Well, the race for Top 3 didn’t take any gratifying twists last night. Spurs and Chelsea both eased past Palace and Brighton respectfully. That means we’re back down to 4th, level on points with Chelsea and one behind Spurs… obviously with a game in hand over both of them.
This is the part of the season where things start to get a little bit jittery. Here’s the thing though… we have very good players. This run-in isn’t the last 4 of the Champions League. Mesut Ozil isn’t going to have the 2019 dash for Top 3 in his career highlights reel. They just have to do a fairly decent job against middling clubs for 7 more games.
Everton at the weekend really shouldn’t be that much of a big deal. Marco Silva, a man many thought should be the next Arsenal manager, really hasn’t made an impact at Liverpool’s second club. They’ve won 3 from their last 5, but we really shouldn’t be suffering against a team that’s sitting 10th in the table… especially considering our incredible form of late.
Emery told the press that he thought the two most players were….
“There are some players maybe you can see this year this improvement – Lucas Torreira, Matteo (Guendouzi).
“The first time in the Premier League, in this difficult competition, and they are improving I think well.
That’s a good shout. Both are very young and have dipped in and out of form this season. I think LT has been the DM we’ve been looking for in that deep role for years. I think he’s been overused, because he certainly looked less active in the back half of the season. MG is just on the track that young people go on… one minute he’s incredible, the next he’s teeing up assists for the opposition. Wait until next season… he’s going to be a monster for the club.
Sammy Umtiti is staying at Barca next season according to Marca… I am in shock. Total shock. Who saw that coming?
That said, we are going to need to do some shaping of the defence this summer. Mustafi absolutely has to be jogged on. Kos is likely to leave. Mavrapanos doesn’t appear to have the sauce if his lack of appearances is anything to go by. Then we have Holding coming back, but he might come with a slow return. Monreal getting older. Jenks likely off. Plenty of opps to bring in some new fast talent on either flank… though the right is starting to look tasty with AMN proving the case for a future.
Right, short post today. I am going out to the shops to buy some gloves because it is seriously cold here. It SNOWED yesterday. Mad fam.
Finally, check out the below interview the chaps at COPA90 have dropped. 👇👇👇
FA Cup.is an unwelcome distraction hence the half empty stadiums.
Words
We beat Everton and Watford.
We are back where we belong..
Top Table
Let Spurs play Thursdays-Comatosed group matches in their health and safety violating new stadium..
By my reckoning…
If they do not get CL football in the next two seasons.
They go out of business. … unsustainable.
With this Brexit background… we have to be in the CL.
Our biggest game for years – Sunday….
Charlie George has no point, he’s just a nuisance and a menace to society.
By my reckoning…
If they do not get CL football in the next two seasons.
They go out of business. …
You are such a dumbass it’s honestly incredible sometimes
So Charlie George is Steve is UruguayanPitbull is Aubergine?
dont think there is single ex akb poster here who didn’t change his name
Footbal trophies in order: WC, euro, CL Europa, domestic champ, domestic cup, super cups, charities etc frendlies like emirates.
Never really seen someone questioning this apart from here ofc.
Maybe for Barca Real or Milan domestic title can be above Europa.
what’s really the difference if you watch football on a Wednesday or a Thursday ? The FA cup (as red rightly puts it) have half filled stadiums till you reach the quarters or semis and then you have those annoying replays and the winners get money that would make a small club happy. for instance, when we won the FA cup, we got about 4 million. That’s loose change for a club like arsenal. In the EL the group stage is just a formality, you won’t see the big boys drop out but you give small teams a chance to… Read more »
Marko
He is not wrong, per se.
A hard Brexit is certainly going to be really hard for the short term.
It can go south quickly. And with so little liquidity in the market, there won’t be no white knight.
The CL and the EL would be so much better if they were restructured.
Winners and Runner up only in CL.
3rd and 4th place plus domestic cup winners in EL or better still bring back the old CWC.
Also, why not straight knockout? Bigger crowds, bigger TV audiences.
Too many meaningless matches imo.
CG For teams who automatically qualify for the EL group stage, it would be 15 games to the final. This is only 2 more than the Champions League. I would agree that the the group stage games can become a procession for the bigger teams but the latter stages offer up some interesting ties and we are now 5 games away potentially from achieving Champions League group stage qualification. 4th place in the league offers a CL playoff tie if I am correct. I don’t think Arsenal are and can afford to be snooty about the EL. We haven’t won… Read more »
Every Arsenal player would die to win the EL, as would every fan.
So Brenton Tarrant is to undergo psychiatric analysis.
What a frigging joke.
I’d rather finish outside the top 4 and win the EL than lose the EL and come 3rd. What’s the prize money for finishing third in the PL ? is there any ??
The Champions League – according to the Telegraph- will soon be getting a revamp. Instead of 8 groups of 4 teams The greedy buggers- ( UEFA) want 4 groups of 8 teams. European football ( both CL and EL ) would be so much better – if it was just straightforward knock out( FA Cup style) No seedings. Protectionist group matches are just revenue raising exercises. Devoid of any sporting merit. How a team like Napoli ( who were in the Champions League earlier- then drop into the Europa League) illustrates that the tournament in it’s current format – is… Read more »
CG
Tend to agree with you.
FIFA and UEFA are as corrupt as ever.
I received an email from the NFL mailing list (I went to one game and really didn’t like watching it live; prefer to watch it on TV which is these days not very often) and they descended the new Spud stadium as:
FIRST PURPOSE-BUILT NFL
STADIUM OUTSIDE OF THE U.S.
The media attention to them and their stadium is getting pretty nauseating to be frank. You just wonder what they have achieved to garner such attention.
I should add Graham- the most striking theme in the telegraph article….
The future champions league spots – will be based on historical achievement rather than merit…
A bit like with FIFA – these villainous beuracrats ( UEFA) want more and more influence. Their greed is insatiable too.
They detest the success of our Premier League.
Hence why – we have this ridiculous concoction coming down the line.
EUROPA CUP 2.!!
Gawd help us.
I have a question about their new diamond (lol) : in which state the pitch will be after the NFL games ?? I hope for them that their grass is removable…
(in fact I lie, I really hope their pitch will be destroyed)
I’m still seething about the fact that Qatar were awarded the 2022 WC.
I lived and worked out in Doha for six years in the nineties and despite progression and development in the infrastructure, it should never have been awarded to them.
Bearing in mind the entire footballing calendar has to be altered to accommodate the event, the whole thing is a farce.
A fair few Rolex watches handed out for that one.
After watching the highlights of the Spuds game yesterday, I can conclude that, under lights anyway, the Emirates wins hands down.
Why not bring back the Intertoto Cup?
OK, now I’m kidding.
@Graham : from an aesthetic point of view, indeed.
But their stadium is SO MUCH MORE MODERN than ours!! (lol)
Spud next game is at their new toilets, vs Huddersfield.
To resume : if we don’t get the 3 points at Everton, we are screwed.
(but I don’t want to put any pressure at all on the team lol)
Of course we all know that FIFA and UEFA hate us.
It has always been, and always will be, the case
And you don’t even want to talk about the FA.
(lol)
The pitch was cutting up a we bit as well.
I know it’s early days, but they could have a few teething problems.
By “us”, I mean British Football in general.
Bloody hell, Brexit again!
No, just us.
The FA has always hate Arsenal.
(the conspiracy theory is back!! lol)
The NFL pitch at the new WHL is retractable. They will not play on the football pitch so it won’t affect the condition of it.
I wonder if we could get some pretty night lights on the roof of the Emirates 😀
Chris
I know that.
Just saying , did they take into account the toxic atmosphere and airflow that emanates from that neck of the woods?
That will affect the pitch( lol!)
Graham
forget the bad weather. How many workers were killed to make a stadium there. That’s being overlooked as people are being over worked to meet a deadline. But I guess as long as Fifa are getting rich, they will turn a blind eye to it.
in case you are confused by the sudden post. I was talking about fifa awarding Qatar the WC.
Putting money in their pockets under the pretence of expanding the footballing world.
New post.
“I’d rather finish outside the top 4 and win the EL than lose the EL and come 3rd”
Absolutely. The record books for winners are what people look at. As someone else says, our club has not won enough Euro trophies for the size of it. Not helped by Liverpool being responsible for the Euro ban, when GG had a good team. Even now, how we lost to Valencia, Real thingy and the Turks still rankles. And the CL losses to Chelsea and the bin dippers still give me stomach ache.