Morning all.
I’m really disappointed after Arsenal were dumped out of the League Cup by West Ham last night. Had there been VAR, West Ham’s first goal would have been disallowed I’m sure. Had Zinchenko not gone to sleep, perhaps they wouldn’t have scored a second and as for their third, well, deflections happen. Ramsdale will no doubt be slated for not doing better but not one of the three were down to him. But he’s an easy target these days it seems which I find quite sad.
Havertz is another player who’ll be criticised and I get it as he’s really struggled to really get his Arsenal career going but he was struggling in the Premier League long before he joined Mikel Arteta’s squad. However, it does raise more questions about why Arsenal paid £65 million for him. But he wasn’t the only player off last night as the overall performance from start to finish wasn’t the best. From back to front, we lacked purpose with the only positive being Odegaard getting on the scoresheet.
Mikel Arteta on if the first West Ham goal would have been ruled out by VAR:
Yeah, for sure. If there’s VAR, then there’s no goal, that’s for sure, but I understand that for the referee it’s difficult because the angle and the amount of people that are there affects the game. But again, I don’t want to use that as an excuse, we can still compete on the goal much better than we did, and be in better positions, but obviously that takes something from the game which is very important, which is momentum.
That’s two away fixtures on the trot in which Arsenal’s performance has been poor. What’s worrying is that in a couple of days time, we face Newcastle Utd at St James Park and should we not be at our best, we’ll get punished.
For sure, we have to use the pain that we’ve felt today to make sure that we’re on our best again on Saturday because that’s what’s going to be required to win. But it’s also a good experience to feel the pain and when we’re not at our best, the performance has to be very different compete and to earn the right to win the game. Mikel Arteta
These guys are professional footballers, they shouldn’t need to feel pain or suffer a loss to motivate them but I understand what Arteta is saying. I’d be more concerned as to why they weren’t up for the Chelsea game from the start, or in last nights game, to simply crumble after we conceded because until then, we were in total control of the game as far as possession stats go. Where was the fight? Where was the Eddie Nketiah who scored three at the weekend or the Trossard who scored against Chelsea?
Anyway, we’re out of the League Cup and I suppose there’s little point in going over it too much because Saturday is another day and another game. I hope Tomiyasu starts against Newcastle though because we’ll need a strong left back rather than a player who wanders freely and gets caught out of position often.
To make the night even worse, Arteta announced that Emile Smith Rowe has a knee injury and will be out for weeks. He just doesn’t get much luck does he…
Short one today…
Good morning Rico, although there is nothing much good about it what with almost continuous rain, sometimes light, sometimes bursts of heavy. So far the promised, by ITV News Anglia, gale force winds have been totally absent, just a light breeze in fact.
The other cheer up factor being another heavy home defeat for Man. U, but that may be a two edged sword as it was at the hands of Saturday’s opponents Newcastle.
Best to draw a cloak over the debacle at the London Stadium last night. We often say that the League Cup is an opportunity to give our youngsters a run out, but last night not a single one got even a single minute whilst the senior players supposedly rested all got called on to try to rescue the game.
Morning Cicero.
Nothing about last night was good, or positive. I’m really disappointed in the way we were knocked out rather than being knocked out.
Afternoon Rico and all.
Rico totally agree about ESR, he just can’t get break.
Looking for a positive from the loss, it doesn’t count for the main season and it may be the wake up call that no matter who you play against if you’re not switched on, you will pay the price.
Hi Geoff, the only break he gets is is body. It’s such a shame as imo he’s such a gifted and talented player.
I have recently been reminded of how perceptive children are , how their minds work and how inquisitive they are . If you try to explain things to my grandkids they usually reply with the big question “WHY “.
When I looked back at last nights game that was the question that ran through my mind and as I sat at home with my son we tried to come to terms with what we had just watched.
West Ham were more aggressive throughout , they gave the impression that they wanted it more . Despite our possession stats being superior we never looked like scoring . Nketiah , Trossard and Nelson looked impotent . Jorginho , Havertz and Zinchenko consistently played either negative passes or gave the ball away and consequently as we had no functioning defensive midfield we were on the back foot every time they broke out .
Ramsdale played and let in 3 goals , unless Raya gets injured I very much doubt that we will see him again before possibly the F.A Cup and if he wants to go in January not again . Having said that the first should have been ruled out for the shirt pull , Zinchenko was hopelessly out of position for the second and the third was a massive deflection.
It questions the quality and the mind set of the players that don’t start on a regular basis . Until Rice , Martinelli and Saka came on we didn’t look like we had anything going for us and Odegaard was given 10 minutes to get his legs going for the weekend and scored a free kick which to me proves that too many changes were made and that we have players who are not capable of cutting it.
I can’t help thinking that the Havertz terrace chant should end after the first line . “”65 million down the drain “” it seems obvious to most spectators and one has to ask whether Arteta and Edu can see it and if not, as my granddaughter said last night “”WHY “”
ESR’s constant niggles are caused by not playing , I would take a bet that should he go to a club where he starts regularly his continual injuries would soon disappear. 10 minutes here and there coming on and expected to be at top speed without any real warm up apart from the odd stretching brings muscle and joint strains .
So we spend multi million pounds and still have a squad which when it comes down to it, has too many players who aren’t good enough? Surely it can’t just be down to numbers as Howe made 9 changes and still thumped Man Utd.
There is nothing about Havertz which suggests to me that he should be starting ahead of ESR. If you’re right re his injuries being down to lack of playing then that’s a big red flag imo.
I remember seeing in Rugby League subs about to come on warming up on exercise bikes at the side of the pitch. As Potter says, the odd stretching exercise is not sufficient.
ESR is another Wilshere ?
Does make sense to warm up a lot more than players do.
Our weak midfield was found out last night. The step up in quality to the starters is obvious. We really missed the power of Rice in front of the back 4, which shows why we paid top dollar for him.
It will be a tough game on Saturday, but I think the decision to rest the players was wise.
‘ESR’s constant niggles are caused by not playing’
Unsurprisingly, after last night’s result the Arsenal blogs are full of guff, but that comment wins today’s ‘utter b⚽ll⚽cks prize’, Potter. Well done. 👏
Steady on Pete, we on here are better than that.
I think it’s been suggested before that sportsmen and women stay fitter when they don’t stop and start. The body needs to be used to what’s asked of it. Isn’t that why we ordinary folk can do more as our bodies get used to doing more?
Resting players last night made sense to me too but in hindsight, perhaps it was too many rested.
Honestly Rico, this is the questionable 10 pint logic I hear in the pubs around Highbury.
ESR has been injured for the best part of a year. Arsenal have physios, nutritionists, and medical professionals working with him to try to get him fit. It’s in their interests to do so. Neglecting warm ups would be daft.
He played 75 minutes against Sheffield United. He felt an injury afterwards. He’s 23 years old and the continual injuries are concerning. As JM asked is Jack Wilshere a good comparison?
I wouldn’t compare them other than a history of injuries Pete. Jack was of a different physique though and played differently. Either way though, both suffer too many injuries to be relied on but how they get them could be down to many things.
What would be interesting though if ESR was sold and his fitness levels changed. Not that I’d want to see it..
It’s O.K Rico , I am more than capable of standing on my own two feet.
Pete I appreciate that you don’t agree however my extensive experience tells me that what I said is quite true .
Exercise will strengthen your muscles and lubricate your joints, making you less likely to get injured or to experience joint pain. The point of football is unlike just running, players twist and turn and their muscle memory takes time to recover albeit more quickly than someone that has never played.
The more you play the more your muscles attune themselves to the demands . When you rest up and get active again although your muscle has recovered it is still stiff and needs to be softened and as Injuries to the lower extremities are typically due to jumping, kicking, high-speed running, and sudden change in direction while running, my opinion is that more playing time reduces the likelyhood of repeated injury .
You may be right and I might be wrong , but I don’t think so.
I’ll keep my nose out then Potter. 😆
Must say I wouldn’t mind being in a few of those pubs around Highbury, but not having 10 pints , those days are long gone.
These days ten pints would probably set you back 45 to 50 quid Potter.
Which set me thinking, when I left school at sixteen I spent a week or so with my grandmother hop picking near Paddock Wood in Kent. There was a pub just down the road from the hop garden where the mild ale cost just one shilling a pint and no age questions asked. A week or so later I started work for the GPO for a weekly wage of four pounds ten shillings plus free lunches in the canteen. Oh happy days!!
More than £50 in London I think, My first pint was in the Flask in Hampstead , Youngs special I think. Don’t know what it cost my uncle bought it for me when I was about 16 .
I know Aussie rules are different to Soccer rules as we can change players as much as we like and any time during the game.
However, saying that most of our top clubs have exercise bikes near the interchange bench, also the players go down to the dressing room and warm up there with the physio if they have not been on the field for a while to warm up properly before going on.
I am intrigued by your ‘extensive experience’ Potter. Were you recently sacked by Chelsea?
Some players hardly get an injury, others are constantly sidelined. Genetics play a large part in that. No amount of warming up will change that.
With hindsight should Arsenal have accepted the £30m offer from Villa for ESR in ’21?
Pete , just years of playing and spending time with physios , ( don’t tell the wife ) lol.
It was a commonly held view that using muscles was preferable to rest. We discussed whether there was a reason that players on carpet pitches seem to turn ankles ,twist knees and get groin strains more often than players on park pitches . Their thoughts were because as the park players played on lumps and bumps their joints got used to compensating and that the more they played, the more elasticity there were in the fibres.
I think that it’s the same with players like ESR and Wilshere who never played on the Marshes or Scrubs.
We may never agree and that’s fine . It’s just an opinion based on conversations with people that used to work at Watford fc. in the early 70’s.
Pete, don’t you think that’s a bit hard ESR, it only takes one bad tackle to finish or nearly finish any player’s career, just look at Santi’s injury.
I said when I first found this, and I still think the same we need to take a good look at the training ground and the type of boots our players are wearing, and the other thing I don’t get is why clubs water the field during half time.
Just as a further comment , when you are recovering from a twisted ankle they used to put you on a disc with a spike underneath it so that the fibres in your ankle were stretched .
Just saying . Same meat different gravy/
But surely the fitness teams will try everything to keep the players fit? They’ve sent a physio to Ghana games with Partey; used horse placenta on Van Persie’s ankle; used regular vitamin injections (a lot of suggestions that Wenger was using EPO)
I know a story where Wilshere was playing Sunday football with his mates on a dodgy pitch when he was meant to be recuperating from injury. Apparently the Club were furious. Could have ruined his career…
Some players are prone to injury (ESR, Wilshere, RVP), others get kicked a lot and hardly miss a game (Ben White, Saka, Vieira)
@ Ozzy G I get the feeling Arteta is getting to the end of his chain with certain players.
Partey has become fragile and will be replaced.
Unless he has a Lazarus like return to fitness I feel time is running out for ESR too. He is clearly talented, but he may another Aaron Ramsey.
I can see the value of selling Partey but I admit that I am biased towards ESR as I always saw him as the position that Odegaard has taken . However I still believe that skill wise he is a better bet than both Havertz and Vieira and his development with Saka , Nelson and the other Hale end boys should have made him a regular in the team.
Also for your benefit I will say ,”” When Fit.”” which is a problem . It will be interesting to see if Emery comes back for him and how his career goes should he get regular playing time.
A serious question, who can actually drink ten pints? 🤣
I too am in the ESR camp. Love him as a player and would be really sad if he left. Sadly though, I can see it happening. Same for Nelson and Nketiah. Meanwhile, we’ll continue to see Vieira and Havertz.
I’ve also a feeling that our other academy players coming through will be money makers at some stage.
I think that the academy players will see their route to the first team being blocked by two big money wasters and choose to go elsewhere.
Arteta may be copying Guardiola in many ways but he has to realise that he does not have the backing of a nation oil state. The Kroenke’s are backing him but they are not a bottomless pit
Exactly. Sad really if we’re right.
Pete, I really like ESR, but I have said for a while there is something about him that Arteta doesn’t like, I was hoping that ESR went out on loan for 12 Months to get more game time.
Which of our loan players may come back or get sold, Due to all the talk about Raya and Ramsdale I checked up our keeper Runarsson to see how he is going and looking at the ladder he has been letting in one goal per match.
I often wonder why Arteta keeps Elneny, he may not complain about sitting on the bench, but can’t we find another young player that could fill that spot.
Geoff, why would Arteta want rid of a quality, International midfielder.? Elneny has vast Premiership experience, he is a calm, thoughtful player who can fit in and play in several roles. His injury record is quite good and he is not on massive wages. A younger player from the academy would be unable to fill the gap left if Elneny was to leave.
Morning guys.
Elneny is is a mr dependable I think. No thrills and spills but he seldom lets the team down.
New post up.