NAVIGATING THE RIGHT ROTATIONAL MIX

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I think I maybe took the misery a little bit too far on the post yesterday. We beat Leeds, a game most of us didn’t fancy, and I dominated the post with my concern over David Luiz and Willian.

It’s time to pick up the mood.

When things go well, you might as well enjoy them, because massive games like Manchester City are usually only a week or so away.

We’re playing in Rome on Thursday in a huge night out against… Benfica. Usually, we land a slightly easier tie in the last 32 of this competition, but to be honest, a night out in a nice stadium against a team with a name of prestige is good for the moment.

I genuinely think one of the first European games I ever remember Arsenal playing in was Benfica.

It felt sexy then and that sheen with Benfica has never worn off for me… even though they’re not the force they once were. The Portuguese side finished 2nd in their group to Rangers. They won 3 games and drew 3. Not exactly impressive when Poznan and Liege made up the other seats. They’re a long way off their best, sitting 4th in their league 13 points off the top of the table… which is pretty bad by their usually high standards.

The hope we all have going into the game is that some of the decisions made in the week will be remedied with the correct selections for that starting 11. This isn’t a small game. It’s a chance to win a place in the next season’s Champions League. I would like to see a good side rolled out.

That will hopefully mean minutes for Gabriel Martinelli and Nicolas Pepe.

Where he makes up the starters elsewhere will have a slightly different spin on things. We shed a lot of players in January, at the same time, it’s also pretty clear that we’re trying to shove a few other names out this summer. Does he continue to give minutes to players he doesn’t want? Or does he opt for something new? Is there any point in Reiss starting?

Whatever he does, it’s important that we use Thursday nights to maintain momentum. A win doesn’t usually matter, but I do think a loss can sometimes rattle the vibes around a club.

I would quite like to see Odegaard continue to build his fitness. Pablo Mari and Cal Chambers should be finding some minutes. It might also be interesting to see Flo Balogun in the side. At the minute, it seems like Arteta is unwilling to invest minutes in someone that might leave, if he’s so confident he’ll sign, is it time to let him shine again?

I certainly don’t want to see Tierney and Saka starting…

Our two Premier League games that are wedged between these Europa games are quite mega.

Manchester City is this Sunday. They are back to peak Pep-ball and they’re the only truly scary team in the league.

Then we have Leicester the Sunday after. They could be in the title race. I’m not sure they are, but they’ve certainly been excellent this season and for me, it’s a real winnable day out if we turn up.

Going away to Italy and then following that up with Greece is really, really rough… but we’ll have to deal with it. All four of those games are important. Arteta and his staff are going to have to be very, very cute with how they organise squad rotation.

You’d ideally like to take that first half against Leeds into the 90 and come away with a big lead… but to achieve that level, you need to play too many senior players to give yourself a chance on Sunday against a City side that has a day more to prepare and a short bus ride to contend with.

Overall though, we have to head into this next batch of matches feeling pretty positive. That Leeds game wasn’t a fluke, it had been brewing, as I had written in the weeks preceding.

We’re starting to look like a clever side with exciting attacking instincts. There’s still lots to do, obviously, but the coaching is starting to kick in, and it’s hard to ignore that it’s quite innovative. Even when our xG was low against Villa, you could see that the passing patterns and positions were finding weren’t far off where we needed to be.

This squad is young. ESR, Saka and Odegaard are very, very junior. They will work out a rhythm over the next few weeks and the attacking football on show will speed up and the finishing will start to happen.

Of key importance to all of that is ensuring that we still defend well. Tony Adams advertised once again why he doesn’t have a big job in the game with this comment.

‘We saw how fragile they are defensively. The defence has always been the weak link. As the sporting director of Arsenal, you wouldn’t be getting Ødegaard in, you’d be getting good, strong defenders into the team instead.’

There are only three teams in the league that have conceded less than us this season. I think in all comps we’re joint tied with Chelsea for the best defence in the league. Conceding hasn’t been a problem, size of defender isn’t an issue, nor is ability. Tony Adams is falling back on 2018 complaints.

The big question is whether we can defend well when we’re opening up teams. The first half against Leeds seems to be how they want to go about it. Just nullify the opposition so they can’t attack in the first place. Manchester City has been doing that all season, I’d imagine that’s the path we’re going to take but on the cheap.

The Arsenal project is on the right path, what Arteta needs to do is navigate the next 6 weeks really well to stop the bi-weekly crisis sessions a particular section of the fanbase seems to revel in.

To keep the noise to a minimum, generally, you need to see good football, young players starting, combined with high energy output.

Let’s see what this week holds, could be exciting.

P.S. Le Grove fave Marco Rose landed a job at Dortmund next year. You see that? I’m getting better at this manager scouting malarkey.

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Tony

had Arteta decided that Saliba didn’t the wrong attitude.

China1

Yeah ES you mocked someone for sharing a short clip of saliba doing well, scoffed at how they are basing their judgments of him on such a tiny clip then said you’ve only watched him twice (ages ago when he had no run of games or confidence and was coming back from personal tragedy and settling into arsenal) and he didn’t look ready. So that’s enough to make your opinion look qualified? Absolute nonsense If you are going to judge saliba as not ready it should be based on what he does with a fair number of chances, not a… Read more »

China1

Pedro Martinelli got his games when Auba, Willian and Pepe were out with suspensions, illness and the like

They’re all back now and he’s out

Socrates

Shkodran Mustafi wins bundesliga player of the week 😂😂

China1

Mustafi

The man. The legend

Saladin

I hope the manager stops fucking over Martinelli. Would rather lose Arteta in a heartbeat right now than Martinelli in the future. Same for Saliba to be honest.

Thorough

When you actually hear someone say ‘Saliba isn’t ready to start in the EPL’ what the f does it mean? Because Arteta said so? A rookie manager that firmly entrenched a top 6 epl team in 10th?

I’ll rather say ‘Arteta isn’t ready for the EPL yet’… And that can be substantiated.

China1

Thorough, ES watched all of two matches ages ago. Conclusive enough wouldn’t you say???

China1

As well if Salibas power is an issue, let him hit the weights for a few months and the difference would be obvious

Winthorpe

I’ll rather say ‘Arteta isn’t ready for the EPL yet’… And that can be substantiated.

Thorough.
I’d tend to agree that neither (Saliba and Martinelli) should be first team options right now ahead of their rivals. I think Arteta is right and he has better options available. But that doesn’t mean that they shouldn’t be getting mins in cup competitions and off the bench. There is no situation where Willian should be getting minutes ahead of martinelli for me. That’s where the fault lies with arteta. Pedro himself has called out his vindictiveness towards the younger players.

Emiratesstroller

China 1

Sorry you are wrong.

No-one is suggesting that Saliba is not a good technical footballer, but the 5 second clip posted does not demonstrate that he is a good defender.

We have paid £28 million for a “Centre Back”. There are plenty of “pretty” footballers in the French League. That does not make them good defenders able to cope with the rigours of
EPL.

Emiratesstroller

China 1

I agree that I have watched Saliba play in 2 games, but I have relied also on the observations
of a sports journalist who watches regularly our U23 and Academy Teams and was present at 2 games earlier in season when Saliba was poor and his persona on pitch stank.

If you have got 8 centre backs on your books and need realistically 5 how should a manager
react?

Socrates

“Pedro himself has called out his vindictiveness towards the younger players.”

I don’t know what they call it, but Pedro comes across as the guy that gives with one hand and takes with the other.

And I with Thorough’, would rather lose Arteta than any of Saliba, Martinelli, balogun or even guen for that matter.

BlackStock

Tony
“For his first 10 years Wenger was the legend you rightly say and brought to Arsenal what Europe was already incorporating into their diet and body maintenance systems. Wenger did not invent ir, he copied the best using such modern ways.”

So we hired a Chef …makes sense

Emiratesstroller

There are those who keep on posting on here who criticise Arteta for his poor man management and handling of young players. Is that really the case and for that matter is he really handling our young players that differently from others? Saka and Smith-Rowe are playing regularly in first team on “merit”. Most of the others are not doing so, because bluntly they are either average or not playing particularly well. Martinelli came back from a long term injury and it was fairly obvious that he was not 100% match fit when he played. The two major decisions made… Read more »

underrated Coq

Emiratesstroller,

If Arteta has gotten all those correctly, what could be the reason behind Arsenal spending most of the season in the bottom half of the table?

Winthorpe

BlackStockFebruary 17, 2021 08:18:33
Tony
“For his first 10 years Wenger was the legend you rightly say and brought to Arsenal what Europe was already incorporating into their diet and body maintenance systems. Wenger did not invent ir, he copied the best using such modern ways.”So we hired a Chef …makes sense

Block stock
Do me a favour. The man was a pioneer. Anyone who denies it has an axe to grind

Winthorpe

This anti wenger shit all stems from expecting him to fail when he was first appointed and having to wait for over a decade before anyone would take you seriously. That and now you have the Johnny come lately, know nothings who didn’t know what arsenal fc was before 2010

Pierre

Congratulations Tony , you have your Le Grove arse licking off to a fine art. Loves to jump on a le grove bandwagon does Tony, always goes with the majority view and never the minority.. He has excelled himself this morning. Starts off with 2 dead certs …a couple of digs at Wenger Ozil….will never fail to get support from the majority.. Next , it’s onto the legrove flavour of the day, Odegaard, apparently he is the next Bergkamp àccording to Tony…i have news for you Tony …he’s not. Next is the jumping on the bandwagon and Arteta’s failure with… Read more »

Winthorpe

OlisFebruary 17, 2021 09:15:55
Tiny is full of shit and far too much to digest this early.We did get a trophy for the invincibles achievement

There’s only one gold trophy

Emiratesstroller

underrated coq

Years of mismanagement and poor decision making. Most of the players in our squad were
inherited.

Graham62

Winthorpe

Yes, Wenger deserves the plaudits for what he brought to the game. From 1996-2008 I had nothing but respect for the guy .

After 2008 things started to go downhill. Excuses can be made( overused imo) but at the end of the day he failed to act on the obvious and became obsessed with his own self-importance.

Winthorpe

Graham

Not denying that. But credit where it’s due

Uwot?

@ Chris,herbs army,Afc forever.Have pointed at this performance of Riley’s at old toilet that day as bordering on downright criminal.Corrupt.The most blatant one eyed ,biased refereeing I’ve witnessed in the prem.A disgrace.Here was a ref appointed for this match with the sole aim of making sure Manure win.whatever the cost.Prior to this as far as I can recall he( Riley) had reffed manure & his last eight matches & awarded 7 penalties ! I knew we were not going to get a result there from the minute of his appt.An absolute disgrace to his profession.

Nelson

“Shkodran Mustafi wins Bundesliga player of the week”

I have a feeling: if Xhaka went back to the Bundesliga, he could also win player of the week.

Thorough

China. Thorough, ES watched all of two matches ages ago. Conclusive enough wouldn’t you say??? That’s how you know people who can’t think for themselves. They just wait for what Tets say and run with it. That’s how one olodo kept saying Saliba is shit because he watched his first game back in the French league and he was gash. Only for me to read later he had the highest rating in that game then ended up being the clubs player of the month. From the little I’ve watched of him I can even say he’s a modern day ball… Read more »

Thorough

Winthorpe. I believe Leicester didn’t buy Fofana to become a starter so early, but an injury here and there, he got lucky, and the coach gave him a chance. But to tell a kid whom hadn’t kicked a ball in anger for 6 months that he wasn’t good enough borders on being moronic. Arteta is sick. He’s a fucking generational fraud. We’re 10th but we’re too good for Guendozi, Saliba, Martinelli and Balogun, but can accommodate Runnarson, a distinctively average Bellerin, an utter gash Williams, Kolasinac and Mustafi even made our team ahead of Saliba. Tets is absolutely mindless. And… Read more »

SpanishDave

Thorough
Spot on that’s stirred the nest.
Arteta is just using us to experiment then he will rush back to Man City .
Look at what’s happening at Chelsea with a manager of experience with the same players.

Winthorpe

Thorough He’s trying to create a conducive environment at the club though isn’t he and if characters like Guendouzi, who’s abusive to staff around the club, prevent that then I’m happy he’s going. I do agree though that he’s got a two tier system from which people like Luiz and Willian are benefitting hugely. I also agree that he could have handled Guendouzi Saliba AMN and above all Pepe a lot better. He’s publicly destroying their value to the club and any potential buyers. I just don’t understand why he’s so abrasive. Especially with Pepe. All that talent. He’s got… Read more »

Chris

Uwot? Yep nobody will ever be able to convince me that result wasn’t predetermined in a way, Riley told to not let those flamboyant foreigners win another title, I mean you just watch those ‘tackles’ again from Neville, Rooneyband van Nistelrooy, absolutely disgusting with no intent to play the ball. Ferdinand having the gall to tell Freddie to get up after wiping him out when clean through. Then Cole booked for his first foul. And then of course, Rooney taking a dive. Riley couldn’t wait to blow the whistle. I have calmed down over the years due to getting on… Read more »

China1

Es ‘if you have 8 CBs and need 5 how are you supposed to react?’ Get rid of the 3 who have the least value and upside to the team and keep the rest. We had mustafi in the squad but no saliba. That cannot be acceptable. Or if getting him prepared for the PL is a priority then proactively send him out to an English team in the summer. Instead we fucked up his loan move back to France then let him come back to France 6 months later. If France isn’t a suitable playground for him to prepare… Read more »

China1

Also ES in the EL group stages we were playing games against teams comprised of Sunday league part time players who farmers and miners for their day jobs

But it’s was more important to have our old heads playing than let saliba get some minutes under his belt and sharpness back?

He may or may not go on to be a quality player, but what is true is that arteta has managed him awfully

China1

Yeah Chris 100%

I actually forgot how angry Utd used to make me feel til I saw that. 30 seconds in and the only emotion is absolute hatred. Fucking cunts

shaun

That is the worry a lot of fans have with Arteta and his non-negotiable bull shit he appears to be devoid of the cuteness and intelligence required to solve perceived problem player performance which ultimately leads to deprecation of the player as an asset and it is something he has to learn quickly , there are signs he is learning but then a couple of wins and he reverts to type. A fully focussed AMN, Guen and Saliba should be able to help the current Arsenal team and as Arteta himself says it is his job to get the best… Read more »

Pierre

Thorough “But to tell a kid whom hadn’t kicked a ball in anger for 6 months that he wasn’t good enough borders on being moronic. Arteta is sick. He’s a fucking generational fraud. We’re 10th but we’re too good for Guendozi, Saliba, Martinelli and Balogun, but can accommodate Runnarson, a distinctively average Bellerin, an utter gash Williams, Kolasinac and Mustafi even made our team ahead of Saliba. Tets is absolutely mindless.” These are valid points you are making and is part of the reason I’m not totally sold on Arteta. I’m on the fence him , i like the fact… Read more »

Graham62

China1

I hate MU more than I hate Spuds.

China1

Graham I used to hate Utd much more because they were our real rivals. Spurs were just a small team from down the road and an irrelevance to our league placings.

Then Utd and arsenal became shit and stopped caring about each other and by virtue of us being shit spurs are now in our ballpark so the rivalry is much stronger for me

Thorough

Pierre I don’t want us to go the way of Manu. They kept buying their way out of trouble, hit gold in form of Fernandez and now they think Ole is the fish’s tit. I actually think he’s an average manager and they can do better. He’ll always let them down when it matters most. I believe coaches should have the total package or something close upon arrival but Arteta falls short on so many levels. Man management – bad. Ingame subs – pathetic. Judgment of talent – questionable. For someone that’s been a captain and assistant coach for years… Read more »