Morning all.
It’s Good Friday so do you know what that means? Lent is over and chocolate is back in my life. I watched a documentary last night about Hotel Chocolat, my favourite brand, and I couldn’t believe that it can take four years of research before a new flavour is given the go ahead. Someone gave me a box of their liquors for Christmas and my goodness they were good.
Four years of waiting for success story is nothing though when compared with how long we Arsenal fans have been waiting for our own. Winning the FA Cup is great but the Premier League is so much bigger and so much better. It’s about stability and longevity over a season whereas in a Cup, a club can get a lucky draw until the latter stages and even then, it’s about what happens on any one day.
Another good night of European football played out last night, especially for the British clubs. The best result came in Spain though as Eintracht Frankfurt dumped Barcelona out of the Europa League. West Ham, Rangers and Leicester City all needed victories to ensure a semi-final place was theirs and all got the job done. David Moyes took his team to France where they thrashed Lyon 3-0. Rangers need extra time to get their victory whilst Leicester City defeated PSV Eindhoven 2-1 in Holland and will face Mourinho and his Roma team in the Conference Cup.
Arsenal go to West Ham on the 1st May, smack in the middle of their two Europa Cup semi-final fixtures which take place on the 28th April and the 4th May. I just hope West Ham are still in the tie after the first leg. Not fussed about Leicester City as Arsenal haven’t got to play them this season although if the winners of the Conference League take one of the Europa spots for next season, I hope they’re beaten in the final.
Despite losing the last two fixtures, Arsenal still have a chance of finishing 4th but that chance is now much slimmer than it was. Actually, I think it’s impossible barring the maths. If Granit Xhaka starts at left-back tomorrow afternoon, Mikel Arteta will have learned nothing from the Brighton game. In my opinion, he has to start in midfield alongside Sambi Lokonga if we’re to have any chance of beating Southampton. Moving him in to the defence weakens the team in two areas, areas which Ralf Hasenhüttl will target. I’m not keen on the idea of Bukayo Saka at left-back but I’d rather that if Nuno Tavares is still in the naughty corner. Nicolas Pepe is the likely candidate to replace Saka if required.
Apparently, Alex Lacazette missed training yesterday which if true, might rule him out for tomorrow. Perhaps Xhaka or Gabriel will fill in? Ok, I jest but if Lacazette is missing, it opens the door for Eddie Nketiah. Just don’t fire crosses high into the box if he does! Why we do anyway I can’t understand because there’s no one in there who is strong in the air. Oh to have younger and quicker version of Giroud eh…
Mikel Arteta should face the media later so we’ll know for sure. Wouldn’t it be great if he told us both Thomas Partey and Takehiro Tomiyasu are fit…
Have a great Bank Holiday weekend guys.
See you in the comments.
Sean Dyche has been sacked..
Where from this time? 😉
Nketiah or Martinelli for me Rico, we need to get used to playing without Lacazette.
Or Pepe Cicero as Eddie is off in the summer too.
Pepe off as well Rico, I think.
The more I think about Lacazette , the moe I conclude that he is more suited to a different formation and needs a partner up front. He had one at Lyon ( Lisandro ) with malbranke behind him and was prolific getting knockdowns from the others around him . At one point he was described by Gerald Houlier as like Ian Wright always there to pounce on loose balls .
We don’t play that way and as a lone striker the chances are few and far between and he is snatching at them and his scoring rate has all but gone .
As you said our game plan is more suited to a Giroud style player , Lacazette is a fish out of water without a partner .
Very likely Cicero. I hope Stanley will give the go ahead to spend a few pounds..
Seems Lacazette missed training for private reasons but might be back tomorrow.
Agree Potter, he’s certainly not a poacher striker these days.
Good post, Rico.
It’s high time to give the nod for Eddie.
Let’s not say goodbye to him just yet. He didn’t sign a contract extension yet, but when the club made the offer he was the #3 (or #4) striker. Now both Auba and Lacazette are out of the pecking order, and even though we are likely to sign a new forward in the summer, he can be #2. For this he needs to sign, but even before that he needs to convince the fans and the board that he is a top quality striker. Tomorrow against Southampton could be a great opportunity for that – assuming he will start…
Thanks Pbarany, but it does seem like Lacazette will be ok to play. Whether or not Mikel Arteta has the courage to start with Eddie though is something I very much doubt. I still fear that Arsenal fans will only see how good he is when he’s gone.
Morning all.
New post up now
Like Lacazette Eddie needs help in the box , it’s no good trying to hit him with long balls or high centres , he feeds off the scraps that others make. He is sharp around the goal but when he was scoring for fun for the Under 21 team he had Hudson Odoi , Foden , Abraham an Reiss Nelson as partners. .
If we play him as a lone striker and expect him to hold the ball up , it won’t work but Arteta has to find a way to to include him possibly with lacazette and see what happens then.