It’s North London Derby this weekend. What we’d all give to be present at The Emirates for this one.
Last time out, we killed ourselves early. Spurs had 5 attempts at our goal, put 3 on target, and scored 1. Their first goal was a 30-yard screamer after we let Son run at us on the counter. Their second came as part of a double whammy in which Thomas Partey broke down in midfield and Kane scored off the bar down our end.
It took Arsenal 5 games after that to register a win in the Premier League. Truly a miserable time for the ages.
So what will we have learned this time?
Well, the team we played was pretty strong last time out. We’ll likely have Xhaka and Partey pivoting again. Attack will be something different. I doubt we’ll see Auba and Lacazette starting together. I suspect we’ll see the two new additions that have changed the way we play for the better.
Emile Smith Rowe has to start. The question is whether he’s shunted out to the left again. I think he’s the better player there. I really like Odegaard, but I’m not sure he’s quite up to the speed of the league as it stands. He’s given away hospital passes in his last two games because of casual play and I don’t think he was what you’d call present to the levels we need… especially in a game like tomorrow. Thing is, he is more than competent playing as a wide attacker, and he generally boasts high levels of control… which tomorrow, is going to be absolutely vital, because Spurs are absolute vultures…
I’d love to see Nico start the game, but I have my doubts. Last time out at the toilet bowl we were mauled from 3 shots on target despite dominating possession. It was a typical Mourinho game. He’s going to let us do our thing tomorrow because he knows the odds are stacked against us not bringing pain upon ourselves. 7 of our 14 goals conceded this year have been of our own making. With a strong side on Thursday, we still managed to gift the Greeks 3 big chances unforced.
I think we’ll see Saka, Odegaard, ESR and WiIlian in attack. Jose will have a special plan for Saka… Spurs will be taking it in turns to smash him over in transition. Olympiacos did a great job brutalising him the other night, though I’m not sure I’d say they nullified him. The key tomorrow is getting him on the ball a bit higher up the pitch… though that’ll be hard to manage if we’re trying to keep our defensive structure strong.
Spurs are quite a simple unit. They depend on 3 exceptional players to put lipstick on an old pig of a system. When it works, everyone calls Jose a genius, when it fails, he’s a fraud.
Arsenal are not a simple unit. We’re better coached, have more interesting ideas, and we’re going further than them longterm. However, what our squad has that theirs does not is the self-destruct button.
When you build in the correct fundamentals, it’s only a matter of time before the correct outputs happen. The fundamentals are in place. The balance between and attack and defence is there. We are creating good chances. We’re limiting our opponents. The biggest problem we’re dealing with is unforced errors. Our players need to concentrate. They need to make better decisions. They need to leave every ounce of brainpower on the pitch tomorrow.
NLD is a toss of a coin. It’s usually fine margins, it’s usually an emotional wreck of a day, the winner will be crowned by who makes the least mistakes.
Arsenal FCs coaching staff have had this game pinned in the priority board for the last 6 weeks. Make no mistake, everything has been building to this game because it’s the Premier League Cup Final. Let’s be honest, it’s a huge deal for both managers as they look to extract positives from underwhelming campaigns. If Arteta wins this, and the whole project gets a huge lift and you’re looking at the Europa League with a different eye.
Lose? Not an option I’m afraid.
I genuinely can’t wait for this game. Two rivals with their best players on show going toe-to-toe. Should be an immense 90 minutes. Let’s hope we’re the fans crowing on the group chats.
Sorry there was no pod this Thursday. I don’t think I’ve ever been worked to hard in my life or more consequential things (first world consequential, I’m not distributing vaccines). It’ll be a patchy few weeks, but I’ll do my best.
P.S. I am on the warpath in the comments. Any of that ‘modern internet’ anti-Arsenal rhetoric on an Arsenal blog will be met by the full force of the law. I don’t care if you rate Mourinho, I don’t care if you’d like to see Arsenal lose to move on Arteta, this is a NLD and you’ll be treated like you would if you were spouting off against Arsenal in The Twelve Pins pre-game. This is an Arsenal paradise for the next 48 hours or so. See you there.
Actually thought we missed Auba today.
Bergkamp63 March 14, 2021 15:28:17
A 2-1 win for me
Not sure why everyone is so nervous, it’s a transitional period which we are about 1/3rd through, we are moving in the right direction, just enjoy it, life is good !
My pre-season prediction of 6/7th is still on, next season it will be 4th-6th and the one after will be top 3.
Relax !
You heard it here for free !
Get in….
F U L L Y D E S E R V E D.
Best team won today, we totally outplayed them for probably 80 minutes. Thought Odegaard was class today, wth & without the ball.
Yeahhhhhh sauce everywhere
Nervyast 15 but otherwise very good performance and excellent result
Everyone played well apart from lacas finishing and partey looking spent in the last 15
Fucking get in!!
Why oh why did we fall to pieces after the red!? Ridiculous!!
Fuck off Spurs… Good win,
Ødegaard MOT for me.
ESR immense, what a plater we have there.
Arteta needs to learn how to make subs, his in-game management remains poor
Brilliant squad rotation over the week. Hats off to Arteta
They score a goal (from offiside), hit the post and had another maybe 2-3 situations in 20 mins of being man down. We were garbage at the end. Arteta’s subs instead of helping fked us in the arse.
Good win. Roller you’re not good enough.
Can they stop showing the Lamela goal
Who cares, he will never score another one till the end of his career.
Odengaard man of the match for me.
Man that was nervy, arteta needs to learn you can’t manage out the last 20mins, you need to still have threat.
In any case great win and very much deserved.
Goals need quality and pepe brings that.
Odegarrd, you were very good
Gabriel immense again, don’t get why he was dropped for so long, our best CB by far.
Willian? Why? Almost gave up our advantage bringing him on. Luckily it didn’t cost us today and neither did Xhakas less than excellent tackling.
Hope we can put together a run now.
“Why oh why did we fall to pieces after the red!?”
Willian!
Did anyone see leno’s first movement for kane’s free kick that hit the post? This team play better when chasing goals than when leading. Happy kicking mou’s butt though
Spuds are still a joke of a club. Brought Maureen in to win trophies and all he brings is shite football. Mugs.
2-1? We were robbed it was that one-sided.
Nerve racking sons of bitches !
Never in doubt !
Great performance. Was nervy for sure and work still to be done but we continue to move in the right direction.
If Spurs attacked in the last 15 all game we would have beaten them by 3 or 4.
These games are always about the result and we got it.
Well done.
Bottom line, we remain 10th in the table. Pity we dropped so many easy points.
Nelson
Yes mate, Odegaard never seems phased, even against the Greeks when he started badly. He always wants the ball, never hides & that is so important. Today he showed he can battle too, he won a lot of tackles.
So good… Youth movement was boss today.. Like I said wasn.t worried about attack.. defending was sketchy at the end but it doesn’t matter..
Fuck off Spuds!
Yessss!
Loved the wavy we tried to even out the red card by bringing on Willian
As usual total shite
*way
Get in.
A win in the NLD. That’s all that matters here.
ESR is so good
Gabriel MotM.
Tierney was immense. So was ESR.
Saka going through a dip. Nothing serious.
Willian coming on gave Spurs the boos they needed.
Hanging on a bit there but no matter! Always a pleasure to do that lot. Tierney is a chance creating machine down that left side.
‘’ Always good to get the win. But we were complete dogshit once again ‘’
Think you need to watch the game again.. just beaten Spurs and that’s the best you can come out with
Arteta got away with one.
I don’t care… three points is all I care about.
Well deserved win it should have never even been close.
I’d like to say shocking tactics by Jose but not really….. rocking up with the talent of Kane, Son, Lucas and Bale up front and electing to not press and sit back completely.
That’s why Jose is done as the elite manager.
The fact Spurs looked better down a man needing a goal says it all.
But credit to Arteta and the boys.
Told you we would win.
im 2/4 so far.
We win again next week
Great win today! ESR and Cedric and even Xhaka did well today.
No Leno brain farts
Gabriel MOM
Great 3 points!! North London is RED!!!
The most important question that I need to know is… Saka? Is he injured?
Son injured is a nice bonus not gonna lie.
Cedric needs to be the starter from now on- his movement and attacking play is loads better than bell
North London is ours
Without Saka we really are so bang average plus after ESR went off, even worse.
Ode good game tackled back he’s looking the bisz
@Leedsgunner
Hopefully Saka isn’t injured. In fairness he could probably do with a rest anyway
Next time am opposition player gets sent off we should lobby the ref to rescind it. WTF was that last 20 mins?
We were very good until spurs went a Man Down. I still see nothing of value in playing willian. Had that been Martinelli that came on it would have been harder for spurs ( I know he wasn’t even on the bench). Arteta has Arsenal playing some very good football right now. But he needs to get better at managing games and his line ups. ESR and Odegaard were fantastic. It was a really good performance from them. A mention to Gabriel and Tierney too. Partey was a bit underwhelming. We are 5 to 7 points away form a place… Read more »
The 2-1 scoreline flattered Spurs.
Not my words, but the words of michael owen, not a huge supporter of the arsenal by any stretch
The first half hour we played really well .
Odegaard MOTM
ESR, Xhaka Tierney Cedric Gabriel immense
Partey nervy
Laca poor
Leno poor
Willian – 1 and a waste of a sub.
Nothing beats the feeling of a North London Derby Win
.What’s so pleasing is that we dominated them for so much of the game, Arteta completely blindsided the ‘special’ one. On performance, nobody could complain if we won by four or five.
I hope West Ham beat the manc cunts tonight. Then it will be a perfect weekend. Hate united as much as I hate Spurs and mourinho 😃
COYG
Big game
Great Result
Mom Ode
Arteta the man
Guns :
Cedric needs to be the starter from now on- his movement and attacking play is loads better than bell
===========
Fact 100
Really important win today… although game management at the end left much to be desired…Instead of closing down the game with an extra player on the pitch Arteta completely hamstrung his team’s fluidity by taking off ESR and bringing on Willian.
Chuffed with that result and happy to be proven wrong! Come on!!
Raptora
We’ve just beaten Spurs 2-1
Why are you crying about a 19yr old not being on the bench?
Today is a time for celebrating.
No need to be nitpicking after a win in the North London derby.
I want these cunts in the Europa league. Give me two legs of smashing these bitches up.
Bring in old man Willian on a high tension game is really stupid. He wouldn’t have energy to fight.
Willian and Elneny subs weren’t great.
They only invited more pressure.
I’m with Raptora on this one,
By not having Martinelli we were limited in our range of subs
At one point I thought he’d lose the plot and bring on Chambers
Willian was not the answer to any questions today
Raptora
It’s you who needs to get a grip
Martinelli has qualities, but he’s incredibly raw, we’ve just won 2-1, North London is Red, and you’re bitching about a 19yr old not being on the bench
It’s really strange behaviour…..
El Neny yes. For his energy and running but with the exception of one failed interchange with Odegaard down the flank, Willian was anonymous and non effective
Lacca acknowledging that he got lucky with the penalty, It was never a pen and again the game is being let down by the officials
We take it and move forward, Europe is still on.
Don’t know why people are saying Partey was nervy?
He was shattered, that’s all. Still isn’t fully fit. I love the way he wriggles out of a tight press. Great player.
Raptora
I didn’t read back the comments
So I’ll elaborate, you’re all a bunch of weirdos…..
We were awful once Willan came on as his legs have gone, also the team dropped 5 meters deeper inviting them on to us causing a very nervous last 10 mins
ESR Tierney & Oge all brilliant
How did Southampton miss so hard when it came to Cedric? They were surprised to get a fee for him
Willian could have ran into the corner but instead kept passing it back to Ode.
And yes, he did lose the ball setting up a Spurs counter!
I really hate seeing Willian play for us.
We beat Spuds so please give the whining and your obsessional agenda bollocks a rest FFS. Rich is spot on.
There’s plenty of room for improvement but lets celebrate the win ffs.
What was the Auba thing about does anybody know?
Raptora, you have moaned ALL game. What is wrong with people like you? Just controlled & beat Spuds, why are you still miserable?
SpanishDave, he arrived late mate.
Mourinho so salty on the pen. Great to watch.
Cedric was being slated on here for being a Kia signing apparently. Anyone who has watched him play for southampton would have told you he was a top pro. He isn’t a top quality RB, But he is dependable. And we were right to sign him as a back up. But now he has made our starting RB completely useless. We need to replace Bellerin in the summer.
Maureen blaming the referee, so predictable. He has zero class, he never accepts it when he is outplayed.
Mourinho lol
“Is there a ref post match interview?”
THERE WE GO ARSENAL FANS
What a fucking day.
I am so happy, hope you’re all getting smashed right now!
BIG game
Odengaard was excellent today considering it was his first NLD
Was excellent on the ball. Came deep, can’t recall him giving the ball away.
Sprayed some lovely passes, tracked back, made some decent tackles.
Always showed for the ball.
Guys, people shitting on the game need to get in the bin… Tom, pick it up, we just beat Spurs and you’re talking about a Burnley we batered.
Raptora
“Arteta got upset. Decided not to play him”
Bloody right as well!!! You can’t have players turning up late, bang out of order. Made worse because he is the club captain! & supposed to be setting my an example!!
Habesha, I’m taking the L on Cedric.
Looked a little scared today, but he’s very good
SpanishDave, late, not for the first time.
Mourinho playing close to the line and playing off the recent ref controversies with that Michael criticism.
Delighted. It was far from perfect but we were superior. It was as if the team all rose and dipped in form at the same time. My arse was squeaking so much in the last 15 minutes, I was getting feedback through my hearing aid! Having won, the victory feels all the more sweet given the unbearable fucking tension at the time.
These EL/PL winning sequences are a real tonic.
My daughter insisted I switch over straight after the game so she could watch wankers on ice. Lucky me. Who got motm?
Ok he was late but why risk this game over it.
Control freak or what
Raptora, pick it up, no time for your agenda today.
We just beat Spurs, act like a fan
Pedro, bin the lot of them. They do it EVERY time we win, they hate us enjoying results for whatever weird reason. We just gave the Spuds a football lesson!!!!
@Tom
I didn’t see it, but we’ve had enough go against us so I’ll take this one. Long may it continue 😃
Jose crying like a little bitch and I love it lol
Dave, same for you mate, if you’ve ever led before, you’ll know why he was dropped
We won
The decision was correct from a cultural perspective and tactical one
Guys hitting the Gin.
Shame there are no fans.
All those Smith-Rowe isn’t a winger or a wide forward takes before kick off, haven’t aged well…..
The linkup play between Smith-Rowe + Tierney was brilliant, Smith-Rose tormented Spurs down the left
Odegaard has got unbelievable quality, he’s a really quick thinker
Partey takes a lot of risks, and does quite a few rash things, hopefully just teething problems
Mouninho as dislikeable as always. Went to the right team along with Lamela, Kane, Hojberg and the rest.
Good steady performance no fireworks.
A stunning bit of invention by the nutcase
for a wonder goal and then ruined he’s sides
chances.
We move on if slowly still something missing
for me .
William reverting back to norm?
Great win. Long overdue. Nothing else matters.
All tv commentators saying we deserved it. That’s because we did.
Pedro you need to get a grip.
I said Dyche was a better manager than Jose these days and you take it as me shitting on Arsenal?
Pedro I have led 1000 people on a building site on one of London’s biggest projects
We won and people going on about Auba. Auba was shocking the lsat time we played Spurs.
Auba may be the better striker but he is also a bottler, At least Laca puts in 100% and has a bit more cohesion with the youngers.
Great win today and I alway love beating the spurs!!!!
RESULT
Loved that performance, Øde and ESR in same side = fire. I went to pieces in a very were cursed vibe after that Lamela masterpiece. What can you say?
But the fight back and performance kept storng, just need to get passed the will to want to loose at the end. Everyone shitting themselves with a man advantage is not pretty viewing. Thankfully we got thru. Not sure I would of handled an equaliser if classy fashion.
Arteta deserves the plaudits, rotated well and nailed the XI. Bossed the shit out of a whimpering Mourinho. Priceless.
Auba dropped for breaking club protocols, previously agreed protocols.
If you know they are in place, don’t turn up late or you get dropped and or fined.
Period.
Spanish Dave, you’re a shit leader if you let your staff roll in late to important meetings. Gotta run a tight ship. If you think rules don’t apply the same to everyone, you are in the wrong
The truth is out there, Willian is a liability, Cedric is better than Hector, Ode, ESR and Saka are the future, KT is a warrior, Gabby M is the force and Gabby Marts time will come. Harry Kane didn’t fuck us over and Maureen is done.
We beat the scum 2-1