If you are coming here thinking I’m going to gloss over the luck today, you’d be wrong.
We were lucky.
Woodwork. Marginal offsides. Missed penalties. A worldie save. A blatant handball.
That second half was built for a United comeback.
Do I give a f*ck? Absolutely not. Arsenal haven’t rode their luck against a big team all year, we haven’t had VAR work in our favor, nothing has gone for us all season. That changed today.
Make no mistake, that was a pretty poor performance from Arsenal. When people say age doesn’t matter, watch the match back, those kids were wrecked by nerves.
Defensively, we were shambolic at times. Gabriel and Ben White clearly had Ronaldo posters on their wall as kids, they were petrified of a man 12 years their senior. Cedric was getting roasted all game by Sancho, he had no confidence moving the ball forward, and he struggled. Nuno Tavares was a mess, his decision-making was poor all game, and he had some real donut moments despite the great goal. Aaron Ramsdale read too much into his good press and now he’s suffering, because he’s just not the same guy he was 4 months ago.
That’s mostly down to inexperience.
But you know what? They did enough. They will learn so much from being under siege playing below par.
Attack-wise, I thought we were really sharp. League One Eddie has transformed our attack, he runs the lines, he’s a nuisance, and he, you know, does striker things like shoot. Does anyone doubt he’s Premier League levels? They don’t. I hope we sign him to a new deal.
Our two best players were Big Mo and Granit Xhaka. They were sensational for the second time in a week. Elneny just does the simple things, he reads play well, breaks it up, then plays the simple pass with an 88% success rate. Granit was a monster, the man bleeds Arsenal even though we don’t credit that reality, his pass completion rate was 96%, and that goal was fucking outrageous. The kisses he blew to the fans felt very, very special.
Defensively though, we were a bit of a car crash, we let Ronaldo connect their wingers in the same way Lacazette has done for us during the dry times. You know United are in trouble when they can’t even ride a narrative. Ronaldo is dealing with an extreme mental toll, he comes out and scores from nothing, the winds of inevitability start blowing, United wins a penalty… and Bruno gets it? What the hell was that about? He put it wide and United struggled for anything after that.
Bukayo Saka was key to Nuno’s opener but looked in trouble all game. Arteta said he was in pain but insisted he start. The gamble paid off with the three points, but at what cost to his body?
Still, let’s worry about that next week. Right now, we can celebrate a monster win. 7 goals against United and Chelsea. We’re now leading Spurs in the table, that will likely change after Brentford, but the point here is we’re going to ask questions of them.
Game the next 5 games out with me:
Assume Spurs win today. They have to beat Leicester next Sunday, Brendan’s team has been awful this season, but they are more than capable of doing a job, don’t count on it though.
West Ham will likely lose to Chelsea tomorrow, if that happens, Europe via the league is a pipedream. The Europa is where it’s at for them. They have Frankfurt on Thursday. If they don’t get beaten 3-0, chances are, they are going to rest all their stars for the Arsenal game. It would be fucking nuts to do anything else, beating Frankfurt then Rangers or Leipzig is a lot easier than lucking out in the Premier League.
If Arsenal can take max points there, then we go into a hero weekend. We play Leeds, who will be safe. Spurs go to Anfield, who will 100% be in the title race needing a win at home.
We could go into that game at the bowl ahead on points now. Get a point there and we are in very, very good shape for our final two games against an in form Newcastle and an out of sorts Everton.
This is where we wanted to be this season. Competing for top 4 until the final games of the season. All the muppets that spent the last three weeks telling me we’d finish 8th, where are you now? We’re 10 points from hitting 70. I’m not sure we’ll deliver on that, but getting 10 points from 15 feels a little more achievable than it did 2 games ago.
Then factor the bigger picture so many have refused to see…
Rio Ferdinand was on TV earlier saying United need to be honest about where they are and copy Arsenal. He also said it’s stupid to buy a striker that isn’t perfect for your long-term vision. That’s Rio Ferdinand purring over what we’ve done. Ralf Rangnick thinks United needs 10 new players and at least 6 years to get to Liverpool’s level. Arsenal has done the hard work, we’ve cleared out 20+ players, signed in a load of young players with high ceilings. Whether it was a visionary plan or an accident is another question. Point is, we’ve stumbled on the smartest way to get back to the top. We have been honest about who we are and everyone is noticing.
Now let’s talk about another stupidly obvious point that no one wanted to hear after 3 losses. Arsenal are 4th in the league with 5 games to go without a recognized certified banger of a striker. We’ve scored 52 goals. Joint bottom of the top 7 with West Ham. But… we’re 4th and we don’t score goals. How can anyone that claims football knowledge not recognize that if we put an elite striker in that side we are a Champions League level team?
Edu is talking about one or two signings this summer. That will be a striker, that scores more than 10 goals a season, that will cost in the range of £60m+. Jesus isn’t going to be that guy, even though he’s not managed his 5th goal in the Prem this season. It’ll be a proper name that is tall, can score goals, that can run the line, and bully defenders. Hopefully Eddie can show enough this season to prove he can compete with that player. That’d save us spending on a back-up.
The second player will be an elite midfielder that can compete with Thomas Partey. My hope is it’s Neves. Did I see that Declan Rice refused a contract at West Ham? I did. Arsenal like him, who doesn’t. I’m not sure we’re rich enough for either. Whoever it is will reduce our reliance on our Ghanaian superstar. Those two players alone would have us taking Chelsea’s 3rd place this season.
I doubt we’ll leave it at two, but we’ll be smart with our other signings. Free transfers and players with 18 months left on their deal will fill out the remaining holes.
Arsenal are not far from being a title-challenging team. Liverpool will dip post-Salah/VVD. City will dip when Pep packs it in. Then we’ll be there, ready, with a team of young players that have transitioned to experienced players in their prime.
The overarching point, is don’t listen to the doom prophecies that happen after every blip. Don’t listen to the folk that say we should let Arteta run his deal down next season or think it is insightful and disqualifying to say he makes errors. Don’t listen to people that believed Arsenal were considering firing Arteta if he only made Europe. This is a long-term plan, it is on track, and I will maintain that regardless of the finish this season.
… but, a top 4 finish would be epic. That is the stretch goal. That would be us a year ahead of schedule. It would be sensational considering what we don’t have in the squad. The system is solid, the young players we have are developing Arsenal IP every single game, this project will be the benchmark for how you rebuild with limited funds.
Enjoy your day. Get your Brentford shirt on. Pray for something Spursy.
Podcast will happen later today, I’m flying to New Mexico! x
One player who looks like they won’t be ready next season is Flo Balogun.
He’s wasted warming the bench at Boro and didn’t get on today. He’s not getting enough minutes even at Championship level so hopefully they can find a club where he will get the time he needs next season.
“Defensively, we were shambolic at times. Gabriel and Ben White clearly had Ronaldo posters on their wall as kids, they were petrified of a man 12 years their senior. Cedric was getting roasted all game by Sancho, he had no confidence moving the ball forward, and he struggled. Nuno Tavares was a mess, his decision-making was poor all game, and he had some real donut moments despite the great goal. Aaron Ramsdale read too much into his good press and now he’s suffering, because he’s just not the same guy he was 4 months ago” now that’s what some might… Read more »
Inside it could take a few years for Balo to get good enough
How many loans did Kane have ?
Dame Vera the same could be said for man u defence and midfield finding negatives in what was a very entertaining performance is a bit sad really
That could happen for every team no ?
RVL,
If your ‘honest’ analysis is Eddie has been lucky, then it isn’t honest.
You’ve spent the week saying Arsenal are shit… now we sit 2 points clear in 4th. You angle? Pick on Eddie after two objectively good performances. That’s not honest.
Mrs. Serge, do you think that the above statement was my assessment???
Rvl sorry yes I did think it was you sorry about that
considering the prevailing circumstances MS, I owe you an unequivocal thanks
Excellent result and my crystal ball doesn’t need a polish 60 points. Match Sp*ds results and a draw at the toilet bowl will see us in 4th.
Hope the GK coach will put an extra session with Ramsdale on playing out of the back, had a heart attack almost with playing directly to the opposition.
David Nunez is on the radar of 7 top European clubs this summer, hope there is a plan B for elite striker. Said it many times before send Pepe to Napoli and pay what they want in addition for Osimhen.
What a god damn win for the Arenal finally a bit of luck mixed in to narrow the margins. Back to back wins over Chelsea and United is pure gold.
Added bonus with Spurs dropping points, we take West Ham top four should be ours.
Meanwhile PSG winning the title in dullest fashion imaginable with a draw to Lens, ultras blazed boycotting the level of play at the half. A terrible red card putting Lens at 10.
“If we get top 4 it’s because Manure and Spuds are more shit then we are.”
Complete nonsense! We’re 4th simply because we’ve been good enough.
Looks like we have found our starting 9, with LB & RB a toss up. Soares was tormented by Jadon S. and Nuno was again error prone how far from starting is Tomiyasu any word on that?
looks like either quality backup needed for those positions or Nuno needs to improve and reduce errors. Since he is young there is hope for that.
I’ve never been a huge fan of his, but the last couple of games Xhaka has really, really stepped up. He’s been a man out there, leading the lads, setting the tone and intensity, controlling tempo, and his goal and celebration were bloody fantastic, I’ve pulled my back and lost my voice from jumping around and shouting like a maniac after that thunderbastard. Great to see how much it meant to him as well, honestly. Given his difficult history with the fan base, it was great seeing him bask in the applause and appreciation. Shout out to Mo Elneny as… Read more »
Pierre
”””’Let’s not get too carried away, i thought Xhaka was our weak link in the early stages, caught in possession, gave the ball away but improved 2nd half.Elneny was our man of the match”””
This was pure Wengerball of old- with still a good number of his players on the scene.
An end to end epic..
(Holding, Xhaka, Elneny, and Eddie N in particular have had a good week.)
If Arteta keeps this style up and panache up- I might even start to like him……..I think
Great victory and other results today.
Yet still we don’t make first game on MOTD………City destroying a relegation team is seemingly more important.
“for all those whom are attempting to use our last two matches as justification for re-upping Eddie, you should probably slow your roll” Nah bro. Full steam ahead please😅. I’m going to have to disagree with this one TRVL. My stance on Eddie has always been that he needs more substantial minutes to show his full potential. He hasn’t been getting that. If you adjust his underlying metrics on a per 90 basis under Mikel (46 apps vs 16 90s), he looks better. Yes he isn’t a complete super striker but not many strikers are. Giroud wasn’t very speedy or… Read more »
Watching the Fury- Whyte fight. Seems like 2 bouncers settling a £100 bet
Yeah except it’s a 100m bet
Just watching MOTD. Gabriel really was poor for Ronaldos goal.
“Yet still we don’t make first game on MOTD………City destroying a relegation team is seemingly more important”
Tell me about it Dave. At least we’re on now. You won’t find many in England dying to see that City match. Maybe Highbury House forgot to pay the TV licensing again🤔
The Chelsea game was headless chicken at times and we won. The NLD will be the same. Isolate Kane and Son and it’s game over for them and their season. Time for the uppercut.
Crazy idea – how about we go all in to get Harry Kane back to where “he is one of ours” 🙂
Loving the Eddie support! 🚀
Pedro – very telling that Tets admitted he made a mistake not playing him more. Would be happy to sign him up again with another forward for our Champions League campaign next year!
IAT Robbie, of course you’re entitled to your opinion, like everyone, I think…please keep in mind that I wasn’t just reflecting on his ultimate viability as a Striker at this level, of which I’m not entirely convinced, but likewise his contractual situation and our future aspirations as a club…there’s no doubting that he’s brought something to the table that Laca hadn’t supplied in quite some time, but keep in mind that it wasn’t too long ago that many were slurping up the possibility of Laca re-upping…I’ve been pleased by his pressing abilities, as they fit nicely in terms of our… Read more »
Nice Eddie comp
https://twitter.com/ckftbl/status/1517925012073820162?s=21&t=GQr5p6edtuav7nA6nicXyw
One thing I would like to add about todays’ performance was that I was quite pleased by the amount of overlapping and dummy runs that I witnessed by a whole host of players…this is vitally important for an offence that has lacked directness in attack, as it affords our more skilled wide side players to get more 1 v. 1 looks, which greatly increases the likelihood of both more penetrative runs and better shooting opportunities in and around the box…at one point I saw Cedric screaming down the pitch simply to provide some protection for Saka, who was 25 yards… Read more »
Great post Pedro, you’re bang on with your review/preview. If The Arsenal make it to CL next season, they should get Haaland, I’m being pragmatic, it makes perfect sense😀
Re the discussion of Nketiah vs Gabriel Jesus. I’m not sold on either one, but it’s worth pointing out that Gabriel has clearly proven himself at the premier league level and with just 13 premier league starts over the last 5 years Nketiah hasn’t proven himself yet. We have no idea if Nketiah can lead the line for a team with Championship ambitions. Is he worth trying to re sign as the second striker? Possibly, but as a free agent will he accept that role? Regarding Pedro’s comparison of Jesus’ goal scoring output this season to Lacazette’s that’s apples and… Read more »
Eddie played well today and should have scored. I’m still not convinced he’s the hot shit based on two games but he does look better than I gave him credit for. If nothing else, it’s interesting to see us operate with a proper #9 instead of a false 9. It shows what’s possible. We’ve got a second chance on a 4th place finish even though we really don’t deserve it based on those pathetic 3 losses. If really hope the team will grab this opportunity by the horns. Being in the CL next season would make the player recruitment so… Read more »
What a result
I was in a bar with a Canadian mate and watched it on my phone. That match was pure stress. Did not enjoy it one bit
But the xhaka goal was an absolute banger. He picked a great two games to put in great performances. That goal must have taken the roof off in the stadium
Whether Pedro or any other fan thinks about Gabriel Jesus might not matter. A lot of credible Journalists are reporting that we are very much interested. And fans will change their mind if he moves here.
Eddie played well in the first half. He faded in the second but he has played much better than Lacazette has all season. But he needed to bury that chance he shot straight at DeGea. But we won so all is forgiven today. It might not be if it was a small margins game.
The summer transfer business for Arsenal has to be weighed very carefully We need to spend all the money on potential starters, not on back ups -We have Eddie who’s the England record holder at U-21S just on the cusp of breaking out. They have ti go back to him and increase whatever wages he was offered. Arsenal can’t let him go. Arteta, to his credit has been unusually publicly taken blame for under-playing him. -We have Elneny, who’s not going to kick a fuss if he’s benched for 6 months then come out and pull games like the last… Read more »
Yeah as much as there’s work to be done on our bench, until we have a top CF and CM, it’s all going to be relatively meaningless
Get the starting 11 quality and then look at the bench
GG, I love your pragmatism! 😂
Diss,
Agree with all that.
Question is this: do we have kids coming in behind Big Mo?
Eddie is a no brainer. He should sign if Arteta is convinced.
A guy who can play wide or false 9 like Jesus would give depth and starting tactical options in one signing. We can still then sign a main CF with size. I like David. Try to retain Eddie for 3rd choice poacher option. Or, if Eddie goes,, Martinelli can be 3rd choice striker.. Either way we need to spend. Still need a scoring central mf and a real backup to Partey who we depend on too much.. Then Xhaka can become depth. Not sure about Lokonga, I’m afraid he might not cut it in this league. He hasn’t shown enough… Read more »
Saka out of the west ham game possibly Leeds too. 100% confirmed.
We have Gabi and Pepe, so we should get at least 4.points of that couple of games.
Hope that Xhaka doesnt get another yellow because rhat will be catastrophic.
If Gabriel Jesus comes to Arsenal, it won’t be to be a rotation option. People have to understand that. He won’t want to play second fiddle to Saka, ESR or Martinelli on the wing. He would be coming here to be the top dog. We won’t sign another CF if Eddie doesn’t leave. We might get a winger if pepe goes though. It will Gabriel Jesus plus a winger. Not Gabriel jesus plus another CF.
Habesha, he’ll not be our main man and I suspect he will get a new deal after listening to pep
Back in the top 4 baby.
El neny, what a game. Xhaka, what a strike. With the exception of tavarez, everyone did well. Ramsdale finger tips save was awesome. I was just jumping up and down on the sofa. What a win!!!
I’m not sure Jesus would join arsenal without assurances of being an expected starter
What’s the point in making the step down to arsenal to be on our bench when he can do that at city and probably win trophies
Jesus take the wheeelllll
Did someone say Jesus?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=35K6vQRt67g
Best moment of the game Ramsdale going full Keown/Nistelrooy on Fernandes.
Funny description from Arseblogger on Nuno.
I mean, where to start? He’s just a mad player. Scored a goal, gave away a penalty, got caught on the ball, won some tackles, nearly gave away another penalty, helped drive us forward. He’s like Eboue on PCP.
Malcolm Ebiowei is being eyed up by Crystal Palace… after he made a breakthrough for Derby.
He’s an ex Hale End boy… and we let him go. Worth giving him another go? Would be available on a free…
I like Nuno. Why? He isn’t boring. 😂😂😂
Isn’t Arteta supposed to enjoy making youngsters better? If so, I don’t see a problem.
If Mikel can get Nuno to sort the defensive part of his game we have a potential firecracker in the making.
I said an edgy 2:1 yesterday and we got our karma with VAR and the ref in a 3:1 win. I just could see our belief against Chavs continuing against a Manure in crisis. That said some good performances from some and some not so much, but hopefully a learning curve for Tavaras and the culprits. Now we’re back to where we should be for this season: 4th with 5 games to go. Serious kudos for Elneny in keeping calm with those around him as a leader should. Elneny may not have abundant tricks and skills in his locker, but… Read more »
Actually best moments of the game were Nuno’s attempted knee slide celebration.. … which was so horribly not a slide it was humorous. his knees gripped almost immediately and he face planted.
You could tell he had not practiced it … ever.
And then Xhaka’s knee slide celebration which was an absolute thing of beauty… and then he looked over at Nuno… like that’s how you do it, son.
Junior and I chuckled at the elegance of Xhaka’s slide where poor Nuno looked like he got shot, Middy.
I was pleading for tavarez to come off in the second half. Till that xhaka goal, utd was all over our left side. Holding for nuno, eith Cedric shifting to LB would have been my ideal scenario. Guy almost gave away 2 penalties yesterday.
Next game we need tomiyasu at RB and Cedric at LB. Also been impressed with Rob holding.
Next season with Gabriel, saliba, white and holding we will have one of the best CB group in the league.
Almunia, saw your last 2 satires pieces late but really funny as always. Keep them coming if you’ve the time. Hope all is well. Ditto K’phobe.
Midwest
The knee slide didn’t go. We’ll because the field wasn’t watered properly
Xhaka too tried to slide after his goal and ended up a bit shirt.
….and I’ve seen that Tavares slide many a time, the while goal is to abort your slide and then jump from your jinxes.
Another day, another player gets away with escaping a red card against us.
Nuno could have been seriously injured… I’m glad he isn’t!
I don’t know Diss… Xhaka slid about 10 yards.. and ended perfectly at the corner in front of Laca who was warming up…. Nuno must have hit a dirt patch… or something. comically bad. Still both celebrations are worth watching a few times on replay.
Neither one scores very often so are collector items.
Apologies for thalassemia post:s misspellings
I’m half asleep
Night night
* Apologies for the last post:’s misspellings
I’m half asleep
Night night
Yep…just finishing my celebratory night cap. Watching highlights again.
Remember weeks ago when it felt like all our penalty claims were getting dismissed, referees are biased against us, and Arsenal is being targeted ? Well this game is payback. Getting the rub of the green is a great feeling.
Hopefully the payback continues for the remainder of the season.
Arteta added a couple of credits to his account today.
After the game you could see Arteta embrace Nuno in a full-throated celebration He could easily have taken him off but he found a workaround solution (bringing on Martinelli to provide energetic support).
This is a sign of maturity along with his recent comments about Eddie and shouldering the blame for not giving him more chances.
I think Ramsdale should have collected the cross that led to their goal.. his confidence has
diminished a bit, pity that Eddie was deemed offside he would gained much had it counted..
Ödegaard is a funny player, either good or lightweight?
Dissenter I don’t think we will worry too much about the 5 subs rule. We have back up players. What we need are top class additions for the starting XI. Under Wengercwe we’re always one or two players short of being a top side. What we do in the summer will decide where it’s Wenger mark 2 or investment for a proper tilt at the title. For that to happen we need a minimum of 3 top players. That is a lot of money.
To me Oord looks busy but his overall effectiveness in influencing a game is limited by the small area of the pitch he tends to operate in.
With his pace and good engine I Would like to see him creating from deeper position especially when we have a Xhaka and Elneny pivot
Pedro That isn’t going to happen. He isn’t signing a new deal. They have signed Julian Alvarez in January. And now they are going to sign Haaland. That shuts the door on Gabriel Jesus signing a new deal. The only scenario that sees him staying at city is if Mahrez leaves this summer and he predominantly becomes a right winger. And city will have to risk him moving for free next summer. Because he will want to see how things will go before signing a new deal. The most likely out come though is he will leave to play as… Read more »
Foxy
Who is Ooord ?
I loved Ramsdale going full Keown too. Sort of stuff that fires you up as a fan
This Jesus clamouring all feels a bit knee jerk. Yea he scored 4 goals against a terrible Watford team and yes, he is better than what we have. Is he a real game changer though, does he really give us what we need to push on and try and close the gap to City and. Liverpool, I’m not so sure.
At the price range of £30m to £40m Gabriel Jesus is a no brainer. I prefer his link up play, movement and finishing to DCL, Toney or Watkins.
It’s like we would be getting a younger fitter faster and more motivated Lacazette back at his prime.
Plus with the existing Brazilian contingent at the club it won’t take him long to fit in!
This is how I see it.
As long as we match Spuds result vs Leicester in our game vs WHU, and providing we beat Leeds at home while Spuds lose at Liverpool, we’re going to WHL knowing that win would guarantee us
a) CL spot
b) St Totteringham Day’s celebrations
So 12th of May it is. take it to the bank.
The thing that not many people have mentioned (generally) about the last 2 games has been Arteta’s game management. The dynamic changes of formation and tactics against Chelsea saw the game through and yesterday when Nuno was struggling he sorted it out with the Martinelli sub. The man needs to get more credit. He doesn’t always get it right but he did for these 2 games.
First of all Arsenal were not “lucky ” to win yesterday’s game. There was of course a period of the game when we came under severe pressure and our defence made some silly mistakes. I found the VAR debate about favourable decisions laughable. How many times this season have Arsenal been subject to poor decisions? Frankly I think that Arsenal would have still won this game irrespective of those decisions. We were the better and hungrier team. Moving on there are 5 games left to play which is the same number to be played by Spurs who are now the… Read more »
Odegaard is class. As well as Elneny, Xhaka and Saka played, he just makes us tick in possession, even at times when other players were being a bit sloppy or nervous I’m not sure if watching on TV means people see less but yesterday some of his positioning and link up play was incredible.. He finds pockets of space, creates angles and has real technical ability to receive on the half turn or with back to players. He has soft feet. Some of the balls around the corner he plays are something else. One of his greatest qualities is his… Read more »
This top four race feels different and more exciting to me than the ones say between 2014-17. Bach then it was great obviously to finish top four but I never sensed it was truly going anywhere. We were only in it to make up the numbers. I feel qualification this time around would be one of the first milestones in this young teams journey, not to mention what the added prestige and finance would do for us. Basically if we added 2 or 3 top players to this group I would be excited about getting beyond the last 16! Perhaps… Read more »
People still finding it hard to appreciate Granit Xhakas on field quality due to personal emotional issues with his character.
Man Of The Match again, argue with your keyboard.
Chris “This top four race feels different and more exciting to me than the ones say between 2014-17. Bach then it was great obviously to finish top four but I never sensed it was truly going anywhere. We were only in it to make up the numbers.” Qualifying for the knockout stages of the champions league every season is hardly making up the numbers is it . Yes, more often than not we would succumb to munich or barca but you may be disappointed if you think Arsenal will qualify from the group stages IF we manage 4th spot this… Read more »
SAGG April 24, 2022 02:09:34
Saka out of the west ham game possibly Leeds too. 100% confirmed.
Sauce pls? Can’t find the info anywhere.
AFC Forever. I couldn’t agree more about Ode. He is the latest in a long line of Arsenal 10s Alex James, Eastham, Brady, Cesc to name a few. Fabulous to watch. I hope we can keep him as the top clubs will have taken notice. Whether we can might depend on the club’s ambition.
Leeds @9.54
exactly what I was thinking, if Laca has gotten the system this far, Jesus would smash it to bits. Prem ready, brings the technical level of the squad up a notch, 30-40m? get it done. yesterday.
Pierre
“Qualifying for the knockout stages of the champions league every season is hardly making up the numbers is it .”
It was essentially proven to be ultimately we failed to get past the last 16 for something like 7 years in a row.
Villarreal is an example of a team who can spring from nowhere to make a semi final, there have been other examples of umfancied teams getting through. and I believe in this team and that they would rise to the occasion also. There is no telling how we would do but I would fancy us.
Saka was moving around fine yesterday, when he walked around the other end of the pitch he looked okay. Even after the match he was still moving fine. Arteta said he had a knock before the game so the sub was likely a precautionary one.
raptora April 24, 2022 11:28:38 SAGG April 24, 2022 02:09:34 Saka out of the west ham game possibly Leeds too. 100% confirmed.Sauce pls? Can’t find the info anywhere Me neither. I hope Saka is okay. We will definitely need him for the NLD. We could use him for the Westham game too. Dolomite We have nothing against Xhaka as a person. He has been poor for us in the past. This is the first season since he has been here that we didn’t want to pull our hair out. He is actually having a good season after 4 poor seasons.… Read more »
AFC Odegaard is a good player , of that there is no doubt. He is similar to Ozil in that when we have a low possession percentage he has little influence on the game. Of course he is better at pressing than Ozil , who unlike Odegaard had no real appetite for that part of the game.. Probably the problem is that many fans think smith rowe is the better option in the number 10 position as he has a quicker tempo to his game in and around the box. Odegaard is fortunate that he can just feed saka and… Read more »
Chris
“It was essentially proven to be ultimately we failed to get past the last 16 for something like 7 years in a row.”
Being drawn against munich or barca for the majority of those years didnt help as they were the 2 best teams in the world at the time.
Losing on away goals(i think it was) to milan and monaco were the ones that got away.
“g drawn against munich or barca for the majority of those years didnt help as they were the 2 best teams in the world at the time. Losing on away goals(i think it was) to milan and monaco were the ones that got away.” Don’t think we helped ourselves by not topping the group , or having dreadful first leg performances. But yeah we were unlucky sometimes for sure. But that’s the past. IF we get back in, I think I will have more optimism about our future in the competition than I was in the 2013-17 period. Yes we… Read more »
Playing in the CL will be great. Players will be extra motivated as some would be playing in that competition for the first time in their career. Though, if we are serious about the CL, we will need more ready made quality, not the next 18 year old ronaldo. Does anyone see this team beating the likes of Munich, madrid, PSG, Ajax, pool, city, juvetus? Even teams like lyon who aren’t particularly strong will be a challenge for this team. I’m not bashing the team im just calling for better recruitment for next season and not signings that will come… Read more »
Yes we obviously need to add those 2 or 3 top quality players (we all know for what positions) in order to make an impact in the CL, but that is clearly the plan from Arteta/Edu.
I would rather we went big on those 2/3 quality additions, rather than fill the squad with players who aren’t quite that bracket, we have more promising hale Enders who can come in for that role, when you are taking about the 5 subs next year etc
I watched Lyon against West Ham and wouldn’t fear them whatsoever!!!!
Would love CL qualification and:
Nunez
Gakpo
Paqueta
Bissouma
First team LB
Out:
Tierney
Cedric
Lacazette
Pepe
Lokonga (loan)
Tavares (loan)
“I watched Lyon against West Ham and wouldn’t fear them whatsoever!!!!“
Beat me to it. We would have no trouble with them.
The Bard Yes mate, he is a great watch. My Dad was a massive Alex James fan, I’m too young for that! I used to love Brady and Rix but my all time favourite has to be Santi Cazolra – boy could he play!! Loved Ozil too, peak Ozil was unplayable at times. This group of players has massive potential. Odegaard, ESR, Saka, Martinelli have high ceilings and if we add more quality and a bit of experience we could really have exciting times ahead. Tomi came on and showed how much we missed him and we definitely need a… Read more »
Spot on assessment of the game from Pedro: we were lucky. And a re-iteration from him of where the Club stands in the project: on the brink of elite-ness.
We all know that the two major signings this summer will be a goal scorer up front and a controlling midfielder. The fact that Edu held off in Jan suggests that the pair are earmarked.
There will be additional new arrivals. How many will depend on who leaves, who returns. A number in total between six to ten.
Having only watched the game on TV the bit that has confused me is that if Xhaka, Elneny and Ode did all have such a good game how come were under so much pressure from MU for long periods. Is this partly due to missing both Tierney and Tomi who tend to tuck into and reinforce us centrally when needed?
Declan Rice is a proper solution to our midfield..
kjelliApril 24, 2022 13:06:08
Declan Rice is a proper solution to our midfield
We will not be spending 120m on Declan let’s be realistic
He has Chelsea or man u written all over him
Samir why would we sell KT ?
englandsbest Yep, we had a few things go our way like the penalty but I agree with Wright and Shearer; we were the better team. How ironic that the VAR official, Jarrod Gillet was the same man responsible for our defeat to Man City and the disallowed Sokratis goal where he dreamed up that non-existent Chambers foul against Palace some time back. Boy did he cop some flak from pundits. Karma, or has our protests to PGMOL woken them up? Former referees have certainly been championing us for some of the bad calls we have had this season so who… Read more »
Not sure about them tucking in, but we sure miss both of them missing at the same time. Who wouldn’t?
He had a stinker yesterday , but Cedric had filled in pretty well previously. With our playing out from the back particularly. Having Nuno on the opposite side created doubt in that part of of our game especially.
West Ham already resting big players…. Hopefully their Europa game is still in the balance when we play them and they rest even more players for the second leg
Got a gut feeling our three main targets are as follows:Danilo ( palmeiras),Cody Gakpo( PSG) & Abraham( Roma) Total around the £100 million mark.Not as expensive as others.All right age group.
The more experienced expensive options if they can’t get the above are Jesus,Nunez,& paqueta.To be honest any 3 of that lot & id be v.happy.There may also be 1 or 2 v.low cost additions.lets see…..