-team every threat in wider spaces…this would likewise provide Ode with more time on the ball, thus making him our DeBruyne-like figure, with Rice, our Rodri, tucked in behind…the cherry on the top would be a clincial Striker with the kind of pace and positional intelligence that would undoubtedly force opposing defences into losing their shape on a regular basis, thereby helping those making wider lane runs, as this would greatly lessen the chance of offsides occurring too often…just a few thoughts on the matter

Spot on TRVL – expect a phone call from El B soon.

TRVL

You know my opinion of Arteta’s stumbling round in the dark and tripping over something that works for a handful of matches before repeating the process.

We’re being linked with CM’s and Strikers which if Partey is leaving would usually make sense – the question is what happens to the golden boy Havertz? Arteta got serious form for dropping players whenever he gets the whim but I think he’d struggle to explain the outlay of fee and wages for a player to be backup after only one season.

Such a shame we can’t out Arteta now and give a new manager a season to settle before Pep makes a move and City face the fallout of the charges against them.

The Poooooooch has left Chelsea by mutual consent so Liverpool, ManU and Chelsea will have new people in charge.

I can’t see Chelsea getting out of the rut their in until they A) give a manager some time and B) get the squad down to something sensible numbers wise and stop buying players for the sake of it.

at least with havent got Boeley as our owner. Who next for Chelsea – an Italian I guess.

the whole Pooch exodus is an interesting gig, as I would have expected him to get a minimum of 2 years to try and turn that shit show around…they still have a bloated roster, which isn’t of his own doing, and he suffered a plethora of injuries (most missed games(309) by quite some margin), most notably to Nkunku and James, so I very much doubt anyone would have delivered more…the only criticism I had about his brief tenure was that he waited too long before he took the handbrakes off, but I kind of get his thinking as they don’t have a single rostered CB who I would trust, regardless of the opponent…tbh I think he would have waited even longer if it weren’t for Palmer’s massive uptick in form…personally, I would suspect that he pushed for total control over personnel matters and when they balked, he said see you later bitches…let’s hope that DeZerbi doesn’t get the call, as that lineup is rife with talent/pace…so once it’s been suitably trimmed down and some real CBs are brought into the fold, they could beat us to the whole 3-4-3 punch and fast become a force to be reckoned with…of course, unless that American owner fuck turns into a meddling bitch again

Marc-I wish MA were a stumbling in the dark tactician, as it would suggest that he might have a toolbox chock full of differing tactical ideas, but we both know he’s a one-trick pony, with the occasional tweak, kind of coach…I do agree with your Havertz sentiments/concerns…what are the chances that MA views our scrawny stretch armstrong as a potentially savvy depth piece, as there’s all sorts of opponents where he might provide something off the bench, after all even a broken clock is right twice a day…now if MA goes into this window with a written in stone belief that we’re going to run it back with a front 2 of Havertz and Rice, so to speak, I wouldn’t be surprised if our transfers are far less inspiring than one might expect…if this were the case, I could see us getting another DM, another CB, a LB and only one final third wide side player…fuck I hope not though

TRVL

I wonder how much of it was the Pooch wanting out – there’s clearly serious issues at the club and god knows what else is going on behind the scenes.

TRVL

We won’t buy a first choice LB and only a backup if Zinchenko goes (Tierney’s gone), Arteta won’t go with 2 up front and Ode won’t be dropped, another CB would be a waste of money when we need a quality striker, I do think backup for Saka could be an option.

My guess is our business will be a striker, a CM replacement for Partey if he leaves, backup for Saka and a backup keeper when Ramsdale goes. Of course we’ve also got to cough up for Raya so unless we raise a lot of money through sales or have far more to spend than you’d guess I think that will be the limit.