CAN ARTETA RESIST ‘GALAXY BRAIN’ THIS THURSDAY?

by .

Arteta and his squad of inconsistent merry-men saw off a very poor Newcastle United team in a 90 minutes of pure control.

Elneny scored after 5 minutes, burying a mistimed shot from Auba. You can’t knock the Egyptian, he tries his hardest, spent the season practising his shots, and made the difference when he needed to.

Our second goal was a little sexier, Odegaard found Martinelli in space on the left, the Brazilian crossed beautifully to the back post where Auba was on hand to finish acrobatically from 6 yards. A great goal and a perfect piece of delivery from the under-appreciated Brazilian.

It was another game we dominated and the result didn’t really demonstrate the true power of the control we had. 19 shots, only 5 on target… we really should have mauled them, but this current side doesn’t really have that gear within them.

The build-up play was so much better with David Luiz in the side. It’s such a shame he’s ruined his hamstring because he really does add a layer of confidence to a defence lacking crucial pieces. It’s amazing that a player so unreliable can be so important to this process.

Gabriel Martinelli was absolutely exceptional. His direct runs, his movement, and overall energy should always make him a required started. Arteta made an interesting comment about his partnership with Xhaka, claiming his game suits the Brazilian more than Tierney’s. That’s a level of football nerdom I’m not equipped to comment on, what I can say is it’s an abomination that we go into the most important game of the season with him on the bench and ESR in the false 9 role.

Arteta was actually quite tetchy about the criticism of his reticence when it comes to playing him.

‘I can tell you I love him more than all of you’

It wasn’t said as a joke, he was seething underneath. The mask slipped as he reeled off other players he’s been hammered for dropping. I can’t have it. Arteta dropped Gabriel for 12 weeks after half a bad game, yet here we are, watching Willian drop nearly a whole season in the Premier League without a goal. Ruthless standards for kids, not for the seniors he’s invested in.

Another interesting perk of the game was watching Mat Ryan control his box with his hands and with the ball at his feet. He’s a fast mover of the ball, he’s almost thinking about where he’s going to pass as he’s catching the ball. Apparently, he was talking Spanish to communicate with certain players. Arsenal are likely going to lose Bernd Leno this summer, he’s done with the club, and he’s let his bosses know. Apparently, there are big problems in the coaching department. We’ve seen loved coaches leave, new coaches make questionable recommendations, witnessed the shocking dips in form, and now one of our big players is angling for an out this summer. How has it come to this? Who is being held accountable? That’s all on Arteta who seems to have selective non-negotiables when it comes to his staff.

Regardless, it does pose a big question. Who does he start on Thursday? If Leno is looking to exit the club, are we running into the exact issue we had when we rolled with Petr Cech in the Europa League when he was about to take a job at Chelsea? It’s a tough decision the manager has.

Thursday night is absolutely huge. It is a must-win. It is also reputational damage control for Mikel Arteta. His arrogance last week cost us the game in Spain. The decision to play a teenage creative midfielder as a #9 when he had Martinelli at his disposal was all about him. That he didn’t have coaching staff around him strong enough to call bullshit on him is another story.

Villareal is not a great side. Unai Emery knows he is in trouble. We have to take this home game by the scruff of the neck. Simple ideas for the right players. No galaxy brain thinking. No ‘maybe he’s fit’ gambles. No slow start. We need to pull them to pieces and make the final.

Let’s see what Arteta has, this is all on him.

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Valentin

ES,

When Arteta starts to interfer with the work the academy coaches are doing, under the guise of closer tie with the first team is exactly why some coaches are leaving.

shaun

the Goal keeping decision could end up costing his job , no one wants to harp on about it but most think we could have been top 4 or there about’s with Martinez between the sticks , the guy was super motivated had Arsenal in his heart and we would have been 10-12 points better off , it just shows you how stupid Arteta is, just plain dumb . leno Is shite and Ryan is a poor mans Martinez and the less said the better about that Runnerson c…

Victorious

Can Arteta resist ‘Galaxy brain’ lmfao..More like ‘confused brain’

China1

Speaking of keepers. Gotta love having promising kids nowhere to be found on the bench but TWO goalkeepers sometimes on the bench

It’s as baffling as it is dumb

I’d seriously love to know if there has ever been a good reason for it except for arteta to make his point to whoever outfield players he decided he wanted to exclude for his own personal reasons

Valentin

China1,

Absolutely no football reason, unless you consider planning for two goalkeepers getting injured or send off in the same game. If you don’t trust the No2 to do the job properly and feel the need to have a third goalkeeper just in case, then do not hire the No2 in the first place…

It’s classic small man marking his territory. It is petty and vindictive and rob a youngster from an invaluable experience he may have benefitted from.

Raulishuss

Has there been a bigger conspiracy theorists on legrove than val? Dude give it a rest sometimes you lie too much

Captain Tierney

‘Speaking of keepers. Gotta love having promising kids nowhere to be found on the bench but TWO goalkeepers sometimes on the bench’ That really highlights Arteta’s poor team selections sometimes. I dont have doubts over his coaching ability, and I do believe Arsenal will enjoy success with him. But some of his decisions are really baffling. We signed Balogun on a new long term deal after warding off interest from 15+ clubs. In the interview Arteta will praise Balogun, declare him the future of the club, take him to Spain to our EL match. Then doesn’t even include him on… Read more »

Raulishuss

It’s classic small man marking his territory. It is petty and vindictive and rob a youngster from an invaluable experience he may have benefitted from.

How ironic you’re everything you accuse arteta of

China1

Yeah Tierney it’s just vindictive

Just as we saw with Martinelli being intentionally excluded ‘to test his character’

It’s nothing to do with football and all about him making some kind of honestly quite weird point. Even if it costs the team

China1

I’d absolutely love to see the stats for the percentage of games when a professional team has required 3 keepers.

In an entire premier league season, 38 games for each of the teams, the PL will probably only see this scenario play out once every couple of years at the absolutely most

Those are gambling odds I don’t think we need to be desperately covering when other parts of the team might genuinely benefit from an additional option on the bench

Victorious

is it just me or does Ryan look a bit small in the goal?

Ospina felt the same but those 2-3 inches make all the difference.

Still can’t believe this club sold Martinez ffs, he’s absolutely a worldclass goalkeeper and could have been our number 1 for years. What a shocking show of complete incompetence!

Matt B

The goalkeeper fiasco is a terrible indictment of Arteta and pretty much sums up everything that is wrong with him:
1. Poor decision-making (selling Emi)
2. Inability to identify the better player (thinking Leno is better)
3. Instils no loyalty (Leno wants to leave)
4. Purchasing poor players in spite of promising youth already at the club (Runnarson etc.)

Victorious

If truly the clown Leno is angling for a move then its becoming a double kick in the fucking gut.

A serious club will be sacking those responsible for such shambles but arsenal is currently a joke so fully expect it be swept under the carpet like the clueless fans didn’t take notice, lol

I believe Arsenal is the second most poorly run club in the world, just slightly behind Newcastle

Daniel Altos

If we want to get a good gk in the 7-10m range we should go for pedrag rajkovic of Reims…he is an excellent keeper and is only 25 years old….he will be an upgrade on leno

Victorious

I can assure you we’re NOT getting a goalkeeper better than Martinez anytime soon.

He’s a top tier and i dont expect those sort to get excited by a midtable club run by complete idiots with an amateur novice as coach

Pierre

Kelling “we need to be bold on Thursday in every department, hope Tierney and Matt Ryan will start and Laca is fit to go.” You will probably be disappointed on all 3 fronts there…all 3 could possibly be on the bench… What I believe will stand Arsenal in good stead is the fact that we went to Prague in the knowledge that our season was over without a positive result and put in possibly our best performance of the season.. For the players to know that they can rise to the big occasion and not fold under the pressure will… Read more »

Sid

Diet pep should be out the door at 9:30 pm Thursday

Im telling you for free!

Pierre

I’m surprised Danny s is not policing Le Grove due to the “.Same old shit regurgitated”..

Leno / Martinez…check.
Kallstrom broken back …check
Wenger/Ozil…check
Arteta incompetence…check

Maybe it only irritates him when someone posts a different point of view to his …

Vintage Gun

“is it just me or does Ryan look a bit small in the goal? Ospina felt the same but those 2-3 inches make all the difference”

Yeah i noticed that he’s a bit Ospina-ish when it comes to height.

But hey, at least Mat Ryan owns a neck. That’s something he has over Ospina.

Bob N16

Sid, game finishes at around 9.50, would have thought it’s quite unlikely that he’d leave before the end of the game.

shaun

personally I think most fans would want to see

Cedric, holding Gabriel, tierny
partey xhaka
Saka ,ESR, Pepe
Auba

Laca coming back from a hamstring would be dodgy putting him back for the full ninety and I rfeally think Pepe warrants his place over martinelli on the left and it’s a toss up between Xhaka and elneny or for those that fancy ODE in there next to Partey that for me would be an experiment for another time

Sid

Thank you Robert, for the correction

Valentin

China1,

Having a third keeper just in case if one gets injured before kickoff make sense. But using 3 keepers in the same game is such a freakish occurrence that it is not even worth planning for it.

shaun

Pierre Leno / Martinez…check.: because it was a season defining mistake , massive issue considering leno still has two years left on his contract he should have been told to sit down and wait your turn Martinez is number1 and that won’t change unless his form changes for the worst .We hear now that Leno wants to leave and this should have been spotted or picked up whilst making the first moronic decision which is why Arteta incompetence…check: has an will always be a topic of conversation. Kallstrom broken back …check no idea Wenger/Ozil…check: have you been talking about Ozil… Read more »

Valentin

Raulihuss, I am not the only one who alluded that the new goalkeeping coach setup is not fit for purpose. Salvatore Bibbo who despite the name was born in England was goalkeeper coach at Arsenal until he left in August 2020. Bibbo was one who championed EMI over Leno. Andy Woodman was also a goalkeeper coach at Arsenal until he was told that his contract was not going to be renewed by Arsenal in summer 2021. So he left a couple of months ago to take over as manager of Bromley FC. He had made clear that Arsenal should have… Read more »

Kaz

Loooool. Leno wants to quit this summer.

Good thing we sold Emi Martinez.

Joke of a club.

Leftside

Imagine selling Emi and now Leno apparently wants to leave, this club can’t stop with the insanity.

Valentin

Anybody read the transcript of Der Spiegel report on the falling out of the ESL?

Basically any club would leave the ESL consortium is subject to penalty clause that is then shared among the remaining clubs. The amount €150 millions each. Only three clubs have not announced leaving the consortium.
Now Barcelona, Real Madrid and Juventus wants the other 9 clubs to cough up the money, who obviously see that as pure extortion.

I can see a very messy legal divorce in sight.

Rich

I remember a Reading v Chelsea game where Cech went off injured with a bad head injury, which was-the reason he wore that helmet for the remainder of this career

Then Cudicini went off with a neck brace, and John Terry ended up playing in goal

Pierre

Shaun
Take it up with Danny S as he seems to have a problem with “regurgitated shit”, but only “regurgitated shit that he doesn’t agree with.

Of course fans talk about the same topics , only an idiot would call it regurgitated shit.

Elmo

Valentin

I suspected that was the case, and that was why the three clubs who never pulled out of the ESL are those in most current financial distress.

Perez has never changed his line that it’s going ahead, and that’s because he sees an outside chance at solving Real’s financial problems by suing those who pulled out.

shaun

sorry Pierre , I misunderstood

China1

Rich sure it does happen. I can remember a couple of times

But I’ve been watching football for 25 years. And I can only remember a handful of occasions.

That tells you everything you need to know about the odds. It can and does happen but the probability of a third keeper being needed are astronomically smaller than the odds of an outfield player being picked

China1

As well some of the players who haven’t even made the bench have some sort of potential value at least. Like Nelson and saliba.

The probability of Nelson or saliba having been useful off the bench is surely substantially higher than a 3rd choice keeper

Dissenter

Perez can go ahead and sue for all I care

The clubs that pulled out will just point to the shambolic interview he did in Spanish media as the reason why they ESL started to come apart.

Perez ain’t suing nobody

Gonsterous

Really need mislintat back at the club. Though he doesn’t have the best track record when it comes to buying older players.

He seems to specialize only on a certain age bracket (17-22), and will need someone who can get scout players (23-25) who can still grow and develop.

Raul was supposed to be that person but they never worked it out. Can edu be that guy? Though 50m for partey quite points to the contrary.

Dissenter

*shambolic interview he did on Spanish media.

China1

Am I wrong to have faith that partey will come good next season?

I still believe!!!

R.S.P.C.Arsenal

As Cher sang….
If we could turn back time….and kept EM and sold the dodgy sour… He’s always been iffy.
I would start the Aussie and hopefully it will be a G’day.

R.S.P.C.Arsenal

China just shows money can’t buy you class all the time… A brilliant deal by AM… Levy class.

Saladin

Don’t mind Leno leaving at all. Dude is a good shot stopper but has a shaky box presence and cannot pass the ball for shit. Only problem is, we should have never sold Emi when he was clearly the better overall goalie and Arsenal through and through.

Gonsterous

China

Yah I’m hopeful about partey too, though he needs to practice his shooting, it’s so terrible.
Just checked his stats at madrid and in over 130 la liga games, he managed 12 goals. Don’t know whether that’s good or not but it’s better than xhakas

R.S.P.C.Arsenal

Also if Leno talking bout leaving hours before a massive game… Drop n sell straight away…

Last of the kraut clique destroying the club from within

DigitalBob

Its critical we get a proper midfield partner for Partey next season, without that I’d expect more of the same.

David Smith

History repeating itself, with managers losing their keepers due to their loyalty to shit GK coaches, wenger / Peyton/ Szcesney was the same if some reports are true

Victorious

Bissouma incoming for 30M…

China1

I don’t mind parteys poor shooting if the rest of his game will be there (and his stamina)

If you go back 10 years every average and poor team give or take had a good keeper

Schwarzer
Friedel
Van der sar
Cudiccini
Given
Howard
Reina
Lehmann
Cech

Pretty much all played in the PL at the same time. All of them would be a huge upgrade on what we have except probably Howard

Why did it suddenly become hard to find good keepers???

Valentin

China1,

Howard at Everton was good. He just could not handle being a keeper at ManUtd.
The one I would disagree with is Shay Given. He is exactly another Leno. Great shot stopper, terrible goalkeeper rooted to his line, who used to Palm shots instead of catching.

R.S.P.C.Arsenal

Vic
To much…

Would rather Glenn

R.S.P.C.Arsenal

how much would we get if we sold Thomas in the summer ? 30m

Davey

Partey is a top player who needs quality round him especially with him in Midfield, last week at Vill he was the Midfield (on his own) as so often when Caballos plays he occupies the left hand side, another MA over complicated masterstroke.

Almuniasaynomore

Valentin
Given= leno????
Expect an approach from the Arsenal goalkeeping scout asap!

Jaroda

Elneny’s shooting boots > Partey’s shooting boots

Rich

You’d have to think that if Leno is pushing for a move, then his agent is telling him he has options

It’s not like Arsenal are bad payers, and you don’t push for a move from a club that pays well during a pandemic, unless you’re convinced you can get the move you want

I think we’ll go for Szczesny if Leno goes

Kroenkephobe

Hi Val I’m with Almunia on this. Given was a seriously good all round keeper in his day. The kind that regularly added points to the totals of teams he played for. He played behind many deficient back 4s and performed heroics on many occasions. A little on the small side (I always prefer physically big keepers) but he made up for it with goalkeeping nous and athleticism. As much as I wanted Leno to succeed (didn’t we all!) he’s become accident prone. Our back four must be as nervous as we are when Bernie is standing still in the… Read more »

Victorious

Partey would’ve be something very special if he could strike a ball properly, I mean I’ve seen defenders with far more decent shooting technique

He has the shooting technique of a rapist.

Rich

The argument for Ryan starting on Thursday is decent

But a keeper who’s been dropped for Brighton’s third choice keeper for a European semi final

Doesn’t exactly tell other clubs that we’ve got any real resolve to keep him, that the relationship is in good shape, or that we have much faith in him

And that leaves us in a weak negotiating position, in what will likely be a weak market

Chris

Rich

At this point If true Leno has already told the club he wants to leave, so our bargaining position wouldn’t be great to begin with.

Even so, he shouldn’t leave for a penny less than £25 million.

As far as Thursday goes, Leno’s valuation goes out the window. We have to pick the right keeper who is going to help us win the game above all else, whichever one that may be.

Chris

I always wanted to keep Martinez over Leno, I think most did and were then disappointed Emi left. However I feel most were prepared to get behind Leno as our number 1 keeper as he is still a very good one. This was before the leaks of him having wanted to have left since last summer. If true, I lose a lot of respect for him as this all could have been worked out last summer resulting with Leno getting his wish of moving on and Martinez staying with us. Now Leno appears low on confidence and is error prone,… Read more »

Jonnygunner

Victorious
Even by the standard some of the remarks made on this blog-that’s a shocker. Have a word with yourself.

Valentin

I also used to highly rate Shay Given until I was told by a scout that the reason why Given never had his chance at a top club was that he was viewed as too short and had a tendency to show off as a shot stopper but not being effective as a catcher especially under high balls. Once I was told, I realised that he was right. At Newcastle, it looked like he was performing weekly miracles but the reality was that he conceded a lot of corners from which the opposition scored without him ever looking at fault.… Read more »

Valentin

Praying for Mourinho to pull a Miracle on Rome and have them beat ManUtd 5-1 and going through on away goal rule.

Sid

Partey is Not bad, but he wont be moving us to the next level as it has been suggested, what he does Bissouma/declan/Gueye/kalvin phillips can do some probably better.

Victorious

How is Mourinho still getting jobs ffs? The Roma execs must be unbelievably very thick! 100% they’ll be anywhere near top of the sierra A now for years! They’re like the arsenal of Italy football,epic bantz

Sid

If Diet Pep beats Emery he has a choice of OGS or Mourinho, it gets better loool

Victorious

*nowhere near

Sid

Mourinho will do well in serie A. It suits him.

Rich

Chris What happens if the market for Leno is small, and nobody will give us £25 million? Who’s going to give us £25 million for a keeper we’ve publicly demonstrated we don’t want? Nobody pays top money for something that they know the seller doesn’t want anymore, and there’s no demand to push the price up further Are we really going into next season with Ryan as our No1, and an unhappy Leno earning a reported £100k p/w as our No2, and his contract going into the last 12 months the following summer? Keeping an unhappy player, rarely works out… Read more »

Tom

“Now Leno appears low on confidence and is error prone, morale is probably poor and the rumoured coaching differences don’t help. It’s an unfortunate situation that with perhaps more communication could have been resolved best for everyone. “ Chris, I’m sure “communication” , or lack thereof couldn’t have been the issue because Arteta is a generational communicator. No one communicates as loudly as him from the touch lines during games. If Leno ends up leaving this summer, selling Emi the last summer should rank at the very top of managerial fuck ups that go well beyond any “expected rookie mistakes… Read more »

Sid

To get to top 4, quality between the lines creators are more important than DM, We started slipping out of top 4 once our technical quality went down. Before that we achieved top 4 with poor DMs.

Tom

Rich
Is there any discernible difference between a happy Leno and an unhappy one?
I couldn’t tell.

If it wasn’t for the interview he gave where he said his mom was his hero I wouldn’t have known he could speak at all.

Rich

Tom

Leno is a tall and good looking chap, who earns good money

He doesn’t need to work on his personality, or even crack a smile

At least not until his looks fade, or his money runs out….

Tom

“At least not until his looks fade, or his money runs out….“

Ze Germans are usually financially well disciplined so his money is safe.
He probably drives a volskvagen or an opel with the original factory paint while getting snarky remarks from Auba.

Sid

‘Two-thirds(66%) of German women said they were satisfied with the intensity of their climax, compared to 55 percent of British women’

Leno will be fine

Batistuta

Mourinho should do well here in Italy. The owners would have to back him though, have to say perfect opportunity too as Juves dominance has finally been broken and all the other teams around are starting to get stronger too

Rich

Sid

Maybe 45% of women in the U.K. were more than “just satisfied” with the intensity of their climax

While 66% of German women were “just satisfied” with the intensity of their climax

But 34% of German women were “thoroughly disappointed” with the intensity of their climax

You’d also have to take into account how many women answered that survey while their partners were watching, which is bound to distort the numbers somewhat…..

Captain Tierney

Just one thing important to note is that no credible journalist has reported Leno wanting out.

So before we start dishing out abuse at Leno, lets not forget this is just a rumour.

I personally dont like the idea of our fans hurling abuse towards Leno days before a semi final.

Captain Tierney

Dean Jones of Eurosport

‘Mikel Arteta’s job at Arsenal remains safe and there is expectation that he will now be given extra funds for the next transfer window. ‘

Valentin

CT, There has been credible journalists that have reported that Leno wants out. However that does not excuse the morons who abuse him on social media. Last weekend the FA, premiership boycott of the social media companies (Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, …) Was not just about racist abuse, it was about abuse in general. Like Ugo Monye said that as a person with a blue tick, he is more protected than others. Twitter does not want a controversy involving a celebrity and so is pretty quick banning people who abused them. However it is so quick to defend average Joe or… Read more »

Dissenter

Of course Arteta’s job is safe at Arsenal

The dimwits waited 6 weeks too late to sack Emery, then pulled their thumbs for another 6 weeks before hiring a rookie

Arteta will be gone in 6 months if we don’t win the EL and have that expected poor start to next season.
The fanbase have caught on .

Kroenkephobe

Sid (and Rich)

My ‘massive gimp’ personality is German. His name is Helmut Berger. The ladies love it, especially the Geordies.

Chris

Rich Leno is a German international, is a good age and contrary to some beliefs is still a very good goalkeeper, in my opinion It looks like it isn’t going to work out for him here overall, but that shouldn’t diminish his overall value. Think of it the other way, we have already accepted some might say a low ball offer for Emi, the club would be slaughtered again if we sold Leno for anything less than we paid for him. But this is for the people in charge at Arsenal to sort out, which I do admit, hasn’t made… Read more »

FACupofTea

I feel gutted remembering this dud promised Willian he’d win the UCL in two years😭