Arsenal kept up the pressure on the top 4 in the Premier League with a win that was impressive for very specific reasons mostly based around character.
We were battered by Liverpool away from home last week. Forgivable, considering how good they are, but still a shock to the system after a very impressive unbeaten run. Historically, even with our greatest teams, we’ve been bang average at dealing with adversity. After our invincible season, United ended our 49 game unbeaten run, and we did not recover for a while. Unai Emery went 22 games unbeaten and never recovered. What would happen against Newcastle with a new manager bounce?
A bit of a rough early start, that’s what happened.
Again, for those of you new to Arsenal and English football, early kick-offs have never been our thing. Firstly, the atmosphere in the stadium is usually muted. Why? It’s cold in late November, people are a bit hungover, the beers aren’t exactly flowing at that time… and it seems to affect our players. Is this an Arteta thing? No. It’s in our DNA.
Our first half was absolute control from a possession perspective, but the start was slow, the chance creation wasn’t great, and a few of our players were having stinkers. We created two big chances, but out of our 12 attempts on goal, 7 fell to Nuno and Tomi. They didn’t make great work of their possession. We were also fortunate that Ramsdale is just so fu*king ace at his job, he dropped a worldie to keep out a long range Jonjo Shelby effort. We had the best chance of the game, Auba missing from a yard after ESR had his header saved.
It was also notable that our sluggish start wasn’t exactly aided by Newcastle players overly dramatizing every ‘incident’ by pretending it was serious.
The second half needed a rethink. Nuno Tavares wasn’t delivering with his final ball, Odegaard was off, ESR and Saka weren’t really present and Auba had a horror show.
The boys delivered the second half we deserved. Saka is starting to develop that rare skill of being able to take the game by the scruff of the neck and force it. He made great work out on the right early on, cutting in and shooting low to force a good save.
The energy was better, our passing sped up, and we were more ambitious with our movement.
The opener was a thing of beauty. Tavares was central to a 16 pass move that ended with the left back cushioning a pass into Saka who leathered his tight angled shot into the bottom corner. A thing of beauty.
Nuno stepped up with a great shoulder barge to stop Callum Wilson when he was through on goal. Some sketchy decision making from Ramsdale there, it looked like the move was to go for the sweeper keeper move.
Disaster struck when Saka had to exit the pitch after a knock. It looked like he hurt his hip, hopefully, it’s nothing too serious. Gabriel Martinelli was gifted 30 minutes to show the manager what he was all about. Big young players take their chances. Small ones melt. Who was going to show up?
The big player. Ben White fed Tomi out on the right, the Japanese powerhouse fed a looping ball into the run of Gabriel, he VOLLEYED a lobbed his shot over the Newcastle keeper.
WHAT
A
GOAL
Both our new full backs delivering beautiful assists. However, I need to be absolutely clear, Gabriel owned 80% of that goal, that finish was OUTRAGEOUS.
We dominated from an attacking perspective from then on in. The game was controlled. We had 23 shots on goal, we had 16 on target. The game finished without any drama.
Just to get back on Gabriel, his energy and clever runs just gave us a dimension we don’t have with Auba. That was a little glimpse into the future when we have a full front three of players that can operate that way. The clinical edge might not be there, but we’ll be having more cracks at goal.
That keeps us in 5th this weekend, possibly joint 4th if West Ham drop points. It adds another clean sheet to our record. It moves us into a better xG position, it stops all the ‘big chance’ perverts from skewing the narrative this week because we created 6 of them. It keeps the arsonists and their drossy opinions at bay, and yes, we saw them calling for a sacking before halftime. Truly grim support.
We should give some props to Mikel Arteta. He could have dropped Tavares for Tierney, but he gave him the benefit of the doubt, and rewarded him for his season, versus punishing him for one game. The Portuguese earned my MoTM. His mistake sucked the air out of the Liverpool game. His first half wasn’t up to Premier League standards. But he kept on fighting and delivered a powerful message for Thursday. I’m so impressed with how exhausting he is to play against. His heat map must have been outrageous. He was just as problematic from the left as he was operating in the pockets in their final third. Remember when an injury to Tierney was curtains for us last season?
Sambi Lokonga was also another big shout. He didn’t have his best game against Liverpool, plenty were questioning if he should start this game with AMN playing well. Arteta ignored the calls and what a masterclass he delivered. He looked like a seasoned pro, not a 21 year old 3 months into his first Premier League season. 93% pass completion. He created 6 chances. He was central to everything good. I can’t wait to see the comps of his game when they flow out later… inject that floated bit of genius to Saka into MY EYES.
Newcastle haven’t won all season. This game doesn’t mean we’re going to make the top 4 this season. But, as anyone seasoned will know… if you want to be in with a shout, winning games like Newcastle are hugely important. They are the sort of games we were losing last season. The narrative is slowly shifting. We’re decent. When there are issues, you can see that the coaching staff try to address them. We’re progressing week to week.
That win was special for reasons of character. When there’s belief on the training ground, you can see it on the pitch. No one dropped their head today. No one gave up. 3 points were taken. We head into a tough United game on Thursday with a bit of momentum. Harping on historical references again, November was usually a very dark month for us. So to come out of it with such a decent record is really pleasing.
Back to the shots per game. We had 23 attempts at the Newcastle goal today. That takes us over the whole season to 14 attempts per game, above West Ham, into 6th. If you remove the top 3 teams, we’re at 17 shots per game. In the table splicing, this group of players, since the international break have accrued the 2nd most points, scored the same as City (until tomorrow) and have the 3rd best defensive record over 10 games. Only one team can win this weekend and have more points than us, that’s Chelsea.
Chelsea vs United
City vs West Ham
It was a GOOD weekend to win the first game of the day.
Now we have to make December count. 17 more points are there for the taking out of Phase 4 of the season. Let’s see what this young team has.
Finally: A STATISTIC
#Arsenal have named a starting XI with an average age of 24 & under for 10 consecutive league matches for the first time since December 1987 – December 1988 (a run of 36 on that occasion). Don’t think that team went on to achieve much.
— Harvey Downes (@HarveyDownes92) November 27, 2021
The George Graham parallels don’t stop, do they?
If you want to listen or watch our On The Whistle SPECIAL. Check out the links below.
Tom There were several dismissive of him along those lines, and many who offered up Lewis Dunk as the superior player. Or even that Brighton didn’t have to replace White which spoke to ‘how much they rate him’ type talk. Point is the desperation to shit on players coming in is something I find pretty ridiculous given what this space is meant to represent and be about. Have your own views of what’s required by all means, I certainly have and they weren’t what transpired in the summer, but going out your way to talk down players yet to boot… Read more »
Rich
Good comment-think Italy might suit Pepe’s game too.
The Pepe fan club have gone ice cold on him now, guess a decent RB wasn’t holding him back any after all.
Need to flog him asap, Sterling would be a great replacement if we could get a reasonable deal.
Pedro, in fairness, 23 shots is as close to a proper rinsing as you’ll get without the extra goals. 3 points was so important today. I can’t tell you how excited i am about Martinelli. I hope it’s a big turning point for him. I know Auba’s the captain, but even he’ll have to accept his demotion if Martinelli starts to hit his potential.
White and Gabriel look a good centre back pairing , Tomiyasu and Tavares look good full backs with speed , energy, height and good recovery pace , Ramsdale looks a good keeper, partey and lakonga look a solid midfield….They all pass the eye test…..They have conceded on average over 17 shots per game in our 6 away games. From January until the end of last season we had Leno, Holding , Mari, Bellerin, Tierney as our most secure back 4, although they didn’t play every game together….our defence conceded over 10 shots per game in the 11 games from Jan… Read more »
“had a quick Google and was pleased to see it’s just a game…”
Don’t be coy, lad. You play it.
Pity we sold Willock or our goals would be through the roof, how many is that now for Newcastle for Ramsey Jr?
It was understandable why questions were asked about Ramsdale, Arteta’s record regarding buying and selling keepers hardly filled any Arsenal fan with confidence…talking about the sale of martinez and the signing of Runnarsson.. Looks like he made it 3rd time lucky with Ramsdale and Ramsdale besides being a very good keeper is also a likeable character. One of the criticisms of Arteta previously is that he was very quick to freeze a player out after a poor performance. It looks like he is learning , to select lakonga and Tavares after the Liverpool game was good management and he was… Read more »
6 away games? Brentford away …………,.Leno ……White Mari Chambers …Tierney City away: …………………………Leno ….Chambers Holding Kolasinac Cedric………………………………..Tierney Technically it’s 4 away games Tomiyasu had been in the country 48 hours before starting against Norwich Gabriel had no pre-season, then was thrown in against Norwich Tavares is 21, he’d played less than 50 games before coming to Arsenal We’ve been playing 5-6 new players in our starting lineup, we’ve got the youngest back 5, the youngest centre back pairing,, and the youngest team in the league You can’t just blame the defence for giving up shots, building cohesion takes time, and… Read more »
Charlie
Willock…8 goals in 20 Starts for Newcastle.
Not bad for a central midfielder , certainly more than the whole of our centre m midfielders put together .
Of course this season he is playing a more DEFENSIVE role for the TEAM….hence why he is in the top 7 for tackles made in the premier league all positions.
He’ll be back on the scoresheet soon , of that I have no doubt …he’s a natural in front of goal
Rich
“Brentford away
…………,.Leno
……White Mari
Chambers …Tierney”
Will just point out that Brentford away , we only conceded 8 shots on goal , which is over 9 fewer than the season’s average away from home.
Spudnik, yeah, Martinelli really made a statement today. That was an iconic goal… same sort of wow you’d get with a Henry goal. Hopefully its the start of something special.
Pierre,
New defence has played 10 games together. They concede 12.4 shots per game, 4.3 on target. 6 clean sheets. One walloping. Pretty decent for the youngest group of defenders in the league playing behind a 21 year old in his first season in the Premier League.
Your numbers are still skewered Shots against doesn’t really mean anything, because it doesn’t take into account of the quality of those shots, or take into account the flow of the game Brighton dominated us, but we restricted them to little, 21 shots, only 2 on goal, Smith Rowe had by far the best chance of the game Burnley 18 shots, 3 on target, we restricted them to little Leicester caused us issues, but 0-2 down at home, the flow of the game was likely to go the way it did, we’re not at the stage where we can dominate… Read more »
Oh Pierre, Pablo Mari was absolutely shocking in that game. He was dropped for Kola in the next game. He was so bad, he couldn’t get into a back 5 against City… and Kola could.
This reads very much like you are trying to painfully rescue your shocking opinion at the start of the season that Pablo Mari and Rob Holding were out best two centre backs.
Come on… surely not?
Rich
I am not criticising our defensive players , as I said , they all pass the eye test and I have said previously that a fair argument as to why they are conceding so many shots is due to their limited time together..
Its a settled defence and central midfield now so I would expect them not to rely on Ramsdale so much.
If the defence is a a good as we hope , then they should go from strength to strength which would be perfect, as I said fewer turnovers equals fewer chances conceded.
Or I suppose the all important question- is going to be fit and available for the trip up to Old Trafford?
I’m hope that goal helps Saka on an another streak of form.
He is brilliant player, always works hard and has a brilliant attitude but in terms of assists and goals he’s very much a player who goes on streaks…
Really hope he’s ok!
Leeds, hopefully it was just a precaution. Would be gutted to see him out for such a big game.
Pedro
“Pierre,New defence has played 10 games together. They concede 12.4 shots per game,”
home form fine.
I am only talking about conceding so many chances away from home and hope to see an improvement against United and everon.
Allowing teams like Brighton and Burnley 20 odd chances per game may be ok as their strikers are shit , if we allow Ronaldo and calvani those sort of chances , I think we know how it will end up .
Watching Brighton v. Leeds highlights on MOTD… that boy Lamptey would be a great fit for us.
Plus Benny Blanco and Lamptey were teammates so they understand each other. He would provide quality competition and cover for Tomi…
Sell Chambers and Cedric to make room for him and bring him in!
Rich “Shots against doesn’t really mean anything, because it doesn’t take into account of the quality of those shots, or take into account the flow of the gameBrighton dominated us, but we restricted them to little, 21 shots, only 2 on goal, Smith Rowe had by far the best chance of the gameBurnley 18 shots, 3 on target, we restricted them to littleLeicester caused us issues, but 0-2 down at home, the flow of the game was likely to go the way it did, we’re not at the stage where we can dominate these types of games for 90 minutes… Read more »
For me, the fact that Martinelli was brought in in place of Saka spoke volumes.
I reckon he’s off.
Newcastle, I suspect might put a cheeky loan bid for him with perhaps a £20m obligation to buy at the end – and as long as they survive relegation I can see Pepe going there and doing well. Newcastle play a counter attacking football and it will fit him well.
Leeds, Martinelli isn’t going anywhere.
Correction..Liverpool 19 shots at goal
10 on target.
Pedro
I meant to say Pepe was off, not Martinelli… oops!
Leeds, I was wondering what you meant!
Yeah, very true. He’s just not cut out for Arsenal. It’s a shame, but hey, Gervinho wasn’t either and he made a good career of it in Serie A. So did Mikhi. Can’t say he didn’t get a chance, can we?
Restricting a team to taking multiple 25 yard pop shots, doesn’t count as a good chances, because the % of those shots that lead to a goal are very small
Today Newcastle had 9 shots, 5 on target
Other than Ramsdale’s save from Shelvey,, the other 13 chances didn’t trouble us
It was a similar story against Burnley + Brighton, who were left to take pot shots from distance
“For me, the fact that Martinelli was brought in in place of Saka spoke volumes… where was Pepe? Why wasn’t Pepe brought on?”
That was what I meant to say…
Pleased for Martinelli, I hope it will be the catalyst to help him back to his explosive best.
Perhaps Ramsdale could convince Arsenal FC to sell a brand of meat pie at half time named “Humble Pies”. He would make a killing. 😂😂😂
I was utterly wrong about him! Looks like the best £30m spent by AFC since Mad Jens’ departure!
How did Auba MISS THAT?!?
Ramsdale looks like a 70m keeper
Great game from almost the whole team and manager. Auba was the only stinker, ode wasn’t great. Everyone else varied between good and excellent.
Exactly what the doctor ordered
Sell Pepe and get some real competition for Saka/ESR please
Yeah we restricted Newcastle to have fuck all chances. We can talk about Saka and martinelli and the goals etc etc but you have to appreciate that when the opposition get zero chances you’ve done something really well at the back
Tomi and nuno were awesome yesterday
Nuno is raw as fuck but he’s so hard to play against it’s almost comical. He just sprints for 90 mins. His passing is usually quite decent (shooting not so) but he’s so explosive. Every time he gets the ball you can see the opposition cringe because they have to brace for it lol
Pedro, I disagree about our defenders getting a walloping against Liverpool…. meaning, the first set piece goal was basically undefendable, even Gabriel couldn’t do it. No fault in it. The other goals were young players Sambi and Nuno handing the ball to Pool right into our box and then doing the same again when trying to make up for it. I saw White, Gabs, and Aaron virtually blameless for the scoreline. I love to see the appreciation White is getting here now. I’d just ask gooners to stick with him when he eventually screws up as all players occasionally do.… Read more »
China
It could have been easily a 5-0 rout for us if ESR’s headed attempt wasn’t expertly saved;
Auba scored his tap in and;
The referee did his job and awarded a penalty for that awful deliberate head shove on Martinelli at the end.
Pleased we kept going until the final whistle.
True Leeds
We really do need to sort out the CF position. CF, depth on the wing and depth at CM. These are the question marks I have right now.
Interesting article on Mavrapanos. https://www-forbes-com.cdn.ampproject.org/v/s/www.forbes.com/sites/marieschulte-bockum/2021/10/31/arsenals-worst-mistake-since-gnabry-loan-army-star-mavropanos-has-4m-exit-clause/amp/?amp_js_v=a6&_gsa=1&usqp=mq331AQKKAFQArABIIACAw%3D%3D#aoh=16380656560573&referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com&_tf=From%20%251%24s&share=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.forbes.com%2Fsites%2Fmarieschulte-bockum%2F2021%2F10%2F31%2Farsenals-worst-mistake-since-gnabry-loan-army-star-mavropanos-has-4m-exit-clause%2F
Do we have no recourse to bring him back to Arsenal? This young CB is ripping it up in Germany? How do we scout our own prospects so poorly?
Great win last night.
Don’t know why people are attacking the posters that were against the white buy.
He is a decent player and had a good game but for 50m, I expected someone to show up against the bigger teams, ala pool last weekend.
Odegaard reminds me of the pepe debacle, with some posters saying he’ll come good, while others saying he won’t bear fruit.
In 2 seasons, when he will be 24, I’m sure most of the posters here will be demanding he be sold. Quality like pepe but never going to make it
“Think it’s clear Ben White is a fantastic footballer,
Guess our eyes are different White is a decent 30m footballer. Saliba not holding was who we touted as White’s equal and who we wanted instead of White so £50m could be spent on midfield. Gabs is the better defender especially aerially.
At least get the facts right, Charlie.
Let’s not get too excited we beat Newcastle bottom club without who look destined for relegation. First half we were nullified wit 2 shots on goal with 80% of the possession. It was handbrake football going nowhere against the bottom club. Why because Arteta got his selection wrong again. No way Auba should have played on his goals ration for this season. Ditto Laca. Martinelli should have started but Arteta now dislikes the player because he wants more game time or will leave. Arteta and his yes me yet again. No way Ode should have started on his display, although… Read more »
“Pity we sold Willock or our goals would be through the roof, how many is that now for Newcastle for Ramsey Jr?”
Charlie looking for a fight and no one wants to play with bringing up past points. I mean Willlock has just undergone a club takeover and new manager, at what 22?
TA not ripping it up at Roma. 3 league goals in 13 games in a lesser league. 4 EL goals against minnows in an even lesser league Arteta couldn’t get us into..
Similar to Auba and Laca’s poor records this season.
Good job we didn’t buy him like Arteta wanted.
We are going to have to up our game with the right team selection unlike at Pool and against Newcastle.
Can Arteta beat Manure again away? After the last 2 performances?
It will depend on Arteta’s selection and tactics for me.
Forget RR for now Manure at OT will always be a difficult game, as it is for other teams.
.
Hope the win has distanced the GF blues a little, Gons.
Haha I was watching live on my phone in bed (1130pm kickoff, one of the better times to watch in Aus) and fell asleep during half time. Watched the 2nd half as live when I woke up. A completely different side in the 2nd half. I seriously love Sambi. What a ball through to Saka over top (I think first half). That is absolute quality vision and execution from the youngster. He loves moving the ball forwards and is great at passing quickly through the lines. Also was finding Tomi out wide quite often with some tidy long balls too.… Read more »
Gons, you know there is only one way to move forward from that right 😉😉, and I don’t think there’s a “too soon” moment unless you want to get back with your ex haha.
Brownie, None of Sven Misnlintat’s players are worth anything. None of them. He’s a snake oil salesman. A bull-shit-aaaaaaaa.
Clowns here still talking about Ben Whites price.
How people like this actually watch the games and don’t understand what’s really happening on the pitch is amazing. It’s not a football IQ, it’s general IQ that holds these mediocre intellects back in life.
Leeds right that we could’ve had either a better directed headed goal from Emile or Aubas missed tap in……The Martinelli play is so simple. Anywhere on the pitch that is obviously a foul given 100 out of 100 times.
A clear foul in the box is a penalty. No debate or interpretation matters.
Nigel clowns still thinking otherwise.
Never mind we move on. One person’s POV is another’s poison and all that.
Now starts silly season and the mini-me Pedro’s creep out their caves to pour scorn on constructive criticism on a game we we all happy to win.
Time to go and leave it to the trolls.
Spudnik if you read the article, his performance speaks for itself. Even if you don’t respect Svem M’s ability to scout players, even a blind squirrel finds a nut occasionally
Arteta has done spectacularly well at recruiting. That I give him a 100% credit for. And now he is getting some good form out of them. I really think Top 4 is within our capabilities if we keep the clean sheets. Our attack though needs some help. We aren’t scoring enough so far. But it will come with confidence growing. So far in the investments, Gabriel, Ramsdale, Tomiyasu, Tavarez all have been steals for the money we paid. White, Sambi, Partey all are on par with the money we have paid. Now we need attackers. Tammy Abraham wasn’t a miss.… Read more »
Excellent 2nd half from the boys. I hope Arteta sticks with Lokonga and Partey going forward providing they stay fit
Habesha
If you’re interested see my comments on Isak yesterday.
Isak and Odegaard were teammates at Real Sociedad where they had a both great season.
As I said, I would not be surprised at all if we have plans afoot to bring him in. I would love it to be this winter (with Laca going the other way?) but more realistically in the summer.
*where they both had an excellent season…
Leedsgunner
Isak and Raphina would be dream summer .
Great showing from the boys especially saka and ESR to take the game and make something out of nothing. Gabi coming on scoring such a peach just made my day.
Not much trolls on this post I see. Its pathetic how they all come out when we lose. Some fans…
The only reason people say they’re “unconvinced” by White and still unhappy with Arteta .. is because they were so vocal and over the top with their proclamations of criticism here in hundreds of comments, that they can’t back off them, for feeling foolish. Don’t be embarrassed. It’s understandable… it’s human nature. Like greed, jealousy, etc. The good posters have no record of hating on our guys to hide, so we can just enjoy what the team is doing, without reservation or regret. Pedro, who is actually balanced and fair, is naturally positive with so many successes to point out… Read more »
I feel Tavares is going to give Arteta a real selection headache (obviously the kind of ‘problems’ we want to have)
He has massive potential, needs to work on passing and shooting but he has brilliant raw and physical attributes. Is it fair to say at this stage that Tierney needs to bide his time to get back into the team? Are we seeing another Silvinho/Ashley Cole scenario? (I know the former had registration issues)
The best thing is we have two excellent left backs which is a world away from where we were this time last year.
Been sleep woken up and Nigel still moaning 😂😂😂
Raphina and Ishak Yes Leeds Would love them at Arsenal.
Let’s be clear Arsenal are not a great team, but it is a young side with potential. At the start of the season and particularly after the first three games our expectations were very low. Three losses, nine goals conceded and none scored. This included a 2-0 defeat to Brentford a team who had just been promoted and prime candidates to be relegated. Many posters were hollering for Arteta to be sacked immediately and were suggesting that Arsenal could be relegated. The more moderate posters like myself suggested that Arteta had 10 games this season to sort out the mess… Read more »
As I said yesterday you can only beat what’s put in front of you. Newcastle are truly dreadful their team is full very average players bar a couple who are ok ish. They probably will be well adrift by the time reinforcements arrive I do worry about the gaps that seem to be pre planned between the two centre backs likewise I do question the sense in playing the two full backs so far advanced in a four. A decent team would exploit the gaps but Newcastle aren’t a decent team.At times Gabriel was one on one with Wilson had… Read more »
Personally, it makes no difference to me how much we pay for a player or how much they are paid, It’s how they perform on the pitch is all that matters. Le grove has a history of complaining about players wages and transfer fees and judge them on how much they are costing the club, which to me is pointless. Aubamayang on 250 grand a week struggling in front of goal , is no different to a striker on 20 grand a week struggling in front of goal….both have the same affect on the team. A shit keeper is a… Read more »
ES If that is achievable then I see no reason why we cannot close the gap on the top three. Liverpool in particular is a team, which is not getting younger. Several of their best players are in their 30s. It will be extremely interesting to see how Liverpool approach their squad rebuild which is fast approaching. They will be ok ish for probably this and next season but they are going to have to either promote academy products or buy big. From what I read they have a few gems that are very close to PL ready. Other than… Read more »
Pierre
We are now in a situation where our owners know they have to put their hands in their pocket to compete in the premier league , they can’t rely on the expertise of Wenger anymore and they are now doing what they should have done 10/15 years ago.
Not quite sure about the Wenger point but I do wonder if the owners will be able to or indeed willing to inject more capital.
Yep Kronke is wealthy but he ain’t in this to be a benefactor he ultimately is looking to make a Bob or two
Nigel You are wrong on so many levels. Ben White is a super player. I’ve watched him grow up through the ranks at Brighton from the age of 16 and can assure you there are absolutely no doubts about his qualities and what he can bring to the team. I don’t care that we paid £50m for him because I can assure you that he can adapt to any position on the pitch. Put him in the middle of the park and you’ll see just how special a player he is. My distrust of Arteta has been there from day… Read more »
“Remain with Ozil”!!!!
Come on Pierre, don’t be silly.
Odegaard needs to step up, I agree with you on that.
Terraloon “I do worry about the gaps that seem to be pre planned between the two centre backs likewise I do question the sense in playing the two full backs so far advanced in a four. A decent team would exploit the gaps ” I thought our full backs last week were fairly disciplined for the most part, though there was a spell in the 2nd half when the balance of the was all over the place.. It will be interesting to see if United implement a high press against us on Thursday and if we can play through it… Read more »
Graham
I don’t want Ozil back despite the fact he has scored 5 goals in 7 starts in Turkey……what I would like to see is Arteta put Smith rowe centrally so he’s closer to Saka and bring in either Martinelli or Eddie for the left channel.
Such a shame we have to face United at OT with a new manager bounce for them.
It will be tough up there and I wouldn’t be upset at all with a draw. Defeat could also come easily considering everything.
The team I think we have to take advantage of is Everton. Usually a tough proposition at Goodison but their form is poor and they have players out. You can sense it won’t be long before the home crowd is on Rafa’s back. I am more hopeful of taking all 3 points there.
When we were average yesterday it was when ESR and Saka were both out wide, playing safe passes and not taking on their markers. When they drifted inside and starting beating their opponents, we looked dangerous. Agree with Pierre when he rightly points out that ESR and Saka need to be close enough to. combine, when they’re both hugging the touchline there is little chance of combinations. Thought Odegaard showed signs of value, particularly when he was showing leadership qualities, directing to the players around him. With a run of games he hopefully will cement his place in the starting… Read more »
Few rumours Carrick could still be in charge for Thursday’s game
If true, the bureaucratic machine is even slower at United, than it is at Arsenal, hopefully we can avoid the new manager bounce
Thursday is a 6 pointer, avoiding defeat away would be a good result for us, and a bad result for United
United favourites, we’ve won once up there in the league in 14 seasons, and that was with no fans, but they’re certainly not Liverpool, Chelsea or City, and we’ll be in with a decent enough chance of getting something from the game
Graham, all good points. Also fair about Arteta because I was exactly where you are on my estimation of him. I hated his handling of Saliba, especially Guendouzi, letting go of him with his skills (playing well in France I hear, in the national team too) plus we were so weak in midfield. Thought he was too hard headed. Also hated Willian from when it was just a rumour. Trying hundreds of useless crosses last season, I was ready for him to go. I’ve only recently gone from “give him a little more time”, to buying into the project. Mostly… Read more »
Bob I agree that even when Ødegaard isn’t playing great, he does things very well when he’s playing. He tracks back, never stops running for 90 minutes, and he’s probably our best presser. Also when he’s on the pitch we have our best free kick taker. Had some beauties in Spain. He will score more of those given chances. That’s an aspect of our game we hadn’t had for years. I don’t think he’s the big liability some people say. …. I’m with the majority here who say he needs to step it up and move the ball a little… Read more »