Well GOOD MONDAY TO YOU.
Things I want to talk about: Why that win against Fulham was really good.
There have been a few grumblings that ‘it was only Fulham’ which is a bit boring if I’m honest. As Laura Woods pointed out on Talksport, when we lost three games at the start of last season, there wasn’t a lot of sympathy because two of those teams were champions of the domestic league or Europe. Surely we can be happy after winning 4 in a row in the toughest league on the planet?
Even if you can’t crack a smile, here’s why I think Arteta will be happy:
INJURIES
Mikel Arteta went into his press conference pretty damn pleased he had an entire squad of fit players to choose from. He didn’t find out about the injuries of Zinchenko and Thomas Partey until the absolute last minute. Zinchenko tried to play but failed a fitness test.
Why does that matter?
The team will have been training very specifically around a certain starting 11. We don’t have a squad of like-for-like players, so if you lose two of the most specialist players with no time to think about a back-up, things are going to be difficult.
We basically lost our best-inverted midfielder in Zinchenko and Kieran Tierney just doesn’t have the game at the moment to do that job. To make matters more difficult, Thomas Partey, our single pivot, exited with another familiar injury late on.
Lose one of those two, you don’t notice, lose two, you will notice a difference in style.
But really, can you honestly sit there and tell me you felt the full force of the impact of losing those two players? We had 22 attempts at their goal, with 8 shots on target. Like, how much more brutal can you get than that from an attacking perspective? Mo Elneny misplaced one pass out of 52, he blocked off passing lanes to Mitrovic all day, and he had 8 ball recoveries. If you think our play suffered because of Mo, I think you are trying really hard to find fault in a really good performance.
The overall point, it is difficult for a team to deal with key player injuries late on, and we didn’t really allow it to impact our style.
FEAR
Arsenal has scored early and generally blitzed teams this season. We didn’t do that against Fulham. They were stoic, Bernd Leno was making excellent saves, and things weren’t really falling our way. Psychologically, you are two players down, and the game state is different. Arsenal were trying to force things a little bit, that can get the better of you.
FUCK UP
When things aren’t going your way, then you concede a really bad goal, that can lead weaker teams to feel sorry for themselves. We’ve seen it over the last ten years. A bad moment happens, then another one follows, then we give up, and it’s a mess. Just look back at that Wolves game when David Luiz was sent off, we went from great to shocking very fast.
This team did the opposite. Going a goal down gave them focus and a bit of anger. We made that win happen by sheer force of personality.
That’s why the players celebrated like crazy people after the game, because the win was about far more than just beating a team.
WHAT WE HAVE LEARNED
Arsenal covered a big chunk of their problems this summer. The biggest one that is hanging in the air is Thomas Partey. He’s already injured 4 games into the season. At this point, you can’t say it’s a surprise, it’s just part of the package with the 29-year-old. He’s brittle in the Premier League. Big Mo Elneny has a lot of very good attributes, he can execute an instruction pack very well, he’ll work harder than anyone, but he is not Thomas Partey, and 30 games of Mo isn’t where we need to be. The question is, knowing what we know, can the club exit the window having totally ignored that our seasons tend to collapse around Thomas Partey?
The challenge they have is that Mo Elneny knows the system and bettering him is going to be harder than people think. If you sign a journeyman, will they be better? If you sign a young kid, will they be ready? If you buy someone like Frenkie De Jong… actually, don’t be mad, we don’t have the cash for that. But you get what I’m saying, this is a hard signing to make, because there aren’t many players in the world that can do what Thomas can do at the price we need.
Onto more positive problems, I think we’ve learned that even without additional signings, we’re going to be a problem in the league this season. The team is incredibly fit, they move the ball at an outrageous speed, and they are all technical masters on the floor and in the mind. The thing that’s blowing my mind this season is the variety in our attack. A move can start from anywhere. Saliba can fix a diagonal ball from the back, Zinchenko can slip in on an overlap, Odegaard can find balls from anywhere, Jesus can create from a standing start… we’re very, very good.
What we won’t escape is the realities of the league. There are going to be bad moments this season. No one is invincible. No one can dodge bad luck bar Spurs. No one will avoid losing games. The question is whether we can limit them this season. Can we turn the 13 losses of last season into 8. 3 wins and 2 draws and give ourselves and 80 point season?
I think we have enough to do it…
Obviously, I would feel more secure about that happening if we do something in the transfer window this week. Arsenal are absolutely trying to make things happen, there are no guarantees, but I’d be utterly shocked if we don’t leave with a top-quality winger. The question mark is over that midfielder. Is it a #8 or will they see this latest TP05 injury as the pre-warning for what will likely happen again this season?
PREMIER LEAGUE WATCH
Spurs, once again dropped a grim performance against a weaker team, but took the win. Rafa Honigstein called it suffer-ball and I agree. In years gone by, I’d worry about Spurs, but I think it’ll be very difficult for a side that is incredibly reliant on one player / one-dimensional and predictable – to win anything major.
Liverpool are clearly going to be good again, so if you didn’t get your LOLz in early, I feel for you.
United will be interesting this season. EtH is a good coach, but he doesn’t have the players he needs to execute his system, but they do have high quality. I still think it is batshit crazy they dropped £150m on two Ajax players and a further £60m on a 30-year-old Madrid midfielder they say doesn’t like being pressed. But it is what it is… Arsenal are a GIFT to United narratives when they are in the mud, so this week will be big for us.
Before that, we take on Aston Villa. I remember last season reading people say Stevie G was a miss for Arsenal, checking in with those guys because right now as it looks increasingly like they have made a BIG mistake hiring him in. Their owners bought into the Stevie G schtick, binned their great recruitment approach by signing older stars. The football has gone down the pan. Everyhting looks a mess. They should NEVER have sacked Dean Smith. Life was always going to be tough after losing Jack G. Anyway, NOT my problem.
Big week, let’s see how we deal with 3 games in a week!
LISTEN TO THE PODCAST
Marko, If you could explain to me how dafug do you know who dafug Mykhaylo Mudryk to the point where he’d make a decent end to the window? He’ll be 22 yo in 4 months. He has a career record of 2 goals and 10 assists in less than 2000 mins of professional football across all competitons including a few games in the UEFA Nations League. Did you watch him vs Ireland? And you noticed him? Nicknamed Ukrainian Messi and Ukrainian Neymar but started in less games than he was benched in. He’s also a specialist left winger. Aren’t we… Read more »
Mudryk looks an exciting prospect but we have plenty of those. We need to address our immediate squad problems instead.
i bet we see the same lineup from saturday.
mik likes consistency, not a rotation tinkerer unless there is a reason
what do we think- is arthur on loan better than no CM at all?
Maybe it’s just me, but even when Partey is fit and playing, which is increasingly rare, I really don’t get the hype. I certainly don’t see the mercurial player that Pedro seems to think he is. He can do some good things, but he is often sloppy in possession and sometimes fails to be able to make even the most simple passes.
This is why I feel we needed another CM, not as a back up to TP but as genuine competition for him.
havent persued the comments today really but pedro’s twitter talking about ben white starting in the 6. im ok w that, curious to give it a look see
Fulham are in for a top class Summer the way things are shaping up.
Palhinha, Diop, Andreas Pereira, Mbabu, Leno and about to join are Kurzawa, Justin Kluivert and our acquaintance – Willian.
They will survive with ease with so much class on the pitch. They’ll probably manage that without overspending on the transfer market in transfer fees but they probably pay good wages for so many talented players to decide to end up there.
A big No.to Arthur ” Daly” Melo.ffs ID rather hacker back at 6!
Just skimming the comments so apologies if this has already been posted, but David Ornstein is reporting that “Mohamed Elneny suffered a significant injury against Fulham” and is expected to miss “a considerable spell”
I guess some may see this as a blessing in disguise (!) but surely now we can expect some late movement on the incoming front…..?
Seems odd that Orny leaked the Elneny news. Surely that will make any CM we go in for 10-20% more expensive no?
Incredible the levels of spending in the Premier league, sounds like Aouar on Fulham hit list as well.
Call me crazy but there is still a very good player in there for spend.
This Mo situation seems more like an opportunity to me than crisis.
Matt I agree. He isnt the dynamo or powerhouse we need and his injury record leaves a lot to be desired.
If you could explain to me how dafug do you know who dafug Mykhaylo Mudryk to the point where he’d make a decent end to the window?
I’ve seen him some in the champions league and he’s an extremely highly rated footballer. I prefer others but he’d be a good signing
It’s our fault we sat on our hands and didn’t bring a DM earlier in the window. Every fan of Arsenal knew that Partey is both a crock and has off-pitch issues that could cause him to miss games, and his reserve – Elneny, was never good enough to play in more than 3-5 EPL games per season at best. After CF it was DM the position in biggest need of bringing a class talent in. Now with both of our starting DMs missing we’ll have troubles on the pitch.
We should tap up Douglas Luiz before the villa game
I agree the Elneny leak by Ornstein is suspicious
We should get Guendouzi on loan
sal:”This Mo situation seems more like an opportunity to me than crisis.”
It’s both. The memory of Xhaka as a holding midfielder is the stuff of nightmares.
Orny is being paid by the Tiles man you can take that to the bank.
Only time i’ve seen Mudryk play was against Real Madrid, looked to have loads of potential.
Guess that would beg the question whats Marquinos for if we dip into what is essentially another development player.
Unless the powers that be think he’s premier league ready now.
Ajax have absolutely fleeced Utd by getting £140m for Martinez and Antony.
They never learn do they? That is money that you pay for absolutely elite players who are near guaranteed to hit the ground running.
We got a better and PL proven pair in Jesus and Zinchenko for £77m.
At least we know the current ,market value of Martinelli ias at least £80 million
There’s no way Anthony is better than him. Honing your skills in the Eredivisie is a lot easier than in the premier league.
When United fire Erik ten Hag, he’ll be rehired by Ajax and they will give him a special bonus to the massive transfer of wealth he carried out.
Sal
The same argument could be made about Lokonga filling in at CM. If he is not ready to do that then why is he even at the club.
Will Anthony be ready to face us on Sunday
Has to take some time for that work visa to come though, I would imagine.
Some loon is trying trying to blame numerous injuries over the years on Granit Xhaka lol!
The only thing that this kind of comment proves is the motivation of the commenter, and the unrelenting hate, to try and search for reasons to sh1t on our player, as much as humanly possible.
Something really wrong in this person’s life.
We need a permanent replacement for TP. All this nonsense about a winger – put every penny back in the DM fund now and buy Neves
dSidstathopoulosAugust 30, 2022 15:58:42
We should get Guendouzi on loan
he did have the assist for nuno’s goal lol
north i like this neves campaigning! i totally agree if he came in the bookies would adjust our title run odds very quickly. 🤞🤞🤞
Eagle
They are spending a fraction on that on getting Ocampos from Sevilla and it seems Ziyech back from Chelsea
Matt
Agree. Don’t see Lokonga making it here.
He looked way out of his depth last season imo. Think he is 23 as well isn’t he? Plays like a meek 17/18 year old, get a Zelalem vibe off him.
WE Nice to see you now onboard. Now you can see why I thought Jesus, Zinchenko + Tielemans would be good signings?… Considering our needs, their contractual situations, and potential price + wages. PL proven, best days likely in front of them, we’ve been out of the CL for a long time, so realistically the best we’re likely to get. Tielemans isn’t off the very top shelf, but there’s so few of those types of talents around, but he’s still a very good midfielder who’d hit the ground running, and won’t cost us extortionate amounts. Like I said in the… Read more »
Now rumors of Danilo. Far more preferable to Paredes
Matt
No argument from me Lokonga was perfect candidate to be sent out on loan as he’s shown pretty consistently he’s not there yet. So many options club could go with time left, hard to predict but its pretty clear Lokonga must be in plans.
Doubt there is the time or money to fund a Neves move but seems like the ideal solution could play alongside every option we have and make us better. Could replace Partey, play along side him, Xhaka or Lokonga.
Arteta isn’t going to get another player.
He simply won’t improve our midfield because of Xhaka. A new player would expect starts and that might upset his fav player.
Can’t win a thing with that attitude.
Guess that would beg the question whats Marquinos for if we dip into what is essentially another development player.
Tbf ESR, Martinelli and Saka are still developing too none of them are the finished article yet
New post
Bati
Smart pick-up from Ajax. Surprised that Sevilla are happy to let Ocampos go for as little as €20m. Maybe contract related?
Ziyech was less hit and more miss in the PL but he absolutely crushed the Eredivisie before. Was the best player in the whole league by miles for years before his move to Chelsea.
Look at what Bergwijn is doing there now. He did fuck all in the Prem. Same as Davy Klaasen and Tadic (albeit he was decent in the PL).
It is why Utd are nuts to pay £140m for Eredivisie players.
Rich I never needed convincing on Jesus. I was probably his biggest advocate on here along with Habesha, Ishola and yourself before we signed him. Zinchenko was the one I was unsure about. I liked him but questioned whether he was what we need and for £30m +. Happy to say those doubts have now been squashed and I look forward to seeing him this season. I still am not big on Tielemans but at this stage we so badly need a CM I would take him. We need a more defensive minded one though with Partey likely to miss… Read more »
WE said many times, before we landed him, that Jesus is the best option for us on the market. I was of the same opinion. Many people weren’t though truth be told.
I also pushed the Zinchenko agenda. Fantastic player regardless, but I’m still shocked of his enormous influence on this team just a few games in. Actually stunning.
You too Rap my apologies.
Memory not great.
Sambi is still 22, he needs minutes, but he wasn’t signed as a player designed to make an immediate impact, how many 22yr old central midfielder produce consistency in the PL? There’s a few, but they’re the rare exceptions. He was a medium term investment, same as Tavares, Saliba, Odegaard, you don’t always get an instant return on investment, you’ve often got to wait for that investment to mature. Buying elite players when their clubs are ready to dump them and their wages, should be avoided Signing elite players at the peak of their powers is very expensive, and an… Read more »
WE no worries. Always a new post when I have time for the blog lol…
SpanishDave,
You hit the nail on the head and that’s why I can’t stand that fella. He is an enemy to Arsenal’s progress.
I’m curious to see what happens with Sambi. He, at times, reminds me of El Neny 2.0. He really should’ve been sent out to Kompany at Burnley to get playing time. Of our academy boys I’d love to see Azeez given a run of games.
That boy is a beast in the middle
So how do we set up TP INJURED.
And now Elneny picks up a bad Hamstring injury.?