HELLO I AM BACK.
A sorry mess of a week. I was peeling a potato and a peeled one of my best typing fingers. Not a good look. Though I did realise through the process that the peeler works down the potato… and back up. Did you know that? I did not.
Less about my injured finger, more about Arsenal, I hear you, I hear you.
Thomas Partey is out again. The Ghanaian superstar is struggling once again with injury. I don’t think he’s managed 3 games in a row for us this season, which is pretty devastating considering he barely missed a game during his entire term at Atleti.
A lot of people are asking questions of our medical team. I think that’s a huge miss. The player, for me, is struggling to adapt to a new league, I think there’s some bad luck in there, and you also have to consider what a horrible year it’s been to be in the Premier League. Too many games, too little training, total abuse of the talent that entertains us by the governing bodies.
Most teams are struggling with injury problems this season. We tend to minimise our own issues as impactful on the overall football, but sympathise with others. Our injuries this season have been detrimental to our form and position in the league.
Look at Liverpool. They’ve fallen off a cliff. They’ve lost 6 in 10. That’s terrible for a team that looked invincible last season. Lose a few key players, drop a couple of big points, lose one of the best keepers in the world to Karius form and it all falls apart.
Arsenal hasn’t had their best midfielder all season, and arguably, we’ve not had our best striker in the right frame of mind since August. You have to search for reasons why those problems are occurring, but the problems certainly give you some mitigating circumstances that are hard to avoid.
If we beat Leeds tomorrow, we’ll be 6 point off Liverpool. I know we’re not making a go at the Premier League table, but that’s kind of nuts at this stage of the season considering they’re 4th.
Beating Leeds is going to be tough now. Very tough. Thomas Partey is THE RESISTANCE when it comes to pressing. Granit Xhaka is… well, let’s be kind here… really not very good against high octane sides that’ll apply pressure to his every move and see his weaknesses as an opportunity.
The manager can either risk it and hope our midfield works under the stress or he’s going to look at other options.
There was an early picture of Martin Odegaard and Dani Ceballos sitting on balls talking to Arteta. Dani Ceballos doesn’t have buckets of pace, but he can certainly move with the ball. Martin Odegaard is more than capable of playing in a double pivot. He’s press resistant and he has sexy abilities when it comes to fastballs zipped in behind pace. We saw that with one of his passes to Nicolas Pepe last week that the Ivorian should have done better with.
We saw every available combo last time Partey was out and it was very, very miserable for a long time. I think we need to play against Leeds United, I don’t think we can afford the risk of having a midfield that doesn’t have any legs or energy to deal with their attack.
I’m not quite sure what we’re going to do in attack. Leeds can be got at if you can beat the press. Their centre backs are susceptible to being stretched on the break and they aren’t very good at defending setpieces. Auba looked really poor when he came on against Villa, but he’s our talisman. Willian shouldn’t be in the squad. We really need energy in our front three and we need to give Leeds something to worry about tomorrow.
Arteta has to show up with a solution. The three points here are the difference between a decent run in the next few games and an absolute disaster of an order of magnitude I don’t want to contemplate. I don’t have the sympathy to give for another bad run. Let’s work with what we have, take strategic risks, and try something interesting… because we really, really need to move on from the last two games and take advantage of other teams dropping points. I know it’s an ambitious thought, but wouldn’t it be nice to see a full 90 of good football after a week on the training ground?
A little bit of contract talk. Arteta is confident Arsenal are going to keep Flo Balogun.
“I’m still very positive that Flo is going to stay with us and it’s what we’re trying to do as a club, and it’s what I’m trying to do as a manager,”
“As far as I know from last week again, the player wants to be here. So, so far I’m positive.”
I don’t know how the sell is going down, but it’s clear there is a path for him at Arsenal. He’s a teenager. Lacazette will be gone this summer. Flo will be 22 when Auba’s contract ends. I’m not sure Eddie is going to be here much past the summer. He will land chances, I’m just not sure holding the club to ransom for minutes is the right way to go about it.
Going to Germany would probably work out for him as well, but really, does he want to go to another league and watch his mates he grew up with smashing it in a superior league? I have no idea tbh, but it would be a smart decision to stay with a club in transition. If he was an established 9 at 22 years old, that’d be kind of spectacular. Doing it in Germany? Not so much. Impressive, but the path to glory is here.
There’s also some talk that we’re chasing down Sporting forward Tiago Tomas. I take any rumour out of Portugal with a huge grain of PR, but he looks decent and I’d be game for Arsenal signing any young talent that looks like they could blow up into a future mega sale. The striker moves a little like a cross between Lewandowski and Auba. I wonder if we’re going to be in the market for £20m 18 years olds this summer considering the climate, if we are, then it’s a good time to find them with the football world reeling financially.
Big summer ahead. Matteo G is going to fetch decent money, Dino Mavrapanos continues to impress, some of our loan signings will find homes and we have a few Hale-Enders that’ll fetch a pretty penny.
FINALLY. Arteta and his family recieving death threats? It’s grim. If you put a video on Twitter that has a copyright infringement, you are suspended fast, if you do it twice, you lose your account. Call me optimistic, but there must be an algorithm that can detect ‘I WANT TO KILL YOUR FAMILY.’
There has to be some accountability at these platforms at some point. Football Twitter is disgusting at times. The public comments on Instagram are beyond disgraceful as a standard. Racism, homophobia, and violence just seem to be part of the discourse if you have more than a 1000 followers on these places.
Sad thing about all of this, the people that do it really want the moment of attention that comes with being called out. These people are cowards. They have no power in their real lives. The internet is an opportunity to feel important for a moment. What a pathetic way to live, but, that is 2021 for you.
Right, BIG game tomorrow, let’s see a big result!
See you in the comments. x
Bielsa is unpredictable
Great post.
Whatever is going on with Allison Bekker!
4
The Leeds game could be a turning point either way.
6 as far as I can go
Welcome back Pedro . Was missing getting irritated 😝
Without Partey and Tierney Tierney we’re average at best.
Lose Saka and we’d be really f!@ked.
Why isn’t balogun landing minutes?
Why is willian landing minutes?
What are we going to do with runarsson for the rest of his contract?
Does tets wear anything other than black?
Questions questions
We need the 3 points against Leeds, as the next five games look very scary particularly with how Jekyll & Hyde we can/have be/been.
Juventus are also keen on Balogun.
But Arteta knows (?) Fuckkall
Arteta is talking a good game about Balogun, but I believe it that when his signed and delivered contract is registered with the FA. Until then, it is just PR, spin and vapour ware.
Pedro – try audio dictate whilst your finger’s recovering – all the best with ☝🏼
Partey has not played a single game with us when he was physically 100%.
The EPL physicality means that you can’t hide lack of match fitness and sharpness especially not in midfield. This season is also more condensed, so its physical impact is greater than normal.
Hopefully this is a learning process for him and Arteta’s conditioning and fitness team.
Pedro succumbs to a spud.
You just know Ceballos will start alongside GX. Maybe they need to vary things a bit and try going over the top if Auba also starts. I really don’t rate Leeds’s defence.
But if he wants to stick to his principles, then he’s most likely to win by selecting youth in CM positions. I just don’t trust Arteta to get team and/or tactics right.
His blooper reel from this season alone is like Cecil B DeMille biblical epic.
Peds… a potato peeler accident? really? Come on man… your a writer, you have to work on your cover stories. Hang nails aren’t a legit excuse.
Anyhow… Yes I agree we can’t afford to lose anymore, . I understand growth pains in a new manager but it’s becoming unsustainable. And the cost/benefit is questionable going forward next season.
Arteta typical Spanish bullshitter they are good at telling you what you want to hear.
Can’t see us winning a high paced game. We should buy Bamford.
I can believe that Pedro put something short and pointy into something sharp and ouchy, just not sure it was his pinky though…
Hmm I don’t know Andy.. something seems off with his story ,.. I think we need to get the Le Grove.. “Eye Team” .. investigatory reporter group… aka Sal on it and get the real story.
Spuds down 1 now..
Is that what they call it now? Peeling the “potato”?
You heard it here 1st!
Oil kleptocracy 1, nearly bankrupt North London spivs 0
Dissenter’s fave Hojbjerg has been absolute cack recently.
If City has Agüero and De Bruyne back, then they are too good for other EPL teams.
Pedro, Wenger was sure that fabregas, nasri and RVP would sign the thing! We all know how it ended!
I blame Arteta for wasting our young talents of Martinelle, Saliba, Guen and Balogun
He is costing us points and money playing the has been pensioners on fat contracts
He already given undeserved players too much play time
Awful management
For tomorrow midfield I would play xhaka/elneny with odegard and ESR if they are all fit
Ceballos can be introduced in 67 min
Regarding social media, they should: 1. Require ID to setup an account, you don’t have to publish your details, but the platform does need to know who’s behind each account, with only one account per person, business,.or institution 2. We should then follow Poland’s lead, and social media shouldn’t be allowed to ban anyone who hasn’t broken any domestic laws, free speech includes the right to offend, the oligarchs in Silicon Valley currently have far too much power 3. Free speech however, doesn’t include the right to threaten, discriminate against, or harass another person. 4. Social media should then give… Read more »
Now Loris let one against Everton and now two against City through his soft finger. Allison 3 agains City and one today soft elementary mistakes.
Just imagine that was Leno!.
Man City quality all without their best player..
Partey is injured for the simple reason that, his real age now 34/35. Like when we sold Vieira to Juve, officially he was 29 but we know he was 36/37.
Diego Costa officially 32 without a club, but we all know he’s 39/40.
Rich
The Polish state is a fucking disaster.
Taking a legal/ethical lead from them is akin to asking Trump for lessons in racial harmony.
This from human rights watch.
Poland | Country Page | World | Human Rights Watch
Poland. The government actively undermines the rule of law and human rights protection and curbs free expression and assembly.
Maybe not eh?
Glad you are back,Pedro.
What about letting a few guest posters offer up an alternative post,if you are unable for whatever reason.
We all need our Arsenal fix.
I dont see us getting beyond 8th this season,sorry but I just dont think the senior pro’s can be relied on to produce anything positive.
At least the awful Mourinho is reverting to type.
Goundogan has to be player of the season or there would be something wrong with football.
G8, that’s a very good point. Arteta saying that he feels like Balogun is going to sign a new contract with us means exactly fuck all. Balogun can go wherever he wants—if Munich, for example, is seriously interested in him, why would he turn them down to stay at a smaller club with a worse team and a manager whose man management thus far has proven to be abysmal and who has already totally alienated two of our youngest players? If I were Balogun, after Arteta’s treatment of Saliba, I wouldn’t exactly be convinced that he’s the best right manager… Read more »
Time Up. Every black player is not an overage cheat. You know nothing except what your prejudices tell you
S23,
“Glad you are back,Pedro.
What about letting a few guest posters offer up an alternative post,if you are unable for whatever reason.“
Very easy, let Pierre write a post and change the name from Ozil or Wenger to Arteta and you wouldn’t notice the difference.
The 31 minutes of sexy football against Wolves would be the Ozil’s 3/1 MOTM performance again Leicester for couple of years now.
Wow.. Spuds getting whipped now… Mourinho might implode on the touchline.. you can see the steam coming off his skull.
Sanchez will have his arse handed to him by Mourinho post game….forgetting that they were already 2 goals down. Comedy gold!
A good post pedro. Also you admit there is o room for another losing run. Even with your crush for arteta, it would be hard to justify. Anyway I know arteta won’t drop Xhaka. He is in good form. But I would drop him for tomorrow’s game considering leeds press like hungry dogs. It sounds crazy but I would go with both Odegaard and ESR in midfield. One ot elneny ceballos or xhaka tor the deeper role. The way I see it the way we win this game is through passing through the press and attacking relentlessly. With out partey… Read more »
Sanchez doing his best Bambi on ice impression there
If Pierre wrote a post, it will be all about how Ozil is tearing it up in Turkey and how Wenger is currently being courted by Real Madrid to replace Zidane
Globalgunner,
Nothing to do with race, you silly boy. it’s common knowledge. In some corrupt countries easy to obtain a passport with different name, DOB and even sex.
I remember we signed an 18 year old South American player after signing him, he was not black, someone published his old passport and births certificate, he was actually 24.
I can’t remember the name and country. We loaned him to Spain and never played for us.
Time Up: So because it happened once, thats now the default rule. How old is Jack Grealish?. He looks at least 30 to me…Probably all the drinking
I don’t remember who it someone on here had the nerve to compare Gundogan with Xhaka when Gundogan was injured. They are miles apart. I guess it is okay to say something stupid when players are injured.
Who, Someone*
Pierre would write a post about how it’s everyone at Le Grove’s fault … for hounding out Wenger and not understanding the game like a true fan because positive fans are all tactical geniuses and y’all can’t see it because your obsessed with every other player in the world except Arsenal’s youth players. And then he would quote himself from 3 years ago about Eddie Nketiah or something.
Damn, practically wrote the post for him. 😀
As much as a good player paertely could become to us he is just a more expensive diaby… Wilshire …
Another burden on the Bupa…
Worst buy we have done.
Globalgunner,
You seem to be not well traveled, in a government corrupt system around the world with money you can obtain anything you want. It happens in Africa and South America football agent do for footballers age to increase their value.
Some countries their under 21 national teams are all 26/27 year old. As I said it’s not about race it’s about the corrupt system.
Players dropping like flies across every team at the minute.
Covid congestion taking it’s toll.
Those that think Bale is finished are, imo, wrong.
Mourinho has frozen him out for some reason.
Still capable of sensational stuff.
Needs game time.
If I want to write a Pierre like post, I need a room full of Ozil’s posters while he’s sucking his finger after scoring, and Arsene’s with his long jacket fixed for inspiration.
Spud idiot goalie just did Runarrson and pass the ball to imaginary team mate lol.
Honestly City could easily be up 5 or 6. They have carved their way through the box.. for close range shots.. time and again.
Anyhow.. we play them in 3 matches.. time.. Not exactly looking forward to that.
After this game the hope for Spud to win a trophy after 100 years disappeared.
All together boys
Fuck off Spurs
Fuck off Mourinho!!!
Kangaroo Cup Final.
Should be Kane, Son and Bale up top.
Of course, no chance Jose will do this.
Title contenders 😂😂😂.
Fuck off … Mourinho… !!!! Couldn’t happen to a bigger asshat.
However, I am somewhat humiliated we are behind them in the table because they are gash…. right now. Will be severely disappointed if we don’t finish ahead of them.
“The Polish state is a fucking disaster. Taking a legal/ethical lead from them is akin to asking Trump for lessons in racial harmony.“
Yup, unfortunate but true.
As a Polish expat I feel embarrassed for them.
Let’s expect the worse tomorrow before it all unfolds. Xhaka and Willian will both feature because Arteta feels the pressure to play them. Consider that someone is in his ear and their contacts demand that they get given game time. Don’t get me wrong I’d hate to slide against Leeds but to their credit they do play offensively progressive football. We’ll need to press them and win the first and second balls. Boss it in the middle, agree that Xhaka in this type of game without Partey will be found out (again). What’s the game plan if they do start… Read more »
It’s pretty much agreed that our 1st XI are decent but below that we’re in trouble. We have Partley and Tierney out and Auba in hibernation so I don’t have great hopes for the Leeds game.
Jose rambling on how positive he feels about losing 3 :0
because his players were tired lol
Poland are absolutely right in their approach to Social Media
Cancelling people you disagree with, is all fun and games, right up until the point that your own opinions suddenly go out of fashion
Merkel + Macron have both pushed similar sentiments, don’t be surprised to see plenty of other countries follow suit
If Partey is as far past it as some believe why was Simeone furious to lose him? Doesnt add up even if ghana is corrupt bla bla bla Fact is epl is different, the schedules been condensed whcih means less recovery time less training time. Parteys a leader which means he probably came in to dominate and his fitness wasnt there yet. We signed him in the last 12 hrs lf the window so no preseason w us. Was already cold in UK on and on there are lots of mitigating factors. Lucky we know it takes almost every player… Read more »
“Poland are absolutely right in their approach to Social Media
Cancelling people you disagree with, is all fun and games, right up until the point that your own opinions suddenly go out of fashion.”
Rich
Nobody cancel you. People are free to give an opinion but nobody owes you a platform to air your opinion.
If you cannot abide by the rules of a platform, start your own.
You can get servers for as cheap as $5 a month.
Rich
People should be able and willing to be held accountable for their actions and speeches.
How can you blame Rich for not knowing the definition of free speech when the Polish minister of information doesn’t.
Looks like we bought the wrong Turk.
One is a no nonsense pro.
The other an entitled, high maintenance, mercenary.
Always the wrong signing.
PS curbs free expression and assembly, election fraud, hyperinflationary money printing, etc. Why pick on Poland. Many western countries are ditching their founding principles and turning full socialist Banana Republic.
Of our 15 remaining matches we’d be doing great if we lost only 5.
Brighton outplaying Villa no surprises shame their points tally doesn’t match their performances. I agree with Pep, Potter the best English manager and one of the best in the league. They’ll be something next season.
Sanchez looked like the baby giraffe coming down the stairs
on the goal..
Hilarious.🦒🦒🦒🦒🦒👀
Rich – agree with you 100%.
Term “useful idiots” coming to mind here. They’re not just banning people for death threats and racism, they’re banning for not telling the “truth” – but who decides what is true? It’s all about narrative control.
They also stifled attempts to form/use alternative platforms, so it’s not as simple as just making your own site.
Watching Wenger talk on how he had to balance the books. The way he was hounded out was really disrespectful
“Watching Wenger talk on how he had to balance the books. The way he was hounded out was really disrespectful”
YES…We should have let him stay as manager for life
“Watching Wenger talk on how he had to balance the books. The way he was hounded out was really disrespectful“
It was disrespectful and dishonest of him to bank 10 million a year while he had past it for years.
And he took a sweet 8 figure severance payment after he was sacked.
Easy to profess love for a club you’ve bilked for 100 million over 20 years. Same reason all the bums he recruited then overpaid over the years never wanted to leave.
Emi Martinez winning Villa one point here, a point they have no business getting.
Shall we start the conversation again did Arsenal sell the wrong goalkeeper after that performance by Martinez against Brighton.
Emi would really hurt us when Chelsea or Spud sign him. With Villa, they’re just Grealish away from relegation.
Heard that Martinez played another blinder against Brighton. Arteta must be a Villa fan.
“Like when we sold Vieira to Juve, officially he was 29 but we know he was 36/37.Diego Costa officially 32 without a club, but we all know he’s 39/40.”
What about Phil Jones? Apparently he is 28!
The last person saw Spud win the league had his vaccinations today.
Emi had to leave, I have no problems with the player demanding a transfer nor with the club for selling him.
It’s worked well for both parties. Emi is too good to be a number two.
We’ll have 5 games in 2 weeks. Rotation is a must. We could setup these two attacking line up and train them accordingly.
A team:
Pepe………………….Laca…………………….Saka
………………………….ESR
B team:
Martinelli………….Auba…………………..Reiss
Ødegaard
Since the beginning of the season, Leno has cost us 6 points while Martinez saved Villa 8 points.
If Leno were to play for Villa, they would be in a relegation battle.
If Martinez was playing for Arsenal, we would be fighting for top 6.
Correct Emi too good for backup but also too good to leave Arsenal. Emi Man Of The Match with 9 saves and Brighton having 26 shots on goal.
Time Up
I think you may have been referring to Samuel Galindo of Bolivia earlier when talking about fake passports.
Val, Leno might have cost us 6 points, but he isn’t the reason why we lost 10 games
Arteta’s choice of other players and set up did the damage
Leno has been fantastic for us , he is not the problem
Beside we have 2nd-3rd best defence in the league as it’s claimed
Villa beat us home and away, that’s nothing to do with Leno or Emi, because they beat us last year when Emi was in goal …..for us!
Playing next to Chaka destroyed Carzola and now Partey.
When will they get rid of this Swiss wheel barrow before he breaks our best midfielders
G8.
Leno has not been fantastic, he’s been better than his previous shitty self sometimes, and downright woeful in some eg against Villa.
I guess it was inevitable that we might need AMN and Willock, it’s just happened sooner than expected.
“Since the beginning of the season, Leno has cost us 6 points while Martinez saved Villa 8 points.
If Leno were to play for Villa, they would be in a relegation battle.
If Martinez was playing for Arsenal, we would be fighting for top 6.“
Jesus ,Val, what a bunch of agenda driven nonsense.
I like Emi a lot but some really need to get a fucking grip.
Only one save he made today was even worth talking about, the rest were standard run of the mill saves no matter how many shots on goal.
Valentin
I agree 100%.
Some folk on here just don’t get it.
“Oh Leno’s the least of our problems and anyway he’s been playing well”
Martinez leaving has cost us more than just points. It has also cost us a positive team spirit and ethos that had us all believing that we could push on this season.
Whatever anyone else says, it was a monumental mistake to let him go and bring Leno back into the fold.
The effect of this on our season has been massive
Nice post Pedro, have to say i’m w/ Middy a cut finger? Far more respectable to lace the absence on a giant in house covid bender. Whatever happens to Arsenal this season i’ll find whatever happiness needed in Liverpool’s collapse, right behind Jose title challenge. Dissenter we need to somehow monetize you’re kiss of death. For tomorrow think we need to let it a bit loose w/ whose available, not perfect but needs energy and ability to move ball at pace and counter with big spaces available to expose. I’d like to see: ____________Laca_____________ Martinelli__________________Saka ______Ødegaard_____ESR_____________ ____________Xhaka_____________ Soares____________________Bellerin _______Gabriel____Holding________ ___________New… Read more »
Tom
Actually, you’re the one that’s in denial here.
There’s no “agenda driven nonsense”.
If you, as a knowledgeable football fan, can’t see the negative consequences of Leno playing instead of Martinez, then you’re clueless.
I would have given Martinez what he wanted, the #1 position at Arsenal. Leno is not in his league.
Sorry to be so frank.
People on here couldn’t find trees in a forest. Leno is likely 10th on our list of problems. With Bellerin. Xhaka. Misfiring Auba.,Willian. The deadwood of crap defenders we had before January, deadweight Ozil and Xhaka again screwing up this team.. Not to mention the sheer incompetence of the manager.
We need to fix those first. If we keep Ryan we are good enough in the keeping department. Low down on the list of our problems.
Ok, so Villa spent $100m on new players and only $20m of that spend was to upgrade the keeper position, which it has to be said, it needed badly. Villa scored 41 goals last season but are on pace to score 57 in this one, so forgive me for thinking that might have to do more with upgrading their attacking formations rather than the keeper. Yes they improved defensively by a huge margin and a lot of that has to do with Martinez, but what people like to ignore is that Villa was put together as a squad on moments… Read more »
Will just point out that Wenger spent a net total of 257 million in 22 years .
Works out at under 12 million a season….
Since wenger left we have a net spend of 220 million and our 2 best players are wenger youth products…
There are some dumb posters on here who never seem to learn when they criticise him..
City net spend in the past 12 years 1 billion and 270 mil
Meaning they have spent more than a billion more than wenger in half the time.
United 12 years 870 million net spend .
Say no more..
Graham
I would be in denial of I said Martinez had no part in Villas resurgence.
If you tell me you rate him higher than Leno and leave it at that , I might actually agree.
But to say Leno would’ve had Villa in relegation battle this season is the most insane statement one can make, so no , I’m not the one in denial here.
Graham
“Tom, If you, as a knowledgeable football fan,”
He’s not.
Leeds play at a high tempo. We need to match that. Which means playing the youngsters, but Arteta won’t. Xhaka will simply be too slow and will cost us. Eddie (with a point to prove against his old mates) would be a good call tomorrow. As would Martinelli, but I don’t expect them to be picked. Compare the players, position by position, in both sides. I’d only have Saka, ESR, Tierney and Partey as superior to the Leeds players. To be fair, I can’t choose between the goalkeepers but with Tierney and Partey out that’s only a maximum of 3… Read more »
Pierre
Are you still but hurt about your “away” shouting debacle?
You should be lol