Morning all.
When Darwin Nunez fired his shot wide in the final moments of Liverpool’s match against Aston Villa last night, I’m sure I could hear every Arsenal fan cheering. Liverpool had taken an early lead but before half-time, Tielemans and Watkins had given Aston Villa a 2-1 lead. On the hour, Alexander-Arnold equalised and the only question going through my mind was could Unai Emery’s side at least hold on for a draw. Thankfully, they did.
Now it’s up to Arsenal to beat West Ham at The Emirates on Saturday afternoon and close the gap at the top to five points before Liverpool play Man City at The Etihad the following day.
The door is open guys, the door is open.
Man City might not be the swashbuckling team of years gone by but apart from last nights grim result in Madrid, they’ve found a bit of league form. Could this be the time Guardiola does Mikel Arteta a huge favour instead of ruining his and Arsenal’s title hopes? It’s a big ask I know but football can spring surprises.
All Mikel Arteta and his players can do is focus on themselves and hope.
Takehiro Tomiyasu is the latest player to undergo surgery. According to the official report from Arsenal, he sustained an injury to his right knee issue during pre-season but despite undergoing surgery in August and then returning in October against Southampton, he continued to struggle. I hope for his and Arsenal’s sake, this corrective procedure will spell the end of his stop start Arsenal career. He’s only 26 years old so has a lot of football left him in yet.
But like Gabriel Jesus and Kai Havertz, we’ll not see him play again this season. Gabriel Martinelli and Bukayo Saka though, could return soon. The Brazilian before the international break in March but I suspect it’ll be after that break when Saka makes a return and even then, it’s likely to be a slow and steady return.
PSV Eindhoven shocked Juventus last night by beating the Italian giants 3-1 after extra time so now we know it’s them or Feyenoord up next for Arsenal in the Champions League. The draw takes place tomorrow but I don’t think we should fear either. Respect them, yes, but fear, no.
Just a week or two ago there was an article on the official Arsenal website about William Saliba and his journey in the game. He talked about playing alongside Gabriel and how special a bond they’d formed. Today it’s Gabriel’s turn. Within the article he talks about learning French, moving away from home at an early age and of course, playing for Arsenal.
His debut came against Fulham, just two weeks after becoming one of Mikel Arteta’s first signings. He scored from a Willian corner. A part of his game which has been talked about so much since. Joining him defence that day back in 2020 was Rob Holding, Kieran Tierney, Hector Bellerin and Ainsley Maitland-Niles. Of the 14 players who played that day, only Gabriel and Tierney are still at the club.
Gabriel has com a long way since that day, mind you, so has Arsenal…..
Catch up in the comments.
G’day Rico.
Gabby is another on the long list of great Arsenal centre halfs/ central defenders that goes back as far as I can remember. There have been central defender pairings before but the current one with William Saliba is the best yet. I just hope and pray that the hamstring virus passes them by.
Last night City were humbled by Real Madrid, we must hope that they try to put that behind them at the weekend and take all three points off Liverpool.
Afternoon Cicero, agree re City, I hope they go out to prove a point but take all three..
Agree re Gabriel too, he’s such a great defender..
What a bummer, Saturday’s match is a three o’clock kick off, so no live coverage. 😠
Morning rico, all. I watched most of the 2nd half of PSV’s game, then 2nd bit of extra time, look a real good team. Hope we get Feyonoord and RVP, especially as winner of that likely to play Bayern Munich rather than last year’s winners Real.
The King of Brazil…
Good Afternoon Rico and all
Just one word describes Gabriel…..Captain. Imo, and had it been my choice, he would have been captain instead of Odegaard. Mind you, I am not against Martin but my idea of captain is a bit different….I always go for defenders as captains. It might be the fact that my favourite ever captain was big TA06. And he will forever remain the yardstick. I don’t mind a FB as captain or DM but a good CB must always be captain imo. I never approved RVP, TH14, CF04 etc as captains. They were not real captain material. They were ego driven as captains and were given the armband so they will not leave. A captain must go through a brickwall for his team….and Gabriel is certainly that type.
I enjoy it when I read an article like today’s. Especially on a player like Gabi. So well done Lady
We are blessed to have such a defensive partnership, I wouldn’t swap either of them for any other centre back. Having played in France I’m not surprised that Big Gabby speaks French and I’m sure that explains the understanding he has with Saliba.
Big Gabby is like Bill’s big brother and makes me confident that he’ll remain at Arsenal for a few years yet to come. I’m not sure that William is as totally money motivated as many of his contemporaries, both know they are worshipped by the fans and that can have a positive effect on a players’ decisions.
I hope so anyway…
There’s no easy route to Munich and Arsenal will find it more problematic than anyone else as we have no strikers.
Mind you, Spain became European Champions with a striker less team so there’s always hope…
Two different news altogether……
1st and most important…..I just read this on social media……Arsenal agree deal for Callan Hamill
St Johnstone will bank 6-figure with realistic add-ons, sell-ons likely to swell that transfer fee significantly.
Such is the level of faith Arsenal have that he will progress through the ranks, he is set to sign a 4 year deal
2nd and of less importance but still sad in a way since it does not concern us……Luke Shaw has not played since February last year and pocketed 8million for doing zilch for Man Utd. In the same year the same club has given notice to 250 employees to save money and roughly they saved around 8 million BP. yes I know that there is a contract to be respected however 250 people mean lots of families to feed.
I hope that Saka recovers well and suffers no repurcussions on his hammy. We have Nwaneri in his place for now, a role he is filling admirably considering that in the 8 games he started he has been MOTM in 5 I think.
What it means when Saka returns is that a headache will present itself in Arteta’s head. An enjoyable headache. Who will he play? Saka or Nwaneri?? maybe for the rest of this year he rotates and rightly so…Nwaneri gets to rest and Saka is eased gently. Imagine the Emirates roar when the 4th official signals Nwaneri to come off to be replaced by Saka. One a standing oviation the other a welcome back.
But next season what??? I just hope they wont rotate all the time…both have earned their place. Saka or Nwaneri will either have to switch wings or Nwaneri goes to CF. Unless Nwaneri gets to rotate with Saka, Odegaard, Martinelli, and Havertz…..thus getting a lot of games in the process.
I wouldn’t swap either of Gabi and Saliba for anyone Kev. Maybe that is why Heaven went to United…not because of money but with all the turbulence that there is at that club he fancied his chances more. And let’s face it….removing one of them at the present is an almost impossible task. If Saliba signs another contract then the chances are that we would be looking at 2029. So Heaven reasoned it out that he stood a better chance elsewhere. COM is different. He could have stayed but went for the money.
Yes I agree Dev, I think the extra money United pay will have sweetened the pill but I’m sure Heaven and his advisors saw the situation where Kiwior hardly gets a look in and felt the opportunities were better in Salford. Although I still think that his team mate Obi Martin moved for the dough.
The Scottish boy looks very interesting Dev, I’m glad that the club are expanding their net beyond London and the South East and especially back to Ireland and Scotland where some rough diamonds are still to be found.
Hopefully Dev when Saka is ready, we can ease him back into the fold, from the subs bench, allowing his body to adjust so we don’t get any reactive injuries after his lay-off, same applies to Martinelli , we’re going to need both of them fit and firing in the crucial months of April and May.
Hi Andrew, don’t we owe PSV? Lol
Afternoon Devil, thanks. I’m off to YouTube to check the Scotsman out.. 😜
I think we have a number of captain candidates and Gabriel is definitely one of them.
The Athletic are reporting the Hamill deal so perhaps it’s true.
If he’s like Tierney in attitude, we’ll have a good one for the future.
Afternoon Rico and all,
Well back from a quick holiday,
I see the Metro is claiming we have been given a green light to sign another keeper at the end of this season.
Good morning all.
Callan Hamill spent a month on trial at the Arsenal academy during the summer but returned to home club St Johnston. Agreement has been reached for him to join Arsenal at the end of the season. The trial was originally meant to be for just one week, but was extended to a month.
So there has been ample time to assess his character as well as his footballing ability.
Morning Geoff, Cicero.
Hope you had a good break Geoff.
Another young talent in the bag then. As Kev said yesterday, it’s good to see Arsenal looking further afield for young players.
Good Morning everyone
we get PSV
Dippers get PSG
Villa get Brugge
A Madrid Derby
A german Derby as well
And Real in the semi final should we get through….
A potential Villa v Liverpool semifinal too.
if we win against PSV we get the winners of the Madrid derby. OUCH
the winners of Villa vs Brugge will get the winners of PSG/Liverpool
Semi final one will see the winners of PSV/Arsenal vs Real Madrid/Atletico Madrid facing the winners of Paris St-Germain/Liverpool vs Club Brugge/Aston Villa.
So we might get to meet the dippers in the semi final
Rico 11.25/26….Quarter finals you mean???
Semi final one will see the winners of PSV/Arsenal vs Real Madrid/Atletico Madrid facing the winners of Paris St-Germain/Liverpool vs Club Brugge/Aston Villa.
Semi final two will see the winners of Benfica/Barcelona vs Borussia Dortmund/Lille take on the winners of Bayern Munich/Bayer Leverkusen vs Feyenoord/Inter Milan.
If you want to be the best, you have to beat the best.
Payback time for Barca in the final I feel.
Home from our house sitting duties, it’s so nice to get back to your own bathroom. 😉
Well that was all as clear as mud…
I have this Bayern Munich vs Arsenal final in Munich feeling in my water…
I’d be happy with that Kev. I’d fancy our chances too
We often seem to get PSV,after that a harder pathway.
Aston Villa have been lucky.
If we make it past PSV (not easy but we should be confident) Saka and Martinelli should be back,we would play the winners of the Madrid derby.
Ha ha Cicero..
If Arsenal and Liverpool were to both make it to the Champions League ‘semi-finals’, the Gunners would travel to Anfield twice in four days. May 6/7: Champions League. May 10: Premier League
A very big if…. Lol