The Premier League is tough this season, it seems to get a little bit worse every time a manager is sacked. The competition is absolutely relentless.
Nuno, now Conte.
OGS, now Rangnick.
I am going off on a hopeful tangent now, but I think the idea of rockstar managers might be dying a death. Do I mean there aren’t rockstars? No. I mean that I think the days of managers delivering force of personality league wins are a long way behind us.
We saw the beginnings of that at Spurs. Mourinho took at Champions League finalist team and crashed them. You might laugh now, but at the time, there were people who genuinely thought his winnertivity was going to take them to the peak of English football. It wasn’t to be.
Allegri back at Juventus has been a disaster.
Pochettino at PSG has been terrible.
Ronald Ko… just kidding.
Elite business has always needed a team to function. You need every department to be rocking at peak to succeed. Football bucked that trend for years because it was pretty basic. Not now.
Conte is a rockstar manager, but can he make rockstars of players that lose to Mura? Jury is out. Can he turn Spurs into Premier League winners without an open chequebook? Is the recruitment process they have at Spurs that good these days? Is Conte good enough to overpower them and make decisions better than Alvaro Moratta and Danny Drinkwater? Can Conte make Harry Kane care? Can he shake the Spursy issues? Again, I don’t know. But it feels like a lot has to go right, very fast, for that job to be a success.
Same with Rangnick. He’ll organize United, but he’d never have signed half the players he has in that squad, so how is he going to deliver what they need? The United setup is dim right now. Change takes time. Big egos need convincing or moving. If Ralf wants to move them, who will take them on those salaries? Is Ralf a big enough name for rockstar players to care about him? It’s a big old mess there. Are we being a bit optimistic to think that ship will course-correct anytime soon? I DON’T KNOW I’M JUST ASKING QUESTIONS.
One thing is for certain: No one is out of the race for top 4.
If United beat Chelsea this morning, they are 3 points behind us. Hardly a crisis. 9 points behind Chelsea doesn’t even put them out of the title race.
Spurs will beat Burnley on Monday and go 1 point behind Arsenal. They’ve sacked a manager this season. Again, they are not really in a crisis.
Chelsea, Liverpool and City are going to finish in the top 3. That other Champions League place could go to United, Leicester, Arsenal or Spurs. Everyone is still in the race. The position you sit in the table should never be the focal point, though we see it all too often. The focus should be on the points total. If we’re within striking distance of top 4 come Jan 2nd, the second half of the season should be a bit easier for us.
Our next big test is United. I’m getting a bit bored of listening to people say ‘this… THIS IS… is the real test.’ No, it isn’t, it’s just another game to show we can compete. If we win, it’ll be magnificent and people will immediately pivot to ‘well, they’ve been shit.’ If we lose, people will claim that, finally, yes, this is the end of the season, and they were right.
United will be tough. They can be sensational on their day. There’s so much individual talent that has been mailing it in over there. If they are keen to impress, like they were against Villarreal, it could be tough. Their game at Chelsea will give us a clue where they are taking this. If they beat them, then we have a problem. If they wilt like they did against Liverpool, then we have a chance. Chelsea isn’t Liverpool or City, it’s worth noting that. They are the season’s runaway leaders, but this time last year, that was Spurs.
What am I looking for from this game? The usual against United. A smart tactical plan, great application from the players and no fear. They are not Liverpool or City. We are more than a match for what they have to offer. The only worrying thing in the mixer is the new manager bounce… and Ronaldo. That marvellous bastard always does it against us. I also said he was United’s Willian, which will come back to bite me, I just know it.
In general football news. It was notable that Martinelli landed the nod over Nicolas Pepe. Are we at a point now where we can say the Ivorian has been given all the chances and it’s likely over for him? I think we are. He just doesn’t fit this side. If the rumoured loan interest from AC Milan is true, that’s good news. Arteta has denied this.
“No, and it is not the moment to talk about that either. We are interested in Nico performing at the level that he can do.
“He had some really good moments since I have been here, some moments where he hasn’t participated that much, like everybody else.”
… I’m not sure his actions speak to a coach that wants him around. If we can move him on and bring in a player like Dejan Kulusevski, then why wouldn’t we? That sort of move fits how we’ve purchased.
Another player we have to accept an exit from is Alex Lacazette. He said this to the press on whether he’s looking.
“Not until January, I really want to focus myself on something.
“And then we will see what is on offer, if the challenges are interesting, if there are beautiful projects, how they are counting on me… so there are still many questions. I prefer to wait until January to position myself.”
He has some things going for him. Arsenal would probably let him move on a free transfer to claw back some of that salary. He’s not playing in Europe, so he could add firepower to any team lacking it that is in Europe. He’s also in good form and in shape. I love the player, but older players seeing out their deals are a waste of time because at a certain point, they are thinking about protecting their bodies, and that reduces commitment.
There might be more exits in January. Eddie is getting zero love. He might want to move to get some actual game time in his legs. Then you have Balogun, who is absolutely lighting up the U23s. He needs a 6-month loan move. When he comes back, with 17 goals, he’ll be ready to take up striker #3 duties next season. I’d love it if he went to play in Germany, there was loads of interest there, and it didn’t do Smith Rowe any harm. I don’t think there’s a young player I’m keener to see blow up in our first team. It’s nice that there’s a path for them. Auba out in 18 months.
All of that movement will need at least one to come in. I’m not really sure what we do there. I wouldn’t be shocked to see Jovic come in. He can play the game we need and he’s well out of sorts at Madrid. But who knows what Edu and Arteta have up their sleeves. Hopefully the ‘Football Intelligence’ team (I would have branded Christmas jumpers if my department was called something that intellectually intimidating) Ben Knapper, Mark Curtis, Jason Ayto and Tolly Coburn are working some magic with the January list… please, dear lord, let’s hope Kia is nowhere near any of these deals.
No Dani Ceballos, also.
Right, short one from me today because I have been writing all day. If you would like to see my SHOCKING video editing skills, please check out the our Vodcast below. If you like it in the ears, you can go to all the major apps and search ‘THE ARSENAL OPINION’ and you know what will show up? The podcast. Have a SWEET day. x
We should look for £40m for Pepe + add ons and sell on %. If not keep him and sell Laca and Auba and add a striker if Balogun and Martinelli are deemed not ready for the rigors of the PL.
As it looks like Eddie is likely to be off, as Arteta doesn’t like youth players who want to leave if they’re not getting enough playin time.
I think Pogba will be back for them in midfield & Maguire in defence, but if they play like they did against Chelsea , we definitely have a chance to win .
Tony
I have friends as well but a win is a win , plus winning against them when they have Sancho , Ronaldo would be priceless. Have you seen the Roy Keane – Carragher post match video ? Hilarious
Pedro ‘Foden and Saka said he was the most impressive player at the England camp’ Let’s get the record straight on Ben White at the England camp because you’ve said this a few times previously. Before you say anything, I might be nitpicking a bit here but for a good reason. Foden said Ben White had ‘surprised’ him the most. He went on to say that he hadn’t seen much of him before and he had been ‘brilliant’ in training. Saka was asked who had surprised him the most and he replied that he was ‘impressed’ the most by Ben… Read more »
If Maguire plays in defence for man u, there should be No reason for us not winning
Agree, Sid Pepe/Martin running at Maguire with the ball would be fun to watch.
Agree with Tony about one big thing, if Pepe plays, it should be on the left. He was much better on that side last season (as Saka was on the right)… which was a surprise to me. He came inside more and became much more direct running at defenders and was a handful. I agree it was telling and a big shift for Arteta to choose Martinelli over Pepe as the sub against Newcastle. In a big game, in choosing a possible starter, I think he’ll definitely still choose Pepe first. Martinelli still seems a bit lightweight and fragile for… Read more »
Have been watching videos of Ralf Ragnick and he is clever indeed, strait forward and
direct and will improve utd. I fear for Thursday results after watching the Chelsea game
Utd. were missing 3 or 4 players but still managed a point against Londons superpower !!
Beating United at Old Trafford is definitely a marker for me. We always struggle there no matter how shit they are.
The difference between us and Untd is they have a shedload of top draw players and we dont. Once they get organised they will be a good side. A draw on Thursday will be a good point for us.
White was excellent on Saturday. I find it hard to understand why certain posters are so obsessed still about his transfer fee. As Pierre posted the price is irrelevant if we are recruiting a good player who is an asset to the club. When I read a poster suggesting that we paid £20 million too much for the player I suggest that he takes a close look at the fees that some of our competitors have paid for duds. What I do know is that if you want to buy quality in today’s market you will have to pay a… Read more »
James Maddison is now showing why he is valued at double the price of Odegaard, he’s double the player when he’s at his best. He had a few problems over the past year or so and lost the trust of the manager and lost confidence, but he’s over that now, an in form Maddison makes Leicester a formidable team. Maddison and Odegaard’s game are like chalk and cheese , we know all about Odegaard, safety first , doesn’t commit defenders , shirks the physical aspect of the game and rarely dominates a game. Maybe Odegaard has lost confidence as his… Read more »
Arsenal will need to rotate over the next two matches as there is only 4 days between our two games against Man Utd and Everton. Clearly options are limited and may be compounded by injury to Saka if he is unfit. I suspect that Tierney and Maitland-Niles will be offered some game time. The forward line will also need some rotation. It was interesting that Martinelli played on the right wing and not on the left on Saturday so perhaps if Pepe is introduced he will get a chance to play on the left. Personally I don’t think that Arteta… Read more »
Looking at the snow yesterday reminded me of a game at Highbury back in 67/68 when the snow came down at half time and the match was abandoned..
I was 12 at the time , standing on the North bank , 1-0 up and they called it off ….I can’t recall a lot of snow on the pitch in the first half but a blizzard came and that was that.
Some of the Arsenal players need to take a lesson from Smith rowe on the art of one and 2 touch football. Smith rowe rarely takes more than 2 touches unless he is running with the ball.. Our midfielders and defenders shouldn’t be so indulgent on the ball at times, our best football is when we play pass and move football.. To play quality one and 2 touch football you need a high technical level and great first touch, Saka and Smith rowe are at that level. It’s also about knowing when to pass and when to attack the defender,… Read more »