courtesy @allthatchas
The final hurrah of Nacho Monreal sadly will NOT be scoring a 32-yard screamer against Spurs tomorrow. The Spanish left back will instead be heading back to sunnier climes, choosing Real Sociedad to see out his career.
I think I speak for most Arsenal fans… no… ALL Arsenal fans, even you @BREXITGOONER1 (my dad), when I say: Bit of an odd one, this.
We’re banking on Kola learning how to defend, and we’re putting a lot of chips on Tierney 1) Adapting to the league like VVD 2) Breezing past his fitness challenges of the last year.
Still, it is what it is. Nacho is getting on a bit and his hamstrings and body parts will all be a touch more brittle than in the past. I’d imagine he’s at that age when you grunt when you pick up a slipper and he’s at that age when the slipper is probably his. He’s also probably wearing those slippers to the newspaper shop as well. Age is a bitch, but damn, we’ll do it in M&S levels of comfort.
I get the logic behind not having 3 left backs as well, we can’t keep pumping money into the ether. I just thought that if anyone set a great example for professionalism at the club, it was Nacho. He never let us down. He was a true warrior. He was an excellent player.
I remember about 5 years ago, Arsenal let a bunch of us interview him. His English was a bit broken and he was asked a question about what he thought we needed.
‘Someone who can score more than 20 goals a season regularly’, then his agent whispered something to him and he backtracked as hard as his words would allow. We went off the record so as not to cause a stir. But today, I’m causing a stir because Giroud is at Chelsea and who really cares this far out?
Manchester United drew with Southampton today. A great start to a big weekend for Arsenal. Only thing that’s bothering me there is that OGS is going to end up getting sacked before Christmas if he doesn’t pick things up a little. Would love him to have the whole season. Give him a chance, Ed.
The news coming out of the Spurs camp is delightful. Poch is unhappy. His team is disrupted. He has four players angling for an exit, names like Aurier, Eriksen, Vertonghen and Toby. Their squad is finally picking up injuries, there should be no Ndombele, Dier or right back tomorrow. The press were asking if he’d leave this week.
Spurs are there for the taking.
My hope is that Emery can avoid being timid in this game. I don’t want to see us lined up with a deep block on the edge of our box. I don’t want to see us persisting with playing out the back if it looks like Spurs have that sussed. I don’t want us playing for a quick counter-attack at home.
We have the tools in our squad to play to win. Spurs are in a bit of a hole, if we gift them too much respect, we’ll make it hard for ourselves. When confidence is shaken, strike hard and strike first. Test their collective resolve.
I talk like Spurs are totally shite, chances are they’ll turn up because of the magnitude of the game. I just hope we’re positive. Emery plays with too much fear and indecision in big games. I hope that’s just Liverpool jitters… because the fans are not going to gift him a 50/50 split on tomorrow regardless of what he does tactically. It’s a must-win against a team that finished 1 point ahead of us last season.
Win this, and we’re telling the league that we’re here for the top 3 this year, lose, and you’ll start to worry if Emery has the beans to push the squad forward this season.
Our underlying stats have been poor this season. You only have to take a cursory looks across the numbers sites to see that we’re not in great shape. This from Statsbomb.
‘It’s well known that shot rates tend to increase as matches progress, so even when you see a 30-plus shot beatdown, most of the time, the shots get racked up in the second half. And that’s true here. Only four times in 2018-19 did a team reach the half time point having allowed 15 or more shots.’
That number above is quite staggering to read when you’re setting up to stifle attempts at your goal. Add to that, Arsenal has turned the ball over in their own half more than any other team in the league, and you can see a problem brewing. I say brewing because Liverp0ol was a particularly bad execution of what could be passed off as a new strategy against a new rule (I am reaching so badly for the Emeryista here).
A pal in my ArsenalMensSupport chat groups pointed out, Arsenal’s lack of expenditure at the back this summer points to a club not taking defence particularly seriously. The statistics early on this season point, mapped against last, point to a manager not capable of creating a defensive structure that can serve an elite team.
I don’t know what the exact solve is, but my amateur thoughts have led me to this:
- Be less predictable. If you play out the back every time, you make it easy to set up against. Being dedicated to an idea is commendable, but if it’s not working, mix things up. It shouldn’t take 80mins for a keeper to go long once. Even mix up the variety of how you do it. You can play from the back and have a more vertical approach.
- Do it faster. If you are slow and methodical at moving it out the back, you let teams reset, which again, makes it easy to play against you.
- Stop playing staff that are prone to being targeted. Xhaka is well known to be awful when put under pressure. Stop playing him.
Let’s see what Emery has in store tomorrow. He’s a tactically flexible coach, he needs to think a little deeper about what he wants from his defence this year. Hopefully, there’s a simple solution he can adopt.
In other news, Elneny is off to Turkey. Nice guy, about as useful to the squad as a motivational bus driver. Mustafi did not leave, an absolutely disgraceful indictment on his passion for the game. I really hope Emery doesn’t start using him. Keep him frozen out. Mesut Ozil also didn’t leave, he’ll be a bit part this season until he moves on to DC. Say what you will about the German, he’s at least useful.
Finally, listen to our pre-Spurs pod.
1
2
3rd
Trophy
Clean sweep
Are we gonna be 6th this season?
^ nope we won’t
come on SHeffield.
Fuck CHelsea
I agree, Mustafi is a weasal happy to pick up his wages. Hopefully with Holding, Chambers and Luiz, Sok we don’t see any of him at all in any meaningful games this year.
Ozil is useless Pedro
Or are you speaking about Mustafi?
I hope Pedro’s dad gets a boost in his followers from this LG shout out.
Son v AMN is a worry. Defense is always a worry. But you have to expect Arsenal to turn up for this one. 3-1, Auba with a hat trick to make up for last season’s penalty miss!
Pepe to open the scoring 4 -1
A penalty will happen tomorrow
A arsenal mid will score
4-3-3 and lets blast them away
Son is an asshole- need to keep him in check
Moura also dangerous
All nasty trolls
‘Someone who can score more than 20 goals a season regularly’, then his agent whispered something to him and he backtracked as hard as his words would allow.
Openly criticizing Wenger a big no no.
Sad to see him go an excellent player over the years. Must be said though of the three LB’s he was always going to be the one to depart and most importantly it’s what he wanted and deserved. We should be okay luckily after the international break Tierney should be back
Why dont we play 3 at the back? Luiz, Sok and Chambers. Kola and AMN on the wings.
Then Ceballos deep lying midfield with Torreirra and Gwen. front 3, Pepe, Laca Auba.
If Torreita and Gwen stabilise the midfield enough, we could even play Ozil in place of Ceballos.
Pepe to get a brace
Why dont we play 3 at the back? We could even play Ozil
Please let’s not.
Squad player.
What’s the best formation for tomorrow? I keep seeing the pundits suggesting we leave out Ceballos in a 3-5-2 that includes Xhaka. That is worrying because it will leave Erickson in space in front of the defense. Thoughts?
Freddie
You wanna have a pop about me shitting blood two years ago then the floor is yours.
Water off my back.
Was a bit distasteful before though when it quite possibly could have been serious
MGooner,
Not sure if it’s me or you who is hallucinating, but-if you add Leno to your formation you end up with 12 players….
Dissenter sorry for late reply. I know I read a lot about Dybala being moved on, but he is such quality that I just don’t get why they would. If the only reason is not having a position for him whilst Ronaldo’s in the team then play him on the right. He’s a better out there than Cuadrado and although Bernadeschi looks promising, he’s above him and anything else in that team too.Is Ronaldo/Dybala an issue in the way Benzema/Ronaldo were an issue?
Un
So not shitting blood anymore? Good on you. Smart of you to stop letting your buddies ram you there for all their stag celebrations.
UN
Ulcerative colitis or Crohns does that.
hope you dont have it
Pedro
“Mesut Ozil also didn’t leave, he’ll be a bit part this season until he moves on to DC. Say what you will about the German, he’s at least useful.”
That last live of “Say what you will about the German, he’s at least useful”
was to ward off Pierre’s predictable protestations and aggressive defense of Ozil..
I have to admit that you are indeed skillful.
*last line of
Özil useful? When? Where?
Chelsea can’t hold a lead at home
Yes chelsea going down
Would be amazing if Sheffield United can pull back another goal. They’ve threatened a bit these last few minutes.
Zouma own goal
Get in S.United
OMG stream is lagging WOW get the fuck in!
Lol are we finally going to see Lamps crack in a post match presser?
Luteo on point
Whats your prediction for tomorrow
we have to win tomorrow
lady luck is with us so far……
How does Roman get rid of Frank. That would test the supporters resolve. I don’t think they could do a Maureen on Lamps without some backlash. The fans will give him more time and consideration (I’d imagine) than any other manager.
Chelsea have some bad fockers though
Kovacic and Batsuayi are really comical options to have in a team with youngsters
Still early days for Lampard N5 but they sure are shipping way too many goals.
4 goals conceded in two home matches against promoted opposition after giving away 4 at OT is piss poor.
I know WE, I was just thinking longer term. If in Jan they were still pulling results like this then the owner would usually get twitchy. I just don’t think he’ll be able to behave that way with Fat Frank.
It’s pure speculation on my part though.
Diss My fanciful prediction was 3-1 with an Auba brace. With some actual consideration for the match it will probably be something closer to a 4-3 goal fest. My real concern is that Arsenal over the first 3 matches have not put together a single goal yet from a cohesive string of passes. Not an indictment on anyone, the squad is short I get that. Doesn’t change that fact that it’s true though, and until they start playing some actual football I’m not gonna be convinced they will be able to get the goals they need if they fall behind.… Read more »
Kevin Friend having a nightmare
Did they give the goal as an OG to Zouma?
lol Zouma is on crack.
Crack attack. Zouma’s on a crack attack. Crack. Crack. Crack.
Why don’t you leave that shit alone.
Think it was related to heartburn tablets. Stopped taking them and it’s been sweet logs ever since.
Thanks for the concern though chaps
I’m truly touched.
Emery’s tactics: lame.
Monreal: who?
When a team has been shite for a decade, those a little less than shite shine through…Nacho, alas, was one of those. Pedestrian. Didn’t make waves, nor create earthquakes, he just was.
Good lad. Won’t make the almanac.
If Frank can’t tighten Chelsea up the Surrey gypsies will turn on him pretty sharp ex – player or not.
Kevin Friend was supposed to let play continue rather than blow so quickly.
Had he not blown his whistle, VAR would have ruled out a Grealish dive and the Villa goal should have stood.
At least Emery does tactics unlike Wenget.
This season we are supposed to finish as the third best team, the real test is how close to City and Liverpool we finish not top four.
We have a good team, they have deficiencies but every team has one. This is the season for Emery to show what he is made of or take a walk.
@ Words on a Blog Thanks for pointing this out and waking me up 😉 I have been looking after a litter of 4 kitten for 2 days, tough job. My fear is that tomorrow, they’ll target Luiz and AMN in defence and Xhaka in the middle. If they do that, they will lock up our play completely. When we were a better team, other players would read the tactics well during the game and step up. But this team has too many weak links. We need a player like Parlour/Milner in the middle. MAybe not the best technically but… Read more »
Long season ahead for United and Chelsea. Apparently Lampard was promised time to build his team but if they keep shipping late goals anything can happen..lots of experienced gaffers out of work
16 year old lad just equalised for Barcelona against Osasuna, name is Fati.
The stronger the midfield the less our defence becomes z liability.
Receding
Lampard ought to have kept Luis just for the leadership.
I think Abrahmovich keeps him no matter what because he’s proven that he honors promises made to certain legends like Petr Cec.
Chelsea giving a rookie the manager’s seat and during a transfer ban lol lol lol
‘Someone who can score more than 20 goals a season regularly’, then his agent whispered something to him and he backtracked as hard as his words would allow. Openly criticizing Wenger a big no no. Nothing to do with openly criticising Wenger, more like not throwing your teammates under the bus. Remember the tantrum Olivier Giroud threw when Henry castigated him on Sky Sport. Despite Henry poor attempt at an apology, he lost his job as youth team attack coach. Wenger telling him, you cannot be a coach here at Arsenal during the week, and throwing comments like that on… Read more »
Leicester go to Old Trafford after the international break. Could be a banana skin if United don’t buck up their ideas.
Some United fans arguing that Leicester have the more premium squad nowadays too.
WengerEagleAugust 31, 2019 17:13:52
16 year old lad just equalised for Barcelona against Osasuna, name is Fati.
Could make some great chants with a name like that
Dissenter he kept Azpiculueta for his leadership and he has been crap. Luiz had run ins with Lampard as team mates,him leaving was best.
@Left now is not a good time for United to face Leicester, a counter attacking team who watched Palace win at old Trafford, they will be pumped up.
Yep, can see Leicester getting something that game Receding.
Ole has misplaced faith in Lingard and Rashford who have both been inadequate for some time now.
Red
‘At least Emery does tactics unlike Wenget.’
Can’t remember a game that Emery won us using tactics. Rather his poor tactics have cost us games we should have won.
Chav owner played his cards nicely – the fans will be patient with Lamps.
He’ll appoint a new gaffer who will operate without ban issues next year.
Lamps would be better off playing an academy player ahead of Zouma in central defense.
@ Un na naai
Pati song
Suggestions please.
Burnley suprising Liverpool would be the icing
Barnes looks so basic against VVD. His physicality is easily swatted away by VVD.
MGooner,
Don’t worry we’ve all been there!
Yeah, they’ll target Luiz and AMN. Hope Xhaka doesn’t play, but if he does, then he’ll be targeted too.
Don’t know why, but as ever I don’t feel especially optimistic tomorrow, even with all the rumblings coming out of the Spuds’ camp. First trip to the Emirates this season – I missed the Burnley match as I was away….
Agree on the Nacho comments, he was a reliable team player with a good attitude, scored a few great goals for us too. Wishing him and his slippers fun in the sun with Real Sociedad
Facts so far using the simplistic yet logical thought process that each top 6 team playing at home to another top 6 team is expected 3 points for the home team, and every game of a top 6 team vs a non top 6 team is expected 3 points is as follows: Arsenal have won 6 out of expected 6 points. right on par – W (A) Newcastle, W (H) Burnley, L (A) Pool; Chelsea have won 5 out of expected 9 points. -4 points off par – L (A) Manure , D (H) Leicester, W (A) Norwich, D (H)… Read more »
Alexander-Arnold best right back in league.
Atm Burnley are playing Pool better than we did
Burnley using the long ball well.
Burnley ain’t playing at Anfield
Should absolutely be finishing at the barest minimum 3rd this season, said it all along our direct rivals don’t have good enough squads and early days results indicate just that, if we are not at least 6/7/8 points of 5th by Late November/ Early December, I’d not be averse to a change in manager. Absolutely can’t do another season in the Europa league.
Samesong
“Alexander-Arnold best right back in league.”
There are many who wouldn’t bat an eyelid if you had stated that “Alexander-Arnold best right back in world”
Such is his quality these days
Lol and he’s just scored a fluke lol
Jinxed them
Trent Alexander-Arnold; Even when her miscues a cross it ends up in the back of the net.
Last week wasn’t about tactics, it was about us playing shit.
Okay, Alexander-Arnold didn’t miscue the cross, it was a deflection that lopped up over goalie
Can see a Burnley battering now.
Boy oh boy. Hope Burnley get relegated.
Sean Dyche to get sacked on Monday morning, by legrove standards.
Mgooner
I can’t think straight enough to come up with anything right now
Well in the dog house
Burnley undone by one moment of luck and one of quality.
Something to the tune of fat bottomed girls by queen maybe
Eh fati Boom boom
Bleeding from the butt is no joke. My nephew who at 32 and 9 yrs my junior was bleeding from his ass from 18 to 28 and kept getting fobbed off with IBS and piles. It wasn’t until he suffered a severe hemorrhage at 28 and rushed to A&E and they stuck a camera up his ass that they discovered his bowel was riddled with hundreds of cancerous polyps. It’s spread all over his body now and there’s nothing left to cut away. He’s now in palliative care and under the care of Dorothy House. He has a 3 yr… Read more »
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=AIXUgtNC4Kc
These cunts are crazy
Die antwood from safa
They was on that film. Chappie. Which I actually thought was quite underrated. Really liked that film
Was like a cross between short circuit (Johnny no5-in Indian accent ) and robocop
Incidentally I find the bird quite hot. She’s a bit ratty but it’s the gear she wears. Guilty pleasure. Little bit of chav lovin’
Sorry to hear about that Benny.
Give away by Ben Mee for the second Liverpool goal
Benny
Fuck!! Sorry man, that’s awful.
Poor little thing. No daddy. I couldn’t bear the thought of my little ones growing up without a dad.
Fucking nhs did the same shit to my grandmother. Told her she had plurecy? Pluracy? And she had lung cancer.
This Liverpool team is on the process of doing something truly remarkable.
They’ve just picked up from where they stopped last season. Now it’s 13 consecutive league wins.
It will take city performing at the level of last season to thwart ‘Pool.
Reine Adélaïde’s Lyon got the opener but an early red card put Koscielny’s Bordeaux back into the game. 1/1 final score
Both played rather well
Genuinely hope United take points off Leicester at OT. Leicester with Brenda could pose a serious threat to top 4. They have top 4 quality all over the pitch. Also Vardy looks like he’ll replicate his title winning form.
There is no serious weak link in their team. Brenda can motivate and he’s a decent coach TBH. They don’t have the distraction of European football as well.
This Liverpool team is on the process of doing
I believe that too. They are looking quite a complete team.
Chelsea and tub Frank fully appreciating the void Hazard has left, dude carried this side.
Imagine if Wenger pulled him to the side instead of being gazumped by Chelsea. We win the title instead of a Vardy party I’d wager, amongst other things.
N5 you sexy bitch, back in the fold!
Thanks guys, It’s ok, we’ve all come to terms with it. He’s been battling it for 6 years now and has lasted much longer than expected and it even stopped spreading and some tumours shrunk thanks to cannabis oils, but due to going undiagnosed for over 10 yrs it’s just a matter of time now. 2 to 3 yrs if lucky. Moral of the story is get yourself checked pronto if you’re bleeding out on the regular. Trouble is he led a really unhealthy lifestyle; rampant pisshead and a diet of bacon and sausages etc. It’s why I’ve given up… Read more »
Union Berlin beating Dortmund 3-1 with 29% possession.
Mane doing his best Lacazette impersonation there