All the media houses and some of the journalists and pundits are rattled by our set pieces antics. Some of them are calling it illegal, some others calling it not in the spirit of game. Well, I have something to remind them – Aaron Ramsdale! More than a couple years back, Kamara from Aston Villa hindered Ramsdale with no intention to play the ball. He basically reverse hugged him, blocked his views and movement and Villa scored. The referee was sure it’s not a foul on Aaron, VAR also took a look and decided it wasn’t a FOUL AT ALL.
These same media houses and pundits were calling us cry-babies at that time. They are rattled now, because we haven’t let the VAR and REF guys forget it and we are doing it to other teams in a more subtle way. Fuck’em. Here’s a clip if you are thinking we shouldn’t be doing it.
Match Report
We beat Man Utd 2-0 to go closer to Liverpool on the points table. Both of our goals came from set pieces, Timber scored the first and Saliba the second.
First half was not an exciting affair for either side. A Declan Rice corner in the 2nd half when Timber sneaked between Bruno F and Hojlund to connect and put it in the nets made sure we were 1-0 up. Raya had couple of brilliant saves before another corner from Bukayo was connected by Thomas Partey, hitting the back of Saliba and making into the nets.
A 2-0 score was enough for us and United. This is the first time in history where we have beaten Man Utd 4 games in a row. It wasn’t a very exciting game per se, but we took 3 points out of it, and continue our winning run. It also brought us closer to Liverpool who had to share points with Newcastle in a thriller 3-3 game.
Only 7 points different between them and us, and that’s very much achievable if we keep doing what we do best – WIN.
Injury niggles are concerning
We played without Gabriel Megalhaes, Ben White, Riccardo Calafiori in the defence against Man Utd. We have injuries earlier to Mikel Merino, Saka missed couple of games, Martinelli was struggling and Declan Rice wasn’t unavailable for 1 game at least. Our performance went downhill when Odegaard was not available for a stretch.
At this point, it’s concerning and we are just lucky that none of them have affected us like it’s doing to Man City. Well, may be Odegaard one did, but we are 7 points short of the Liverpool and we are still in the title race. But, it could have been worse. It can be worse in future.
Mikel keeps on playing same XI and we are happy with it – simply because those are our best 11 players and we want to win. But when there are 2 games a week, with travelling and hardly any rest, the players are picking up small injuries here and there and it’s only going to get worse as the season continue. We need to find a way to deal with this, and the best is to use the other 13 players we have.
Tierney is fit. I know he is not on our levels. I also know he is not that bad to play a game against Southampton or Ipswich. Nwaneri is getting his 10 minutes but he should get more minutes when we are 2-0 up against any team which do not call themselves Man City or Liverpool. Odegaard is our single point of failure, and Nwaneri sharing his 30 min every other game is not a bad thing for him and for the club. Thomas Partey is playing every game, sometimes at RB, at CB and in the midfield. He is covering a lot of ground, he is playing some brilliant football but lets not forget his injury history and lets keep him fit. Jorginho is fit and capable enough to share his load. It’s the same in defence, Saliba + Gabriel playing every minute for us when Tomiyasu can cover for them.
We need to be smart here. We should learn from Man City’s mistake and not wait for ours.
What’s next!
We are fighting on 3 fronts and we are still competitive in all of them.
Premier League
Only 7 points short of the leaders Liveprool, with almost 2/3rd of the season left. It’s a long grind and nothing’s lost yet after Newcastle did us and Man City a favor. Arne Slot will have his challenges at some point and we just have to make sure we keep winning to profit from it.
We are playing Fulham away next. That’s a tough fixture, they are punching above their weight and are 6th currently ahead of Aston Villa, Tottenham, Man Utd and Newcastle. We have Everton next, and Crystal Palace, Ipswich, Brentford to play till 1st of Jan 2025. It’s a ‘relatively’ easy draw and we should be looking to accumulate as much points as possible.
Champions League
7th after 5 games with 3 games left against Monaco (H), Dinamo Zagred (H), and Girona (A). All three are relatively easy games, and two of them are at home. Though anything can happen in Europe on a given day, two wins our of 3 will make sure we qualify for round of 16 and do not have to go in a 2-legged face-off against any team.
We are playing Monaco on 11th Dec. Dinamo and Girona game is in January so there’s still time to think about it.
Carabao Cup
Carabao cup is in advance stage now. We need to get through Crystal Palace on 18th Dec to qualify for semi finals. Newcastle needs to play Brentford while one of the Tottenham and Man Utd will be out of the cup after they face each other. Southampton will play Liverpool in the other game.
We need to win against Crystal Palace and then we will be facing one of the Liverpool, Newcastle and Tottenham/Manchester United. Semi final and final will be 2 very tough games to win a cup.
From January, we will part of the FA cup games as well.
Wrapping up
December is going to be fun for football lovers. It will be even better for us if we win most of the games and get closer to the league toppers. We also need to qualify for semis in Carabao and win the game against Monaco in Champions League.
Lets hope the winter brings us good.
Good old Arsenal
We’re proud to say that name
While we sing this song
We’ll win the game !
Cheers.
I was full 3 years in UK and I found no one, absolutely no one happy with Sadiq Khan. Politicians shouldn’t be awarded anything at all, they are all the same – a word that starts with C and ends with T.
City does look washed up. CP testing them on counters.
As soon I posted my previous comment, they scored. Damn.
Ambarish
There’ll definitely be inside info / gossip on City – players talk to each other. There’s a good chance the media know more than they’re saying but can’t print / broadcast it without proof etc.
2 all is a really bad result for City, normally it’d be an odd game where they’ve dropped points but this is a run of 4 points from their last 18.
Pep trying to fight the ref.. probably telling him he is not invited to Dubai next summer.
Marc
Makes sense, players can’t speak against the Club or Manager, Media won’t until they get the verdict. No one can stop Mourinho to speak though.
Marc—in the more recent past City has had just enough depth and world-class pieces(Haaland, Rodri & DeBruyne) to mask any shortcomings, but with Rodri out and KDB struggling for form, Pep has to rely upon those who aren’t quite ready for primetime…of course they’re still a team to be reckoned with, but I don’t think they’ll be a bona fide title contender come late spring, unless they make some moves in January for some readymade options…this is why we should have moved all our chips in last season, then doubled-down in the summer, instead we nibbled around the edges and completely ignored the obvious…think about it, why would a team that had been runner-ups twice running all of a sudden completely flip their tactical script, unless the manager was trying to both justify his misplaced Havertz purchase and appease Rice’s ill-suited final third dreams
TRVL
Can City spend big in Jan? With the FFP charges hanging over them spending big may be seen as telling the PL etc to go fuck themselves, you’ve then got the issue of will top players join them with the risk of finding themselves relegated a couple of divisions come the summer.
relegated a couple of divisions come the summer
Sounds music to my ears. Amen.
Marc—by hook or by crook they’ll want to do something to remain relevant, especially in light of their off-field concerns…after all, why should they care about a few more charges…for me this is all about narratives and if they fade into the background I believe the punishment will be more severe…just my opinion though
TRVL
The truth is City aren’t historically a big club and if they were kicked out of the league structure completely and disappeared never to be seen again football wouldn’t even notice. Overseas supporters would just start following another team – as for the City supporters over here they couldn’t even sell out their first ever CL match.
Watching Forest v Manure. An early corner, another goal.
What’s the solution to knife crime? It isn’t denying Khan a knighthood I’ll tell you that. I looked at the stats and it’s a mixed picture.
What the right is doing at the moment is throwing mud in all directions and seeing what sticks. It’s to be expected after the far right (tories) got whipped by a slightly lighter version (labour). You’re backing the wrong horse because big C conservatism is seriously fucked. Talking about knife crime is a huge distraction because the Tories don’t give a fuck about gang violence and the people affected by it. A lot of media mouthpieces are annoyed about Khan’s knighthood because he isn’t white, simple as that.
Let Sadiq have his gong Marc. Think of all the undeserving Tory cunts that have had them and peerages. Not only Fabricunt but the likes of recently defected Andrea Jenkins and the morbidly obese Eric Pickles. There’s a lot more human scum in the Tories than the labour party.
Kroenke
You are stark raving mad.
The “right” throwing mud around? Its politics the left are just as guilty, the idea that he should get one when he has blood on his hands is disgusting.
As for human scum most Labour member don’t even qualify as human – pure vermin.
KP
Too many politicians and doners get knighthoods and made a Lord. Labour has made more Lords than the Tories – some are OK and some are in for the ride. I once was on a table at dinner with a Labour Lord who had been a Midlands MP. His whole desire for the evening was to consume as much red wine as possible. He became quite entertaining especially when he spilled the beans on the affair between Prescott & Dunwoody. Apparently they thought nobody knew.
Well done with your gong – no doubt deserved.
Morning all
What a good day for us yesterday: City drawing who should feel lucky, Manure being Manure losing to Forest, and Villa getting a CL birth back on track and dick swinging it out with the diminishing City.
I couldn’t be happier going into our game against Fulham today, assuming the wind doesn’t stop play.
I’m not happy Salah has extended his 2-year deal with the Bin Dippers. I guess Arne has proved to be the manager Salah wants to play for, which speaks volumes about Slot.
To counter that not so good news, it seems our Willie S wants to stay with us even with RM’s public overtures, so let’s hope it’s not click bait.
Tough game awaiting with a high of 7 *C & wind & sun – the sun poking through clouds at 15:52, the London weather app is predicting. My prediction is a narrow win from set piece goals and maybe one from open play – please god!!!!!
We need to vary our goal scoring.
I see City leaving the title race because I feel the club legal disruption is having an effect together with losing their spine at the beginning of the season: essentially, they don’t lose when Rodri plays. KDB is a yard off his usual pace and game, where Pep has no answers.
So, currently, the title race is a 3-horse race: Pool, Chavs and us, where I don’t see Chelsea falling off as we head to close to the halfway mark for the season by Xmas.
I still don’t see us winning the league – we need a lot more goals from open play to lift the trophy with Ode weighing in with more PL goals and assists along with Kia aiming for 20 PL goals or is it all down to big Gabs and Saliba at set pieces?
Our collective worry is not having a proven 9 so unless we buy Isak or one of the several names being banded about for £40m in January.
We need the 3 points to keep our 4-game winning streak going. 15 points from 5 games is exactly what we should be picking up to keep the pressure on those above us.
Let’s hope MA doesn’t disappoint. 9pm KO for me, so see you at the game………..
*Our collective worry is not having a proven 9 so unless we buy Isak or one of the several names being banded about for £40m in January, we will continue to struggle to score from open play.*
Marc
For the umpteenth time …..kin ell.
You’re sooooo naive when it comes to shit like this. Get out of your Terry and June bubble mate. I know you’re a bright, thoughtful bloke but you act as if you’re caught up in a political brainwashing cult.
THERE IS NO LEFT IN THE MAINSTREAM IN THE UK. CORBYN WAS THE MILDEST AND KINDEST OF LEFTIES AND LOOK AT WHAT THE ESTABLISHMENT DID TO HIM. NO PRESENCE IN PARLIAMENT AND NO PRESENCE IN THE MEDIA despite what people on the right say. It’s just a lazy and venal way of attacking the labour party and a surefire method for getting working people like you to vote against their own interests, while the very rich get wealthier from the fruits of your labour. And no, don’t tell me here about your profit share scheme at work or the fact that you own a few shares. It doesn’t answer the argument and you remain a dupe.
You’re a part of that massive con – fooling yourself that you’re belong to a meaningless group like middle class or upper middle class. The fact of the matter is that you go out to work every day and that makes you working class and therefore subject to the whims of a political system that hates people like you, even though you doff your cap and comply. Try to imagine you’re being manipulated before it’s too late.
You cannot have political opinions based solely on what you’re told by the establishment. I’ve said this to you how many times…Starmer is on your side. Wake up and get out of your home counties, daily commute, excel spreadsheet,Tory bullshit lifestyle.
On subjects more worth debating, can we beat Fulham today and strike a blow for revolutionary socialism?
I’m trying to help you with this.
Tony—not sure if Salah’s deal is signed, sealed and delivered quite yet, but it sounds like it’s not far off…in a way, I bet Slot would have liked if it wasn’t finalized until later in the season, as it was clearly being used as a motivating factor for the player…nothing gets the juices flowing like a contract year…I think things would have been different if they weren’t in the catbird seat, but the fact that they were likely encouraged them to put the kibosh on anything that could be an unnecessary distraction
I agree with your Chelsea statement, as I get the sense that they might get better as the season moves on, unlike when our form petered out in the run-up two seasons ago…as such, this could be a 3 horse race, which might not even include the perennial champs…I hate to underestimate Pep’s resiliency, as that’s typically a loser’s bet, but if it weren’t for the fact that everyone minus Pool have struggled for consistency, they would be way the fuck back in the pack by now…shame on us for not using this past summer to properly address our most pressing needs…had we done so it would likely be a two horse race with Pool and us running neck and neck