Via @Arsenal
Nothing like a BLISTERING win in the FA Cup to kick a cold Tuesday morning off in style.
Arteta headed back to Bournemouth for the second time as Arsenal manager and put on a more impressive show than the first outing a little over 5 weeks ago.
The first half showed us exactly where the football is heading if we give the manager time (and the right players). We moved the ball around at speed, the players were aggressive, you could see the vision. Pretty much everything the football hasn’t been for the last 5 years. Joe Willock immediately repaid his starting berth with a brilliant turn in midfield, he powered forward at the Bournemouth goal, gave the ball to Gabriel who found Saka on the overlap… the young winger/fullback didn’t make the same mistakes he made in the last game, rifling a shot at the inside post in off the bar. The build-up had 22 passes that went through 10 players, shades of the good old days? Don’t…
The second was well worked. Mustafi to Eddie, back to Willock, out wide to Saka, Saka with the low drive into the box, Martinelli dummies… Eddie into the back of the net. Wonderful.
Arsenal going forward at times was a thing of beauty, we looked scary on the counter-attack, and finally, we looked pretty good when building up play in and around the box. Not perfect, but the players finally seemed to be finding a bit of confidence that’s been lacking over the last month. Arteta certainly felt like his players executed his plan well.
“In the first half we were really, really good. They executed everything we planned in a really good way and showed the courage to make big decisions.
“We played with that accountability, making decisions and I really liked it. They were terrific with their work-rate, showed courage to make those big decisions and not to play safe.
“That is the difference.”
The second half wasn’t quite as impressive. It looked liked we were more than comfortable to sit on a two-goal cushion and to be fair, Bournemouth really didn’t give us too much to worry about. They tried to rough us up, but again, it didn’t seem to bother us.
Matteo Guendouzi was back to typical shithousing form, he sucks opposition into battling him, but he never lets the win. He was man of the match, he played with much more discipline than we’ve seen from him over the past 5 months. He timed his runs, kept things solid in the middle, and was just a bit of a nuisance all game. He has stamina for days and he has a good knack for knowing where to stand to nick balls and counter-press.
Saka, Eddie and Gabriel are a joy to watch. So much energy and enthusiasm. They don’t give a fuck where they play as long as they play. Those are the types of characters you want to get behind. I just hope they maintain that spark and continue to grow, it’d be great to have three young players like that grow into superstars… and it’d be great to have two homegrown talents pushing for roles with the national team.
The only blight on the match outside the late goal they scored and the borefest that is VAR, was seeing Mustafi go down with what looked like and achilles problem. I’m sad for him because he’s just been given a rebirth, but more sad for Arsenal, because we’ve lost another defender and the club apparently botched the move for Pablo Mari. Say what you will about the risk of signing him, the man was indeed a human body we could do with. We’re in trouble in defence… Xhaka might have to take up that centre back role more permanently.
Oh… I also thought Ceballos played well when he came on. He certainly doesn’t look disengaged.
Big shout out to Joe Willock for the second time in this post. He had a great game and added some much-needed end product to his game. He’s strong, he’s great at running through the lines, and he’ll add goals to his game as he matures. He needs to keep taking those chances he’s given, a bright future ahead if he does.
One thing before I go, I do like watching the press conferences these days. Arteta really seems to love the fact he’s managing Arsenal. He talks with such great energy, he’s passionate about the game, the league, and the players he’s working with to improve. Great to see.
6 games unbeaten now. Good times.
Pompey in the next round… very exciting.
P.S. I recorded a podcast last night, but the sound corrupted. New one later today. Sorry Alex, I really am. x
Jim
“I didn’t realize it but we still have PapSok on contract till June 20121”WHAT! He is contacted with us for another 18,101 years?! You know what… I’m not suprised when it comes to Arsenal!
You weren’t supposed to take it so literal, come on man
Dissenter,
“I didn’t realize it but we still have PapSok on contract till June 20121”
Funny typo. Don’t get fluster by comments!
I would be extremely surprised if Sokratis were to draw a paycheck up to that date!
You couldn’t make it up! Arsenal, all class! “After undergoing a medical with Arsenal at the weekend, a ‘disappointed’ Mari made his way back to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil – and an unnamed Flamengo director expects the Spaniard to join up with the rest of his team-mates for pre-season training.‘We had agreed to sell him for a fee, he arrived in London and Arsenal changed the terms. ‘Flamengo is a serious club.’ And now lets find some quality closer to home – “Arsenal are now looking at Southampton defender Cedric Soares in an attempt to ease their mounting injury crisis.… Read more »
lol
Valentin
You knew it was supposed to be 2021, didn’t you?
Profiling Shakhtar’s Matviyenko: https://tribuna.com/en/arsenal/news/3552075/
The centre-back can also play as a left-back or even defensive midfielder .
Dissenter,
Did you really? 😉
Of course, I did!
I don’t think that anybody genuinely thought that you really meant 20121!
https://www.theguardian.com/football/2020/jan/28/christian-eriksen-inter-spurs-departure
This is for all those on here who still misguidedly hero-worship Daniel Levy as a sharp businessman with a football brain.
Marc – you’ll enjoy this one!
Dissenter,
Sokratis under contract at Arsenal until 20121?
I guess Greek defenders, like Greek philosophers, are immortal.
(I prefer Plato, at least he can play left-sided CB….)
Incompetence can’t begun to describe whatever it is those in charge have tried to do this January, it’s been bad.
God help us they treat the summer like this what with all the international competitions and players being away. Our recruitment policy or the way we go about it remains an absolute shambles, 2020 and it’s still the same thing
Great game for the youngsters, Willock did well, saka and Gabi connect well,
hopefully Pepe and Bellerin will also combine as well on the rigth !!
https://talksport.com/football/662066/adrian-durham-arsenal-gabriel-martinelli-manchester-united-federico-macheda/
I am fully convinced Martinelli is going to become the second coming of R9. 18 year old arsenal player pissing off Durham is destined for greatness.
Looking at the highlights reel, Matviyenko appears more of a DM/AM (Torreira) than a traditional CB – he plays more in the final third of the pitch!. He has a good eye for the long ball but it shows few tackles going in. I would have prefered Mari as he appears stronger in the tackle and is a good bit taller. Matviyenko has not played outside Ukraine and will cost substantially more. Perhaps we need both. But where is the money coming from? Lets be honest we know very little about either player. It is a bit of a crap… Read more »
Regarding the CB situation, I would rather we sign nobody than a stop gap permanently. We have signed enough stop gaps in Sokratis and Luiz. Now is the time to look to the future. One dominant Powerful Major Center Back is needed. And I am not sure either Matviyenko or Mari are the solutions. We need Soyuncu or Upamecano. Or at least Someone with the same level of potential in a big 5 European leagues. We shouldn’t sign any Centerbacks that are squad players. One major player is enough.
Habesha Gooner
Remember, the main aim of TalkSport( as a commercial radio station) is to sensationalise so thet people phone in and money is made.
Macheda was basically a one game wonder. Did he score ten goals in such a short period of time and show the same talent and commitment as Martinelli? No he frigging didn’t.
Durham is programmed to cause disagreement amongst the listeners and he is very good at it. Sometimes he takes the right side of the argument but in this particular instance, he is way off track.
The only time Durham really shone, was “The Daily Arsenal”
Most of the time, he was correct.
https://arseblog.news/2020/01/report-mustafi-escapes-serious-injury-after-bournemouth-scare/ Just a sprained ankle for Mustafi, that’s good. Don’t know how I feel about signing a CB that’s not top class on a permanent this window, on the one hand we need bodies but on the other if we sign the Ukrainian chap for 27m it pretty much rules out a statement CB in the summer, don’t think he’s worth that, I want another beast in there next to Saliba. Tired of our defence getting bullied by physical opposition. Still say we should make a move for Gabriel, we already know Lille is ok with long term paying options… Read more »
Graham62
I get that. But I don’t know how money is made out of stupidity. Even a blind person can see Martinelli is all talent with application. Macheda? please. There are so many other topics to cause controversy with. Even our rivals are watching in jealousy FFS.
How many kids has Durham scouted or managed in any capacity.
The people that know all know that Martinelli is good, ask Klopp to start with.
To think Talk sport had the audacity to attack ASTV.
*AFTV , not ASTV
At this rate I’ll be changing my moniker to typo-man by tomorrow.
AFTV and TalkSports are different side of the same media coin. They are gobshite media whore who makes money by screaming insane opinions with conviction to clickbait idiots and offense the rest.
The only difference is that TalkSports is part of the old media circle when AFTV is part of the user generated media. However both share the same business model that relies on misery and people getting worked up.
“I would be extremely surprised if Sokratis were to draw a paycheck up to that date!”
Wait until PapaSoks Jnr shows up with a bunch of lawyers claiming he now owns the club based on accumulated earnings and interest due to his Great great great Gran father.
Does anyone here know how many non home grown slots we have left?
In defence, Soks, Luiz, Kolasinac and may be Mustafi are not home grown.
So where would this new guy fit in?
Burnley away next match up is the one.
Get a win there and Arteta’s early tenure can start really cooking.
Fail and it will be the same old story of Arsenal falling to some up and at ’em Northern outfit.
And Burnley are one of the most mucky Northern clubs in the league from the team down to their manager.
Got to take them out.
Adrian Durham is a cunt of such epic proportions he was actually told he couldn’t be a PL ref – even they have limits.
Durham also suggested Bergkamp was never all that.
Knowing full well it is only click bait and designed to get angry listeners to phone in, it was still an audacious thing to do. Aside from his job the bloke clearly has a personal dislike of Arsenal.
Burnley have had an upturn in form in the EPL these past few weeks. Winning at home to Leicester and away at MU, it won’t be easy.
A tight game but fancy our chances.
Graham62
“Burnley have had an upturn in form in the EPL these past few weeks. Winning at home to Leicester and away at MU, it won’t be easy”
“It won’t be easy”
This is exactly why a win there will be notable and Arteta’s first run of games as Arsenal manager will begin to look good.
Burnley and their sort the effort Northern clubs have been the sort of matches Arsenal have slipped up in far too much away from home.
Chris
Exactly!
Their prep for each show is to take two diverse sides to any subject and wait for the listeners to respond.
Always a good listen.
My favourites on TalkSport are Hawksbee and Jacobs.
Brilliant double act.
Playing at Burnley on a cold damp winters day.
The joys of the EPL.
Arsenal will be up for the game at Burnley.
I expect Aubameyang to be fired up for this match.
Arsenal will miss Luiz in defence. I just hope there will be no new injuries from that game.
Burnley will be physical. A bit like the game they played against Sheffield.
Both barnes and Wood will start upfront to bully Arsenal’s defence.
Will Arteta promote the wearing of gloves?
I thought Luiz only had a one match ban?
Arsenal have to win else some commenter will say Sean Dyche would have been a better signing. 🤣🤣
Marc
A straight red card against Chelsea. I thought it is the 2match ban for denying a goal scoring opportunity. What does the law say?
Not sure otherwise I wouldn’t have asked!
Luiz is back on Sunday
Luiz’s ban for one match.
Jack Grealish is such a class player.
Arsenal need to sign him.
Beautiful ball and nice finish from Trez there
That’s what happens in a cup game. One mistake and you are out.
“Burnley will be physical.” In my opinion, something needs to be done about players going in indiscriminately with their heads and elbows. Last night ,Bournemouth were allowed to go in with their heads a number of times without any concern for the Arsenal player heading the ball clear and I have no doubt Burnley will be encouraged to do something similar ( elbows and heads) . Some may say that it’s as dangerous for both players , bit that is not the case. The player heading the ball clear is watching the ball , whereas the attacker can see the… Read more »
Villa going to Wembley
Cedric spares
Oh dearie me….
Pleased for Villa!
For cedric soares
See
Matthew debauchey.
No.
Pierre
Good posts today. 👍🏼
RSPC,
Do you mean Matthew Debauchery or Matthew Debuchy?
😉
Those scumbags who targeted Woodwards house need to be reminded that football’s just a beautiful game.
Never a need to go that far.
Whatever happened to Pierre!
Solid posts today I have to say
As for Burnley, if Arteta choose to start Ozil, and I think he will, then it’s all on him if we don’t get a result
Also Pierre
Good posting recently sir.
Val..
Still got yer wit init.
Too many cheap purchases we are looking at.
Ok maybe one of them may come good but it’s like we are punting on the crack machines in corals with two jibs in our pocket…
Saliba returns against Monaco and St Etienne keeps a clean sheet for the first time since November.
They’re unbeaten in all the games he’s played for them this season and has been pretty bad without him. He’s already a beast and is only going to get better, can’t wait for him to join up.
This is what reknowned South American football oracle Vickery had to say about Mari.“I’ve been droning on about him to anyone who will listen for the past few months, because I think Manchester City missed a beat with this one. “Pablo Mari, 26-year-old, big, left-footed Spanish centre-back who City had for three years. They loaned him to Girona, Breda in Holland and Deportivo La Coruna in the Spanish second division, and then, with new European coach Portuguese Jorge Jesus wanting to play with a high line, they sold him to Flamengo. “No one in Brazil plays with a high line… Read more »
U guys still smitten w soyuncu after a loss to villa?
Zach, I hear you man, #BrendanOut
Matvieko plays all across back 4…his pace and passing ability allows him to play as a DM too..
Source: 10 mins of YouTube scouting
Zacharse,
Was never smitten with Soyuncu. We got better defender in Sokratis for atleast 3 years….long term financially maybe Soyuncu would have been beneficial….
Unlike others I am not that stuck in long term youth players. 80% players with 4-5 yrs on tank is long term enough for me….other 4-5 U23 players who already are first term quality or show glimpse of their future quality is enough to generate that excitement and romanticism generally associated with having youth players.
Couple of experienced vet in 1-2 yr contract are also needed from time to time, provided they are of required quality.
Pablo Mari deal done. Loan with option to buy.
MARI IN! BRENDAN OUT!
Thats whatsup
https://metro.co.uk/2020/01/29/arsenal-agree-new-4-2m-deal-sign-pablo-mari-flamengo-12142814/?ito=newsnow-feed
Wednesday, they said
Mari for CB better than hunchback of ukraine.
If matvi is being signed for midfield he is obviously an upgrade to Xhakalson, same range of passing but faster.
Im telling you for free!
Fabrizio Romano @ FabrizioRomano 7h
Tottenham have made an inquiry for Olivier Giroud. He’s a possibility as Krzysztof Piatek (still no agreement with AC Milan) – Chelsea are not convinced yet to sell him to Spurs. Bergwijn will sign his contract as new Tottenham player on next hours. Here we go! ⚪️ #THFC #CFC
I might have to start hating on Giroud. What is he going to say now? I am a spud for life?
According to Metro
“Arsenal have agreed to pay a loan fee of €5 million (£4.2m) to sign Mari now and the deal includes the option to sign the 26-year-old permanently in the summer.”
https://metro.co.uk/2020/01/29/arsenal-agree-new-4-2m-deal-sign-pablo-mari-flamengo-12142814/?ito=cbshare
I don’t get it. We refused to buy him for £7M but we agree to pay a loan fee of £4.2M! How much is the option to buy: £2.8M?
Habesha
Have never seen Giroud as being a Gooner for life anyway.
Valentin
Total amateur hour the deal for this Pari lad, almost as bad as United’s attempt at signing Bruno Fernandez
Batistuta
January 29, 2020 07:27:18
Total amateur hour the deal for this Pari lad, almost as bad as United’s attempt at signing Bruno Fernandez
Arsenalization is real,
You heard it here 1st!
The nonsense of playing Auba on the wings and Laca in the middle needs to stop.
yep agreed , just stick Laca in as a number 10 and see what happens .I mean it’s no as if you are going to lose anything .we are not seeing anything from OZIL at all , not defensively or offensively so we may as well play LACA there and keep martinelli out left and Auba through the middle
Option1 Auba in the middle Dozi as no10, laca on the bench
Option2 laca in the middle ozil as no10, any winger not Auba.
Option3 352 laca and auba as 2 strikers