Morning all.
September’s international fixtures are over thank goodness, hopefully all our players will return in as good a shape as they left.
England actually won a game convincingly last night. I didn’t watch it but Noni Madueke scored one in a 5-0 thrashing of the mighty Serbia. Not wishing to sound doom and gloom but I’d rather wait to see how Tuchel’s side perform against one of the top countries like Spain, France etc before I start believing England are on the rise under this manager.
Anyway, back to Arsenal and by the end of today, all our players should be exactly that. Back at Arsenal.
Nottingham Forest, who sacked Nuno Espírito Santo on Monday evening before swiftly replacing him with Ange Postecoglou, are Arsenal’s next opponents. The fixture kicks off at 12-30 on Saturday lunchtime. The game kicks off what is a busy Monday for Mikel Arteta’s players as five fixtures are crammed into just fifteen days.
13th Nottingham Forest – H
16th Athletic Club – A
21st Man City – H
24th Port Vale – A
28th Newcastle United- A
Both October and November see Arsenal play six matches each month, with an international break lumped into both months. It’s a ridiculous schedule in my opinion but one which is unlikely to change anytime soon. Thankfully though, this time around we have a strong and deep squad which should help us cope much better.
Frustratingly though, we’ve already suffered a number of injuries with Bukayo Saka, William Saliba, Ben White and Christian Norgaard doubts for this weekend’s match, with Saliba rumoured to be out until after the next international break. Not ideal but it’s not like we don’t have an excellent replacement in Cristhian Mosquera. We’re yet to see Piero Hincapie make his Arsenal debut but here he is playing for Ecuador at left back during his country’s 1-0 defeat of Argentina which took place during the early hours of this morning. (Uk time)
Talking of left backs, both Myles Lewis-Skelly and Riccardo Calafiori didn’t play in yesterday’s internationals which is good news for Mikel Arteta and Arsenal. Eberechi Eze didn’t play last night either, nor did either of our Brazilian Gabriel’s. I know we have three but one is injured. Ethan Nwaneri put in a man of the match performance for England’s under 21’s, scoring the first goal in a 2-0 victory over Kazakhstan. Max Dowman has featured for the under 19’s during this break too. He was on the receiving end of a few bad challenges during their game against Spain, with former PGMOL chief and ex-FIFA official Keith Hackett going as far to suggest that Spain’s David Cordon deserved to be sent off on Saturday for his challenge on our 15 year old.
That’s my fear with Dowman, he’s going to be targeted by opponents because he is playing well above his age group and he’s going to embarrass experienced players as he glides past them. At I think he will. It’s happened before with young talented players and not just at Arsenal. “If you can’t get the ball, get the man” came from somewhere, and long before the Neville’s hacked Reyes down each time we played Utd. I’m pretty sure that will be in Mikel Arteta’s mind when he makes his changes on a match day. Especially if we’re playing a team like Newcastle as we are at the end of this month. A pre-season friendly and a league game are two different things in my opinion.
I’ve waffled on for too long…
Catch up in the comments.
‘Some are good for fighting, others are good for dying. We, need both I think.’ That is a quote taken from the film gladiator. and it is important to keep that in mind for every team Arsenal, and as Rico pointed out, England face. We need good teams like France, Spain etc. But we also need the also rans. The teams who should be whipped every single game. In those games you find out new methods etc, practice them and then try it against the top nations.
Good article Rico.
Something I would like to point out, not with regards England, but with regards Italy. I saw two games in the last round. I watched Spain and i watched Italy. Italy had lost its way under the previous managers after Mancini left. They tried to copy football played by Barca or Spain and ended up losing their identity. The appointment of Gattuso as national coach has seen the old grit and determination till the last whistle coming back.
Grit and determination. That is what needs to be seen by Arsenal. We have that and we are no longer pushovers anymore. However we need to become ruthless killers and take our chances. The goal by Merino, when the ball was zipping from one foot to another in the opposition’s box was unbelievable. They didnt allow them to rest. The opposition players were chasing shadows, thin air etc. From one side of the pitch to the other, the SPanish players took around 6 secondsto launch a counterattack. They didnt score but their play was awesome.
Thanks Devil, I think Arsenal have the grit and determination kind of players now. Something we’ve not had before Arteta for a number of years.
Just wish we didn’t always have so many injuries..
BBC: Sports…
Arsenal will consider the sales of Brazil striker Gabriel Jesus, 28, and Belgium forward Leandro Trossard, 30, in the January transfer window.
See who can afford Jesus’ wages about £ 13 1/2 million per annum ? back to Brazil for a pittance I reckon.
Kid gloves for Dowman and also a lot of thought about where and when he gets moments . Already the media are suggesting that Arteta brought him on against Liverpool to get a penalty , the reputation is forming.
Forest with Angie baby is not going to be easy , we will need to be careful in the opening 20 minutes where they will be totally up for it on and off the pitch. It remains to be seen how much Angie can influence their play, we know he likes to attack but he also leaves gaps at the back. They will probably come out fast but A couple of goals before half time should calm them down .
The internationals have given Arteta decisions to make , what to do with Odegaard , Merino , and Madueke ? they all played well and I would not be surprised if Madueke becomes Saka’s replacement in Tuchel;s system
Last night it took just two goals to shut the crowd up and start fighting among themselves, after the third went the ground all but emptied apart from the loyal travelling Arsenal fans. Two early goals will see off the Forest threat.