Morning all.
I’m not sure what they put in their tea up in the Midlands but my goodness, West Brom had a few big guys playing last night. All £10 million worth of players fielded against an Arsenal mix and match team worth a staggering £256 million. Perhaps it’s easy to forget that whilst we might envy the kind of players Chelsea, City and Utd can afford, fans of other clubs might actually envy us.
I was surprised to see Kolasinac out there last night but as I said about Bellerin yesterday, Arsenal are paying him so why shouldn’t Mikel Arteta be playing him?
Arsenal romped home 6-0 winners which regardless of who we were playing, we needed. Aubameyang was all smiles, scoring nearly as many in one night as he did all last season. Pepe scored one, should have had two with Bukayo Saka and Alexandre Lacazette both nabbing one each. Excellent strikes they were too.
Nuno Tavares – find me an Arsenal fan who hasn’t already fallen in love with him and I’ll be amazed. His personality, commitment, energy and enthusiasm is incredible. He’s like a Duracell bunny who just never stops. Martin Ødegaard just makes the game look simple as he goes about his game without fuss, whilst Bukayo Saka was outstanding. Aaron Ramsdale had the perfect start to his career with a clean sheet. Anything he had to deal with, he did so with confidence.
The difference in quality between to the two sides showed in the end but I reckon West Brom have a few young players who can’t be too far away from their first team.
All in all a good night for Arsenal and Mikel Arteta. The fans too as I think we all needed that. Just hope the injury Bukayo Saka sustained is nothing serious.
Of course the victory will be played down because not only were we playing West Brom but a West Brom team which included younger players too but what mattered was the performance, which at times was scrappy, at others, superb, and the result. Six goals – I’m still in shock. But it’s a happy state of shock. So many times in previous years we’ve seen an Arsenal team roll up to a lower League club thinking the game is won before the first whistle blows and what follows is a disaster showing and a cup exit. Big names have often dropped a shocking performance, but not last night and certainly not our captain who seemed keen to hug every player he could get his hands on as if to prove a point. Good. I hope this is a sign that the old Aubameyang is back and not the one who huffed and puffed his way through last season.
Next up in the League Cup is AFC Wimbledon at The Emirates but now, attentions turn to Man City at the weekend. Oh, and the remaining seven days of the transfer window.
See you in the comments.
Morning Rico all.
Let’s hope that kickstarts our season.
Gunners met a Championship team who played their Second Eleven (6 starting debutants!). It was a test without value and it’s embarrassing this talk about the club “turning up”. We met WBA B! Wow! Azeez, Patino etc could have done the work. Turn up on Saturday instead. Then we can leave senor Arteta at his old homeground, with his old Master. I’m sure the job as Peps ass is waiting for him. Arsenal FC need an experienced professional coach/ manager. Not a pathetic wannabe like Outeta! Outeta out now!
Morning Scott, all.
I hope so.
Hasse, you’re missing the point. We’ve played in fixtures like this before and been beaten. The article actually says the opposition was a young side but Arsenal still had a job to do.
Good morning Rico and all.
Six goals and a clean sheet to boot, who can gripe at that?
It has to be said, however, that The Baggies are the most generous of hosts. They welcomed Arsenal by awarding them the freedom of a large section of their pitch, namely their defensive half. Their defenders stood politely aside as Arsenal swept regally into the huge empty spaces behind the back line and Aubameyang & Co. duly took full advantage of their VIP passes.
I’m sure we have all watched the replays, for me the best of the six was Saka’s brilliant run and one two, with Odegaard, and slick finish. Sumptuous!!
Morning Rico. I thought that some of the early challenges from WBA were shameful. The stamp on Tavares was horrible and completely intentional despite, was it Hinchcliffe? Saying that it was “entirely accidental”. The slo-mo put paid to that notion but there was no retraction. The really bad early tackle by the Portuguese bloke with the crazy hair was awful and the late assault through the back on Saka at 0-6 was pointless and spiteful. If refs don’t have a re-think on all this let the game flow stuff then someone, probably an Arsenal player, is going to get badly hurt this season which is very likely exactly what Riley wants.
Very good performance though and some superb goals. Give Auba to Man City on a free? Yeah, sure. He seems to have some of his appetite back to me.
“Who can gripe at that?” Well Hasse can, there’s always one!
Morning Cicero, I quite liked the strike from Lacazette too. It’s just nice to see arsenal scoring goals for a change. What we need to see now though is a just as lively Aubameyang against Man City and the next ten months. As you say, other defences won’t allow as much freedom as West Brom.
Morning Adam. Must admit, I thought the stamp was accidental. They were certainly big old boys who didn’t hold back in the challenges. I don’t think this letting the game flow is a good idea, certainly not in all cases but I’d like to think the fouls will be penalised.
People like Hasse have already made their minds up and it would not have mattered how the game had gone last night . If West Brom had played their first team and we had scored 3 or 4 his reaction would have been the same .
If he took time to read this site’s previous threads before he jumped in with his preconceived opinions he would see that there are many here including the author that have their doubts about the Arteta / Edu project.
We scored 6 last night and that’s good . As Rico has stated in the past we have gone into those matches and scratched a narrow win or sometimes even less . We got 3 up by half time and the refreshing bit was that we kept it up and got 3 more.
Whether it has any bearing on the outcome against Man City is doubtful but the players now believe that they can score again .
Perhaps we will see a more positive performance that we can build on as the fixtures reduce in intensity.
Excellent comment Potter.
Morning Rico and all
There. Have been many top clubs beaten by a side from the 2nd or 3rd division just have a look at the past winners from the FA cup which proves that any club is beatable on the right day.
Hopefully we can take some confidence into the Man City match
Morning Geoff. There has which is why fans love the domestic cups. I doubt Southampton fans care about who they scored 8 against last night.
Hasse yes we were crap in our first two matches but you need to remember that our 2 main strikers were unwell and didn’t play while we also had several new players that had have never played together before. A win is still a win so just enjoy it why you can.
Hi Adam, if Auba has a crack every week, no way I want him gone but based on last season, why keep him? At the wage, it’s be cheaper to cut him loose, and give Balogun a go.
If, if, if……I hope he proves me totally wrong!
It’s a shame Covid ruled Auba out of the first couple of fixtures because we’d have got more of an idea what frame of mind he was in, or what form. An in form Aubameyang is not a player you want to leave but an out of form or sulky Aubameyang is a disaster.
He’s looked in a good mood though, even against Chelsea he looked sharp. Arsenal need to use him more though as a few times last night, a through ball to him was on but he wasn’t spotted.
I think it was Hinchcliffe who kicked Xhaka as he was laying off a pass, a yellow all day but the EFL referee ignored it just as he ignored the deliberate stamp on Tavares, a red all day, but two Arsenal got two cautioned for fouls of lesser content than Hinchcliffe’s so business as usual.
Yes West Brom got well stuck in but we weathered their early enthusiasm and gradually sliced them apart.
Eventually the Baggies energy dropped and we were able to control the game.
I loved the quality of our second half goals as the confidence returned.
If you can’t enjoy a 6-0 victory without being obtuse then maybe football isn’t for you?
Rico,
When he came on v Chelsea, he seemed to be keen enough.
It’s hard to know if he’s shopping himself about or just keen.
There’s no question, we are a different animal when he’s in form, but it’s been 18 months now-let’s hope he’s on the right path.
Hiya Kev,
Great to see a 3-0 lead at H/T turn into 6.
That’s unlike us in recent years.
Hi Rico.. Nice one! I don’t care who it was against; the score/performance was just the job.
Auba back on the scoresheet, and his third, that was the Auba of old – loved it! My MOTM
AFC Wimbledon next and that is just before the NLD. So a home tie against lower league opposition – perfect!
Absolutely agree Kev, anyone who can enjoy watching their team score six, clearly can’t enjoy much in life.
Scott, he spoke well after the game so we can only take him as wanting the club to do well. His body language on the pitch was very different to last season so perhaps he’s back. I don’t know, none of us do bar him. But if City offered Arsenal a silly amount for him, I’d still take it as long as replacement is lined up.
Hi Sue, thanks. I’m the same, the only team we could have beaten last night, we did and with many positives.
One moment I found interesting to do with Aubameyang was his miss hit overhead kick to Pepe. Last season he wouldn’t have bothered trying that I think. He’d still have been wondering how he missed. Also, getting in the box in anticipation of the rebound to score his first.
Agreed, Rico.
I’ll back him 100% if he’s giving 100%.
Be fair, Rico, it was a squared up pass for sure 🙂 🙂
That’s all any of us want I’m sure, 100% from all the players, and manager Scott.
Mikel Arteta has made it quite clear, Aubameyang is going nowhere. Willian on the other hand is likely to leave.
It’s being reported that Azeez has been spotted at Portsmouth’s training ground…
Auba is going nowhere hey, Rico, glad to hear it.. Willian on the other hand…. 🤣
Azeez heading out on loan then Sue. I wonder what’s happening with Eddie and AMN.
I thought you’d be pleased about Aubameyang. Lol
Rico we’re all well aware of the circumstances surrounding this game, how West Brom are focusing on promotion and how we needed a win badly. West Brom actually have a really good crop of young players and it might be worth keeping an eye on them for the future.
For us, if you are of that mind then you can see negatives in everything Arsenal are presently doing, so let the doomers doom and the haters hate, we can, on here at least, enjoy the enjoyable when it occurs.
Roll on Saturday and some more sackcloth and ashes…
Exactly Kev. I’d rather live with a glass half full thank you very much..
What to make of the Qatari group stories I wonder…
Rico. Interesting. Re the Qatari rumour
I think so too Adam. I hope they’re serious.
If I’ve read the story right, it’s Khalifah Bin Hamad Al.Thani who might be interested in Arsenal and he was the same guy trying to buy Rangers?
He’s not that wealthy on his own though.
I thought he had a wealth of around £300b Rico, but maybe that’s the whole family?
Bring it on…
Bring it on indeed then. Perhaps we could get Bissouma then Kev. 😂
Perhaps Rico, perhaps? 😃
This could be a good time to play Man city.
We should see the best of Auba this weekend as he has all to gain.
Play good score goals and impress both Arsenal fans and Man city
Or maybe not Kev, seems Liverpool are in for him. ☹️☹️
Morning all
City have agreed a fee of between £25/£30 million for Ronaldo on two year contract at a staggering £550 thousand per week. So I guess they won’t be buying Aubameyang.
Perhaps that’s why Arteta has said our revitalised striker will not be leaving this summer.
Crazy deal isn’t it? But I guess he’ll sell shirts and give City a chance of winning the CL..
Let the pantomime begin then.
Bloody hell, the next few days will be extra spicy this season 🙂
Morning all.
Seems Mikel is confident or at least optimistic a few players will leave.
Let’s hope he’s right.
£30 million seems cheap for Ronaldo but at least he will not be available to play against us.
https://www.coachesvoice.com/cv/freddie-ljungberg-arsenal-arsene-wenger/
Did we back the wrong horse ? or should he have been kept as number 2
Gabriel starts for the U23s @12, against the Spuds.. COYG
Aternoon Rico and the House
Sue the u23s game is live on our wesite.
Cheers Rick! I was watching on Twitch 😄
Afternoon Rico, I guess it seems that Arteta has pinned his flag to the Xhaka mast, could be financial as well, with Odegaard the priority over Bissouma, it’s just a shame we couldn’t get both of them.
Patino trained with the seniors again yesterday, I wonder if we’ll see him vs AFC Wimbledon?
Definitely backed the wrong horse imo Potter. I’d hoped at the time that Freddie would be given until the end of the season. Now, having read that, I feel even more disappointed that he wasn’t. Maybe one day though, who knows.
Afternoon Rick, Kev. Seems that way re Xhaka. I’d hope Roma we’re serious about him.
2 goals by KTH gave us a 2-1 win against 10 man Spuds
Great result
What a likeable guy. He could be a writer if he gives up on coaching.
I would feel the same as I do about Arteta, he needs to learn management at a smaller club. Big difference in pressure and responsibility to being the coach. He needs a club where it’s Ok to make mistakes and his head isn’t on the block from the first few bad results.
Especially in his CK’s Brad. 😂
I think Freddie will go down the right path, he seems to have his head screwed on the right way.
Ronaldo is returning to Manure, so City might turn to Aubameyang after all. £60/70 million would do, then we could make Leeds an offer they can’t refuse for their striker…..Bamford. 😉
I read Juve now want Aubameyang
Great, let’s get an auction up and running. £70/80 million maybe.
Wishful thinking maybe.. lol
Gee I hope he’s sold.
If we get 40-50 million us take it.
So Ronaldo to United makes for some interesting transfer news this next few days.
If Auba goes, who’s should we get to replace him?
Probably too late Scott , can’t afford a last minute mistake . Paying big money for a forward has to be planned in advance.. Maybe we should use the money to strangthen elsewhere.
Fair call mate.
I’m happy to see Martinelli and Balogun have a crack.
If we sell Auba and their is no good strikers for sale then I would keep the money for the mid year transfer market and see if any good strikers come available
Celtic striker Odsonne Edouard, would be my choice.
Good morning all.
If Everton want AMN as reported and we’re going to sell Aubameyang, then the logical deal to be done imo is to get Calvert-Lewin.
Morning all.
New post up now.