Well team, it finally got me, one trip back to Plague Island and I’m out for the count with a bout of the Omicron special. I’ve taken some pretty outrageous risks over the past 2 years and avoided it, so this variant is clearly living up to its bill as quite transmissible. I’d love to be able to neatly package it as the responsibility of my trips to Arsenal, but there are so many people around me sharing their positive tests, it’s hard to pinpoint where I picked it up. Needless to say, if you can avoid the Tube, planes, restaurants, bars, or the morons that want to make personal freedom statements about masking up… then do it. Someone wrote that dodging the COVID before Xmas was the UKs Squid Games… well, I’m tapped out.
Still, at least I can go to the rest of the Arsenal games immune from it. Which is just lovely. Anyway, stay safe my friends. Don’t fuck up Christmas.
Spurs vs Liverpool was quite the scene last night. Liverpool were absolutely awful, Spurs really did batter them, it was stunning to watch them blow so many chances. It was also incredible to see Harry Kane avoid a red card for an absolutely horrendous challenge on Andy Robertson. PGMOL are leaking that the only reason he didn’t get red, outside being England captain, was Robertson moving his leg so it didn’t get snapped. Unreal.
It does go to show you how bad the bias in the system is. Even when referees are armed with replays and VAR, they still make the same old awful mistakes. Harry Kane gets away with it because he’s the England captain. It’s been happening for a long time. They need to address it and level the playing field.
Talking of Spurs, they are out of Europe. UEFA deemed the cancellation of their Rennes match as a forfeit, so they go out of the Conference League early. It’s a gift, let’s be honest. Conte will be doing cartwheels over that because now he can concentrate his side on the run for top 4 without the blight of Thursday night football. Please don’t let anyone tell you clubs want that sort of European football. The players hate it, so do most fans.
A lot of Arsenal fans are in a panic about Spurs Thursday night refund. I’m not sure why. We have a good team of players, we’re playing good football, and we’re getting better and better by the week. If we want to make it to the top 4, we’re going to have to oust powerful teams. I’m not fussed by United and I’m not worried about Spurs. We just need to concentrate on doing our bits right.
The most important piece of making top 4 this season is going to be keeping all our players fit. Tomiyasu for Cedric is not a good swap out. It’s dangerously worrying in fact. There are a few positions where we could be in trouble with one or two injuries.
Alex Lacazette, who is 29, is absolutely integral to our attacking play. Lose him and it’s hard to see who could step in and shape our play the way he does. It’s essential to cotton-wool him.
Thomas Partey, who has been problematic this season, has just started to find form. If we lose him for AFCON, I worry that we’re then relying on untested partnerships. Sambi is a top talent, no doubt. But the lack of experience could be an issue. There is the dice roll of Jack Wilshere, though I’m not sure Arteta wants to open that pandora’s box. Outside that, we start to look thin, and very Elneny-ish.
Our centre backs are also pivotal to the way we play. I love Bob Holding, but can he step in and open up the game the way our current pair of Gabriel and White do? I don’t think so. If you lose Ben White, you lose elite passing. If you lose Gabriel, you lose a tour de force and a leader.
The January window is looming and I have been pondering it.
I think Arteta was waiting for the right moment to strike on Auba. He knew the player couldn’t hit the levels he needed, he knew we had younger players coming through, and he might have known a player was coming available in January.
That is my question:
Did he banish Auba for the careers of Gabriel, Eddie and Folarin?
IF TRUE: Then we don’t sign anyone in January
Did he banish Auba because there’s an opp to move on someone big in January?
IF TRUE: It’s pretty ruthless and I’m excited
The one thing I can’t be dealing with is watching people roll out the SIGN DA TING campaign for Lacazette.
I love him.
He’s been immense.
But he’s 29 years old and we’ve been here too many times before.
We need to find a striker that can do all the things he offers, but with speed, and power.
The worst decisions at Arsenal FC have been made based on emotion.
Auba, our captain, the man that had kept us chugging along in a low chance shit-housery system: Signed for mega-money because of nostalgia and the mistaken belief reputation for keeping players was more important than making rational decisions.
Ozil, our big fancy Wenger signing, running his deal down at the same time as Sanchez and Ramsey, was signed because of pride.
Things change when you are 29 years old.
You are thinking about coaching badges.
Your body starts to fail you.
Your family becomes more important.
You are close to the end of a very short career.
Arsenal can’t afford to indulge players of that age
We need players that are 20-24. They are playing for a future. That first international cap. That call up to the world cup. That first HUGE contract. Arsenal have to sign players that want to learn and put it all on the line. Our success will come from players how haven’t been there or done it… but have a burning desire to do so.
Anyway, we’ll soon find out what the plan is, either way, you just know Arteta was waiting on that mistake and when it happened he had all the paperwork ready.
As Matt Kandela said on the podcast, ‘fail fast, fix it, move forward’… I think he said that.
Right, jump into our latest podcast. If you don’t like it purely in the ears, then watch the video.
P.S. I totally forgot to mention that Thomas Tuchel’s Chelsea are now just 6 points behind Arsenal after 18 games. I mean, not bad, right?
Apparently we have a fair few medical experts on here.
“Also, I know a guy that drove drunk one time and didn’t get into an accident, therefore alcohol has no bearing on someone’s ability to drive.”
This is the kind of exact science I can get behind.
As per Dermot Gallagher, “the referees are coached on how high the tackle is when considering punishment”.
What the hell is he on about?
So, because the contact was above ankle height it was deemed to be not serious.
What a load of codswallop!
Is that my Godfrey got away with it against Tomiyasu? Because it was above ankle height!
These referees need to go back to school.
why Godfrey
I understand that AMN would prefer to play in the middle of the park but surely he would be open to filling in for Tomi during his (hopefully) small injury lay-off.
For my money, after Tomi he’s the right back at the club… or do is there a young right back in our U23s who is brave and talented enough to step up to the challenge?
I bought two tickets for the Wolves game but had to cancel my trip to London. I have them listed on StubHub for 180 each but will discount them to a Le Grover.
Shortside Lower Tier 9 | Row 1-30 NorthBank
Seat 1, 2
Hope this is ok, Pedro? If the above is a problem, please take it down.
https://www.football365.com/news/willian-reveals-details-behind-arsenal-exit-give-up-big-money
Willian managed to take himself off the all-time Arsenal villain list with the way he left the club. Can’t actually think of any situation in the club’s history quite like it. Deeply unpopular player with a fat contract that the club wanted gone, agreeing to move away for less money because he was unhappy. Probably the only situation like it.
If Xhaka had made that Kane tackle the red card would have been out of refs pocket before you could blink ..shocking refs & var still in the prem
I can’t see any problem disposing of sunderland and Norwich but Wolves could prove a harder nut to crack even at the Emirates.
We are on a winning run and winning breeds confidence, which for me makes Sunderland a very important game .
A poor performance and result v Sunderland could start a snowball effect of poor results , so it is vital to treat the sunderland game seriously..
It’s finally sunk in to Le grove that the PGMOL is clueless, untold have neen right all along ( though of course no one will admit this).
The obvious bias against Arsenal is there for all to see over the last 15 years and is still continuing to this day, the number of red cards received since Arteta took over is evidence of this..
Willian earned a lot of respect by tearing up that contract.
It was still a big mistake signing him for 3 years.
China1
The fear here is that sheer numbers will overwhelm the NHS. The proposed measures are aimed st slowing the spread not elimination. But I think you are right, Omicron is hyper-contagious and likely to spread globally. Even mighty Xing Pi will be unable to keep it at bay.
That probably explains why over a billion Chinese have been vaxxed.
Nigel
I’m with you on Ramsdale, I said I wouldn’t take anyone else over him in the league. because he is the future and the positive effect he has had on our team is huge. I don’t believe either you r I stated he was the best keeper in the league RIght Now. We are just thrilled to have such a talented player at our club.
But apparently that is preposterously impulsive according to some Arsenal ‘fans’.
https://youtu.be/0LATo4EzTNM
2 legends
Yikes.. haha some of y’all need to stick to your opinions about Arsenal.. I’d really like to think better of y’all for some reason. I just figure if your an Arenal fan at least you made one correct decision in your lifetime. Well except for Sid. if Sid changed his ways now.. I’d be like .. What the hell happened to Sid .. did somebody hack his account. I personally think we should try to win the Cups. So not too crazy on mega rotation with 3 youth players like I have seen in some peoples picks for the game.… Read more »
@Nelson
Sorry, I’ve been working. Yes, I’m fully vaccinated (Pfizer) but not taken any booster shots yet. Got my second dose only about 2/weeks ago.
Felt very much like a mild flu, except the coughing would come in bursts and was very dry. I would probably have simply put it down as a mild flu if I hadn’t taken a test to travel and it came out positive
Oh, and let me clarify that I really don’t know which variant hit me. Called it Omicron just because it’s what’s reigning now, apparently
Bacaryisgod
“I bought two tickets for the Wolves game but had to cancel my trip to London. I have them listed on StubHub for 180 each but will discount them to a Le Grover.”
Discount?
I’ll give you a score for each of them …
This is so absurd. It’s becoming major headline news and rocking stock markets because people are catching the equivalent to a head cold. Less dangerous than traditional flu. Media screaming headlines is such farce because 1 person died in England “with China Omicron” the other day. Not even “from” it. I’m vaxxed, boosted and an 89% effective antiviral is already on its way. By the way, stop villifying people who don’t want to take a vaccine. Ask Aguero, Erikson, and a fair few other footballers who collapsed recently what they think. Aguero had every kind of injury keep him out…… Read more »
It’s not the equivilent of a head cold for some.
Pierre .. you cheap bastard,… You could at least offer some golf rounds and free lessons.
Terraloon
COVID-19 vaccine surveillance report – week 45.
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1032859/Vaccine_surveillance_report_-_week_45.pdf
Absolute must watch documentary on BBC2 about the Covid-19 pandemic, tomorrow night at 9.00pm. Two brothers from the Wuhan Research Centre, where Trump suspects it was engineered, were due to get on Flight MH370 that mysteriously disappeared. It seems they were the guys behind the development of the new strain, and intending to use it as a weapon. Someone caught wind of their plans and purposely downed the plane. BUT… neither of them got on the flight and no-one knows what happened to them. It’s really interesting….
Don’t miss it …it’s called ‘Two Wongs Don’t Make a Flight!’
£180???????? Que?
I’d rather have Torreira starting in our current lineup than either disappointing Partey or typical Xhaka. I think he’d fit in beautifully the way we are playing now. His pressing (sometimes high) along with Ben Whites in our half, would really cause problems for opponents with us winning balls and the quick forward movement which we didn’t have for a long time. Partey btw, been bad for too long. Finally has a good half against 10 men, then against a complete shambles Leeds team. I’m not buying the upswing. He needs to step it up, and not for his national… Read more »
Nigel, the vaccine deniers deserve vilification. ‘Personal freedom’ shouldn’t come at the expense of the rest of society. People shouldn’t miss out on cancer treatment because someone did some research into the vaccine on a Facebook post. People should do their bit. Wear a mask. Take a day of feeling a bit shitty to reduce the chances of hospitalisation.
Nigel Tufnell hating on Arsenal players…terrible state of affairs
Pedro,
Couldn’t agree more. I reckon most of these people have to feel pretty powerless in their lives for this to become the hill on which they make their stand for “sovereignty”.
On a separate note, you gotta feel for Leeds. Their last 3 games were Chelsea, City and us. Next up Liverpool. Hell of a stretch of games when half your team is out injured. The sort of stuff that can kill your confidence completely.
Tom, A simple question. Today, do you swap Ramsdale for Alison ? No money involved. You are either not watching Liverpool games since 2020 or Ramsdales work with the ball for 90 minutes. Anyway, I wasn’t talking about just looking at goals allowed stats. I’ve been watching games, and Alison has been good, but far from great, with quite few errors leading to goals or problems. Not elite. Then if you take into account Ramsdales an English player in the squad, a great motivator for teammates and fans, he becomes an even simpler choice for most of us. No Arsenal… Read more »
Kris lol,
When I read that Kane said “I won the ball” … I hear it in his idiot voice, making it even more funny.
Pierre,
2 Wongs.
That was brilliant.
Nigel Tufnell
I think you are preaching to the converted regarding Ramsdale.
“A simple question. Today,
do you swap Ramsdale for Alison ? No money involved.“
Nigel
No.
Ramsdale has been terrific and he looks like he’s living the dream, while Alisson would consider it a step down.
Not to mention the age difference.
If Ramsdale can keep this sort of form Arsenal are set at the keeper position for 8-10 years.
Inside right What on earth are you on ? You were making wild claims as to the effectiveness of the vaccine and now try to use a report where they themselves say “ Vaccine coverage tells us about the proportion of the population that have received 1 and 2 doses of COVID-19 vaccines. By 7 November 2021, the overall vaccine uptake in England for dose 1 was 66.8% and for dose 2 was 61.1%. In line with the programme rollout, coverage is highest in the oldest age groups. We present data on COVID-19 cases, hospitalisations and deaths by vaccination status.… Read more »
LS, it’s so embarrassing. I watched an anti-vaccine rap song performed by some weirdo and Corbyn’s brother earlier. Worst 10mins of content I’ve seen all season. Some very sad people out there with very boring lives… and their ignorance costs everyone.
There we are.
Pedro, Fair enough, but I’m complaining more about the media hysteria whipping things up. Consider, for the past couple decades, deaths in the U.S. from traditional flu would routinely run into 10s of thousands. No media screaming headlines scaring everyone. So many people lost loved ones quietly, with no news coverage. The anti virals coming, along with Omicron spreading a mild version will lead this from pandemic to endemic even sooner. No need to turn people against each other. I don’t feel I have the right to dictate health choices to anybody. Imagine this new, not- fully approved vaccine being… Read more »
Pedro
👏
Nigel
Unless I have read the wrong stats deaths from flu in the US are in the 40k range.Last year there were around 40times that number from COVID.
https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/country/us/
If the 800k deaths in the US from COVID is indeed correct it sort of suggest there is an issue don’t you think ?
https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/leading-causes-of-death.htm
Whoops 20x
Feel better Pedro.
I had covid back in March, it sucked big time, took me 3 months to totally get over it, here’s hoping you get over it quicker.
I do love how topics get dissected and then tribalised on here. It’s both intriguing and entertaining and occasionally instructive . I’m not getting involved in antivaxer debate. They remain at first wave risk if they get the alpha/ delta, which , as some of you have attested to ,is hell on earth for them and their families. UNBELIEVABLY in my experience, they are still not universally converted . It’s fuckin bonkers ! There’s nowt as queer as folks. I’m with Sid. Omicron could lead us to the promised land of herd immunity , and something to do with sun… Read more »
Problem is, covid 19 keeps on mutating, alpha, beta, delta, omicron just happen to be a few of them. So herd immunity to all of them may be wishful thinking.
Viruses survive as parasites, so killing the host is a point of failure. The ideal state is commensal – there is plenty of those in our bodies. Our best hope is that covid 19 becomes one.
Spot on EB, a successful virus evolves to live in effective harmony with a host, not kill it.
And Sid, the other key factor is that African populations are generally considerably younger on average than Western ones which is why the fatality rate is much lower.
So AFC’s youngest PL squad must have an advantage right?
Englandsbest yeah so far I don’t think omicron has started spreading here uncontrolled but if there are some breakthrough cases sooner or later I really don’t see how you put it back in it’s box unless you have hard lockdowns for a good several weeks right in the early stages before it catches hold. It just spreads so fast 90 PL players caught omicron in the last 7 days. If there are 25 players in each squad, that’s 18% of all pl players in the last 7 days. Unless omicron gets totally wiped out (I don’t see that happening without… Read more »
Africa has a much lower rate of obesity which is a risk factor for covid. Diabetes as well
All the best Danny
Pierre
A discount but not a looting!!!
£180 is the bottom end of the price range for that location on StubHub. Face value is £100 each. Will sell them at face value if someone on here asks for them in the next 3 days.
Ok-Pedro’s been kind enough to leave my tix post up so I’ll now only respond to serious offers please! (sorry Pierre and Taylor)
Mine was serious….pensioner’s rates.80% off
Get well seem Pedro and any others suffering illness or disability.
See pep binned Foden and Grealish for a night out. Said they lost focus. That’s why they are top.
People on here hating on us binning ozil guendouzi and now Auba – all for being consistent Bellends.
Can’t aim to fight the best if you don’t get the basics right.
Been so long since we’ve been a serious club many folks can’t recognize it. And actually fight it.
Bacary if you can cover my flights, accommodation, expenses and lost income, plus quarantine fees on my return to China, I will gladly pay 180!!!!
All in it’s probably a good £5-6k in total but if you can cover me that I’m in
Romano on arsenals transfer plans “ Let’s see what happens with Aubameyang. They’ll look for opportunities in January but I don’t expect anything big from Arsenal. They signed many players last summer so the focus is the 2022 summer transfer window to go for a new midfielder and a new striker. This is the plan of Arsenal.” We all like the idea of progress in January but for me the main point is if this is correct at least our priorities are in the right place CM and CF are absolutely the two biggest weaknesses for our starting 11. I… Read more »
Get well soon Pedro. Hope Omicron does not progress to decepticon soon. @Turn up No apologies man, but your post about Prof Wenger, was highly distasteful, demeaning and disrespectful. We may have said a few things about him while he was at the helm of affairs at the Arsenal -rightfully or wrongly so- but we must never forget his legacies at the club. The ‘old man’ as you refered to him has moved on. Please, do move on as well. He works at FIFA just has you work at wherever you work and whatever you do. Thanks you. Respect is… Read more »
soon*
Andy1862 and China correct about a younger population and obesity being factors in covid impact.
I will add the food in Africa is less toxic.
Industrially produced food (herbicide, fertilizer, animal antibiotics) is dangerous to the immune system.
The vaccine might be a short term quick fix for the vulnerable
Long term we need to change the way we live.
For y’all using terms like antvaxxer/vaccine deniers,
just because people are wary of pussy from De Wallen doesnt make them anti pussy/ pussy deniers
They just prefer reputable pussy.
Im telling you for free!
Saliba is in the Ligue 1 Team of the Year way to go tets, it just shows shows Arteta’s player evaluation is hit and more miss.
MD
Saliba thriving in France bodes well for us. Not every player on our books will make it here. Something Arsenal need to start doing is sell well, not Saliba in particular but in general. Holding, Chambers, AMN all have okayish resale value but we choose to hang on to them
Saliba should have played for Arsenal this season, it all depends on how pissed of he is in not having played for Arsenal in 3 years and how his agent will handle this situation. The big clubs are certainly interested in him and going into an Arteta shit show with no guarantee of a 1st team place may just mean Arteta blew that talent as he has shown in devaluating other players. It is not unrealistic to assume that with starting this summer he has only 18 months left before he can talk to other clubs, that he will give… Read more »
MD has been waiting to say I told you so to get a dig at Arteta over Saliba. Our defense has been very good. Not just Ramsdale. White and Gabs clearly work well together. White brings a lot more than a typical cb too. When Saliba comes back, he’ll get games, but it’s gonna be hard for him to break into the top 2 choices. Start crying now Salibaphiles. By the way, he had better come back with the right attitude, or he can fvk right off back to France. This squad is very tight knit and good kids. Prima… Read more »
Spending 27mil on just being in the loaning business and so far loosing money on that transfer, sounds about right for any Arteta business.
Johnno absolutely mate. All the moaning on here about Auba being badly treated misses the point. Discipline is crucial at the top level. It slipped badly under Wenger and all credit to Arteta for trying to reimpose it. If youre earning £350000 a week and are the club captain the very minimum requirement is to turn up on time.
Get well very soon Pedro, Covid is no longer a matter of “if” but rather “when”. Vaccination remains key to recovery.
Take care you saucy bugger!
Pedro: Get well soon mate
MD: Give it a rest, seriously, we’ve been over and over the whole Saliba thing for years. If he’s good enough and we want him, he’ll play for us next year. If not, we can sell him for more than we bought him…
Wasnt Le groves supreme leader at a football game with his covid19 pass?
Sid spouting nonsense again…
It’s just so fucking boring
“Saliba is in the Ligue 1 Team of the Year way to go tets, it just shows shows Arteta’s player evaluation is hit and more miss.”
Trash.
Give us the stat with which you arrived at your hit and more miss as per Arteta’s evaluation
With Aubamayang on his way out, we are getting closer to the front 4 that should have been tried and tested for the past 12 months .
A choice of Saka, smith rowe ,Martinelli, Eddie, Odegaard and Balogun. .
They have shown the doubters that they can take the club forward and are more than ready to lead the line..
Pierre
Not particularly sure when Nketiah or Balogun proved are ready to lead the line of take the club forward? Balogun had a shocker in his one start against Brentford and Nketiah hasn’t come close to pulling up trees.
I agree that the others have proven they’re more than ready.
lead the line or* take the club forward
*Or take the club forward
Ollie
Eddie scores goals. Run of game he will score loads.