Daily Bits and Bobs

Leeds have a weakness, Arsenal need to exploit it.

Posted on by rico

 

Morning all.

I tuned in to the City game yesterday afternoon. What a bore fest it was. Football misses the fans in a massive way. I don’t mean the money although we know that’s causing different problems for most clubs but stadiums need to be full to creative an atmosphere. Fans, thousands of them are the ones who make the game more exciting as they urge their team on. Without them, the game is soulless, slow and pretty boring. There are moments during a game when special moments can unfold but even the celebration of a goal is often muted.

But it won’t be long now I’m sure before fans are back, stadiums are full again and something close to normality returns and the Toots fans will be able boo their manager at full-time.

Hopefully the same won’t happen to Mikel Arteta though as by then, things might have picked up again. We could do with a bit of a break on the injury front though as both Kieran Tierney and Thomas Partey are a huge loss. What does Mikel Arteta do in midfield now I wonder? Elneny and Xhaka I guess which hardly fills me with confidence against a Leeds side who are usually full of energy. Bukayo Saka or Cedric at left back? I think he’ll go with Saka and start Martin Ødegaard. Bernd Leno returns to the squad, as does David Luiz but only one out of the two needs to start in my opinion and he’s German.

 

 

If Michael Cox’s assessment of the Leeds young keeper is right, today is a day for taking a shot on sight. Seriously, all this pussy footing around outside the box is tiresome. Our players need to be more decisive. More clinical. Shots score goals and we don’t take enough. Make their keeper work for his money, even if it’s just picking the ball out of the back of the net.

Leeds will attack, of that we can be sure. I don’t think I’ve seen them set out to purely defend in any match I’ve seen them play. The game should be open which might just help Arsenal out. They’ve only drawn one match so far this season which was at Elland Road last year against us. Nicolas Pepe saw red that day which did the team no favours whatsoever but despite the player advantage Leeds couldn’t get the win they probably deserved. Three times the woodwork came to our rescue.

Leno
Bellerin, Holding, Gabriel, Tierney
Xhaka, Ceballos
Willian, Willock, Pepe
Aubameyang
That was the Arsenal starting eleven at Elland Road. Today it’ll be very different because there’s no Willock or Tierney and surely to goodness Mikel Arteta won’t start with Willian. Nor Aubameyang if he goes on form. Lacazette, Pepe and ESR are the guys in form. Saka too in whatever position he plays. If Arteta wants pace and direct football, Martinelli has to be in his mind but as the manager has said this week, the Brazilian has to be handled with care. Well, something like that. Reiss Nelson and Dani Ceballos are options too. Anyone but Willian please Mikel.
Arsenal have had two bad results and two bad performances. 45 minutes of great football against Wolves but fluffed the lines in front of goal. If Arsenal are to start winning again, scoring goals is a must. I know, that’s obvious isn’t it…
See you in the comments.
rico

56 thoughts on “Leeds have a weakness, Arsenal need to exploit it.”

  1. potter says:

    If we go by the Walton mantra of ” he’s got previous ” then Alioski must be treading a fine line before they get on the pitch. If I was Arsenal and especially Pepe if he plays , is run at him and let him make that late tackle and see if Mr Attwell reads the papers . Chance would a fine thing .

    I expect a resonably close game and something small should tip the balance and Leeds going down to 10 would be a huge bonus.

    What ever team we play , we have to up the tempo . Too often we are too laid back and content to let our possession football pay only to get caught out having been lured into a false sense of security.

    They press, so we have to make that hard for them by keeping mobile and giving them ground to cover , switching play and doing it at speed . If we let them form 2 lines across the pitch and we pass it square in front of them they will not be doing energy sapping work and we need their levels to drop for the last half hour to take advantage as I said small margins should win it.

  2. allezkev says:

    I had to go via News Now to get onto HH Rico…

    Today is simply a must win, that’s not hype that’s reality.
    Because if we don’t win today then I really don’t know where we’re going this season because it certainly isn’t forward…

  3. Limey says:

    Afternoon Rico/all
    A must win today for sure. I would bring in Elneny for Partey and maybe Aubameyang for Pepe, bearing in mind Benfica is coming up, and another busy run of games. I know Aubameyang was poor in the last game, he wasn’t alone. We need him scoring.
    We have had an extra 2 days rest, no excuses today.
    COYG

  5. rico says:

    Afternoon Limey, all.

    Absolutely no excuses today. Not even with Partey and Tierney missing. Play smart, don’t gift them anything and be more clinical in front of goal. On paper, our squad is better than theirs so if we can’t beat them, then as you say Kev, goodness knows where we’re going to finish.

  6. Cicero says:

    Thanks for the link Rico.

    I too watched with disbelief, the Tottnumb/ City game. If they serve up dull dross like that, in front of a full house, the fans won’t wait till full time to express their disgust. The slow hand claps and boos will sound round the terraces much earlier.

    You suggest that the absence of crowds contribute to the lacklustre performance, in that case the clubs should take a leaf from the rugby six nations where, also in empty stadia, there is no lack of passion and effort. Wales Vs Scotland was a one point thriller and Jonny May’s flying try against Italy was a fantastic spectacle.

    In fact all the games so far put the present load of old tosh being served up in The Premiership to shame.

  7. rico says:

    Spooky Cicero, I had a similar conversation about the rugby yesterday with a friend. It seems everything done in rugby is far superior to football. Right through to the commentary teams.

    Player passion certainly hasn’t been lacking in the tournament so far.

  10. Adam says:

    I agree with Kev. This is a massive game for the club and especially Mikel. Lose this and the questions will get bigger and broader.

  11. Cicero says:

    Adam, there may be questions about Arteta but I can’t see Arsenal sacking him. He is bang in the middle of cleaning the Augean stables left by various previous regimes. The only real complaints I have with him are a couple of dodgy signings, Willian and Runarson for instance, and the contract extension and pay rise awarded to Aubameyang.

    I may not always agree with his selection policy and some strange substitutions, but I’ll go along with them as he must know the strengths and weaknesses of the players available to him at the time.

  12. Adam says:

    Cicero. I hear you and have no desire to see him gone, but we must see some real progress on the pitch. He must find a way to win the sort of matches we have struggled in.

  13. rico says:

    I agree Cicero, he had a massive cleanup job on his hands, a weird season without fans and the squad still remains unbalanced.

    Personally, I think one more transfer window and he’ll pretty much have the squad he wants, or the squad he can have with the limited finances Arsenal are likely to have.

  14. potter says:

    I am finding watching football a turn off . Without the atmosphere most games resemble a training match . I think this is true for the players as well . It matters little who you play for all of these players are capable top players and it’s that little bit of motivation that pushes some above others.
    This is why we see so many strange results , the home advantage is largely gone without 30,000 people screaming or in Arsenal’s case 15,000 there is little to push to another level when needed.
    Consequently I feel that the quality of the matches has gone downhill and I feel spontaneity has largely gone .
    When crowds one day get back I think things will pick up again but this season’s results may well turn out to be an anomaly.

  16. Joaquim Moreira says:

    Incredible! Was a clear off-side and the VAR call the referee for watching the images of the possible penalty…
    I’m writing about WBA-Mu…

  24. Potter says:

    West Brom could have won that . AMN was pretty anonymous in the last bit that I saw .
    At least Souness called Maguire out for diving .

  26. allezkev says:

    I’ve been thinking about today’s game, on and off, for most of this week and now that it’s here I’m already feeling pretty much underwhelmed. This bloody lockdown….

  27. Devilgunner says:

    Good Evening Rico and Everyone

    Teams

    Leno, Bellerin, Luiz, Gabriel, Cedric, Xhaka, Ceballos, Smith Rowe, Odegaard, Saka, Aubameyang

    Subs: Ryan, Marí, Holding, Elneny, Chambers, Martinelli, Pépé, Lacazette, Willian

    Auba has scored to make it 1-0 on the 13th minute

  28. Devilgunner says:

    ooopppsss. did not refresh the page from earlier and it was stuck on the 2nd comment.🤣🤣🤣🤣

    stupid of me. 🤣🤣🤣🤣

    off to read rest of the comments

  34. Devilgunner says:

    Rico….5.15….wait till the end of the match.

    A good first half I feel. I liked David Luiz coming from the deep. He is certainly adding to the midfield from a deep position.

  41. Devilgunner says:

    Bang….4-0 and that is the hat-trick.

    Auba looks different today than usual. Maybe the fact that the three behind him are connecting well together has got something to do with it.

  47. ScottfromOz says:

    Well at least nobody can accuse Willian of making an error yet 🙂
    Must be something in his contract guaranteeing him playing time!!!

  48. Devilgunner says:

    phew.

    game has ended.

    three points better off now. And Auba has got another hat-trick and probably MOTM.

    I loved the way Luiz kept moving forward. He could be a good contender for DM position. And if he is played there at least he will have two CBs behind him.

    The back four today all had one thing in common…..they could speak the same language I feel. Maybe Joaquim Moreira can throw light on this. Are they similar JM? if yes…..it helps to have a back four understanding each other.

  49. Devilgunner says:

    Scott…..from your observation do you think its his fault that the ball does not get played from where he is on the pitch??? Before he came on we were attacking from the left, right and centre. Then he came on and suddenly no balls were going through his area. Maybe he does not run enough into space?? Or maybe the others dont pass the ball to him???

    I am not creating any theories….just asking if my observation is similar to anyone else’.

  50. ScottfromOz says:

    Devil, maybe due to his poor form since joining us, his team mates have lost faith in him so your point could be spot on, but it’s hard to blame them if it’s the case.
    I’ll admit to being excited when we got the guy-he was one Chelsea player I’ve always liked.
    Things just haven’t worked out for some reason.

  54. Cicero says:

    I can’t understand what Willian was supposed to do, he wasn’t likely to terrify the Leeds full backs with his searing pace. Nor test the ‘keeper with long range shooting, he’s not a midfielder blocker and is certainly no back four defender. He just jogs around the pitch doing sweet f**k all.

    Did he actually touch the ball during his spell on the pitch?

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