Thomas Partey is FIT for the Liverpool game. That’s massive news. We need all our best soldiers ready for the fight in Liverpool. The Ghanaian midfielder also avoided a long trip to Africa, so he should be very fresh. With him in the side, you feel you have a chance. Let’s be frank, this season, he’s felt like the £45m signing we bought last season. It’s always amazing when people savage our 8th placed finish last season, they forget that our star signing wasn’t available 50% of the season. You think there’s a chance if he’d started the whole season, we’d have picked up an extra 6 points? I do. He’s so much more than a defensive midfielder. He gives us control, power, and vision from deep. Maybe his shooting will start delivering this season?
The major questions we’re all pondering is: Which Liverpool will show up?
- The demolition crew that dismantled United in brutal fashion.
- The slightly meek soft-boys that showed up for the West Ham game.
The league is better this year pound for pound. My concern at the start of the season was that we’d see the top 3 race away from the pack. That hasn’t happened yet. It’s close at the top. Last year, it was also close, but it had red herrings flying too close to the sun (Spurs). This year, it’ll be very interesting to see if the smaller clubs can keep up the pace.
I’d never post a calendar-year points total graphic to insinuate that Arsenal are doing pretty well overall.
WHO LET BEZOS INTO THE ADMIN SECTION?
Seeing tables like the above really does make a mockery of the SACK ARTETA narrative that was polluting the airwaves after three games this season.
What the fans are lusting for is a bigger performance against a team like Liverpool. There are only two teams I feel we give too much respect to. City and Liverpool. We gave City things to think about for about 20mins at home before the wheels came off. But I want to see a whole 90 of that.
There’s no point in going gung-ho to prove a point. But, I also don’t want to see Apocolypse Now scenes after three minutes against Liverpool. We are good at defending. Arsenal are tough to play against. It’d be really nice to see that translate against a team that boasts the intensity and ferocity of Klopp’s Liverpool.
This game is roll of the dice. Expectations are pretty low. Wouldn’t it be great if we could surprise a few? I’d take a point whilst keeping our unbeaten run in tact.
I’m not sure how the starting 11 will go. The big worry right now is Auba, he had an injury scare, but he seemed to be happy celebrating with his team after their game. Issue is, you can’t just play Laca up front on his own. So then you need to consider Eddie, who seems to be done with Arsenal Football Club. It’s going to be tough not having Auba from an edge perspective, he’s the one you’d want limited chances to fall to. So we’ll see where that lands.
Midfield will also be interesting. Sambi Lokonga surely gets the nod. But, this does feel like a man-marking masterclass opp for the in-form Ainsley.
Smith Rowe and Saka are absolute musts for me.
What will the surprise be? What will the tactical nuances look like? I’m sure there will be something. It’ll be exciting.
Finally, NBC signed a MEGA deal with the Premier League for $2billion. They are going to run all the matches over here. Their coverage is absolutely awesome in my opinion, so it’s great to see they will continue as a partner. I just wish they didn’t make it so tough with their average app they make you subscribe to. I also wish they’d just let me buy all the games in one place. But… they pay a lot to be annoying, so whatever.
… also, just a quick note. I am going to dive in on the advertising game. I’ve taken on the cost of this site on my own, but now it’s getting a bit of hand, and I want to pay my valuable contributors if I can. Servers are $200, podcasting is $40, Adobe is $20, Mailchimp is $20, buying sexy outfits for the show is $1000 a month. The partner I’m working with knows experience is my prime motivator, I don’t need ads that fuck with the flow, so rest assured, there will never be pop-ups. Thank you in advance for accepting this annoyance.
That’s me done. The whole gang will be there for a Sunday OTW podcast. Tune into that. Also, grab the Perry G interview while you can. It’s fantastic and thank you for all the nice comments on it.
ACAST | SPOTIFY | GOOGLE | CASTBOX
Yo
2
3
Tr4phy and goodnight!
tr5phy?
Pedro, add in another 500 bucks for your Barnet. Trust me mate.,it’ll be worth it.
Pedro I’m smashing that refresh button one time for every hair Rob Holding has transplanted. You’ll be an ad-revenue millionaire by next Tuesday, baby.
It’s always amazing when people savage our 8th placed finish last season, they forget that our star signing wasn’t available 50% of the season. You think there’s a chance if he’d started the whole season, we’d have picked up an extra 6 points Pedro Come off it guey… Shoulda, woulda, coulda… Complete rubbish. We’re Arsenal and we finished 8th in England! One of the richest clubs in the world and we failed to qualify for the Europa conference. Arteta had the entire season and he fucked it… badly, saving his job by the skin of his teeth after beating teams… Read more »
Go to bed, DM!
No idea how true this is.
https://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/premier-league-injuries-latest-news-25492729
Liverpool – 10
Roberto Firmino (hamstring), Joe Gomez (muscle), Curtis Jones (scratched eye), Harvey Elliott (ankle) – ruled out.
James Milner (hamstring), Naby Keita (hamstring), Sadio Mane (chest), Jordan Henderson (knock), Andy Robertson (hamstring), Divock Origi (dead leg) – doubtful.
Only read the first few lines, Pedro. Worst Arsenal manager of all time up until 6 weeks ago, but Pedro you just focus on fans who wanted Arteta gone, not just after the 3 losses this season, but for his antics for last season and falling over players to play them when injuries and suspensions. A manager who has cost the club millions. Do you base your management skills on Arteta, Pedro? Are you the Arteta of the AD world? The team is doing well in spite of Arteta. Just look at this in-game management still pants. Poor handling of… Read more »
Partey missed 50% of the last season ?!?!
I know it’s an opinion blog but surely it must be based on some easily attainable facts.
“he’s felt like the £45m signing we bought last season”
Yup always injured with glass ankles.
Why throw Partey in against Pool after an injury absence. He won’t be up to speed fitness wise and likely to get injured and the the Mirror is saying Partey is doubtful. Have Partey on the bench with the misfiring Auba where Lakonga and AMN should start in MF. Start Eddie with Laca. The back four should have CT as LB with Travares on the bench. Amn can cover LB with CT’s raids into their final third. It’s like Arteta can’t wait to play Partey regardless, so is likely to rush him back early: a trait of Arteta’s, especially with… Read more »
Play Tavares instead of Tierney. His runs will outdo Trent Arnold
Tierney often is found short against Salah.
Tavares has a chance to play like Chriswell against Salah.
You may be right Havyn I looked at the + & – of both, but AMN could cover for either on forward forages.
Tough one to call.
The key is to disrupt their midfield & cutting supply to fullbacks . Brighton did it , Brentford did it and West Ham managed it . Lets see if Mikel has learned it or not.
First the Christmas tree table now wengers favourite the calendar year table!
It’s good to see he’s done better than Pool in that period tho you gotta wonder how much Liverpool were hurt by injuries to half their defense last season. In any case, good record
Surely CC isn’t banned? He was pretty supportive of arteta. That surely gets you protection from Don Pedro round these parts
I just assumed CC had had enough of all the angry negativity on here and couldn’t bare the stench of our urine soaked sheets each day so got out
Bring on the unobtrusive ads, Pedro. You deserve to monetize this BEAST of a website, and yea would be nice to pay your other contributors.
Appreciate the concern you have for what ads will do to the experience but I doubt it’ll be a hindrance. Get that paper
Someone’s gotta pay for those sexy outfits Pedro and it might as well be an advertiser
My suggestion is learn from the underground stream websites – have several windows of very low res but large sized animated gifs of women with blurred out privates which if clicked on link to malware. Then you hide the ‘x’ button somewhere almost invisible (it only appears after 30 seconds anyway) and there are also layers of fake ‘X’ placed elsewhere on the ad which also link to malware
This model appears to make money for streaming sites. You’ve got nothing to lose
Tony, Firstly, we haven’t had a lot of managers. Secondly, Arteta’s win ratio over the first 100 games is better than Wenger’s and the same GG. Thirdly, let’s have a bit of context. He picked up a mess, in a pandemic, with the biggest crook in football as his sporting director. FORTHLY: POOR MANAGEMENT OF HALE-ENDERS? Is this officially the worst take of 2021? ESR and Saka scoring for England? What I truly admire about this cognitive dissonance is that you’ve called Arteta the worst Arsenal manager in living memory AND said in the same post you fancy him beating… Read more »
Zfree, thanks man!
China, just hoping for some good old fashion cialis adverts.
Pedro if Saliba signs a new contract and rejoins us in the summer Arteta wins the youth debate
But let’s not ignore that we lose a generational youth talent Martinelli along the way by the looks of things. Kid was high flying and saved Artetas bacon yet had his legs chopped off from under him by Arteta and looks like a shadow of the same player now
I know easily attainable facts are hard to come by in the age of the internet… but here goes.
Thomas Partey:
PL Minutes Played: 1535
1535/90 (minutes per game) = 17.05
Premier League games available = 38
17.05/38 = 44.8%
Was TP available for the other 55.2% of those minutes? Probs not. Let’s be honest, Arteta made mistakes maxing him out earlier in the season already.
China, I think he wins the youth debate has already been won by having the youngest team in the league. His squad of 24 might be a more important factor than what happens with one player.
Quite spectacular that someone who spent so much energy telling me I was wrong about Arteta being a good coach has now pivoted to a pitty party to Martinelli and Saliba.
Desperate stuff.
Kroenke, yes, yes… we need to remember those first 14 games at all times. Not the context. Not the proceeding games. Not the calendar year performance compared to a top 3 manager. Not the recovery from our terrible start. Not our position in the table right now. Just those 14 games.
Would be interested to know if you behaved like this in your professional life when you were working. Zero patience, lack of forgiveness, a grievance-based assessment of positive results … what a bore.
Good post Pedro.
I am looking forward to a good performance. It will be tough at anfield but I believe arsenal can get a good result there.
I hope Romford and CC are good, it has been a while I have read a post from those two.
Pedro, I give you credit for putting up with these miserable commenters. I won’t name them. I don’t have to. Everyone knows. They don’t realize how it looks to an Arsenal fan with no agenda, to read their comments. It’s so obvious that there’s some personal animus for the man. For example, to harp on every error through 100 games, but give no credit to the man for a fair amount of success, a trophy and guiding young players he helped choose. All after taking over a bloated squad thrown together by Wenger, Emery, Raul, Sven, etc. After wins they… Read more »
Some good counter-points made by Kroenke Phobe and Tony. I came across a chart of pass types attempted by EPL clubs this season ?width=5712&format=png&auto=webp&s=20c9b92fff034f829531f0a652eb8a82f5f494e4 Our team doesn’t excel at any one passing type. Every top 6 club excelled at least one passing style. Even Aston Villa and Leeds United have a wider repertoire of passes than we do and their midfield isn’t exactly world class. When I hear Pedro and other sportswriters describe our playing style as “progressive” and “scintillating”… It all just feels rather forced/OTT and data charts like above suggest exactly why. Other managers are seemingly able to… Read more »
“Pedro.Worst Arsenal manager of all time up until 6 weeks ago”
Says who?
How can a manager who has won a trophy for the club in his first half season be the worst Arsenal manager of all time?
They can’t help it. It’s in their blood
we have a chance if we can manage the puddles and our attackers are fired up..
maybe we will see some surprise goalscorers tomorrow, that would help.
I love the smell of palm sugar in the morning. It means Thai Green Curry that night 😛
Good post Pedro.
Partey being fit is great news. As good as AMN did against Watford, this is a whole different ball game. We need Partey. I still feel like playing the 442 that we have been using is going in to Liverpool’s hands. We need to switch it to a 343. Put Ainsley at RWB and Tavarez at LWB. Take out Aubameyang. More protection and grind out a result. And it would also be exciting to give Tavarez more freedom on the left. He would destroy TAA. This is the game to be cautious for. Not go in to it gung ho… Read more »
On the Ads*
Pedro, Solskjaer has a better “win ratio” than Ferguson over the first 100 games at Man Utd. Yet you’ve never taken him seriously as a coach with elite potential.
Is it also not cognitive dissonance when you you use that same talking point when discussing Arteta?
What makes Mikel this cultured tactician that Ole isn’t?
Ole Gunner win nothing this decade.
I have tried very hard to avoid reacting to the posts of Tony, but those today demonstrate just how stupid he really is. As usual there are sly digs at Pedro and other posters who have different viewpoint to him. Then of course he starts off his first post by stating that he has only bothered to read the opening points made by Pedro before his usual critique. I don’t mind reading someone’s constructive criticisms, but the idea that Arteta is the worst manager or coach appointed by Arsenal is ridiculous. What exactly is the statistical basis of that statement… Read more »
Would be interested to know if you behaved like this in your professional life when you were working Pedro No, of course I didn’t and I don’t in my current post-career businesses either. Pulling punches, personal truth, negotiating and being a man of your word are critical qualities. But football is emotional and matters in a different way. You ought to know that cos you don’t come across as a robot like some do on here. My job as a diplomat for 30 years meant far fucking less than my wish to see Arsenal succeeding near the top of the… Read more »
Nice one Kroenke. I also love the sound of Arsenal stories in the evening.
I want to add one final point.
I spent time several years ago talking to George Graham post Arsenal’s league and cup double.
We discussed amongst other topics the Academy Programmes of Professional Football Clubs. He pointed out that becoming a successful Professional Footballer and particularly with a top Football Club was a “chance in the million”.
That was before the era of global recruitment. Success in recruitment today is still not an
exact science. You are lucky if you recruit one great player every couple of years who make
the grade whether coming through transfer market or from academy.
Nigel, you describe exactly what is in my mind. My English is not that good to write it myself. Nevertheless, some people’s first thought after they wake up seems to be, let’s go on Le Grove and dismantle Arteta… and Pedro. Obsessions or something more serious?
Keep up the good work Pedro. A quiet overseas Arsenal fan, regular Le Grove reader since 2009
Kroenke by the sounds of things it wasn’t only the bed you’ve been wetting but also the dusty mountains of Iran and the jungles of Cambodia!!!
ES
Don’t shoot, it’s joke Friday right?
I bet the great man was thinking. ‘when is this gallous punter gonnae gi it a rest so I can get in that taxi wi TA, Pizza and Bouldy for a massive swally up the west end!’
Kroenkephobe
Actually I met him in Far East [Malaysia] where I was on business and he was on holiday with
his girl friend post a tour of Singapore.
Hi China
No need for bedwetting in the GG and early Wengo eras when we had proper leadership and the club was synonymous with success. But yeah, if Arteta had been around 30 years earlier I’d have had some serious laundry bills from the various ‘Hotel Los Bastardos’ that I rested my sorry head in.
ES
Cool man. Very dry too. Frankly I’m envious – as a former player, and for me our joint best manager alongside Herbert Chapman, I would have loved to have met him. I sometimes still watch that ‘backs to the wall chat’ he gave the team after our 2 point deduction. A proper genius. He had his foibles shall we say, but he put us back on the footballing map in the 80s.
China1
Lololol. For every comment!
Pedro how do you find the time to argue with idiots? Surely the blog is to big for you to read and worry about every comment?
If you look at Arteta’s time as manager and split it into sections , it highlights how certain players being excluded and certain players being included have made a difference to results and performances.. Some of the inclusions have been more through luck than design , mainly due to injuries to his favourite players. The first period was pre covid..league games Played 10 Won 4 Drawn 5 Lost 1 I defeat in 10 was an acceptable start considering the state of the team when he arrived. 2nd period…league games Post covid until Christmas Played 23 Won 8 Drawn 3 Lost… Read more »
Guem
On the contrary mate. Your English is really good. You should contribute more if you get the time. It’s really good to hear what other Gooners think, especially if they’re in other parts of the world. Hoping to see you get fully on board.
Pierre Tomorrow will tell us a lot about the manager and the players …a real test that i hope they come through. . Games immediately following an International breaks are particularly difficult for clubs that have seen a chunk of their first team squad travel near and far away from the comfort of their home club and indeed the luxury of two weeks coaching and rest that afforded to those clubs that don’t have a gaggle or so of International performers. Playing Liverpool in London would have been far more beneficial but having to travel up north today further restricted… Read more »
K’Phobe you’re our own crocodile Cardiff. Just thought the character we see here probably had not so much to do with accounting; counting bodies maybe. Kudos to you. Genuinely mean that. Looking forward to hearing your Spanish escapades in the future and more accurate Arsenal views. My son was sitting next to me in my office as I was reading LG. He asked what was I going to write about and I thought I’d go with Joke Friday with some Bantz ala Pierre and baited a few hooks. Did all right by the look of it comments has been flowing… Read more »
Pierre
Your post is part of a general theme that Arteta only discovers young players due to injury of senior players
Ever thought that he might be constantly watching them in training and assessing their preparedness for first team football, which is a huge step up for most players?
Give him some credit. Injuries might accelerate the decision but they don’t create situations that wouldn’t otherwise have happened ESR would have made it by the end of last season – it was just a question of timing
William dollar baby. “Pedro how do you find the time to argue with idiots? Surely the blog is to big for you to read and worry about every comment?” The thing is , Pedro spent years cultivating a negative viewpoint on Le Grove during the last ten years of Wenger’s rein, unfairly i would say as wenger never had the finances being afforded to Arteta, wenger qualified for champions league 18 out of 20 seasons, Wenger never finished below 6th and wenger never had us playing such boring, insipid football with a total lack of creativity in all areas of… Read more »
Kroenkephoebe George Graham was a very successful and methodical manager at Arsenal. The style we played under his management was diametrically opposite to how he performed as a player. He was a flamboyant player. The context of my discussion with him revolved around football academies. My son who was a decent footballer and athlete had spent time at a FA Camp at Lilleshall [the forerunner of the current FA Centre]. He had been recommended by the coaches to attend a Football Academy [Centre of Excellence]. However, George Graham made it crystal clear that anyone who was academic and likely to… Read more »
Northbanker “ESR would have made it by the end of last season – it was just a question of timing” Maybe , maybe not…i can remember there was talk of him going back out on loan in january as he was not good enough for the first team. Giving players the opportunity to shine is the only way we will know if they are good enough, who would have known that Tavares would be so impressive without the injury to Tierney .. Sadly , Eddie hasnt been given opportunities to shine in the league and it may be one that… Read more »
Kroenke, I have unforgettable memories of travelling with a SW radio, desperately trying to get a signal to find out the Arsenal score, just after the regular news. Was in Quito for Anfield 89 for example.: “There’s been an unforgettable night in Anfield. Here are the highlights of the game……” On with the Arsenal shirt out the door…..
You a ‘65 baby too?
Genuinely sorry Pedro if I took the joke too far.
You’re far too smart to employ fear tactics and non-negotiables as part of your management. , as Arteta did/ does, but it has been deadly boring this international break, so I thought ……………
ES comedy gold mate. Get a sense of humour, costs nothing.
Time out for me.
“They can’t help it. It’s in their blood”
Tee, on the contrary, it might surprise you to find that folks who are more critical of Arteta now, were once very supportive when he joined. Myself included. You’d have been very hard pressed to find many people who weren’t willing to at least give him a chance. Especially as an ex-player..
Pierre, I’m sure you’d agree that it’s always been the case that young players often get their opportunities when older, more established players get injured. Th point surely is that they’re there ready to step up. Nketiah has been unfortunate in the sense that he was injured early in the season and since then PEA and Laca have remained available,
It’s just that after 1 year plus, when you take off the Arsenal-tinted lenses and observe other clubs/coaches/leagues, your perspective eventually changes. You start asking questions you didn’t before like: Is Arteta really that special or we just telling ourselves that? – Similar triumphs have already been done in debut seasons by former rookies like di Matteo, Gullit, Martinez, Mourinho, Villas Boas. Most of these guys didn’t exactly set the world alight after. Has there been substantial progress since the FA Cup? – As is often said, Arteta inherited a difficult situation. But what of other examples of coaches who… Read more »
Pedro I’m not desperately all I’m saying I have a feeling we’ll beat pool and we’re on really good form
But letting Saliba slip away would be a massive mistake when he’s already our player. Likewise if martinelli gets fed up and ends up having a Gnabry career there will be a whole lot of I told you sos incoming
My one regret as an Arsenal Supporter is that I missed the game when Arsenal beat Liverpool at Anfield and Mickey Thomas scored in last minute and we won league title. That game ended Liverpool’s domination of English Football. Otherwise I have been fortunate to have watched most of Arsenal’s major successes since the 1950s including the game between Arsenal and Man Utd’s Busby Babes before Munich and Arsenal’s victory at White Hart Lane when we beat them to win league title and then won FA Cup to secure our first double. Arsenal like most of our major competitors have… Read more »
“I know easily attainable facts are hard to come by in the age of the internet… but here goes. Thomas Partey: PL Minutes Played: 1535 1535/90 (minutes per game) = 17.05 Premier League games available = 38 17.05/38 = 44.8%” Pedro, are you sure you work in advertising and not for one of those accounting firms that cooked books for Enron? Partey played a total 2100 minutes for Arsenal last season including cup games. Unless you expect a fit Partey to give Arsenal 3000 PL minutes( will never happen) on top of his cup games, then I don’t see the… Read more »
Hi Tony Crocodile Cardiff. Nice one (although I’m actually 100 miles west of the capital). I think my catchphrase might have been, ‘call that a letter opener? ‘ rather than mick dundee’s version! Talking of the ‘diff, I’m taking K’ phobe junior and two of his mates up to Deepdale tomorrow in hope of seeing the Bluebirds beat PNE (the other invincible s). My first time there – looks a great ground and a team steeped in history). Everyone getting their prayer mats out for us tmrw at Anfield, please say a prayer for Cardiff too! Three 16 year olds… Read more »
Don’t shoot the messenger particularly as I’ve looked this up on Untold – in reality Arteta over Arsenal’s first 100 games is only trailing Wenger and Graham and not by much. Graham was still 2 points for a win so his draw levels are higher . Wenger actually won less The f up was giving Arteta management control when they did . Since he’s built up experience generally there appears to be a gradual incline The thoughts that Arteta is Arsenal’s worst ever manager are simply wide of the mark . The lack of player rumbling would also support that… Read more »
ES Interesting read that. I hope your son nevertheless hugely enjoyed his football. I’m not sure that academic attainment and football prowess are mutually exclusive. They certainly shouldn’t be of course but I think the professional football system in the UK works against kids by compelling them to be into football at the cost of other pursuits. I’d imagine it’s slightly less blinkered in Germany and the US where the college system appears to be an important gateway into the game. Le Saux, Coppell, Tony Galvin and Patrick Bamford are all too rare exceptions here although the latter gave up… Read more »
Tony
You are not remotely funny. Frankly you are a “sad case”.
Would love to see Tavares handle salah this time around!
I would also like to see arsenal put up a real fight for 90 maybe like brighton did since Arteta and Potter’s style have many similarities. fingures crossed.
Markymark, don’t mention the “strength” of Arsenal’s Europa League group last season that gave Arteta 6 easy wins to beef up his first 100 games win % whatever you do, or you’ll be called out by the ever vigilant Nigel T as a hater.
I suppose when Harry Kane hangs up his boots having broken England’s national team top scoring records, while banging in a dozen or more against San Marino and Andora , our Nigel here will defend his record against Kane haters.
Interesting podcast on the value of not specialising too heavily, example of footballers benefitting from other interests apart from football.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0011549
Bob I wouldn’t disagree with that , though this season has shown that if a manager is brave enough to give younger players a chance they may reap the benefit.. Arteta could easily have left Ramsdale, white and Tomiyasu on the bench to ease them in , but it is proving the right decision to put them straight in and add tavares and lakonga to the equation and you have team of technique, pace and energy and although some on here continue to worry about our lack of experience, for me it’s not a problem as they are gaining invaluable… Read more »
My plea is that Arteta don’t play Tierney else we’re toast. Seems Salah and Trent Arnold knows Tierney game so much so that he gets destroyed anytime we play Pool.
My choice is Tavares
Kroenkephobe The professional football game has changed dramatically over last 20 years. Today there are a growing number of schoolboys who attend private schools who are attached to Professional Football Academies. Frank Lampard attended Brentwood School and several players at Chelsea attend[ed] Whitgift School. Currently Arsenal have close links with Aldenham School where Patino was educated. A growing number of professional footballers are academic and have even studied for degrees at University. Bergkamp took an Engineering Degree at Bath, Lehmann studied economics at Munster University and Vincent Kompany has a MBA from Warwick University. Historically most privately educated pupils did… Read more »
ES
I wholeheartedly agree mate! Public, private, independent or whatever they want to call themselves as schools are a scourge and the first rung in the ladder of social inequality that has been fucking Britain for centuries. We’re chronically held back by fee paying schools. Cameron and Bojo are prime examples of the awfulness of the system. And they have the balls to talk about levelling up. Good job there’s still people fighting the system eh? So glad we’re on the same page on this important issue. 😉
Ps your prediction for tomorrow?
People under estimating Tierney is a real surprise to me. Tavarez has done well and he will be great competition for Tierney. But he hasn’t been tested yet. He is yet to face a top winger. Salah and TAA is as hard as they come. And as much as I love ESR and Saka they don’t protect their fullbacks at all times. I am all for Tavarez starting but he needs protection. Playing him as a winback with 3 behind him and Partey Sambi and AMN beside him will give him the freedom to play. But if it was a… Read more »
Hooray ESR and Saka both scored against the worst international side in the world.
Context needed here.
All spin now
Tierny is often found short against Salah ……yep that’s what I was thinking and he also seems to let far to many crosses come in from Arnold that’s why I would stick with Nunno for this one a bigger more physical presence and just as quick if not quicker and AMN for me as well for Lokonga who tends to loose the ball in very dangerous positions once or twice in a game and against the scousers that could be very costly
Kroenke – 6 months older than me = 6 months wiser?
It’s unlikely that Arteta will play a different formation but as Rich mentioned yesterday,
White- Gabriel- KT
AMN – Sambi- Partey -Nuno
Saka – PEA/Laca – ESR
would certainly give TAA and Robertson something to think about!
I think we’ll pretty much have the same team and formation, with the biggest decision over LB. Partey in obviously.
Spanishdave,
Although the opposition was shite, do you not think ESR and Saka(and Ramsdale) won’t be walking a little bit taller from their experience of playing for the national team?
Bob
Tomi can’t be dropped. Take out Tierney and move both white and Gabriel to the left. We can also use Tierney as the LWB and Nuno as the RWB by dropping AMN considering Nuno is two footed.
Tomorrow’s game will be difficult for us.
Liverpool will come out of the block at 100 mph. We don’t have a great track record against
them at Anfield since Klopp arrived.
However, I do think that we might have a chance of a draw and that will be a good result. We
are now a difficult team to beat with a stable and well organised defence which is conceding
few goals.
Pedro
do what you have to keep this site going. Ads or not, this site is amazing. Keep up the good work. There are many posters who dont agree with you, but they do give you traffic :P.
Bob, it’s individualistic, what works for some, won’t work for others, there’s no one size fits all. A talent is usually just a repetitive thought pattern, it’s why young people who go through early trauma, sometimes go on to do great things, what starts out as escapism, can often develop into either very good, or very bad repetitive thought patterns The earlier you imprint a set of skills on a young brain, the more chance it becomes muscle memory, and those skills become second nature Think about making a drink of water, or driving, you don’t really need to think… Read more »
Nice of Tony to provide a list of the” Bedwetters”.But we all know who the hardcore are.Oh. & Tom ,other Arsenal managers never had any easy runs in their 1st 100 games to beef up their statistics? Talk about clutching at any straw you can find.lol!
I am not sure that Partey and Tierney will start tomorrow’s game. They may sit on bench.
Partey has not played a competitive game for three weeks and Tierney has only started
playing competitive football with Scotland after several weeks out injured.
Shit Habesha, forgot about Tomy! He could come into the back 3 instead of KT and take your pick over KT and Nuno as LWB.
IAT RObbie
There are. Lies
Damn lies
and. There are Statistics
That’s to advertise your protégée
You can only beat what’s in front of you
Beat San Marino 2-0 and it’s nothing to talk about but 10-0 is an achievement. How many 10-0s have they taken lately?
Rich, Obviously one size doesn’t fit all. The most skilful, dedicated, physically robust make it but they are the minority, With academy players, there is a real likelihood that they won’t make it as professionals, that’s why it’s almost as important to prepare for a life outside football as their footballing development. Overcoming the challenge of seeing your dreams get shattered by being released, isn’t going to be straightforward, if you can see a decent life path afterwards then the adversity you’ve overcome can be turned into a positive. I’m happy to hear BFG talking holistically about the academy players… Read more »
” The team is doing well in spite of Arteta.” such a pathetic line..
Kroenke I bet you’ve had a really interesting life to date considering your career as a diplomat
What was the best bit? You are retired now or just changed career?
Bob, no club in this country has got more young players into the professional game than Arsenal That’s something the club can be very proud of, I’d never want us to become a chequebook club, or to employ a chequebook manager It’s not just about getting players into our first team, but helping young people into the professional game, and that inevitably means we’ll have to cut some serious talent loose, rather than stalling careers, and stockpiling talent we don’t have room to accommodate The level of talent coming through in this country, is like nothing I’ve seen before, and… Read more »
Rich, super league status would potentially attract the best young players, even more than being a top 6 club does now. That said, I guess it could work the other way and young players might feel that they’d get more game time somewhere else.
If you’re right about the talent supply then having a top manager will be even more important.
Whichever formation we are going for,we must go in with believe that we can get a result…..if we defer to them,we gonna take in basketful of goals.Ramsdale’s distribution must be on point,that’s a very powerful weapon for us and the debate of the left side goes on, but I would rather not change anything from the hybrid 442 that has served us so well…. but if Auba is not 100% fit, let’s use the opportunity to play both Tierney and Tavares, keeping Auba till second half.
If we have at them,the worst that could happen is a marginal loss,