Well, I am back in some capacity! First round of festive season is over and the next one starts in couple of weeks. There has been some good and not so good things going for our club as excitements and disappointments go hand in hand. The best part of all there is, is that we have kept it in control mostly.
Premier League run
We are unbeaten in Premier League after first 9 games. We sit at 3rd position, equal on points to Man City and falling slightly short to Tottenham who are on their amazing yet fake run.
In this run, we have shared points with Chelsea, Tottenham and Fulham, beaten Man City, Bournemouth, Everton, Man United, Crystal Palace and Forest. We have played 4 good teams already and haven’t had lost yet. Our next few games till Nov end are against Sheff United (H), Newcastle (A), Burnley (H), Brentford (A); considerably easy fixtures except may be Newcastle who had their own PL/CL runs to sort out. I would expect a minimum of 10 points out of available 12 and I’m being generous to others.
Premier League is highly competitive, current English and Europe Champions lost to Wolves not so long ago. On a given day, you can lose to any bottom half team and Chelsea. We need to grab as much points as we can, whenever possible because we sure would be at the other end of such upsets and having a comfortable point tally will allow us to absorb that shock. A draw to Fulham might feel satisfying after going down 1-0 in the first minute of the match but then we were 2-1 up till 86th minute. It wasn’t a point won but 2 lost, if you think otherwise then my friend you are still living in the Wenger Era of mediocrity.
We are playing Sheffield on Saturday Afternoon and I am looking forward to a win. Crystal Palace can do us a favor as they host Spuds.
Champions League run
We have had a somewhat easy group in Champions League. We have won against PSV and Sevilla while Lens managed to grab all 3 points against us. With that in mind, I think we will qualify since 2 of the games left are at home and PSV away should be an easier fixture.
Now, here’s some fact – we haven’t looked comfortable yet. Though we managed to win against Sevilla, they had more possession than us, almost equal shots and we had 4 shots on target to theirs 2. We have a piss poor finishing and the idea of playing ‘only’ from the wings limited us against European teams who don’t play the same way and don’t respect what you are trying to do as a manager. There is virtually no attack from the middle and you can see how poor Saka was, because opponents can nullify that threat easily.
We are hosting Sevilla on Nov 09th, and I am expecting we win and seal the qualification to round of 16. There has been some upsets already – Dortmund beating Newcastle, Celtic sharing points with Atletico, PSG losing to Newcastle, Galatasaray beating Man Utd at Old Trafford and some more, but at the end of the day – the round of 16 will have familiar faces and the expected ones. It would get more interesting when we start the knockout phase because no one’s going to respect you, no one’s backing down and you will have to be deserving to get a win.
Right, I am not going into the Carabao cup run because frankly I don’t care. Play the bench, win or lose, don’t care till we keep our Premier League Title Run and Champions League run going.
Say that again?
Odegaard has been poor. Yep – we need an upgrade on our captain. It’s not the LCM that worries me now but the right. He is being asked to move centrally while White overlaps with Saka but it’s not helping. We have criticized Geundouzi for being a headless chicken with his runs, Odegaard does the same when he chases the ball in the name of pressing. If you notice, the opposition do not worry about his press unlike Martinelli or Nketiah/Saka. The good thing is, we have a number #10 sitting on our bench who have years of chemistry with Saka. The bad thing – Mikel prefers his toys and we may never see that happening. At least, he subbed out Ode in the last game so he is aware what’s going on, but will he give a chance ESR over Ode remains to be seen. I doubt but!
Move ahead from Thomas Partey
Partey is THE best player at Arsenal. You know how much I admire him and his game. He has been brilliant whenever he is on the pitch in red and white and was an integral part of our title run last season. Everything went hayward when he got fatigued. But he is injured far too often. I was against Mikel for having a conversation of letting Partey go, but I think it should have been a wise decision to use that money to get someone else. What’s the point if you can’t make it to a Champions League game. Declan / Jorginho are sharing minutes with him but that’s not helping. Sending a physio with him on his national duty is not helping. Things are only gonna get worse as he gets older, accept the check for him next time someone comes knocking on your door.
And Jorginho is not the answer. Declan Rice is. I don’t know what in the hell forces Mikel to play Rice as the attacking mid while Jorginho subs Partey. It’s not like we don’t have a LCM – a 65million buy in Havertz, Fabio Vieira, Trossard can play and ESR has played too. There is no need to try fancy things.
Ramsdale / Raya conundrum and breeding competition
I think that was a good move. Ramsdale have always looked shaky when pressed and Raya has this calmness over him. However, there is not a very big difference in ability between the two Goalkeepers and we would see who comes out on top in coming months. As of now, Mikel prefers his new toy but Ramsdale is not going anywhere.
But, this sort of competition and starting a player on merit should NOT just be limited to GK. What happens to Havertz? Why Fabio do not get a start when, in the few minutes he have played, he has looked brilliant. Tomiyasu has finally managed to displace Zinchenko from that LB position and he was immense in that role against Sevilla. A machine, never loses his duals, much better in defending and can match Martinelli’s pace. You can however ask this question – why this late though?
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Right, I had a lot to whine in last couple of weeks but can’t recall anymore. Shout out in the comments if you think there’s more to complain. Enjoying football and your club doesn’t mean you can’t be critical of it.
On a side note – Unai Emery is doing a great job at Villa and hate to say it but so does Ange Postecoglou for Spuds. It’s not always about money. Mourinho and Pep are epitome of success and they always want more money (Arteta, Xavi are the next ones), but someone somewhere is playing good football with limited resources (Villa, Brighton in PL). A manager’s success should be judged on his performance with the tools he have, and not because he was not able to buy a 100m player who can play at both LB and CB.
That’s all, sorry for these many words but it’s been long. Hope you are having a good week.
Very readable piece Ambarish. It’s not the results, it’s the performances. We’re winning a good proportion of games, and showing fight when we’re not, but there’s little belief that it’ll be sustained nor that there’s a strategy. Most teams with title pretensions would be beating bottom half teams with comfort and positive goal difference yet we always seem to have a white knuckle ride in the final 15 minutes. It merely confirms other teams’ beliefs that we’ll sit back after getting ahead and become reactive, cautious and supine. That was never the way of Arsenal title winning teams in the past. Arteta, if anything, us becoming even more unlikeable – stubborn, over-emotions and a poor judge of his players and on-field strategy.
We’re OK right now but the optimism has dimmed from this time last year. I think we’ll win the upcoming games (Newcastle away included) but the real test will come up at Anfield. I can also see us picking up another 6 points at least in CL group but actually winning it is vital I agree. It’s finely poised.
Tottenham a fake run? Don’t think so more like, surprising, unexpected, lucky but what Ange has done with the players he has to work with does deserve respect.
As far as Ode is concerned yes he has had a drop off form but it seems to coincide with the dropping of Partey. Could it be that this is the reason because he doesn’t get the quick through balls from Partey?
Hi Killroy
I think it’s fair comment about the artificiality of Spurs’s league position. The fixture computer has been incredibly kind to them so far. They’ve played a lot if not all of the present bottom dwellers. OK, they beat Liverpool but that was gifted to them by PGMOL in reality. They’ve drawn with us and beat Manure but I’m pretty sure things will start to unravel when they come up against the bigger teams. I’d go so far as to say their position is the falsest (is that a word? – cannot be arsed to check… ) as far as the big 6 are concerned. On the other hand, they’re benefiting from the lack of euroball (and Carabao) but I simply don’t think they have the quality and nous to go deep. I’ll eat my hat (and testes) if they end their 63 (yes 63) year wait for the title. I’d also be hugely depressed if they ever did it while I was still shuffling on this mortal coil. In fact, I hope at some stage to be told that the last spuds fan born before they won it in the 61 was ‘brown bread’ to resort to some cockney rhyming slang.
What’s your tip for the rugby WC? I dearly hope the ABs prevail .
KP
Far be it for me to wish success to the Sp*ds, but after loosing their best player, having a new EPL untested manager I was betting they would languish mid to bottom table, but never top of the table. It will be a test for them once they play the better teams, but playing once a week, doing a brilliant purchase in Madison, which our elite fuck ups passed on, after 9 games they learn how to play together and where each player is and what each one wants.
I give their manager more credit than most do and for me injury problems will keep them out of the top part of the table. Still no one and I mean no one had them in the position they are in now. Many said this season will be tougher as all the teams have strengthened Arteta bottled the title last season.
It is infuriating to look at his purchases and it reeks of a newbie that learns managing on the job. Havertz, Lokonga, Tavares, Vieira and the whole GK situation. Emi, Leno, Ramsdale, Raja, Turner, Hein and Runnarson and still not having a convincing GK. WTF is wrong with that dude and getting a quality shot stopper into the team. Henry summed it up in his Paramount+ comments, I stopped breathing in the Seville game when Raja almost punched the ball in his own net.
Now to the pleasant part, two more excellent Rugby matches and just like you I hope the ABs will become the 4th time world champions because SA also are working on their 4th RWC win.
Just a tip for watching Rugby matches as I don’t know what your situation is. In New Zealand the company that had the rights for the United Rugby Championship (URC) went bankrupt and the streaming site TVNZ+ airs for the next two seasons the matches for free and their are some tasty ones, 4 of the best SA teams, 4 Irish teams incl Leinster, 4 Welsh, 2 Scots and 2 Italians it is a cracker of a league. TVNZ+ both air Live, On Demand and Highlights.
All you need is a VPN, Windscribe https://windscribe.com/login has a free version for 10GB per month or like $3 per month for unlimited. Log into the Aukland server connect to https://www.tvnz.co.nz/ create a free account and you got access to New Zealand’s premier TV network. For the ABs to win on Saturday.
Cheers Killroy,
Postecoglu, unlike most of his predecessors, is a likeable character. There’s no doubt that they’ve exceeded expectations so far.
Thanks too for posting that rugby access information. It’s all on terrestrial TV in the UK but others will find it useful. These third place games are absurd aren’t they? A hangover from the 20th century and an anachronism in the ‘winning is everything’ ethos of modern sport.
Great piece Ambarish and fair play if you can get to all the holidays. They have 17 days here for Buddha and royalty B’days. Your writing is more chatty, but this doesn’t dilute your points for and against. Makes it more enjoyable reading, as KP said.
Morning KP & Killroy
I think only injuries can derail Ange’s football.
It’s simple counter attack at pace, and very good space management off the ball by players playing in their natural positions. Ange has created a well oiled machine/identity where no doubt, the Spuds players seem to like fighting to stay at the top. We know how that can create momentum until the injuries start mounting.
Ange has also got the TW coming up to add more players in essential positions. With Middle Eastern buyers looking at Spuds, Levy will want leverage through results and staying top, so expect TW movement from Levy, supported by Joe Lewis.
I don’t see Spuds winning the PL, but they will be in the final 4 if Ange buys well in January.
Klopp is all teeth and winning smiles, as Darwin is finally finding consistency, where Klopp has been suffering early injuries but still grinding results. He looks to have turned a corner and could well go on a winning run. Ditto City who I feel have got over their Rodri blip, and are getting the deserved plaudits for their CL form.
The PL for me is all up in the air. No one bar City, Pool and Spuds (that fucking grates) are finding form for the run up to Xmas. We are hit & miss and far too predictable to win the PL this season.
Ode is off form, but Partey’s position is far from clear. Supposedly, Partey picked up a thigh muscle injury last Monday, and why he didn’t play against Seville. However, there are some Internet rumblings that Partey is the latest to fall out with Arteta.
I know not what the truth is, but with Arteta’s unseemly track record with falling out with his players, it’s difficult to want to be asking pertinent questions of the manager.
Partey transitions to Ode far better than Rice because Rice has to cover for the LMF when Zinchenko is on walkabout, and Rice carries vertically better than the marginally slower Partey. It’s probably why Ode has to come much deeper which is making it unnatural for Ode to feed the front three, and thus service is poor.
All of Arteta’s doing because ESR is comfortable coming deep and making vertical runs with the ball when taking the ball on the turn. Few are better than ESR at that. ESR showed in his cameo that he has his pace back post injury, and I’d even give ESR a run at the striker role. I think ESR with his height and bulk would revel in that position. Eddie isn’t cutting it, nor is anyone else really.
ESR as 9 and Jesus feeding ESR, Saka and Martinelli with Partey feeding Jesus and Ode sitting on a beach somewhere mentally and physcially recouping.
I keep hearing how ruthless Arteta is, but is he really?
In my book he’s just an uncouth bully too full of himself and taking narcism to new levels. Our football has no identity after nearly 5 years. We are as predictable now as we were under Wenger; only the football landscape has changed closer to level playing fields, so managers need to be more team/squad minded to cope with the rigors of today’s, what? 60 to 80 games a season?
Rice is going to break late this season or early next. Arteta bought Rice for his durability to miss only few games a season, if any really. Partey didn’t have problems with Athletic Madrid.
I’m not really bothered about the next 5 or 10 games. I wouldn’t miss them, but I’m not expecting much either other than more of the same and very unpleasant robotic football. The injuries will come and go and Arteta will hang on for grim death each game, because he looks the most stressed I’ve ever seen him.
It’s Arteta’s way and failure isn’t an option until it actually is, like the last 2 season’s ends. Then the buses are lined up for players to be thrown under. God can NEVER be wrong – only players have that distinction.
Probably the safest bet with your bookie is will ESR start a PL game? I’d bet the house against it.
Onto the rugby which has been far more pleasurable.
I’m a neutral and just looking forward to a typically great southern hemisphere game. I find the Kiwis too cocky because the game means so much to New Zealand. It’s a religion there.
It’s by far their biggest sporting export for global domination. Killroy, I know you’ve been to the Kiwi hallowed turfs so could understand your AB leanings.
Should be a cracker but at 2am, I’ll watch it in the morning before I wake up to the outside world.
Sheffield tomorrow so should be 3 points in the bag with a healthy GD boost.
KP, you off to see Cardiff get revenge on Bristol City or are you heading to Newtown for the Haverford game?
Hi Tony
Putting my geopolitical hat on, and bearing in mind the current violence in Israel and Palestine and it’s likelihood of reaching other neighbours, a middle eastern buyout of the Spuds is surely a non starter. It would also signify a massive betrayal for many of their fans. For similar reasons, it’s hard to imagine future ownership of Arsenal for the same reasons, ie a big Hebrew fan base.
On the other hand, there might be Jewish entities who would like to buy out ENIC but it’s hard to see. It could give PL football a proxy war type feel. Oil Kleptocracy v classic Chinese State Capitalist corruption in the guise of Man City versus, say, Shanghai Dortmund in a future Euro super league. It would make the sports prophesied in that James Caan film Rollerball look a little bit more accurate.There might be a screenplay in there for a dystopian film…
Back to real football. No, I was close to buying a ticket to hopefully see Cardiff annihilate Bristol City (or ‘the shit’ as they’re scatologically known by cross city rivals Bristol City) but decided I could do without the drive. I’m going soft. Same for County – they’re not going to win tomorrow so I’ll stay here and await the worst, and catch the Blades game if I can.
Heart says 5-0 home victory as we dismantle their low block within 2 minutes. I hope pumpkin is primed especially with halloween on the horizon!
Head says nervy 2-1 win after they score in 25 seconds and we enjoy 82 percent possession. Hope it’s the former as all this squeaking anus action is inflaming my ‘chalfonts’. More cockney rhyming slang which you’ll know – if anyone else wants an explanation I’ll be happy to oblige.
I’m feeling a Chas and Dave day coming on although both are massive spurs fans. Gertcha! Ever come across those two geezers in your work Tony?
Superb piece Ambarish, flowing prose aided by a good wine ?
Whatever ,, cheerio.
To borrow from the pundits
https://www.sportskeeda.com/amp/football/news-it-s-going-effect-saliba-gabriel-ex-chelsea-star-says-arsenal-centre-back-duo-suffer-due-teammate-s-problem
https://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/thomas-partey-increasingly-dissatisfied-arsenal-31293314
Wonder what is in it that Arsenal has such a high attrition rate during training. Hearing Arteta hold forth how he rates the effort and intensity of players during training to decide his starting 11, guess everyone just run crazy like Odegaard chasing balls or a dog chasing cars.
Hoopah
Great point there mate. Not even his biggest sycophants – most of whom lurk on le grove – would imagine Arteta capable of spotting a squad member physically going into the red and putting an arm around hm and lending a sympathetic ear. Remember that time he forced TP back on the pitch 8 a north London derby? To my mind, that leaves players to regulate their own fitness. They’re always going to err on the side of caution and make minor injuries seem worse in order to get some down time and protect their only asset, ie their health and fitness. Not all players are like that but the ones who are always willing to put their bodies in the line are now a rarity. Ian Wright, Jack Wilshere and David Rocastle come to mind as does Sir Declan of Biryani.
I can barely remember Arsenal pre-Declan. In future historians will talk about the BD (before Declan) and AD (anno Declan).
We always had too many injuries during the late Wenger period as well. Rosicky, Diaby, RvP to name a few. I think the the fault lay with the team of physios then who were crap at their jobs. In the current situation, however, the blame lies with our little megalomaniac friend with his impeccable, immutable eyebrows. Enjoy the game tomorrow.
The talk about Partey wanting out just gets closer to confirming my joke conspiracy theory that Arteta deliberately sabotages the squad so he’s always got an excuse but keeps him in the job because he’s always only a player or two away from conquering the world.
Marc
Fucking off TP, arguably THE most important player during Tets’s reign of bullshit prior to Declan’s arrival, would surely lead to the sack in a well-run club. The guy’s a fucking menace when it comes to player management.
Can you imagine him running a team of under 10s? The parents would fucking lynch him.
Kroenke
Its not what he does its the way he does it.
Deciding that Partey’s too injury prone and move him on in the summer whilst bringing in a replacement is good management.
Pissing him off so he leaves for a low fee in Jan and not bringing in or being able to bring in a replacement that sabotages our season? Just sounds like he does it on purpose – “its not my fault look what happened and I couldn’t sign anyone”.
Marc & KP
Partey and Jesus are out injured. Jesus I get, but Partey?
So, Ode, Jorginho and Rice midfield?
I hope he starts ESR and he scores a brace and a couple of assists. Then after the game tells Arteta he’s off. It’s what they both deserve, no?
Hi Tony
You hear news like that about injuries and you think…
Surely there’s a clear out due of medical staff
Someone needs to spell out to Tetsy that he needs to do a far better job of protecting valuable assets
The club needs to stop obliging every one these bullshit international teams (including Ingerland) by sending our players to them in order for them to become crocked. Ferguson did it without compunction – Arteta needs to stop bending over for countries and players who believe international caps are nirvana. They’re not – it’s playing for Arsenal that matters.
Tony – rugby WC third place game last night worth a watch I’d say if you can get it, not least as an appetiser for the main event later on.
It’s this time of the week I start to get a bit of remorse about not going to a game if I’ve not arranged one. Cardiff-Bristol is a big derby and arguably bigger than the game against Swansea. In essence, Wales v England. That’s one good thing about Cardiff – 4 bitter derby games every year. Oh, and the others are all against foreign rivals where there’s an underlying visceral hatred. What football should be all about.
Marc – have a good one at the game mate. SU ought not be our hardest home game of the year, far from it, but who knows…
Hey KP
I watched the game on that app I sent you as you can go back now 72hours.
Have to say England were lucky to get bronze. Had the Pumas kicked all their penalties they probably would have won by 3 points; they chose to kick for touch but eventually lost out territorially. As you say, a great game preview for the final tonight or tomorrow morning for me.
Supposedly, Partey got injured from the last kick of the ball in training before the Sevilla game according to lip service Arteta.
Forgot to answer earlier I never met Chas and Dave or know that much about them. Couple of cool ,banter boys, though.
Anyone buying that?
If you mean Partey’s injury Tony, no I’m not buying that. 😊
Arteta is like a lot of public figures who think they’re more clever than the rest of us and think lying gives them a strategic advantage and precious inside knowledge. Being mendacious almost for the sake of it thinking that it’s covering his arse and protecting him against trouble down the line. And it stealthily creeps up on cretins like Arteta because once he lies or obfuscates and gets away with it unchallenged, guess what? He’ll do it more and more til he’s eventually fucked by his own half truths, lies and self-centred, self protecting dog shit. And it’ll pervade his personal life, talking shit to anyone about any subject til his audiences heads start spinning. Twats like Pedro do it as well because they see it as a chance to get to the top of the greasy pole of arse-flickers. It’s also proved popular with the likes of Trump and our ersatz UK version, Bojo. That makes these types of people nothing but interlopers and enemies within at football clubs. Their motivations are money and fame, not love of football. Not to put too fine a point on it, they’re level 6 cunts sucking the decency and joy out of life.
But don’t mind me – i forgot to light my joss sticks this morning and put on Donovan’s greatest hits…
Well said KP and lmfao about the joss sticks. 🙂 Needed that after a dire first half. 3 measly shots against a mid championship level side.
WTF is Havertz doing? Out for a Sunday stroll looks like?
Havertz – 20 touches only one pass into the final 3rd playing as a 10. ESR is playing 8. Should be the other way round.
This is Arteta after 4.5 years the football is dire and the tactics are non existent. Other than that we’re winning 1:0 when we need to beef up our goal difference by at least 3/4 goals today.
Maybe we’ve been saving themselves for the 2nd half?