(The not-so-temporary quite-official) Gooner Thread (Part 2)
Did what we had to yesterday. Elneny looked promising over the full 90, Coq was straight back into his defensive work and Sánchez on form at the other end of the pitch. Also decent rests for Özil, Bellerin and Monreal, so they'll be fresh for Tuesday.
Plenty of quality teams left in the Cup so a home draw would be nice this evening.
FA draw in full:
Chelsea v Man City
Reading v West Brom or Peterborough
Watford v Leeds
Shrewsbury Town v Man Utd
Blackburn v Liverpool or West Ham
Spurs v Crystal Palace
Arsenal v Hull
Bournemouth v Everton
nice to have avoided some of the big clubs. We should be able to put away hull without too much worry.....
Bloody hell, couldn't watch the reply last night either - my skygo account wouldn't sign in, piece of crap! Great to hear the likes of Coquelin and Sanchez hitting the ground running. A certain Chilean has appeared back in my fantasy team.
That certain Chilean may make a re-appearance in my fantasy team also ;) Might play my wildcard this week...
Skygo was down yesterday apparently, lot of people not happy bout that. Sky need to sort that sh*t out.
Yeah I was fuming, really wanted to watch the Sevens final too.
Get that wildcard in play! Doesn't it disappear after this game week?
Does it???
I already used my first one very early on... I've done quite well this season, but just started to fade in the last two weeks, so need to re-invigorate my team...
Yeah you might want to check that today - might even be a 1st Feb (UK) cut off on using it!
Just checked out the rules for the wildcard after the above posts and this is what it says:
The Wildcard chip can be used twice a season, once in the first half of the season (before 28 Dec 14:00) and once in the second half of the season.
Wildcards are played on the transfers page but aren't active until you have confirmed the transfers.
So don't think there's any panic. Think it just means the second one becomes available the same time as the transfer window.
Just checked out the rules for the wildcard after the above posts and this is what it says:
The Wildcard chip can be used twice a season, once in the first half of the season (before 28 Dec 14:00) and once in the second half of the season.
Wildcards are played on the transfers page but aren't active until you have confirmed the transfers.
So don't think there's any panic. Think it just means the second one becomes available the same time as the transfer window.
Ah, my bad. Rules have changed then - previous years definitely had wildcard available for January only. Thanks for clearing up! :)
Will Chuba Akpom be able to play against us in the FA Cup? I guess it depends on what was in his contract but they may not have expected to need to put this clause in. He scored a hattrick the other day
And Isaac Hayden.
Arseblog covered this and the key take aways are that:
1) FA Cup rules leave them able to play at the parent clubs discretion
2) Wenger has previously been pro this & spoken about it being very important to allow it to happen - and backed his actions when former youngster Watt was allowed to play against us.
I would expect him to allow it to happen.
So now that Pep is out of the question, who would we want in after Wenger?
One that came to mind today is Julen Lopetegui. Only 49 so still has plenty of managing (and learning) left in him, did exceptionally well with Spain's youth from 2010-2013, working with what looks like the same set of players through different age groups. Didn't win anything at Porto though which is a concern.
Three for me, and two for them.
So now that Pep is out of the question, who would we want in after Wenger?
One that came to mind today is Julen Lopetegui. Only 49 so still has plenty of managing (and learning) left in him, did exceptionally well with Spain's youth from 2010-2013, working with what looks like the same set of players through different age groups. Didn't win anything at Porto though which is a concern.
Unfortunately for clubs needing an upgrade on their coach asap (ahem Man Utd), Tuchel has only just started at Dortmund. Arsenal could keep on eye on him if he may want to test himself elsewhere.
Edit: and for a little out of left field: markus weinzierl
Simeone is nailed on Chelsea isn't he?
De Boer could be worth a punt.
Martinez? No thanks.
Blanc is doing well with an unfairly weighted side in a poor league, although he was successful at Bordeaux. Worth keeping an eye on him.
Not convinced by Allegri at all.
Three for me, and two for them.
Bergkamp's non-flying would probably be an issue, but aside from that, I'm not averse to those two coming in. They've done an amazing job with Ajax and have the right philosophy, and there is continuity there with Bergkamp coming in to join the other invincibles around the place (Henry, Pires).
I do wonder if the learning from ManU's debacle might be to try and maintain that continuity. ManU didn't, with Moyes famously turfing out the coaching staff etc. I'd prefer if Wenger moved into a new role involving the overall management of the club, and Bould was kept on in some capacity with the coaching staff, perhaps even Primorac as well.
Reports also coming out that ManU tried to sign Debuchy, but were blocked by Wenger. My haven't times changed...
Team for this morn
Cech
Bellerin-Gabriel-Koscielny-Monreal
Flamini-Ramsey
Campbell-Ozil-Sanchez
Giroud
Bench: Ospina, Gibbs, Mertesacker, Chambers, Coquelin, Walcott, Oxlade-Chamberlain
Some interesting points to note out of that...
- Mertesacker looks to have been dropped
- Elneny doesn't make the squad, Flamini starting is interesting, Coquelin mustn't be fit enough for 90 mins yet
- Campbell has moved ahead of Walcott in the pecking order, and Giroud remains ahead of him at striker too, despite the substitution against Chelsea
Now COYG
Our midfield is the major issue right now, although Ozil, Walcott, Sanchez and Giroud were all guilty of missing big chances this morning.
Coquelin has to start from the next game onwards.
Ramsey's form is disappointing, he was better from wide right earlier in the season.
Watch this and tell me that Foster didn't have the game of his life:
https://arsenalist.com/f/2015-16/arsenal-vs-southam...
Some of those saves were ridiculous.
Frustrating as hell to not get the result but ultimately I would argue our finishing wasn't as bad as the statistics make out.
We are not going to win the league. Can say that reasonably confidently now.
To make it worse, Spurs have been quietly ticking along very, very well and (unlike us) are putting away the games they should be putting away.
a.haak
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