Morning all.
Apart from Chile and Columbia playing later today, our players have all come through unscathed which is good news. Added to that, a few injured players are making their return ahead of Saturday’s home fixture against Swansea. Whilst our chaps have been off playing for their country, most, if not all of the Swansea players have enjoyed a two week break. Mind you, I suspect their new manager has been working hard with them in training ahead of his first game in charge in the Premier League.
Theo Walcott is one player who has stood out so far this campaign and after hitting the international headlines for the wrong reasons by those idiots in the media who appear to refuse to see what is really going on with the England team, I’m sure he’ll be glad to get back playing with his club team-mates rather than a bunch of clowns who refuse to pass to him.
It’s imperative that Arsenal continue their fine form from before the international break as now we need to gather momentum to take us into the North London Derby, a match which be hard to get tickets for. In fact I’d imagine that as soon as any tickets go on sale, they’ll be snapped up in a flash, but there’s always trusted third-party ticket selling sites which offer buyer protection and a 100% money back guarantee, in order to protect you from any scam, get your tickets from TicketGum. Always avoid the ticket scammers though, you’ll only lose out.
Before we play the Totts on November 6th, we have six fixtures to get through including a trip to Bulgaria to play Ludogorets Razgrad in the Champions League. The only other away fixture in that five is to Sunderland to face a David Moyes side who really are struggling.
Alex Iwobi has been on the end of some high praise from Mesut Ozil. Talking to the Arsenal Player the German maestro said:
He reminds me of his uncle, Jay-Jay Okocha. He was a player I loved watching. Alex reminds me of a mixture of him and Edgar Davids. He’s really strong on the ball, also defensively, but he’s good in front of goal too.
He knows exactly what he can do. He isn’t scared and doesn’t hide on the pitch. He just wants to have fun playing football and that really shows on the pitch, and also in training.
He’s developing really well and if he continues the way he’s been playing the whole season, he will really enhance his game. The manager knows exactly how good he is and I wish him all the best. He is really young and is on a really good path.
Alex Iwobi was good with Nigeria too, he even scored his first international goal whilst away and I’m sure he’s going to be a great player in time. He’s not bad now is he…
Having watched England over the last two matches, I can quite see why he chose to represent Nigeria…
Good post Rico. The Arsenal need to come out of the blocks full throttle v Swansea IMO, so as to snuff out any fitness doubts in relation to their players having the 2 week break. Also goal difference could be important if The Club is to lift the PL trophy 🙂
Morning Rico and all. I can see that the situation with Arsene’s contract is going to become more and more of an issue as the season progresses.
Morning George, Adam and all…
I don’t Adam, I’m convinced he’s staying put…
Too right George, we’ve struggled recently against Swansea…. How or why, goodness only knows.
Good read Rico.
Swansea is going to be an interesting game; hopeful Ozil does not go hiding contrary to what Iwobi has said about him. 😉
As outstanding as Ozil is to be acknowledged globally as one of the great number 10s such as Riquelme, Zizou, Ronaldinho and even Matthaus he needs to influence the game higher up the pitch when opposing teams park the bus instead of falling deeper into midfield. imho…
Rico. I was actually thinking of the lack of any apparent action where the contract is concerned and the way it will play out at boardroom and player level, how it may impact any preliminary talks with the agents of potential new players or existing ones and the likelihood of them signing a new contract. Also the options it gives the press to drone on incessantly about the “Uncertainty surrounding Wenger’s future”.
We all have our own opinions as to whether he will or won’t sign.
He needs to come out of hiding Ts. lol
Adam, I’d have thought his contract would have been sorted out but just not confirmed and surely the players would have already been told what’s going on..
Who knows?
Rico am always a little baffled about Arsenal fan complaining about international breaks. We want AW to sign WC/ good players, well guess what? Those type of players are the ones who play these games. Most of these players all play for Arsenal, City, MU, Real, Barce, Juv, Chelsea, Bayern etc…. so if u want exeptional players on your team they are going to play on national teams -the players themselves look forward to being cap. Imho the break should not be an excuse at Swansea. On the flip side one could also argue that Swansea players are rusty because of 2 weeks of inactivity.
Didn’t Santi say he and the players expect him to stay?
Perhaps. But I wonder if he expects Santi to stay.
I find them very boring Obi.. In fact football in general has become boring since so much money has been ploughed into the game…
Good point, he’s not been offered a contract extension yet..
Morning All
All a bit calm on Arsene will he won’t he go/stay.
We all know if he turned round and said “I’m Going”
the wheels will come off.
He says.I will see how the fans are towards me and
the feeling around the ground.
He says:
The next manager will have a great start,
money and team wise.
So it looks like he could be going…
But don’t get the tissues out.
Lets hope we beat Swansea this week,
imagine if we get beat by a yank.
The Syrup’s Soccer brain will be doing
Somersaults.
For the record
Swansea only have 1 welsh player in
the team at the moment.
Other than Flapper who are the rest
International wise?
Exspud Iceland.
Good Morning to the Lady of the House and all fellow Gooners in residence.
“I’m sure he’ll be glad to get back playing with his club team-mates rather than a bunch of clowns who refuse to pass to him.” Amen to that Rico! England don’t have a ‘team’; they have have a collection of young talented players, many with inflated egos, who don’t know how to play together.
You could see Theo getting frustrated at being ignored/left out/shunned. Repeatedly he would lay off the ball and make a decent forward run expecting to receive the ball back, only to see the ball passed back or the other side of the field for no good reason. I found both England games boring and disappointing. So much so, I was reading the newspaper most of the time.
As for Arsene, if the team continue playing in the same vein as the last five games, I expect he will be offered and will sign a new contract.
Next up, a win against Swansea. Alexis to be rested and Iwobi to score.
That gives me hope then Fred, I hadn’t seen his ‘the next manager’ comment…
Morning Cg. Spot on re England, even Southgate said he’s taken over a ‘mess’…
Too many think of themselves instead of the team… imo of course..
Rico – Many people, including many well known pundits, share that opinion. More than one have said that it would be a shame if Southgate loses the job over this as no manager will be able to quickly right the England ship.
Rico I don’t blame you, watching England is very tasking and boring ….lol.
I too think it would be a shame Cg but I bet he doesn’t keep the job…
Certainly is Obi…
Rico – “…Theo Walcott is one player who has stood out so far this campaign and after hitting the international headlines for the wrong reasons by those idiots in the media who appear to refuse to see what is really going on with the England team…” I think the following would qualify under “idiots in the media”;
Arsenal winger Theo Walcott is neither “clever nor creative” – Chris Sutton
http://www.squawka.com/news/arsenal-winger-theo-walcott-is-neither-clever-nor-creative-chris-sutton/796191
Ah Chris Sutton, one of the ‘stalwarts’ of past glorious England teams and now part of the England football brains trust. Lord help us and England, they’ll certainly need it. I expect they will qualify from a weak group, but don’t expect they will progress any further.
Best not to read such rubbish Cg..
Agree, they’ll qualify but once they face a half decent side, they’ll get beaten….
So Chris Sutton also has a voice thanks to the magic of t.v 😛 😛 😛
A Amuch better story about one of our players;
Arsenal goalkeeper Petr Cech enters 2017 Guinness Book of World Records
http://www.squawka.com/news/arsenal-goalkeeper-petr-cech-enters-2017-guinness-book-of-world-records/796063
Ginge – I hardly think giving voice to Chris Sutton and his ilk could be classed as magic; more like the dark arts, the depths of depths of depravity &/or the height of stupidity.
🙂 Cg… well said.
I see my composition and typing have sunk to the levels of England’s defending. So, I’m off to bed.
Onward to the Emirates and a win versus Swansea. Have a great day everyone.
https://vine.co/v/ivL1KVAH3rD
Trae Coyle above and below, apparantly being fast tracked through the youths.
https://vine.co/v/e6PaIz9LXWA
Good day all!
England dropped 2 points and I blamed Theo for misrepresenting his “Arsenal Secrets” to those Tiny Totts dummy and a wannabe Guardiola of an England Manager playing Crab Football:
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………
One fine day in England dressing room, Theo Walcott decided to reveal all his Arsenal secrets, including his bedroom, to bond better with his England team-mates.
Theo: “Hi guys, my biggest secret revealed to me by Arsene is that for 10 years, he had been nurturing me as the dummy for the team.”
Gareth: “You kidding me! All the time I known you as blind alley runner, MIA, coward, etc. etc.”
Theo: “Yeah, it took me 10 years to realize what Wenger saw in me all time … a dummy.”
“And why I decided to employ a personal trainer to develop muscle aerobics to enable me to run box-to-box for 90+ minutes and more.
It really helps me making those dummy runs as a decoy to open-up space for Bellerin to cut-in, as a training cone for Ozil to ping his one-two passes, and opening up space for Alex and Alexis to cut through those 2 lines of defenders in the box.”
Kyle: “No way I will pass the ball to a @#$%&. I prefer to pass to my mates … Kane, Dele, Drier and Rose.”
Gareth: “C’mon, Kyle. He is a dummy and running into blind alley as a decoy. You will be a dummy to pass the ball to him.”
Theo: “The 2nd secret is the deploying of Alexis as the Duracell Bunny where he is instructed to play across the line and expected to press high-up in opponent half. My job is to make dummy runs into the centre and to left-flank to confuse man-marking defenders to allow Alex and Alexis to inter-change and to cut into the box. You saw all those shots Iwobi had taken in the box? That’s my job as a dummy to open up space for them.”
Daniel: “No way. I will be knackered just running 20 yards into the box. I told Klopp I can’t take all those daily high-intensive training sessions which will cause me to pull or tear something. @#$%@@ Klopp told me I should join Arsenal since Danny is feeling lonely at Colney End Medical Centre. Theo, any interest from Arsene?”
Theo: “Sorry Daniel. He had bought Danny, Lucas and Ivan refused to release more funds. Plus you can’t replace Giroud and Yaya as the training cone in the team.”
“My 3rd secret is that I can’t cross the ball and Wenger instruct me do not run to the bye-line to cross but either to cut into the box or to pass the ball to Bellerin, Ozil, Alexis and Cazorla quickly.”
Rooney: “We knew that and why Ferguson and Jose loved playing Arsene Wenger with all those crosses flying end-to-end.”
Gareth: “What is the secret of Arsenal passing and high-pressing game?”
Theo: “There is no secret. Arsene Wenger always told us that his job is on the training pitch to get us right in the frame of mind, i.e. develop a football brain, to play the Beautiful Game. What we do during the match is our individual responsibility to give free rein to our creativity, our football brain, our tactical awareness, quick-of-thought and control of space and time – spatial awareness.”
Gareth: “Öh, spatial awareness. Thanks Theo. I will drill the team to pass and press like Arsenal.”
……………………………………………………………………….
In the aftermath of 60 minutes of Crab Football at the Slovenia match and Theo substituted in the 61st minute, Southgate was overheard murmuring: “What are all those dummy runs.”
Chris Sutton… on the forwards
All the fuss about Theo Walcott this season — I don’t get it.
People are saying he is a changed player. He is neither clever nor creative and he was completely ineffective once again for England.
The Arsenal man has no guile and didn’t link up at all or put any decent crosses in all night. His pass appreciation is desperately poor and his defensive clearance just after half-time summed his night up. Everyone has credited Gareth Southgate for having the courage to drop Wayne Rooney, but he needs to learn fast and leave Walcott out.
Andros Townsend was far more effective in his 28-minute cameo.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-3833159/Sportsmail-s-experts-big-match-analysis-England.html#ixzz4MsY6W4D1
Apparently, this dumbass did not even watched and analyzed at least one of Arsenal games.
Fact #1 – It is synergy dumbass. Theo is used to play in a fluid formation with Alexis and Alex, supporting each other in their movement and inter-changeability across the line.
Fact #2 – The difference is Bellerin with his pace and growing understanding after playing together for 2 seasons. He utterly ignored Walcott 2015/16 model is completely revamped, upgraded and willing to put in a shift running box-to-box for 90-minutes and more.
Fact #3 – Dele is no Ozil nor Drier is no Cazorla, playing and moving into space to receive passes and move to receive return passes. Everyone of Arsenal players understand each other movement to anticipate and to receive passes – spatial awareness which can only be developed on the training pitch via incessant and daily intensive training by a top-notch coach like Arsene Wenger.
Hi all, the media always look for someone to blame, now that Rooney was benched Theo quickly replaced him with the scapegoat tag. The entire England team is shit.
Oh that scouscer scum called Henderson tried a not so clever no look pass. Still only Theo gets picked for criticism fts. Look at us, two months ago we wouldn’t be defending Theo 🙂
Not worried about the swans resting as I’d a well say our players were warming up at the internationals.
Great batting from England, did good think they’d chase that amount of runs down.. super ODI series…
Evening guys….
Funny old game eh Marshall. You are right about Theo and who’d have thought it eh…. lol
https://twitter.com/MOTDmag/status/786218528923914240?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
Gulfs apart eh….
Catch up tomorrow… night guys.
Duckett and Billings sound promising…
Bangladesh are a better one-day side than a Test team, so I’d expect England to win the Test series 2-0…
Swansea are a bit of a bok team to Arsenal atm, so a draw wouldn’t surprise me at all this weekend.
Speaking as a neutral here, England national team will always be average as long as they keep giving tottenham hotshit players preference.
Now that the handsome Steve Bruce has got the poisoned chalice of the Aston Villa job, he’ll almost certainly be on the blower to his big mate Arsene Wenger and we could see a couple of our fringe players or youngsters loaned out to Villa this January….
If I was Wenger I would put Steve Bruce`s nose out of joint and refuse the idea of loan players to Villa !.
Send a load to Plymouth then I can go watch them .
Morning all.
English weather here ATM….absolute shite 🙂
It’s pretty grim here too Scott, but it is Autumn…. lol
Morning to you and all…
Morning Rico
Morning All
All our players seem to have returned unscathed from the Interlull, and with Giroud now fit, our squad is about as strong as you could expect at this stage of the season…
Ramsey is about another week away from fitness leaving only long-termers Welbeck and BFG plus Akpom still out…
Morning Kev, I think Giroud is out for another week too, AW said he’s the same as Ramsey regarding a return..
Hi guys.
We have had the strangest of days.
Injury wise, we are in decent shape……so far 🙂
Chile are currently lying 7th in the South American qualifying group.
They have two really important games smack in the middle of Arsenal’s most difficult month, November, so all this is going to impact on Alexis and Arsenal…
The next qualifiers for Chile are in March…
Keeping Alexis fit, fresh and firing is gonna be a tricky balancing act for Wenger…
Does he rest Alexis this weekend, with so many games coming up in the EPL and CL, or not..?
I thought the sun always shone in Oz? 😉
The whole Giroud ‘thing’ is a bit of a mystery to me Rico…
How injured is he and is there something going on behind the scenes, maybe from a personal perspective, with him..?
Atm, we ain’t really missing him and long may that continue as it’ll mean we’re doing ok, but until Welbeck is back and Perez has completely adapted, we’re still a bit light in attack, relying so much on Alexis…
Tough one for Wenger as Alexis played last night so he won’t be back until later today or tomorrow. But we all know the man from Chile doesn’t like to rest….
Surely he won’t start on Saturday…
It is to me too Kev. I thought he’d simply bruised is toe…..
Perhaps he is no longer in Wenger’s plans as pace seems to be the way this season…
Well if Giroud ain’t ready yet then it looks like Wenger will have to start with Perez in attack..?
Which might work to our advantage as he’ll be keen to impress and Swansea won’t know much about him.
Alexis from the bench if we’re chasing a goal, I guess?
Maybe there’s been a falling out behind the scenes Rico?
Once Wenger is pissed off with anyone there’s no way back…
Oh to be a manager Kev… 😉
Could be re Ollie, as I’m sure a bruised toe doesn’t take that long to recover. January transfer window might tell us more…
New post up now..