Arsenal vs Leeds is always a special game for me. Family connections, heated early 2000s rivalry, it’s usually a fun 90.
The big question this evening is how junior Arteta goes. Some are saying we should be going for the League Cup as we have limited trophy options. I agree with that, but also think we need to give some development minutes to players that aren’t out on loan.
Rumour has it that Salah is going to join the squad, possibly because Charlie Patino picked up a slight ankle injury. The attacking midfielder has been a regular feature in the post-game comps with the kids. He signed from Feyenoord on a free last season and apparently he’s a beast of a worker in training. His footwork is great, he’s very creative, and he looks like the type of player that is going to have goals in his future.
Who knows what the rest of the side will look like.
I suspect we’ll see Martin Odegaard who has been a bit up and down with regards to form. Eddie will probably start up top, maybe with Pepe on the other side of him. This is another game for Martinelli to force his way into the starting 11. His start to the season has been a bit bland.
In defence, I think we’ll see run outs for last seasons defenders. Holding and Mari will be at the back, Cedric on the right, no idea who picks up the left considering Tierney’s injury.
Midfield will probably be BIG MO and AMN. Martin acting as the creative lever.
The subs bench will also be interesting. Maybe it’ll be first team heavy for a rescue operation?
It’d be lovely to continue our 7 game unbeaten run. Heading into the early Leicester kick-off with another victory just adds to the confidence.
Let’s see what the boys have got. Hopefully, we can field a debutant as well!
See you in the comments. We’ll be dropping in with an OTW podcast… Johnny is back.
WATCH THE PREVIOUS ON THE WHISTLE VIDEO or PUT THE PODCAST IN YOUR EARS.
In fairness to Martinelli though he’s hardly seen much of the ball. Most of the time it’s gone to Pepe who’s passed it to Leeds. But I agree, needs to do better. Yeah Eddie has looked lively.
Official stats show Pepe has given the ball away 9 times. No other player more than 4.
@A1
maybe move Pepe out to the changing room, Not like we’d miss him. Bless him
Ben White looking really good, Holding doing well
Pepe banging one in from 30 yards after that first half, would sum up his Arsenal career so far
Frustrating player, but more than capable of producing quality match winning moments
Cut Martinelli some slack. He’s barely played and if you haven’t played at game pace in a while it takes time to adjust
Eddie just needs to do a bit more shithousing and he’s lacazette gt turbo
Harsh on Martinelli. He doesn’t get a run of games and when he starts a game, people expect a great performance. He’s wasted on the left, should be through the middle.
I was part of the group backing pepe but he is showing no signs of improvement in his third season now. We need to sell him at the end of the season and bring in a young wide forward that will backup Saka. There is plenty of fish if we can get even 20 mil for him. He is still young and can be good in a team that just puts him in behind and let him run. Anthony of Ajax is my preference for a replacement if possible. Game is completely chaotic though. Our backups in defences are poor.… Read more »
Brownie. Agree. He just lacking sharpness. Not making runs he should be
Looks like Arteta has taken away the handbrake on Pepe.
Beating a dead horse but Pepe such a disappointment
AMN finding his feet
Southampton equalise.
The Leeds Keeper still looks like the kid who cuts my grass occasionally from next door.. about 16 years old. We started out brightly at least.. getting so many corners. Have to put one in at some point.
Now we lost White!
ESR and white shouldn’t have started tonight. It’s the carabao cup ffs.
Nah White is fine..Goal!!!!!!! come on..
Get in! Why did White start ahead of Chambers? Idiotic decision.
Yeah!
Bring Saliba back now …… hold on he looks okay
Hahaha Secret agent Chambers needed apparently.
Another assist Pepe haha
I’m not used to this posting while watching thing. I though that was a Leeds corner ….get in
Chambo! Scenes!!
I knew we had to score eventually on a corner.. we have had about a dozen.
Keeper to blame for goal standing behind his line ffs
Game should open up a little now.. maybe Marti or Eddie will knock one or 2 in now.
Ainsley looks lightweight but he’s been tough in there today
Trying to work out who’s been worse Elneny or Pepe. At least we won’t miss them during Afcon.
Get in. Eddie!
Eddie!
Eddie got lucky ! Had missed kicked there..would have been the miss of the season !!
Ohhh man… hahaaha slowest shot ever.. thought he was gonna miss. Sense a Pierre rant incoming at some point today..
Thank god for that!! My heart nearly stopped!!
Nice one Eddie! Almost missed an open goal
Our fringe players getting the job done.
Balogun cannot get any minutes. Very frustrating.
Hmmmm why Lacazette… surely Balogun no? anyhow.. Feeling pretty good about our chances now..
What’s score thanks?
Pepe is so frustrating
Uzeroz.. We winning 2-0 with 16 mins to go… Eddie and Chambers scored.
Leeds able to play a much stronger team tonight than us. We play Saturday lunchtime they play Sunday afternoon.
Thanks!
Chelsea 1 – 1 against Southampton
Oh God.., how did Kola become a cb… hahaha I went to the refrigerator.?
Holding AND white could be out for Leicester now.
I think White looked ok.. could have went on.. I think I lip read he said Im ok. when he walked off.
Arteta is getting on my tits with all that daft arm gesturing.
Looking like Chelski might have to win a pk shootout.
This game shows what a great distributor of the ball Ramsdale is compared to Leno.
Have to say that’s 2 games we’ve been a lot better. Always can improve but credit where it’s due. As for Eddie Nketiah, I’m sure he wasn’t that fast last season. He was rapid tonight. Happy night, so all good
Ok then … Job done.. moving on.
Come on Southampton you can do it.
Decent win. Hopefully White injury isn’t serious.
Hopefully, Chelsea loses in the shootout.
Go S’ton!
I guess Salah and/or Bala would have gotten few minutes if not for the sudden change with Holding coming off.. Would have been nice to see them get minutes. But great to see our B team win a relative strong Leeds team.
Theo of course misses.. ugh..
Leeds were poor partly because we never gave them time on the ball and pressed well. Very happy with the performance overall,
Mount misses… 1-1 Well Forster saved it mostly.
Good win. It is still fine margins football. But you won’t find me complaining when most of the players that played are our reserves. AMN was impressive. Holding did well and a much better 2nd half from Cedric. ESR is as always a joy. I love his whipped in smooth corners. They are becoming a weapon. Martinelli and Eddie too did better in the 2nd half too.
For his goal, majestic first touch by Eddie , followed by an exquisite 2nd touch , followed by a very fortunate touch to score ..
Deserved man of the match for Eddie , don’t doubt him, he is our best striker, and best at holding the ball and linking the play… .just needs game time
Hands up who thought Eddie had missed it 🤣
Oh no,,, Chelski are so lucky.. jammy bastards.. oh well.. Im happy with our win. See what the draw brings.
Cunts, they are through. How many times are they going to go through on penalties.
Very impressive. The work on the training ground is clearly having an impact. We close the spaces well and have an intensity about us. At half time we stepped it up and played a bit higher up the pitch. They didn’t trouble Leno in the 2nd half.
As I said before the game, players needed to prove there is competition for places. They did that.
I thought he missed it… mostly because of the look on Eddies face … like oh shit. anyhow.. He played well.. BUt I actually thought AMN was my surprise player. Did much better then I expected.
Was ready to curse Eddie for a shocking miss but he luckily scored
@Midwest
Yeah my hands up too. I thought he missed it 🤣, like you said it was the look on his face
Midwest
I can’t stand Chelsea or their fans. Horrible club. The Will Smallbone penalty was as bad as his name. So lucky.
Pierre
Our best striker??? He is a an okay player but he is not our best striker. Almost all of them are equal to or better than him. He will probably be a starter at a midtable club over the next few seasons. He works his ass off and hats off to him. But that is what is most likely to happen.
AFC yep.. Can’t stand them.. hate them the most. Sure Spuds and Man U and Scousers.. but when it comes to Chelski … they are the worst of the bunch. for me. Plus my Brother being a Chelski supporter because he was dropped on his head as a youth doesnt help.
TYAG
Yep I thought he missed. Still not sure how it went in. Great first and second touch, the third was a complete mishit.
Even though the game was on TV over here, I was unable to watch it. I check the score to see a nice 2-0 win and figured that was that. Then I scroll through the comments on here and it looks like we were in the middle of an apocalyptic meltdown. In-game comments really aren’t a smart idea most of the time. It’s so focused on minor individual errors and ignores the bigger picture.
Midwest
Your brother must be a royal pain in the arse!
Arteta is getting on my tits with all that daft arm gesturing
Not your testicles?
Was ready to curse Eddie for a shocking miss but he luckily scored
No mention of the two sublime touches, before the misshit though
Nketiah always puts in a shift, made his own luck tonight
Arteta said Mari had a bug, and White had a bug as well, that’s why he took him off
Rich,
Yep saw that. Spoke well I thought. Must be pleased to see players step up & slot in so well. Second half intensity was good, playing higher helped we stifled them.
. Don’t think Leno had a save to make second half. Team spirit shining through, this is a hungry bunch playing for their shirts. I just wish Lacazette had scored with that chance he created for himself, epitomised the shift our players put in against a strong Leeds side. Great win.
The Sunday People, via Sports Mole, claim that Newcastle United are interested in signing the Frenchman from Arsenal in January.
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Depending on how much they are willing to pay. We may be able to use the funding to sign a good CM. Eddie seems to be serviceable.
There was no bedwetting from me when we signed White, but certainly a raised eyebrow, I thought we might have been signing him to play the Cancelo role, the signing didn’t make such sense.
But he was good on Friday, and the best player on the pitch before he went off tonight, he’s definitely got some interesting qualities, the left foot ball over the top in the first half was sublime
Holding had a decent game tonight as well
Arteta on Nketiah:
“I have full belief that he is going to be a top, top player and hopefully at Arsenal. I’m happy to have him, he is our player, I regard him really highly and from my side I want him to stay.”
it looks like we were in the middle of an apocalyptic meltdown. ________ Really? I thought they were pretty tame compared to normal.. YOu always have a few that have a hard on for different players and they will never play well enough. . Pepe was poor if thats what you were talking about? Not sure what the bigger picture means when your commenting on a match in real time.. that doesnt even make sense.? First half was about even but we came out second half and stepped up our press and wore them down. The bigger picture is we… Read more »
I like commenting on a match in real time.. its what being a fan is all about … getting emotional and living and dying by every minute.. and sharing that with other fans. If people dont like what I have to say in the heat of the moment then too bad
Mid ..
Keep your live commentary going … Pedro alluded that this place is an online pub a long while back. Keep up your vocal support for The Arsenal.
It will not get unnoticed.
I got no complaints with White if he plays like the last 2 matches. The issue for me with him and Ramsdale fo rthat matter was paying the premium for Homegrown.. and on defense when we needed goal scoring. and midfield help.. But if they play like they have been then Ill forget about all that.. Still think the biggest move we could have made over the last transfer windown was to replace Xhaka. Loko might turn out to be that guy but was encouraged that maybe AMN has a role to play.
I know Bacary probably wasnt talking about me.. but still I think we should enccourage more comments during the games not less. it makes it more fun for overseas fans like me that can’t experience theh stadium atmosphere or even a pub. Greatful to Pedro for giving us this forum.
Good post game Podcast Pedro.. but your imitation of an American accent at the start… absolutely horrible. Was that an attempt at a New York accent? as well.. hahaha Just dont ever try it again.. is all I’m saying.
Happy for the win, but didn’t see the game, so can’t make any valid comments.
Also happy for Eddie, but why no Martinelli and Bolagun?
Looking forward to the early KO away to Leicester.
Tony, Martinelli played.. he had a lot of energy but honestly was all over the place and really made not a lot of impact on the game. He was fouled a lot. Balogun I thought would play… but since the game was scoreless so long I think they decided to stick with Eddie as he was having the most impact of our front line.
Thanks Middy I checked Live Score app, but must’ve been sleepier than I thought.
Do you think Martinelli’s injury has taken its toll or something he’s not clicking with, as he was when he first arrived. Had high hopes for the lad, still do.
In super agents running clubs related news
From bbc:
Football agent Mino Raiola has been rejected by Manchester United midfielder Donny van de Beek after he approached the 24-year-old Dutch midfielder to be his new representative.
Might not look bad under diet pep
Do you think Martinelli’s injury has taken its toll or something he’s not clicking wi _______ Well it’s hard to say… the skill and energy is clearly still there, but his directness and feel for goals.. is out of sync I would say . Its like he is picking up the ball in areas that arent dangerous and trying to beat 2 or 3 defenders a lot. I still think he can be really good but his confidence in what he is doing seems off. Ive never thought he needed a loan before now.. but Im starting to think that… Read more »
You could be right Middy a loan in Jan for the rest of the season away from the pressures at the club and a fresh environment would feel like a reset for Martinelli or at least I hope it would.
Certainly looks like it’s worked for Guen and Saliba.
Gallagher the Chavs loan is getting good reviews and seems happy at Palace.
Lack of MF cover worries me more than the strikers scoring if I’m honest. Should have blooded Patino or Azeez once we were 2 up last night.
Sounds like AMN steeped up some yesterday, so that’s something.
PAtino is injured and Azeez was temporarily unavailable on account of the fact that he plays for Portsmouth.
I thought we would blood a few more youth too.. but the way the game played out honestly wasn’t that good for it either. I believe Patino has an ankle injury so was not there. Most of our second half subs were forced due to injury.. We had to sub for both White and Holding. The only sub I questioned was Lacazette late on.. think we could have put Balogun in then perhaps but not sure what 10 or 15 mins is really going to do. And yes I thought AMN was one of our best players. yesterday. He was… Read more »
Didn’t watch the game, but I heard white was great last night.
Laca definitely playing for a contract atm. Seen it before with Walcott, auba etc. Same old story
Leno looked good in goal. I think he prefers being No.2, the underdog. Less pressure. Good games are expected from a no.1 keeper but are praised when it’s a no.2 ,keeper and leno likes it that way.
Good confidence booster going into the weekend. Hope we don’t over play ESR, because he’s one of the main players in this team, without him, our attack doesn’t function.
Here’s what’s infuriating about Arteta. We see a decent team performance against Leeds, another clean sheet and a momentum building Cup win. He says all the right things about wanting Eddie to stay and how valued he is as a player and then he says this….. ‘He’s got a lot of players as well that they play in that position and he’s got a personal situation, but I try to leave that aside and try to give him what he deserves’. If Eddie has a personal situation why bring it up? It’s just another foot in mouth moment from Arteta… Read more »
Artera predictably says to everyone who saves his bacon that he has future with the Club – no matter his having sent him into the bin like Pedro does, so as to break the player down and make him a mental wreak. That is the modus operandi of top class exploiters
Gonsterous
Not really fair on Laca as he’s always tried hard for us, even when he’s out of form. He’s a pro and that shows in the respect that the younger players have for him and the guidance he’s given many of them in the last few years.
That doesn’t mean he should stay but he deserves more credit for his positive attitude than a contract year theory..