You make me laugh with your going into your burn book of Nigel whenever you want to soothe your past butthurt from losing debates constantly.
I was having an intelligent conversation with Rich about Kiwior and in my responses I see you had to jump in with an unrelated point I made about the player several weeks ago....Since then he turned down one move, and ruled out a lot of teams because he favours one club as a destination. it's his own fault he won't even make our bench.
You desperately need to get a life..
It was weeks ago and you're still frustrated you can't win a football point.
Use your deep sport knowledge and tell us all something about LeBron.
My 2 cents - Partey fan, Rice isn’t the answer at 6 in big games against top teams whom press. Hence why Arteta used Jorginho & Partey there alot. Can probably use Rice at 6 in games against deep blocks and get a more offensive player at left 8.
Get Saka in 1vs1 and good things happen: his goal & assist are prime examples of this. For me alot of his “down” games are when he gets doubled up on. Mikel needs to set the team up to get these 1vs1s &/or get the team exploiting the gap that should appear on the other flank.
I thought overall Partey had a good game, still has the touch and can set the tempo but he may be a liability in transition. Arteta has to decide how often to play him and against whom. Probably like De Bruyne, "semi-retired" as mentioned here before. I've always advocated for Saka playing more centrally as it gives us unpredictability and his decision making is very good in those situations.
The next game will be a test for Arteta if he has learned anything about rotation. I was on the "please rotate" camp when we last met Villa but Arteta stuck to his guns and we were duly punished as we ran out steam. I would like to see Trossard and Timber start.
Don’t need to rotate when we only have a game a week. Real test of rotation will be when our first Carling Cup game / Champions League starts. In the meantime Partey should be able to play a game a week.
I couldn’t watch yesterday’s game but much of what you said sounds right from what I heard on the radio and in the text that I followed. The one thing that concerns me is what you said about substitutions. After a pre-season of early subs, Arteta is reverting to last year’ practice of making late subs - 10 or 15 minutes remaining instead of 20-30, which seems much more practical. I was very worried when Wolves were dominating for such a long time without any changes.
I noticed also. These players are still building up to 90 minutes. Typical Arteta.
Ødegaard and White never get a rest. White can come off for Timber, sub Calafiori for Zinchenko. Loads of long runs put in by our fullbacks, and Ødegaard runs as much as anybody with so many sprints.
Big takeaways for me. People say Mikel is Pep-lite, but he's clearly heavily influenced by the history of English football. The comp for us this season is Manchester United 2008 / 09 (won the league, but lost in CL final to Barcelona).
- tall, technical striker (Havertz / Berbatov)
- young dynamic wingers who can score 50+ combined goals (Saka, Martinelli, Trossard / young- Cristiano, Rooney, Tevez)
- a PFA team of the year spine (Odegaard - Rice - Saliba - Raya / Scholes - Carrick - Rio - Van Der Sar)
I was there yesterday Pedro and completely mirror your analysis. Wolves turned it on in patches and certainly looked a threat. That said the bottom line was a 2-0 win where we could also have had more.
Keen to see more goals and assists from Odegaard this season - a few times yesterday he took 1-2 too many touches and the chance had gone.
Saka was on absolute fire, player of the season incoming.
Villa are due are slapping. It has to be now. I don't know why they have our number because they're not THAT good. Brighton is a another tough game. In fact the next four are the stuff of nightmares but I think it's going to be 12 more points in the bag. That's how much faith I have in this squad.
If they don't make CL next year I can't see how they'll manage- they'll have pretty much sold all their home grown 'assets'.
If any club doesn't play hardball with them when it comes to any more outgoings then they're being extremely foolish!
I thought we were too 'generous' last year with the amount we paid for Havertz, I understand now that we bought a hell of a player, coming into his best years.
I think the quote is actually, “everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth," I know a little different, but significant.
Partey's leg surgery was serious and he is still probably coming back to strength, he has had some major leg problems.
He did have a few slick passes, and turns where he just waltzed up the field. Let's hope he continues to get better to be an added piece to our chessboard.
'a weakness that will certainly encourage opposition pressure.'
Zinchenko's not terrible in the air but a long ball to the opposition's RW happens a lot! When Calafiori nails his place then I think our opponents' coaches will have to have a rethink!
Partey was good in the first half but then faded. I guess Arteta didn't trust Jorginho to adjust to the pace of the game when he'd be coming in cold.
Tom,
You make me laugh with your going into your burn book of Nigel whenever you want to soothe your past butthurt from losing debates constantly.
I was having an intelligent conversation with Rich about Kiwior and in my responses I see you had to jump in with an unrelated point I made about the player several weeks ago....Since then he turned down one move, and ruled out a lot of teams because he favours one club as a destination. it's his own fault he won't even make our bench.
You desperately need to get a life..
It was weeks ago and you're still frustrated you can't win a football point.
Use your deep sport knowledge and tell us all something about LeBron.
Life is crazy...
Mateo Kovacic dribbled past Moises Caicedo and Enzo Fernandez to score his goal against Chelsea.
Chelsea sold Kovacic to Man City for £25 million last summer and bought Fernandez and Caicedo for a combined £221 million last year.
My 2 cents - Partey fan, Rice isn’t the answer at 6 in big games against top teams whom press. Hence why Arteta used Jorginho & Partey there alot. Can probably use Rice at 6 in games against deep blocks and get a more offensive player at left 8.
Get Saka in 1vs1 and good things happen: his goal & assist are prime examples of this. For me alot of his “down” games are when he gets doubled up on. Mikel needs to set the team up to get these 1vs1s &/or get the team exploiting the gap that should appear on the other flank.
I thought overall Partey had a good game, still has the touch and can set the tempo but he may be a liability in transition. Arteta has to decide how often to play him and against whom. Probably like De Bruyne, "semi-retired" as mentioned here before. I've always advocated for Saka playing more centrally as it gives us unpredictability and his decision making is very good in those situations.
The next game will be a test for Arteta if he has learned anything about rotation. I was on the "please rotate" camp when we last met Villa but Arteta stuck to his guns and we were duly punished as we ran out steam. I would like to see Trossard and Timber start.
Don’t need to rotate when we only have a game a week. Real test of rotation will be when our first Carling Cup game / Champions League starts. In the meantime Partey should be able to play a game a week.
Manchester City: 115 charges
Chelsea: 115 players
Excellent Peter, but I thought that Odegaard had a very good first half.
Kai Havertz - 20 G/A in his last 16 games for Arsenal. We might not need to buy a striker. We have a Berbatov regen.
Some reflections from where I was standing:
Some of the players looked a little below form- Saliba and Rice come to mind.
We lacked the killer instinct(apart from the two brilliant finishes)
Wolves looked a solid outfit
Raya was excellent- two great saves and one brilliant catch which most GKs would have punched
The ref took the side of the Wolves players too often.
Our bench looked really strong.
A relatively comfortable 3 pts with a clean sheet.
Zinchenko was ok but am looking forward to when he's not a starter
Martinelli could do with a goal to get him going
Odegaard sets such a brilliant example as the Captain of the team- unbelievable workrate.
Rice might be better at 6 when Merino arrives.
Partey looked great in the first half- couldn't do 90 minutes though.
Arteta could have introduced subs 5-10 minutes earlier as Wolves were competing too well!
I couldn’t watch yesterday’s game but much of what you said sounds right from what I heard on the radio and in the text that I followed. The one thing that concerns me is what you said about substitutions. After a pre-season of early subs, Arteta is reverting to last year’ practice of making late subs - 10 or 15 minutes remaining instead of 20-30, which seems much more practical. I was very worried when Wolves were dominating for such a long time without any changes.
I noticed also. These players are still building up to 90 minutes. Typical Arteta.
Ødegaard and White never get a rest. White can come off for Timber, sub Calafiori for Zinchenko. Loads of long runs put in by our fullbacks, and Ødegaard runs as much as anybody with so many sprints.
It was hot day too, another reason for getting on fresh legs.
Big takeaways for me. People say Mikel is Pep-lite, but he's clearly heavily influenced by the history of English football. The comp for us this season is Manchester United 2008 / 09 (won the league, but lost in CL final to Barcelona).
- tall, technical striker (Havertz / Berbatov)
- young dynamic wingers who can score 50+ combined goals (Saka, Martinelli, Trossard / young- Cristiano, Rooney, Tevez)
- a PFA team of the year spine (Odegaard - Rice - Saliba - Raya / Scholes - Carrick - Rio - Van Der Sar)
I was there yesterday Pedro and completely mirror your analysis. Wolves turned it on in patches and certainly looked a threat. That said the bottom line was a 2-0 win where we could also have had more.
Keen to see more goals and assists from Odegaard this season - a few times yesterday he took 1-2 too many touches and the chance had gone.
Saka was on absolute fire, player of the season incoming.
Villa are due are slapping. It has to be now. I don't know why they have our number because they're not THAT good. Brighton is a another tough game. In fact the next four are the stuff of nightmares but I think it's going to be 12 more points in the bag. That's how much faith I have in this squad.
1st
Not sure if we’re quite in the same ball park as Chelsea when it comes to ‘excess’ players.
'...nobody can deny that they’re incredibly astute, and run a really tight ship.'
The veneer behind which they can claim their book-cooking is legit.
Good luck with the wage bill!
If they don't make CL next year I can't see how they'll manage- they'll have pretty much sold all their home grown 'assets'.
If any club doesn't play hardball with them when it comes to any more outgoings then they're being extremely foolish!
I thought we were too 'generous' last year with the amount we paid for Havertz, I understand now that we bought a hell of a player, coming into his best years.
Rich,
I think the quote is actually, “everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth," I know a little different, but significant.
Partey's leg surgery was serious and he is still probably coming back to strength, he has had some major leg problems.
He did have a few slick passes, and turns where he just waltzed up the field. Let's hope he continues to get better to be an added piece to our chessboard.
'a weakness that will certainly encourage opposition pressure.'
Zinchenko's not terrible in the air but a long ball to the opposition's RW happens a lot! When Calafiori nails his place then I think our opponents' coaches will have to have a rethink!
Partey was good in the first half but then faded. I guess Arteta didn't trust Jorginho to adjust to the pace of the game when he'd be coming in cold.
My take as well-- why not Jorginho for Partey at about 65-70 minutes. Partey playing 96' was not on my bingo card.
Exactly what I was thinking at 65-70 minutes.
Six cucks liked Sid's post.
15 cucks you mean