Morning all.
The picture above tells the Arsenal story that’s for sure.
Inter Milan bossed the opening part of the game, hitting the woodwork and coming close to opening the scoreline on a couple of other occasions. They went ahead courtesy of a penalty after Mikel Merino was penalised when the ball hit his arm. Harsh? Absolutely!
Talking about the game, Mikel Arteta said:
The worst thing of the night, for sure, is the result, because the performance, the attitude, the dominance that we showed against one of the best teams in Europe in this stadium, I haven’t seen it in all the other games that I’ve watched but the reality is the result and we participated in that because we had many situations that we can resolve much better in front of goal and score at least two goals and then extremely frustrated as well because there are two decisions that at the end marks the result and the course of the game.
I’m not going to harp on about the summer transfer window but when it closed without Arsenal adding a striker, I was left utterly disappointed. Yes we scored goals last season but to think our players would repeat such a feat was foolhardy in my opinion and such a decision is costing us dear. Mikel Arteta can go on about we could have should have scored goals last night, after other games too, but the reality is, we didn’t. Not having an out and out striker in a squad is unique to football and not in a positive way.
How could Arsenal go from allegedly trying to sign Sesko to not signing anyone? It was crazy, especially having made the decision to sell the only two strikers the club did have in Eddie Nketiah and Mika Biereth. And no, I don’t think they were the long term solution to our striker problems but at least they were strikers. Keeping one, even if was just for this season, might have been wise.
No one will convince me that there wasn’t a striker out there in football who would have said yes to Arsenal. I read things like such a player needs to fit the way Arteta sets his team up, well I think that’s poppycock because did Haaland fit Guardiola’s typical style of football? No, not in my opinion but that didn’t bother Guardiola.
The overall performance, lack of Arsenal goals aside, was better I thought. Should we have been awarded a penalty? Mikel Arteta certainly thought we should and it’s hard to disagree:
I don’t understand [the decision], it’s just a deflection, there is no danger at all, you cannot react because you are very close but ok, they decide that is a penalty. But then if that’s a penalty then the one on Mikel Merino when he punches him in the head has to be 1000% a penalty and these are the margins in this game and it’s very very difficult to accept.
Mikel Merino and Kai Havertz took nasty blows to head but Mikel Arteta thinks both should be ok for the trip to Chelsea on Sunday.
To end on a positive note, Martin Odegaard made his return from injury at the end of the game which was a joy to see. I just hope he has a few goals in that left foot of his. Or his right, I don’t care.
Catch up in the comments.
Good morning Rico and all.
No need for anyone to stick their head in the gas oven, WE WUS ROBBED!.
The general consensus is that the Merino penalty would not have been given in the Premiership. He was jumping for the ball, one leg was in the air and he was trying to maintain his balance, no intent to handle the ball. NO PENALTY!
The Inter ‘keeper in trying to clear a ball punched, two fisted, Merino in the head, no contact with the ball. PENALTY!
Cheer up everybody, Michael Oliver we see us right on Sunday!
Morning Cicero, all.
Perhaps Oliver dislikes Chelsea more than us..
We should have spanked Inter..
Maybe Oliver will see Chelsea as more of a threat to his paymasters than Arsenal?
Regarding the goalscoring, sometimes you just need a bit of luck to go your way.
We do need Lady Luck to strike at Arsenal but you look at the chances we create, our players should be finishing more of them.
The thing about playing Chelsea is they can loose just as easy as they can win, so we have a chance unless we give away cheap penalties, and collect cheap yellow card early in the match.
Rico, we should have spanked Inter .Really .I must have been watching a different game .Didn’t they nearly crash our crossbar in the second minute ?. All the possession amounted to one decent shot by Havertz. I thought we were pants,no leadership on or off the field .
Why bring Jesus on at half time,the diving diva ? Nwaneri should have come on then.
Always looking for the perfect goal.
Trossard is completely out of form yet he starts .
Arteta is clueless when to make subs and who to sub. I can’t agree with most but i will admiit the ref had a complete howler .
We are a shadow of the team from last season and other teams have injuries .
Probably won’t get into the top 8 in the CL for automatic qualification.
I keep reading it was n improved display but what does that mean when we fail to score again.
I thought we played well,albeit in a meaningless pass,pass,pass,dominate possession but create very little way.
Of course the penalty was harsh,and we should have had one.
Apart from the first few minutes when they hit the post and had some good pressure,I don’t really remember Raya making a save. The busiest he got was picking the ball out of the net after the penalty.
One thing that annoys me is why do we always turn to Jesus first. I know he scored his first goal for a long time recently but come on you know what to expect – very little.
Chelsea play tonight but have the luxury of resting all their first choice players for Sunday. That conference league is so weak they might as well give them a bye though to the semifinals.
Halfway through the Champions league and some big teams outside the top 8.
Kelsey, as you imply, Trossard is out of form, but he is a striker, what are the alternatives? Jesus? Oh no he’s, in your words, a diving diva. Sterling? You’ve got to be kidding.
In hindsight, and to state the bleeding obvious, yes we should have signed a striker in the summer. For’ whatever reason we couldn’t get a deal over the line. So that ship has sailed. Now we can only hope for better luck in January when one name stands out £63million rated Gyokeres. Problem is Man. U, Bayern Munich and Chelsea are all interested in him too. I’m not holding my breath!
Look at the stats Kelsey, 20 shots to their 7.
When I look back over this current run, we’ve only really played poorly vs Newcastle and deserved to lose, Bournemouth wasn’t great I admit but down to 10 men again, we should have got at least a point, Liverpool was a really good performance but our defence at the end was down to the bare bones, we should have won. Preston was a great performance and I think we were the better side yesterday and should have won but we can’t catch a break atm.
As for the Merino punch in the head, well I just don’t expect us to get that kind of decisions, we rarely get them and even less so this season so I’m not too upset, it’s the way we are officiated.
Just like VVD clearly kicking Havertz, a red card all day but we don’t get those decisions. Tottenham’s centre half gets a yellow card, Saliba gets a yellow but VAR decides it’s a red. When is VAR going to give some decisions like that in our favour?
Martinelli should have had a penalty at Newcastle! It goes on and on and on, meanwhile Liverpool can’t do anything wrong, every shot they have flies in, it’s frustrating because it’s happening for Liverpool when City are showing some weakness, we never got that break.
Arteta needs to find a different way, change a couple of players, maybe go with Nwaneri at the Bridge regardless of difficulty of the game, the team need a lift and we need a bit of luck…
Many a good point Kev and to a degree I agree but I’m still not keen on the way we attack. We give the opposition too much time to set up against us. Plus, they know that keeping Saka quiet limits us.
Limey, I think Arteta loves Jesus. He’s was raving over him pre season and I guess like many of us, Arteta hopes his form will return. Staying upright might help.
Rico 4 shots at a pinch on target with all that possession , but I agree with you as to how we atatck as it never varies and the oppo know that.
I too hope we sign a striker in January but I can’t see it happening purely because of the inflated fees during a winter window. Clubs will want to keep their best players, unless they are out of contract in the summer.
To sign someone like Gyokeres would cost north of £100m in January I reckon..
Kelsey, what I’m saying is we had enough shots to expect at least one to hit the back of the net. The very fact that so many were not on target purely reinforces the notion of needing a striker.
Maybe going with Jesus instead of Trossard isalso an option this weekend Rico? At worst it’ll give Leo a kick up the arse and make him angry and he’s at his best when he’s angry.
The only striker you’ll be able to get this January is a striker you wished you’d never signed by May…
Maybe taking someone on loan is the way to go in January?
Or Saka Kev? I don’t think Mikel will throw Nwaneri in there that’s for sure.
I think we need to do something about improving our goals tally in January. But it’ll take a lot of money to tempt a top striker.
Rumour has it that Trossard is off to sunnier climes soon . He is said to be upset at not being first name on the teamsheet . We shall see.
Maybe the replacement for Edu will have better luck at solving the problem but I am beginning to wonder whether Arteta has his his peak and needs some input from a fresh source that he will listen to .
Corriere dello Sport, as relayed by FCInter1908, reject the decision made by Istvan Kovacs and VAR referee Christian Dingert.
The paper states: ‘Football is ruined like this’
Further, they mention: ‘Sommer comes out with his fists, trying to anticipate Merino. The Inter goalkeeper hits the opponent’s head with his fists, who beats him to the ball by just a few inches. After the replay, the on field decision seemed obvious, but instead VAR Dingert was silent.
‘The only explanation is that someone saw Sommer graze the ball, but it would remain that the contact on the head comes first and then the rest. That was a penalty kick.’
Maybe Inter have the same problem with the Italian press as we do with ours.
Anyone and everyone could see there was no contact with the ball, just Merino’s head.
It’s a conspiracy I tell you!
Viktor Gyorkeres will be looking forward to taking on Saliba and Gabriel in a couple of weeks time…
Apparently Gyorkeres has a very good and close relationship with the new Man Inited manager – you know, a bit like Ten Hag and Anthony…
I certainly believe something isn’t right. Or fair..
Osimhen at Galatasary looks like an effective unit.
Osimhen is on €10 million a year and his release clause is €120/130 million. Too rich for Arsenal’s blood I should think.
Trossard has been linked with the Saudi Pro League.
If we’re looking at those kind of prices, why not go for a current PL player?
Apparently, Osimhen could be sold in Jan for €60m.
Osimihen scores twice for Galatasary in 3 – 2 win over Spurs.
Current Premiership strikers, Jamie Vardy, Marcus Rashford historically we’ve bought cast-offs from United. I can’t think of too many who clubs would want to sell to us.
Good night Gooners, everywhere. 😴
Can someone explain to me why Sterling is Arsenal’s highest salary earner?
I repeat that this player, in my opinion, adds nothing to the team and possibly even creates a bad atmosphere.
Gyokeres was at Coventry before joining Sporting. Where were Arsenal’s scouts?
Apparently Jesus is getting fustrated at lack of game time, hint Jesus, start scoring and less falling over your shadow and you will get more game time.
The refs are very consistant in my eye, as 90% of their decisions against us are wrong.😁
Good morning all, I love this headline from Telegraph Sport this morning, “Spurs defence left red-faced by crazy comedy of errors”. That’s so heart warming. 😉
Morning all.I think Jesus and Trossard will be moved on in January and it’s beggars belief that Stirling is our highest wage earner (which I read but can’t confirm)
So Chelsea may have been playing a nothing team but they banged in 8 goals which will boost moraleRice has a broken toe but the boss said he may play on Sunday ?.
Morning all
I’m sure I read somewhere that Sterling was earning £350.00 per week. ( I don’t know how can manage his weekly bills on that??) however, the deal was that Chelsea continued to pay half of that sum. I’m sure we have proper players at arsenal who earn in excess of that. Although none will top £350k. I grant you that.
As an aside, I wouldn’t begrudge him earning so much if I thought for one minute that he played well enough to deserve such an over inflated wage. I wonder if his pay packet is a big brown envelope with $telling in it😂
Punch line ruined……by autocorrect……….$terling!
As mentioned by Kelsey,it’s been reported that Rice has a broken toe,but that he intends to play Sunday and also for England.
Maybe the smart thing would be for him to limp off near the end and withdraw from the England squad.
Jeff $telling?
Nah. Mind you he was earning plenty, but he was very good value for what he did. Unlike Sterling who rarely turns up any week and is not earning his corn! Imo
According to The Athletic ,Edu left on Tuesday and is on 6 months gardening leave ,which throws a different light on things to me .Any thoughts.
Geoff around 2020 /21 Arsenal sacked a number of scouts and concentrated on buying a company called Stats dna. Subsequently EDU replaced them and still using the stats had new scouts watch the players , however the rumour is that they only go to watch if the stats recommend them .
Stats DNA identified such stalwarts as Mustafi , Tavares , Pepe and another rumour is that Bouldy left because he was overruled by Stats basically a USA based company.
It was a Gazidis idea but I believe that it is no longer our prime source of information as we have started to re employ scouts in a number of places.
Most of this is from memory and may not be wholly accurate , I would appreciate if anyone knows different to let us know .
I don’t see any significance in Edu’s current situation. He left Arsenal period!
Doesn’t Brighton use the Stats DNA model, just saying?
I wonder if Marinakis has to pay Arsenal some compensation for Edu, because I’m sure if Arsenal try to take a DoF from anyone else that it’ll cost us – loads?
The 20 highest salaries in the Premier League:
1. Kevin de Bruyne (Man City): 24,79 milhões de euros
2. Erling Haaland (Man City): 23,24 milhões de euros
3. Carlos Casemiro (Man United): 21,69 milhões de euros
4. Mo Salah (Liverpool): 21,69 milhões de euros
5. Sterling (Arsenal): 20,14 milhões de euros
6. Bernardo Silva (Man City): 18,59 milhões de euros
7. Jack Grealish (Man City): 18,59 milhões de euros
8. Marcus Rashford (Man United): 18,59 milhões de euros
9. Kay Harvertz (Arsenal): 17,35 milhões de euros
10. Gabriel Jesus (Arsenal): 16,42 milhões de euros
11. Jandon Sancho (Chelsea): 15,49 milhões de euros
12. John Stones: (Man City): 15,49 milhões de euros
13. Mason Mount (Man United): 15.49 milhões de euros
14. Reece James (Chelsea): 15,49 milhões de euros
15. Bruno Fernandes (Man United): 14,87 milhões de euros
16. Declan Rice (Arsenal): 14,87 milhões de euros
17. Martin Odegaard (Arsenal): 14,87 milhões de euros
18. Gündogan (Man City): 14,25 milhões de euros
19. Phil Foden (Man City): 13,94 milhões de euros
20. Rodri (Man City): 13,63 milhões de euros
Evening guys.
Would Chelsea not be paying a chunk of Sterling’s salary?
5. Sterling (Arsenal): 20,14 milhões de euros
10. Gabriel Jesus (Arsenal): 16,42 milhões de euros
16. Declan Rice (Arsenal): 14,87 milhões de euros
Something wrong here and I presume these are basic wages.
According to reports, we’re paying 30% of Sterlings wages.
Potter, I was not happy when we sacked some scouts, as some players don’t have high stats but what the do off the ball is worth even more.
The problem with stats, they don’t always show the full story, but at the same time we need them so we don’t buy a player who looks good but has a habbit of picking up yellow / red cards and as for a striker they can help by showing how many shots on goal and how many times they scored.
Lets hope in January if we buy players that they don’t come via our medical / treatment rooms.
As for Pepe there was only one person who really wanted him. they are no longer at the club.
A good win for Arsenal Women against Brighton, five goals a clean sheet and three points. That’s the way to do it! Arteta and his boys should watch the video, they might learn something.
Well we won’t have to watch him give his usual rubbish performance tomorrow, he’s ineligible to play against his own club.
Morning Cicero, yep, a very good result, hope the men can follow suit with a clean sheet tomorrow.
I think it’d rather Sterling played than Jesus. That sentence alone says a lot really. lol
New post up.