Happy Fri-emery? Or just Friyay? Or just Friday? Whatever you fancy. There’s a big game this weekend and I am PUMPED.
Liverpool come to town. Emery has a chance to fire up the troops and take his first ever top 6 scalp. Liverpool are favourites, and I think that’s a positive for us. I’m not sure any of us expect to come out of this alive, even at home. That puts us in a good position of being grateful for anything more than zero points.
There are many things for us to be looking out for.
Selection:
There are a lot of questions ahead of this game. Firstly, I think he should stick with Leno, Cech didn’t look great against Blackpool and Leno has been pretty good.
The big fear is Lichtsteiner and Xhaka as fullbacks. We’re going get absolute spanked if that’s the case. Might as well pack up and go him, give Xhaka his red card already. Trouble is, we’ll likely have to risk a players recovery to get anyone back into the mixer, and Liverpool doesn’t feel like the right game to be taking punts like that.
Midfield kind of picks itself… dependent on Xhaka. Will Ramsey come in next to LT? Will Ozil occupy a central role?
Up front is also interesting. VVD is a monster, and he’ll eat Lacazette alive. So do we opt for someone like WELBZ to bully? Or do we just have a blended front three and see what happens?
Tactics:
If this were Arsene, we’d be going toe-to-toe in a ‘who has the biggest toe’ competition. I’m not sure Emery will be so reckless. The challenge he has is the team aren’t exactly reliable when it comes to defence. Are we equipped to absorb pressure? Do we have the discipline to run a deep block. Do we have the intelligence to stop Liverpool from playing at high pace?
The real worry is if we go into this game playing a high line. Especially if we have two slow full-backs in play.
The last time Emery played Klopp was the Europa League final. From what I remember, he let Liverpool exhaust themselves in the first 60, then picked them off when their legs were gone. I think the Liverpool team is a touch more sophisticated in 2018, but at least our man has the winning record here.
Psychology:
I always felt an Arsene Wenger side was beaten 3 days before the game. How is Emery going to change that? Are we going to be in the fight? Will we see a difference in the way we approach the game? Will the team look like they believe they can win?
These games are acceptable to lose if the team looked like they were in it. I don’t want to come out of this weekend thinking we were bullied. I don’t want the game plan to be out the window after 6 minutes. I want to see 100% agression for the whole game, Liverpool need to feel like they’re in a game.
Right, that’s me done. See you in the comments! x
1
come on DM
4th
clean sweep
where is ze competition
Well done peter.
somebody stop this
Thanks Daddy
If Pedro sorted the time out properly I might have a chance… I can rarely be on my computer at 8am. Still don’t understand how the time zone can be constantly wrong no matter whether we’re in BST or GMT…
I don’t know why Emery is averse to playing 3 at the back . With Torreira and Xhaka we can have additional protection. Maitland-Niles can be wing back. It’ll be interesting battle though nonetheless. Would love to see Auba start upfront.
Good day to you all, the match against Liverpool will be very interesting. Arsenal will be up for this.
These games are acceptable to lose if the team looked like they were in it. I don’t want to come out of this weekend thinking we were bullied.”
That’s it for me. If they dominate us from start to finish it’d be disheartening(although this is indeed year one and we still have major holes).
Play AMN at left back if Nacho and Sead will not be ready. I either of them is available, then AMN absolutely must start somewhere in midfield due to his athleticism.
I’m sort of expecting us to get a little bit battered by Liverpool. I’m hoping we wont, of course, but the thing is, if we do, I think that’s OK. Not ideal, but OK. We have to accept that it’ll take us a while to get to that level of competitiveness. Yes, it would be lovely to be challenging against the best teams in the land, but our main target this season should be top 4. If we beat all the lower teams but lose to the big boys, we could still achieve that, as teams like Spurs and Chelsea… Read more »
“I’m not sure any of us expect to come out of this alive, even at home. ”
I see that you’re pal with Merson.
(please tell him for me to f*ck off, thanks)
“an Arsene Wenger side was beaten 3 days before the game. ”
I would have said one week.
One month ?
One year ?
Seriously, I remember a period when it was one year before the games…
at Old Toilet.
The anticipation and apprehension combined, make this a wonderful time to be an Arsenal supporter.
Win, lose or draw, we have our Arsenal back.
Onwards and upwards.
Bob N16.(From previous post)
Morning.
I
D
O
N
T
C
A
R
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Cheers.
How about a merry, Emery?
Without doubt Klopp has fashioned a fast-moving attack-minded side. But they can be stifled. The way to go? Pack midfield.
Liverpool is a critical match in the season and we do not want to lose this game. Arsenal remain vulnerable in defence particularly if both Bellerin and Monreal are missing. That would result almost certainly in Xhaka playing left back and out of position and destabilise also our Defensive Midfield. Whatever many posters may think about Xhaka he is alongside Torreira our best combination and we have not lost a game when they played together. With Guendouzi also missing from this game I would be inclined to play Maitland-Niles at left back and restore Xhaka to middle. I believe also… Read more »
ES
Agree with most of the things you say.
Irrespective of our defensive frailties, I have a good feeling about this one.
We won’t lose.
If we’re missing our full backs then this could be a difficult game. If that is the case it might be worth thinking about a 3-5-2. I said a while back we should think about that for the Liverpool game anyway, one CB for each Liverpool attacker, crowd the middle and just play a quick counter game. Mustafi, Sokratis, Holding as CBs, Maitland Niles as RWB, maybe Iwobi as LWB. Really interested to see what Emery does. I do think he will try to do what he did with Sevilla, we don’t start well anyway, so why not just sit… Read more »
We may have stood a chance of getting a result tomorrow if we had Bellerin and Monreal ready.
Realistically, there’s no way we get past Liverpool with Xhaka and Lichtsteiner playing. Lichtsteiner was a mistake when all is considered.
I think Emery should promote from the U-23s for tomorrow’s game, that’s what good managers would do.
Blogs. Your post reeks of fear. We’re at home and it will be an open game. Who knows what can happen but we have beaten better teams than this.
Ashburton
Not this season, we haven’t.
It seems like Keita and Henderson are out tomorrow, Salah has a minor injury worry with his wrist which doesn’t sound the worst but he will worry about potentially falling over which may limit how much he is willing to take on a defender in a footrace.
I think we will play with a good deal of fire and determination, but in the end the gap in quality will be too much. I see Liverpool winning 2-0 or 3-0. If Monreal and/or Bellerin can play, one can be a bit more optimistic; if they cannot, I think a certain amount of worry is appropriate. Regardless, one good thing about this game is that it should give us a clearer idea of where we stand, of what this current group is capable of under Emery, of what still needs improving, of which players are good enough and which… Read more »
“Will the team look like they believe they can win?”
Will Ozil look like he will do more than just walk ? lol
Big game for Ozil.
He let Emery down against Chelsea and that caused fallout. If he does the same again and Arsenal are soundly beaten by Liverpool I think Emery might start to really lose confidence in him as a player he can rely on to work in his system.
Since when Mesut knows the meaning of the words “big game” ??
More seriously, imagine if he kick out a great performance ??
(Just kidding, this is highly improbable lol)
(but the fact that Emery already said that he considers Ozil as our key player, it’s a bit frightening…)
I guarantee 2 things:
Pool scores first
There will be a penalty in this game
I predict 2-2
A draw is good. Will be a nail biter
Xhaka must not lunge!!!!!!!
Classic le grove yesterday…Pedro makes a comment in support of my very perceptive post about our injuries and the over use of our full backs and le grove turn on him like a pack of wolves…..fair play to Pedro for recognising who posts “fair ” comments on le grove. It’s always a telling sign when someone(me) has posted a comment and hit a raw nerve ….some.posters on here find it extremely difficult to deal with the truth. Maybe Emery is over training our players as Pedro suggested ,maybe asking our full backs to play as wingers,wing backs and full backs… Read more »
Please, I implore all of you to not to take the bait.
Well god damn Pierre, you’re right.
This message board was vicious toward me. VICIOUS.
Though I do appreciate peoples concerns on our full backs for the Liverpool game,the situation may turn out to be a blessing in disguise. Here’s why…..Our regular full backs Bellerin and Monreal have been very advanced in their play this season ,too advanced in my opinion…..This leaves space down the channels for the opposition forwards to run into ,a situation that the Liverpool forwards will revel in. Holding has played well this season but his weakness has been down the channels and he will struggle with the clever movement of salah if there is no full back to support him.… Read more »
Keita and Henderson being out would be great. Disaster class from Salah as well
Pedro
Welcome to my world ….water off a ducks back.
“Since when Mesut knows the meaning of the words “big game” ??” Ozil knows…that’s why he goes missing! Guendouzo definitely out?! That’s daylight robbery. I’d prefer AMN to Xhara at LB. AMN had done well last season and before his injury. Agreed Xhara + LT seem our strongest MF spine. Curious what Emery does with Ramsey, Ozil and Mikki. Ideally, only 1 in 3 would play. Reality says 2 of 3 in which case let’s go with Ramsey + Ozil but only if Ramsey isn’t the fucking striker ahead of Laca / Auba. Otherwise might as well Ozil + Mikki… Read more »
Pierre, all I said was you had a right to an opinion, regardless if it’s salty.
The table has been flipped in Arsenal world.
I don’t rate emery, but I know he’ll progress Arsenal massively over the next two years. I’m also loving Arsenal at the minute. Every game feels like something new, and it hasn’t for ten years.
Then it’s YOU LIKED ARTETA.
Anyway, not going there today. I’m all about smashing Liverpool.
Question:
Are we going to gun for them, or do you think we’re going to try and choke the pace out of the game?
Are we going to gun for them, or do you think we’re going to try and choke the pace out of the game?
I think it would be a bit naive to go after them considering the amount of chances we have conceded against inferior teams. We have been so lucky not concede even more goals as of late and imagine Salah, Mane et. al getting in behind Mustalamity! Keep her tight and tire them out is what I say.
Pierre Gloating about a post is not very cool. As if you’re an expert in “the truth”. Got to lol on that one. My take on things would hit a “raw nerve” with you and a couple of others on here, but then you all know that anyway. Emery may have been asking more of the players but don’t forget many of these players have been stuck in a comfort zone(physically and mentally) over the past few seasons and have not been accustomed to hard work. If you’re going to blame Emery for “over training” the players, then you also… Read more »
Joke Friday (halloween theme requested by my young niece) –
Why was the mummy so tense? Because he was all wound up.
Why didn’t the skeleton want to go to school?
His heart wasn’t in it.
Left Testicle was right.
Why do people continually bite?
Just ignore him.
Obvious troll is obvious.
What do you get when you cross a vampire and a snow man?
Frostbite
Graham62, Wenger overtrained players as well. Not so much post-Shad
Think we will smash them
What do you get when you cross a witch with sand?
A sandwich!
Training pitches very hard at Conley too
What does a skeleton say before dinner?
Bone appetit!
How many vampires are in this room?
I dont know, I cant Count Draculas.
Why do ghosts like to ride in elevators?
Because it raises their spirits!
Why are graveyards noisy?
Because of all the coffin!
What happened to the man who didn’t pay his exorcist?
His house was repossessed
Joke Friday, thought society was too woke for this?
Do zombies eat popcorn with their fingers?
No they eat the fingers separately.
What’s it like to be kissed by a vampire?
It’s a pain in the neck.
Pierre
Your post didn’t any nerves.
It was wrong
Only 2 players injuries could be attributed to Emery out of the numerous names you posted.
And Emery rotates players and cancels training after long away matches.
So no , you’re wrong.
Joe, he trains them a lot. Pierre is correct.
There is too much pearl clutching in woke society, Pedro, and inane jokes before weekend are antidote.
Joe
Why?
Pedro
Liverpool is beatable. Chelsea should have beaten them.
Think we need to start high energy for the first 10. Go at them. Take the match to them. We don’t do well sitting back as was evident v palace.
Get the crowd into it and maybe they won’t expect it. Score an early goal.
Cesc
Why what?
Pedro
How many injuries did he have at psg? Sevilla?
Why do you bite?
I don’t get it.
You are just giving him what he wants. There’s only a couple of trolls like that on here now, but just don’t bite.
It isn’t an argument you can win because he isn’t looking to win, he’s looking to provoke. So he’s won the second you respond.
Laugh and scroll past and just think how sad it all is.
Cesc
Fair enough.
Will ignore the troll Pierre from now on
Joe
Kolasinac,Monreal ,Bellerin and AMN all were injured playing at full back …3 have muscle/hamstring injuries…
I believe Emery is asking too much of our full backs and it’s taking its toll.
I hope we keep things tight and focus on quick counter attacks. If we try to go toe to toe with Liverpool offensively, I am afraid we are going to be battered and be begging for mercy thirty minutes into match.
However, I trust Emery to be thinking and planning all week about match and he will get it right. Whatever happens it will be better than Wenger era where he wouldn’t plan to counter the other team and Arsenal players would run around like headless chickens.
On recent evidence of our style of play, I fancy that Emery will slog it out with ‘Pool. If they score 4 – we’ll hit 5.
If I am correct, much will depend on overall fitness. And we have looked leggy in recent weeks as the fixtures pile up. Also some are carrying knocks.
Could be a goal-fest.
PC = sucking the fun out of everything. Even joke Friday apparently. smh
I believe Emery is asking too much of our full backs and it’s taking its toll.
It’s taking its troll……
I love joke Friday!
The only thing I know is that every will have a plan. Tacticts. He’ll have watched pool and know what’s coming and plan accordingly.
Unlike the old wanker we had as manager
What kind of bees make milk?
Boobees
Jesus Christ
D M crying because he can’t get on first
What a tw@
Joe
I’m disappointed in you …le grove is all about having opinions even if they do differ from time to time …I really thought you had a brain to make decisions for yourself.
I think he might try something similar to what he did to Liverpool with Sevilla. Try to keep them out, stretch them and draw out the press. Then when tired legs start go at them. This is a better Liverpool team than the 2016 one, but at the same time they are missing Keita and Henderson which is a loss of some serious legs in the midfield. Will Fabinho be up to EPL standards in terms of fitness when we crank up the pressure from 60 minutes onwards? I’m filled with nervous excitement. I just hope a certain player doesn’t… Read more »
Joe
Your opinions on Arsenal are much more humorous than that juvenile joke.
A lot of fans seem to think losing tomorrow isnt a huge issue.
Absolutely ridiculous. Our aim this season has to be top 4, and top 4 teams should never consider any home game to be an acceptable loss. We will have to win our fair share of big games to come top 4, and you feel the club wont move forward until we finish top 4, and also shake off the Wenger PTSD that saw us shit the bed every time we played a good team.
Gambon
We need a result. I’d take a draw. But we need something that grows the belief in Emery and his philosophy.
I don’t think we will lose. We can’t lose this match. Especially at home.
Tomorrow is going to be a tough game, no doubt about it.
Liverpool attack at super pace, and our defenders are shaky at the best of times.
We’re due a fast start, hopefully we score an early goal to open things up.
(Assuming Bellerin, Papa, and Nacho pass fitness tests)
——————-Leno
Bellerin — Must — Papa — Nacho
————–Xhaka –Torr
Welbeck ——- Ozil ——–Auba
——————–Laca
and also shake off the Wenger PTSD that saw us shit the bed every time we played a good team.
This.
He’s done a great job of removing a lot of the wenger stench. Beating Liverpool would be a huge step forward in getting rid of it all
Gambon you F****
Where have you been?
I think Emery has had a good start. I love the team spirit, love that Ramsey is being told to fuck off, love that players are now accountable and playing on merit. In lots of ways, the ethos is the complete opposite of Wenger. That said, we have been quite lucky so far. In our winning run, we scored with an impossibly high percentage of shots, and we are conceding shots on goal like a midtable team. This will catch up with us if it doesnt change. I hope Emery recognises this, and think he does by what he’s said.… Read more »
If our full backs are fit, I would go with: ———————Leno——————— Bellerin, Sokratis, Holding, Monreal ————-Torreira, Xhaka————– Welbeck——-Ozil/Mkh———Iwobi ——————-Lacazette—————– You can bring on Aubameyang later in the game to the same effect he has had against teams like Fulham and Leicester. My worry there is the CAM position, if Ozil drops his usual 5/10 performance we’re in trouble. But then Mkhitaryan hasn’t exactly set things alight either. I would be tempted to go with Mkhitaryan and try to replicate the fluid 4-2-3-1/4-2-2-2 we played. If the full backs are not fit then I would go 3-5-2: ——————Leno————– —-Mustafi, Sokratis, Holding… Read more »
CA
I would replace Ozil/Mkh with Wellbeck and move Iwobi behind Lacazette.
We can afford to carry any passengers in this game. Remember how Fergie used to play Fletcher and Park against us because of their hard work.
Great …we leave out the most in form goalscorer in the league this season ….that’ll work .
To those of you who said that no one on le grove would put iwobi or welbeck ahead of aubamayang ,I suggest you have a look at the teams suggested for tomorrow’s game by ces appeal and azed.
Azed
Might not be a bad idea.
When Iwobi is in the mood and working hard he also carries the ball well which might be what we need. Carry it forward and perhaps draw foul to slow down the Liverpool onslaught.
If Iwobi could drop a selfless performance and just charge around in the CAM position to then be substituted at 60 -70 minutes for Ozil/Mkh he will massively endear himself to the fans.
Going to be so tight.
Really dont understand this narrative that Iwobi is a changed man.
He still doesnt shoot, still doesnt create chances, still doesnt take people on.
A complete nothing player that will end up at a Watford / Bournemouth level club.
Arsene Wenger was a highly flawed managed in almost every way in recent years, but by far his biggest flaw was having a group of players who simply werent good enough.
We still have far too many of these players.
“If Iwobi could drop a selfless performance and just charge around in the CAM position to then be substituted at 60 -70 minutes for Ozil/Mkh he will massively endear himself to the fans.”
“Charge around”…….. Personally, I prefer to see a bit of composure on the ball,especially from a CAM……each to their own I suppose .
It’s a shame that Side Show Bob is banned.
Guendouzi and Torreira would have covered some ground in that midfield.
Gambon I think Iwobi has improved. No way is he good enough going forward after another summer transfer window say. But he has his uses. In the same way Welbeck is not good enough, but in a game like this he has his uses. I think we have to be pragmatic before we can be assertive with Liverpool. Their quality is a level above ours and they are a well drilled team. We need to think functionally, I think. Strong players with good work rates would be what I used first, then allowing the more overtly attacking players to come… Read more »
Welcome back, Gambon
Cesc
Problem with playing wellbeck is
If we get that one chance to score early and wellbeck is on the end of it , more than likely it ends up going for a throw in.
I think Guendouzi gives the ball away quite freely in midfield. Might be a stroke of luck that we’re not rolling with a 19 yr old for this.
Expecting Bamford to pick up on Gambon’s comment about Iwobi and go on about how he’s always right for the next month.
Gambon
As it is now, Iwobi is an improved player. Not a world beater but he’s currently playing way better than last season.
My expectations for January are a midfielder to partner Torriera and a Winger.
Joe That is true. It’s a bit of an up and a down. On the other side how much help is Welbeck in terms of his off the ball work, what value could that have harassing Liverpool and also his strong running on the ball and moving the Liverpool defence/midfield around. Aubameyang is not that physical and his work rate has dropped from the player he was a few years ago. On the flip side, if he gets a chance he scores most likely. Lacazette as well I can see getting bullied by Liverpool. My problem as well is how… Read more »
It really is a big game for Emery.
The City & Chelsea games were just too soon. Emery was unlucky in that regard.
Now he has watched this group play 15 odd times, and had months to get them to follow his instructions.
If (and it’s a big if) we start a bit more brightly, bit more focused and sharper then anything is possible. Liverpool will be looking to come out and press like demons right from the off. If we can somehow absorb the initial firestorm, we should be okay
But if it’s the usual slow start we have seen this season, the tepid first half display shit, then we will be in trouble.
https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/nicklas-bendtner-arrested-after-taxi-13216686.amp
Best player in the world going to do time.
The first half hour of the game will decide it..if we see the same approach we have been seeing all season the game will be over by half time. Then it will be all about avoiding embarrassing scorelines We should not have lost at home to City..but that game was early The loss at Chelsea was down to Lacazette and a moment of madness, playing a pass backwards when the whole team was going forward, he did it again last weekend and i am glad Emery called him out on it. Loose to Liverpool tomorrow and we are still were… Read more »