The BIG injury news for the Spurs game is basically everyone will be fit bar Emile Smith Rowe who seems to always have a discomfort in his groin.
At the start of last season, his absence would have been a major issue to our creativity, this season, we have plenty of attacking backup.
Check out that for a chart. Arsenal dominating for players in the top 10 here for players involved in shot-creating sequences.
Spurs rely on two players, if those two aren’t about, they are fucked. We’re massively in the mixer and we have players like Fabio Vieira on the bench along with ESR. Pretty decent and yet another table of underlying stats that leads to a convincing story that Arsenal are going to be a thing this season.
TalkSport hitting weird new lows today insisting that it’s ok to slam Arsenal for… starting a 15-year-old.
Honestly man, how slim are storyline pickings when this contributes?
Slim enough for me to dive in with my two pennies…
There are some interesting layers to the decision.
- If he was shite, he wouldn’t have landed a start. Mikel Arteta is many things, but certainly not a tolerator of low standards.
- Our clubs strategy at the moment is geared around creating a best-in-class academy. If you were a top 14-year-old, would you move to Chelsea? No. Manchester City? No. Liverpool? No. Well, not if you had eyes on starting games for the first team. However, if you got the call from Arsenal? Maybe. This was a recruitment play as much as anything. Just check out the video of the U9s watching the debut if you need to see the second-order effect of Ethan getting some minutes.
- Arteta is definitely a petty bitch. No doubt in my mind part of the decision was a little bit of a Jose Mourinho Trademarked smackdown for the way Brentford last season.
- Continuing the theme of pettiness and Jose Mourinho, this felt like a low-risk way of telling the board we’re slim on squad numbers, so have that chequebook ready for Jan 1st.
Ivan Toney, fresh off the back of getting served up some revenge, reckons the one Tweet from Gabriel is a bit cringe.
Maaaaaaaate, you were dining off that Tweet last season, so suck it up when it’s served back up at you like cold plate of sick.
Flo B has spoken about what Arteta asked of him when he moved away.
“Before I moved, Mikel (Arteta) just wanted me to develop as a man,” he said.
“It was kind of like an open answer and it was for me to interpret what he meant by ‘develop as a man’.
“By moving abroad, I’m starting to learn what he meant by that. It doesn’t just mean on the pitch but also off the pitch. I think by the time I go back I’ll be in a better place to compete than I was before I left.”
“I think it’s very important to just throw yourself in at the deep end, as I’m trying to do, and hopefully I don’t drown.
“Pretty much every training session there’s something I’m confused about so I’ve got to ask a lot of questions, I’ve got to pick up on key words and that’s how I’m learning the language at the moment.
Arteta moved to France and Scotland before slumming it in Merseyside. Moving to another country is hard, you grow up fast, you have to be your best self if you want to build a network, and you go to some dark places. Factor in learning an entire new language, and, well, it’s a life-changing thing.
It takes bravery, hopefully that pays off for him, it seems to have already on the football front. 8 games, 5 goals, 2 assists… pretty special. He needs to really smash up that league and kick on next season so we can see him in the mixer for the 3rd striker position we don’t have covered right now.
Fingers crossed he can do the biz.
It’s also interesting watching charlie Patino drop some big performances over at Blackpool, he’ll be vying for the Xhaka position over the next couple of years in the same way BNC is coming for the Cedric position in the squad.
The kids are very exciting.
Right, short one today, get in the comments, but first… get into the podcast.
Good short post Pedro.
2nd
3rd
I am not going to be first in the comments am I?
Good post – I need some positivity in this world we share!!
Tr4phy
God dammit Richard you pipped me to the top 4 trophy! 😂
1st
pete et al whats the deal w the ticket exchange!?
think of it like latter year Wenger Benny.
It isn’t about winning, it’s about taking part 🙂
Talksports Cundy disgraced himself with those Nwaneri comments. he looked very small making personal attacks against Arteta. The manager consults regularly with academy staff, lets the kid train with the seniors and came to a conclusion he was ready.
Arteta made Arsenal fans proud with that sub.
Arteta gave the academy a massive boost with that substitution, however symbolic is may have been.
Honestly it’s like Talk sport go out of their way to find the biggest bunch of morons to have as their presenters.
All expect the lovely Laura woods of course!
It’s quite funny how desperate people are to dig Arsenal out. It’s actually a good thing to see one of our youngsters getting minutes. Spurs would be praised for it.
Talkshite is what it is, clickbait for the easily triggered. They are now calling Gabriel out for giving banter back to Toney despite not feeling the need to criticise Toney last season when he was being disrespectful.
Two weeks ago we were over celebrating.
Whatever Arteta is doing it’s got a lot of people worried. And so it should.
Arsenal play the part of the easy knock. It’s simply not even worth listening to Talk Shite
Pedro
Have you lost your damn mind? Everyone fit except ESR? You do realize we’re heading into a ton of International games, right? How about the everyone fit except for ESR (and Elneny, btw) when they all return from the ‘break’ without anything broken!
MarkyMark
Yep stopped listening years ago. There was only so much Adrian Durham I could take. It’s a very immature broadcasting style.
bacary
Good point.
Hard to see Tierney and Partey after they play two games for Ghana and Scotland respectively.
On the plus side, very nice piece about Flo. The reason we were all so excited about him was due to his sheer deadliness off both feet in front of goal. He could shift it to either side and had the pace and skill to bury his finish. Good to see he’s got a healthy amount of self-awareness about what he needs to accomplish.
As non English my only knowledge of talk shit is immature talking players down… But this is a new low.. just be happy for the kids and hopefully it is a sign that Arteta is open to giving more young players minutes. They are just mad that Arsenal player broke a record.
Lets see how the boy develops over the next few years.
Flo is actually more relevant and will hopefully continue to develop over the course of the season.
P.s. I hate this international break.. Shit how boring it is…
This one kinda reminds me of the album cover art for “Seasons in the Abyss” (slayer’s 5th release).
Still like @cheappanini better but this is not bad.
Great quote from flo. Sounds like a sharp kid with a great perspective. Fuck yeah
TalkSport is pathetic. I can’t figure out what someone like Laura Woods is doing there with those bottom feeders. It’s obvious a lot of people have made a career out of shitting on Arsenal and they’re having some trouble pivoting.
Wow… what that charts tells me.. is this.. Gabriel Martinelli is a beast. And I’m glad he is getting overlooked by Brazil.. only benefits us in this weird World Cup situation.
The balance between Jesus, Saka and Marti and Odegaard has been just right.. It’s the link up between the midfield and them that has gone awry at times especially when Partey is not playing. But honestly it hasn’t gone off track too much because we are top of the table and I can’t wait to see what happens in the NLD,, and I hope everyone is fit with no injury surprises at the last minute.
Those Spur shit saying trash are just a bit jealous that Ethan broke a record in style but regardless we are coming tops against the in the NLD mark my words
Don’t we dare lose to them lot. We are playing well but most umportant is picking up points. That utd game is a great example of playing well but not picking up points, we can not do that!!
The question is , is this Arsenal team ready for the big games that matter , tottenham and liverpool at home are massive games that will tell us a lot about this present side.
Can we remain cool and composed under pressure if we are holding onto a slender league.
Can we come back from behind if we go a goal down and will Arteta make the right decisions under pressure.
If the answer is yes to these questions and we come away with at least 4 points in these 2 games ., then we can really look forward to an exceptional season.
It feels like Arsenal are developing a real fear factor(important)in their game, other teams will not want to play us or over commit going forward as we are capable of tearing them apart..
Our next 2 league games can either strengthen the fear factor or weaken it, have to say I’m quietly confident that this team has the bottle for the big games , although my doubts still remain with Gabriel, who can lose his composure at times in the big games , and lesser so Ramsdale, who we may need to produce big performances to get us over the line , at present he has been very well protected by our defence with just the odd save to make.
talk sport employ some pretty strange people and I think your IQ has to be below a certain level , also helps if your middle name is Neanderthal
didn’t Gray and that other cunt get banned from there lol…………………………………lol think they might have been to intellectual for that show
If it was Pep or Klopp fielding a 15yr old, all these assholes would be calling it a genius and brave decision. They’d hail their academies and how far ahead they are and even have the guts to command other teams to emulate. Fuck em’
Pierre
Absolutely right about that fear factor. Though teams like pool, Chelsea and city don’t seem to have that fear of us.
They always seem extra motivated to get one over us.
Maybe winning a few of those games will really strike fear into all the teams in the PL. Start with a nice 4-0 thumping of spurs and that will set the tone perfectly for the rest of the season.
Pierre
You made a sensible post there,the next 2 games will either cement the fear factor teams now have or just see us as one of those team. Like you said I’m confident this team can hold their own, when we lost at manutd I saw the confidence with which we played the ball atimes . Something is brewing,hoping it’s built on
Kudos to you,when the fixtures for the season came out you said Arsenal will be top of the league before the international break and really it came to pass
Mikel seems more focused this year and direct in his approach, so he his also progressing imo!!
I can’t wait to see more of Ethan and Marquinoz in cub games or coming on as subs late in a game ?
Baloguns attitude and thinking reads well. Spurs defence will be nervous with Loris injured, but
key to the NLD is our defence, keeping Kulu quiet and watching the duo.. But I am optimistic and
going for a win and a clean sheet, Jesus with at least two goals.
Gonsterous
Winning Spurs 4:0 I can’t see that happening not with Conte there,he’s defensive first but I know we will win them,will take 2:1 or 1:0 as long as we get maximum points
Balogun sounds just like Saka , very humble boy , I’d take him anyday of the week over some journeyman 30yr old .
Have to say I’m finding th young lads coming through to be really exciting
All local lads
Could have 6-7 payers starting for England in the next World Cup quite easily
When was the last time we made our home ground a fortress? Can we do that? Most definitely. I’m optimistic this season. After a long long time I can sense us heading in the right direction and I have to admit, arteta has done a great job. Not saying there isn’t room for improvement but I’m very happy with the way the club looks from the inside and the outside right now
Conte and Klopp fear Arteta much more than he fears them. Conte will aim to hit Arsenal on the break where Arsenal will be attacking throughout. Klopp will be ruing the day Mane left, Arsenal’s bete noir.
also in part of Balogun’s interview he said learning French for too long made his head hurt — been there 🙂
With regard to Pedro’s chart , it is good to see so many Arsenal offensive players making the top 10, it’s getting back to the Wenger days when offensively we were always up there with the best .
The last couple of years since Arteta took over it was noticeable that no Arsenal players were anywhere near the top of any offensive charts , so the chart above is a sure sign of progression.
We are now flooding the oppositions box when going forward , which provides options and creates space for late runners into the box , of which Odegaard has benefitted lately with some well timed runs.
A natural goalscoring box to box midfielder could really be benficial in this present Arsenal side , maybe Vieira and/or smith rowe are being primed for that role.
Interesting article on Fernandes in The Athletic today…
As a No 10, which is how Fernandes views himself, the challenge is to find space. “It is about finding the non-occupied areas, or sometimes the dead zones where nobody can see you or mark you. Or, if they do mark you, they will create more space in the middle of the pitch for other people.”
So, these “dead zones”. How do you find them?
“Normally, I call these the ‘referee zone’,” he says. “Because nobody marks the referee.”
and even he moaned about referee bias to ManU before he joined them 🙂
Fernandes says: “At the beginning of January, my agent said, ‘You don’t need to worry, because any time I bring you a club, it will be a dream club for you’. He knew that the dream club was Man United. Ole was a big part of that because he actually went to see my games. He saw me moaning a lot in that game against Porto — I moaned a lot against their players, against the referees.”
and finally…
Do you think the referees enjoy it?
“Some of them like the way I am. They kind of joke about it sometimes. One of the referees said to me, ‘Bruno, all the time you are winning, you are such a good guy. But when you are losing or drawing, oh my god, you are a pain in my ass’. I want to be like that. I want the referee to feel that I am pressing him and always there talking to him.”
Pierre
ESR, when fit, will be hitting close to prime gerrard and Lampard numbers
Natural in the box and his timing is excellent
Like a young Paul Scholes for me but quicker
Haven’t listened to talk sport in years. It’s not hard to find better things to do
uckaghSeptember 22, 2022 11:07:22
Haven’t listened to talk sport in years. It’s not hard to find better things to do
Yeah like nailing my knob to a table
Bruno Fernandez is a really unlikable player. What a cunt.
Totally re Bruno
Ray in LA.just confirms what I always thought.Bruno is a right C *_t.absolutely perfect for Man u.Hope we give them an almighty pasting in the return fixture.inc Mctominay in that.
Habesha
totally agree 🙂
Positive Pete
of course agree too 🙂
and I was thinking that yellow cards can be graded on a scale of one to five
with one being so slight only Xhaka gets a card
and five being so bad that even Mctominay gets booked
The fear factor is very important.
This team togetherness and bonding based on non-negotiables, respect and passion is why we won’t fear anyone; and whey teams will fear us. The military is hot on discipline because people get killed if someone decides they don’t give a shit. It only takes one person. One player stop’s tracking back or starts waving their arms around. Gone are the days where some flash kid can run around the pitch winding up the opposition about the wages he earns, or the team captain can decide to miss pre-match briefings because he doesn’t give a shit. We fucked them off. Some people didn’t get it but they do now. You can’t go into battle with those types of people.
Brentford looked scared Sunday, they knew they couldn’t get near us. Toney was bullied by Saliba and Gabriel, he hid. He won’t be looking forward to the return match at the Emirates. That’s fear. The fact the media and Spurs and Chelsea pundits are suddenly finding some very weird things to criticise us about, proves how far we have come. We over celebrate. Gabriel was cringeworthy for returning Toney’s disrespectful tweet with interest. We only played a young lad for vanity reasons. It just goes on and on. Expect more bollocks because they know Arsenal are back at the top table. We are building something big.. The fans in the stadium could see it last season. Our identity and personality is starting to shine. We have found the cojones, Boy Deeney said we lacked. We’re no longer soft. We are a proper team with players who really do give a shit. That scares people. A few results against the so called big boys and everyone will see Arsenal are back.
All the indignation with Talk Shite is quite funny, given that many posters on here were criticising Arteta on all manner of things up until 6-weeks ago (tactically inept; poor man-management; hates the youngsters; Xhaka has something on him; dull football etc. etc. ad infinitum)
From my last post.
“Whatever happened to we are top of the league ? We have Saka, Martinelli, Jesus, Odegaard as one of the top shot creating performers in the league. In the company of names like Debruyne, Salah, Harry Kane. Four players while our rivals have one or two on the list.Funny enough Granit Xhaka is not too far behind as well. I believe this kind of stat translates well throughout the season if players can maintain performance.In 2015/16 when we were competing for the title, Santi Cazorla, Ozil and Aaron Ramsey (I think?) were in top 15 for shot creating actions. Of course Cazorla and Ramsey eventually got injured and naturally our form dropped. Lets hope our luck is better this time around because if these youngsters keep this up, the future looks promising”
If we can continue to have at least 2-3 players in the top 10, I can’t see us finishing below Third.
AFC
I prefer shell-shocked hahaha. Ivan Toney didn’t know what hit him. Let’s see him put a tweet about a nice kickabout with this Arsenal side now.
AFC Forever
Spot on, in total agreement.
To add a little balance, Toney’s point has been misrepresented quite a bit. He stated that Lacazette did the same thing after we beat them at the Emirates last year and so Gabriel’s tweet on the weekend was the second time. So that was why it was “cringey”
Just saying ………..
Ahh smug Tony.You still knocking about? That is you is it? Not one of your multiple personality disorders? The subject matter was football NOT boring us all to death with another diatribe on “ Junior “ & his golf exploits.As if anyone & I mean anyone gives a f**k.
Since when Tony? Ha Ha.HaHave they put you to bed yet ?.Your coco’s getting cold.& way past your bedtime.Can’t really understand why out of the blue you had to chip in with one of your snidy specials seeing as I’ve ignored you ( which one? ) in ages.Still ,if it amuses you.Sweet dreams.
Blog down?
Anyone see where Juventus is lately in Serie A?
Eighth. Locatelli and Vlahovic hope you’re enjoying yourselves playing together for a mid table team…
Didn’t you have the chance to join the Arsenal? You turned your nose up at us and how did that work out?!?
😂 😂😂
But the food is better and they don’t have to play on a freezing wet evening in Newcastle, Manchester, Leeds etc.
good to see tony back in here talking to himself. tired of working on the autobiography not even your imaginary son will read?
ya tony i live in the bay area of california, never heard of a computer.
anything to say about arsenal other than to lick other posters assholes who you presume i have issues with? NOPE.
1) Talkshite can fuck off with their opinion.
2) It warms my cojones to think that Son and Kane are 31 and 30 respectively. Kane hasn’t signed a new contract and likely to leave the club if (when) they don’t win anything again this season. Spurs are in deep shit in the next year or two.
3) Any team finishing second behind Man City is the league champion for me. Man City is turning this league into Budesliga, and not deservedly. I wrote a comment in Guardian the fact that I don’t have respect for Man City, because of the dodgy sponsorship deals, and that they delayed providing evidence to UEFA and got out on a technicality as the charges were time-barred, and my comments were immediately deleted by the moderators! I don’t think Guardian is particularly biased, so it must be the Man City lawyers! Scary though that they have the power to shut down valid criticism!