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Legend
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almost 17 years

Interestingly we actually only need a draw to go into third. Pretty bloody important that we win this one though. One of the easier games in our remaining fixture list. Some absences - Koscielny, Xhaka out, Aubameyang on the bench.
Nervous... COYG!

Legend
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BOOM

Good win that. Newcastle are pretty good defensively, and Rondon is dangerous, but we didn't give them a sniff for a minute. 

Very solid performance imo. 

Legend
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almost 17 years

Sorry that's a bit of a sh*tty table snip but you get the gist!

Marquee
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As much as I'm loving this, there's still only 3 points between 3rd and 6th :(

Legend
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As much as I'm loving this, there's still only 3 points between 3rd and 6th :(

Spurs are in free fall and still have Europe as a distraction.

United have to play City again and have Europe as a distraction.

Chelsea do not look convincing at all regardless of who they play right now.

We have a couple tricky away fixtures but really should be hammering home this advantage now.

Also our goal difference is much better than United's and Chelsea's so providing we don't go and lose by 5 to someone or they go and win one or two games by 5+ then that is almost worth an extra point.

Marquee
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Solid with moments of spectacular today. Plenty of times when it looked a bit 'routine' given how well Newcastle shut us down but we did keep opening them up. On Ramsey's first goal if the teams are reversed and Sokratis goes down there I'm convinced Taylor wouldn't have blown it up. On Lacazette's goal disallowed I'm unsure why the keeper got protection there? He came, wasn't strong enough, and missed out. He was impeeded only on the basis of multiple players in the mix competing - not because people were holding him back.

Hopefully Ramsey limping out isn't serious, he was outstanding once again.

Legend
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How good is ozil looking now... That was his fourth consecutive start, first time starting that many in a row this season... Emery's message has gotten through?

Starting XI
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almost 17 years

Last night was my last live game of this nearly seven year stint in the UK. Ironically, my first game was against Newcastle around Christmas  in 2012. We won 7-3 and Theo scored a hat trick so it was quite nice to finish with them as well. Thought I'd go through some of my live Arsenal memories. I'm lucky enough to have a good mate who works for the club and I get access to his season tickets with some regularity.

Best game I've been at live was the NLD at the Emirates last year where we won 2-0. Through work I had managed to wrangle a ticket in the Emirates Corporate box which as you can imagine is pretty well situated in the stadium and we were epic that day. Mustafi kept Kane in his pocket all day and we bullied them all over the park.

Worst live experience was being at both legs of the Munich tie in early 2017. My wife had got us tickets to the away leg as a Christmas present which was pretty cool. We then went and lost 5-1 and just generally had a really shark time in what was surprisingly a shark stadium where we were treated abysmally. Then, because I'm a massochist I bought tickets to the home leg with some ridiculous hope that we'd see a miracle. We were 1-0 up at half time and had looked pretty good. Then Giroud has a one on one saved early in the second half and we then somehow contrive to concede 5...

Strangest experience was being at the Cologne home game last season where thousands of their fans showed up and were spread throughout the stadium. Odd being in a line to get into the stadium and a German song breaks out around you. Then when they scored to go 1-0 up early a whole pile of people round us throw off their Arsenal beanies and jump to their feet to celebrate. Was a fun night!

Now just the occasional trip the Ring of Fire awaits, and I'm bloody excited about it. If only for the ability to purchase a decent pie and not the Cheese and Onion rubbish I had to purchase last night.

Starting XI
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And actually on last night. I thought a few players looked a bit rusty, especially Kolasinac for the first 60 minutes or so. He just seemed a step or two behind a lot of the time and passes were just a bit off.

Some of our link up play in and around the box was absolutely delightful and Ozil had the bag of tricks well and truly open. When you're there live it is funny to watch how he reacts when someone isn't quite on the same page as him.There was one pass he played to Aubameyang late in the game that in the ground you could see the ball literally bend to meet the run of Auba, it was beautiful stuff. We really did play some nice football in the last twenty minutes and probably could have had a couple more. It's hard to argue that our turn around in form hasn't coincided with Ozil's reintroduction. In saying that, a lot of our players have found form and it seems we're really starting to click.

Those away games we have coming up do scare the living daylights out of me. Everton, Wolves and Leicester away are all the types of game that if you got a point out of in November you wouldn't be overly disappointed but given the situation I think we will likely need to win at least two of them. Hopefully Wolves win the FA Cup semi this weekend and the Premier League becomes a bit of a distraction for them.

Legend
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Fudgeing huge result for us at Molineux this morning!!!

Legend
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almost 17 years

Yes they are tough away trips. As evidenced by ManU's loss this morning :)

Starting XI
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Nervous about the away games. Weird how the schedule works that 5 out of the last 7 games end up being away, but I guess that balanced out with a similar run of home games at some point (can't remember). Top 4 is in our own hands now which is all you can ask for rather than having to worry about multiple other teams results.

Marquee
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over 16 years

I'm not impressed with this schedule. Given we're still in Europe playing us again on the Monday after an international break, and then the following Sunday it unnecsarrily cramps up our mid week games and reduces our breaks in the tight period by exacerbating them in the lighter periods.

It is what it is, but you'd think they'd be looking at player welfare and fatigue etc and putting some logic in place to avoid this happening.

Starting XI
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The Wolves game away, which is midweek, is only in this run because Wolves are in the FA Cup. That was supposed to be the weekend before the international break. Still not ideal I guess but just the way it tends to get at the back end of the season sometimes.

It's crazy when you hear about proper old school seasons when teams were playing three or four times a week at the back end of the season because they still had a million cup replays and lots of games used to be called off because of the weather.

Starting XI
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over 11 years

Not ideal results this morning but the situation remains unchanged.

Marquee
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over 16 years

Well the good news is Napoli lost :)

Legend
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almost 17 years

Yea gutted no points dropped this morn, but as you say, nothing changes, we know what we have to do.

Everton game is MASSIVE for us this weekend. 

Marquee
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We were absolute shark this morning. No Xhaka or Torreira in midfield is hurting us. Ozil showed why we can't justify his wages - he is useless in tough away games. Where is Koscielny? Away to Watford is now even more difficult with Sokratis suspended after his 10th yellow.

Legend
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I kept falling asleep during the match, but what i can remember it was pretty awful.

Hopefully the team can just put this behind them and move on quickly. Still in our hands for now.

valeo
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Legend
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almost 17 years

As soon as I saw Elneny and Guen starting, I had this down as a certain loss tbh

If Xhaka isn't back soon, we are in real trouble. 

Marquee
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Big match on Friday morning for us. I'm hoping Emery really goes for it and tries to maximise our home form with the following:

                  Auba  Lacazette

      Iwobi Torriera Guendouzi Mhiki

Kolasinac Koscielny* Sokratis Jenkinson

                             Cech

*If we can't get Kosc then Mustafi comes in.

I think guys like AMN and Monreal need a break. Ozil doesn't warrant selection with both strikers starting, and Elneny just can't justify a starting spot.

It also gives us options from the bench in Ramsey, Suarez, Ozil, and possibly Xhaka depending on how he recovers.

Jekinson needs to start ahead of Lichsteiner from my perspective, he's as good defensively, he's better offensively, and arguably faster/fitter too.

Marquee
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over 16 years

Good looking line up. We need a big win here, as our away form is horrid. 

valeo
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Legend
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almost 17 years

Guen needs to be benched imo. If Ramsey or Xhaka are fit enough, they need to start.

Legend
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almost 17 years

No rests for the wicked... i like the lineup! Attacking.

Cech
Sokratis koscielny monreal
Amn torreira ramsey kolasinac
Ozil
Auba laca

Legend
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Fantastic half. Ideally need another goal as well as a clean sheet to take to Italy. We've been superb so far though.

Marquee
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over 16 years

wow, the more I watch koulibaly(which isnt much to be fair), the more I think he is a phenomenal player. Get a cannon on his chest asap. 

Marquee
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over 16 years

shark, can we rename kolasinac "extra touch" or ET, coz he always takes an unnecessary extra touch. 

game is starting to open up here. Napoli should of had a goal and we could have had a couple more as well. Must not concede!

Legend
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Should have put the tie to bed. Hopefully it doesn't come back to bite us in the arse.

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A bit of an Arsenal reunion this morning in one of the other QF ties. Santi Cazorla of Villareal v Gabriel Paulista and Francis Coquelin of Valencia.

Marquee
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over 16 years
kwlap wrote:

shark, can we rename kolasinac "extra touch" or ET, coz he always takes an unnecessary extra touch. 

game is starting to open up here. Napoli should of had a goal and we could have had a couple more as well. Must not concede!

He absolutely killed me with those in the attacking thirds. The amount of times he took an 'ET' instead of a firm cross to the back post or a cut back which resulted in the attack breaking down did my head in.

Can't believe we didn't manage to nick a third, but I'd rather it was 2-0 than 3-1 given their missed chance at the end.

Legend
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Annoying not to get more goals but a 2 goal lead and no away goals for them is a great result against a good side. Will be nervous in italy mind you, really want to grab an away goal which would mean they would have to score 4 to stop us.

Marquee
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brumbys wrote:
kwlap wrote:

shark, can we rename kolasinac "extra touch" or ET, coz he always takes an unnecessary extra touch. 

game is starting to open up here. Napoli should of had a goal and we could have had a couple more as well. Must not concede!

He absolutely killed me with those in the attacking thirds. The amount of times he took an 'ET' instead of a firm cross to the back post or a cut back which resulted in the attack breaking down did my head in.

Can't believe we didn't manage to nick a third, but I'd rather it was 2-0 than 3-1 given their missed chance at the end.

Oh he took the wrong option 10/10 times. 

I was watching it while at work and i must of muttered ET a few times as a colleague asked if I had just watched the film. hahaha. 

Marquee
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paulm wrote:

Annoying not to get more goals but a 2 goal lead and no away goals for them is a great result against a good side. Will be nervous in italy mind you, really want to grab an away goal which would mean they would have to score 4 to stop us.

We need to be willing to go to Napoli, hold our shape, and occasionally counter attack to get that single away goal. If we managed to score it in the first half the game will open right up!

Legend
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almost 17 years
brumbys wrote:
paulm wrote:

Annoying not to get more goals but a 2 goal lead and no away goals for them is a great result against a good side. Will be nervous in italy mind you, really want to grab an away goal which would mean they would have to score 4 to stop us.

We need to be willing to go to Napoli, hold our shape, and occasionally counter attack to get that single away goal. If we managed to score it in the first half the game will open right up!

I think 1 will be enough tbh. I can't see Napoli scoring 4. Only one team has put 4+ past us this season and they have one of the top attacks in Europe, some may even argue the best. Plus hopefully Mustafi isn't anywhere near the side again.

Legend
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Was thinking about it this morning - the CB situation.

I think Koscielny will leave or retire at the end of the season, and Mustafi will be sold. 

I expect we'll buy one CB (Umtiti please!), and that would be it, with Holding returning from injury, and perhaps Chambers returning from loan. 

So I would think in our back 3, our starters would be Big Papa, Holdinho and a shiny new signing, with Monreal, Mavropanos and possibly Chambers as the reserves (depending on whether Chambers and/or Monreal are retained of course). 

I also think that next season the rest of our strongest team would probably be what we saw today, except Xhaka in for Ramsey. But that wouldn't be like for like i.e. I'm not suggesting Xhaka is going to turn in attacking performances like Ramsey does. I think things would be tweaked slightly, and we'd see Torreira roving everywhere, and scoring goals too, whilst Xhaka sits. 

Marquee
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I'm still hopeful we shift Ozil and possibly Mhikitaryan. We don't have the means to pay Ozil's wages but only have him available for certain games. Mhikitaryan, likewise, isn't delivering on his wages and those funds could go elsewhere.

Kane is now out for a few weeks which is good news for us:

https://www.beinsports.com/nz/premier-league/news/kane-sustains-significant-ankle-injury-2/1163590?fbclid=IwAR3X19mepPdzK_MY3ZMmQRwFHYKPEqOA3ekDiyZLdZNUWDEGKKpaI4i8SCw

Marquee
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Massive 'moment', as Emery would say, for us tomorrow. I'm watching with a Watford buddy so may live to regret it. Will be interesting to see who we line up with. If Xhaka is back and Mustafi is on the bench we've got a chance.

Legend
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almost 17 years

Personally I want both Ozil and Mkhitaryan to stay.

I'd like a new winger if poss, but that player would probably take the place of Suarez assuming he is not signed permanently. 

We just aren't going to be able to replace those two with like-for-like quality, we don't have the cash. But they are under contract now and we can afford their wages, even if they are pretty large. Goal output is not so much of an issue for us either.

If we can get top 4 somehow, and with the wages freed up on players who should be departing (Ramsey, Mustafi, Elneny, Koscielny, potentially others), then we should be financially able to get some good defenders in. 

Marquee
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Well we have to replace Ramsey's goals. If they don't come from CM anymore then our wide players need to be scoring more to make up for it.

That's where I look at Mhiki & Ozil and their 200 + 350 PW deals (10.4m and 18.2m a year) and see they've contributed to:

Mhiki - 6 goals & 6 assists in 23 starts & 8 substitute appearances, that's 0.39 contributions per game.

Ozil - 5 goals & 3 assists in 22 starts & 5 substitute appearances, that's 0.29 contributions per game.

Given their contributions this season we're overpaying for their services & could easily replace them with cheaper, younger alternatives.

Legend
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almost 17 years
brumbys wrote:

Well we have to replace Ramsey's goals. If they don't come from CM anymore then our wide players need to be scoring more to make up for it.

That's where I look at Mhiki & Ozil and their 200 + 350 PW deals (10.4m and 18.2m a year) and see they've contributed to:

Mhiki - 6 goals & 6 assists in 23 starts & 8 substitute appearances, that's 0.39 contributions per game.

Ozil - 5 goals & 3 assists in 22 starts & 5 substitute appearances, that's 0.29 contributions per game.

Given their contributions this season we're overpaying for their services & could easily replace them with cheaper, younger alternatives.

Ramsey has 7 goals and 7 assists in 23 starts and 17 substitute appearances, so  roughly the same. 

And it's a fair comparison as Ramsey has mostly played in attacking roles under Emery - the start in midfield against Napoli was a rare thing, and for a reason - he does not have the positional discipline to start there regularly in Emery's systems.

I think the reason he is being let go is because Emery sees him as a 10, but we don't have the finances to carry him AND Ozil for that one single role. Ozil is under contract, so he stays. If the roles were reversed, Ozil would be leaving on a free and Ramsey would be staying. 

We don't need to be replacing Ramsey's goals - Ozil has a higher goals to minutes ratio this season anyway. 

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