Morning all.
- Martin Odegaard got off the mark for Arsenal in spectacular fashion. 74 mins.
- Another shocking mixup at the back allowed Youssef El-Arabi to equalise for Olympiacos after the break.
- A superb header from Gabriel in 79th minute gave us the lead.
- Lastly, the biggest surprise of the night came when Mohamed Elneny grabbed himself a goal from long range and what a goal it was too. Wicked!
For Arsenal it was the same old story in Athens. Plenty of possession, a few good chances to take the lead including a pretty easy one yet all were missed. Three free kicks, one hit the wall, the other two went straight to the keeper. ‘Must do better’ would be written on a school report. I can’t work out which miss was worse, Pepe’s at Turf Moor or Ødegaard’s last night.
Up the other end, Luiz was doing his best to gift the opposition a goal and had they been any good up front, they’d have taken their chance.
Mikel Arteta on the progress the team has made…
I have been saying that for a while, and I can probably see more things because internally I know the process that has happened and how much has happened since we were here a year ago. I think the difference is really big and we are really pleased with the result and the goals that we scored, and the way that we played in big moments in the game. But as well we have to be very clear and honest with ourselves that we gave three goals to the opponent and they took one, and at that level they are going to punish you. So to go to the next level, we have to stop doing that and be more ruthless – and when you are that dominant and playing that well, just kill the game.
I thought Tierney was excellent again. Saka was kicked to pieces yet again but Olympiakos were clever as different players were committing the fouls. Ødegaard went from missing a sitter, to playing a suicidal back pass, to scoring our opener in spectacular style. Talk about zero to hero.
Gabriel’s goal was all about perfect movement to meet the Willian cross, great strength to beat the defender in the air and the direction of his header. Loved it. Nearly as much as watching Elneny’s celebration after scoring the third.
Apart from Tierney and Bellerin down the flanks, I thought Arsenal were a bit too pedestrian but I think some of that is down to the lack of fans. Perhaps on occasions like last night, a result takes priority in which case, Arsenal passed with flying colours. Taking three away goals back to The Emirates should be enough to secure our place in the next round. Only a complete meltdown next Thursday will change that.
Now we move on to a North London Derby, a much tougher game can be expected. The likes of Son and Kane will be hassling our defence and Leno I’m sure because Mourinho won’t have missed our recent cockups at the back. I think Rob Holding will come back in for this one with Luiz making way. I sure hope he does anyway but then I hope one or two other changes will be made too.
See you in the comments.
Morning rico, good report. All’s well that ends well, but I bet we were all saying, here we go again. Leno must not pass to a player with opposition right on them. Is that too difficult, not for most teams?
Morning Andrew, all. Yep, I was thinking the same. We’d got away with one or two before. It’s not rocket science for Leno to understand.
Morning Rico and all
I think that the Leno – Ceballos situation comes from three moments. 1) Leno attempting a forward pass in the centre of the field even though our player was surrounded. 2) Ceballos attempted the Cruyff turn to go to his left but it failed miserably and horribly because he was off balance and closely marked. 3) The movement of the players who are flanking both Ceballos and Leno.
Leno had more than the Ceballos option. He could have passed diagonally to the left or diagonally to the right. Whilst having the courage to pass vertically forward should be applauded its imperative that he should also notice where the opposition are. Because both against Burnley during the weekend and also yesterday the position of Leno, our player (Xhaka/Ceballos) and the flanking players was the same as the previous game. Except that yesterday the ball was not in our penalty area but further upfield. Its not a question of booting it forward and not playing it from the back. The problem with Leno lies in his awareness and vision of what options there are for him. This is something that should be pointed out in training Its not a question of brain farts on his part or not being good, its a question of awareness and vision. And its a question of what is practiced on the training grounds.
The Ceballos turn attempt by Ceballos, had it worked well, would have put two players out of that moment of the game and released both Ceballos and drawn another player, thereby leaving two Arsenal players free to receive the ball. Again, its a question of awareness on Ceballos’ part. And its a question of agility and balance as well.
The third moment is the lack of movement from the players who were flanking both Leno and Ceballos. When Leno had the ball both Gabriel on Leno’s left and Luiz on Leno’s right were perfectly placed to receive the ball from Leno (who did not pass to them – wrong decision imo, especially to Luiz who had acres of space), but when Leno passed the ball forward they just stood there and did not find space so Ceballos could not play one touch pass to them but had to turn with the ball. The rest you all saw what happened.
Morning again Devil. I don’t understand why Leno finds it’s so difficult, Cech was the same. The defenders are moving, he’s just opting for the wrong pass. Not that he can be blamed every time as Luiz and Ødegaard playing hospital passes won’t help him.
Hi guys,
Devil, never should a player who’s the last line of defence be trying anything but safety first when under pressure, so that’s on Ceballos, though he shouldn’t have had the ball and that’s on Leno lol
We are getting better at this caper, though, and it’s no easy thing to change the couture and playing style at a club.
We are getting there and some playing some bloody good football.
Just slowly reduce those errors and we are in business.
Hi Rico and all Arteta needs to do something with Leno same Mistake last 2 matches resulting in a goal both both times, when will he learn
Which is why instead of the centre midfield coming back and showing for a straight ball to his feet with two passes on wide it’s down to the keeper to pass to one of them and let the midfielder turn that way to give the possibility of the second ball.
Playing out from the back was perfectly exampled last night , for all their faults Sa 9 times out of ten played the ball to the wings where ever a player had dropped into space. There is nothing wrong with the system just where we insist on playing it. Ceballos was in a box of four players when Luiz was free on the right . Leno was nowhere near his goal and any mistake would lead to a shot into an empty net .
Wrong decision in the wrong place at the wrong time . It needs to be sorted.
https://www.sportbible.com/football/football-news-arsenal-concede-horror-goal-after-bernd-leno-and-dani-ceballos-mix-up-20210311
Freeze the video at the time of the pass and see where everyone was .
Arteta should be showing this to the team until it sinks in.
Nice one, Rico…
Elneny saves his best moments for Europe – what a strike!! All 3 goals were excellent albeit uncharacteristic!!
I’m glad we have a little breathing space, as the brain farts are becoming a regular occurrence.. if we have one on Sunday, I shall cry!! They can’t do the double over us!
I’m nervous as hell about it…
Agree Potter. That is something that needs to be done and ironed out in training. have them doing it over and over again until it sinks in. Luiz had acres of space while Gabriel was also well positioned to receive a pass from Leno
Hi Geoff.
Thanks Sue. Certainly three cracking goals.
Son and Kane will be rubbing their hands together already.
Leno’s last two games with howlers only underlines that we let the wrong goalkeeper go. You have only to see the great displays Martinez is putting in for Villa to realise that. I even think that on loan Mat Ryan is a better keeper, but doubt whether Arteta has the balls to admit this.
Shit, imagine we’d lost?
Would anyone have NOT been happy with a 3-1 win before the game?
Morning Rico, thanks for the link as yesterday’s post was all I could get, but it is what it is.
Good news on the vaccine front Andrew and Rico, we’re all getting there and morning Gooners.
I’ve not read the post or any other comments yet, but regarding yesterday’s game my overriding feeling is one of boredom and frustration. I feel that everything is so micro managed – and maybe it has to be with this group of players – with players fitted into a rigid system which negates cock ups (not yet it doesn’t) dominates possession, which can be tedious and seems to drain the unorthodoxy and unexpected out of this group of players, but maybe that’s modern football?
So many of our goals seem to come off of the training ground, which is great, but these guys play professional football at this this level because of their ability to do the unexpected and we seem so regimented. Again, maybe that’s necessary because many of our players aren’t top top level and are liable to switch off?
We dominated, we scored, we missed chances that should have been taken, we faffed about and then we conceded a dumb goal, and you could see it coming it’s becoming a regular occurrence in Arsenal games and it’s doing my head in…
Odegaard was bang average and then came the unexpected, glory be a shot from outside the box and you kinda felt that there is still hope in this fragmented and dysfunctional season. And what a shot, I certainly don’t think that Olympiakos were expecting it and might that not be a weapon we can use against the Scum? It was a screamer, bending all over the place and making a mug of their goalkeeper, more of that please Martin.
Was there anyone out there, be honest, who thought that bringing on Elneny was a positive move, I certainly didn’t I wanted Lacazette or Martinelli but ‘Arteta Knows’ or ‘Arteta Got Lucky’ you decide? But good old Mo, one of the footsoldiers who we routinely dismiss but despite his limitations he gives us everything, you can never say that he hides, so it was excellent to see him striding forward, again the Greeks gave him acres of space expecting a pass and he drilled it home.
Is this the next stage taking shots from distance, because I really hope so…
no Scott we are all happy about the score.
What we are not happy about is the fact that we keep shooting ourselves in the foot. That the goals conceded on our part are all our fault. That is something which we are not happy about. If we did the odd mistake once or twice a season that is acceptable. But this year alone we lost 8 points due to our mistakes. and also games in which we won we have committed mistakes which lead to an opposition goal.
This is what is making us unhappy.
Blimey, I forgot, how can you forget a goal from a corner!
Another smart move from a corner kick as Gabriel peeled off to the far post, is all that hard work on dead balls paying off, more of that on Sunday please?
He rose like a salmon and his header was true and powerful, blimey it almost brought a tear to my eye as it reminded me of Adams or Campbell or Bould in the old days.
The 2nd leg won’t be a walk in the park but a two goal advantage will leave Olympiarkos feeling a beaten side so if we take an early lead at the Emirates it should be comfortable, who knows we might just discover our inner ruthlessness and put a few in the onion bag?
Devil, we can not expect a side to play 90 minute without making an error though, and as much as supporters hate to admit it, watch any game from previous eras, and some of the defending was bloody awful, but quite often, so was the opposition so teams often got away with it.
The days of George Graham, where we rarely conceded but then, that was as much to do with the fact that strikers back then (a) generally speaking were not even close to being as skilful as they are today, (b) there was very little, if any, diving (c) the rules were much kinder on defenders, and (d) defenders mostly just defended and didn’t need to play out from the back.
It’s a different ball game these days, and I’m not saying I enjoy it more, but the overall quality of the players in the PL is much better than 1/2/3 decades ago.
Kev, we will belt them in the return leg, as the lads will be confident after slapping the Spuds.
Morning Kev, cracking comment. I was falling asleep until Ødegaard scored.
Jim, spot on re Martinez but that’s been done to death on here. I think most of us are still pretty pissed off he wasn’t given the gloves at the beginning of the season.
Our U23 game against Blackburn tonight is being streamed live on Twitch 👍
https://www.arsenal.com/news/watch-arsenal-u-23s-v-blackburn-live-twitch
Scott, you are right, we should belt them in the return, but can even you be sure?
It’ll probably be 1-1…
The Elneny goal makes all the difference, a two goal lead is a lot to turn around and even if Olympiarkos get any of their injured players back, going by what I saw of them defensively yesterday it’s fairly certain that Arsenal will score and an Arsenal goal means they need to score four and even this Arsenal team can’t self destruct to that level – or can they? 🤔
Scott, is anyone on here genuinely unhappy at the result? I don’t see that.
What is at issue is the usual slackness in the defence, the avoidable errors that put our goal at risk. Also, the number of missed scoring chances.
Okay, for long periods we were “in control” of the game, but what did that control produce other than mind numbing lateral and rearward passes, constant recycling of the ball backwards and forwards.
The first ten minutes and Odegaard’s 34th minute goal apart, the first half was largely sterile. lots of possession, lots of passes and that was about it. the second half was more of the same until the Olympiacos goal on 58 minutes. Only then did we wake up and start playing as though we in a competitive game rather than a training ground kick-about. Goals by Gabriel (79 mins) and Elneny (85 mins) put an entirely different complexion on the game, six minutes that turned a mediocre performance into a very good result.
So Scott, I for one am very happy with the result, but less so than the manner of the win.
Afternoon Rico and the House
Had my MOT this morning result not very good.
Then I logged in to your good report which cheered me up.
What I understand that should be worrying, in addition to having offered two goals in two follow games, is the sequence of plays of the same type, where yesterday, there were some more that were the opponent’s opportunities (which maybe not counting the 2 offers ” dazzled) and the others, which worked well, because fortunately the ball was not lost.
In summary: the opponent should be more concerned with defending well, because the “opportunities” offered will appear and the respective moment of the game as well.
There has been alot of comments about Leno most of which I agree with.
There was a item which stated that Leno is havine problems with the first team Goal Keeper coach. It said that he had asked if he could work with Woodman instead as he found him better to work with.
Now I am not sure if this was true , but I do get the feeling he is not happy with
having to play out from the back.
There is one thing I think the entire team is short off
and that is Vision. It really bugs me to see a player with the ball under control
looking around for someone to pass to and failling to see someone making a run.
Sadly this is something a coach cannot give to a player.
Sorry to hear about your MOT Rick, hang in there buddy it’s the time of year, we need some sunshine and warm weather to cheer us up, it’s amazing how a bit of warmth helps.
Looking forward to watching the U23’s later on this afternoon/evening.
A strange game but a fantastic result in the end,as Kev says we will have to go some to cock this up now.The Odegaard miss was a shocker and had me cursing at the TV but he sure made up for it. Elneny just wow.
Luiz had a few shaky moments,the most concerning thing for me is that Martinelli wasn’t used at all,I just hope he doesn’t get fed up and start agitating for a move.
As Sue has said the U23 game against Blackburn is live tonight on the main site.
Blackburn are 2nd in the league a long way in front of us. They have some very good players and this should be a uphill battle for us .
But I am looking forward to it, Reiss Nelson and Eddy Nketia are both playing
and this will be the first time they have played together at this level for a long time.
I also understand that Balogun is back in the team .
If any of you watch it look out for Monliouse ( spelling)
He is a 17 yearold CenterHalf and is well lked by Bouldi.
Afternoon Rick, sorry to hear your MOT wasn’t so good. 🙁
I read Woodman is leaving in the summer.
Sue, I thought you were referring to ‘Arry for a minute. 😝
1.02 Cicero, ditto.
Tonights Team
Okonkwo
Alebiosu
Dinzeyi
Monlouis
Lopez
Azeez
Taylor Hart.
Nelson
Moller
Nketiah
Balogun (c)
Captain Balogun? Is that usual or a bid to get him to stay I wonder.
Cicero, we remain a work in progress.
Imo, we can choose to focus on the errors, which many fans love to do for some reason, or just accept them and trust they’ll slowly be reduced over time.
I’m not suggesting we ignore them but again, one or two errors in a game involving up to 15 players over 90 minutes isn’t that bad, and it was certainly outweighed by the good.
Scott, yesterday as it turned out, looks as if the mistakes won’t cost us the tie but this has been going on for over a year. Mikel Arteta either needs to sort things out or drop the players who continue to make the mistakes. Mistakes, which if they continue, will play a part in Arteta not succeeding.
Now you see just why we are in trouble
I switched off at 2-0 down Rick.
But Rico, who does he replace them with?
And if he simply replaces them, how do they improve?
I know I keep saying it, but this is no 5 minute fix and the fact is we are improving.
Leno’s keeping is bloody good, he makes saves barely another keeper in the league would but again, it’s the errors everyone focuses on and while some have been horrendous, let’s hope he’s learning from them.
Scott, then he needs to sort it out if you believe there are no other options. We clearly see things differently and that’s fine, it’s healthy but at the moment, I just worry about the way the same old stuff is repeated week after week…
Our problem is that we have had a lack of planning in our squad building for some time.
We have some positions where both our starter and our back up player is very good.
We also have positions where our starting player is pants and the back up is worse.
Those are the positions that need strengthening.
Unfortunately we have 2-3 players that seem capable of playing us into difficulties on regular occasions and we don’t really have alternatives. Yet.
Even the under 23 team suffers VAR it seems
3-0 Is about what I thought it would be.
4 of the team will be playing in the FA youth cup next week,
and to much was expected of them.
Rico, until the summer transfer window, he’s still limited.
Please don’t point the finger at me over repetitive comments.
Every time Leno makes an error Martinez is thrown up.
Its human nature for people to want to say “told you so”.
We all do it.
Hi Scott. I’m a Leno fan and it drives me crazy that even 6 months down the line Emi is still brought up!! All over the Arsenal blogosphere it’s “We sold the wrong keeper” ….change the record haha!!
Doesn’t matter what saves Leno pulls off and how many games he’s kept/keeps us in, people always harp on about the errors! I haven’t got a short memory, he’s been one of our best players since his arrival.
Leno is a very good keeper. End of.
The mistakes he makes are not because he is poor. They are training ground mistakes which can be ironed out.
If anything sack the goalkeeping coach not Leno. Because he is the one who should point these things out. Leno himself told Arteta that he does not like the goalkeeping coach. And he wanted Woodman. And the latter is going to have his contract terminated because Leno preferred him and talked.
The mistakes that are being done are coaching mistakes not because Leno or any other player is not good.
If arteta gave in to Leno and changed the goal keeping coach to suit him Then What do we do if half the players say we don’t want to work with Arteta do we get rids of Arteta to suit them no.
Leno needs to remember the coach does not make silly mistakes on the field the player does no matter what position they play in.
Morning all.
The fact is that Leno is our keeper.
Support the guy, imo.
He’s saved us so many times it’s not funny and will get better and better at this new caper he’s learning.
I’d like to fast forward 12-18 months and see how we are going, because we will be top 4 and improving.
Geoff, where has Leno asked we change the coach?
Scott, I meant the mistakes, not your comments. You plum 😀
My apologies, Rico.
I can see that now-makes sense 🙂
We do need to see them reduced, that’s for sure.
It’s not just Leno making the errors though, it’s been Ceballos, Xhaka, Luiz and Ødegaard too. Whilst I don’t agree there’s needs to be an ‘end of’ re Leno Devil, I do think he makes some great saves but yes, there’s certainly a lot of training ground work to be done if Arsenal are to persist with the playing out from the back.
Interestingly though, when Emery was at Arsenal, I think it was often mentioned on here that it was his fault for deploying tactics which his players could carry out.
I thought you were gearing up for a fight Scott. 😂
Rico, I said the other day I’ve been I’d the belief a manager sets a game plan the squad he has can carry out, but since Arteta arrived, it seems the entire culture of the club is changing, not just the playing style.
Looks like it’s a case of its our way or the Highway.
Maybe this had to happen, time will tell.
Me, Rico?
Never 😉
The squad certainly needed an overhaul Scott and imo, needs more work done too.
Scott it was said earlier on this site that Leno wanted to change goal keeping coaches and also I read it some else only a couple of day back.
I may be harsh on the players and coaches but at the end of the day they are not kids they are adults being paid top money to do a job I am sure if you were running a business and your worker that kept make silly mistakes like they do they would soon find out were the door is.
The Romford Pele on Soccer AM… brilliant!
Geoff, Arteta is sorting the squad out, it’s already shown a vast improvement in attitude.
Morning Gooners, yeah, come on Scott & Rico, have a fight.
Rick, I missed the U23 game yesterday, just saw added time at the end but it seems that the defence was at fault again and why on Earth wasn’t Olowu involved?
I’m beginning to worry Rick that Bould doesn’t know how to stop the rot, we lack decent defenders and the midfield is a shambles, I also wonder if Nelson and Nketiah are motivated enough even if it seems that Nelson had a better 2nd half?
Kev, I’ve got the reach advantage, but that’s about it 🙂
Scott and Rico….remember to hit from the waist up. no hits below the belt.
Kev will be the referee.
I will ring the bell which signals the beginning and end of the boxing round.
I’m not a fighter Kev 😜
I know Scott, I’ve seen you play table tennis remember…
If you say so Rico… 😆
DG, no mate, my eyesight ain’t what it was.
Harsh, Kev lol
Ha ha Kev.
Afternoon Rico and the House.
Kev I wish I had missed the gamebut the nerd that I am
I watched the complete game.
IT was shocking and as it stands at the moment I think
we are going down.
I think the club have let Bould and Gillard down badly.
They have left them short of players by sending too many on loan,
and the players they have brought in are not up to it.
Last season I was watching Harry Clark and Mat Smith holding the team together..
In their place we now have Dinzeyi and Akinola who I think are out of their depth.
In fact Moller is the only one I would say is up to the standard of the u23s.
With the loans and the injurys we see 5 of our u18s in the squad and this leaves Gillard short of year 2 players and this is reflecting on their results.
As i type this they are losing to Norwich 3-0 but they are a little bit lucky
Leicester and Soton and far worse the us and we will finish above them.
Thanks for that Rick, yes I tend to agree, Bould is copping a lot flak but he can’t make a silk purse out of a sows ear, some of the young guys we’ve brought in seem well below the required standard despite our hopes of actually finding a new Martinelli.
Great point Rick regarding Gillard, Mertesaker and his staff need to think deeply about this seasons policy very carefully before next season kicks off.
I mean, what is the point of loaning out Olowu and releasing Omole only to sign a worse defender in Dinzeyi and wasting our time with Sraha and what is it with the Arsenal academy as we pick up another Chelsea reject in Amani Richards?
I’m all for taking a punt on players but it’s not sensible to fill your squad with them.
Cottrell is a big miss and we need Swanson back asap.
Apparently Olowu is only back with us because he’s injured, but what was the point of sending him to bloody Wealdstone anyway, our reserves could really do with his experience.
This whole season has been a shambles, it’s not just on Bould it goes deeper than that and it needs to be sorted out because as a club we’re going to need our academy big time to provide us with talent over the next few years and probably as long as KSE are running the show or miss-running it, depending on your view….
Finished 4-1 say no more.
Kev right from the start Reiss was a marked man. At times he
had 2or3 marking him and some of the tackling was abit over the top.
he did have a better 2nd half but I would say he is not the player I have followed over the last few years.
Like you Kev I am worried that Steve dosnot have the players to turn it around.
But saying that I cannot see him giving up
Afternoon Rick, all.
Must be difficult when deciding loans because the younger players need to test themselves at a higher level, yet with it, they leave the academy depleted.
Coaching and playing in an academy team from the Under23 downwards has a different criteria than the senior’s team.
First of all…..an academy is all about producing players for the first team and also teaching them to play the way that the senior team play.
Secondly…..a coach in the academy is not judged on results obtained but on his training methodology, the playing style of his team, how much the players are adapting to the style needed to play with the seniors, how much they improve game after game. Its not about winning and staying top which matters. But about the playing style.
A bit of a long time ago, when I was corresponding with Kev, I pointed out to him that the team (U19) I was coaching were all on the small side with regards height but very technical and they had high level of endurance for their age. So we stuck to a formation focusing on short passing and movement. We had a mixed season winning about 12 games , drawing 2 and losing 10. And the games we lost were usually against teams which were stronger physically but not necessarily technically. We finished around mid table.
Yet from that team 7 are still playing Premier level or 1st division level. And three are still playing for their club.
so while the results are not going our way at the AFC academy it must be pointed out that the age of the players playing is not similar to the age of the players playing against them. They are still younger. True they may be out of their depth…but will they be in a year or two???
So yes its a difficult decision sending many players on loan and leaving the U23 and other teams short. But probably it was something agreed beforehand between the coaches, MErtesacker, the club’s directors and Arteta as well. So in this situation the coach is not to blame, unless he decides to play differently and the level of his coaching and methodology is of poor level.
Are you still coaching through the pandemic Devil?
Great Win for England.
Enjor your trip home france
No. Football has stopped from under19 level downwards.
Sadly I have had to give it up for a few years now. Due to personal family reasons I cannot continue that anymore. Coaching takes up a lot of time and I am a dedicated person, so that means being meticulous and organized from every aspect. This meant a lot of planning and working which is largely unseen. A lot of paperwork as well because following up progress is very important to gauge the young players.
Tbh I do not miss it that much anymore. But I still look out for ‘my players’. And they still make me smile.
One of my former players, a girl (yes I coached girls as well for two years) is now playing for the Juventus Ladies team and is the captain of the MAltese national team. And she is still 20 years old. She has been playing for Juventus for this season and last one and the year before she was playing for AS Roma Grifone Gialloverde.. Players such as her are my successes and they make me smile and happy that I contributed a little bit to where they are now.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicole_Sciberras
https://lovinmalta.com/news/news-sport/teen-football-pioneer-nicole-sciberras-becomes-first-maltese-player-to-score-for-juventus/
BDW….she is so tall that she can easily put a plate on my head and eat comfortable from it while both of us are standing up.
And I am also lucky that her first ever career goal she scored in her life was right in front of me.
I posted a reply to your question Rico.
I am not seeing it now…..and both Rick and myself wrote after I posted that answer.
This is weird.
Rick, it was indeed.
Ah, I didn’t realise you’d had cause to stop Devil, glad you’re not missing it though.
Devil, I’ve picked up the slack.
Coaching again for the first time in a few years 🙂
Nothing too serious, mind you, just a great bunch of lads who pretty much spent spent last year as a disorganised rabble.
We had our first trial yesterday and had a solid win, so it should be a fun year.
Shame you’ve lost football and it’s another reason I count myself lucky to be here in Oz, as life right now is basically normal, apart from having to “check in” when visiting certain places such as restaurants etc etc which is no issue at all.
Rick, I guess I’d echo Devils question to an extent, and I’d ask your opinion on it.
Would it be better for the club long term to have more players available, or to have them out on loan?
Obviously the club feels it’s best having many out on loan but what are your thoughts?
I’m a little each way, to be honest, but that’s without knowing the players involved.
Devil, you should rightly take great pride in that young ladies achievement!!!
DG, yes of course the function of the academy is to develop players for the 1st team, but I’m not sure that losing every week is going to aid in that development. You have to have a balance and this season I think they’ve got it wrong, for a good reason I know as loans are so valuable, but you still have to play at U23 and U18 at a standard that you’d expect from a top club.
Arsenal getting relegated isn’t acceptable and it’ll mean next years youngsters playing against poorer sides and that can’t be good for their growth?
Loaning out players is preferable at a certain age, around 19/20, as they’ll mature a lot quicker in an environment where winning points is critical for their team mates who’ll have family commitments like mortgages and bills to pay, it opens their eyes to the real world and I love to see our youngsters doing it, but if you’re going to do that then you need a bigger U23 squad as is the case at Chelsea, Tottenham, Man Utd and Man City.
Good comment Kev.
Every now and again you luck out bahahaha
Nah that made plenty of sense.
Devil you have a Wright to be proud of the young lady you trained , some times I think people forget how a important a coach of young kids are, I remember arguing with my nephews under 9 Aussie rules coach, he had the idea that you have to teach the kids how to play the game and would yell at them, were as I believe that you should teach them basic skills but at that age just let them have fun and enjoy them self the skills will come when they are around 13 years old with out the fun in the game at a younger age they will just walk away.
Well said Geoff.
Too many coaches make it about them and not the players.
Morning to you all.
New post up now.
https://highbury-house.com/2021/03/14/nld-day-it-matters/
Thank you my antipodean friend from below…. 😁