Don't know if true but arsenal twitter saying that Saliba out with hamstring injury for at least two weeks and will miss zagreb, wolves, girona and is borderline for mancheaty and newcastle matches.
Even with how the team is playing we can still burn off Wolves, then do City..it's not beyond possibility Then game on by next week? Forget CL though..no way.
I have to say I have never believed in the hype of Odegaard right from when he was signed. He's just been like our team (and manager). Had one stellar season and has reverted to type. We could easily do better than him (and our manager). Though he (and our manager) isn't as bad as Raptora make him out to be
I agree Ode replacement should be considered. Consider selling Ode, or move to bench, He has value still. In all honesty, I dont despite the fella, but he is not at the level we need to win PL and CL
It was hilarious reading Habesha's meltdown in the other blog post lol.
Partey is the one that's been played out of position at any given opportunity, is the one that hasn't been offered a new contract yet despite being excellent so far (at least better than the other midfielders)
On top of that, his replacement has been all but announced. You think he gives a fuck at this moment? Don't be surprised if you see more lackadaisical perfomances from him till season end. Why would he perfom for us at the moment?
Rice as CB and timber at RB > timber at CB and Partey at RB :
I know teaching center backing is hard , especially if you’re being trained in the marauding left 8 and pivotal 6 but the hour calls for Rice who has height aggression pace and composure to step into the right cb position instead of partey who lacks the skills to be a right back, and timber who lacks height at the position from which we suffered against villa.
And yes liquor at RCB is better option than timber and partey, he played in that poisitopn before no point in bombing his valuation before getting rid if that’s the plan
MLS still have much to learn:
Yes he’s got Cajuns, great on the ball. But you know what’s better than getting a fouls on in your own half ?
Release the god damn ball forward fast and direct so we might get a scoring chance, too many times MLS doesn’t release the ball fast enough and we never end up nothing “what if”, well if he can do it right and not loose the ball to bad pass then we might get more chance, we really need those though.
And yes, Cala should eventually get nod because, well for starters , let’s not play MLS to the point we break him, and B we paid 40+ mill smth for him god dammit. He should be better than any kid walking in. MLS wasn’t spoken about as the second coming of Jesus or Messi. He is a good kid but his prospects were not any better than willock. Cala is a full fledged Italian regular. Has height and more game time experience. Yes MLS is good. He’s a great backup which we need to rotate and get his value up. He’s a north ender and will allow us to sell tierney and Zini he’s made the 2nd choice LB he’s own, if you neglect Tommy which is TBD (remember he pocketed Salah, smth MLS have yet to do). But otherwise that another player we spent huge money on for nothing.
Let’s list them:
Rambo almost doesn’t count because we sold him for almost the same as Raya:
Viera 34M
Jesus 45M
Zini 34M
KT 27M (didn’t repaid his value sadly)
Kiwior 20M+
For those who are really harsh would add
(I’m not among them)
Kai 60M for a left 8
Merino 34M because he has great hair, plays the same position and named Mikel
Cala 40M
Correct me on numbers how long you like but don’t tell me we couldn’t not pool all this money we spent on 5-8 players who are not moving the needle and put it on 4-6 floor level raisers if we paid a bit more on per player ?
And yes missed some physical element to our game lately , we are legged.
In the beginning of the season, everybody was talking about how big the dressing room is, we were the basketball team. MLS and timber are both power horses players , can’t make excuse on that but we lacked height. Maybe take one not both especially not with the leggy partey at RB while both part of the back four.
We started the season with Cala big Gabi Saliba and white , that an intimidating back four. We were bullying teams. We need to go back to that winning formula. And mix it up be unpredictable and not just play one way for 90 minutes. This season might almost be too late for it let’s not mess up next season. Don’t waste money on 75% players and don’t miss the window , if we don’t make this next two windows including this one counts , big players would be itching for a move and that means big gabi, saliba , Saka who other teams are looking at, might just get the reasoning to want to leave if players of their caliber are not brought in if trophies are not being won
Like I wasn't even his biggest fan and I don't think it's necessarily him that we miss but we absolutely miss what Xhaka at least brought to the side. Like we're missing that bit of connection and creativity to that left side. Rice as good as he is isn't that. He tries but it's a still not natural to him.
Pedro?! Great post as always, thanks for lighting a gloomy Sunday ..but what are you saying?
". I don't want a 75% striker. You know, an Olivier Giroud type. It looks kind of good and can pick up some of the burden, but it doesn't really kick you onto the levels you need."
Blimey mate , I'd go head over heels to recruit a Giroud clone right now...Come to think of it ..isn't the original still in his thirties and might want to avoid the fires in LA? ..?
Here look obviously Odegaard isn't playing well and he looks goosed as well but so do all of our attackers so is it on him or is it the football that we're playing? He needs help that is for sure. The side is sooooo lopsided that everything goes through his side and until that gets addressed expect lots of predictable play from arsenal and more set pieces.
I don’t disagree that we are being targeted but tjis was the case under wenger and you said back then that it didn’t matter and we had a to find a way to overcome poor performance from referees. Make it impossible for them to affect games by blowing the opposition away. Well, what changed? We spend more, have a fantastic squad, spent a fucking fortune, analysis and data, a fantastic coaching team and a generational manager. Surely tjis should be enough to beat Villa?
You blamed wenger for poor discipline but now you blame the officials
Remember, I agree with you that we are being targeted but it’s the double standard that is jarring
"I won’t budge on my 100% belief that we’re winning Premier League and Champions Leagues with this manager at the club."
Your belief won't become reality. Arteta ain't that coach.
"Liverpool will lose two of their three stars and they won't be the same."
Last year, you said Liverpool will be shit for years. Now, they're on top of the table.
If I were you, I'd leave City and Liverpool alone and think about how Arsenal always fail to get over the line under Arteta.
Don't know if true but arsenal twitter saying that Saliba out with hamstring injury for at least two weeks and will miss zagreb, wolves, girona and is borderline for mancheaty and newcastle matches.
Out comes the excuses machine. No surprises. Mikel is definitely paying Pedro under the table.
Even with how the team is playing we can still burn off Wolves, then do City..it's not beyond possibility Then game on by next week? Forget CL though..no way.
Lol. League's been done since GW 11
I have to say I have never believed in the hype of Odegaard right from when he was signed. He's just been like our team (and manager). Had one stellar season and has reverted to type. We could easily do better than him (and our manager). Though he (and our manager) isn't as bad as Raptora make him out to be
I agree Ode replacement should be considered. Consider selling Ode, or move to bench, He has value still. In all honesty, I dont despite the fella, but he is not at the level we need to win PL and CL
It was hilarious reading Habesha's meltdown in the other blog post lol.
Partey is the one that's been played out of position at any given opportunity, is the one that hasn't been offered a new contract yet despite being excellent so far (at least better than the other midfielders)
On top of that, his replacement has been all but announced. You think he gives a fuck at this moment? Don't be surprised if you see more lackadaisical perfomances from him till season end. Why would he perfom for us at the moment?
City are back
Top 4 is going to be very very hard this year
Hopefully it will be top 5 for premier league clubs
I'm afraid of these upcoming games...
Man City at the Emirates on 2 Feb
And Nottingham Forest (away) on 26 Feb
I hope we can get it together soon...
https://x.com/brfootball/status/1864712125928865816
B/R Football
Who is more important to Arsenal, Bukayo Saka or Martin Ødegaard? ✨
From December 4 2024
Watch it and weep. 5-2 in favor of Odegaard.
Including gems like "Saka has been performing not to his best". Was the highest rated player in the league at the time. Absolutely ridiculous.
You need help rap
Arsenal need help.
Some unpopular opinion, but “here we go”
Rice as CB and timber at RB > timber at CB and Partey at RB :
I know teaching center backing is hard , especially if you’re being trained in the marauding left 8 and pivotal 6 but the hour calls for Rice who has height aggression pace and composure to step into the right cb position instead of partey who lacks the skills to be a right back, and timber who lacks height at the position from which we suffered against villa.
And yes liquor at RCB is better option than timber and partey, he played in that poisitopn before no point in bombing his valuation before getting rid if that’s the plan
MLS still have much to learn:
Yes he’s got Cajuns, great on the ball. But you know what’s better than getting a fouls on in your own half ?
Release the god damn ball forward fast and direct so we might get a scoring chance, too many times MLS doesn’t release the ball fast enough and we never end up nothing “what if”, well if he can do it right and not loose the ball to bad pass then we might get more chance, we really need those though.
And yes, Cala should eventually get nod because, well for starters , let’s not play MLS to the point we break him, and B we paid 40+ mill smth for him god dammit. He should be better than any kid walking in. MLS wasn’t spoken about as the second coming of Jesus or Messi. He is a good kid but his prospects were not any better than willock. Cala is a full fledged Italian regular. Has height and more game time experience. Yes MLS is good. He’s a great backup which we need to rotate and get his value up. He’s a north ender and will allow us to sell tierney and Zini he’s made the 2nd choice LB he’s own, if you neglect Tommy which is TBD (remember he pocketed Salah, smth MLS have yet to do). But otherwise that another player we spent huge money on for nothing.
Let’s list them:
Rambo almost doesn’t count because we sold him for almost the same as Raya:
Viera 34M
Jesus 45M
Zini 34M
KT 27M (didn’t repaid his value sadly)
Kiwior 20M+
For those who are really harsh would add
(I’m not among them)
Kai 60M for a left 8
Merino 34M because he has great hair, plays the same position and named Mikel
Cala 40M
Correct me on numbers how long you like but don’t tell me we couldn’t not pool all this money we spent on 5-8 players who are not moving the needle and put it on 4-6 floor level raisers if we paid a bit more on per player ?
And yes missed some physical element to our game lately , we are legged.
In the beginning of the season, everybody was talking about how big the dressing room is, we were the basketball team. MLS and timber are both power horses players , can’t make excuse on that but we lacked height. Maybe take one not both especially not with the leggy partey at RB while both part of the back four.
We started the season with Cala big Gabi Saliba and white , that an intimidating back four. We were bullying teams. We need to go back to that winning formula. And mix it up be unpredictable and not just play one way for 90 minutes. This season might almost be too late for it let’s not mess up next season. Don’t waste money on 75% players and don’t miss the window , if we don’t make this next two windows including this one counts , big players would be itching for a move and that means big gabi, saliba , Saka who other teams are looking at, might just get the reasoning to want to leave if players of their caliber are not brought in if trophies are not being won
Rice is actually more of a CB than an attacker so he would play there better than you expect
Like I wasn't even his biggest fan and I don't think it's necessarily him that we miss but we absolutely miss what Xhaka at least brought to the side. Like we're missing that bit of connection and creativity to that left side. Rice as good as he is isn't that. He tries but it's a still not natural to him.
https://x.com/nezar_nz77/status/1880644399404924952
18 shots. 0 goals.
A compilation of some of the worst shots you can ever see.
Either the easiest save in the history of football when on target.
Or towards the skies.
That's the equivalent of a defender consistently making a defensive blunder after blunder. For months.
Meanwhile, he's got 3.95 xA which is the 37th highest in the league. Creativity?
The much maligned Trossard, has an xA of 4.55 having played 70 minutes more (1291 mins to 1221 mins) than the world's best creator.
37th highest xA in the league. 0.06 xA yesterday. It's totally on Havertz. Deary me...
Pedro?! Great post as always, thanks for lighting a gloomy Sunday ..but what are you saying?
". I don't want a 75% striker. You know, an Olivier Giroud type. It looks kind of good and can pick up some of the burden, but it doesn't really kick you onto the levels you need."
Blimey mate , I'd go head over heels to recruit a Giroud clone right now...Come to think of it ..isn't the original still in his thirties and might want to avoid the fires in LA? ..?
Here look obviously Odegaard isn't playing well and he looks goosed as well but so do all of our attackers so is it on him or is it the football that we're playing? He needs help that is for sure. The side is sooooo lopsided that everything goes through his side and until that gets addressed expect lots of predictable play from arsenal and more set pieces.
Everything goes through his side, yet Trossard was the one who created both goals.
It's always been pass to Saka and hope he brings out the magic.
Odegaard has a way of looking incredible doing absolutely nothing. And that doesn't win you football games.
Pedro
I don’t disagree that we are being targeted but tjis was the case under wenger and you said back then that it didn’t matter and we had a to find a way to overcome poor performance from referees. Make it impossible for them to affect games by blowing the opposition away. Well, what changed? We spend more, have a fantastic squad, spent a fucking fortune, analysis and data, a fantastic coaching team and a generational manager. Surely tjis should be enough to beat Villa?
You blamed wenger for poor discipline but now you blame the officials
Remember, I agree with you that we are being targeted but it’s the double standard that is jarring