Morning all.
Vinai Venkatesham, Arsenal’s Head of Global Partnerships since 2010 has been awarded an OBE for his services to sport. Before joining Arsenal, he formed part of the commercial team of the London 2012 Olympics and Paralympics which saw the global sporting event hosted in his home city. Vinai has also served the British Olympic Association since 2017 as an independent non-executive director, and performed the same role for the 2017 World Athletics Championships held in London. (Arsenal.com) He leaves us at the end of the season.
Football in 2023 comes to end today and the year has been a pretty mixed bag of results for Mikel Arteta and his players. Injuries hit us early on in the year which saw our Premier League challenge fade away. Similarly towards the end of the year really as once again, we’ve had players missing. Partey, Tomiyasu, Vieira, Smith Rowe, Odegaard and Jesus have all been missing at some stage. I know he’s probably not the future of Arsenal because of his age and injuries but Thomas Partey is a big player who I think we’ve missed. I’d hoped we’d see a lot more of a midfield with him and Rice in it but sadly that’s not been the case. Perhaps once he returns from the ACON, he’ll be available for the final three months of the campaign. Tomiyasu too after the Asian Cup, if he goes of course. There’s also a chance that we might get to see Jurrien Timber on the pitch, even if it is for just a few minutes in May. Fabio Vieira should be back soon too. Think what ‘we’ might about him, his left foot is a bit of a wand.
Anyway, our final game kicks off at 2pm against Fulham at Craven Cottage. our last match showed Arsenal at their worst in front of goal. Mikel Arteta’s team actually set a Premier League record for the most amount of touches inside the box without scoring.
It’s no panic, it’s about trying to do more, do better and win games. If the team plays like this, they are going to win lots of games. It’s a record [for touches in the box], so I don’t think there are many teams in the league that have done that for many years. That’s something very positive I think. Without a spark, you don’t generate what the team generates [against West Ham], it’s impossible. But it’s the final thing, the final touch, the final action that puts the ball in the net or not, and that’s what we need.
He also went on to say:
If we don’t improve in the boxes, then no [we won’t win the league]. Because at the end, that [the West Ham result] is what it is.
I’d been concerned if I was Arteta because it wasn’t just against West Ham that his team were disappointing in front of goal. We should have beaten Newcastle Utd, Aston Villa and Liverpool with the number of opportunities we created. We would have won the Premier League last season had we been able convert more of the many chances we created. All too often the focus is on the defence and who to blame when we concede goals but in reality, the forward players are making far more mistakes on a weekly basis. Saka, Odegaard, Martinelli, Jesus and Nketiah really have to do better but what if they can’t, or don’t? They can practice all they like on a training pitch, they can score as many as they like too but it’s on a match day when they need to make the numbers count. Possession is a useless statistic on its own.
Arsenal’s Adrian Clarke:
Marco Silva’s Fulham usually adopt a 4-2-3-1 formation that is designed to play fast, neat and tidy, passing football through the lines. In possession they are well coached and confident working in tight areas, making them one of the more press-resistant sides in the division. Only seven Premier League teams make more short passes per 90 minutes than Fulham, who produce more than the likes of Manchester United and Aston Villa. The west Londoners’ main issue has been finding consistency inside both penalty boxes.
In attack they have lacked pace and penetration up front, registering the third fewest shots from inside the box so far in 2023/24. They did conjure up back-to-back 5-0 wins on home turf, but in general they have been light inside the final third. No team has failed to score more often (8 of 19) than the Cottagers. Defensively their best work is done inside the middle or final third, where Fulham can press with great intensity when the mood takes them. Protecting a sometimes fragile back four higher up the pitch is their best form of defence.
Even so, they do give up a lot of chances. Burnley and Sheffield United are the only two sides to have faced more shots, and prior to MW20 they had conceded more goals (34) than all but that pair of clubs. Former Arsenal stars Bernd Leno, Alex Iwobi and Willian are integral players within Silva’s side. The latter two create the bulk of their chances, while Leno consistently produces game changing saves. Fulham’s star man is central midfielder Joao Palhinha. He has quality on the ball, and can score goals (as he showed at Emirates Stadium earlier on this season) but his main attributes are defensive. Palhinha has won 43 tackles, the most of any top-flight midfielder, and he ranks second highest for duels won too. The Portugal international will be a combative presence inside the engine room at Craven Cottage.
Going back to the possession stats etc, when we played Fulham earlier this season, we registered 71%, we took 19 shots at goal with eleven on target. One of our two goals scored came from the penalty spot. The defending was criticised after the game, justifiably no doubt but equally, those who didn’t take their goal scoring opportunities should have shouldered some of the blame. It’s a team game after all. Goals win games and we need to be scoring more.
Catch up in the comments.
Might not be a popular choice but I reckon Elijah Adebayo would do well in this Arsenal team. #justsaying…..
Rico Adebayo would be a interesting choice, his turns 26 next week and a deal could be done with Sambi Lokonga as part payment, If I am not mistaken Lutons manager would like to buy Lokonga
That’s good re Lokonga Geoff, I like that Palace are interested in Nketiah too.
David Ornstein
@David_Ornstein
·
Dec 22
🚨 EXCL: Arsenal to appoint Crystal Palace head of sports medicine Zafar Iqbal as new doctor. Expected to switch in summer after notice period. Previously worked for Liverpool + Tottenham. Permanent replacement for Gary O’Driscoll
Lets hope who ever the next sports of medicine is they know how to reduce our injury rate
Raya, White, Saliba, Gabriel, Kiwior, Rice, Odegaard, Havertz, Saka, Nketiah, Martinelli.
Tomiyasu on the bench. If he’s fit enough for that no doubt he’ll be off to the Asian Cup.
Interesting eleven
Afternoon all, Tomi back as a sub 😀
Zinchenko not on the bench! Injured? Unwell? Dropped?
Afternoon Rico/All
Yes an important game today,we were ahead on all the stats against West Ham,except for the only one that matters.
Havertz will hopefully help,also I agree with bringing in Eddie. Three former players in the Fulham 11 which is unusual.
COYG
Brilliant re Tomi, he’ll be off to Asia now though. Darn!
Afternoon Limey, Andrew.
Is Jesus on the bench?
I believe Jesus is on the bench replaced by Nketiah to give us more pace
Thanks Geoff.
Strong looking bench.
Zinchenko apparently dropped due to calf injury
Arsenal lead, Saka goal inside first 5 minutes
Was expecting VAR offside as close!
Four Centre Backs in defence!
Stuffing around with short passes just cost us a goal 1-1
Deadly dull. Slow, slow, slow, slow slow. 😴
Arteta said the three changes will liven things up
That’s a classic Andrew. 😂
Cicero totally agree, our players look like they are nearly asleep, Eddie has done nothing, maybe time to bring replace him with Jesus, I agree with the commentators and swap Martinelli and Saka over as his opponent is too quick for him.
Kiwior off, Tommy on
We’re awful at the moment.
Make that dreadful, 2-1 down.
Shit defending now Fulham in front,
We looking s mid-table team?
Yep, bang average.
Good night all, I have enough of this shit performance
How many players piss poor?
Utter, utter rubbish!
Night Geoff
Most have been awful. They look knackered, or bored of playing crab football.
I think I will copy and paste the West Ham comments . Same meat different gravy. Got all we deserved again. There’s no flair , no spark and nobody takes anyone on in midfield we just pass and pass. No threat on goal after the ball bounced off Saka.
It’s a worry now. If things don’t change after the break, the pencils will go into over drive..
Bakayo Saka with 6 goals, Jesus with 3 and Martinelli with 2, it’s clear that it’s a problem of finishing. But with the rest of the team chipping in it wasn’t an issue – that is until now because now everyone has caught that goal drought bug.
Kiwior doesn’t do it for me, if Arteta can do a quick turnover and sell him back to Serie A for a small profit in late January and then sign a replacement.
I like Havertz but but he wasn’t looking to progress the ball today, it was all square and backwards and Elneny can do that.
Eddie was totally ineffective, no I’m not piling on him, but when you get those rare chances in front of Jesus you’ve gotta do more.
Trossard added nothing, Nelson added nothing, neither of them can be fatigued, so why so poor?
And Raya needs to come off of his line more, it’s no good just staying on your line. I mean the opposition didn’t even block him off, they didn’t need to he blocked himself.
Happy New Year Rico.
Happy New Year Gooners.
My comment disappeared
This was even worse than the West Ham game – never looked like scoring once we went behind.
I’m an Arteta fan but he has a lot of work to do on the training ground.We only have 2 league games in the month of January so there should be no excuses,he has plenty of time.
Trying to look on the bright side, hopefully we’ve had our blip now.
I hope Newcastle can get something tomorrow night!
Happy New Year to you too Kev. I found it. lol
I think there’s something lacking all over the pitch. We’re no longer good going forward or defensively. The best thing to happen next year is Ramsdale back in goal because he’s a huge personality and the players love him.
Our plan a football has been nullified by too many teams now.
Limey, I fear we’re at the beginning of the dip. These players look devoid of ideas of how to step things up or change things on the pitch.
Happy 2024 everyone!
Arsenal are a team exhausted of ideas and physically tired. The deficiencies seen at the beginning of the season became evident: lack of full-back defenders, especially on the left, a reliable man in the box and an alternative to the traditional, repetitive and well-known game.
Some have commented that since the change of goalkeepers the team has lost confidence. Perhaps. In my opinion, it seems to me that solidity in the Rice/Partney or Rice/Jorginho midfield is fundamental. Then there are players far from their 80%.
With forced absences in January, going to the market becomes more important.
In my opinion, the Brazilian/Argentine/Colombian market is the least speculative at the moment.
Let’s wait…
The thing that worries me is the players are playing to Arteta’s game plan. If that is the case then we should be looking for a new manager, if they are not following his instructions he either has to change them or find another job.
On that depressing note, may I wish you all a happy, healthy and hopefully prosperous 2024.
Cicero I was thinking on a simular line,
Just asking the question, If we finish out of the top 4 and no silverware and no plan B, should we be quitly looking for a new manager. We can’t keep making excuses to why we played crap.
Hopefully after the break Arteta can get him self and the players refocused, as top spot is not that far away (by points) and the clitch we are having know is the same as the one we had at the end of last season.
Cheers Rico, I feared that it had been spammed.
A rethink on tactics must be in the mind of Arteta as doing thd same vs Liverpool will I feel see Arsenal out of the FACup…
That’s what mean about having a plan b Cicero. Arsenal right now reminds of of the days when Arsene Wenger refused to change tact and it cost him as well as the club. We’ve become too easy to play against imo. We’re too slow going forward imo, much too slow.
Happy New Year to all by the way…
Kev, agree, Liverpool will tear us apart if we play like yesterday.
Good comment Jm.
New post up