Team news ahead of the FA Cup final

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It is FA Cup final eve and I am starting to get very excited about the possibilities of tomorrow.

Mikel Arteta gave a very good press conference, he looked calm, and he sounds very confident of having a good day.

Chelsea, who we just LOVE to play in finals, will be a tough game whoever players, but there are reports that Kante and Willian may both be missing for the game. The Brazilian, who has been linked heavily with Arsenal, has been pretty lethal since the restart. Kante is just an incredible player that you’d rather be on the bench.

There are no major injury issues we don’t know about. The biggest worry is going to be that we don’t have Mustafi for the final, he really has been pretty additive to our defensive structure, the idea of going with Luiz and Holding isn’t particularly reassuring, but it is what it is.

Two players we know won’t be there are Matteo and Ozil. The Frenchman isn’t training with us at the moment and Ozil is apparently in Turkey. There’s a story doing the rounds that Barca want us to take Coutinho for £9m and take Guen the other way. Someone was hinting that Arsenal might do one of those accounting tricks Barca did with Juve where they massively overstate the value of the player to book cashflow. That bit certainly wasn’t in the paper.

Coutinho for £9m? I mean, he’s a very good player, I’m just not sure I am thrilled by it. Still, for a club sitting in 8th in the league, it’s hard not to admit that he is better than anything we currently have in the squad from an attacking perspective. There’s also the reality that those sort of signings probably make the senior players in the squad purr.

Back to the FA Cup. Tomorrow is about making memories. Good ones that help bond the squad and build trust with the manager. That is outrageously important for a squad that has lots of young players. Mikel was part of our first trophy in a long while back in the day, he’s hoping to replicate that tomorrow.

“Absolutely. I’ve got pictures, memories, a lot of moments that made that day really nice. I think we have to understand the context of club was – I think eight or 10 years – without a trophy. We wanted to do it for everyone, for the club, for our fans, for Arsene as well who was handling the situation really well. We knew how important it was for him and it generated really good connection between the club, players and fans. The next day was beautiful, the celebrations with all our people in the streets, so great memories.”

We have a history with Chelsea and sadly, last year, we really let ourselves down under Emery. The team weren’t focused, prepared, or in good form. I think tomorrow will be a bit different. The team you will see will have an idea of what they need to do to win, they’ll likely be a lot more motivated than they were in the Premier League last week, and I suspect we’re going to cause Chelsea problems. That said, it’s clear they are in good shape under Frank Lampard and they will certainly get better now they can spend again.

“I don’t know how they are structured or what the resources are for them. Obviously you can see the squad they have at the moment, the amount of players that they have, the quality of the players that they have and the good work that they are doing. We have some really good players as well, we are a good squad and we are an incredible club so I think we are in a good position.”

I’ve heard the players at Chelsea love Frank Lampard, he’s a legend, extremely passionate, and he’s shown himself to be sharp tactically at times this season. He’s certainly no pushover and the hope there is that he becomes the next big thing.

It’s a similar vibe at Arsenal. Let the manager grow with the squad and make a new kind of history. This final is about two young coaches looking to make their way with young players.

Arteta also let the press conference know that he’s been chatting to the big man, Arsene.

“No I haven’t been in touch with him [this week].

“I have been in touch a few times in the last few months with him, but not before the final.

“It is a private conversation. It is great to have him on board, he gives you great advice and just talking to him, he has such knowledge, he is such an intelligent person, just knowing he is there that just knowing he is there and he is going to be supporting us and supporting me, I feel calmer.

“I think in the football world, you can talk about anything with him. You just have to learn, get the book out and take some notes.”

Very sweet.

I can’t wait for tomorrow.

I’ll be back with thoughts on the game tomorrow morning. Have an excellent day! x

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Leftfootcurler

Dissenter You wrote- ” don’t believe Arteta would be dim enough to drop any player that can help the team win games. Remember that this is his first job out of the gates, why would he sabotage himself?” He can sacrifice short term points for long term gain if the board has enough confidence in him. He has already done this.When he played 4231, He played fucking Sokratis at RB. When he was inverting his RB, both Bellerin and Sokratis were uncomfortable coming inside,in midfield. It was clear as day,AMN was a much superior option as an inverted FB and… Read more »

China1

Left foot curler for Arteta to move direct from arsenal to city manager it will take a lot more than what he’s done so far. They won’t be looking for a project manager like arsenal, just someone who will be depended on to win each game each and every week. Arteta is widely recognized as a clever mind in football and a good coach of players, but now he needs to demonstrate that he can make his team greater than the sum of its parts to show he can really manage. Player poverty is real but as well it doesn’t… Read more »

Tom

“It starts with Piere then a new 350k contract then Nketiah is posing for pictures with Teodoro Obiang“

Fuck me Sid…..never thought this day would come but you actually said something for the first time that fits the “you heard it here first “ mould

Tom

Pierre From another Ozil non hater …..blink twice and we’ll send someone to rescue you. Ffs , Ozil style of play has nothing to do with selfishness or being a team player, but rather everything to do with doing what comes naturally. His vision, first touch and passing ability are better than anyone else’s on Arsenal, while he’s clearly averse to body contact and crowded places to the point he should be a poster child for social distancing. David Silva is a legend because he could mix it up with the bruisers when needs be and never avoided tight spaces.… Read more »

Nelson

Today, we’ll find out who is slower, Giroud or Holding.

Marko

Charles is right Pierre is a victim…of love. Got one look at those bulging eye sockets of Mesut and ever since he’s been hooked. On old frog eyes it’s very telling that he’s been in turkey now for a few days. Telling in the sense that A he clearly doesn’t care about the club about his teammates about any of that B he so fucking lazy now that he can’t even pretend to be interested lad couldn’t be arsed with doing a propaganda post on Instagram and C the club has made it clear they don’t want him here anymore… Read more »

Marko

New post

TheBayingMob

Negative Nancy today. I think we will get turned over. 3-1.

Bojangles

“….but you do need a double first class honours degree in creative accounting to try to understand how the hell some of the transfer deals that are bandied about are gonna get done!”

WOAB

Why are you worrying about it, you can’t do anything other than give an opinion on a blog anyway.

Jamie

So unlucky. What a strike.

Pierre

Credit to Arteta for spotting the weak link in chelsea’s defence down their right side….

crimson

Love you all!
You fuckers!