Morning all.
I hope you all had a wonderful day yesterday. It’s a bank holiday here in the uk, but for footballers, certainly in Britain, Boxing Day is a day for hard work, commitment and three big points up for grabs. Arsenal couldn’t have had a better first few months of football really. Yes, the team dropped points at Old Trafford and St Mary’s, but Mikel Arteta’s team aren’t perfect. No manager has a perfect squad/team in my opinion because if they did, their club would be sitting top of the table instead of Arsenal.
Mikel Arteta:
Everybody is back apart from Saliba who’s going to be back tomorrow (Saturday) hopefully, so let’s crack on to the second part of the season which is going to be interesting and intense, and we’re really looking forward to it. We need to (regain momentum) do that on the pitch. We have talked a lot about it, and we know the importance of starting strong again. We’re playing at home, it’s a very special day in the Premier League historically – a very special family day to play football. It’s an incredible atmosphere [on Boxing Day] and we want to make the most out of it.
West Ham had a pretty poor opening few months of the season, certainly domestically. Their goal difference is in the minuses, they’ve picked up just 14 points and are sat just above the relegation places. But, who knows how’ll they’ll start this second phase of the season after a rest and a chance to regroup.
Team news from the BBC:
Oleksandr Zinchenko and Takehiro Tomiyasu are expected to be in the squad. Everyone else bar Gabriel Jesus, Reiss Nelson and ESR miss out although the latter is reported to be close to returning.
West Ham strikers Gianluca Scamacca and Michail Antonio could miss out because of respective ankle and calf problems. Moroccan central defender Nayef Aguerd, who suffered both illness and injury during the World Cup, is also a doubt.
Playing a West Ham side without Scamacca and Antonio in it would be a bit of a bonus but even so, it’ll be a tough game I’m sure. Especially as we’re missing our workaholic Brazilian striker. Over to you Eddie Nketiah.
Lastly, Mikel Arteta has been talking transfers. He’s been quoted by Sky Sports as saying:
We knew the importance of getting players early in the summer and that is what we want to do in January. This is idealistic but sometimes it is not realistic. Obviously, if you ask my opinion, as quick as possible we want the players in. We don’t need a body, we need players that make the team better. Can we afford not getting the player that we want? That is my question. We can afford to get a striker for sure if we want one, I don’t know if he plays in League Two, League Five, Spain, Portugal or Africa. We can get a striker, I can guarantee you that. But what we cannot afford to do is get a player here that is not for us. This is what we cannot afford, that is for sure.
Couldn’t agree more. This is exactly where we as a club have gone wrong in the past in my opinion. We’ve signed players in numbers but very few have greatly improved the team, they’ve just been another body in the squad. Good players in their own right but not right for either Arsenal or Premier League football. Mikel Arteta, Edu and the club have since changed that approach to transfers. If we get to the end of the transfer window without a signing, we’ll know why. It certainly won’t be because the club can’t afford to sign anyone. He just has to be right.
See you in the comments.
Good morning Rico, a bright and sunny, but cold, day here I Norfolk. No hangover but good memories of a very enjoyable Christmas day.
Three points today would be a bonus and make it a very merry Christmas.
Here’s hoping.
Morning Cicero, same here in Berkshire.
I think today is really important. Need to restart the season strongly.
well we’ve had the interlude , eaten the ice creams and now for the second part . If it turns out as good as the first. all will be fine but should it not be , as the many critics stick their oars in we have to remeber that the original objective was higher than 5th .
My thoughts are that the story so far is one year ahead of the original plan . I hope for the players sake that their team spirit carries on through but we do need more players and I think some of them will know that they may not be around to enjoy the fruits of this season’s labour. So for their sakes I hope there is something nice and shiny to remember this season for .
Totally agree. We might be top right now but if we finish 4th or above, I think it will have been a good season.
Morning rico, all. 4th will be a VERY good season when you consider the ‘experts’ and betting odds at the start of the season. Oh how they loved tipping Arsenal as one of the big six (think it’s now 7) to miss out. But we must aim high, reach for 2nd and if we end up 4th, so be it.
Morning Andrew, yep, push for top all the way. I guess much will depend on what Arsenal can do next month. Injuries too and fitness once Europa starts up again.
Brentford 1-0 up
Back in the day 1971 to be precise, I remember our then manager Bertie Mee, being asked if Arsenal would prioritise any of the four competitions they were involved in, his response was that they would be going all out in all of them. I suppose if Arteta was asked the same question today, excluding of course the Carabao Cup, he might be reluctant to offer such a positive answer.
In my opinion, Arsenal’s priority this season must be The Premiership title. We have already made significant progress in the Europa League so I think that should take preference over the FA Cup. Monday January 9th will give us some enlightenment when we play Oxford United away, surely a chance to give some respite to the majority of the first team squad.
In 1971 Bertie Mee oversaw an amazing League and FA Cup double. To slightly alter the lyrics of the Meatloaf hit “two out of four ain’t bad”. 👌
As far as Europa goes, I guess much depends on who we draw.
Afternoon Rico and all.
Looking forward to today’s matches
Can’t believe Brentford gave up a 2-0 lead so easily.
Afternoon Geoff.
Brentford and Tottenham come a draw, the only good thing is Tottenham didn’t get all 3 points
Hi there!
Come on Arsenal!
Arsenal XI: Ramsdale, White, Saliba, Gabriel, Tierney, Partey, Odegaard, Xhaka, Saka, Nketiah, Martinelli.
Subs: Turner, Holding, Cedric, Vieira, Lokonga, Elneny, Marquinhos, Zinchenko, Crozier-Duberry.
West Ham XI: Fabianski, Coufal, Kehrer, Dawson, Cresswell, Rice, Soucek, Benrahma, Paqueta, Bowen, Antonio.
Nice to see Arsene Wenger in the stands.
Never a pen imo.
On top, 70% possession just almost no attempts on target. Nketiah is doing his best but he’s just being crowded out.
Our build up is too slow.
just what we feared , looking rusty and missing Jesus dropping back . 1 nought down and needing to up the pace.
That’s better 3 – 1
Looked like one of those games when decisions were not going for us, mark of a good team to withstand that and score three goals. Odegaard my MOTM, White looking classy, no hangover from whatever happened. Both wide men good and took their chances. What a turn and finish Nketiah!
Looked like one of those games when decisions were not going for us, mark of a good team to withstand that and score three goals. Odegaard my MOTM, White looking classy, no hangover from whatever happened. Both wide men good and took their chances. What a turn and finish Nketiah!
Much better second half and a big three points secured.. Excellent.
Yep, superb goal from Eddie. That’ll take a bit of pressure off him..
All of our front three on the score sheet, Odegaard was very unlucky with his goal attempts, he could have had a hat trick.
Newcastle look dangerous, they’ve taken Spuds place. Mind the gap! 😉
Nice win, to restart the season and keep a good gap between 1st and 2nd place
Looks as if Arsenal are pushing to get the Mudryk deal over the line early in January, seems that Gakpo is going to Liverpool so I guess that ManUre will focus off Felix
I almost don’t want to see any new signings as I feel we have such a strong bond between the entire squad and that could be disrupted by a newcomer. I know we need to strengthen the squad but also need to be careful with the the type of personality we sign, it must not be some big time Charlie looking to boost his pension pot.
Morning all
New post up now