ARSENAL BRIEF: NO DRAMA

by .

Part 3 of a 4 part series sees Arsenal welcome Olympiacos the North London. We’re 3-1 up. They have to score at least 3 goals with no response to go through. It’ll be a tough day out.

The worst thing we could do tonight is assume this is a ‘rest’ game and rotate so hard we lose our footing.

There can be no slip-ups. Last time we played them, we were dropped out when Auba missed a sitter at the death. It should never had gone to extra time.

Arsenal need to be ruthless this evening. We can afford to be patient, because they have to come to play. Arsenal has more than enough players to kill them in behind if they overextend.

The big worry? Arsenal LOVE to concede an early goal in big games. That can’t happen tonight. We’re more than capable of defending like warriors, the thing that needs to be ironed out is the big lad called UNFORCED ERROR.

Our defending has been solid this year, but the clean sheets haven’t been as prevalent as I would have liked. Now would be a good time to change that.

Arteta has two games to deal with before players go on international break. I think he’s going to go all-in with minor changes. He has a full squad to pick from. The question is how hard is he going to batten down the hatches? In the away leg, he took Thomas Partey off after 55 minutes for tactical reasons, which I suspect revolved around the NLD. Will he do that again tonight? Or will he give minutes to Elneny or Ceballos?

The front 3 will also be interesting. Who is he going to roll with? After the Auba nonsense at the weekend, the show of unity would be to start our captain. At the same time, having him fresh for West Ham might also be a bonus. If you’re going sit in waiting and strike at this Greek side, Gabriel Martinelli as a #9 wouldn’t be the worst move if you were looking for a viper move.

It’s hard to say the game at the weekend is more important, because business-wise, it’s probably not. What is important is making sure we don’t ruin the run-in by injuring players that are on the edge load wise. Smith Rowe picked up a tweak a week ago, Saka rolled off at half time at the weekend. Tierney has played a lot of games, Xhaka plays every game, Partey was very leggy in the last 15 at the weekend… I know you have to push the limits in this game, but our squad is too shallow to suck up mega injuries, particularly with our creative names who are in limited batches.

It’s quite interesting listening to the press conferences at the minute, Arteta has more colour in his face and looks like he’s started eating again… the new addition is the Norwegian press who all seem very keen to know what their captain is up to. I love that everyone is a little bit worried about what will happen with him next season. If the club sell well this summer, they’ll try and buy him. If not, I don’t think there’s much doubt that we’ll have the player on loan next season, hopefully with a clause where we can buy him.

Arsenal are giving him love he’ll never get at Real Madrid. He’s giving us the work rate maybe Madrid couldn’t get from him because he didn’t feel welcome. I wonder if part of his difficulties at Madrid are born of the deal they made for him, I think Carlo went out of his way to say he was only playing him because it was in his deal. There was a big fuss about him training with Ronaldo. Zizou can also be quite brutal. Bigger thing here… it’s hard to be a superstar in a team of superstars. Arsenal can offer him something Madrid can’t. He can be a star boy, he can grow with ESR, Martinelli, and Saka. He can take Arsenal back to the very top, become a legend and do it in the most-watched league in the world with fans that will absolutely adore him.

That’d be my pitch…

The pitch for tonight? No drama. Cleansheet. Next round please. See you in the comments. x

P.S. That magazine in the main picture is The Gooner. It’s an iconic fanzine I grew up reading with my dad and football family. Passing it around in the car with my cousins after a game is a fond memory. Discusing the gossips hidden in the pages was always fun. I LOVED the back page joke it always had on it. Anyway, I’m going to be contributing a nice chunk of words on the regular for them. If you can buy a subscription to it, that’d be amazing. These sorts of things make the game experience special and they look nice on your coffee table. I took a big chance on the topic this month, it’s about the future of Arsenal and why you should be excited. Looking like a good bet.

746 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
Emiratesstroller

Aubameyang had a shocker yesterday, but I am not going to write him off just yet. When he
is on song he is still an excellent player.

Nevertheless Arsenal need to improve their goalscoring performance. My view is that Lacazette should be replaced this summer. We need a hungry young striker who is going to score at least 20 goals a season.

Tony

ES
Martinelli, Balogun, Moller?

Put the money into buying MO and replacing Xhaka would be my solution.

Really not sure how many players we can move in the summer in the sport’s current finial climate, so funds will be very tight.

Emiratesstroller

Tony

None of those listed by you fall into the category of 20 goals a season strikers. They are more like Nketiah replacements.

Tony

ES We won’t know until they have had a decent run of games. I wouldn’t rule Martinelli out. Auba is going nowhere and we’ve learning more about him recently; however, as with Ozil, we’ve hamstrung ourselves with his contract that no other club will want anything to do with. Ditto Willian. They are Arteta’s signings so they are on him to make work. So knowing that we need to go all in to buy MO and a back up LB as a bae minimum, I can’t see where the funds are going to come from to buy the 20 goal… Read more »

Tony

we’re*

Batistuta

Milan and Arsenal with horrible performances last night to almost ruin my mood but thank fuck for Tottenham Hotspur football club

Emiratesstroller

Tony

Martinelli would be my Nketiah replacement especially since he can also play on wing.

Personally I would sell both Lacazette and Nketiah who are in final year of their contracts and buy a new striker with funds.

As I have posted before I would sell Guendouzi, Torreira and AMN and buy a quality central
midfielder to replace Ceballos.

The club need also to review preseason both Saliba and Mavropanos to assess whether they
can play next season in first team. If either can do so then it will save us money in buying a
new RCB.

Batistuta

Oh and we’re never going to be a serious football club challenging at the top with Xhaka- El Neny as our alternatives to Partey, doesn’t matter how extremely for the former always is.

We need to massively prove that midfield with new faces

Batistuta

We don’t need yet another CB when our midfield is so gash Emirates. Mavropanos and Saliba are doing very well out on loan so I’d keep them, say goodbye to David Luiz and integrate those two alongside Holding and Mari and Gabriel.

The major work for me has to be that awful midfield we’ve refused to work on and no Thomas Partey alone is not fixing the midfield

China1

Sorry tony every time I see MO my instant reaction is we’re talking about Pyramid Pirlo 😂😂

Always takes a few seconds to register

China1

ET when we have xhaka and bulletin as first choice players and Ode finishing his loan I don’t know how buying a CF can be a priority even if we do sell laca

Surely you fix the glaring weaknesses before you fix the mid level weaknesses

China1

If xhaka makes it through this summer without us buying an upgrade then man that guy is bulletproof. People still talking about other positions as a higher priority

Foxy

The general consensus recently is that we could be only a few key player upgrades away from being a top 4 team. However last night showed that we only need a couple of our best players to be missing to be bang average.

Arteta and Edu should have learnt a lot about our true squad strength last night, who needs to be moved on and what positions to strengthen.

curse

😂😂😂

imagine being a tiny tott, hunched over, lurking in the shadows, inside a brand new toilet bowl. it’s downhill from here I’m afraid 😂😂😂, with us being the freshest outfit on the block the gap will be ridiculous soon enough.

Any more salt? err…if we pull off the EL
we’ll have CL ballers in pearl citrus/navy with a badge less cannon. 💥

bout time universe righted itself 🙏

Sid

Mertesacker will inject the academy players into the team when he takes over,
then sign a good CM.

DivineSherlock

Tony

The fact is that Auba can still be devastating even if he is not on form right now. Our opponents dont use much high press in case he gets a free run like last night . I still think Auba is better used than Aubameyang, Defenders spend more energy worrying about him , have to mark him all game . Whereas Lacazette decides to drop deep making it easier.

DivineSherlock

* Auba is better than Lacazette I mean

curse

OMFG!!! 😂😂😂😂😂

just watched the highlights!
They let that orsic run from the half way line past 4 tiny Totts and then he rifled it from outside the box!!! 😱😂👏

Tottenham 💩💩💩😂😂😂

Habesha Gooner

China 1 I have actually never seen Xhaka play this well for consecutive months at any point during his time here. But he is still one of two major Glaring weakness for me in the starting line up. Him and Bellerin need upgrades. Xhaka is just not dynamic enough to affect matches. He is actually doing a lot better alongside Thomas. If we have money, A Xhaka upgrade, Buying Martin Odegaard ( or loaning him again) and Buying a RB ( Lamprey or Aarons) are the three things we should do. Keeping Ryan and A back up LB are also… Read more »

curse

they should have backed poch. what a blunder of epic proportions

Habesha Gooner

And I would hope Azeez is introduced in to the squad along with a new CM to eventually phase out Elneny. He is got massive potential. And there is no reason he can’t make it if the likes of curtis Jones are Lining up for Liverpool.

curse

visit Gambia? 😂😕

bacaryisgod

Habesha-Gambia has Rwanda beat for sure but maybe we should stay away from political sponsorships in general!

Dream10

Midfield and attack should be the priority.
Partey is quality but his name alone does not mean he is a 7/10 every week. Signing a first XI caliber CM is the priority. Partey fitness is questionable, Xhaka needs to rest once in a while and Ceballos is limited. Recent days, we have been linked to Sander Berge from soon to be relegated Sheffield united. Liverpool might be in pole position for him.

Jamie

Remember when Donglaf was desperate for Arsenal to hire Jose? Embarrassing.

Habesha Gooner

Backary I think you meant that for “Curse”.

curse

still half asleep aye he

China1

Yeah Habesha Xhaka is on the form of his life. But it’s not next level stuff. You think back to the genuinely excellent CMs we’ve had and wouldn’t dream of swapping any of them out for him even at his absolute best Like put a 27 year old Santi in this team and it would be absolutely transformative. Same for cesc, vieira, even Ramsey if Partey was told to sit. Petit, Gilberto. Edu as well tbf. Or teenage wilshere, 19 year old diaby haha Seriously this is some unit ———Partey-Santi Saka——-Ode———ESR ————-Auba With Pepe Martinelli etc all as options. That… Read more »

Northbanker

I agree we don’t need an more forwards esp if we re-sign Balogun

Sell Laca and Eddie – they’re not going to contribute that much more and both will get decent money

Pepe is better on LW imo but Nelson can play either flank as back up. ESR will be taking either LW or even RW if MO plays as the CAM

That should still reduce Willian game time with a bit of luck
We are stuck with him and Auba no matter what

Wiglaf

bacaryisgodMarch 19, 2021 07:26:36
Time to look for another sponsor. Now.https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2021/mar/19/we-choose-good-guys-and-bad-guys-beneath-the-myth-of-model-rwanda

Typical arsenal
Coming out of the ozil/China thing stinking
BLM all over our stadium at a time when the majority of the country does not support its marxist agenda
Now Rwanda
How does these pricks get jobs? Honestly.

“Hey guys, you know what would be a tolly great idea ya?
If we put an African country on our sleeve. Which one? Any one. Doesnt matter. As long as we look like we are in favour of black and chimes people who cares. It’s a win right?

Pierre

Aubameyang could have had a couple of goals yesterday, Harry kane ditto. Aubameyang gets slaughtered by his own fans, Kane will never receive the levels of criticism from his own fans and media that Aubameyang receives. To me , it makes the Arsenal fans look clueless. The fact is, even the best strikers miss their fair share of chances and Aubameyang is no different .. Prior to christmas no striker in the world would have scored for Arsenal as the team had Zero creativity. Aubameyang, Lacazette and Nketiah were feeding off scraps and none of these strikers should be judged… Read more »

Habesha Gooner

China I would be totally shocked if there are players out there that are at the same calibre as Santi and Cesc. And if there are, they wouldn’t play for us right now at the position we are in. I would be okay with a solid player that can ocassionally be a match winner. I actually have changed my mind a bit on Xhaka. I can tolerate him as a squad player if he is playing to this level. Where as before I wanted him out completely. Credit to him he has been playing to a 7 out of 10.… Read more »

Gonsterous

What I really want is a coach that can utilise the youngsters from the academy. We aren’t city, never have been, our Philosophy has always been to promote from within, apart from a few occasion when we dive into the market for a ready made player but even then we don’t over spend.

It’s changed over the years but we need to get more bargains like leno, matinelli, guen and co. And less of the over priced players like auba, laca, pepe and co.

Gonsterous

Pieeere

The auba and kane comparison is wrong. Compare the influence of RVP and Kane and then we are ttalking. Would RVP get slagged off for missing chances? He missed a lot against barca but no one talks about it or blames him. It’s because at the end of the day, he can change the game on his own. Can auba do that? Not even close. Auba and Kane are two very different players for their clubs. So of course kane doesn’t get slagged off but auba does.

Gonsterous

When it has mattered, auba has never stepped up. He missed the pen against spurs and we lost out on top 4, he missed a couple of sitters against Olympicos last season and we crashed out of the EL.

Yes he’s a great striker and goal scorer but when it truly matters, he’s not the one to get it done.

Matt

Pierre ‘Aubameyang could have had a couple of goals yesterday, Harry kane ditto.Aubameyang gets slaughtered by his own fans, Kane will never receive the levels of criticism from his own fans and media that Aubameyang receives. To me , it makes the Arsenal fans look clueless. The fact is, even the best strikers miss their fair share of chances and Aubameyang is no different ..’ This comment makes you look clueless. If you cant see the difference between what Kane offers, even when he is not scoring compared to Aubamayang then I think you don’t understand football. Also, as club… Read more »

Matt

*Actually, I’m not even sure of Kane is captain or is it Lloris? The point still stands…

Ben D

“GonsterousMarch 19, 2021 08:36:27
When it has mattered, auba has never stepped up. He missed the pen against spurs and we lost out on top 4, he missed a couple of sitters against Olympicos last season and we crashed out of the EL.Yes he’s a great striker and goal scorer but when it truly matters, he’s not the one to get it done.”

Rubbish. Who scored the goals that won us the FA cup last season?

englandsbest

Great to go through to last eight. At 3-1 up it was close to inevitable but I guess most of us stayed nervous until the final whistle.

For me the game was confirmation that we can get by without Auba. We have other players – like Nketiah and Marynelli – who will grow in stature without him. Sadly, he is in the Ozil comfort zone. Arteta put him there, it must be a matter of regret to him now. I believe he will never allow himself to be blackmailed by a player again.

Pierre

Gabriel has started 8 games this year …no clean sheets…10 goals conceded.

Luiz
Played 14 …3 clean sherts …13 goals conceded

Mari
Played 7 games …3 clean sheets ..4 goals conceded

Holding
Played 11 …5 clean sheets …7 goals conceded.

Make of this what you want but I know who i prefer as my centre back partnership.

Le Professor

Nice image.

I still get a shiver when I see images of Rocky

China1

Habesha there are always players out there arsenal just have a habit of no longer being the ones to discover them Even santi himself as much as he was well known in Spain, most arsenal fans had never heard of him. There are always players of that level coming through (not necessarily exactly the same play style but overall quality). The question is can arsenal be the ones to quietly nip in and get them before anyone else does How did Malaga get santi in the first place? How did Leicester get kante and mahrez? Dortmund so this stuff for… Read more »

China1

In fact the whole reason we are still discussing xhaka is because wenger didn’t only miss kante the first time (understandable) but was haggling over an extra couple of million to sign him from Leicester. He wasn’t even expensive. Went to Chelsea for 25 odd mil or something ridiculously cheap If we’d signed him under wenger he would’ve been monumental for us. Under emery he might have failed because he’d have tried to be clever and put him at AM or on the wing like torreira and Arteta would’ve just dropped him for xhaka anyway. You know what scratch that… Read more »

Northbanker

Debate on Auba getting too simplistic. He is still a potentially great goalscorer but his overall contribution doesn’t offer enough and when he’s not scoring it does feel like a we’re carrying a passenger. You get full commitment from GM by contrast. Yet if you look at the economics of the Summer ahead, really we need to sell Laca who is younger and 1 year left and also sell Nketiah). I hope MA will then start to phase out Auba in the next season bringing GM and hopefully Balogun more and more into play. Then sell or cut losse Auba… Read more »

China1

Northbanker you’re right tho I’m kinda curious if we have another deep lying creative talent alongside Partey and have Auba as a 9 I’m wondering if just on the sheer volume of chance creation auba could become a goal scoring monster again Like as much as his overalls game is incredibly average outside of goals, he has traditionally been fed off scraps. If we can continue to kick on with the creative players we’ve got and really get a game changing CM to partner partey then we might have what it takes to steamroller teams through sheer creativity with auba… Read more »

1 6 7 8