Thank god Xhaka is back in full training. He may be polarising but he's clearly our best midfielder and we look very bad in there without him.
(The not-so-temporary quite-official) Gooner Thread (Part 3)
Disagree strongly on Maupay. It seemed clear to me that he shoved him purely with the intention of getting him outside of the area with the ball, Maupay was never getting near the ball and he knew it. I don't believe he ever intended to injure him, although having said that a few clips have been circulating showing foul play from Maupay in the past, so he is capable of that behaviour.
There's a pic I can't find right now showing Leno already with the ball in his hands before Maupay even jumped. There was no attempt for the ball, although I don't believe it was an attempt to injure him. He tried to be sneaky and shove Leno outside the box for a handball and then when Leno was down on the ground screaming in agony he was appealing to the referee for a free kick to that effect. The difference between two outfield players competing in the air or an outfield player and a goalkeeper is that two outfield players have their arms to their sides to stabilise themselves whereas a goalkeeper's hands are up securing the ball, not available to break any fall which makes them more vulnerable to awkward falls and injuries, which is why it's usually called a foul. It's also why tackling the man in the air is outlawed in rugby, a much rougher and more physical "contact sport," because the hands and arms are up in the air securing the ball. It's not about being "soft" or "not liking it up em" or "not wanting it enough" or "should have protected himself better" etc.
Disagree strongly on Maupay. It seemed clear to me that he shoved him purely with the intention of getting him outside of the area with the ball, Maupay was never getting near the ball and he knew it. I don't believe he ever intended to injure him, although having said that a few clips have been circulating showing foul play from Maupay in the past, so he is capable of that behaviour.
There's a pic I can't find right now showing Leno already with the ball in his hands before Maupay even jumped. There was no attempt for the ball, although I don't believe it was an attempt to injure him. He tried to be sneaky and shove Leno outside the box for a handball and then when Leno was down on the ground screaming in agony he was appealing to the referee for a free kick to that effect. The difference between two outfield players competing in the air or an outfield player and a goalkeeper is that two outfield players have their arms to their sides to stabilise themselves whereas a goalkeeper's hands are up securing the ball, not available to break any fall which makes them more vulnerable to awkward falls and injuries, which is why it's usually called a foul. It's also why tackling the man in the air is outlawed in rugby, a much rougher and more physical "contact sport," because the hands and arms are up in the air securing the ball. It's not about being "soft" or "not liking it up em" or "not wanting it enough" or "should have protected himself better" etc.
I would recommend watching a normal speed video of the incident, as Maupay isn't going to be able to stop jumping / or moving in time to not make contact with Leno, and he certainly doesn't shove him. I would expect most strikers to make it difficult when the goalkeeper is collecting the ball, and that's exactly what he does. Its not about being sneaky, its being competitive and if we want to look at the bigger picture, Arsenal could do with more players with attitudes like Maupay.
He also was not appealing for a free kick, but wondering why he got called for a foul (yes, was clearly a foul) and then was checking on Leno to see if he was ok (maybe not wholeheartedly but somewhat).
I understand that Leno couldn't use his arms to balance but likening this to tackling the man in the air is well off. In rugby, two people jumping to compete for the ball (even if one isn't a good chance to get it) is still allowed.
All I am saying is that Leno should be able to land better when contacted in the air, its not an unusual thing to happen. But injuries like that are just part of a contact sport.
David Luiz has been given a contract extension.
There are no words.
Next season written off. "He has played most of our matches this season." Indeed. Look where we are.
What a fudgeing roller coaster.
Wahoo - Leno is only 4-6 weeks. Back in time for next season. No Neto required.
Fudgeing hell - Luiz gets ANOTHER YEAR?!
Wahoo - Xhaka is back in training
Fudgeing hell - Martinelli's out for several months?
Wahoo - Ceballos signed until end of season (instead of refusing to play like others)
Fudgeing hell - Our 2 January loan signings are now permanent - why did we loan them and pay loan fees then?
So the real question is what is going to happen with our CB's now?
Saliba, Mari, and Luiz are the only ones who looked nailed on to be in the squad next season.
Mustafi, Sokratis, Chambers, Holding, Mavropanos are all up for grabs. You'd expect at least 2 of that list sold and 1 to be loaned.
Xhaka and Torreira both trained today. Wonder if we might get Xhaka back of Sheffield on the weekend as he wasn't wearing any sort of brace or strapping...
just something to think about this morning. Andy Carroll has as many assists in his last eight PL appearances as Mesut Ozil has in the last two seasons. Andy fudgeing Carroll.
He's essentially just a meme these days, but while everyone knows about our calamitous defending, the other main issue is the complete lack of any sort of product from central midfield. These are the goal and assist contributions of our midfielders this season (stolen from elsewhere so apologies if there are any mistakes):
In the league:
Xhaka - 23 games- 0 G- 1 A.
Ozil - 18 games- 1 G- 2 A.
Ceballos - 16 games- 0 G, 2 A
Torreira - 24 games, 1G, 1A.
Guendouzi - 24 games, 0G, 2A.
Willock - 21 games, 0G, 0A.
So 2 goals and 8 assists from a combined 126 league games.
In all competitions it's 8 goals and 10 assists from a combined 175 games:
Xhaka - 30 games- 0 G- 1 A.
Ozil - 18 games- 1 G- 3 A.
Ceballos - 26 games- 1 G, 2 A.
Torreira - 33 games, 2G, 1A.
Guendouzi - 34 games, 0G, 3A.
Willock - 34 games, 4 G, 0A.
Preffered lineups for tomorrow?
Martinez
Bellerin - Mustafi - Holding - Tierney
Willock - Ceballos
Pepe - Ozil - Saka
Nketiah
Think we need to play players who are willing to fight for the team and I don't know who that is for you but for me Auba and Laccazette need to want to be here, Ozil might have something to prove so he deserves a chance.
Not a bad shout Talayvision, but I can't see Auba not starting. Our midfield needs a bit of rotation and I think we might see Xhaka strapped up for the fray. Ceballos looked tired last match, wouldn't be surprised if he misses out on a starting spot.
Martinez
Bellerin - Mustafi - Holding - Tierney
Guendouzi - Xhaka
Pepe - Saka - Auba
Nketiah
These are the goal and assist contributions of our midfielders this season (stolen from elsewhere so apologies if there are any mistakes)
In all competitions it's 8 goals and 10 assists from a combined 175 games:
Some great analysis here.
I guess the question is did we not replace Ramsey's goals and Ozil's assists or did we change styles/formats to fit in Auba & Laca?
Traditionally our midfields normally chipped in well but we've become very dependent on our front 3 and ditched our reliance on our midfield.
Would be interesting to assess Ozil's decline against our full backs rise in importance, i.e. have we shifted to tap ins from out wide instead of through the middle?
4-4-2
Martinez, Bellerin, Holding, Mustafi, Tierney, Pepe, Xhaka, Ceballos, Saka, Auba, Nketiah.
Guendouzi left out of the squad for disciplinary reasons.
Bold move leaving him out in the absence of other CM's, Matt Smith an academy lad replaced him on the bench.
We've made really tough work of it but got there in the end.
Bellerin had one of his worst games going forward I've ever seen. Took Pepe out of the game with a lot of terrible passing.
Holding stepped up big time, won a lot in the air. Mustafi took an earlier yellow with a sloppy touch but he came back from that and played very disciplined.
Martinez was solid in goal.
Shape was interesting in the first half. Went to a back 3 in possession with Tierney slotting in alongside the CB's.
Tierney went off with cramp, unsurprising given the temp.
Couldn't believe with most of the stadium in shade they couldn't make the subs work to sit in the shade instead of the heat...
Second half we just lost all shape and momentum in possession. AMN coming on in the last 15 or so changed that dynamic big time. Worthy of a start on the weekend I reckon...
Wasn't great, and again we barely created anything and the two goals came as gifts but much needed win.
Yea we were better at Brighton to be fair, over the 90 minutes.
At least we held our nerve this time.
See Michael Thomas celebrating Liverpool winning the league on Twitter. Know he played for both but I'd had the impression he remained an Arsenal fan, and is certainly regarded as more of an Arsenal legend.
anyone know if our fa cup game is also on Spark, can't seem to find it!
Nah it's on Sky Sport. Spark only have the EPL, Sky have FA Cup and CL/Europa.
Apparently Guendouzi's put his hand up willing to leave.
When you look at the likes of Wilshire, Fabregas, and Ramsey who have come through as young midfielders I really wouldn't put Guendouzi in that category. His output just isn't there, and for all his 'potential' he behaves as if he's Pogba 2.0.
As someone put it he could finish up anywhere between Elneny & Toure.
If he's willing to leave and we need cash I wouldn't be sad to see him go.
If we were bold you could trust Willock to take his minutes, but even then still think we need another CM.
Thinking about our inability to get the most out of Pepe and the need to rotate on Saturday I'd love to see Pepe given a crack up front.
He can spring the counter or recieve the ball to feet. He's definitely not getting much love from the RB's so let's try get him into positions to receive it more.
Something like the following for rotational and experimentational purposes.
Martinez
Soares Sokratis Holding Kolasinac
AMN Xhaka
Nelson Willock Saka
Pepe
See Michael Thomas celebrating Liverpool winning the league on Twitter. Know he played for both but I'd had the impression he remained an Arsenal fan, and is certainly regarded as more of an Arsenal legend.
Probably due to "that goal" in 1989. Speaking of which, Theo Foley, George Graham's assistant when Arsenal won the title in 1989 has sadly passed away.
I love how Nketiah plays in striker, more effective then Lacca at the moment and is great that he is getting the minutes he deserves too.
This is deeply concerning. Arseblog's been saying this for awhile too.
Get in.
Felt like the ref had a shocker today. For all the bullshark about 'soft' Arsenal the 'physical' Sheffield United lads hit the ground way too fudgeing easily, and the ref bought it every time.
Back to back away wins, that'll do nicely.
Martinez has performed brilliantly so far, and I'd argue he's equal to, if not better than, Leno with the ball at his feet.
Great to see Laca contribute by winning the penalty. His link up play is best in the team.
Pepe had a good run out, solid penalty and he was the most involved for awhile.
Seemed to be 5-4-1 on defence and 3-4-2-1 on attack. Saka & Pepe tucking infield to give Tierney & AMN more room out wide which overloaded their defensive line nicely when we got forward.
Luiz looked fine, no sign of any crazy today. Not sure how bad his knock was.
Enjoyed Willock in midfield again, he has a pace and energy to his game that compliments Xhaka but critically has more cut through/drive than Guendo.
Speaking of Guendo another match not in the squad, lines up with Arteta's comments about not making people happy with transfers this summer.
Special shout out to Kolasinac, he might have failed in their goal but was confident in possession as a LCB in that back 3, really enjoyed his willingness to fake out the on rushing attacker and dribble past them.
Well I'm getting old, couldn't stay awake during the game! That has not happened since my binge drinking early 20s.
Watched the first 10 and we looked good with the ball, playing out from the back. Stirred awake right before we won the peno, then slept again until 75mins. Nodded off again and woke up to 2-1 right at the whistle.
Reading that Tierney, AMN, Pepe and Xhaka were all very good? Tierney is really coming along now. Looks a real leader too, at a young age.
For all the talk about Pepe he's managed to put together some decent numbers in his first season so far, with limited appearances. Hopefully Arteta is starting to bring the best out of him.
FYI, read in the weekend that Luiz accepted greatly reduced terms on his one year extension, which is what allowed us to sign Mari and Soares permanently, which is interesting.
Of course we get Man City for semi final
This is deeply concerning. Arseblog's been saying this for awhile too.
Remember when we used to mad that Wenger wouldn't deal with these shady agents?
Anyway nice morale boosting win and great to make another semi final in the competition we seem to play best in. Hopefully we don't get humiliated by City. I suppose you never know in a knockout game - the last time we got to this stage was also against them and we were supposed to be slaughtered that time, as we also were supposed to be in the final.
How many iterations of Arsenal squads is that now who can't cope with a long thrown in?
Of course we get Man City for semi final
Some critics say that the big clubs don't care about the FA Cup anymore. Look at this years semi finalists. Three big clubs and Arsenal :)
This is deeply concerning. Arseblog's been saying this for awhile too.
Remember when we used to mad that Wenger wouldn't deal with these shady agents?
Yeah, and I still think Wenger missed a trick. The difference is we've swung from not dealing with them to only dealing with them.
I do think it's disappointing we needed to use agents to negotiate the Iwobi sale, having no real beef with Everton and having previously sold them Walcott you'd think that would be straight forward right?
Arteta on Soares:
“He’s a different quality in the full-back area than what we have."
“He’s a gifted, technical player and is probably the best we have in the final third to make the right decision and attack the box as well."
https://arseblog.news/2020/06/torreira-close-to-first-team-return-but-needs-one-more-scan/
I know there were a lot of raised eyebrows over a 4 year contract for a 28 year old but if Arteta's heaping this praise on him he must see something pretty decent.
I always saw him being a squad player but Bellerin has really shown nothing since he came back from his injury.
Keen to see how Soares goes, can he push Bellerin out of the 11? Maybe.
I think AMN could push Bellerin out given his lack of form. His recovery pace isn't there, and he just hasn't found his passing. Him playing it safe/giving the ball away restricts Pepe. I really really love the guy, would love to see him where the arm band, but he's so out of form it's unreal.
Fudgeing hell, 3 back to back wins and a resounding one at that.
Cracking goal for Soares on debut, even Xhaka scored.
Moves up above Spurs & Sheffield who play each other tomorrow night. A draw from that would be mightily handy.
Man we have a tough draw... Next 4:
Wolves away
Leicester at home
Spurs away
Liverpool at home
Cracking goal for Soares on debut, even Xhaka scored.
Midfield raining goals since my post last week haha. Didn't like the Cedric signing at the time but couldn't ask for a better first touch on debut!
Man we have a tough draw... Next 4:
Wolves away
Leicester at home
Spurs away
Liverpool at home
Almost season defininig?
Interesting to see how this morning's Liverpool result impacts on the "greatest PL era team" debate. Been seeing a lot of "they drew too may games," "Liverpool have way more points" and "if Van Nistlerooy hadn't hit the bar it was a different season" as reasons for why they are better than the Invincibles team. However, the Invincibles secured the title with a similar number of games still to play (5), and kept going to the end to maintain the record. Liverpool have been thrashed twice in the space of 5 games this season. While the Invincibles did have games where they didn't dominate and had to battle for the points, they were never absolutely battered in the way Liverpool have been by Watford and Man City (albeit with nothing riding on the latter).
Not making any conclusion based on that, it's difficult to compare teams from different eras and with different strengths in opposition etc. I think it would be a good game between the two sides in any case.
From twitter:
"Jose with a CL final squad sitting behind the most broken Arsenal team in a generation on the table. Gotta love it."
To be fair with the respective draws remaining it probably won't stay this way, but love that nonetheless.