Well good evening my darlings – it’s an international break, and we are all struggling.
I saw Harry McGuire get ruined by Scotland fans… watched Balogun score against Oman… saw that Newcastle striker earn game time over Eddie… I can’t do it anymore. I just can’t.
Trossard scored for Belgium – in a game that saw Lukaku match Pele for international goals.
Neymar moved to 56 assists at international level – he’s just two behind the record – SET BY LANDON DONOVAN. Who saw that coming? Not me boss, not me.
Kai Havertz was gifted an assist against France after Bill Saliba backed off him and gave him the freedom to slip in Sane. That’s team culture right there – comradery above nationalism. A beautiful thing.
I’ve rigged up about 17 different alert systems to keep me posted on injuries.
Big Gabi starts for Brazil tonight… so we know he’s ok.
Arsenal submitted their Champions League squad.
Goalkeepers: Aaron Ramsdale, David Raya, James Hillson
Defenders: Cedric, Lino Sousa, Takehiro Tomiyasu, Oleksandr Zinchenko, Ben White, Gabriel, Jakub Kiwior, William Saliba
Midfielders: Mohamed Elneny, Jorginho, Thomas Partey, Declan Rice, Martin Odegaard, Kai Havertz, Fabio Vieira, Emile Smith Rowe
Forwards: Leandro Trossard, Bukayo Saka, Gabriel Martinelli, Reiss Nelson, Eddie Nketiah, Gabriel Jesus
No major omissions – bar Jurrien Timber. That makes me quite sad. There’s no miracle return in the works.
Lino Sousa made the cut – the 18-year-old twinkle-toed fullback lands a space with the club low on fullback numbers.
I’m not sure how much of that is a nod to talent vs a need. But my hope is Arteta isn’t messing around and he wants him to get used to travelling with the first team this season. James Hillson in goal also gets some 3rd keeper action.
It is a big question I have this season – are we too good for breakthrough acts in 2023? When Arteta got over his obsession with average older players, he had a real reputation problem.
‘say what you will about the sauce, he bet the house on Willian!’
‘He gave Auba a £350k a week contract!’
‘The man’s having a bromance with David Luiz’
It is overlooked how he leaned into kids to repair his reputation.
Arsenal fans love young players – young players are forgiven for underperformance far more readily than senior players – younger players give you cloud cover to make rookie mistakes.
Well, now we’re good, Arteta is knocking the weak babies out of the nest. Youthful stars like Balogun, The Smith, and Ramsdale are all going to be sidelined or exited this season. But Arteta doesn’t need cloud cover and he doesn’t need to explain himself. Because now we’re all on board with his methods.
That now begs the question – are we in a post-Hale-End era? Are we about to be the club the shift on our best kids – only to see them haunt us?
I don’t know… but it is going to be VERY hard for kids to break into a first team that basically can’t afford any slippage. You need Saka-like talents and there aren’t many of them in existence.
If Charlie Patino was born 5 years earlier, he’d be in that left 8 position. Same for Balogun. Could it be similar for MLS, Cozier-Dubbery, and Nwaneri?
We don’t know. It’d be a real shame. But this is the cost of shooting for greatness, unfortunately.
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— LE GROVE (@LeGrove) September 11, 2023
I don’t think Arsenal win more than 10% in the PL vs Pep City too. Maureen owned Wenger hard, 6- 0 at Arsene 1000th game was super bad.
WE many trolls here pretends to be old to get some credibility.
Tom
I concur that fitness demands today are much higher than back in the day. Footballers today are athletes.
Partey playing inverted did not cause his injury. He strained his groin at training. .I am stunned that everyone’s suddenly a medical expert.
I was right about Dunning-Kruger. The cognitive bias & misguided self-appointed expertise is sadly ruining this blog. I do wish people would move on and stop holding a grudge because Arteta proved them wrong.
You would thinks that Arteta being an Arsenal player who had to pack it in because he lost whatever pace he had would have a better understanding of Parteys clearly unsuitability to the RB role.
Partey looked so comfortable in pre season in the DM role supported by Rice, White etc. that I foolishly thought we could get a couple more good seasons out of him not knowing Arteta’s plans for him at the time.
Rollen
“WE many trolls here pretends to be old to get some credibility”
ا’m not sure what’s more sad، young people coming on le grove pretending to be old or you thinking young people come on le grove pretending to be old.
“Partey playing inverted did not cause his injury”
“The cognitive bias & misguided self-appointed expertise is sadly ruining this blog”
Yes, that self appointed expertise sure is annoying…………………..
“ا’m not sure what’s more sad، young people coming on le grove pretending to be old or you thinking young people come on le grove pretending to be old.”
It’s whichever category you fall into, Pierre. That’s always the saddest one.
Serious question.
Why do so many on this blog dislike Arteta? I don’t understand it, so please explain.
AFC no medical expertise needed, just a bit of common sense and some background in football and general fitness.
Q: would you send Walcott on to the pitch with less than a minute worth of warm up on a cold Autumn night?
Wenger with some 30 years of experience at the highest level did, and the physio sitting next to him didn’t object either.
Which kinda puts a dent in your neat theory that elite professionals in their field are beyond making dumb ass decisions that backfire.
I hated the idea of Partey at RB and said so when Pedro first floated it moths ago.
And no, I don’t hate Arteta……actually, I rather like him.
Tom
I wasn’t a fan of selecting Partey at right back. However that’s the managers prerogative he has a far better idea than me what he’s doing.
However, whatever any of us think about that decision us one thing, it’s something else saying he injured Partey doing it. That’s bullshit mate.
“Why do so many on this blog dislike Arteta? I don’t understand it, so please explain.”
For most people it’s not even about Arteta, it’s just dumbfucks like you that turn it into something so polarizing because of idiotic questions like this that lack any context. I am trying not to blame you for it, you’re just too simple to be able to understand it and perceive it the way others do, and it’s not directly your fault, it’s all you’re capable of after all…. but it’s still irritating to read.
If a supporter questions the manager on something that a lot of people would find puzzling based on common sense, it’s just the result of a thought process that involves common sense. It is not a pre-planned attack on the individual.
This of course excludes some individuals who are just purely trolls and shouldn’t be taken seriously anyway. But if you’re suddenly asking why some of the people who have questioned Partey at RB hate Arteta so much, those two things aren’t related at all and you’d realize it easily if you weren’t simultaneously so simple and full of your own agenda.
Just for the record, I, a big Arteta fan was the FIRST one on this blog last season saying that I don’t like the idea of Partey playing FB because it would cause problems physically down the road.
Having said that, since he didn’t even make it to the 4th match of the season, if just proves he is a crock beyond what we previously thought. I agree with Bob most.
I don’t blame Arteta much, because we were just coming into a stretch of games where he was going back into midfield, with Zinchenko and Gabriel coming back in. Arteta even said that was the plan for United, as I told the deniers here since the first game of the season.
The lineup he used against Man City was his plan for harder opponents, and
ONE inverted FB (Zinchenko preferably) for weaker teams parking the bus.
He just needed to help out as inverted FB while Zinchenko was getting into match fitness. 3 weeks… one match per week.
He broke down anyway.
Rich was right. We should have been proactive in Parteys case.
I was one of the many wrong ones, and I’m not looking to blame Arteta for Parteys chronic undependability.
This guy’s record is being unavailable for 36% of all games since he’s been with us. He’ll be great at AFCON I’m sure.
Current football free agents⚽️
🇪🇸 David de Gea
🇧🇪 Eden Hazard
🏴 Jesse Lingard
🏴 Axel Tuanzebe
🇨🇴 Alfredo Morelos
🇲🇱 Moussa Marega
🇦🇷 Roberto Pereyra
🇦🇷 Papu Gómez
🇦🇷 Javier Pastore
🇵🇹 Xeka
🇫🇷 Anthony Modeste
🇳🇱 El Ghazi
🇲🇦 Oussama Idrissi
🇩🇿 Haris Belkebla
🇩🇰 Kasper Schmeichel
🇬🇭 André Ayew
🇲🇪 Stevan Jovetic
LUTEO g
“It’s whichever category you fall into, Pierre. That’s always the saddest one.”
I don’t fall into either of those categories …..you’d realize it easily if you weren’t simultaneously so simple and full of your own agenda.
Pierre
I meant in life, not between those two things.
Don’t know where you got your free agent info Josip but Schmeichel is at anderlecht
Modeste is at Al ahly
Tuanzebe is at Ipswich
Jovetic at Olympicacos
Morelos went to Brazil I think
I saw xeka on your list
The secret love child of Granit and Bukayo
He got the height and physicality genes from granit and the technique and personality from bukayo
What a hero!
Daily Mail journo –
“Bukayo Saka, despite his emergence as one of Gareth Southgate’s key players, was named as a substitute here in Glasgow after being caught on the receiving end of some hefty Ukrainian ‘defending’ on Saturday.
But his omission last night wasn’t strictly a result of Saturday’s bruising encounter. Mail Sport understands that Saka continues to be nagged by an Achilles problem that dogged him last season.”
JWL, not sure if it’s true… but 84 games in a row doesn’t make me disbelieve
That would be a huge blow.
Saka will be alright. The amount of beatings he has taken in last season would have broken a lot of our players.
However, not having a prominent back up for him is going to make things tough if he out even for a month.
Tom,
There is a simpler explanation. We knew Partey is fragile, so we got Declan Rice to rotate with him when needed and ultimately pass on the wagon.
Mikel, however, decided to play both of them, which basically defeats the purpose of getting Rice.
Pierre – why it with Wenger Boyz they always bring in the runners up trophies, you’ve just reflected he was on a 50% loss rate even where the pro Wenger argument is strongest. I’ve never seen a scouser or a manc do that. I bet you kid yourself he had a glorious record in Europe as well?
Should have resigned way , way before he did . Too ready to take the coin with his socialist salary policy. A man who ultimately split the fanbase through his own material greed and an icon for Beta males
General Generalisation who got a degree in generalising at General College, Sid, take a bow!
MarkyMark, I don’t think ‘’material greed’ kept him in the job, more his obsessiveness.
The babies born in the 60’s are generally chaotic and ungrounded – Dear Sid – I will need to delve into what you consider one of the evils of the world Psychoanalysis to confirm who said it. But to summarise that pre 1950 (arbitrary date) and certainly pre 1970. That more people were born into a regulated society often productive capitalism or alternatively under communism , socialism or Junta governments. This gave group structure but led to “Guilty Man” an individual who was in conflict with societal rules either by differing sexuality or inbuilt fight against other repressive structures such as classism , racism etc . Societal pressure known as the persecutory super ego in conflict with the ID ( personal drive ) outwards this causes anger or ) if turned inwards
this would also cause guilt ( why can’t I fit in ). Since the demise of production capitalism and the rise of self satisfying but non productive consumer capitalism , failing religious framework and strongly regulated political systems . We are struggling to fill these structures. Some seek individual regulation through the self awareness and health sectors . Others wander around structureless. For these people guilt and internal conflict are not the issue. It is instead they do not know what they want or need ( tragic man )
Freudian analysis does not work well with this type . Rather Rogers style work attempting to improve ideas of self , and self discovery and help give a stronger internal framework.
Bob – I’d like to think it was obsession but sometimes when I look at that socialism salary policy that worked extremely well for him and his power plays I’m not so sure. I’m not welded to that view particularly
“Bukayo Saka, despite his emergence as one of Gareth Southgate’s key players, was named as a substitute here in Glasgow after being caught on the receiving end of some hefty Ukrainian ‘defending’ on Saturday.
Then why did he play as a sub in a meaningless friendly after the result was decided by then.
Madhu
Good question. If it’s true about Saka, what was Southgate thinking? I thought it also odd that he bought on Maguire. I’m not Maguire s greatest fan but Southgate had no need to do that to him, hiding to nothing.
New Post!
AFC if he is continued to be nagged by Achilles from last season it begs the question on his management by both club and country. Bizzare really.
If he’s not absolutely 100% then bench him against Everton
Seriously we have a squad. People say we don’t have cover, I see plenty
If you want trickery and dynamism with dribbling around the box, put jesus on the right and let Eddie play up front.
If you want intelligence and guile on the right, pick trossard
If you want an explosive runner with a point to prove, pick Nelson
I don’t think there’s any pressure whatsoever to play saka in every single match with our squad aside from that which is self imposed.
If he’s not absolutely 100%, rest him. Aside from being good for saka it also gives others in the squad a chance to stay fit and sharp as opposed to waiting 200 years for when he next misses a match. Or worst case scenario waiting until we’ve broken him due to constant overplaying
If he’s not absolutely 100% then bench him against Everton
Seriously we have a squad. People say we don’t have cover, I see plenty
If you want trickery and dynamism with dribbling around the box, put jesus on the right and let Eddie play up front.
If you want intelligence and guile on the right, pick trossard
If you want an explosive runner with a point to prove, pick Nelson
I don’t think there’s any pressure whatsoever to play saka in every single match with our squad aside from that which is self imposed.
If he’s not absolutely 100%, rest him. Aside from being good for saka it also gives others in the squad a chance to stay fit and sharp as opposed to waiting 200 years for when he next misses a match. Or worst case scenario waiting until we’ve broken him due to constant overplaying .
Lol at Richarlison going to a psychiatrist to try and work out why he has a goal drought
If I was that guy I’d tell him if you want to be a better player, step one is take that silly ‘look how hard I am’ angry pout off your face you silly try hard and focus on actually playing football
Anthony (not coincidentally) suffers from the exact same issue of taking himself so seriously and walking around glaring left and right 24/7 like some cartoon tough guy. Another fine example of a player who could probably be good if he’d stop behaving like a child on the playground trying to impress the girls