Are you still riding high off the fumes of that win at the weekend? I am. It’s such a great feeling.
You know what is also great? ‘Too small for football’ ‘game 1 failure’… Ben White, is in line for an England call-up. Inject that right into my veins. There’s a video clip of Arteta talking about the benefits of having a defender like VVD being able to pick out a pass from deep. It was almost a year ago today.
Exactly 1 year apart. Arteta knew exactly what he wanted and he implemented it. Fairs. pic.twitter.com/n7nrPWbqZX
— Afc things (@Gunner2Jasper) September 27, 2021
I honestly can’t believe we spent a summer questioning the need to sign a defender that could do all the things David Luiz could, but at speed, without the doughnut behaviours that were part of his baggage. Ben White is going to be a very good signing for us this season and I suspect no one will be questioning whether he was £15m too expensive for us by the end of the season.
You know how you know things are going right? The people licking their wounds for their premature write-off of all the players we signed this summer are talking about… William Saliba. Quite something, wouldn’t you say? Donald Trump was the master of deflections like that, but I won’t have it here, I see you. Those people that said all our summer signings were terrible must face the consequences of their actions.
Arteta has a long way to go towards vindication, but the players we’ve signed don’t. They’re sharp buys.
The best thing about the resurgence of a whopping three games is that Gabriel has come back a total machine. There’s a lot of complaining about some of the terrible moves that we did with super-agents last year, but no one gives credit to the snip of a deal we landed with our Brazilian monster. He’s found his footing in year two and it’s been a pleasure. Could he be the Sol Campbell of the revolution? Maybe. He’s imposing, aggressive, his passing has moved on leaps, and he gives everyone the feeling of security. I have been so impressed with him.
Gunnerblog made an interesting point about the weekend. Players we didn’t see on the bench.
- Chambers
- Mari
- Elneny
- Kolasinac
- Balogun
- Nketiah
Those are some statement bench moves that for me, signify that whatever went on during those magical 15 days, really did mean something to how Arteta is approaching this season.
In fact, it’s why I don’t concern myself about William Saliba. The starting 11 we rolled out at the weekend was the youngest to have ever won a NLD. I don’t think there’s a world in which the Frenchman isn’t brought back into the mixer next season, at a better time, when we have European football.
Also, worth noting… I’ve heard that Eddie is on fire. He’s got that ‘I NEED A NEW DEAL’ vibe about him. A lot of people write off players too fast, myself included. We forget that sometimes, in life, shit just clicks. Think there might be some concerns that if he’s left to leave, we might have an Emi moment. Remember, Emi was nowhere until he turned 27.
Saka and Ramsdale HAVE been called up to England.
Ramsdale revealed his favourite dish is… Jamaican.
It’s official.
‘Arsenal’s reputation for blooding young players is upheld by the CIES data, with the Gunners boasting the lowest average-age team (25.01 years) in the Premier League.’
If we’re losing Granit Xhaka and replacing him with Lokonga, that’d take our starting 11 average down to 23 I think (is that bad maths?). That’s a statement about the future, right?
This is a number to be proud of if we can continue to play well moving forward. The new strategy is now public, the media is starting to clock that we’re pretty decent, now we just have to keep winning hearts and minds with good performances.
This weekend, we play Brighton, a team that has really made some strides on last year. They aren’t quite the same without Bissouma, but obviously, he’s looking good to get back into their starting 11 for the game.
We absolutely tanked them at The Emirates when fans were allowed back into the ground, but this time, at home, it will likely be a little tougher. Both clubs play the same style of football, so we’ll have to be at our best. I’m pretty sure Graham Potter will have a decent plan for Martin Odegaard, who he cited as controlling things last time around.
I’ll have more on that tomorrow, see you in the comments, where SALIBA VIOLATIONS will be cited and punished.
LISTEN OR WATCH THE BELOW
1st
And
My
Tr4phy
Youngsters doing well considering many reckon Arteta doesn’t rate them.
Plenty of stern tests still to come for this lot.
United and Liverpool for a start, and pretty much any other team in the top half.
Even the bottom half teams can turn us over if we’re not at the races.
Consistency will be key, as well as hunger.
Where is everybody today?
Maybe I’m still on an NLD high but I have a good feeling about the Brighton game. The only risk I see is Arteta galaxy braining the whole thing. They’re a solid team but we have the better players. If our front 4 get the license to attack we should be able to take 3 points home.
Top 10
This poster called Almuniasaynomore has disappeared into thin air with his scripts that amuse his likes.
Expect him to be back with his scripts when things go wrong
zach, so what did you prove posting this long ass comment? This is AFC’s original comment: “AFC: “That is why anyone Arteta signs is instantly rubbished. They haven’t got the ability to be reasonable because they are obsessive and completely closed-minded. ” Where is the instant rubbish of Partey, Gabriel, Lokonga, Tavares just because they were signed by Arteta? In your copy/paste Bacary even included Lokonga in his perfect transfer window. The only comment to include them called the transfer window disappointing when you consider what we could have been gotten with that figure. A comment I absolutely agree with… Read more »
groovedaddy
United is not a problem(except CR is given a chance) I will be more worried about Liverpool if we are not brave against them.
United have not won against Arsenal ever since Arteta’s appointment.
Also apart from Liverpool and mancity matches the stats against the top 6 have improved.
Pedro,
Genuinely didn’t realise the sketches bothered you,I just presumed you’d delete them if you didn’t want them on the blog! I’ll go quietly,back to annoying the 2 other Arsenal fans at work with them. Quick goodbye to a few posters that I really enjoyed chatting with,Kroenkephobe,Tony, Wenger Eagle, China, Rich,Charlie,Tom,Rap,Gons,Guns,Mid, bloody hell, too many to mention. Sorry to the lads I forgot. I hope that the club returns to where it belongs asap and we all get to slag our rivals off for a change!
Brighton should be a good test.
They outplay many teams at home in the EPL.
Stevie G’s Rangers go down again in the Europa League.
Sparta Prague deserved winners. More dangerous attacking team than Rangers.
I loved how at the moment were doing well and the Saliba Guendouzi issue come out of its box. The L’Equipe put Saliba in the donkey of the week team lol. Also it’s been reported the spiked arrogant twit Guendouzi has now began getting on the tits of his fellow Marseille players. No disrespect but Arteta got shot of Guendouzi because he was trouble and Saliba because he’s not ready. Gabs and White are 3-4 years older and are at the right age to be first team players. I’d rather Dan Ballard be given a chance next season he’s looked… Read more »
“Youngsters doing well considering many reckon Arteta doesn’t rate them.”
Lolz, That’s Val from one of his reliable sources
Anyone know who this person is.
William Alain Andre Gabriel
Leicester having another good game.
James,
‘L’Equipe put Saliba in the donkey of the week’
What happened?
Moving forward.
Q. What tactical changes will you make to get a win against Brighton if you were in Arteta position?
I have left out the final name. “Saliba”.
Hope there aren’t any bedwetters on the Leicester blogs giving poor old Brendan some unfair criticism tonight.
Jamie, think Tom is on there giving their posters a pep talk.
“What tactical changes will you make to get a win against Brighton if you were in Arteta position?”
None. Sambi in for Xhaka and that’s it. It would be sad to instantly return to horseshoe football against a team we should really be beating comfortably.
Both Saliba and Guen are in the starting lineup today. Those who has overblown story related to Guen, must be disappointed.
Great post, Pedro, but not so hot on the ‘rithmetic. Taking the average age of the team down from 25 to 23 puts Xhaka in the mid-forties – which might account for his lack of pace. On the other hand, I’m no better at maths than you are – and maybe worse.
Of course, Eddie’s agent is angling for a better wage packet. And he’ll get it, letting him go would be crazy. I’m really excited about seeing him let loose in the current set-up. Hat tricks galore.
Peds, I thought Diss was Leicester fan numero uno here?
Jamie: “None. Sambi in for Xhaka and that’s it.”
Pretty much it. Keep this team as they proved they can play some fantastic football regardless of spuds being shit or not. We’re playing 1 game a week, it’s pretty dumb to rotate when there is no need. Fringe players will play in the cup games, as subs and when someone is injured or suspended.
To be honest I was a fan of Guendouzi. But it can be a coincidence that there is trouble everywhere he goes. And he isn’t at that level of a player that makes an impact to tolerate it. I didn’t like the fee we sold him for but selling him seems the right decision in the end. The only and final thing I will say about Saliba is, I hope he gets a fair chance if he keeps playing to the level he has been playing at this season. I hope Arteta overlooks whatever beef he has with him because… Read more »
We have on one side , the Arteta obsessives who cannot bear hearing anything negative said about their obsession.. Every decision, and i mean EVERY decision is applauded by the Arteta obsessives and it is slightly embarrassing at the lengths they go to .justify Arteta’s poor decision making of the past 14 months or so. On the other side we have the mikel out brigade who went in strong on Arteta after a poor start and probably went over the top and didn’t take into consideration the covid outbreak, poor refereeing decisions and the fact we played the best 2… Read more »
Almunia
Loved your sketches, absolutely hilarious, and always looked forward to reading your posts
We don’t agree regarding the direction of travel of Arsenal, and where our problems were, but you’re always fair, balanced, well mannered, reasonable, hilarious, and an absolute gent
Always enjoyed our interactions
You’re one of the posters who I always felt was universally liked, I’d be disappointed to see you go, hopefully you’ll reconsider after a bit of time
Good post Pierre
Almuniasaynomore
Writer’s block? It happens.
If not, let’s have one poking fun at Spurs or Man U for a change. Lots of funny stuff going on there. Levy pining for pocchettini, and Ole is always good for a larf,
Pedro: “Raptora, I do admire the pivot, but you have been pretty awful about Arsenal for the past 4 months. Surprised you are out here saying that people shitting on the project and the players we signed isn’t a thing.” People have shitted on the project because the project has been failing horribly and it has so far lead us to an 8th and 8th. Excuse us for having a little bit more ambition than that as you know, Arteta shouldn’t get a clean slate 22 months in his reign just because you or he feels that way. People have… Read more »
Pedro
‘Those people that said all our summer signings were terrible must face the consequences of their actions.’
Let’s not get carried away we are 6 games in won 3 lost 3. I hope fir the best. However let’s state facts without the shit around it. Arteta finished 8th twice that’s shit. Let’s judge the team and manager in May 2022.
Keep the positivity but I feel you are going overboard a bit. Two 8th place finishes. Had we finished top 4 I could understand.
Up the gunners
What shit to not be in Europe at a time when Real is getting throttled by FC Sherriff…wtf kind of club is that anyway…and Barca is looking legitimately dire. We need back in before they regain their composure. We need a run, we need someone to replace Xhaka that brings as much as Partey did, and we need OGS to stay put. That would be spectacular stars-line-up stuff.
Almunia It was huge fun while it lasted. Some of those trips back to the Neill and GG eras in particular were golden. No over estimation to say they partly made my summer and helped with the fag end of covid. I enjoyed my time on here too – even the odd fracas with nouveau Rich which re honed my skill at shooting fish in a barrel. Economics is NOT an exact science you numpty! The good number of us on here who sought the unalloyed truth also did a much better job of injecting humour than the other side.… Read more »
Jdawg, sorry mate, but if you were setting off ARTETA OUT EVERYBODY MUST BE SOLD fireworks on the internet, then you will pay your dues today.
I cannot have calls for calmness after what I saw.
Raptora, you had no vision that the youngest team in the league ‘might’ be decent.
You all waved the white flag after 3 games.
You wrote off everyone.
Now you must pay up. Put some cash in the pot. Then we can move on.
Almunia, your sketches didn’t bother me at all.
… and you will not retire.
Pay your dues. Write some sketches about Spurs. And we can all move on.
Oooh. PS. One more thing – can anyone recommend any other Arsenal sites? My only criterion is that it be a little more pluralist than this one has become.
Pedro that’s fair enough. If I’m honest I’ve never been a fan of Arteta. Purely on the fact that he’s a novice and was doing novice things. In any other industry he would never lead a company from having no experience. Being at the stadium this season I am however open for him to win my heart. That and it may all get caught on prime lol. I reserve judgement still and stand by I don’t agree he is right for Arsenal. That’s on our owners and Vinai not Arteta. I would love nothing more than to be wrong of… Read more »
Pedro
Will you bin posters saying negative things about Saliba?
Is the ban specific to those that wish we kept him around?
Pierre’
You think your executive seat-on-the-fence will shield you from attacks when you rightly criticize Arteta?
Dream on.
the moment you critique Arteta, some will dredge up your Ozil-obsessions amongst others.
Pedro: “You all waved the white flag after 3 games.You wrote off everyone.” So did you: “Mikel Arteta and Arsenal fans entered a new phase in the relationship which usually spells the end. Apathy. Arsenal put on such a bad performance, it was hard to feel anything for the day. You could have sympathy for the situation if you didn’t have the wider context of what’s been going on at Arsenal.” “Arsenal shouldn’t be making errors like this. Our games shouldn’t be decided this way. But it’s now a pattern. How can you feel sorry for a coach that is… Read more »
Rap, like I said king of the flip floppers. You could say ‘ not an opinion you could trust…
🤣🤣
After watching close to the whole first half (the game is currently stopped by fire crackers by the Turks!), here is my observation on Guen and Saliba.
Guen has this unique running style with the ball. Ir is like a Leopard. He has good ball control. But the overall Marseille team play is quite average.
Saliba is a defensive defender. He is strong in one on one situation. He only makes safe passing play. His defensive positioning is sound.
“Peds, I thought Diss was Leicester fan numero uno here?“
No Jamie, fuck that it’s definitely me. Everyone knows saying Leicester outperformed their talent level makes you their number one fan anywhere.
I won’t be fucking usurped by anyone.
This is of course following the same logic that made Pedro say no more Saliba talk or else, quickly followed with wait, what, someone said negative things about Saliba?
Well, do go on then!
Guendouzi still runs around like a headless chicken… He needs specificity.
First time I’m watching Saliba. He’s not been really troubled but seems kinda slow across the pitch for me.
Stadium ban loading for Marseille… The Turkish fans are nuts
Nelson, But his stats on fbref say that he is in the 90 percetile on Progressive Passes and 93 percentile on Progressive Carries. Surely the fancy words must proof something. I agree with you ofc. He is a highly dependable CB that usually passes sideways but when I’ve watched him, he does try the cutting pass towards a free player in the midfield and he completes those passes with ease. He can do it all, it’s what I like about him, but of course he can do much better in everything. His potential is really high but what you get… Read more »
Kroenke,
Gunnerstown is great.
Arseblog obviously.
Online Gooner has a big forum.
All very good.
Tom absolutely has a half and LCFC half n half scarf and a Brendan poster on his wall.
“And then there is myself and a few others who hold the middle ground and can quite happily give criticism to Arteta when warranted without wanting to have him hung drawn and quartered, yet we can also recognise the positives happening within the club and will give credit where it’s due…” Yeah Pierre, that’s pretty much where i stand. I love Arsenal and want us to be successful regardless of who the manager is. I want a united fanbase like the good old days. Us against the world. But after two 8th placed finishes i fully get and expect criticism… Read more »
Nelson, I actually think the concern about his defending is it is a bit passive.
Almunia, don’t go…… can you imagine a world where everyone agrees?it would be a very dull one, groove is full of colourful characters,it transcends football even.yours scripts were fun, as a writer myself, I really appreciate your efforts and I know am not alone in that.
I will just implore everyone of us to be mindful of what we say to one another and not to be disrespectful.
We can argue intelligently without being belligerent.
Oh and thanks for the sketches Alumina.
Genuinely cheered me up over the summer.
Nelson….how was Saliba performance, you said you were going to watch the game?
Raptora, I wrote that for sure. I also wrote about the issues that he was dealing with. But back on that article. What have we seen since? Better PR, he’s communicating like a leader Forgiveness in the system, AMN is back, he’s getting minutes Clarity in the system, no more Kola for a start ‘The best 15 days I have had’ (this means something changed) It hasn’t been 1 game since then. It’s been 3 + the Carling Cup. We’ve not made this many attempts on goal since 2017 over 3 games. I think it’s about time we saw a… Read more »
Raptors
Yes. He did carries the ball to the midfield line. He then makes a safe pass to the right back or to an attacker coming back to meet him. You don’t see those over the top pass for the winger to chase or cross field pass to open up a defense.
Mulerise
See my posts.
Shocking miss Marseille.
Saliba’s header just hit the crossbar.
Ye. So close…
Guen more disciplined in the 2nd half… Looks much better
Saliba certainly lacks speed compared to our current two centre backs
He is certainly slower than White but so is VvD.
Pedro, ha ha, didn’t even remember they were playing today, there go my Leicester club level membership points
Guen wins a PK!!!
Do you count the position of the ball or the player?
So people who are still critical of Arteta are being told to “pay their dues”? After two 8th place finishes, tons of bad decisions, millions wasted on retirement contracts and absolutely diabolical football… We play one half of brilliant football and everyone who wanted Arteta gone is a complete moron and needs to prostrate themselves before the believers? Feels really fresh.
Dive
The level of bedwetting and mass hysteria after our first 3 games was so far detached from reality, and completely OTT
We’ll do ok this season, providing we stay away from injuries to key players
Our first choice 11 is decent, we’ve quietly assembled an exciting young squad
We’ve also looked into the character of our signings, if we want to create an elite performance culture, then we need elite behaviour
There’s 4 better squads, and 3 better and more mature teams, but no reason why we can’t finish as the best of the rest
VAR no penalty.
Wow the ref has balls changing his decision. This pen does not get overturned in England. No chance.
That being said, it was Guen winning it more than the contact being heavy enough to result in his fall. Correct decision is no pen, just no way that it gets overturned in England as there was a contact although not a heavy one.
Pretty sure that Saliba will start scoring quite a few goals later on in his career. He is outjumping his opponents by a margin.
Saliba can fight. Ha!
The way that Saliba deals with the danger, he’s dominating by pure physicality. No questions asked. You will lose the duel.
Almuniasaymore
Mate, don’t give up on your sketches!!! They’re absolutely brill!!! Always had a good chuckle and loved your writing style!
Remember:
The pen is mightier than the sword!!!
You can tell rap get more joy watching saliba than arsenal for sure..
So if someone has a problem w how saliba was handled they are punished? What a strange impulse. Who cares?
Top post pierre. It’s like the wenger days again but its mostly only on legrove im sure
We need to tie Saka + Saliba down to 5yr deals this summer
That needs to be our priority
Saka will be down to his last 2years, he’s already brilliant, but nowhere near reaching his potential
Educating him, only for another team to see the benefit of that education, would be beyond frustrating
Athletic, ball playing centre backs, go for £50 million +
Bringing Saliba into the squad as an internal option, would allow us to focus on strengthening other areas
We’re gradually changing the athletic profile, and technical quality of our defenders
White, Gabriel, Saliba, Tomiyasu, Tierney, Tavares
I watched tonight’s game between Marseille v Galatasary. Guendouzi confirmed once again what I have always believed about him. He runs around the pitch like a headless chicken caught in the headlights. He falls to the ground every time that he comes into contact with another player AND his attitude and behaviour stinks. Arteta’s decision to offload him was 100% correct. The player is toxic. I reserve still judgment about Saliba. He has a massive presence on the pitch and I think that he is a decent footballer. However, whilst he produced one header against the post in attack from… Read more »
Rich
Arsenal have a very exciting bunch of youngsters. However, I still think that we will have an
up and down season.
There will be games where we will disappoint. It is unrealistic to expect them to produce a performance in every game that they play.
One thing I find out from Saliba: he is very calm. Even while he was pushing and grasping the opponent, his eye looked cold. I was worry that he’ll head butt the opponent. I prefer him over Mari and Chambers.
raul,
You might like to read my posts during and after we tore the spuds a new one. Cheers.
ES We’ll have plenty of ups and downs But we’re in with a good chance of 5th, and with an improving young squad, that’ll be a good platform to build from next season, providing we keep this squad together, and add well Our issue is that the drop off in experience and quality in some areas of our squad is too big Gabriel – Mari Partey- Elneny Tomiyasu – Cedric We’ll struggle to break down well organised teams without Odegaard+ Smith Rowe Xhaka will be a bigger miss than many seem to think, if anything happens to Partey, I’d worry… Read more »
Stroller “. He runs around the pitch like a headless chicken caught in the headlights. He falls to the ground every time Arteta’s decision to offload him was 100% correct. The player is toxic.” Strange that , because i watched the game and the only time he fell to the floor in the whole game was for the penalty shout , so I’m not sure where you get “. He falls to the ground every time” .. As for his passing , it was crisp and to a team mate, and i would say his pass percentage was over 90%… Read more »
Yes definitely, Pierre is the de facto leader of the centrists on this blog
Ever since Ozil left, Pierre has been in the center.
Rich
There is a huge gulf in class between Man City, Chelsea and Liverpool and the rest of league.
Arsenal have as you say a decent chance of finishing 5th-6th, but that also applies to half a
dozen other clubs as well.
Peter been saying for ages a season of just domestic .. build as the housemartins would say
Pierre
You are wrong he fell to the ground on at least two other occasions when coming into contact with opposing players
For me nothing has changed in his game.
Players like Guendouzi are two a penny and as I said his personality stinks.
Personally would start amn ahead of loko on Saturday
“So people who are still critical of Arteta are being told to “pay their dues”? After two 8th place finishes, tons of bad decisions, millions wasted on retirement contracts and absolutely diabolical football… We play one half of brilliant football and everyone who wanted Arteta gone is a complete moron and needs to prostrate themselves before the believers? Feels really fresh.” Spot on. And the half of brilliance was a NLD, where “form goes out the window.” I want to believe the change, the hype, I love the kids we’ve got, but it is super foolish to be declaring victory… Read more »
Stroller
“You are wrong he fell to the ground on at least two other occasions when coming into contact with opposing players”
So he doesn’t “fall to the ground EVERY TIME”..just a couple of times ( if true ) of which one was a penalty shout that most players would have gone down in the box…
That’s cleared that up then…
Georgia boy: If you’re on here moanin and bitchin about Saliba after Sunday, then you’re sentiments are best shared somewhere else, maybe on some French footy website
ES I agree the leagues competitive, there’s not much difference in quality between a cluster of clubs outside last seasons top 4 Our first team is in a much better place than it’s been for a while, we’ve got a better balance than we did last October Like all teams outside of City, Chelsea, Liverpool, United, we don’t have the depth to deal with injuries to key players in some areas But Arteta can’t get away with anything less than 6th this season, he has to secure Europa league, he might get away with 7th or 8th, but he’d need… Read more »
Maybe Guendouzi just gets frustrated at his team mates for squandering possession so regularly…this is understandable when one takes into consideration that Guendouzi rarely gives the ball away…
Anyway , enough Guendouzi talk, i doubt very much he will play for the Arsenal again and I also doubt that we will get the true value when we sell him.
What is it with this Saliba fan club thing? I don’t get it — is it some form of fu**ed up football sadomasochistic thing?
Why do you do it to yourselves?
Really happy we’ve put the in-fighting to bed. Happy that we are all going to be patient and give Arteta time enough to proceed, time enough to judge fairly whether he is the right man for the job or not. None of us knows the answer to that yet.
That does not mean he must be infallible. Nobody is. Which leaves us free to make suggestions, criticise, point out faults and mistakes.