GEORDIE PAIN - CAN WE ADD MORE?

NEWCASTLE VS ARSENAL - WILL IT BE UNPLEASANT?

Arsenal head to Newcastle this weekend for an early game in a tie that has brought a lot of pain over the Arteta tenure.

I was going to write that Newcastle are the antithesis of what Arsenal are – but that’s banter years thinking.

We’re just as powerful and just as thuggish if we want to be – we’re just not particularly lucky when we head to their place. I can still taste the upset of that loss when we blew top 4 because we were cowards. I can still feel that brutal gut punch when they beat us last season. I am wounded by those beastly monsters and that horrible yet architecturally pleasing stadium they call حديقة سانت جيمس.

The interesting shift at Newcastle over the past couple of seasons is the outrageous and stealthy momentum that marked their rise has hit some black ice – people were genuinely in fear of what PIF could do to that side, fearing it was going to be a global takeover of the beautiful game with mega injections of MBS cash/money. But to their credit, they didn’t cheat the system, they didn’t flood the zone with a Chelsea-like spree, and they didn’t progress to dominate the Premier League.

Eddie Howe looked like a manager we’d all massively underestimated; now he looks like he’s about to get the boot. Newcastle's Brexity strategy of player acquisition has struggled to find the next level, they’ve had some big transfer misses, and there’s a feeling they’ve been sussed. There are rumors that the Saudis are dialing back their investment in non-Saudi projects and Newcastle will be a casualty of that. Not really a big concern because they’ve been moonwalking so close to PSR their spending has been massively curtailed already.

The Arsenal game hasn’t come at a great time for Eddie Howe. He’s battling to keep his job as the shadow of change-agent Sporting Director Paul Mitchell looms over his dugout. The man who gave Nagelsmann the job at RB Leipzig clearly fancies something new at Newcastle, so I’d imagine the leash is going to be short, and this season, things have been quite mixed. They’ve lost 3 of their last 5, they sit below mid-table, they had a nice win in the League Cup in the week, but overall, it looks grim.

My hope this weekend is we go into destruction mode and take them to the cleaners. Hopes and reality often conflict, but I have a good feeling about this one because they are weak right now, and they just went all out against Chelsea in the week.

What I’d really like, outside of a win, is a strong performance that has 11 Arsenal players on the pitch by the end of the game.

We know Riccardo and Martin will be at home, and there are concerns in the system that Benny Blanco’s joint issue might be a worry. We can handle that problem now that we have Big Gabs and Saliba back in contention, but it would be nice to have one of our warriors in the mixer for what will likely be a brutal afternoon.

I’m interested to see how the midfield is set – Merino, Partey, and Rice are the chosen ones, but I thought the addition of Trossard against Liverpool really gave us something a little bit extra. Duel FC is fun, but not sexy. Newcastle will look to spring us on the counter, but I’d imagine they’ll try and dig in. If we don’t have spark, where is the creativity coming from?

The front three probably pick themselves – Gabi M, Kai, and a rampant Saka.

A lot of the chatter before the game was focused on Ethan. Arteta is clearly trying to tame our impulses to call a young player Lamine Yamal 2.0 with some more sobering analysis.

“I can talk about how good he is right now. At 17 years old, to be in a position like he is in at one of the biggest clubs in Europe, I think sums up really well the level that he has. What is going to happen in the future is mainly going to depend on him and how much he wants it. At the moment he wants it a lot, and he's surrounded by the right people, and then you will need a crystal ball to see where he is going to be in a year, two years, three years. My prediction is going to be very positive.”

You can read between the lines.

1. Don’t get above your station.

2. Don’t get sucked in by new friends.

3. Don’t develop a massive entourage.

4. Stay humble, grounded, and focus on your craft.

I can’t imagine having to think like that at 17 years old because I was getting 60 bags a week, but that’s the difference at the highest level in the game. These kids are blessed with elite genetics, an unreal mindset, and the ability to have a really boring social life where the main treats are CoD and Deliveroo.

Not enough is being said about MLS, who also comes from fine stock. He seems to have great focus, a very smart mother, and it probably suits that he’s living in the shadow of Ethan because that takes the pressure off him. But we need to be clear here – Arteta is showing him more preference than Zinchenko, and I think that’s really important.

If Myles (361) and Ethan (191) accrue 800 minutes this season, that really would be fantastic.

One thing I did want to touch on - we have been consistently linked with Isak. He plays like Thierry, is spectacular when he’s on, but I think those links come from his agent more than they do Arsenal. I don’t think he’s robust enough to merit the cash and I don’t think he’s strong enough to work in a duel monster system. Our style is not a match for Newcastle, so I’d be very surprised if we went there.

Ok, that’s enough gassing from me. See you in the comments. Before the Whistle was replaced by Friday Therapy this week. Exclusive to members. Get it in ur ears. It was a fun one today. x

FRIDAY THERAPY - HOT TOPICS + NEWCASTLE