Well howdy doody.
Don’t know why I opened like that, it just felt right.
You know what else feels right… for the agenda?
Mikel Arteta – Manager of the Month.
You can’t knock it. He started with three losses on the bounce, which wasn’t a great record, then he responded with 3 wins on the bounce. The first team to do that since WIMBLEDON. Arteta is also the first Arsenal manager to win the award in 6 years. How bloody crazy is that? Don Unai didn’t manage it during that magical run of unbeaten?
10 points from 12 was a good run regardless.
The big question we all have now is this: Can he follow up with another 10 points from 12?
The first game back after the break falls kindly for us because it’s on a Monday. That’ll at least give us time to have a training session.
Palace has been fairly decent this season. It’ll be the first time we’ve played Patrick Vieira in the dugout, so there will be a bit of emotion there. Will the away fans sing his name? Maybe after the game depending on the result.
I feel like a lot of Crystal Palace hinges on Zaha and how well you deal with him. Tomiyasu had a baptism of fire against Brighton, which wasn’t his best game. Zaha is a different challenge, but let’s be honest, he did a pretty epic job keeping Son under control. So expectations are pretty high he’ll do the same against the Ivorian menace.
There’s been a lot of focus on Aaron Ramsdale. He arrived at the club under a cloud of … what have we done? Now it’s clear. The most uncertain signing off the summer that made no sense to any of us seems to now look like it’s been the best signing.
We are all Ramsdalians. Or Ramstafarians. Or Ramsdolorians. Whichever subreddit you joined in his honour, the essence of it will be that it’s a fan club. A BIG move from Arsenal there.
The player himself is now pushing to become the England #1. That’ll be tough for him. Jordan Pickford seems to be the favourite these days. He’s obviously a pretty decent keeper, he can make outrageous saves, but I never feel 100% comfortable with him between the sticks. It’ll be interesting to see how Gareth picks his side, because if it’s based on form, well, you’d have to be putting Ramsdale there and giving him the #1 for as long as he’s at Arsenal.
The player spoke to the media and doubled down on the things that are going on at Arsenal.
“When I came in, I got told to be myself,”
“My character is to be loud, be a leader and show passion. I also knew that I might have to shake things up in a positive way and my own way. I think it is well documented that they were missing leaders but I don’t think we’ve all turned into leaders all of a sudden. The team that is playing at the moment is just full of confidence and working well together. We’re all leaders in our own way.”
“The bigger the pressure, the more I thrive,” and so he would appear to be in the right place at Arsenal – a club weighed down by the quest to restore former glories.
“You can sense it as soon as you walk through the doors that the club aren’t happy where they are,” Ramsdale says. “We want European football. It might have to be the Europa League and then the Champions League but we want to get back there. You understand the pressures that brings but it’s an enjoyable challenge.
Yep, I read it. You read it. We all read it.
The target this season is Europa League, pushing on for Champions League the season after. I suspect the coaches will be looking at top 4 as a stretch goal, but really, it’s going to be quite tough this season with so many good sides with a lot more experience.
For me, it really depends on how we do after the break. If we can take 10 points from the next 4 games, then we’re cooking. If we can’t, then it’ll be a struggle this season. The short-term objective is to stay in the pack so we’re within striking distance come January. If we’d done that last season, we’d have made the top 4. This season, we have to piece the two halves of the season together. Because our start was so bad, there’s little room for error in Phase 3 of the season. 10 points from 12 will likely have us actually in the top 4. Anything less makes the tough winter run a little tougher.
It does feel like the footballing objective is the same one we had last season: make the attack click.
We’re good at defending. It’s hard to create against us. We might have removed some of the dumb errors from the system. But the attack still isn’t there. Making it click will take a bit of time, but at least this season, we have the component parts to make it happen. We’ve seen the promised land against Spurs, now we need to make consistency the objective.
After the break, will we see Martin Odegaard partner with Thomas Partey more? Will we see the club experiment more with the attacking line-up? Eddie looks fit, robust, and he’s playing for a new deal with someone, will the club gamble minutes on him? Gabriel Martinelli needs to find his form, he played well behind closed doors, but where is he going to be the next time he’s given a chance? Then we need to hope something clicks for the other attackers. Saka needs to find his stride, Pepe needs to start delivering, and Auba needs to give us more Spurs than Brighton.
The frustration is the team we have now isn’t built for an Auba. It’s built for a DCL, who we’re tracking apparently. Someone mentioned that this Arteta system, as it is right now, looks more like Atletico than City. Not where I thought we’d be taking the football, but hard to argue that a peak Diego Costa in the striking position wouldn’t make us immeasurably better.
Can’t be out here looking towards what we do next summer. We need to make moves with what we have. There’s plenty of talent in the system to have a go this season. Let’s see what happens after the break.
England up later. Podcast getting recorded tomorrow. See you in the comments. x
Cream always rises to the top
Is top four even the prized trophy worth fighting for these days , I wonder.
Agree , Pedro, some winnable games coming up and a chance to make a statement
Johnstone starting, seems strange picking someone in championship when they are playing a level below the top of English game. I suppose on the flip side it’s only Andorra who are probably non league
A supercomputer predicted Arsenal finish 7th on 55 points.
What say you Pedro, disappointing or expected if it happens?
Newcastle relegated in 18th, which would be super funny.
Very nice post Pedro. Arteta getting Manager of the month is very well deserved considering he’s got a new group of young players who have hardly played together. We all now accept Ramsdale was a brilliant signing. David Seaman is also a big fan of his: “He’s a confident lad and a great character in the changing room which helps.. For me he’s better with his feet (than Leno). Against Burnley, the amount of crosses he was coming out for and that’s a real test at Burnley, a test of character of the goalkeeper and the defence, that was a… Read more »
“47 points out of 57 available and a blistering 54 home goals.” Yeah, CG, the home form will be a very important barometer this season. The Emirates was a fortress for all its Wenger years, into Emery. Last season at home 7 defeats, 4 draws, +3 GD. Prior to 2 years ago, it was MAX 2-3 home defeats per season, 25+ GD, and one of the top 2 or 3 home teams in the league.Even if we’re not going to be any more than 5th in the table at very best, we need to see the backbone of dominant home… Read more »
hope it is all good for Saka
Yes, yes! Diego Costa! In the meantime let’s hope steady Eddie is ready, and will do.
Oh, and by the way, spot on post, Pedro.
CG: “x 54 goals scored in Wengers last x19 home games is more Iron Maiden than Beethoven.”
1 goal less than the total of Arteta’s Arsenal home and away in 2020/21. I wanted Wenger out for years, but not for bums like Arteta.
All three ref’s are women!
AFC
“Arteta getting Manager of the month is very well deserved considering he’s got a new group of young players who have hardly played together.”
New group of young players…..I’d almost forgotten, thanks for reminding me…
And , as AFC reminded us, they have hardly played together., which makes it even more remarkable i suppose.
Enjoyed that Peter…
Not sure what different but you more upbeat or am I just in better mood..
Blood the gun next week
Fire the gun against palace
Let the gun have shots against palace
It was disappointing that a Tammy Abrahams moved to Italy even if we couldn’t get Bama and Láca off the books he was a steal imo
Great finish by Saka.
Makes you wonder why foden is played out wide when you see him pinging inch perfect balls to all areas from the centre of the pitch..
Nothing is going to be decided in the next four EPL matches. It will set the team up nicely if enough points are gained in this period but there are three home games in that lot that all could be winnable and this is taking into account that Arteta still doesn’t fully convince. Yes they are that winnable. As for Ramsdale I was one of the first on here that said he could turn out a better bet than Leno and really it was time to drop Leno and give Ramsdale his chance. Well Ramsdale has been solid if not… Read more »
Southgate is a weak formless cunt for playing Saka in this one. No need for him to be doing 90mins. Wanker.
Gormless *
“The team we now have isn’t built for an Auba”
Really? Is that what you think?
Well, according to Arteta it is, because he keeps playing him. Also, if it isn’t built for Aubameyang, it’s apparently also not built for Lacazette or Nketiah or Martinelli or even Balogun.
Aubameyang is a world class striker that is playing in a system geared to non-progressive football. That’s why it’s not built for him.
Once again it’s the fault of the player and not the fault of the manager.
It’s all rather embarrassing.
Simple fact.
The reason Arsenal are not scoring goals has nothing to do with our strikers.
If Aubameyang, Lacazette, Nketiah, Martinelli or Balogun had been playing for Brighton the other evening, Arsenal would have lost. The reason for this is also very simple.
Do I need to spell it out for you?
Watching England these days is a pleasurable experience.
All the players buy into it all.
Very refreshing to see.
Graham, that’s not really a simple fact is it? That’s you guessing.
Tom, I’d wager against the Super Computer.
Pedro
If you say so.
Graham62
It’s age, Auba is past his best.
And it’s hard to teach an old dog new tricks.
Best place for him is on the bench, and come on late and full of energy when the juniors get tired
Ramsdale should be able to displace Pickford without problem if he maintains form. He’s been good for us. Too early to say if he’ll be great but the signs so far look promising. The technical aspects of his game aside, it’s clear that his ability to command his area and do the basics right has a calming effect on the back four. And that’s half the job for a GK.
Pickford is the flappiest GK I’ve seen since Almunia played for us and that guy wasn’t calming anyone down.
” And , as AFC reminded us, they have hardly played together., which makes it even more remarkable i suppose. ”
Yeah, likely the new players still have the mojo of their earlier teams and not yet been Artetized like Martinelli.
Funny why does it sound like caramelized?
Same thing, I guess
Fury wilder 3 what a fantastically entertaining fight
I didn’t even know England played yesterday and still don’t know who against. Shows my priorities when it’s not a major tournament
You spend all day telling us about how data has all the answers but don’t believe the supercomputers prediction Pedro?
Best fight of the decade, Joshua is a fraud tho. January we sure need a tall striker, tall and strong and a lil better with hit foot and head.
Everyone wakes up late on Sundays, guess
We are two signings away from a team that can preform in CL without embarrassing ourself..
Toney from Brendtford and Guimares from Brazil
Good Post Pedro. The decision to offer Auba a new contract was another shocker. He has been a great poacher but he’s redundant in the current system. His way of playing puts too much pressure on the midfield. Number one priority this next window is to sell him at a loss and spend big on another striker.
Hard to justify that Joshua is in the same league as Fury even tho it would’ve been very fun to have an all British unifying fight set in the UK ideally
Joshua has activated his rematch clause today so we’ll have to see if he can pull it out the bag in the rematch. But I’m wary that even if he does maybe there’s a trilogy clause which will drag out any chance of a unification fight for well over a year…
Joshua ain’t likeable.
It’s a shame boxing prep is sooooo slow these days
I heard in the 80s and before they were doing fights every couple of months
Now it takes 8+ months to set up a single fight. Covid aside I can’t see any good reason for it
I think Joshua is very likeable
He’s just not that interesting or entertaining and he’s also obviously not as good as fury
Fury will fight Dillian Whyte next.
China, this bothers me a lil’ bit: https://youtu.be/NYrY3E1URjg?t=191 “Show them where it hurts. Abstain from spending your money in their shops and economies, and invest in black-owned businesses.” He was reading a letter from his friend Reece or something. But just sounds like an easy way to speak his mind by saying it’s was someone else’s letter. Surely his team read it before it handed it to him? Then he posts “If you think I’m racist, go fuck yourself”. And several years ago there was this https://twitter.com/champfasteddie/status/931272972374966272 . “You are a bum, disgrace to the superior black race”. Their excuse… Read more »
I think it’s fair to say that a number of players have regressed or failed to reach their potential despite Arteta being touted as a great coach.. If you look at the outfield players during Arteta’s spell at the club , it is difficult to find more than a couple at best that have flourished under Arteta. This is my honest appraisal of the more experienced players used under Arteta. Bellerin ..5/10 downd to 3/10 Cedric …6/10 down to 4/10 Holding 6/10 still 6/10 Gabriel 7/10 still 7/10 Mari 6/10 down to 5/10 Tierney 8/10 down to 5/10 Partey 7/10… Read more »
I will agree with that Pierre.
AMN, Saliba , Guendouzi, Mavropanos, Martinelli – that list especially is of players that have what it takes to play an important role for us either as starters or first bench option. It hasn’t happened at all and Arteta bought the likes of Mari, Soares and Willian to cover for quality that he already had in the squad.
Even the loanee Ceballos regressed in his time here.
Pierre an obsessive. How ironic.
Raulishuss
I’m smack bang in the middle on Arteta, just telling it how it is ..the players have struggled with Arteta’s football philosophy….(xhaka the exception)
If the new players show progress, as they should do, then we should climb nicely up the table with a good run of home games coming up which will build confidence…
Pierre, I’d say Laca is playing at least as well under Arteta as before, Auba has gone from a 9 to a 4. Can’t say I think it’s down to Arteta in his case, though, he used to score all kinds of goals, even when he had relatively little to feed off. Now he’s a pure poacher, and an average one at that. Just looks over the hill to me – find it hard to believe he’d become world class again if he transferred to city or Chelsea or someone like that..
And Xhaka hasn’t improved, he’s just the same imo – rarely very good, ok most of the time, truly awful too often
Davi
Difficulty to assess Lacazette as he never starts but possibly at the same level.
I’d start him away from home that’s for sure.
Great to see Saka nominated for the Kopa trophy award.
He has some serious competition there, notably two more English lads, but it’s certainly a huge positive to see one of the Hale Enders be in contention for such an honour.
Davi
It felt a little cruel not to give one improvement to an experienced players….so xhaka it is.
Arteta should be congratulated for winning the manager of the month award.,
It was a difficult period he had to navigate after our 3 defeats and lets not forget that we had a number of new players that had hardly played together….that’s always important to remember.
With all due respect, Arteta and Arsenal won over the 18th, 20th and Spuds. All credit to the NLD performance, but the other 2 games we barely won by 1 goal and our game wasn’t exactly electric. This reward does nothing for us as we saw what happened vs Brighton and how we barely survived to get a point versus a team who’s record point total in the Premier League is 41 points.
Most of the players hasn’t improved(that’s why we signed six players). Part of the blame should be on arteta imo but most of them(laca,pepe,eddie) got their chance and they didnt exactly move mountains.
With Brucey likely to get his p45 in the next week or so, I am wondering who the realistic choices for Newcastle would be for their next coach. Gerrard is favourite with the bookies but not only can this be misleading, but would he potentially lessen his chances of the Liverpool job in the future by taking the Newcastle one? In isolation a project at Newcastle backed with all that money wouldn’t be something he could dismiss out of hand but if it reduces the chances of him landing his dream job in the future, he may find himself having… Read more »
With all due respect rap we all know you can be objective about arteta so your opinion is hogwash.
Benitez would have been the ideal guy for Newcastle. Sadly, he was there a few years too early. Newcastle need a manager that will – first, keep them in the league; and two – be good enough to be able to make the jump from 12th and 13th, to 8-6th. Probably a season and a half, 2 season job. The more important signing they have to make is the DoF. If you have a top DoF, the manager’s job becomes a bit less influential so the results don’t fluctuate as much. And it’s what they need in the next 3… Read more »
Raul,
Dare to argue with what I said?
Did we play all that great vs bottom dwellers Norwich and Burnley? No.
Did it look like we’ve turned a corner vs Brighton? No.
Norwich and Burnley have a total of 4 pts in 14 games between them.
Raptora
All true about the DoF. Wonder if they could try and hire the guy who is leaving Liverpool, that Pedro mentioned. Is it Michael Edwards?
I feel. Recast let will transition quite easily to relegation battlers to upper mid table by courtesy of the amount they will invest in players in January and next summer. The key will be cracking top 6 which is where they will need to be smart in their hires/business.
It’s somewhat inevitable they will be playing CL football within 3-5 years in much the same way Man City achieved it eventually.
And brighton are having a very good start to the season. What’s your point? We won those games and drew against bh
I’d probably get someone like Rodgers or Moyes to make the jump from 12th to 6th and then shoot for the likes of Mancini and Conte when the time comes.
Would add Jardim to the first list and Zidane to the 2nd list.
The fight between wilder and fury has to be one of the best boxing fights I’ve ever watched.
Fury is a total beast.
Putting someone like wilder down thrice is something you’d only see in movies.
Pierre
I know it’s tough for you to make up your mind.
On the one hand you know that Arteta is the right man for the job, and on the other hand he got rid of darling Ozil. And then there’s your eternal devotion to to Arsene Wenger. A bit like the Russians with Stalin gone, the foundations of their faith lost with him.
Let me help. View both Ozil and Arsene as what they became: a pair egocentrics. Fatally flawed at the end. You can still idolise the emergent Ozil, still worship the anaplastic Arsene
Englandbest
Come back to me when we have a fraction of the success that Wenger and Ozil achieved during their distinguished careers…
I don’t need to defend Wenger or Ozil , their trophies, medals and awards say much more about them than i could ever do.
I loved wenger till the very end. Defending ozil is just a bit weird. Even ex players knew how disruptive he was. A very very bad influence if u want to build a competitive culture. Good riddance
Competitive culture = 8th lol.
Wenger was a phenomenon for us but it was obvious to even most of the die-hard fans that we were in decline. Declines aren’t linear – there are lots of reasons to cite why it wasn’t all bad – 3 FA Cups in 4 years and 2nd in 2016. But the rt was clear – we were overall getting further away from a serious assault on the big 2 trophies. A continuous supply of underwhelming and poor signings underlined that trend. Wenger’s worst moment however must be the £100m blow out on Xhaka, Mustafi and Peres one mad Summer in… Read more »
Northbanker: “Wenger’s worst moment however must be the £100m blow out on Xhaka, Mustafi and Peres one mad Summer in 2016.”
Yes, yes, yes. It was also the last time Wenger would win the top 4 trophy. With 100m dropped for the players above, hardly surprising.
Never trust Wenger with money. His best buys were cheap ones. His last outstanding purchase was Sanchez, who single handledly kept us competitive for 3 seasons.
What wenger achieved those years with metersacker, kolscieny and even the heavy legged arteta, Arteta as a coach has forgotten and his worshippers have also likewise forgotten.
Mid must be still sleeping. He’ll miss Bel vs Italty
The Wenger of the 1st decade wasn’t the Wenger of the second. His inability to employ an innovative number 2 who asked him difficult questions was his downfall. Fergie’s longevity was largely down to his capacity to reinvent himself and his sides. Wenver was too insecure to allow that.
For me, Wenger’s worst moment was selling RvP to Man U – effectively handing them the trophy – and laying the blame on Robin. It still pains me that fans still feel that way about him – ‘ingratitude’, ‘disloyalty’ etc. It’s time to set the record straight on him.
Wenger knew very well he as selling Robin – that’s why he bought Podolski pre end-of-season – to appease the fans.
Only coaches in the world who would had replaced wenger effortlessly were klopp and pep
Vickingz – late Wenger era nearly all of the signings were sub par at best and at worst absolute disasters (eg Sanogo). Throughout most of his tenure there was a loose eye kept on defence goalkeepers (Stepanvovs, Cygain, Richard Wright, and Schillachi to name but a few) which ultimately stopped us from winning as many major trophies as we should have done and deteriorating into a club that wasn’t able to win any at all. Early Wenger we amassed such incredible attacking talent and combined this with a George Graham defence so we got away with it. The second phase… Read more »
On another note:
– After Guendouzi captained Marseille last week, Saliba captained the U21 France NT
– Bit weird that Southgate, of all managers, has to keep showing Arteta, Saka’s best position
During a last phase heavily regressed Wenger, we still played far better football than during the dark ages that we’ve firmly set foot in.
Italy and Belgium starts exciting.
You mean the position arteta showed southgate.
Raptora,
“””During a last phase heavily regressed Wenger, we still played far better football than during the dark ages that we’ve firmly set foot in.”””
Wengers last season.
x54 goals in 19 games at The Emirates.( most ever scored at home under his reign in 20 plus seasons)
Arteta last season,
x55 goals in a full 38 game season.
and already this season, despite the splurge – the lack of goals is already an issue with Artetaball/JSP.
Saka Euro 2020: LW – 0 games, RW – 4 games
Saka Arsenal 2021/22: LW – 5 games, RW – 4 games
Saka Arsenal 2020/21: LW – 16 games, RW – 20 games, CM – 5 games, LB – 3 games
One manager has decided where he’ll play Saka. The other one is still tinkering.
An explanation from Lord Acton forWenger’s regression:
‘Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely’
raptora
Southgate may designate Saka as RW, but in fact he plays RW, RB, RM, Central striker – obviously on Southgate’s instructions.
englandsbest disdain of Wenger is strange since he’s busy trying to create Wenger II in a lesser man.
The flawed Wenger is many times a better manager than Arteta will ever be.
Good goal Barella.
Those low corner shots are so deadly. Italy 1 – 0
Belgium without De Bruyne and Lukaku is like watching Pool without Salah and van Dijk.
In my opinion this Nations League stuff only adds further weight to the argument for the biennial World Cup.
Shocking decision making by Castagne. As bad as Clichy vs B’ham.
If they have a biennial World Cup then they need to scrap all of the other pointless trophies inc the Euros. Having a major Summer tournament each year would be ridiculous