I’m finally done with the rituals that comes with having a kid in our culture. A month at my ancestral village, with AQI in double digits, fruits and veggies from the farm, empty roads and no honking, clear and visible night sky – things that are “normal” for them were something “awesome” for me. Made up my mind, 10 years and I will go back to where I was born.
But, before that, are we going to WIN? City are only 2 points behind us with 10 games to go. Last couple of months have looked familiar, we have seen it 3 times under Mikel and we dropped points to Wolves and Brentford. We did win NLD but hey, their ex-manager is calling them ‘spursy’ on podcasts these days and it’s hardly a contest in recent time.
Today’s a challenge. Anything but a win and City will be level on points. I don’t see us making it from there, Pep knows how to win things when it matters. And Chelsea are not going to make it easy for us. All we have to do is win our games, let them drop points before we do, and then we can think of winning the league this year.
Kai and Merino are out. Ben White is a doubt but hopefully we won’t miss him. I would personally go with the same playing XI we had against Tottenham. Calafiori in place of Hincapie can be OK, but lets not go back to Odegaard. Eze did well, and he needs couple of games in the #10 role to truely dominate games. He is our only players apart from Martinelli who got creativity outside of Mikel’s system and can do something on his own. The first goal against Spurs was a brilliant one and that short of ball wins you game.
Gyokeres has finally picked up. He scored 2 brilliant goals against Spurs and was moving better through out the game. Frankly I was disappointed so far with him, but he has got 10 games + CL + FA Cup + Carabao Cup games to prove me wrong.
Right, I will keep it short but I promise I will be more active. 3 very exciting months ahead for us, where we can win everything. Lets hope we do.
Dowman is class, Ethan is also class but numbnuts sends him out on loan so that it doesnt interfere with using his favorites. His problem now is how to squeeze in his favourites and win the league at the same time.
The decision to send Nwaneri on loan was baffling(wrong) as he was always going to get game time at the Arsenal due to the amount of competitions we are in.
Yesterday showed that the squad is operating on a fine line and the injuries to Trossard and calafiori will give Arteta fewer options to rotate.
2 weeks ago Arteta played saka as a 10 and Yesterday we played 4 wide players due to our lack of options more centrally , I think it’s fair to say that it didn’t work , Mansfield were the better side in the first half and it wasn’t until Eze came on that we showed an element of control in the game, Eze for me is our most secure player on the ball , his flawless technique allows him to take the ball under pressure and he has the ability to either play the killer ball or keep it simple with equal effectiveness, his team mates need to trust him more and give him the ball more under pressure, Eze’s goal yesterday was the result of Norgaard feeding him the ball on the edge of the area when surrounded by defenders and what a superb strike it was.
I have a feeling that Arteta will use Max Dowman at times this season when we may need something different to open up defences, his natural ability to go by defenders as if they’re not there could prove to be a great option for Arteta, Dowman has quick feet and superb balance, yesterday he was our best player , he created a number of chances and on another day could have had a couple himself..
Marc—if you want a little glimpse into what I was talking about regarding Chelsea’s new manager checkout the Wrexham match…it was a painful watch…he’s making Enzo look like fucking Klopp…it was like a tactical love letter to our blunt instrument of a manager…the fact that they won was a fucking miracle, which is an all too familiar refrain around these parts…btw they had a little help from our old buddy Own Goal
on a side note, Tonda Eckert, Southampton’s manager, is one to watch in the next hiring cycle, even if they secure promotion
check out
‘At present there is ADS ( Arsenal derangement syndrome) and TRVL suffers from it the way many suffer from TDS( you know who you are)’
You’re correct re the ADS and the stats bear it out.
Dead wrong re TDS and stats bear it out as well.
Makes me wonder how one can hold a completely logical, fact based opinion on one subject, then completely ignore facts on another even if the evidence is overwhelming.
And since we agree on the former let’s go straight to the latter.
Corruption:
Trump fired 17 inspectors general tasked with preventing and detecting fraud across various federal agencies, with most vacancies still remaining open.
Trump’s DOJ disbanded NCET in charge of investigating crypto scams, which is quite handy considering he’s been making billions in crypto having previously said crypto was a scam.
Trump’s DOJ slashed PIN public integrity department from 30 prosecutors to 3.
Who needs integrity in public affairs, especially when one can receive gifts from foreign dignitaries and business leaders in shape of gold bars, watches or even planes.
The grift and corruption of Trump administration is so wide spread, its scale so enormous and so well documented, that I could write 1400 more words citing another dozens of example, but I have a feeling you’d just ignore them all and come back with some lame ass riposte like Biden was no saint either.
Which of course is true but the scale is simply beyond comparison.
We were talking $15m to $20m of Biden family shady gains to literally billions in Trump family’s case.
And don’t get me started on Trump’s lies either.
Literally thousands. People stopped keeping track.
His own lawyer advised him against testifying in the Mueller investigation for fear of perjury because in his words Trump was incapable of telling the truth, as reported by Bob Woodward.
So here’s my question to you; what in his platform speaks so strongly to you to make you ignore his own obvious derangement and instead ascribe it to his critics?
Is it the racism, misogyny, or perhaps emigration?
It’s got to be one of these three because anyone rich enough to profit off his tax cuts and deregulation wouldn’t be wasting time on an obscure football blog trolling.
“We were talking $15m to $20m of Biden family shady gains”
And yet I never heard any of these people calling Biden out.
I don’t know where Western politics went wrong but what the hell happened to having leaders who were there because they had beliefs / conviction beyond lining their own pockets.
I’m running a book on who lasts longer Tottenham’s new manager or Iran’s new leader.
No one’s taking any bets that either of them will last very long.
People were calling Biden out for his nepo fuck up baby boy’s dealings.
And I’m not talking about Republicans going ape shit over them either, but rather independents, like myself.
As to your what happened to western politics question; a short answer is Lobbying.
My government is almost entirely owned by special interest groups across the board.
And while it’s acceptable to say that out loud pointing out the Big Farma, Banks, Oil and Gas……you better not dare mention AIPAC or risk being labeled an antisemite.
Scumpton away in the cup. That’ll do.
Arsenal can reach the semi-finals without playing a single Premier League side…you just can’t make this shit up…that said, we shouldn’t underestimate Southampton, especially if they play like they did at Craven Cottage
Galatasaray already beating the Scousers. Let’s hope that by the end of this round, Arsenal are the only PL team left in the CL.
Although were Spurs to luck out and meet us later on, we’d fucking massacre them.
There’s talk the Pooooooooooooch is being lined up to take over the Spuddies again.
It’d be fucking hysterical if he had to take over in the Championship.
Ouch…spuds already 4-1 down.
I can’t see the Spud’s manager surviving this.
The home leg is going to be beyond toxic – it almost makes you want to be able to hire a couple of big fuckers, buy three tickets and go to the 2nd leg to look smug!
“Tottenham goalkeeper Antonin Kinsky, might of had the most humiliating Champions League debut of all time. Two miskicks. Three goals conceded. And substituted inside 17 minutes”
he’s giving off some serious Runarsson vibes
Nah Vieira…he’s a much better GK than Runnarson (who was latterly sent on loan to Cardiff only to be swiftly rejected)!
You gotta love the way Tudor just blanked him as he came off the pitch after 17 minutes. Two utter failures whose connection with that so-called club might be about to end. Reasons to be cheerful.
https://youtube.com/shorts/vq107ep7dmM?si=pMdAhEImsFe_kkVs
This is priceless. O’Hara is the worst kind of anti-Arsenal blowhard but I think he’ll be a little distracted from going after the Gunners for a while.
Don’t hold back Jamie, say what you really think about the club you used to play for and which indirectly pays your broadcaster’s wages as an inside voice at shite hart lane.
Just one question ….. Why’d it take you so fucking long to see the truth? 😁
Like I said the other day, this is giving me almost as much enjoyment as Arsenal still being in the discussion for 4 trophies. 🏆🏆🏆🏆.
TRVL
“Arsenal can reach the semi-finals without playing a single Premier League side…you just can’t make this shit up”
Only an entitled Arsenal “supporter” would be disappointed that we have had a decent run of fixtures in the FA Cup, I suppose at present there is little for the entitled fan to bemoan other than the fa cup draw , at least you have found a number of allies in the world of the media who have jumped on the set piece/time wasting agenda.
The fact that we are the first side to score 100 goals this season appears to have gone unnoticed, I’d put that down to the narrative that this Arsenal side are boring / defensive blah blah blah , the 100+ goals by the beginning of March goes against the narrative so presumably the know nothings prefer to ignore it instead of applauding it .
Imagine how many goals this Arsenal team will score once we really click into gear, I don’t believe that Arteta has found the perfect offensive 4 yet this season , there are a few different scenarios like Gyokeres/Havertz which worked up to a point for a few games when Havertz was fit.
The problem Arteta has had is injuries to the likes of Saka ,Havertz, Odegaard, jesus , Dowman , madueke, martinelli and trossard at different times as made it very difficult to get any continuity in the forward line.
Jesus hasn’t really rediscovered his sharpness, Trossard’s form has tailed off recently and martinelli is more potent as a late substitute, on the plus side Madueke, Eze and Dowman will give the side something different as they are more likely to take risks with the ball but tonight it wouldn’t surprise me to see Arteta go with the tried and tested , meaning Rice/Zubimendi in centre midfield, gyokeres up top, Saka on the right, probably Martinelli on the left due to Trossard carrying an injury with either Eze or Havertz behind Gyokeres, probably Eze as Arteta is still easing Havertz back after another injury.
The back 4 basically picks itself as Hincape has been a warrior at left back.
Dowman may be the joker in the pack with his unpredictability, I would say his one negative has been his finishing as he is probably finding the level of goalkeeping way higher than in academy football, though I have no doubt that his finishing and composure in front of goal will come the more he plays, it is understandable that he picked the wrong options against Mansfield , for instance he could have stood up and dinked the keeper after 5 minutes and took a touch later on in front of goal instead of rushing his shot, but he would know that as you could see the disappointment from him for not putting the ball away.
Dowman also showed compassion for his team mate , when Salmon made the error for the Mansfield goal he was the first to console him which shows his maturity at such a young age.
KP
“This is priceless. O’Hara is the worst kind of anti-Arsenal blowhard”
O’hara’s Arsenal views align with the majority on here who are desperate to see a negative result …..you know who you are..