The consequences of losing the Manchester City just before a two-week break could have been horrendous. We’d have sat on 17 points, level with Liverpool, 4 points behind City, actually properly behind Spurs.
But it wasn’t to be. Arteta did an outstanding job nullifying the threat of a team that’s been teaching us painful lessons for the last 7 years.
We’re level points at the top of the league. We’ve played United, City, and Spurs. No easy run of games. We haven’t played all the worst teams in the League like Spurs. Arsenal hasn’t even found 5th gear yet, there’s plenty more to come from the football.
We’re bedding in a new #6, a new #1, a new left-sided #8. We lost Thomas Partey, Jurrien Timber, and Gabriel Jesus. This run of games could have been a lot worse – and no one would have accepted the excuses.
Are we favourites for the league? I don’t think so. Manchester City is still the best equipped to fight on 4 fronts, they have the experience of winning, and no one finishes league campaigns like them. Arsenal wouldn’t be safe if they had a 10-point head start. City gets stronger as everyone else gets weaker. Alex Ferguson sides were a little bit like that. That comes down to experience more than anything. I know people don’t want to accept that youth is detrimental in title-races, but it is. There’s no difference in the office space, you don’t see many CFOs with 2 years experience under their belts. Across all sports, players and teams tend to peak about 28-29 years old. Arsenal is a long way off that number, but we’re further ahead than any young team in the whole of Europe. Topping City will be hard, accept it.
That said, there are some things that might work for us. No team has ever won the league 4 seasons in a row. Pep Guardiola pointed towards that fact after the game. I don’t know whether it was gamesmanship, but he seemed to be alluding to fatigue and the toughness of Premier League. He knows they can’t keep this pace up forever, a crash comes, we’re just not sure when. The Premier League SURELY can’t allow itself to be dominated by one team? Money is the excuse in every other league – we don’t have that luxury in England. Everyone is rich. Someone has to pick up the levels and make a run this season.
Arsenal are the second-best coached team in the league these days. I don’t really see anyone else coming close to the league title this season. Liverpool looks good going forward, but it’s not the rock and roll football of 3 years ago. Eddie Howe is doing a good job at Newcastle United, but they don’t have the feel of league winners, and some of that early-season power they had last season has worn off. United? No chance. Chelsea? They’ll get better, but that’s the most expensive ‘trust the process’ team ever built. Aston Villa under Don Unai? He’s smashing the calendar year tables, but we all know how that movie ends.
If the Premier League wants to see a change of guard, it has to be Arsenal.
Our strength is the system Arteta has built. We can play a multitude of styles, we shapeshift in games, and he’s instilled a bravery that maybe wasn’t there in the past. Watching Arsenal play hard after going 1-0 up was terrifying by also something new. Gone are the days of wetting the bed with panic football. Arsenal injected venom into City and watched their game slowly die without putting a hand on us.
Our biggest weakness is the things Arteta was criticised most for this season: We don’t rotate and our fans complain when we do.
Arteta hasn’t been able to quit Bukayo Saka, the warning signs have been there, the niggly injuries, asking to be subbed off, then capping it all off going to an average team in France to play an away game. What was the point in re-upping Reiss Nelson if there was no desire to play him?
We’ve lost Martinelli, Partey, and Trossard to soft tissue injuries. Saliba is also carrying a problem. We’re not going to survive the season if there isn’t some meaningful rotation early in the season. I don’t want to see big names in the FA Cup. I don’t want to see first-teamers in the Champions League team if we’ve qualified. I want to see fringe players given games against weaker sides.
Our seasons collapse when rotation is forced on us because of injury. If Arteta doesn’t calm down the training and his insistence on activating against the idea that ‘world class’ means you play all the games, we’ll forever be having our Rob Holding SAVE ME moments.
Keeping as many of our best players on the pitch for as long as possible, I feel, is the best chance we have of getting to a 90+ point season.
Ok, that’s all I’ve got today! x
Sid
She doesn’t need you. You could always take a cast of your longstuff – would it fit on the shelf or would it need to go on the top.
Christ
Mark and Gd4 still at it? Haha
Mark, you’re letting him bring you down man.
Nigel – cheers fella. I broke the golden rule of if you have 3 to 4 fairly aggressive interactions with someone it’s likely banter but 5/6/7 it’s my fault for continuing to engage. Un to be fair did warn me.
GD4, thanks for sharing the interview with Balo – https://www.espn.com/soccer/story/_/id/38640552/folarin-balogun-monaco-move-arsenal-exit-was-my-hands
“He (Arteta) didn’t really say much, he just said that when I came back he just said well done, and he encouraged me to keep going.
“Then me coming back in a preseason, it was just more about me seeing whether I fit into his plans and seeing if I can continue to play some games.
“He said that he would try to get me involved as best as he could, but of course he also told me that the people higher up were making decisions on me and seeing what would be best for me. So the conversations between me and him were good, but it was more about the club, what they wanted to do.”
However, amid interest from Inter Milan and Chelsea, Arsenal chose to agree a deal with Monaco.
“It [his future up in the air] wasn’t something that made me feel anxious, it was just more a case of seeing what wanted to be done,” Balogun added. “It was out of my hands, that’s how I felt. It wasn’t something I could control.
“The only thing I could do was just turn up to train and work hard. So I did that. And then after training, I enjoyed being back in London. I saw my friends, caught up with my family.”
__________________________________________________
It sounds honest and kind of puts to bed the stories that Balo was putting up riots, was a menace, was trying to leave etc what I think Nigel was saying.
The move was probably more engineered by the club wanting to cash in on him. I don’t remember the rule exactly but selling youth players was giving some crazy help with FFP.
His vilification is pretty wide off the mark. He signed an extension with us, went on loan, performed in a fantastic way, got us a big bag – £34.3million + a large 17.5% sell on clause – our record sale.
We have to thank him for everything. He’s helped the club in a brilliant way. Again, his sale is the only reason we could afford the summer we just had.
In the interview he also says they made a bet with Bukayo who’s gonna score more goals and the winner will win himself a nice watch.
Some posts here about him were full of hatred and made up stuff. Talking shit about someone who’s been with Arsenal since he was 7 years old, wasn’t even given a proper chance to succeed here but became our record sale was quite embarrassing. He’s the MVP that allowed us to buy Rice, Havertz and Timber. And we’ve got our own fans flaming him. It’s weird to say the least.
Un – correct 👍 I’m detaching from the racist / I’m not racist borefest
Nigel re Balogun: “He’s a dickhead of a person, that isn’t going to change. No polishing is going to make him a less selfish human.”
One of the many quotes I find very weird. A player the club chose to sell and secured us a record sale with having barely played for us at all. We should be grateful instead.
And on LeGrove at 21:00 hrs this evening, an EXCLUSIVE
GD4 and Markymark will be discussing the Middle East Crisis
Sid’s flogging the tickets 🙂
FB – oh no 😢 that’s off my le grove agenda – to sad and heartbreaking
“It sounds honest and kind of puts to bed the stories that Balo was putting up riots, was a menace, was trying to leave etc what I think Nigel was saying. of hatred and made up stuff.
Talking shit about someone who’s been with Arsenal since he was 7 years old, wasn’t even given a proper chance to succeed here but became our record sale was quite embarrassing. He’s the MVP that allowed us to buy Rice, Havertz and Timber. And we’ve got our own fans flaming him. It’s weird to say the least”
……………
Thanks Raptora.
Imagine a so called Arsenal fan having such hatred and vitriol towards a Hale End product for no just cause. But seeing what lies in the heart of his two other pals, you begin to wonder what really is behind all the vitriol and bile towards a young kid.
.
“ Nigel re Balogun: “He’s a dickhead of a person, that isn’t going to change. No polishing is going to make him a less selfish human.”
Imagine that level of hatred for a Hale End product.
How does he get away with that?
Yeah but Rap, Nigel always always admits when his hot takes fall flat with multiple mea culpas in block capitals, so let’s all praise him.
The interesting comment from Balogun – “Then me coming back in a preseason, it was just more about me seeing whether I fit into his plans and seeing if I can continue to play some games.“He said that he would try to get me involved as best as he could, but of course he also told me that the people higher up were making decisions on me and seeing what would be best for me. So the conversations between me and him were good, but it was more about the club, what they wanted to do.”
They? The team and its requirements are managed by Arteta & Edu. It is overseen by Josh.
Clearly Balogun and his laid back natural style did not suit Arteta – nothing to do with the suits upstairs.
From arsenal.com, there’s even a quiz.
——–
On this day in 1996, Arsène Wenger took charge for the first time…
Starting with a victory …
October 12, 1996 is a day etched in our history as Arsene Wenger took charge of his first-ever Gunners game against Blackburn Rovers – but how many of that starting XI can you remember?
https://www.arsenal.com/news/quiz-can-you-name-wengers-first-arsenal-line
Balogun could have stayed.
If the club could make players leave Cedric would be long gone.
Karsa
El-Neny?
NORG
Everyone loves Elneny.
Karsa
And somebody else loves Cedric’s wife.
Jwl
Seaman
Dixon
Adams
Bould
Keown
Winterburn
Vieira
Platt
Merson
Bergkamp
Wright
Think we played a back 5
532
Wright scored two goals
One was a lovely side footed goal from the left of the area into the far right side of the goal
2-0 I think
Ah I got one player wrong. Shame
What a pass from vieira
Wright would kill in this team
I honestly preferred the way the game was played back then
More robust
More masculine
Simpler
More exciting
Like wine
I missed platt, keown and merson, Un.
Jwl
Hartson and bergkamp
Jwl
Who did you have in their place?
I don’t remember match at all, Un, but I assumed we 442 and left keown out and thought bergkamp midfield behind our two strikers.
Nah wenger went straight for 532 and stuck with it until he got petit and overmars
To think he got those two with anelka and vieira for under £10m in 1 year
Crazy
FB
“And on LeGrove at 21:00 hrs this evening, an EXCLUSIVE G.D4 and Markymark will be discussing the Middle East Crisis. Sid’s flogging the tickets.”
Tell Sid I’ll have two. Be fun watching them tear each other to pieces over whether or not the Gaza Strip is in Lichtenstein or simply something Paul Gascoigne did in a Spanish restaurant.
Also wished Balagun would have stayed and we moved Eddie on but then we would have been off worst financially. So here we go spending a mint to get in the Jan or summer TW a CF in and Eddie will still stink up the place.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=geJbTwOQoQU
Always worth a watch. I had to stand on the Shelf as couldn’t get a ticket on the away end. Felt like anything was possible in those days.
“”the Gaza Strip is in Lichtenstein or simply something Paul Gascoigne did in a Spanish restaurant.””
They might surprise you with Vybz Cartel music
I see Umai Emery’s name is still being mocked.The monkey must dance to the organ grinders tune,long live arsenal fc
I was thinking about the PGMOL discussion that some of you were having and liked the idea of giving managers the ability to question a decision and have it reviewed.
As much as this is a great idea, it becomes less when you realise that you have to trust the current PGMOL lot in VAR to give you an accurate video angle. As we all know, they are so biased, you just know that they won’t give you the correct TV angle to allow the manager to point out whatever error that needs overturning.
So what is the best remedy here?
To create an independent VAR system whose staff are not from PGMOL at all.
Doing that would definitely help give a cold unbiased eye on what is happening. Not to mention that this would absolutely force PGMOL refs to do their job properly.
But this it too much of a common sense idea to implement. PGMOL seem to be very happy with their incompetence and cronyism. So why would they want to change that?
Jordan Henderson is finding the Saudi experience interesting. £700k a week or some crazy shit like that . Recently played in front of 976 supporters. Interesting to think whether the money will offset the feeling of is it actually worth it.
DB10 – VAR operators should actually be in the stadium. The Premier League has the cash to do this. These remote operators are pretty shite bring it in as part of the stadium experience. Give the managers 1 appeal each. Basically do a Cricket style system it works so much better and is now part of the appeal of Test and Limited over games
Un – Anelka was purchase of century, our return on £500,000 investment in him was huge, we got rid of mardy bloke who wasted his talent and in return we got TH14 and training ground.
PGMOL is a union and unions exist to protect their incompetent members and to give jobs to their incompetent relatives/neighbours, until PGMOL is abolished nothing changes.
JWL – complete bullshit Unions were created to protect workers rights. The dockers unions stopped the practice of flipping tokens in the air to grab a days work and the inhumanity of literally fighting to grab a job.
The match girls changed permanently attitudes that people should be fodder for profit. The Ford woman’s workers pushed equal salaries for woman. The Grunswick dispute mainly south Asian woman thought immense racial prejudice for equal rights.
I’ve worked in Unionised areas and in Private Banking environments. Belief me I watched a senior banker playing computer games doing sweet FA for months at a time before he went through a redundancy. Incompetence is everywhere it’s part of the under / average and over performing
Thought * fought
Markymark
Interesting how it is done in cricket. In rugby, TMO are sat in a truck just outside of the ground.
To be fair, I don’t think it matters in football where they are seated. It’s no different in rugby either. Whether you see it live with your own eyes or on a TV screen, we can always see the action and the intent and make a correct decision to be made. In my experience,
The next most important bit is, we have to hear what is being said. With TMO you get to understand the reasoning for the call that needs to be made.
The new “bunker” system has it that if a foul looks like a red but the ref is unsure, the player is sent off to the sin bin for 10 mins and during that time TMO reviews all footage. A decision is given around the 5 min mark (on average) on whether the player should be sent off.
We could implement a similar idea. The player is shown a yellow but the difference here is that the player is still on the pitch playing during that 10 (5?) min period to allow a proper review of the footage and a clear unbiased decision to be made on whether the player should be sent off on a red or not.
It would be interesting to see whether such an idea could work.
Marky stand down lad
You can’t keep this up
Unions suck donkey dicks
They are used by the lazy feckless and entitled to gain leverage
People who wouldn’t survive outside of cushy jobs created only so they feel they have some sense of purpose
Oliver twist doesn’t exist anymore no matter what your feverish mind telling you, Markymark. There are labour laws now, majority of workers don’t belong to unions and they miraculously survive their work day without losing a limb, no reason at all to belong to union nowadays if you not a layabout.
JWL – there are lazy tikes everywhere unions are not to blame for lazy people . Is a junior doctor doing hoards of hours any more lazy for being in a union. Total tripe. I expect you are going to say you’re the hardest worker you know !
JWL – obviously no part of you had ever considered that the reason we still don’t have Oliver Twist like conditions- he was part of a fictional robbery gang not a worker . But anyway it was the Unions in the first place that stopped these conditions. Next step is zero hour contracts
Jwl
Henry was actually signed to partner Anelka. Would have been devastating.
We flipped a good coin on Anelka though.