Arsenal 2023/24

brumbys

Curse of the England call up for our boys. Ramsdale got injured before the window, Saka picked up COVID, ESR is “unwell” so only White made the squad but didn’t take to the field! Unsure how white didn’t get a start when Stones was partnered by Coady from Wolves and Guehi from Palace, two teams not exactly offering defensive solidity at the moment.

White ended up starting both games, playing the full 90 minutes in the first and 45 in the second. Think he was a last minute replacement in the lineup for Stones.

Leaked photo of next seasons shirts. I quite like the black one. Not so much the pink one.

Arsenal shirts.jpg 52.63 KB

Tough game for the womens team this morning. Wolfsburg are an absolute machine so no disgrace in pushing them as hard as we did but not getting a result. Hope we go further next season. 

I fear they will be pipped in the league too, chelsea look unstoppable
How good is miedema tho

Tragically going on a free end of season :(

paulm

I fear they will be pipped in the league too, chelsea look unstoppable
How good is miedema tho

Very interesting, Forza letting me down again! The second match was odd seeing him at right back. Once it was 11v10 made total sense to get a more aggressive RB in there.

ajc28

brumbys

Curse of the England call up for our boys. Ramsdale got injured before the window, Saka picked up COVID, ESR is “unwell” so only White made the squad but didn’t take to the field! Unsure how white didn’t get a start when Stones was partnered by Coady from Wolves and Guehi from Palace, two teams not exactly offering defensive solidity at the moment.

White ended up starting both games, playing the full 90 minutes in the first and 45 in the second. Think he was a last minute replacement in the lineup for Stones.

brumbys

Tragically going on a free end of season :(

paulm

I fear they will be pipped in the league too, chelsea look unstoppable
How good is miedema tho

No, really?!? That’s fudgeed. She is one of the best in the world. So clinical and so aware of her surroundings. 

Yeah, she is out of contract in the summer. Might still stay but given her talent and desire to win the CL could see her off to PSG or Barcelona.

kwlap

brumbys

Tragically going on a free end of season :(

paulm

I fear they will be pipped in the league too, chelsea look unstoppable
How good is miedema tho

No, really?!? That’s fudgeed. She is one of the best in the world. So clinical and so aware of her surroundings. 

Results somewhat went our way this weekend. Chelsea’s loss gives the boys real hope of fighting to reign them in. United’s loss gives us more breathing room. Newcastle did us zero favours.

I do like the idea of chasing a spot more than defending it - going for third and falling just short is a much more enjoyable run in and less stressful than hanging on to 4th for dear life.

win tomorrow and we have 4th with 2 points to catch chelsea in 3rd with a game spare.

Really need to win tomorrow after spurs demolition job this morning.

we've got two games on them and we are on the same points (54), win tomorrow and we got to 57 with 1 game spare.

Sounds like Tomiyasu is still out - really need him back for some of the bigger games! If Saka is still feeling the effects of COVID we might get to see both Martinelli and ESR start - the question would be which one starts right?

Or could give Pepe a rare start and see if he can do to Palace what he did to France.

Ramsdale back but still no tomiyasu, and Tierney and Pepe both unavailable

need both Tomi and Tierney at the moment, back 4 being torn apart by some very simple but effect attacks.

2-0 is not good.

Gabriel having the worst game of his career for us. Shocking from him for the second and in possession more generally. Their first goal was really lucky, normally that tough from Gabby would be enough to go out of play.

Ramsdale, White, Soares, Xhaka, Saka about the only few to come out of this with any credibility. Unbelievable match for us, can't remember the last time nothing went our way. Saka's penalty shout was the turning point for me. If it's given and we score momentum starts to shift. That NLD becomes even more crunch time now!

Saka pen could have been given, but he goes down way to easy! there was a push but not enough to warrant a pen call.
Our defending has been bad, Gabriel has not done enough, we missed Tierney big time.

Fark that was rough. Unlucky but also mad life hard for ourselves. Couldn’t handle their press. 
Liked the way arteta rolled the dice and mixed things up but it felt like we were destined to come up short 

Ffs.

Need to move on from this asap.

Pretty devastating 90 minutes, pretty much turned our top 4 chances on their head.
Partey's injury could be the worst thing to come out of that. 
Geez Tavares is a real worry now. A couple of months ago we were stressing about Soares being the back-up to Tomiyasu, and Tavares was seriously pushing Tierney for his spot.
Fast forward, Tavares has played twice and been yanked within 45 minutes both times, I felt he was most responsible for both their first two goals this morning, and meanwhile Tomiyasu has been out for ages and Soares has played excellently the whole time. 
The forwards did not cover themselves in glory this morning. ESR should've had two, Odegaard one, they were some really bad misses. 
To get top 4 we're going to have to beat direct rivals, no two ways about it. Brighton at home next is obviously must-win before we come to those games. 

Just read Arteta's post match comments, does not sound promising for Partey and Tierney. We might have to brace ourselves for them being out for most of the rest of the campaign. 
If that does happen, I would be keen to throw Saka into LB again, and give Pepe a chance on the right. Pepe is in good form and I can't stomach another Tavares start right now. Xhaka is a safe pair of hands at left back but if Partey is out then we desperately need him in midfield. 

just read that Tierney is out for the season, worrying given the back up LB put "that" performance out there tonight.

How bout?
                    Ramsdale
        Soares White Gabriel Saka
                         Xhaka
            Odegaard Smith-Rowe 
          Pepe Lacazette Martinelli
That's how arteta set up the midfield this morn after he yanked Tavares, with Partey playing the role I've put Xhaka in. 
Not sure if he'd go with Saka in a back four, he's best as the wingback with a back 3 when he used to play there, but I'd do anything except start Tavares again after his last two efforts. 

im sure Saka would play anywhere he was told, but he is wasted at LB. If I was Arteta I'd be going to a back 3 with Saka and Smith-Rowe as your wing backs.

Could Soares fill in at left back as he's done decently before? With White at RB and Holding at CB as an option? 
Guess this race for 4th was always going to come down to the game against Spurs but can't look that far ahead. Vitally important to win the next game. 

We’ve got problems all over the pitch;
CB - Gabriel had a meltdown, can he recover?

LB - to be fair to Tavares he isn’t getting the midweek chances in Europe to build confidence. He wasn’t up to scratch but this season has really not helped his development.

CDM - Moving Xhaka back here exposes his lack of pace and puts him in positions where he Xhakas the most. Elneny or Sambi might be the better option.

Striker - Lacazette is getting worse. Touch isn’t secure enough and struggles to go from dropping deep to being in position to get onto end of a cross quick enough. Prime example that cross Partey put in first half, you’d expect your striker to throw themselves at that near post. Time for the Nketiah, Martinelli, Pepe rotation to begin.

If we keep the current shape I’d keep Nuno and give him a chance to get momentum/confidence up, replace Laca with one of above names, and give the Partey role to Sambi or Elneny.

Failing that 3 at the back is a good shout, Saka could do LWB proud. Again the risk there is if he is caught up field Xhaka is put in prime position to Xhaka it up again.

Tough times for Mikel, now is when he really shows us what he can do as a manager.

Interesting points and good ideas ajc/brumbys, I wouldn't be averse to any of that.
I like the point about Xhaka, he has been noticeably more advanced up the pitch of late, and playing key passes through that left corridor for Martinelli/ESR/Tierney. Perhaps that is his best area, he has the passing range, and his pace (and therefore his discipline) does not get exposed as much. 
Elneny could indeed do the deeper lying job, I forgot about him! I was only thinking of Lokonga, with his youngness and propensity for 1-2 terrible giveaways per game. 

Re: Gabriel, I got no issues with him whatsoever. A couple of his errors this season are just youthful exuberance. 
He's an aggressive defender and that's how we need him to play, with White the perfect calming partner. A bit of the Mertesacker/Koscielny vibe with that balance, but I feel these guys will be better than them, they're both still so young. 
If I was Arteta I'd just be constantly reminding him to learn from the errors, but don't change his game at all. He's an elite defender in my opinion, just gotta keep his confidence up. 

I also hadn’t realised he just became a dad and has a newborn to contend with. The idea of trying to be physically competitive in those first few weeks is madness! Poor guy must be stuck between supporting his partner or getting the sleep he needs for work, such a tough call.

Buffon II

Ffs.

Need to move on from this asap.

Move on!? Why would I do that?
I'm revelling in it.

harrymc55

Buffon II

Ffs.

Need to move on from this asap.

Move on!? Why would I do that?
I'm revelling in it.

You absolutely should, it was one of the best performances I’ve ever seen against us. We’re bemoaning our lads being poor but that was nothing compared to how well CP played. Home fans did an incredible job too.

             Ramsdale
Cedric White Gabriel Tavares
        Lokonga Xhaka
   Saka Odegaard ESR
            Lacazette

Is what I think Arteta will do, double pivot for a bit of extra security but not too many changes.

Hopefully if Laca is still out of form he's the one yanked at half time and Martinelli is given a crack through the middle early doors.

9 to go, COYG.

             Ramsdale
Cedric White Gabriel Xhaka
        Lokonga Odegaard
   Saka       ESR      Martinelli
               Lacazette
Xhaka reverts to Left Back, midfield three of Odegaard, ESR, Lokonga.

Will be interesting to see if we go back to the shape above or keep with 2 x 8's. If the later its the shape we've longed for as it gets the golden boys all on at the same time. Feeling for Nuno too, this would have been a perfect game to come back into the line up on.

I hope you've all spared yourself a shark sunday morning and skipped that one...
Observations;
- Xhaka at LB killed the game for us. He's not awful there, but essentially we lost our 2 best central midfielders who bring calm and control, not just 1.
- How VAR conspired to call that offside with those angles is beyond me. Surely if they cannae do the lines properly they go for a clear and obvious error, and the goal should have stood.
- Lacazette needs to ride the pine. Give me Martinelli, Pepe, or Nketiah next game please - we need to try something different altogether up front.
- Cucurella is a cod.

As soon as I saw xhaka at lb, I was worried. Really think that was the wrong call. He needed to stay in midfield. Also, thats gonna have a big negative impact that will have on taraves. Rather than trust him, he’s using another player who is woefully unequipped to play in his position instead. Fark. 
Made even worse by the spurs hammering that they are handing out right now. We’ve lost our way and they’ve found it. Shark. 

We've been struggling for goals but just about managing without a proper centre forward but just haven't got the players to also manage without Partey and Tierney. Looking at the fixtures left for us and Spurs and given the injuries 4th is likely gone now. And what an awful piece of business Tavares was that now the starting left back is out we have to shift multiple players out of position and have no central midfield to avoid having to have him on the pitch.

Odds are definitely against us now but I’m not giving up just yet.

I’m also not convinced Tavares is a disaster yet. He’s suffered from going from no involvement to being dumped into high pressure scenarios. Had we had Europe we would have likely seen better from him.

I still fundamentally believe MA made the wrong call yesterday. I’m a big fan but playing as many of the regulars in their preferred spots would have covered Nuno more than what we saw.

As Wenger said, you pay for young defenders education with points. Unfortunately when there isn’t a viable alternative you still drop points but they don’t get to grow.

ajc28

We've been struggling for goals but just about managing without a proper centre forward but just haven't got the players to also manage without Partey and Tierney. Looking at the fixtures left for us and Spurs and given the injuries 4th is likely gone now. And what an awful piece of business Tavares was that now the starting left back is out we have to shift multiple players out of position and have no central midfield to avoid having to have him on the pitch.

That was definitely the turning point where we went from odds on to outsiders for top 4.
Only way forward now is to beat direct rivals, and we're not in the form required to beat Spurs or Chelsea at the minute. 
The injuries have cost us badly. Tomiyasu, then Tierney, then Partey, big holes our squad has been unable to fill yet, even though Cedric has done an admirable job on the right. 

Nice to see Reiss Nelson getting starts and regularly scoring/assisting for Feyenoord at the moment. They are a fairly well-established team and have been challenging at the top of the Eredivisie the last couple of seasons, so no mean feat.