(The not-so-temporary quite-official) Gooner Thread (Part 3)

I know its on the 2nd of August.....wanted to know time 3am or 5am......6:45 would be nice 

Kickoff time hasn't been set yet as far as I can tell but last year it was 5pm UK time.

I wonder if they might go later as it doesn't really impact match going fans to do an evening kick off + might increase broadcast reach.

Interestingly Valenica's got a fire sale on at the moment given they're out of Europe and half a billion in debt. Could be some tidy bargains to be had there. Kondogbia (CDM), Gaya (LB), Guedes (LW), Soler (CM), Coquellin (CDM) :D

Was just emailing with a friend after doing some light analysis on our chances of getting Europa League. This might double up on some of brumbys comments but I wrote this;

Obviously we get a spot if we win the FA Cup but would prefer it via the league first.

Top 7 will get qualification. If we beat Aston Villa tomorrow we’ll be 8th, with everyone in contention having one more game to play. So we would have to overtake either Tottenham or Wolves on the final day.

Tottenham play Crystal Palace so they will probably get 6th. If they draw their goal difference is too much to make up, so we’ll only pip them if they lose. Possible (LASAGNE!!!!), but unlikely.

Wolves play Chelsea so they are our target… really hoping Liverpool beat Chelsea this week, because that makes their final game against Wolves massive, they would need to win to confirm top 4. If they beat Liverpool then they might take their foot off for the last game.

If Wolves lose to Chelsea, and we win our final two games (Villa and Watford), then we’d be dead even, and it comes down to goal difference. Currently Wolves are +13 and we are +8. Big gap but not insurmountable. If Wolves lose to Chelsea by 1, then we have to get our goal diff up to +12, so would need to win our 2 games by an overall margin of +4. (Note: If GD is equal, it goes on goals scored, and we currently lead that by 2, so if we win our 2 games by 4 goals overall we’d almost certainly still lead that, Wolves would have to lose 7-6 and we’d have to win 2-0 twice).

It’s super straightforward now. We need to win both games and Wolves need to lose to Chelsea and in the process overturn a 5 goal difference.

Sp*rs is the outside chance but can’t imagine Palace getting up for it. G/D is currently 6, so if they draw we could sneak it too.

Tonight must be the first game Xhaka has missed since the re-start?

Can't believe that with all this rotation Ozil & Guendouzi don't even make the bench.

Bottom of the table away and you still won't play your best player?

Fudgeing savage, hopefully Ozil has got the message and has an exit plan already.

bottom of the table is 1-0 up too - FFS

Jesus wept, this fudgeing football team.

I’m so done with Kolasinac. Torreira/Ceballos as a pair doesn’t work. Nketiah out wide doesn’t work.

Need some bloody creativity to do something with this possession.

Missing Xhaka.

Odd selections up top, with Nketiah/Auba/Laca all playing.

I like the look of Cedric in his games for us so far.

This is a huge game. We better buck our ideas up in the 2nd half.

Xhaka on at HT.

Pepe and Tierney shortly after.

If we can't pull this out of the fire then our last game is meaningless, and all eggs are in the FA Cup Final.

it’s a ballsy move going to a CB pairing of Holding & Kolasinac. Must be worried about Luiz and keeping him fresh for Watford.

That said if we don’t win tonight Watford won’t mean anything.

Nketiah header off the post sums it up.

I really struggled to enjoy the Liverpool & City wins because the whole match you know they’re so capable of sharkting the bed.

You then go to play Villa and think you’ll get the points and they just don’t turn up.

Big transfer window coming up here.

Toothless in attack. The odd front 3 have not clicked, nor have the substitutes. Wenger-esque the way Arteta has just loaded up the front third at the end - a ton of forwards just running about like headless chooks really.

Their goal was a good finish, can't always get clean sheets, I'm not that critical of our defence and midfield, we simply should've been able to score 2 or more against a team this low in the table.

The re-build continues. We have some way to go.

FA Cup Final is absolutely massive for us.

of course you fudgeing did. What the absolute sharke was that?!?

FFS...

FA Cup K/O confirmed for 5.30pm UK Saturday August 1st. 4.30am Sunday start for you lads - just like the last FA Cup final against them.

Anthony Taylor is the referee - don't mind that. Chris Kavanagh on VAR might be a bit more dicey.

Honestly Europe in the league was already out of realistic contention by the time Emery was sacked. A few good results made it look like we could possibly scrape it if a lot of other results went our way but I'd already long made peace with it before the Villa game. Most annoying thing about the result was it made the Liverpool win for nothing and it may aswell have just been the 8-2 I'd expected.

Like Baku much about the future of the club comes down to one game. Should we play a complete reserve team against Watford to avoid injuries to anyone who will play in the final?

Yes I think we should. Watford will be pumped, their survival depends on that game, they hate us, I fear injuries.

If I were Arteta I'd be resting just about the whole bloody lot of them.

I'd be starting Willock, Nelson, Torreira, Sokratis, Macey for sure, and maybe more youngsters.

It was very possible, even probable, if we had won the last two games. Wolves are unlikely to get anything against Chelsea, if they lose by 2 goals then all we had to do was win against Villa and Watford. Even very do-able if they had lost by only 1 goal.

I too was at peace with it not happening, but it really should have happened in the end.

Same as Champions League last year with Emery. We should've made that, we melted away in the final run-in with poor performances in some easy games, and left ourselves needing a win in Baku. That final run-in was really what spelled doom for Emery, may have been very different had we finished the season strongly.

And the salary wasters Ozil/Guendouzi too.

I'd have our starting 11 for FA Cup on the bench.

That said, we could play a direct hand in dooming Watford which would also be satisfying.

Troy Deeney, back to where he belongs.

I disagree. It's one thing to have an off day against a teams crapping for survival. It's another thing to finally beat a team which has been dominant for several years and a class above us. I think the win from Liverpool has a bigger mental boost to the team than the Villa loss can take away from.

I agree. Regardless of the villa loss, beating liverpool and man city in 4 days was a huge mental boost for this team moving forward, and more importantly, has clearly demonstrated to the leadership that arteta is worth investing in. Artetas comments about financial backing in the middle of those two games was a wonderful piece of timing too. 

I kinda like Watford ay. Is there any way they stay up and just Troy gets relegated? hahaha

Haha fair enough, especially with Welbz there now scoring bicycle kicks for them.

Good to see Deeney showed his cajones with a 6 yard miss...

What an arsenal way to end the season. 

so this, we managed to relegate Watford within the first 33 minutes, and then let them play to avoid it! Nothing game but still.

What about that Martinez save at the end??? 

Geez he's been amazing for us.

All ready to order my new shirt for next season, just waiting to see if Aubameyang re-signs before I choose his name/number for the back... 

Anyone know much about the differences between the two shirt types - regular vs authentic? I am assuming authentic is the same as the one the team wears, whereas the other is a replica designed for the common (fat) fan like me?

Think the authentic one tends to be a bit more skin tight like the players wear. So yeah, suits the more "athletic" body type.

Delighted to relegate Deeney. Watford "didn't want it enough" and didn't have the "cojones" to stay up. 

Where were your? Where were your? Where were your cojones? Where were your cojones?

Anyone in Wellington planning to go somewhere for the Final on Sunday morning? I went to Backbencher (2014) and Four Kings (2015 and 2017) the last 3 times but can't see anywhere advertising it yet.

I was at the 2014 and 2015 pub functions. The Backbencher one was brilliant especially as I was wearing my Ramsey 16 shirt. 

Nowhere (in Wellington) is opening as they couldn't get temporary licences in time (by the time the FA announced the KO time)... the council is about 60 days behind in processing applications due to Covid - so not happening sorry guys.

All good thanks for that. Home it is then.

Sounds like were jostling for partey. Cash + Guendouzi supposedly turned down, now returning with a cash only bid

With players available I’m guessing he’ll go for something like:

                Martinez

        Holding Luiz Tierney

Bellerin Ceballos Xhaka Saka

           Pepe Laca Auba

Only other scenario I could imagine is if Kolasinac starts at LCB & Tierney goes wider at the expense of Saka.

Or a real out there option could be Xhaka at LCB, Tierney wide, and Torreira in midfield.

Haha, no but I have an Alexis 17 one