Morning all.
One defeat does not a season make! I know we have had more than one defeat this season but if one took any notice of what the football outlets have to say, Arsenal might as well give up on the three competitions we as a club are still in. Will the title race be affected by our loss in the Carabao Cup, will Southampton suddenly thrash us off the park and will we lose our next few Premier League fixtures and hand title on a plate to Man City? It seems the answer to all three is a resounding yes. It’s not of course, as in two weeks time it’ll be back to business for Arsenal because that’s what good footballers do. Head up, keep calm, carry on and do not let one defeat in a Carabao Cup Final define a season.
The media are simply judging this Arsenal on previous seasons and how we faded away when the going got tough. Of course time will only prove whether or not today’s Arsenal is stronger and more prepared but one thing we do know is that the squad is stronger and deeper than it’s been before under Mikel Arteta. What we saw on Sunday though, in my opinion anyway, was a lack of flexibility from the sidelines. All it needed was a message from the manager or his staff about how to beat City at their own game. They packed the midfield, we resorted to hoof ball in attempt to bypass it. It didn’t work, in fact it played into City’s hands. Arteta appeared to have no answer which I think is a concern. Something to work on over the next two weeks perhaps.
Jurrien Timber and Ebere Eze missed Sundays match through injury as a result of which neither have been called up for their respective countries. Yesterday, Gabriel, William Saliba and Leandro Trossard withdrew from international duty too, all three having picked up injuries. Allegedly.
Many other Arsenal players will be away on international duty though. Ben White has finally been welcomed back into the England camp but he won’t see Bukayo Saka or Declan Rice right away as they won’t be joining their teammates until the weekend so thankfully, will only play one fixture at most. David Raya, Piero Hincapie, Riccardo Calafiori, Gabriel Martinelli, Noni Madueke, Christian Norgaard, Martin Zubimendi, Viktor Gyokeres, Kai Havertz and Christhian Mosquera will all be away for the next ten days. Myles Lewis-Skelly and Tommy Setford will be with the Under 21’s while Max Dowman will be with the Under 19’s.
Most, if not all of the above fixtures are friendlies, so I really hope the international managers are sensible with their team selections over the two games.
Our next game is on the south coast against Southampton. The only positive I can think about them is that they are fighting hard to end the season in playoff spot which might be a distraction going into this game. They currently sit 6th but with Wrexham level on points, Derby County just three points behind in 8th and with just seven games to go, I’d imagine promotion is more important than the FA Cup.
Likewise, I’d imagine both the Premier League and Champions League sits higher in the list of priorities for Mikel Arteta. However, if you were in his place, would you field our strongest team on April 4th, including David Raya in goal?
Lastly, good luck to the women’s team who take on Chelsea tonight in the Champions League quarterfinals 1st leg at The Emirates. Disney+ are broadcasting the match which is good news for Sky Sports subscribers as they’ve added Disney for free…
Catch up in the comments.
Morning, love the old photo. Rix, Rice and knew the face, then maybe it came, Brian Talbot?
For me Raya all the way now, shame for Kepa but Arteta owes the fans more than 2nd goalie.
Morning.
Going forward Arteta has to play his best players from the start to get those goals in within the first 45 mins to put on pressure. No letting the heart rule the head. Not to leave changes so late in the game if it is not going to plan. Fix it there and then if it is not working – don’t just stand there hoping it will right itself! Let the Caraboa Final be a lesson.
Now is the time to prove everyone wrong – they have not bottled it!
Raya HAS TO BE our Goalkeeper for every match. It is now tough so Arsenal need to be tough. This way we can win the Prem as well as the FA Cup and The Champs League. They just have to put their minds to it and play with aggression, style and confidence throughout each match. Yes players make mistakes, but if any one of them does, they need to get a grip and get back on board asap.
Come on Arsenal show the world what you are really made of. You know you are so capable of winning silverware so get on with it!
Haha, hovered over the photo with mouse and all was revealed 🙂
Morning Gooners, morning Rico, good post…
I’d pick Raya in goal for the rest of this season but I suspect that Arteta will pick Kepa at St Mary’s, the rest of the team should be heavily rotated because the main dish on the menu is our visit to Sporting on the 7th April, two weeks away. I doubt that the Sporting manager or his players have the same acumen to replicate what Pep and his mob did to us at Wembley, but I saw them whop the Scandinavians in the last round so they’ll be a tough assignment.
Morning Andrew, Laura, Kev and all.
I’ll find a few more if I can Andrew. 😂
Raya for me too and pray he doesn’t get injured.
Like you though Kev, I think Arteta will go with Kepa.
“ don’t just stand there hoping it will right itself! Let the Carabao Final be a lesson.”
Well said Laura.