HAPPY MONDAY MY FRIENDS I AM FIT AND HEALTHY AND READY… to… you know… go to work and be a good citizen.
Did you like my headline? I was trying to be motivational. I say that sort of shit when I get paired with my GF in table football. Never helps, but you gotta sound the big man in front of the lads.
Anyway…
The Monday MEGA GAME is here!
The next level in sports entertainment.
Arsenal vs Watford.
A clash of the Titans.
A matchup of good vs evil.
Winner takes… well, nothing. But if we win, it’ll put us in mighty fine shape to finish the season in the top 3 of all places.
Imagine?
Liverpool put Chelsea at a disadvantage in the race, defeating them in a 2-0 victory. There were no Gerard like slips yesterday. Sarri is once again a massive fraud.
Now it’s over to Arsenal to crank up the pressure and keep pushing on in this very exciting race.
What adds even more importance to this game now is that Spurs play City this week in the Champions League then the league at the weekend. Both games are AWAY. We could genuinely bring top 3 into play again.
… or we could bottle it and make things really difficult for ourselves because we’re weak minded and feeble.
I have no idea how Emery is going to operate.
This evening, unless Mavrapanos has had some sort of Maldini like transformation in training, will likely see Mustafi in defence. A huge worry for everyone involved. There’s a great Getty image of Emery looking at the German the way we all look at the TV screen when he careens into an unnecessary slide tackle or throws out an elbow for no meaningful reason.
I don’t want to guess how he’s going to take on the starting 11. I think we need to be careful about how we line up, but I think I’d gamble on a strong starting 11 and then take players off once we’re ahead… vs start weak, go a goal down, then chase a game with our best players.
One thing worth noting is we had Napoli beaten early and took off Laca and Ozil on 67. I actually thought that was a more interesting point when I started writing it. I think I was hoping Ramsey had also come off, and closer to 55 minutes. Ignore that… but know we could do it against Watford if we have a strong first half.
Despite the worries, our record at Vicarage road isn’t that bad. We lost last season, but we’d won our previous 4 in a row before that. This is a good Watford team, no doubt, but if you want to fight for CL, you have to be able to beat a team that’s sitting in 10th. They’ve lost 3 of their last 6, dropping full points to United, City and Liverpool. Sure, they can be impressive on their day, but I think things are going to have to go really well for them for that to happen tomorrow. Key for us is to not let their physicality get into our heads.
My one worry with them is they’ve had a full 7 days to prepare for us… not pesky midweek game to deal with. They’ll be packed full of energy, they’ll be revved up and they’ll have a game plan they’ll be confident of executing. We’ll have a bit of rust in our legs after the win on Thursday that we’ll have to shake off quickly if we’re to overcome them.
Momentum is hugely important now. Tensions are up, confidence should be on-point… all we need is a focused week of victories. We really need the best of Emery here. We need the best of our players. We need the best of luck.
COME ON ARSENAL x
1st
2nd
3rd
Hello
Trophy
Well played MrT
Too late
7th
8th
Big game tonight.
Hope we don’t bottle proceedings.
4am CST…good morning LeGrove!
Chelsea without Hazard would struggle to make top six.
MU, without David de Gea, likewise.
No ozil tonight please. In fact don’t ever start him in an away game again… ever…
This is they type of game where OZIL will thrive, Watford leave alot of space in the midfield.
Samesong
Watford are a physical team, Ozil will disappear as usual in big away games.
Hope I’m wrong but I’ve seen it time and again.
Need a big performance from torriera tonight if we going to get anything.
Midwes I said our entire fan base after the Chelsea game not when rvp went Read below from your comment “Bottom line the entire fanbase didn’t want Wenger gone 8 years ago most not even 2 years ago .. you are delusional if you think so … so why would the owner. He wouldn’t. Klopp and Pep were never an option to come here and you know it“ That’s not what I said. I didn’t say 8 years ago, I said the Chelsea game and I’m sticking to that. And using a few snippets of the online community as eveidence… Read more »
Pedro has a girlfriend?
Well done Pedro
Knew you had it in you.
Even our second string should have enough to take on watford
Otherwise what are they in our squad for? Why have iwobi or guendouzi or Mkhitaryan or eleney if they can’t perform against a mid table side effectively?
Pedro My real concern about tonight’s fixture are team selections. Arsenal’s average away form is in my view the consequence of team selections and how we line up. We focus too much on defence and not enough on attack. We saw that last week against Everton. Arsenal need to play on front foot and not the back foot against a team like Watford who are as we know a big and physical team. I would like to see Arsenal play with both Lacazette and Aubameyang in starting lineup and include both Torreira and Xhaka [assuming match fit] in midfield. I… Read more »
Mmmm
Spurs and Chelsea could slip out of the top 4 next week if spurs lose away to city putting us in third!!
it will be a difficult game tonight, especially our weak mentality and the pressure on as man u, spurs have won
from all Watford, Leicester and Wolves
Watford away should be the one we are winning but even Newcastle beat Leicester city on Friday
we should try to win 2 of the 3
Ramsey has to start away games from now, ozil at home only
Torreira should be fresh with the last 4 weeks off
Shabz
It shouldn’t be as tough as many are making out. As Pedro rightly says, NO EXCUSES. Emery was appointed to win games like these. Ifnhe can beat Napoli and Man U and spurs and Chelsea then he can beat Napoli with this team
Shabz
It shouldn’t be as tough as many are making out. As Pedro rightly says, NO EXCUSES. Emery was appointed to win games like these. Ifnhe can beat Napoli and Man U and spurs and Chelsea then he can beat Watford with this team
Torriera has been off since Xmas pretty much. No wonder he looked so good against Napoli
It was 30 years ago today. The Arsenal needed to beat Newcastle @ Highbury to keep Liverpool @ distance on points. Brian Marwood scored the winner, 80+ minutes for a 1-0 win. I was on the North Bank & the home fans went mad when he scored. But the real story was playing out @ Hillsborough. I will never forget that day.!
Un battle
As usual, yet another Arsenal fan who underestimates the opposition.
Two things come to mind, 1. we are not who we were and 2. the EPL is not what it was.
Arsenal away matches are difficult to predict these days ,especially with our dismal record on the road. Emery too thus not help matters with team selections away from home. He should forget about Napoli match and field our best available legs tonight. Players like Torreira, Laca, Miki, Auba Kos Must start. Anything short of victory tonight will be disastrous. Come On Emery. COYG.
Good post, Pedro. Quite funny. I especially liked the bit about the prospect of Mustafi playing: “A huge worry for everyone involved”.
I know we should be winning against teams like Watford but this “away form” has got these “lesser teams” right up for it
but I have a feeling we pull out a result today
but deleafou will be a danger to our defence
My biggest worry is Koscielny. He looked dead tired at the end of last game. We need him against Napoli. He should not be playing 90 mins today. We have now more midfielders available than CBs. I wonder whether we should go with two CBs and 3 Midfielders.
I am not a fan of Mustafi. He is accident prone and lacking in “brain”.
However, the reality is that we have only two established Centre Backs apart
from him available for rest of season. Mavropanos is clearly not considered
ready, fit or good enough to play in team and Holding is not going to play again
this season.
The only other option is Monreal. Sadly he was below par against Napoli.
we need to unleash the greek beast mavropanos
Peter has cured the AIDS. Well played. Mavropanos. Seriously…wasn’t this lad meant to be good? Another fucking dead eyed defender who gets signed, plays 8 mins and is never heard of again until they sign for Charlton. Is Sol Campbell and cashley our last good defenders? I think so. And before you say Kos or Mertesacker…no. Both were adequate but never in the top tier of defenders. From a club that had the greatest defence in the history of league football to the shambles we have now is quite something to behold. The duds we have at arsenal would easily… Read more »
Watford are a solid outfit, but if we field our best XI and play with urgency, we really should be able to get a win. I agree with Emirates that Emery should start both Lacazette and Aubameyang; we need goals. He should also have a word with Mustafi and tell him to play conservatively. No silly mistakes, no rash tackles.
The more I think about it, though, the weaker our back four look to me, the more problematic they look to me. Even when facing a Watford. AMN, Mustafi, Koscielny, Monreal? Not even close to good enough. He’ll probably go with three CBs, though, so that will help a little, I guess. But our defense is weak. There is just no way around that.
Watford must have studied the Everton game. They may try all those long balls against our back line. It is worth to consider playing Licht as one of the 3 CBs. He is tall and mean.
Graham
I don’t underestimate the opposition at all. A club like arsenal with the resources we have, who are beating the teams around us quite easily in certain games should possess the capability of beating watford today.
There is just no way around that.
Bamford
There is a way around that. Ask George Graham or Mourinho or Pochetino about it.
Nelson
I’d not want to deploy our wing backs as full backs in this team.
I’d go with the extra defender.
Nelson
Do me a favour Lichsteiner was a complete disaster when we played him as a centre back against Southampton.
Personally I would revert to a back four against Watford in absence of Sokratis. Reluctantly I would play Koscielny alongside Mustafi in Centre
Back combination.
Guns
Hahaha
Great take on watford.
https://twitter.com/gunner_x49/status/1117513648237350913?s=19
“BIG GAME NO EXCUSES”
No excuses ?? What about Ozil with the armband ??
No excuses my ass…
(this was my Monday’s clin d’oeil to Pierre)
“unless Mavrapanos has had some sort of Maldini like transformation in training”
Ah ah ah!!
Who needs Maldini when you have Mustafi ??
you know deeney is going to try rattle mustafi
doucoure is a man mountain for them in midfield
delafeau is a tricky wide player
so its not going to be easy
we need to score the first goal though in the first 30 mins
“Who needs Maldini when you have Mustafi ??”
Who needs valium when you have Mustafi?
Everybody!!!
Absolutely important we go into the game on Thursday fresh enough, I’d really start the fringe players and kids tonight….Napoli the far more important game this week
In other news, Sanchez is fit for the trip to Barcelona.
Very happy for him, as he will fully take part manure’s humiliation.
lol Marc, excellent one!!
*part of
@Emirates
You really want to play Koscielny three games in 6 days. We may lose him for the rest of the games.
Whatever…
As long as Ozil don’t wear the armband… give it to Mustafi!!
#in 8 days
Emirates “I would probably select for this game Ramsey in preference to Ozil as our attacking midfield.” As much as I agree with most of your points, the fact that Ramsey is leaving at the end of the season is due to this thinking that Ramsey can play as a CAM – a thinking that influenced his Emery’s use of him earlier in the campaign. His ineffectiveness in that role caused the contract withdrawal saga. I am sure that if Ramsey had been deployed as a CM at the beginning of the season, his impact on the team would have… Read more »
Despite being right footed, Koscielny is our only CB comfortable playing on the left side of the defense. A Back four with Mustafi and Monreal as CBs against Troy Deeney is a recipe for defeat. If Koscielny plays, we run the risk of losing him for the Napoli game. If Mavrapanos is not considered ready, then the only U21 left footed CB Plezeguelo has even less chance to make it. Like I have stated repeatedly before, Mavrapanos should have been introduced to the first team earlier. It is too late to suddenly throw him in a must win game. We… Read more »
Incredible come back from Tiger Woods this week end at Augusta!!
@Countryboy, The so called dossier that Emery had on every Arsenal player turned out to be as fake as the Brendon Rogers envelope with name. Two of the players he wanted to build his team around (Ramsey and Özil), he put aside before changing his mind. The third Aubameyang is not a starter anymore. And his so called knowledge of the Arsenal youth team players has also be shown to be a lie. Outside of AMN, who was already considered a first team player. The youth players he was going to introduce to the first team have been either ignored… Read more »
Valnetin
How was sending Nelson out on loan “premature”
After the win vs Napoli, I estimate our chance of winning the UEFA Cup at 40% and the Top 4 chance at 25% (4 teams remaining). I would gamble on the UEFA Cup. Sadly, our current team doesn’t have enough depth to fight for both. It is always more appealing to win a silver ware and parades it along the London street.
I don’t hope to see Mustafi tonight.
“and parades it along the London street.”
Especially if your have the opportunity to parade in front of your rival’s stadium, if you know what I mean…
*you
@Batistuta,
We have been crying all season for a dribbling right winger. We even ended up hiring (and not using) Suarez for that role. Reiss Nelson was ready.
He was sent to a champion’s league club while we were playing Europa League.
It was ridiculous to send him on loan. If Emery did not know about Reiss Nelson, then it was premature to send him away before having properly assessed him and the squad. We could always loan him in January if he was surplus to requirements.
Valentin Emery has his faults, one which is his near maniacal need to tinker when none is needed. On the other hand, we had a manager who refused to change things when every one and his dog knew one was needed. I choose to believe that Emery had a dossier on Ramsey but took to long to bin its contents on the player. On Ozil, i believe that the best way to manage him is what Emery has done. Definitely Not Wenger’s Way. Perhaps he could have done better with youth integration but its difficult to experiment with your back… Read more »
*one of which
Valentin
It’s not like Nelson has done a Sancho though on the Bundesliga, he’s been poor there, though good goal yesterday……You’re right that Emery should have blooded in more youngsters especially Saka, Willock and Medley
Nelson
Same here with the Europa league, that has to be the priority, stupid trying to go at both with how paper thin the squad is in terms of quality…. We should have enough for Valencia if we go past Napoli Thursday and I’d fancy us in a one legged tie against Chelsea that’s assuming they get past Benefica
Mourinho did it when he realized he didn’t have enough to get a top 4 slot and i hope Emery realizes this too plus we really do need to get silverware at the end of the season
It’s difficult to have a more critical game than tonight’s one…
A win and we’re in the mix more than ever.
A loss, and it’s all our eggs in the ELC.
Really curious to see how the boys are going to deal with that…
And please, feel free to burn all the candles you want for a “not so bad” performance from the specialist in defensive failures.
Yes, Reiss Nelson has not played that much, but In term of minutes played, Reiss Nelson’s output (goal tally, …) has been very impressive.
Jadon Sanchez is on his second year at Dortmund, Reiss Nelson is on his first year. Also Jadon Sanchez adaptation has been much easier than Reiss Nelson. If you read his interview with the Independent, it is clear that there was a much bigger cultural shock for him than for Jadon Sanchez. From London inner city estate to rural Germany.
Regarding Özil, there is a difference between indulging Özil like Wenger did and ostracise him like Emery did. In the end Emery had to bring both him and Ramsey back into the fold. You can clearly see from his reaction at Everton that everything has not been forgiven. A while ago, Mourinho gave an interview where he explained that the best way to get Özil is not to antagonise him, but to cajole him and to tries to pick his ego to become better. If Emery had done that, then the horrendous run of defeats may have been avoided and… Read more »
Un battle
I agree, “with the resources we have, we should beat a team like Watford”
The problem is, is how have these resources been managed these past few years.
The words “exceptionally badly” come to mind.
Regarding the introduction of youth team players, that is called squad management. When we were on a good run, we had the opportunity to give to youngsters minutes and invaluable experience toward the end of games. That experience would mean that now we would know if they are ready. Mavrapanos could replace Mustafi, instead of hoping that Mustafi regular brain fart would not cost us the game. Instead of playing a half fit Ramsey or an underwhelming Elneny, we could rely on Willock, who is clearly way too good to play reserve and U21 football. At right back, Jordan Osei-tutu… Read more »
Valentin
Omg, do you also believe in fairies?
The sympathy towards Ozil is just too much.
Mourinho’s comments speak volumes.
It’s all about Mesut Ozil.
Guaranteed tonight you’ll see how things will pan out after the first five minutes.
Graham, that’s how you manage elite footballers. The best are all like that.
Oh spare me the cuddle Ozil line, it’s not like he’s dropped crazy numbers in what 2/seasons now
Ozil is not among the best footballers in the world right now by any stretch…Could name 10/20 attacking mids I’d have starting for my team over him right now
Batistuta, doesn’t matter where he sits in the pantheon of world-class footballers, his reintroduction along with Ramsey has given us something extra when we needed it. So whatever Emery is doing now is working.
Pedro
Really Pedro?
Your perceptions on what an elite footballer is all about differ from mine.
All elite footballers I know off have a passion and desire to be the very best. They outwardly show they are focused and in the zone. Messi, Ronaldo, Zidane, Maradona,Pele etc all showed what it takes to be an elite footballer.
They never had to be “cajoled” to perform. Never.
Do you think Roger Federer had to be cajoled?
I don’t think so.
Sorry my friend, but you don’t know what your talking about.
That’s why Ozil will never be considered an “elite” footballer by many.
Pedro
Now you’ve wound me up.
That’s why I love it on here.
Then again, let’s hope Ozil performs a blinder over these next few weeks.
Valentin
‘If Emery had done that, then the horrendous run of defeats may have been avoided and we would be in a secure 3rd position.’
Özil has done OK since his reintroduction but he hasn’t exactly set the place on fire.
You’re overating his contribution I think
Also, regarding the’ horrendous run’, that had more to do with an injury crisis in defence than Özil pulling his back playing fortnite.
Pedro Arsenal’s performances under Emery at HOME are fine. However, he has yet to convince me that he can replicate our form there in AWAY matches. I think that he plays these matches far too defensively and that was certainly the case in team selections and the tactical game against Everton. I have argued that point on many occasions in recent months. Interestingly Martin Keown not one of my favourite pundits said exactly the same thing over weekend. We know that Arsenal’s defence is brittle so my view is that the best way of compensating for these shortcomings is “to… Read more »
“Özil has done OK since his reintroduction but he hasn’t exactly set the place on fire. You’re overating his contribution I think”
Why are you talking to Pierre, he’s not even there.
I think Ozil problem is that he wasn’t born with correct mix of muscle fibers that you need for running, so he gets easily fatigued which makes him look lackadaisical. Ozil had world class skills when he was at Real Madrid but he has never had energy to play full match at 100% so he slow down after 60 minute and looks like he can’t be bothered.
Has winter come to the UK yet?
Is there anyone still waiting for tonight to watch the GOT premiere
Valentin
You write like you have inside information about all these pronouncements you keep making.
How can anyone say it was “premature” to send Nelson out on loan?
Madrid let him go they knew he was not a long term solution for them
He looks knackered in every game he plays
Dude needs to mix in MMA training for better cardio and mental and physical toughness
Could help him in the pitch fo sho
This made me laugh. When asked about his repose to Deeney’s jibe that Arsenal lacked “cojones”, Emery viciously and wittily responded as follows: “We need to me competitive, and to be competitive, using our capacity, being organised, using our quality individually and collectively. The capacity to make combinations with the ball, breaking their lines, and also over 90 minutes we have a lot to do defensively on set pieces…..etc. etc. A classic example of the Emery Droning Garbled-English Football Monologue Deeney must have felt like he was savaged by a dead sheep. Pedro must be tearing his hair out, asking… Read more »
Repose – response
Ozil is a very gifted footballer and when on form can make a big difference to the overall performance of our team as he demonstrated against Napoli. We know what his shortcomings are. They have been identified on countless occasions both on Le Grove and elsewhere. The simple truth is that Ozil is “icing on the cake” in a very good team. Sadly neither Arsenal nor Germany at last World Cup were such a team. Ozil’s shortcomings are bluntly a reflection of our team and not just his own performance. If you want to get the best out of Ozil… Read more »
“A classic example of the Emery Droning Garbled-English Football Monologue.”
How’s your Basque ? Or French ? Or maybe your Spanish is better.
Emery is a football coach – not a linguist or language interpretor. Why should it matter whether or not he can make meaningless, formulaic press conferences buzz with pithy phrases or witty remarks ? When was the last time anyone said anything interest at a pre-match press conference ?
If Maureen is your idea of a media role model you need to get out more.
Maureen, perish the thought.!The man is the lowest of the low.
I speak French fluently, but sadly not Spanish or Basque.
I actually like and rate Emery – I’m just trying to uncover the reason why Pedro doesn’t, and his committed non-responses at press conferences may be one reason why….
“Graham, that’s how you manage elite footballers. The best are all like that.”
Pedro
It would be nice for you to say the names of the elites players that are like that.
Guardiola your hero dropped Aguero until he started doing more work off the ball.
@Midwest Some real good posts from you on Pedro’s previous post. You have a good knowledge of the team and of football. Makes no difference where you live or are from, cos you have a better take on events ( past & present ) than some of the Muppets on this site. I like the way you remained unrattled by their crap and cooly stated your points or replies. No way did the entire fanbase want him gone, even when he was sacked ! There were plenty saying he deserves to choose when he goes… FFS ! It’s just as… Read more »
Valentin
You write like you have inside information about all these pronouncements you keep making.
Valentin talks a who lot of rubbish 80% of the time.
Reiss has played a total of 24 games this season with a lot of those as subs so the idea that he should have stayed is just one of many of Valentin’s agenda against Emery.