Well, here we are, the chance to go into 9th position in the league with a win against Crystal Palace.
This is the sort of high pressure / low expectations game we’ve usually not done well in under Arteta. This was the sort of game we lost last season at this stage. That needs to change tonight.
We’ll have a home crowd.
We are in decent form.
There will have been plenty of work delivered over the break.
We basically have a fully fit team to choose from bar Granit Xhaka. Yes, ever Gabriel Martinelli is back in the mixer.
The key things we’re going to be dealing with:
Wilfried Zaha is a menace and has caused is no end of problems over the years. Tomiyasu needs to be at his best this evening because if you keep Zaha quiet, you keep Palace quiet.
Their press. No doubt they are going to give it a go. Slightly harder for them to do away from home. But you know the routine. They’ll target our midfield like Brighton did. They’ll have a crack at our centre backs with some roughhousing. They will make it difficult. If we roll over and let them do it, it’ll be a tough night. But if we play through them early, then we have a good chances of making something happen. Part of doing well against the Palace press is to stop Villa doing the same on Friday.
The first game after the international break is usually a slow mover, but we can’t have that tonight. The fast starts we’ve had in most games needs to happen this evening. The fans need to be on side, the atmosphere needs to be intense, and that is partly powered by the sort of Arsenal that shows up.
Over in France, Matteo G dropped a beastly performance chalking up 2 goals and an assist. If he wasn’t such a whopper, you’d expect Arsenal to cut short his loan move this January so he could come back and support a midfield that will probably still be lacking a Granit Xhaka who is expected back into full training around then.
Finally, the return of Patrick Vieira happens tonight. Truly, one of the greatest captains that ever wore the armband. I had the luck to go from Tony Adams to Vieira. The French midfielder was something else. An absolute hero. A gladiator of the midfield. People say his technical ability wasn’t rated at the time, but that is utter nonsense. We all thought of him as far more than a bruiser. His rangy legs, tight controls, and the way he bring a ball down and beat a press was magical to watch.
Now he’s a manager. He’s finally made it to the Premier League. I hope it’s not a pleasant return outside the plaudits he’ll get from the home fans who miss his on-pitch leadership.
Right, On The Whistle Podcast will be recorded after, have a great day!
First!
Tr4phy
Dang
Get in
Nervy what way this will go tonight. Have to be winning these games if want top 4.
Europa baby
We better win
Even if we wanted to we can’t get Guendouzi back, his loan has a call back clause and there a bui option that turns obligatory when a few very attainable conditions are met. It’s a shame the option is only 9M£… Hopefully there’s a sell on clause.
JUST WIN BABY!
Nothing less of 3 points tonight. These are the fixtures you use to send a statement. And I’m glad we play on Monday; we get to know what’s up for grabs after seeing what happened over the weekend. So no laxity courtesy of the int’ break
There’s plenty of articles saying we can keep Guendouzi at the end of the season is we wish.
* If we wish.
Top 4 became top 6 now top 8 !
Progress. Unfortunately downwards.
Must win tonight no pissing around the back.
Pedro, my recollections of Vieira are quite similar to yours, and my opinion of Arteta the player are pretty much tracking closely to the mainstream opinion of him as a model professional, if somewhat unremarkable.
Here’s the funny part though, Vieira, the legend, had 31 goals and 31 assists in 25k minutes of PL play, while Arteta, the mediocre, middling, unremarkable captain, had 42 goals and 42 assists in 23k PL minutes.
Even if you discount his Everton goals, Arteta still betters Vieira’s Arsenal output.
Weird.
This is a true legend returning to Arsenal.
Tom, those are interesting stats indeed.
Arteta was more Petit than Vieira. Fans slagging Arteta off seem to forget that he came in with a few others, steadied the ship, and took us to the top 4. Wish we’d signed him when Wenger originally went for him.
Vieira shits on Mike Arteta all day long.
It was his leadership, power and fight that propelled us in those days.
What a great player. They simply dont make them like that anymore.
A complete anti choir boy, unlike the players we have now.
Made Manure shit their pants. Got into it with that cunt Keane all the time.
Fights in the locker room etc.
Scored the winning Pen against those cunts… in the FA final.
Legend
“the return of Patrick Vieira happens tonight”
————-
Yes but he never played at The Emirates…….
I read today that Palace have managed five points in their last three visits to Emirates so a win of any kind will do, particularly after the international break. Hopefully, Auba responds to the home support with a big performance.
Tom – doesn’t that include the games Arteta played as a winger or CAM for Everton?
Btw I don’t think he was bad for arsenal at all. Good passer, fairly quick feet, decent tackler, disciplined – not amazing (not even close to Vieira, which goes without saying) but solid and miles better than Xhaka is for us today (saw that comparison before)
Hope Viera makes it as a manager, his personality is much needed in the PL.
I saw his first game and he really stood out.
Shame Petit went so early.
Pedro, Guns, obviously I wasn’t comparing their style of play, but was surprised to see the g/a output as it stands, especially considering one played for the best Arsenal side in a living memory, and the other for the side that always fell short.
Tom – those numbers are inflated by Everton, where he played further forward, Arteta was a dead ball specialist as well
Davi, I think Arteta only scored 6 goals for Everton
Wikipedia says he scored 27, I remember him getting quite a few.
I think he took their corners as well, but not sure
Feeling optimistic about tonight. Any win will do, although it would be nice to chip away at our negative GD. Arteta was a neat and tidy midfielder for sure. Was a calm, reliable professional always. He was also incredibly risk-averse as a player. I remember one game we were chasing a goal in stoppage time, Arteta received the ball in the centre circle with all players in front of him in the opposition half, he looked up, couldn’t find a safe pass, so he turned around and played it back to the keeper in the dying seconds to groans around… Read more »
Davi, good point, Arteta might’ve taken pens too
Tom – yeah I think he did, I think some for us as well
A big welcome back for Vieira tonight, until the game kicks off.
I watched this video of all his Arsenal career goals sometime ago and rewatched it a little earlier. Just goes to show he could smash a thunderbolt from distance, headers and deft finishes and more. Not just any old goals thought but often big time goals, In huge matches.
Forever a legend but hope he has a bad night tonight!
https://youtu.be/VyLzif5LuA0 Sorry that’s the link for the Vieira goals.
This will be a battle of the managers
Interesting that palace is also in a rebuild with youth
PV has impressed a cohesive game with attacking identity in the short time he’s been with CP
CP look fearless also
Let’s see what arteta can do and hopefully we see an impressive performance from the team
No excuses
Tom – didn’t Arteta take penalties for us for a bit too?
Arteta was an average unimpressive player
A bit better than el neny and a poor mans cesc
Is that debatable?
So Tom above just looks at stats and thinks Arteta was a better player than Viera?😂😂😂 This is the problem with concentrating on stats rather than watching the game.No wonder Pedro agrees with you and Pedro saying Arteta came and took us to to top four really??? we had already been finishing in the top 4 five years prior to that.
Sly
Exactly!
“No excuses”.
Sly – I’d say yes it is a bit debatable. Agree he was a poor man’s cesc, but quite a lot better than elneny. He could justifiably hold down a place in the team. Could score and assist while keeping defensive discipline. Solid but nothing special in the grand scheme of things. Probably better than what we have right now except for maybe Partey (and that’s still a maybe for me)
And we’re back. Let’s see what kind of managerial performances are brought by the two former Arsenal captains. There was a lot of discussion over which carried more merit in the steps leading to a Premier League job, whether doing the coaching rounds in various places like Paddy has done is more valuable then being apprentice to Pep, so let’s see what they bring to a game in a head to head matchup.
2-1 Gunners? I hope.
A fast start and no let up will bring home all three points against Palace. The only way they drop points is that they return to their abject and malaise ways.
Lets go boys!
Really hope the players can put in an impressive shift coming off the break. If not though….we’ll always have that first half against Spurs. Here’s looking at you, Mike.
https://youtu.be/6ihCFhoAQ48
https://youtu.be/Gl_vg20Gm8c
Worth noting too that Paddy would have been more inclined to give the ball to Wrighty, Anelka, TH14, Bergkamp, Pires or Freddy (and one or two others) to finish rather than feel he was best placed to do that. Arteta didn’t have those riches although you may have expected PV4 to have more assists on that premise to be fair.
Dry sad but not surprising to see in the news a gay footballer in the PL anonymously said he was terrified of coming out publicly because the fans would crucify him A damning indictment of society, really On that note there’s one player I’ve always guessed might be gay as he’s really very camp and I always found it surprising that I’ve not seen anyone else mention it. Maybe people genuinely don’t care after all, maybe people don’t notice him or maybe they do see it but are in denial that a player could be – a very good one… Read more »
Now regardless of whether people like Arteta or not, vieira was 5 times the player Arteta was. That’s not just me saying it, it’s as good as fact.
Vieira was one of the defining players of an entire generation. A player who played alongside all time legendary players and was good enough if not better than many of them. He captained the best English league campaign ever. He won a World Cup and euros. He got countless titles over the years and is remembered as one of the top 5 midfielders the PL has ever seen.
Arteta. Is. Not.
If you think about it. The reason why Arteta didn’t play for Spain is because they had xavi, iniesta, cesc etc
But if vieira had been of the right age profile and had been Spanish he would’ve been in that starting 11. They’d have just had to find a way to make room for him. He was that good
Even Pogba, who has the correct stature cannot compare.
We had Diaby, who sadly, could not get past his injuries to show his class.
however, Diaby was class and on his day fairly unplayable.
its no wonder Weng always waited for him, extended his contract etc. Total loyalty and perhaps some guilt played a part in all that.
But PV4, man, I cannot say how lucky we were to have him do the work for us. As I said before, they dont make them like this anymore
Also Patrick Viera the only black manager in PL right now, if I am not mistaken. Hopefully his run at Palace is a pathbreaker for others . Legend .
PV and company were men, who acted like it. The leadership back then was much greater than now. The players made a lot less money too but seemed to really fight for the shirt.
Not sure how much Weng had much influence in the bunch. They seemed fairly self sufficient and understood what needed to be done to win. They policed themselves and set the standards.
Yea the PV4 dick slap is legendary. maybe a little too much for Cole, who left for a pittance. lol
Amen to that Divine.
all those Invincible ‘s were Gen X’ers
Can see the difference with today’s generation.
Seeing a situation where the fans sing Viera’s name more than Arteta’s today 🤣🤣
I really wish Viera was the one managing us.
Looking forward to Odegaard , feel like this match he has a huge opportunity with Palace midfielders being slower than him , and I dont mean by pace .
Signing of Arteta was when Wenger started losing the plot
Arteta, park chu, santos, carl jenkinson
Agreed Sid. I would say the events before showed Wenger’s decline. Wasn’t that the 8-2 season? When he went on a saving face spree? Arteta actually tried a lot to steady the ship but at 29 and almost finished, never should have been signed. Wasn’t a bad player though
Cesc left and we got Mike A.
Last day of the window if i can recall….
PV and Cesc, generational players man. After those 2 left we never been the same in mid
The season Arteta was signed we finished 19 points behind the title winners
Let that sink in!
Is MG career deffo over here ?
“PV and Cesc, generational players man. After those 2 left we never been the same in mid”
Don’t forget about Santi.
Aside from the obvious legends like Pires, Vieira and Freddie etc I also had so much enjoyment from watching the Rosicky/Hleb/Cesc era and later the Wilshere/Santi midfields.
I feel like the next era of exciting midfields is beginning with Saka, ESR and Odegaard, and hopefully another wide player to boot. We need another player in the Alexis mould. Tenacious, determined and explosive who contributes plenty of goals and assists.
Arteta was part of the reaction to the 8-2. He formed a good cm partnership with song that stabilised the situation, as Pedro said – obviously neither player was on the level of Vieira or fabregas, but it was competitive. Couldn’t see us winning the title with Arteta as a starting CM, but it was way down on the list of problems really. Talent wise he’d have been a very decent backup in our title winning squads imo.
The season Arteta was signed we finished 19 points behind the title winners
Let that sink in!
🤣🤣
The season Arteta was signed we finished 19 points behind the title winners
Same season we bought our future manager Mertesacker if I recall.
Sid,
Far be it from me to defend Arteta but if we’d signed peak PV4 instead of Arteta back then, we still would have finished at least 15 points behind. Not even Paddy’s dick slapping would have been enough to stop the rot in Wenger’s dying days.
Arteta is a similar player to Ruben Neves which is why it didn’t surprise me that we were looking at him. Neves is more creative but both can be described as tempo players with limited athleticism.
How often did cazorla play at CM for arsenal. I remember him switching from RW to play CM with coquelin, I think for a game against city that we won (and he played very well) but I can’t put a date on that – my impression is that he didn’t play there for very long before injuries started to build up? I always think people are over emphasising him as a CM when he played by far the majority of his football at arsenal as a winger?
Watching Guendouzi and Saliba celebrating after Guendouzi’s goal makes me worry we could be heading for a similar (but not quite as disastrous) situation as Mourinho had letting Salah, De Bruyne and Lukaku leave Chelsea when he was manager. Make no mistake about it-Guendouzi was and probably remains an immature hothead. That’s why elite clubs hire elite managers to get the best out of these types of players and guide them towards maturity. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t but I still feel that Arteta’s own insecurity and need to show strength created an unnecessary wedge between him and… Read more »
Mikel Arteta 31 epl apps 2011
Mertesacker 21 epl apps
‘At Arsenal, Mertesacker quickly established himself as the first-choice centre back for the club, becoming a mainstay despite sharing several defensive partners over his first two seasons.[10] He eventually built up a solid relationship with fellow defender Laurent Koscielny, and the duo would star as Arsenal ended their nine-year trophy drought by winning the 2014 FA Cup’
Im telling you for free!
Carz was a right side forward like Nasri, Not a winger before switching to CM.
He was a big part in prolonging Wengers downfall.
and hopefully another wide player to boot. We need another player in the Alexis mould. Tenacious, determined and explosive who contributes plenty of goals and assists.
This was Odegaard last summer.
But we could have gone after a few others- you know all the names.
SMH
Davi
I think Santi played a lot out wide initially, was certainly forced wide when we signed Ozil a year after him. But when he went to CM and stayed fit was when we actually came close (relatively) to winning the league. The City game you speak of was in 2015 and it was masterful, His injuries were so unfortunate, robbed us of a player arguably coming into his prime in a central role.
Aouar would have given us the same type of footwork, press breaking abilities as Santi ( to an extent) Even an aged David Silva would have been welcomed IMO! Similar in many respects. Can still ball… Just watching Bernardo Silva the other day vs Liverpool was awesome. His technique with the ball is awesome. Was linked to us as well last summer. Everyone has their opinion but the blueprint for our success was what Wenger put together.. .World class strikers, with world class mids behind, all of which were highly technical, and interchanged throughout the game. Amazing players who an… Read more »
Hate it when people put Fabregas along side the Vieiras. Like what did the the little shit ever do to deserve the adulation?
Some even give him a legend status.
No Zaha for Palace tonight?
Looks like Odegaard in central midfield alongside Partey, Pepe, Saka and ESR the attacking mid 3 behind Auba.
Pepe starts.
No Zaha , not even on bench . Come on Arsenal. Lets get those 3pts.
Winger, wide forward – semantics, Sid.
Chris, if you’re talking about the season Leicester won the title, it wasn’t an achievement for us to almost win it, to be honest.
Anyways, great player.
What has Pepe done to earn a start?
Lokonga looking decent as well.
Not a lot of protection in midfield, but that is an exciting line up on paper!!
Hello y’all… Thank God International break is over.. back to business. Have to win… and start addressing the goal differential. Going for a 2-0 victory.
They way our team is setup … if ESR has a good day … the team will have a good day. He is the one that has a free role.. to make things happen. A lot to put on a young player.. but it is what it is.
We’re going to have to be careful Partey isn’t overrun by Gallagher and MacArthur. But it is an attacking line up which is exciting and what we all wanted, especially at home. Time to deliver more goals!
Hope Pepe is on the left
For the first time, I can’t see Nelson posting the starting XI and the bench.
“ Chris, if you’re talking about the season Leicester won the title, it wasn’t an achievement for us to almost win it, to be honest.”
That’s fair and I did say, relatively. One might say it was Cazorla’s injuries that season that was a big factor in our challenge fizzling out.
Zaha is ill
Zaha not playing!
No excuses mikel
Team line up (as Nelson is not here to do so)
A Ramsdale
T Tomiyasu
B White
G dos Santos Magalhães
K Tierney
T Partey
M Ødegaard
N Pepe
E Smith-Rowe
B Saka
P Aubameyang
Looks like it’s raining again. not exactly Gale force winds though. Light drizzle.
Subs
B Leno
A Lacazette
A Maitland-Niles
R Holding
C Soares
N Tavares
A Sambi Lokonga
M Elneny
G Martinelli
And Im pretty sure I saw Gunnersaurus walking around is he back?
Too much for Partey to do on his own.
Like the rest of us, I loved Vieira. But those astonishing stats on assists and goals scored compared with Arteta thrilled me. Not just because it’s a kind of accolade for Arteta as a player but because it’s a pointer to the kind of manager he is., the kind of person he is , Forthright, straightforward, honest. Vieira was frightening on the pitch. Big, brawny, beady-eyed. Scary was the word for him. Only an equally scary guy called Roy Keane stood up to him. Whereas Arteta was genteel, even-tempered, workmanlike, not fearsome ar all. I liked him too as a… Read more »
Glad that the interlull is over.
We definitively should win vs Palace tonight as I really can’t see them bear us. But with PV4 as manager, who knows if he tries to surprise us. He’ll try no doubt.
It would be great if we start like we did vs Spuds. This should be a template that Arteta builds on.
Five defensive, five offensive. Fear Partey will be over run in the middle. Won’t blame him if he is. The buck will stop with Diet Pep.
Well that midfield is lightweight defensively.
Obviously Mikel thinks he can get away with that midfield against Palace at home.
Positive is that it can signify a very positive attacking mindset from the team right from the start. Handbrakes fully off perhaps from Arteta.
I know the game is starting in about 30 mins, but here is a video to take you back to yesteryear. Man, those days were so great…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5XZ5ioUoNhs
True, Palace has some highly athletic players who are quite industrious.
Its not only Zaha…
TP and Ode in pinning the middle… lets see…
I would have thrown AMN in there in a 3 man midfield.
But looks like mike is going for it, so lets see.
He knows he cannot lose today, the fans will sing for PV instead of him LOL
Hopefully we don’t allow Benteke metamorphose into prime Lewandowski tonight.
This should be a winnable match if the players do their parts especially Pepe and Auba.
Good Line-up looking forward to the match. Seems Zaha didn’t want a piece of Tomi.
C’mon Arsenal. The wins there for the taking.