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
Martinelli behind Willian is as dim as it gets. Can’t believe my eyes.
Mattinelli, pepe on the scrapheap of William, what in hell. Man, please learn lessons before they hurt
Winning 4-2 and people still moaning like fuck. What a great fan base we have!
Saka uf, the boy who has it all.
Nice hit Cedders
Pedro has to write his blog all over again now lol
Holding on with Holding
William had not any intent to track that guy
Playing 3 CBs
Hopefully after this arteta will relegate willian to backup.
Arteta has questionable judgement with a lot of our players. Martinelli was never in favour even before his long layoff. Eddie was getting game time over him and now he can’t even get a look in. Luiz fucks up the Wolves game, sits out the last defeat and is straight back in.
Arteta is a hypocritical coward.
Muppet man 😂
Couldn’t resist mate.
It’s an opinion blog, and judging by some of the comments on here and seeing what Mikel is bringing to the table, you could be right, even though you were being sarcastic.
Maybe he is saving martin for man city?
1 v 1 Gabriel is stronger than Bamford
We will win this game, but good vibes have slipped now, shitting the bed seeing out a 4 nil lead, come on man, we are better than this
Hahaha no idea why people are moaning when we were up 4-0 and now conceded 2 and getting our goal peppered.. you really are a muppet.
Muppet I am delighted we are winning just hate the treatment of martinelli and the nutters on here are not a true reflection of the fanbase
Rap,
“Martinelli behind Willian is as dim as it gets. Can’t believe my eyes.“.
It’s obvious, he wants him to react to kick him out of the club.
I like to bring in Holding.
Arteta would have played 2 goalkeepers if he’d get away with it…. so fucking backward
The nutters know who they are
As I said last week… Willian, contractual minutes
Will all come out in the wash
There is zero justification for playing him
Seems Will I Am is a chosen one for some reason….
Chase that ball Willian
Muppet the game ain’t over yet, and if you’ve not realised Leeds have scored and been in the ascendancy since the brilliant Willian substitution.
4mins how .
Leeds are a side just as likely to thump another team as to be thumped.
That said Arteta deserves some credit for setting the team well enough to go 4 up… whatever happened after that is just pure bants 😀
Muppetman,
@Winning 4-2 and people still moaning like fuck. What a great fan base we have!”
I don’t think you’re a football supporter, just casual supporter to impress your friends in a social gathering.
Shit! Auba is injured
Willian mostly ball watching with any number of Leeds players running past him… keeps jogging ffs
We are moaning because on another day we will draw this. His management till now has been poor. We would stop moaning if he was up the table and making sensible decisions. One game isn’t an indicator of anything.
Mark we have had as many good chances as them since they scored the second and still have a two goal advantage with less than 5 mins… rather be in arsenals position thanks
Keep Auba at 4-0 when you have Laca, Martinelli and Pepe. But you play Willian. What a fkin idiot.
Arteta nearly threw this away today while stroking his ego about Willian.
Elneny been good since he came on. Given us a much better shape. Needed that earlier. Ceballos is not the same.
Time Up yeap I come on here get my friends to check out the blog just to impress
Supporters don’t mind conceding two needless goals do they?
If their 46 made better contact would be 4 – 3
I thought Dani was good today, was everywhere, scrapping as usual.
Problem with mo is the back passing and fear he plays with…
Mike should have made these subs much later if he wanted to close out the game. our attackers, could have scored one more at least
If my aunty had a dick she would be uncle.
Last corner kick
William had a very poor game, even here on ESPN Brasil he is getting a lot of criticism
Yep, bittersweet victory today, definitely not a confidence boost
It’s just the fact we conceded after Willian was brought on and our momentum in the attack was self nullified, ergo people are angry.
The first half did happen though, that is something with building on.
Leno’s heroics prevented this from being a massacre.
Honestly I am mad willian is even making the bench now. It should be Reiss on the bench.
Willian never gets past a trot
Great win get in
I just can’t respect any coach who can’t see what the rest of the World does….That Willian Borges does not merit any game time and should not even be considered for a place on the bench.His legs have gone and he’s a luxury that Arsenal cannot afford and needs to be persuaded to leave for pastures new.Unfortunately this will only happen if he feels too embarrassed to remain at Arsenal where he is stealing a living.
Done.
Good win
Poor in game management
Shweeeeew well we really needed that… First half was brilliant… Second half not so much.. Happy with the 3 points though.. On to Europa.
Blueprint is there.. but we keep trying to make it as difficult as possible on ourselves, hard to understand.
Good win,
Saka genius
ESR great
Auba great game today
Ode was good…. finding his fett
Wow, willian runs so slow on the counter I thought he was jogging.
Auba literally put 5 metres between himself and willian on a sprint.
Thank God the game is over now.
Is that not endangering an opponent and no attempt to play the ball?
Poor game management from Arteta yet again
We could have been comfortable winning 5 or 6
Excellent 60 mins of football, the rest is just typical of what we have been all season
3 points welcomed though
Great 1H team play
Nothing in the 2H after the 4th
Especially vulnerable after Willian came on, even with chances to get the 5th
Generational egomaniac
We ain’t going anywhere great with arteta. It’s so bad we had to be defending against Leeds after going up four nil. I’d really love to see what the stats say about willian’s contributions since he came on, must he play? He came on and everything got out of alignment
Come on you moaners, we’re winning CL within 3 years, remember ?
Muppetman
Are you seriously saying you are happy with the way this game has changed since Arteta brought Willian on? Seriously?
You’re just relieved there’s a few minutes left and we’re 2 goals ahead. Sounds like you’re happy there’s so little time cos, it’s obvious Leeds look more likely to score than we were.
That’s not good management. We went from a comfortable winning position to squeaky bum,, just got over the line…
And you think people should lap this up.🤔🤔
Great win, just what we needed after wolves and Villa. Some great football played during it, lovely little slick moves with the players behind Auba.
Big games coming up though so will need to up the levels and go again.
I just can’t believe Arteta think he’s done a good job. Generational coach would be pissed off with given two easy goals.
10th here we come and makes muppetman happy.
Incredible first half.
Just to get almost nullified because of a manager who has no idea how to help his team or even how to make a single good decision DURING the actual game.
Mixed feelings when we were well on our way to have a fantastic evening to remember.
Arteta must have a contract clause to play Willian at some point during a game.
If so it’s bad.
Auba should have gone off and Martinelli put on for 15 mins why not?
Well, that was a bit nervy… but overall, that was a performance against a team most thought we’d lose to.
Very exciting going forward… we’re on the right path.
Tr10phy.
Arteta can talk about his family being threatened which is bad and I stand against it but he needs to know what comes with his job position and how toxic it gets for fans every week seeing Willian play.
We need to find a RB who can defend at this level as a priority
Bellerin and Willian would get bullied in the WSL.
When Willian came on and we lost control of the game it showed what a huge defensive contribution ESR puts in.
Good to see Gabriel getting back on form
A Midfield of Ceb, Oord and Partey anyone?
Leeds so tricky as they will keep coming.
Going to have to explain to me why Willian over Martinelli second week in a row in a match that was high octane.
On the up our mid is there to purr, thats progress.
Great win.
Well done Arteta on that starting 11 you picked it won us the game. That’s a good Leeds team & 3 Valuable points. Aubamayang hatrick will be good for him and us. Odegaard did well, showed how tidy he is
Very happy.
Let’s see if arteta has enough willian observations to demote him to backup now.
Far as I know willian only wants to stay in England to earn citizenship and run his restaurants. The football is secondary to him now, he should be secondary for us too.
Mark I’m happy with the win. Teams normally ease up when 4 nil up. We have been shit recently, not saying its fault less at all but we have 3 points. I’d rather just take a little joy out of a win rather than moan like we have all season.
Now we’ll replace the 31 minutes from f sexy football against Wolves to the 58 minutes of sexy football against Leeds until Arteta madness stroke again.
Leeds were a shambles. They had a better GK and we would not be picking up 3 points.
There’s no way we are finishing in the top half of the table.
Arteta needs to be put out of his misery
@pedro, you are just in every way like arteta. Both of you are just being blind to every obvious problem in this arsenal side
Don’t worry lads, just 2 and a half more years of Willian…….
Hilarious hearing Arteta talk about us still convincing Balogub to sign when he’s not investing in elevating the younger members of the squad.
We were 4-0 up at half time; time for either of Martinelli, Pepe, Eddie or Nelson.to come on.
Let them stretch their legs because we have a better chance to play them since we have lots of high pressure games coming on.
Instead, he brought in his man crush
Willians selection is utterly disgraceful. We will lose Balogun yet Arteta plays this ageing bum. Martinelli, Reiss, Azeez. The future, Willian? The mystery. Pep lite – fuck off, Pep would have Willian on the pitch, no way..
Arteta needs to stop bringing on Willian. Logic dictates that you bring on Martinelli. Willian is a “nothing’ player both offensively and defensively.
Luiz is also a potential liability. He failed to cover player who scored Leeds first goal.
Outstanding performances by both Saka and Aubameyang today.
Once Partey and Tierney return I think that Arsenal will be a much better team.
Pedro
Totally agree. Before the game it was all about Leeds, how good they are and how Arsenal would take a point. That was without Tierney & Partey too. Add the fact Aubamayang banged those 3 in and that is an excellent day. People will still moan because it suits them to do so.
Vickingz, really sorry that we won today… must be a tough day for you.
should have been 6-2 pathetic that any fan of the game is trying to take away from one solid leeds goal and one where bell and xhaka were caught out and make it about arteta much like any shitty critique, says more about who’s writing it than it does about anything close to reality. to each their own bad taste Here’s hoping this is a jumpstart but much tougher battles coming up. if partey and tierney can get back fit we may start to show what we’re capable of. ø saka ESR behind auba means we can dish it to… Read more »
The usual suspects out in force trying to put a damper on a win and a very good performance.
We were going in the right path until the 58th minutes and then, Arteta tried to show us his skills and fucked it up.
“Teams normally ease up when 4 nil up”
Some of this season’s league results:
5-0
5-1
5-2
7-0
6-2
5-0
9-0
Amazing 1st half, generally poor 2nd half. Par for the course (good vs bad halves interchangeable).
Vickingz, really sorry that we won today… must be a tough day for you.
So true I swear some of the guys in here are not even fans their teams blog is just shit so they come here to cry
Pedro
Enjoy the win
We won’t be playing anyone as gung-ho in the league for a while
Keep pretending that your man is not an egomaniacal scatter shot
“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.’”
Best paragraph in ages, so bloody true. Tired of big tech getting away with their selective censoring when it suits them when they’re supposed to be a neutral platform. Where’s the consistency. I think Anonymity needs to go
i’d rather willian play for a bit than potentially sacrifice the brilliant career ahead of Gabi.
Without that clown in goal and Leeds would have come with a result.
Moaning about Willians inclusion to the detriment of reiss, Martinelli, Pepe and Balogun is completely fair as far as I’m concerned. Arteta was brought in to do a rebuild allegedly, that isn’t happening with Willian getting more minutes than the mentioned players. Heck doesn’t he have more minutes than all of them collectively this season? That’s jarring, and it needs to be addressed. The 3 points is good, the first half was good. I can’t call this artetaball yet because I have yet to see it stick in any meaningful way for a run of games, but we did attack… Read more »
@ Pedro
Sorry mate totally disagree with you. Not heading in the right direction at all. He’s pissing off so many of our talented youngsters and continues to pick his favourites.
Bamdrey –
How are you coping with OGS dropping 2 points earlier?
ØDegaard played well needs to start Willian is a nightmare get rid.
Arteta needs to man up
Agreed Pedro
We’re on the right path
Any other comments on areas for “coach improvement” ?
Poor subs from Arteta could have cost us, why oh why he didn’t give Martinelli 20 mins to rest Auba
Diss
keep pretending your acorn sized hard on for pedro isn’t poking out of your lederhosen
Pedro I made the case in my posts this morning just how critical Aubameyang returning to form is to this team and so it proved. Both Partey and Tierney need to return urgently to fitness and then Arsenal will have a more solid starting X1. Arteta needs to stop playing Willian, because he is the wrong player to be brought on once we need to shut up shop. We took off Odegaard, Smith-Rowe and Ceballos in midfield and were left with only Xhaka from original midfield lineup. We know that Arsenal do not have midfield resources to replace all three… Read more »
My man said arteta is an egomaniacal scatter shot, and honestly it’s the most accurate description of him I’ve heard so far.
Maybe he’ll change going forwards after seeing the Willian sub almost cost us a free game.
Kroenkephobe
RichThe 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.
Don’t say anything about Poland as you have no fucking clue what’s going on in my country you fucking twat, don’t make comments based on someone else’s opinion
Anyone and their dog would know Leeds would come attacking in the second, we needed to counter, keep our attackers on the pitch until the game was fairly sealed.
Mike called the game too early, with his subs and it could have cost us.
Anyhow, I hope the Willian cameos are baffling. I hope its because we will sell him in summer .
As soon as Willian steps foot on that pitch, it’s as if Arsenal have just had a player sent off and we’re playing 10 v 11
Vickingz “Arteta can talk about his family being threatened which is bad and I stand against it but he needs to know what comes with his job position and how toxic it gets for fans every week seeing Willian play.” Disgusting comment. He is a football manager, he does NOTHING to deserve having his family threatened. This is the problem, it seems some fans are so arrogant they genuinely think they have the right to abuse people because they know best. You don’t know best and you don’t have the right to abuse Arteta or his family. Imagine comparing having… Read more »