Well good evening to you ALL.
Big news on the bond front. Stan has paid of Arsenal’s debt foooooooor… stability moving forwards. It doesn’t affect Mikel Arteta’s bleak summer ahead. I mean, really, did you think Stan was just going to drop a cool £100m on the squad to take advantage of the lowest market since the great depression of 1929? Absolutely not.
The AST have an excellent assessment here. My take is that Stan is now getting paid by the club and probably taking a lower interest rate over a longer period of time. Helpful that we don’t have to keep cash in the banks and great that our interest rates are much lower. Still doesn’t mean we’re balling out with the big names this summer.
The North London Derby is coming this week. I expect a proper Mourinho performance. Forget about the bleak football, lack of shots, and general misery around our rivals. He’s coming to party this weekend and the team had best be at their very best otherwise we’ll get beaten and the post-match story will be ‘never underestimate Jose.’
Arteta and Jose have had a similar season. Both picked up teams at low ebbs, both have had a mixed bag with results, injuries and luck. Our man acknowledged as much.
They have had some ups and downs but overall you can clearly see what he wants to bring to the club. He manages the energy, the momentum and establishes a really strong culture in every football club. As well, he makes sure that he wins and he’s won in every single club that he’s been at. Obviously the situation and the timing when he arrived is different than starting a new project right from the summer, but I’m sure he will be successful because he always finds the right way to do it. It will take him a bit of time but I’m sure he will do it.
Still, what can’t be denied is we’ve looked pretty decent and on the up… and they haven’t. We still haven’t had a great 90minutes start to finish. Is there a better time to demonstrate that we are capable? No. The moment is now, so let’s see what we have.
Mikel Arteta was goaded about 7 times into calling Jose a past-it-melt, but he held back, basically saying he’s a world-class manager. Smart move really.
I think a derby has a completely different context to what is happening with the current form and anything like that. I have huge respect for Jose, for what he’s trying to do there, and we know to go there and get a win we’re going to have to do everything really, really well. I’m expecting a really tough game.
I agree. Spurs could be at the bottom of the table and this would still be a tough game. They have a great squad of players and elite talent built to make your weekend miserable. Harry Kane, Son, and Bergwijn can all do damage. I’m quite pleased Alli and Celso are out.
So what can we expect? I think it’ll be a similar approach to the one we saw from Wolves. They’ll defend deep, expect a mistake, and try and kill us on the counter. They obviously have more quality, so we need to be careful. They won’t need many chances to kill us.
This will be another huge game for our midfield and wide players. We need to play smart and stick to the game plan. Hopefully, the team is a little more confident after the first half against Leicester and we take the game to them. It’s a big away game, if we win there, who knows what we might take to the Liverpool game.
Before I go, interesting that some outlets are saying Matteo wants to stay but not apologise, whilst Canal+ is running with the idea of letting Aouar go with an eye on our bad boy replacing him. Swap? I mean, it’d be rude not to have a chat.
Short post today, have a great evening, see you tomorrow! x
There is a difference between Saka and Tierney playing on the left side. Tierney would only cross the ball while Saka can cut in and link up play with Auba. The team was playing well deploying Saka on the left side as the link up man. Arteta has dropped this option.
After winning the CAS appeal, Man City must be celebrating a lot. They may not be so keen on winning the FA Cup now. Their players can now relax and plan for the Summer vacation.
As mush as Mustafi has seemingly improved over the past few months, yesterday was a clear example of why we can not keep him at the club. Once he made the first mistake he was all over the place, diving in constantly. Could have easily cost us another two goals.
If Arteta wants to keep playing 3 at the back and Aubameyang on the left side of trident of attackers, he need to reinstate the combination Tierney as CB and Saka as LWB. Without them combining we are toothless on that side. He also need to drop Pepe. As we can’t have both Aubameyang and Pepe in the same wide trident attack. They are both narrow making it easier to be overcrowded by the defense. Spurs did exactly the opposite overloading the wide sides with both Son and Kane systematically attacking the left side Kolasinac and Luiz the first half… Read more »
I think we’re only playing three at the back as two can’t be trusted. But instead of being an insurance policy we now have three centre backs who could potentially cock things up.
After winning the CAS appeal, Man City must be celebrating a lot. They may not be so keen on winning the FA Cup now. Their players can now relax and plan for the Summer vacation.
Doubt that very much. City will fight for everything. Unlike Arsenal.
We can go with a back 2 if we had Party and Torriera as the 2 CMs
Instead we have Xhaka and Ceballos
Ceballos should play n10
Xhaka should be sold
Pierre
Personally I prefer Martinez to Leno and I would retain him for the time being as our first choice gk. However, the club does need two quality gk on books so I
would retain both.
The only weakness of both gks is that they are perhaps not brilliant in their
ball playing skills and distribution.
Samesong
“Doubt that very much. City will fight for everything. Unlike Arsenal.”
Sounds like wishful thinking…
All of our Eastern European players suck balls.
Sokratis, Mustafi, Kolasinac, Ozil, Xhaka, Mkhitaryan.
Need to buy from Latin America, Spain, Portugal, Germany, France and UK ofc.
I’m so done with deadwood. Whole team playing pretty well and then the serial fk ups do what they do best. It’s so discouraging.
Luiz will always be a massive liability.
His ability to sense danger and be prepared for the unexpected, are absolute shite.
Plays in 1st or 2nd gear most of the time.
Kolasinac’s pass was awful but Luiz was equally culpable because his head is not in the game.
Don’t rate him at all.
Still can’t believe we got him in the first place.
I don’t want to be too critical of ceballos since he’s playing well but I think the reason for that is, like many Spanish players, he enjoys playing in the lovely sunny conditions.
Unfortunately for him, most of the PL takes place during the autumn and winter period. With heavy rain and snow.
But I keep saying, if he costs 10-15 m, buy him.
Arsenal extend Luiz contract, Arsenal offer mustaffi a new contract and are encouraged by Arteta to do so.That for me is very very worrying
Pepe also needs to go back to school.
Starting to piss me off with his attitude. Needs a kick up the backside.
If Zaha had been playing yesterday, we’d have won the game.
No sweat.
shaun
It most certainly is.
Raptora
All those players were bought from the German league.
Or are you saying we have to look at nationality before buying a player?
Luiz may be a great leader in the changing room, but he is a liability on the pitch and that should have been the deciding factor to not extend his contract. Mustafi may have shown sign of progress, but again the fact he will revert to type when put under pressure and asked to cover the right back area. That again should have been the deciding factor against deciding to offer him an extension. To me those are bad decision that I can’t fathom. So the question is why Arteta was pushing for them. Does he not trust the recruitment… Read more »
Martinez shouldn’t have dove. Son is moving away from goal and Emi opens him the easiest solution to score a goal from there – a chip. 99% of the blame is on Kolasinac of course. He made a hospital pass earlier as well when it lead to Kane one on one vs Emi but he ended up missing his lobbed shot.
Kolasinac is a horrible player and should not be played at all. Why was Saka a substitute I will never know.
So if arteta keeps renewing players contracts, does it become his players or should the fault still lie with the predecessor?
So who exactly are we selling apart from guen, sok and ozil?
Gonsterous,
Yes, I do. Way too many players in one team, all of them with a huge amount of issues. It can’t be a coincidence.
Firstly, take a moment to reflect on Laca’s strike last night, Wow, just wow. Secondly, Luiz should have been subbed before the goal, the man is shot as a top footballer. get Holding in asap, he’s not going to develop in to a proper baller warming the bench. Kolasinac is a shell on the player he was when he first arrived, either he cant play Arteta’s style or he lacks major confidence, you cant just get that sh!t all of a sudden. If Arteta continues to play Luiz then I do not have any sympathy for him anymore.
Supposedly we are not going to get anything from Mikki who still has a full year on his contract. Nothing. Zilch. We are letting him go for a square amount of 0. Same as Ramsey, Welbeck, Wilshere, Cazorla, Debuchy.
Yup, Mikki has been a dead loss almost from day one. At 200k per week. Possibly the most idiotic deal we’ve ever done and there has been plenty of competition for that award.
Then again if we could give Ozil away for nothing we’d be dancing in the street.
Raptora “Martinez shouldn’t have dove. Son is moving away from goal and Emi opens him the easiest solution to score a goal from there ” At first I questioned whether Martinez should have stayed on his line and not gone to ground ,but looking again, it is a consequence of manager’s wanting a keeper to play as a sweeper keeper. Kolasinac played a heavily weighted pass , Luiz couldn’t attempt the tackle and Martinez was on the edge of the penalty area, meaning he was back and side tracking to get in position and never quite managed it , hence… Read more »
Ishola70
“Good luck though in trying to find Firmino Mk II.”
I have already given solutions above,man.
Buy Sebastien Haller from West Ham.There is your player who can hold up the ball and link up but if we go this way,we need more combination play in addition to making good runs so have to buy Kai Havertz from Leverkusen.
I prefer Coutinho-Auba-Pepe as it would be cheaper.
Arsenal a Zombie Club going nowhere.
Absolutely aimless.
Arteta is a daydreamer and as naive as they come.
Manchester City fresh from their disgraceful cheating verdict won’t ever mention his name again.
Arteta Out 4 Now.
Re apply in 5 years time- when he has learned his apprenticeship elsewhere.
Ishola70 If Arsenal get in a CAM that is going to demand the ball and dictate Arsenal’s attacking play you are seriously telling me that you keep Xhaka as essential as a “defensive midfielder” Because the CAM should receive the ball between the lines. Someone has to progress the ball from the 1st phase to the final 3rd where the CAM receives the ball. There in lies the importance of xhaka. Without a CM progressing the ball from 1st phase to final 3rd,the CAM will have to drop deeper to get on the ball. If the CAM drops deeper to… Read more »
Is anyone else gonna say it or should I just do it?Big man olly G would be perfect for this arteta system…he would also be perfect for aubameyang,unlike the French midget
One thing I noticed yesterday is mourinho telling his players to run down our channels behind the fullbacks and they kept getting chances this way.. up next we face to teams who have devastating wing play.I am sure pep has been highlighting this to sterling and mahrez.I for one am not ready for mustafi chasing down sterling or mahrez/Salah/Arnold turning kolasinac…Play a back 3 in these games and we will be slaughtered.I think we either play a flat back 5 or t with two banks of four
No sign of Pedders, guess that some posts are harder to spin than others…(just pulling your leg their Pedro).
* there, not their.
‘Arteta Out 4 Now. Re apply in 5 years time- when he has learned his apprenticeship elsewhere.’
Don’t go anywhere near Sir P today if a swollen lip is not your idea of fashion.
Meanwhile Jose is still an old out of modern touch divisive little man right?
One then wonders how he was able to beat our ‘world class’ coach with a team that was being celebrated here as being infected with Jose’s divisiveness just a few days ago.
Oh, it’s just one game…they meet again next season. Sure.
“One thing I noticed yesterday is mourinho telling his players to run down our channels behind the fullbacks and they kept getting chances this way“ @Daniel Altos, this Is something Arteta has said he used to tell the players to do against Arsenal when he was at City. It’s a known problem and one we’ve had for a while. Noticeably, this is not how Spuds scores against us, though the lack of pace in our back line was at fault for the first (Luiz) after the error. I’m more concerned that we can’t do the basics, like defend a corner… Read more »
‘No sign of Pedders, guess that some posts are harder to spin than others…(just pulling your leg their Pedro).’
You had better been pulling his legs, because you have to give credit where it’s due. Sir P is the KING of spin!
Arsenal don’t have the balance in the side for Arteta to play his preferred system, so he’s overloaded the defence to make us competitive. His midfield long term will consist of a deeper midfielder with two technical and tenacious partners. It’s what he grew up with at Barcelona, it’s what he was part of at Man City with Fernandinho, Silva, KDB, and it’s how he likes to play the game. Currently he has CM options that aren’t compatible, and it’s why we’re so hot for Partey. I’d bet good money we’re desperate to shift Ozil too so we can bring… Read more »
The wingbacks are under instructions not to bomb forward,
essentially we are playing with a back five, thats why you rarely see cutbacks
The formation is more of 5221
Crossing is an ineffective tactic
The bundesliga is a poor league, has been for a while, outside Bayern the rest are average, thats the reason average players look great playing there
Saka would boss the bundesliga more than Jadon
Im telling you for free!
Moyes has been a bigger influence on Arteta than Barca and Pep
Im telling you for free!
‘If Zaha had been playing yesterday, we’d have won the game.’
Straight fact this one, ladies and gentle boys.
And to think i spent my vacation last summer cheering for Mr Zaha.
Supreme leader Kim Peh Dro is up there with comrade Kim Jong when it comes to spin and propaganda
‘Moyes has been a bigger influence on Arteta than Barca and Pep’
Why else you think he went for Steve Round?
You must love stating very obvious facts as if they weren’t obvious enough.
‘Supreme leader Kim Peh Dro is up there with comrade Kim Jong when it comes to spin and propaganda’
An insult, Sid; and I think you must apologize.
Only Mugabe is on same wavelength as Sir P.
Gonsterous Arteta is adapting to the players he has. Firstly he played 4231. Then in the City game,he lost xhaka and Mari. Due to that,he had to change to 433 against Brighton. After that,he changed his system to 343 against southampton and then we have had a decent run of results. My guess is that 433 is what Arteta wants to play but that would require a complete overhaul of the squad and frankly,we don’t have the money. Based on our players, 343 is the best way to maximise our results with minimal investment. Defensively: In a settled shape,Arsenal defend… Read more »
I’ve just seen son’s goal for first time this afternoon. Ffs. How many fucking shitting times does our defence fuck up. I mean seriously ffs. Luiz, kola, mustafi should not be given contract extensions. Shocking
Test
Asking Xhaka to stay and campaigning for Luiz extension are 100% MA decisions. There was a good opportunity for the Club to get those two trash players off the roster and Meekel was against it. The excuse that this is not his team when it’s his decision to build a system around two players who is not suited for the PL is enough reason to show he’s a bum. If 15-18 games into next season he’s still struggling he won’t make it to the end of the season. Lacazette wonder goal have fans thinking we had a chance to win… Read more »
‘The excuse that this is not his team when it’s his decision to build a system around two players who is not suited for the PL is enough reason to show he’s a bum. If 15-18 games into next season he’s still struggling he won’t make it to the end of the season’
I thought all of these were just Gentlebris nonsense.
Where the fuck do you dickheads get off telling the owner of the blog he must apologise?
Go write your own blog if you don’t like what’s written on this one.
You’re like a bunch of schoolkids on their first day at school.
And we have to accept that there is a big media conspiracy against AFC. We gave our team to a guy who had never led even a B team before and immediately the English media went to town with high praises. ‘Oh, Arteta is really the way to go’, ‘Amazing Arteta now in charge.’ All of such about a guy with no credentials when it comes to leading any team at any level? And you have to understand the media, how will things remain interesting with no big club to mock in their studios? Which of the big six clubs… Read more »
Pedro
If you’re out there, please put my mind at ease and try to convince me that having the three stooges playing at the back is a sensible idea.
Very very concerning, whatever way you look at things.
Hi admin can you contact the moderator please
Gentlebris, “I thought all of these were just Gentlebris nonsense” No it’s not, it’s facts. If he wasn’t getting results with MG and LT in midfield, Holding, Sok, HB and KT in defence and he makes it known that he needs improvement on those players fans would understand that we’re actually in a rebuilding phase. But resigning Luiz, Mari, Sores and lobbying for an extension for Mustafi are no excuse about not his players and rebuild. This dude comes in the Club with a chip on his shoulder and thinks he can prove everyone wrong, when in fact he’s actually… Read more »
We could pass the ball around forever and not have teams press us, most opposition managers are not that stupid and they know that we’re toothless while we’re doing that. Just wait for a mistake, it always happens sooner or later. What we don’t do, and don’t have the players for (although it was always a strength of early Wenger sides) is run at the opposition with the ball in central areas. We’re too weak to do that. If you’re one dimensional (i.e. attack only out wide) it’s easy to counter. And a #10 or CAM isn’t the answer, they… Read more »
Mourinho must have been thinking
‘This is Arsene all over again’
Sorry but it was a very naive decision on the part of Arteta or maybe he was just trying to be too clever.
As I’ve highlighted already, very worrying.
New Posr
‘No it’s not, it’s facts. If he wasn’t getting results with MG and LT in midfield, Holding, Sok, HB and KT in defence and he makes it known that he needs improvement on those players fans would understand that we’re actually in a rebuilding phase. But resigning Luiz, Mari, Sores and lobbying for an extension for Mustafi are no excuse about not his players and rebuild. This dude comes in the Club with a chip on his shoulder and thinks he can prove everyone wrong, when in fact he’s actually the wrong person for the job. His comments about City… Read more »
Un
Momentum is why he’s kept his place in the side, but balance is why he found himself in there to begin with. The demands of the left CB is more akin to a left back, not hard to see why Arteta fancied a more mobile player there.
Claiming Rob Holding would be better there is all well and good, but it isn’t factual. What is factual is that we’ve been solid with how things are until yesterday when we made some bad errors that cost us heavily.
‘If you’re out there, please put my mind at ease and try to convince me that having the three stooges playing at the back is a sensible idea.’
Graham begging to be spun out of his senses by Pedro.
Guys are really making this dude a Mugabe 2.0.
I would rotate heavily on Wed and play the start 11 for the FA cup semi. Auba needs a rest. Last game he was lack of concentration. Early in the game, he let the ball roll over his foot in the penalty box.
For those who love xGA stats
Since the restart, Arsenal have shipped nine with an xGA of 10.7.
It seems we can’t outrun Expected Goals.