Well hello my darlings, how are we today? Good I hope. VERY good.
Hot topic of debate is the Eddie issue. He looks… good. Right? This isn’t just the one game he played, this is his mindset since preseason. He looks more powerful, his game is more deliberate, and he looks very focused. Amazing what the insecurity of having no new deal can do… and what growing up a little bit can add to your game.
I think there’s some concern at Arsenal that if he doesn’t sign up, he could be a sleeper-Emi Martinez for us next season. He’s a good player. He’s extremely young. He could add a lot of value to many clubs in the Premier League. As fans, we do tend to get into the mind that you are either an elite 17 year old or you are a failure. Not everyone can break like ESR or Saka. Ivan Toney is 25 years old, he’s making waves in the Premier League this season. There are loads of examples of players that are not great until they are. Patrick Bamford at Leeds is a prime example, even Leeds fans lamented how poor his finishing was… then things clicked last season and people were talking about big moves. He’s 28 years old! Let’s go a step further… Serge Gnabry was binned off by Arsenal at 22 after failing to stake his claim under Tony Pulis, now look at him? You can’t tell me anyone saw that coming.
It’ll be a shame to see him go. Folarin Balogun ain’t there yet. The third striker berth is open this summer with Lacazette going. It could be his. Let’s see if Arteta can persuade a player I’m pretty sure has little love/trust for a manager that benched him for a season.
I’m feeling pretty good about Arsenal at the moment. One of the interesting things about the Leeds game, which was a great spectacle, was the speed we were moving the ball at. The lethargic passing of last season seems to be cycling into something a little more one-touch and a bit more purposeful. There’s a rhythm to what we’re doing and it doesn’t look as one-dimensional as it did. When we spoke to Nigel Winterburn last week, he talked about working under George Graham and the relentless coaching of the defence. I asked him if he believed in over-coaching and he said he didn’t. The coaching is there to help you make better decisions on the pitch, but it’s down to the players to be bold and make them. I think one-touch passing is helping us. It wasn’t there before, now it is. Long may the confidence continue through every level of our squad.
Leicester at the weekend is another huge test. I do like that we set each game up as some sort of definitive moment in our season.
SPURS: Good side, if you can’t win the derby… well
Aston Villa: Good side, their midfield is better than ours, if we can’t beat them… well
Leicester: A real test, because they are top 4 contenders, if we can’t beat them… well
I’m going to keep it going. I think this is a real test because I see us at about the same level as Leicester City. They have great players, a well-coached operation, and they spring surprises. Brendan Rodgers is sharp and he certainly played us like a fiddle at home last season.
This game is a big one for us. We’re doing the business at home, but can we go away to a big atmosphere and win the occasion?
I really hope so. 9 games unbeaten has a nice ring to it. Moving 3 points past Leicester in November is a good omen heading into some really tough games. More confidence means we get to where we need to be faster.
3 points are important because there are a few games between teams that are rivals.
United vs Spurs
Liverpool vs Brighton
Villa vs West Ham
Wolves vs Everton
If we win our next two games, I think there’s a fair chance we’ll actually be in the top 4. That would be a lot better than how we were shaping up this time last season.
Right, that’s me done, see you in the comments.
“I don’t know if anybody else feels it this way but looking at Pepe I always get a feeling that he will fall over. It is almost like his mind and body are not in sync.”
Pretty similar thoughts TR7 and EB, Pepe to me is easy to knock off the ball. If others play with this thought, it somewhat limits his overall effectiveness. That and he’s essentially a one-dimensional and one-footed player does not help his cause either.
Rich “Then as Tierney creates the overload on the left, Smith Rowe then has license to cut inside as a hybrid No8, which creates the overload on the left” In theory what you are saying is correct, but in reality it didn’t really produce an overload as Tierney was receiving the ball quite static on the touch line and normally ended with aqn aimless cross . Without wishing to over emphasis the contributiòn of Tavares v villa , we frequently created an overload on the left due to his pace and energy which put him in a number of dangerous… Read more »
TR7 I don’t know if anybody else feels it this way but looking at Pepe I always get a feeling that he will fall over. This is close to the remark I made to my neighbour when watching our game vs Leeds. I’m the first half Pepe ran into the box and just tumbled like a young giraffe learning to walk. With each game that passes he looks less and less like a £70 million player. There is some form of footballing talent (that requires a team being built around him) there but nothing that screams that he is worth… Read more »
Pierre
Smith Rowe + Tavares caused all sorts of problem for Villa, particularly in the first half, with Smith Rowe coming in off the left, dragging their right back across, and Tavares’s aggressive running down the side of him
We did similar things on a fair few occasions last season as well, Tierney was very effective, the home games against Spurs + Chelsea in particular, where they were completely disorientated for long periods, against Chelsea it was Martinelli who was causing chaos cutting in from the left
“There is some form of footballing talent (that requires a team being built around him) there but nothing that screams that he is worth £70 mil.” On that i do feel for Pepe as he didn’t ask for such a fee to be tagged to him. He remains though, a frustrating figure to watch as you, over time, realize that for the very really good parts of his game there are even more really poor parts. I keep thinking that maybe its the way that Arteta utilizes him, but I’m not convinced he’d be much better with any other manager… Read more »
We need to have a real pop at Leicester tomorrow, we were brilliant for 70 minutes in the 1-3 win there last season, and good in the 0-2 win in the League Cup
They’re a decent team who can get big results and are dangerous on the counter, but we can cause them big problems defensively as well
It’s a 6 pointer, I don’t think there’ll be much separating the teams at the end of the season, a point isn’t a decent enough result, but after dropping 2 at home to Palace, we really need to take all 3
Pierre,
The run forward and low cross from Tavares to Saka was for me the best move of the match against Villa.
I do hope it means that Tavares also has a “football brain” as well as the athleticism needed for a fullback.
Guys I read somewhere that El Neny is on 200 grand a month. That can’t be true, surely not.
TYAG,
whoever wrote that about El Neny’s salary either has an overactive imagination or (more likely) was trolling.
£52k/ week for El Neny according to Sportrac
£200,000 p/month
Is £46,000 p/w
That could easily be true
TYAG,
Sorry, just saw that you quoted the salary on a per month basis!
Which would suggest £200k is about right.
I’ll go back to sleep now!
PSG have such a crazy disconnect from their midfield and the forwards. Can barely create anything at all despite having Messi, Neymar and Di Maria up top.
Always did feel that Wijnaldum was overrated on here. Not great on the ball and more of an end product guy when he is at his best.
Verratti is their only world class midfielder and he is never fit.
Ernest Reed
And you are right.
I actually think that he was deliberately overpriced so that Aulas and Raul could line their pockets.
Watching the Villa game a 2nd time. A pleasure. Have I mentioned this week that Emi Martinez is a pr1ck?
Also a loser too. Could have been number 1 for Arsenal. Now stuck in Birmingham.
Good job pushing the ball right back in front of a great striker. Mug.
The only bigger mugs are the cuckolds on Le grove still simping for him lol.
Tr7 Pepe and Gervinho are inverted forms of each other
Gervinho could reliably burn through opposition defenders with ease to carve out great situations but his finish, crossing and decision making we’re all dreadful
Pepe cannot be relied on to do anything on the ball with any sort of consistency – but he has output for goals and assists
Both player similarly frustrating but for opposite reasons
As well lest we forget gervinhos haircut with that forehead was a crime against humanity
“As well lest we forget gervinhos haircut with that forehead was a crime against humanity”
But the headband, surely that deflected your attention, no???
Being honest, watching Pepe at times does ring a similar bell to Gervinho, hence Gervinho Mark II, would you not think China?
Arteta said that he subbed White out in the Leeds game because he was sick. Why played him at all and not Chambers. Arteta just has some strange decisions from time to time.
The Carabao Cup quarter-final draw is at 5:30 EST. Fuck this! I can’t get up so early.
I’ve watched Leicester a few times this season and Madison has flattered to deceive; always bitching to the ref when taking knocks, which limits Madison as a player. Although he scored last week, he didn’t impress or look to his best. Iheanacho, Vardy and Daka as well as Madison are all dangerous where with Tielemans (being the inform player) for LCFC who is scoring 25 t0 30 yard screamers at the moment, so he needs to be closed down all the time. Just the fact we are at Leicester today means we need to start getting away wins to set… Read more »
I would start with Auba and Laca and the tell Laca to run himself into the ground for 60 minutes, then bring Eddie, Martinelli or Balogun on in that order unless issues on the pitch or injuries dictate otherwise. We need to get those 3 game time, so Laca is the perfect solution to sub around 60 minutes and be happy with the game time giving him the platform he needs to perform. Laca drives other around him, so we can keep the quick tempo we’ve desperately been devoid of from Arteta’s handbrake football until the NLD. If nothing else,… Read more »
We need to have a poll on the worst arsenal haircuts of all time
Gervinho definitely at the top
Followed by maybe, sagna with his blonde hair
Auba comes near the top too with his rapper haircut, trying to live like he’s a 19 year old rapper from the hood who is trying to make it big and needs and annoying physical feature, every one can associate him with.
Ljunberg with his coloured mohawk, cool or not, you decide…
Alumina going blonde was another whack move
What about David seaman and his legendary ponytail?
We definitely need a poll to find out these important questions pedro 🙂
It’s definitely a tough one Gonsterous because entire teams from the 70s and 80s could qualify. I think for it to be considered a terrible haircut it needs to stand out from its era.
For example Rix and Sunderland from the late 70s deserve special mention. Alex Song had some horror shows too. But leave Bacary out of it please!
If you look at Worst Arsenal Haircuts on google images it comes up with the following order:
1) Gervinho
2) Sagna
3) Chamakh
4) Fabregas (mullet)
5) Seaman/Parlour tied
7) Djourou
8) Song
9) Bould
10) Bellerin/Gallas
Here’s a good article from not too long ago.
https://www.football.london/arsenal-fc/news/every-arsenal-player-ranked-worst-12449298
Big game today. I hope white is okay to start. I would go with the same team that beat Villa. Leicester are at home and they will try to play. We are going to need Lacazette. I think we also need sambi in there because Partey alone away at Leicester is a recipe for disaster. Odegaard will miss out again but we can bring him on in the 2nd half. Tavarez also needs to start because Tierney is out of form and he is returning from injury. We need yo ease him in. I am up for this one. But… Read more »
Chamakh.. Had the worst haircut … the balding Faux hawk covered up by loads of hair gel.
Gervinho a very close second.
Lord Bendtner and his ridiculous man bun/ topknot.. 3rd.
Anyhow.. Gonna get about 4 hours of sleep and hoepfully back for an Arsenal win.
1. Gervinho looking like predator
Bellerin looked pretty meh in his braids also.
Cheers Samesong, you too mate on losing your Dad. Must be a very hard time for you, seen it on here reading even when I wasn’t posting last while
Cheers WE It’s tough, but we got to live on and I’ll never forget him.
You cannot blame Gervinho for being a poor finisher,
with a forehead like that creating a mini eclipse depending on the suns position,
it would be a struggle to see the goal when your eyesight is affected.
If Tavares plays against Leicester like he did during the Villa game, we will be caught on the break by Vardy
You heard it here 1st!
Rich “Liverpool are more symmetrical, where Arsenal are asymmetrical But because we push our left back on much further, and tuck out right back into defensive midfield in possession, that creates room for an attacking midfielder” ” Give me symmetrical all day long…against villa we were more symmetrical than asymmetrical. Personally, I would have thought that it makes defending easier for the opposition if there is an imbalance in our attacking play and maybe 70% of our attacks are down the left. With Tavares on the left, there is no reason to continually ask one of our centre mids to… Read more »
The great Arsenal and United sides were the master of the counter attack and going from defence to attack in a few seconds with the minimum of touches. It’s called one and 2 touch football with pace and letting the ball do the work.. Watching Tavares and to a lesser extent Tomiyasu play with such pace and energy, mixed in with saka and Smith Rowe’s intelligence on the ball , gives the team at long last the chance to be a devastating counter attacking side.. This creates doubts on the opposition players minds as they know that if they lose… Read more »
Watching Tavares making those lung busting runs from deep inside his own half to get behind the opposition with such pace and power was a sight to behold.. Imagine having a right sided full back of similar energy, pace and power, it would open so many possibilities offensively.. The one right back that has impressed me with his hunger to drive forward from full back is Brighton’s Lamptey. I know he has only just come back from injury but he looked back to his best watching him last week.. I’m hoping the villa performance wasn’t a one off and is… Read more »
1-4 Arsenal 😆🤞
Telling you for free
Same prediction as last week. 3-1 to The Arsenal.
Which PEA hairstyle is him trying to look like a rapper from the hood?
I don’t think Pepe and Gervinho are that alike in their play style, maybe in regards to their lack of football intelligence though.
Pepe has decent technique and end product when in the right positions whereas Gervinho was just a runner/dribbler who had poor technique and struggled with his end product. Gervinho could beat players for fun but could you ever imagine him scoring some of the goals Pepe scored like the two free kicks he scored in one game?
Pierre
You are right. The last few Tierney’s game, he was facing more than one defender. He had nowhere to go but to pass the ball back. All opposing managers are ready for him.
Just an hour before kick off and nobody has commented for over an hour. Apathy?
Same starting 11, good. V pleased White available.
Auba and Laca up front.
Leicester have made ten changes.
Arsenal nine changes team:
Ramsdale
Tomi Gabriel White Tavares
Partey, Lokonga Smith Rowe
Saka, Laca, Auba
Bob N16
Yep, me too.
Like Tony…. Laca ,and Auba, both need to run til they’re bust. Then bring 2 of the Starlets/ youngpretenders into the fray .
Surely Tierney suffered from the slow predictable build ups we (were) prone to. Bit early to call him a busted flush Pierre, but he has looked less vibrant this year. Maybe he is due a break to reconnect with his imagination. .. see the Miedema related articles on Arseblog news. What a luxury to have such gulfs in squad quality in the league.
Gervinho is a legend
Carabao Cup draw on Soccer AM soon.
Berg10kamp, Gervinho legendary hairstyle
Arsenal v Sunderland
Pierre I’m not against us trying different things, but what the top clubs do is find a balance between getting 5 players into the attacking third, and creating a territorial advantage by pinning their opponents in with the positioning of the 6 players behind the ball To do this you need athleticism to cover the space in behind, technical quality to progress the ball into the final third, positional intelligence to win the ball back early, and a keeper able to break-lines Our pragmatic approach last season wasn’t through choice, if we’d pushed our defenders up the pitch, we’d have… Read more »
Carabao Cup Draw
Arsenal v Sunderland
Good morning Y’all.. Good Lord it’s early… hahaha Sleep is over rated .. I suppose.. I like the lineup… If it ain’t broke don’t fix it. Let’s see if it works against a tough opponent. Really really need the win.. would go a long ways to making everyone feel like we have progressed. In general under Teta we have lost everytime it seems like we can make a move up the table.
Plus I would love to beat Brenda.
In short… Let’s Go!!!
Dream draw
Rich
You’re wasting your time mate, we explained this all in great detail yesterday. You can’t ever understand what you don’t want to understand.
As for Tierney is a busted flush, this is the bloke who wants Ozil leading the press!!
Oh Nice.. Great Cup Draw,
Spurs vs. West Ham
Arsenal vs. Sunderland
Brentford vs. Chelsea
Liverpool vs. Leicester City
Liverpool v Arsenal Final? That would be a cracker.
Four days before another home game on Boxing Day against Norwich (the turkeys of the Premier League) – should be able to field a strong team with confidence
I think destiny would be another Chelski v Arsenal tournament final.
Same 11 that started against Aston Villa, hopefully they can all continue from where they left off.
3-0 to the boys. #COYG
Midwest, agree with your post. Every time we seem to look like we’re about to jump up the table, we don’t get 3 pts!
Hope today bucks the trend – a 9-0 win will see us in 4th, otherwise 5th place could temporarily be ours.
It’s interesting to note that it’s Bukayo’s 100th appearance in Red and White.
What a lad! A hat trick for him today then
Bob Wilson, 80 today – now he is a proper Arsenal legend!
Seems the leicester formation is 352
We’re long overdue a League Cup win
West Ham have been the team that’s impressed me most so far outside the top 3, but I wouldn’t be surprised if with an older squad, they ran out of legs at some point
3 x games vs Spurs in January, would be a very tasty start to the New Year
Need to get past Sunderland first though
Rich, I was at that game, 1987- two scrappy Charlie Nicholas goals. First time Rush had scored and Liverpool lost. Perry Groves vital sub contribution for winning goal. GG’ s first trophy.
Bob N16
I met Bob Wilson once. Lovely man.
The Willow Foundation he set-up with his wife Meg, after the sad loss of his daughter Anna, does wonderful things. If anyone fancies supporting a charity, that would be a great choice.
Just watching the pre game show for Leicester v The Arsenal, & the conversation is all about manchester utd ffs!!!
Bob _ yep… I mean I would take a draw.. don’t get me wrong. But it would feel like more of the usual. I know it won’t be easy though.. Vardy is our new Drogba.
gnarleygeorge9
BT have just been telling us how great Leicester are.
Best wishes to Bob Wilson a true legend and our keeper on my first ever live game in 1970
AFC
“As for Tierney is a busted flush, this is the bloke who wants Ozil leading the press!!”
2 lies in one sentence….
No Eddie? Not even on the bench? What is it? Is he contagious?
Rich /AFC
What do you reckon …….will it be symmetrical football or asymmetrical football from Arsenal today.
AAron Ramsdale on camera doing keepups… like a boss.. He really is good with his feet for a Keeper.
Midwest “Bob _ yep… I mean I would take a draw.. don’t get me wrong. But it would feel like more of the usual. I know it won’t be easy though.. Vardy is our new Drogba.” You can’t win every game though. Away games against top sides are the toughest ones. We do have to stop setting up every game as a disaster if we don’t win, there is definitely a tendency to do that on this blog! We have to support our boys and hope they put in the same energy and disciplined performance they have shown since they… Read more »
Wes Morgan & Steve McManaman have been dissecting the problems with manscum
Englandbest
“No Eddie? Not even on the bench? What is it? Is he contagious”
Looks like it’ll have to be an injury or 2 to our strikers that will give him the chance to prove he’s good enough.
It worked for Smith Rowe and recently Tavares and Lacazette with the recent injuries to Tierney and Odegaard.
Looks pretty symmetrcal to me.. like the old 4-2-2-2 of Wenger days gone past.. or 2-2-2-2 if you prefer. Not that it really matters to me. . Need Loko and Partey to have a great match.. and White and Gabby to keep Vardy on ice.
Pleased with the line up today… hopefully we can see this through.
I would rather that we gave the space on the bench to someone like Salah-Eddine or Patino than Cedric or Elneny though.
2-2-2-2-2 missed a 2.. hahaha
Our last league cup win was in the last years of the George Graham eta – did not end so well for Steve Morrow.
Today’s line-up
32 A Ramsdale
18 T Tomiyasu
4 B White
6 G dos Santos Magalhães
20 N Tavares
7 B Saka
5 T Partey
23 A Sambi Lokonga
10 E Smith-Rowe
9 A Lacazette
14 P Aubameyang (c)
A draw in today’s game will be fine for me. Two evenly matched sides and they have the home advantage. They’re now picking up form too so it should be a tough afternoon.
Subs
1 B Leno
8 M Ødegaard
15 A Maitland-Niles
16 R Holding
17 C Soares
19 N Pepe
25 M Elneny
31 S Kolasinac
35 G Martinelli
Bob, sounds like an amazing experience, I was still very young Ian Wright was my favourite player as a kid, It was Wrighty that made me fall in love with Arsenal I was at the game in Cardiff when we lost to Chelsea, Walcott got the first, and I think Drogba got a brace, I was in Melbourne with a couple of Brummy mates in the early hours of the morning in 2011, and the 3-0 loss to City a few years back was a day to forget Hopefully this is our year, be brilliant to get a piece of… Read more »
A draw or a win for me with hopefully a continuation of the front football that we have been seeing lately.
They are not going to be easy but as long as we don’t retreat in our shells, I think we will do OK.
Weeks ago people were discussing Nketiah as gone already , no good, deadwood etc. All of a sudden he scores a goal and we get he’s been great since pre season, he’s the future, Arteta don’t know what he’s doing if he doesn’t start him now… Let’s be clear, he’s not arsenal level, he’s a 3rd choice and no more. There is limited ability to his game and just being a poacher is not what we need. His all round game is not great. Ideal scenario would be signing him up and getting a good fee for him with a… Read more »
DB10
Yes, with you there!
Front foot football… ^^
Come on The Arsenal!!!!
Back passes 5 yards out. Ref bottles it.
Whoaa that was quick chance for us… I was still cooking eggs and almost missed the start..
The Arsenal boys are singing nice and loudly!!!
Yep the away crowd must be near the microphone. Sounds good.
Yes!!!!!!!!! Goallll!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Gabby!
Great start
Get in there!!!
Hell Yeah!
Been on the cards now need to keep it up