I don’t know how many times I have to say this, but the rampant media bias against OGS simply must stop. This guy is pure, unadulterated, intellectually elite, Norwegian football joy. He proved it today with a beasting of Carlo A’s Everton side. Give OGS more time, give him more money, let’s see where this United experiment goes.
Poch can go to PSG.
In Arsenal news, we can start the day with a sexy transfer rumour. We’re being linked with Le Grove comments section favourite, Dominik Szoboszlai. The Hungarian #8 has been doing exciting things for RB Salzburg.
He’s an all action midfielder. He scores goals, he makes assists, he covers ground like all the best do for RB, and he is a setpiece demon. Apparently, he’d hit 200 freekicks a day… imagine that, having an actual specialist from distance? What a weapon.
He also has an elite mindset, something you need if you’re going to make it in a new country in the most competitive league on the planet. This article from FirstTimeFinish is excellent and had this clipping.
During lockdown with the football on hold, Dominik enlisted the help of Olympic Champion coach, Shane Tusup, to help with his physical and conditioning development.
The results of the pair’s work has been a huge increase in muscle mass. It’s something noticed by Christoph Freund.
‘He’s improved a lot on the physical level,’ Freund says.
Szoboszlai, who appeared timid at times during his first Champions League appearances last season, now looks far more menacing. He was able to dictate the play against the physically commanding Atletico Madrid late last month.
Shane and Dominik remain in close contact and talk everyday.
‘I work on helping athletes get the maximum out of themselves so that they can become true warriors when they enter the battlefield,’
I like Houssem Auoar, he’s undoubtedly a massive talent, but the fuckery of the summer might be a sign of things to come with him. He’d also cost about £20m more. Szoboszlai has a £24m buyout clause, is 3 years younger, and might have more of the all action features we need in an Arsenal team that desperately lacks goals scorers and final pass masters. It might take a year or so for the players to settle, but my word, what a talent he could turn into.
What I love about this sort of rumour is that he’s exactly the sort of player you hope your club is looking at. There’s a clearly defined problem in our midfield and we’ve gone out and looked at young player that could solve it. Is it a risk? No doubt, but a £24m risk for a player trained by RB feels like one worth taking. Arsenal should do this deal. It makes sense at every level and again reinforces the notion that if you have clear vision, it is MUCH easier to buy players against it.
I love clarity.
Before we get into the game. I want to take on a very pressing issue a lot of people have been sidebarring with me about.
Mikel’s jacket.
I’m all for fashion experiments. Like football, sometimes you have to take a chance. But this selection felt like a tactical misstep and the coach has to hold himself accountable for it.
The ‘I’m selling tickets to a Tottenham Court Road night club called FLAME’ euro chic vibes were unexpected and if I’m honest, unwelcome. I think he’s over-coached the choice here. He’s tried to blend fashion with ergonomics and he’s fallen flat. The textures are all wrong and I think we need to see a big response on Sunday with something a little more classic. It’s a young coach thing; we’ve seen it with Julian Nagelsmann a few times, so keep the faith, he’ll get it right.
The line of fire in his press conference largely focused on the underperformance of Willian and Pepe. The manager didn’t shirk. He was asked if he thought their return was good enough and he straight up said no… he wants 10 goals and assists from both players. He was pushed by one journo on Willian because he gets starts over Pepe, but the reality is Willian has shown he can play at the highest level consistently… we’ve never seen that from Pepe.
The Ivorian isn’t shirking reality. He dropped and interview on Sky and basically said he’s adapting to a new coach, a new system, and he needs to give more. I’d agree. The fact he canvassed Gabriel to join Arsenal tells you he’s emotionally invested in Arsenal, so at least his body language isn’t reflective of interest. A few people have floated the idea of him playing through the middle at some point. I like that idea, he could potentially offer quite a lot as a striker, though he does have similar strength physical limitations, he certainly has more speed through the middle, and that unpredictable nature is horrible for defenders in the same way playing against Kanu was back in the day.
I think the Aston Villa game is going to pose a real challenge for Arsenal. Last time we played them, we were taught a lesson in complacency. We’d made the FA Cup final and we switched off against Villa and they beat us. It’s hard to work out what they will do against us because they have players to do more than just deep block. Their attacking players are a joy to watch when they click, Jack Grealish an absolute dream of a player we could do with. There’s a lot we need to be careful of, but we also have to remember we have better players than them and we need to find the keys to our own attacking game.
We also have to be prepared to unpick an Emi Martinez guarded goal and not fall prey to their quick counter. It’s going to be a long afternoon.
Does Joe Willock get some minutes? He was the difference-maker against a shite Molde. He has pace, he’s unpredictable, and on his day he can make and deliver. Elneny was the star the previous Thursday and he started on Sunday. It’ll be interesting to see who makes it this time. Will Xhaka in a more advanced midfield position make a Premier League debut? How will Arteta configure his front three?
Lots of questions I simply can’t answer.
I’m looking forward to the game regardless.
Right, see you in the comments. x
This is embarrassing, Arteta isn’t the answer . A good number two to install some discipline but the main man he is not
Who said Leno’s a WC shot stopper??
AGAIN, Villa shot after 5 or 6 seconds Martinez threw the.ball outta the box.
We fuck about in our box playing out from the backside.
So much the sauce??!
…and Martinez will keep a clean sheet
They believed their own hype.
Ollie walks into our side. Better than Lacashite
Dissenter
That was more the joy of finally winning against OT which any true Arsenal fan would enjoy, no matter the circumstance.
Most sensible fans still acknowledged despite the win that there was a lot of work still to do.
We are bland. It is true that the team reflects its coach.
Well the Bubble has burst. It might be the kick in the ass arteta needs.
DissenterNovember 8, 2020 20:51:25
See how Emi launched that attack?
When was the last time leno even launched an attack?
Wow.
Arteta and his team have been shown up big time here.
So weak defending the flanks.
Haha, got to launch now, this has been coming, stale and one paced going forward. Playing players who look shot, v v poor from arteta, needs to learn very fast
Arteta out.
Pedro
Do we still have the best defence?
Fucking bellerin pushed out of the way by Grealish like a rag doll. This team is in a complete mess.
Arteta well and truly out. 100%!!!
Leeds will be unquestionable favourites going into the next game.
Arteta out. No cunting excuse
Celebrating a penalty against United all week just to be embarrassed by Villa.
Serge
The Italian allegri
Springs to mind
Art is too restricted in his role
Best defence in the league lol
Auba looks disinterested
Martinez with a pre assist. great distribution.
Best defence in the league? This one is on Arteta AGAIN!
All of our offensive players are too limited. Saka incredibly overrated even by youngster’s standards, Laca is horrific, Auba limited. Can’t keep the opposition in any way cowed or fearful of our offensive threat.
If Mikel is still here next season I’ll be amazed.
Great comment chris
Hopefully we get Arteta out this Jan and bring in an actual manager. This little experiment hasn’t worked. We need to move on from it.
When was the last time we scored a goal like that
Blistering counter started by Martinez
Leno Beaten near post… Martinez winning this dual easily. Absolutely worst performance and not a good look. Depressing stuff.
We need to talk about Mikel.
Auba also played so bad.
Auba will revolt in a matter of time.
He does, and Arteta loses the dressing room- or at least some of it.
This is not acceptable. at all.
Lets hear the excuses.
Fuck, even Auba has not been playing with the same level and tempo its like he has regressed big time
Arteta is clueless, so much for being hard to beat today
The only player to come out of this game with any credit is Partey.
Worst performance this season. Villa deservedly putting this pile of shit to the sword.. Tierney, Zaka, put in a shift, Dani & Pepe made some difference. Everyone else a total pile of fucking shite.
This is Villa not Barca.
And there’s still over 10 minutes and we’d down more the. way it’s going
This should humble that Spanish waiter..cant stand his arrogance in the interviews…his inability to see basic things like Auba not being a winger make it a deserved outcome and ultimately thats going to burst his bubble too and get him fired..never kind the Ozil and Martinez debacles
Apart from Bellerin everyone else have been very very poor
Blow the final whistle please
A couple more defeats and he has to go.
The players don’t want it.
Nor do we.
Yeah, Paulinho. So our attack is as limited in 0 goals from open play in over 6 hours. Give me a break.
Arteta is a very lucky lucky boy fans aren’t allowed in. Can’t wait to see claude on you tube after this. He hates Arteta too lol
Chris
If was three points, nothing more than that.
Villa looks like a top4 team with Martinez in goal. Good for them.
Well stop the fucking rot ffs. We cant lose anymore than by 3.
Get Pochetino or Jardim in before we collapse.
Without more courage to attack, we will not reach top 4.
The idea that Arteta wants to win the ECL within 3 years is pipedream if we can’t even qualify for it.
Yeah arteta has to go , not just because of tonight’s debacle but he can’t coach an attack to save his life , far to rigid in his positions his daft foibles of non negotiables. Time to move on
This is pretty shocking. Somehow even worse than Leicester or City or West Ham. Worrying signs for the future.
Martinez Auba Willian
So many bad decisions
The moment I saw the Laca/willian thing at the start and the same old negative system I was not feeling at all hopeful. Arteta must be under pressure. Must be.
Negative goal difference as well.
After 8 matches that’s not good enough.
Now I FINALLY understand it!
I couldn’t believe our decision to let Martinez go in the summer!
It was a mercy. He needed to go to a better team.
Fml
Fuck the club
Arteta was promoted to manager, and does the dirty work of the board , edu etc.
I doubt he gets fired. Too chummy at Arsenal and Edu has no balls to do it anyhow
Kroenkes will not pay for a more established coach either
9 goals scored from 8 Premier League games.
What the fuck. I have stream trouble for a few minutes and come back to us 3 down. Absolutely shocking and yet not surprising in the least.
That must have felt good for Emi though.
TYAGN
Your right people underestimate how much pressure arteta would be under if there was fans in the stadium
As hedious as it comes, time to watch some Trumps comdey I think
“Arteta is a very lucky lucky boy fans aren’t allowed in.”
Well said.
Bring back the gimp jacket.
On the bright side we can’t play much worse in the second 45, can we?
Erm..
Has Emi even made a save yet
Auba has been so poor this season. Crazy how quickly all our decent players’ form drops off the edge of a cliff after a new contract.
He has to go, this can’t carry on much longer absolutely pasted tonight, the guy is clueless
No room for facism.
UK is a facist state btw
Arteta must really revere Wenger. He’s trying to emulate humiliating losses ….
You cant blame Auba for looking disinterested..he’s being asked to put in cross after cross when he is the best striker weve got…thats just down to Artetas stupidity
We need to talk about Arteta but only in December 2021. That’s enough time to see if he can remove the inconsistency in this team. I’m sticking with that-we can’t go the Man United way.
Fuck me its villa for fucks sakes
I ain’t no expert but a look at the different expressions on faves of Villa and Arsenal players tell the story.
Ours largely bland, empty, void
Villa guys oozes fire in their eyes
SF
The Kroenke’s will pay because their alternative at the moment is 30,000 fans not renewing their season tickets.
Dissenter
All I can say to that is you must be fun at parties, heart made of stone etc
There is nothing wrong with an Arsenal fan enjoying a win at Old Trafford given our record there, even when at the same time we are far from a finished article. As evidenced tonight quite eloquently.
“ Auba has been so poor this season. Crazy how quickly all our decent players’ form drops off the edge of a cliff after a new contract.”
This
Where did that come from Ishola?
Side not good enough and manager is overthinking it…..keep it simple and play Oba through the middle. Even my Aunt knows that’s the way to go. Pepe has been poor but gosh he hasn’t been any worse than Willian. Laca is just gash.
Had the argument with Pedro weeks back that the “defensive solidity” won’t matter at all if we can’t find a way to create chances and score goals. The xg or whatever was always going to catch up with Arteta. Old Trafford was an anomaly plus United are shite anyway but this performance is the real Arsenal. Barely creating and then having your best goal scorer so far away from the goal is pure hubris. Nothing the manager has done this season has convinced me at all
Going to be a LONG international break on the LG.
We’re not scoring goals in this league. The whole attack is shit and mismanaged. You can’t tell me otherwise.
Begs the question why do we play three at the back, yet we’re still so open defensively. Villa have looked dangerous everytime they go forward.
Raptora – That’s irrelevant to the point I’m making (the goals). It’s the patterns of play, which are incredibly average because nearly every one of our offensive players are limited, which means any type of incisive sustained cohesion is impossible.
Barkley and Grealish are simply a league above in terms of talent and as a result, their ceiling as a duo combining our a league above.
Remember a few days ago when I said we were 7 players away from competing,
And someone said no, we are 2 players away?
Btw. Arteta said he has no regrets selling Martinez before the match.
Very well. Talking like a big guy but many see a different picture. Unfolding right the fuck now in front of our eyes
The worrying thing is fans actually believe Arteta was the manager to take this Club forward. Just like the suckers who think Trump is Jesus
Bac
” That’s enough time to see if he can remove the inconsistency in this team.”
What inconsistency? We’re shit, outside of Fulham who are already relegated we struggled to win any on our league matches this season.
Laca miss in first half killed any chance of us winning this game.
Another one of Artetas daft foibles that’s was reported early in his tenure that players are not allowed to show emotions good or bad . It gives the players an extra yard or two with some passion and fire in them
Chris
Let’s agree to disagree
There no special trophy for winning at OT, maybe for small clubs but that’s not us.
Receding
Had a pay out at 2k before the Arsenal and Milan games but said fuck it and now I’m about drinking my self to sleep
Our 3 mistakes before this season:
Signing willian
Selling Martinez
Giving auba(ozil?) new contract
But at least we are competitive aren’t we pedro?
Saying Arteta should go is premature. But this is really worrying. He needs to figure it out in the next couple of matches. I think he deserves at least that after steadying us with the FA cup win. If he doesnt then we will start an arteta out campaign.
LT – Ishola talking absolute bollocks
Villa have a plus 9 goal difference after 7 games, we have -1 after 8
Yiu cannot hang this on Auba. Give him something in the box or to run on to and he wont let us down. Its the bloody system. The EL system is totally different and makes us dangerous.
We have nobody from the bench who could probably move the needle!!
Villa boys still quicker…
Marc
Yea, we’ve not been very good in the league this season if we’re all being honest. Think the manager has had a pass cuz he’s more likeable than the previous manager but we’ve been painful to watch bar the Fulham game
Said it in the summer that I was open to selling Auba and rebuilding our attack. There’s a gross imbalance to the side.
That said Villa did beat Liverpool 7-2 😀
Can we all agree to finish now – I can’t take any more and really regret wasting £15 on this shit
shows how much we need a number 10, CAM whatever you want to call it. Our middle is a gaping hole Not attack not creativity. At this point I would even take an old Cesc back, someone who knows how to unlock the defenses… we have nothing We need at least 2 creators in midfield. one might not even be enough…. Wenger played with 3, and we were a spectacle to watch in the glory days… I miss that, this Arsenal is just an ugly anomaly… again id rather attack and lose 4-3 than this type of horse shit. I… Read more »
Not being able to get the ball off Villa chasing 3 goals at home… shoot me.
Tierney plays like Kola! WTF!!!
Grealish showing how bad a defender Hector is