Morning all.
When the rich and famous rolled into Newcastle Utd in October 2021, great things were expected from the northern club. At least that’s what the so called footballing experts told us. Great wealth, one of Englands best coaches in Eddie Howe, yes, Man City’s dominance in the Premier League was about to be seriously challenged.
Three years later, they’re sitting in 12th place having picked up 12 points from a possible 27. Their last league win at St James Park was on the 1st September when they beat Totts 2-1. Just a few days ago though, they defeated Chelsea 2-0 in the League Cup. I’ve watched some of the highlights of that match and Chelsea’s defending was shocking, their finishing wasn’t any better either. Newcastle certainly press hard and fast from the front which was evident with their first goal although I thought there was a foul in the buildup.
As much as their league form has been average to say the least, Howe has a lot of very good players at his disposal. Isak, Bruno, Joelinton, Willock, Gordon, Tonali, Schar and Wilson to name a few. If they click, they’ll be a difficult side to beat.
During his pre-match press conference, Mikel Arteta spoke about our walking wounded:
On Gabriel’s availability:
We have a training session today. If he can complete that, he’ll be available. He hasn’t had any training sessions yet, but if he’s able to do that today, he’ll be available to be in the squad.
On Calafiori, White and Odegaard:
Riccardo and Martin are out definitely. With Ben, we don’t know yet. He hasn’t trained yet. He could not train, he could not get involved, so let’s wait and see if he’s available.
This time last year, Arsenal went to St James’ Park unbeaten. The game was spicy that’s for sure with Kai Havertz rather fortunate to escape a sending off for a nasty challenge on Sean Longstaff, Guimaraes was equally as fortunate to not see red for his elbow into the face of Jorginho, smashing the ball into Kai Havertz and then getting involved in a spat with Declan Rice.
To this day, their winning goal still irks me because of how it came about. I’m pretty sure that had it have been us scoring that goal, either the ball would have been deemed to have gone out of play, as Joe Willock confirmed, or the foul on Gabriel just before they scored would have been spotted by VAR even it it took them five minutes to check. Mikel Arteta made his feelings more than clear after the game.
I think it’s fair to say that a year ago, many Arsenal fans were wondering why on earth the club had wasted £60m on Kai Havertz along with bringing David Raya to the club on loan when we already had Aaron Ramsdale. Yep, I was one of those fans who’d thought Mikel Arteta was bonkers for making those two decisions. However, I’ve long scoffed my rather large piece of humble pie.
Our outfield substitute options last year consisted of Reiss Nelson, Cedric Soares, Mo Elneny and Jakub Kiwior.
Fast forward again and we have a much stronger squad albeit with a few players missing. But we have Ethan Nwaneri, Myles Lewis-Skelly, Leandro Trossard, Mikel Merino, Thomas Partey, Gabriel Jesus and Raheem Sterling – none of whom were involved last year for one reason or another. Hopefully Ben White and Gabriel are available too.
I hope we batter Newcastle at lunchtime today, I really do. I think it’ll be another feisty affair because as much as last seasons fixture is in the past, it’ll be in the players and managers minds. Arsenal players just need to make sure it’s they who keep their heads…
Catch up in the comments.
Good morning Rico.
Here’s the line up. Raya, Partey, Saliba, Gabriel, Timber, Saka, Rice,Merino, Martinelli, Havertz,Trossard
Team to play Newcastle:
Raya; Partey, Saliba, Gabriel, Timber; Rice, Merino, Trossard; Saka, Havertz, Martinelli
Subs: Neto, White, Kiwior, Zinchenko, Lewis-Skelly, Jorginho, Sterling, Nwaneri, Jesus
Morning Cicero, spooky…. Lol
Good preview rico, hope we smash them too, anything to forget last years game that’s still hard to forget. Time for subs Jesus and Sterling to step up, and Nwaneri of course, wouldn’t it be great if that is today.
Morning Andrew, thanks.
Newcastle have fast become one of the teams I dislike. Dirty lot!
Afternoon Rico and all.
It looks a pretty good starting lineup.
Morning Geoff. The only odd one is Partey at RB and White on the bench but I guess the latter is not 100%..
It’s interesting, but when Arteta plays Partey at the back, he’s basically playing 3 at the back as the game flows. So with Merino, Rice, Partey midfield – protecting Nwaneri – why not give him a start? With Odegaard out, our problem has been creativity and service to the forwards. Nwaneri is better at doing that than Trossard.
I read somewhere last week that Newcastle were struggling to keep within the PSR rules and would have to sell before buying in January. One of the players on the available list was Joe Willock, he has been seldom started games recently and spends a lot of time on the bench.
We’ve been linked with Isak, in the press, it will be interesting to see what he’s like. I was unimpressed against with him against Chelsea last week.
Sorry one too any “againsts” there. 😕
I think we all want to see more from Nwaneri but he is 17 years old, played a full game in the week and were away to Newcastle. Personally, I think it would be irresponsible of Mikel Arteta to start him today..
Lots could rest on the Joelinton / Partey position . Joelinton is a nasty cheating box of tricks and a consummate wind up merchant and Partey is sometimes liable to reaction . I hope we don’t finish with ten but you can be sure that a crowd full of whinging Geordies will be putting the ref under all sorts of pressure..
Reading around their fan sites and the atmosphere there will be at fever pitch , the bile being spouted is more than I have seen for a long time with the goal last season seemingly the catalyst for most of it.
Remember that lurking in the shadows is our old friend Gillett .
I just see trouble ahead.
If it comes down to pure football we should be OK but I fear that it will be taken over by last season’s fall out and I am not confident that Brooks will be able to keep control.
We can’t afford to give Gillet a chance to intervene Potter.
And we’re behind.,.
I think the Willock ship has sailed and they’d probably try and rip us off anyway. Isak is a hot and cold player who has a history of injuries. That said, if he was going really cheaply….. lol
Cicero @12:06, Isak.is very wasteful and overrated in my opinion I have watched him for awhile
He should definitely be better.
Just a reminder Rico, there was Jack and Cesc at 17. I’m just saying.
I know that Obi.
Not a good start. Already a goal down
How many times Saka fouled?
Rice set pieces are a bit off so far..
We look very shaky
If White is fully fit then yep, get him on imo and toward is having a mare so I suspect he’ll do make way. Martinelli is lively but not really getting the better of his man.
What crap first half, Arteta looks very relaxed considering we are loosing
Well that half was terribly disappointing.
I would sub Partey now, bring on Ben White who will give far better support for Saka. Also, Trossard is neither a striker or a midfielder at the moment he could be the one to be replaced by Nwaner to bring some pace and guile in central midfield.
Spot on Cicero,those two subs would be perfect,also I’m not sure if Partey is on a yellow card yet but it’s only a matter of time.
The commentators remarked that our body language is not good,in contrast to Newcastle.
I’m sure Arteta has given a big team talk,we need a much improved performance.
Come on lads
Whatever Arteta said at halftime it’s made no difference…
We need to change something, this is crap,
Not sure Jorginho will nick an equaliser for us 🤣
He won’t get a goal, but he’s picked up a yellow card.
Yep 😂
I think the Rice header sums us up. Really poor….
No striker, Out played, out coached, might be time for Stan to have a chat to Arteta no trophies this season
No goals, no clean sheet, no points.
And no chance of winning the league….
one word only ……..CUPS
I could think of a few others Potter. 😜
We could be 8th by the end of this weekend
Three consecutive games for the League without winning.
The two away games were a disaster.
Like the previous one, we don’t shoot at the goal.
This scenario repeats itself constantly without changing anything.
Jesus continues to add nothing; Tossard and Martinelli playing simultaneously, do not yield; Rice needs to be more “loose”; Saka is already too “squeezed”.
Don’t expect anything good. The 3 upcoming games in the Champions League are the most important and the most difficult to decide the final table.
I didn’t see the game but I didn’t expect us to lose it either.
Players are I suspect playing when not completely fit therefore our level drops off and you cannot afford to drop a degree or two in this league because you will be punished.
Inter Milan will be interesting because everyone is sounding like our season is over so expectations will be low.
Kev, we were poor. Really poor.
I’m quite concerned about how we bounce back…
Facts, we have only won 5 out of 10 PL games, 3 red cards already,not in the automatic 8 places in the CL and we have injuries but so do others .Arteta is clueless when and when not to make subs .Every player looked flat today and we were second best in every department .
Might be the Useless Cup is our best chance if we beat Palace and the semi is two legged .
I would like to think it’s a blip but it doesn’t look like it .
I can’t understand Arteta’s selection policy. Why play a midfielder, Partey, at left back when he could have put Timber there and played a left back, Zinchenko, in his correct position.
Once again Jesus brought nothing to the table. He stayed wide on the left and failed to make any positive contribution.
I’m starting to lose confidence in Arteta’s tactics and selections.
The January window will decide if we are to weather the storm. By that I mean will Arteta go for a genuine striker to replace the imitation ones we have in both Jesus and Sterling.
Cicero, I am too.
I don’t get the Jorginho/Partey swap either.
What about oiking Trossard off, moving Saka into the middle as our creative player and bringing on Sterling? We needed a goal..
Still, at least City lost 🤣
It looks like Liverpool could run away with the title after beating Brighton while City lost to Bournemouth.
Well that was really poor. We’re on a terrible run of results,one point out of nine ( in modern speak we are in a bad moment)
To me the worst thing is we don’t really look like scoring,we’re not creating anything,even when Saka put in a perfect cross,Rice headed wide,as Rico said that summed it all up.
I suppose the obvious thing is we really miss Odegaard,also I really like Trossard but he is struggling big time.
Next in the league is Chelsea away,a fixture we drew last season,funny enough I fancy us to get something there,today it never looked like we were positive.
Arsenal fans are known for over reacting but I suppose a Newcastle win wasn’t too unexpected. When you think about it the top two teams of recent times both lost.
We will all feel much better with wins in the next two games !
I was quite confident we wouldn’t lose today Limey. Newcastle have been on a really poor run and were there for the taking. We’re badly off form right now and my fear is it’s not just about missing Odegaard.
I am more concerned about whether we bounce back in time .. I think now we need to re – adjust our sights on cup wins and champions league qualification which if we carry on like today might not be that certain .
I’m still hoping Liverpool go through their own tricky period and at the same time we pick up. And City just self destruct..
Rico, like I said I didn’t see or even listen to the game, I was on an errand, but I saw about two and a half minutes highlights on YouTube, not a scientific sample size I know, but they usually show the best bits and there were two clear chances, Isak scored his, Rice missed his, that it seems, was the game. So, that is, Newcastle take the lead and then disrupt and spoil for 80 odd minutes and we didn’t have the guile to break them down. 🤷♂️
From a statistical view 1 point from the last 9 looks and is crap Rico, but there’s a lot more to those three results than meets the eye, nuances like Saliba’s red card (will City get pelters for losing at Bournemouth with 11 players?) the misfortune we suffered vs Liverpool when our defence was decimated and we still should have won and today when it seems that Arteta was out-thought by Howe, it happens, but I’m not going to hang a noose by the nearest tree because it’s flipping football ffs.
No doubt the usual crowd will be on X losing their collective tiny minds and demanding the head of Arteta, oh my days you’ve just gotta laugh, this season is not over and a lot can happen but don’t let my stop you jumping off of a bridge if that’s your thing… 😄
Kev, you write that as if I’m ready to throw the Arteta towel in. I’m not, not at all but I do wonder what his thinking is sometimes. I can’t get wound up by football results any more because football as I knew it died a long time ago imo.
Can’t be critical of the way Newcastle played either after they went ahead imo, we’ve done the same before and no doubt will do again.
I realise we’ve had injuries and sendings off but even so, the team Arteta has been able to field should be playing better regardless of the end result. IMO anyway..
Rico I was talking about the extreme element on X etc, surely you don’t go on there do ya? 😉
My comments are never made to you alone but are a general observation I just comment through you as you keep the debate ticking over.
Like you, my disappointment is short lived these days regarding Arsenal, I was initially pissed off by the result but it soon passed.
I just think that Howe saw where he could get at us through Anthony Gordon and we had no answer. My biggest gripe is how poor we are at finishing the opportunities we actually do create and that has been a theme all season. But some team is going to get one hell of a thrashing pretty soon I suspect…
I do Kev but nut not to read or discuss football. Social media, 9/10 is so extreme. 😄
Me too re not being able to finish. Exactly why I was rooting for a goal scorer signing back in the summer. Imo, it was very unlikely that last seasons goal tally was going to be matched.
When Arteta was yelling at the players and jumping up and down on the side line we were fighting hard and winning, however I have noticed over the last few weeks since we started to suffer injuries, that Arteta has looked very calm to the point that sometimes he looked bored. I am not sure he is sending the right message to the players on game day.
As I said earlier, maybe it’s time Stan had a little talk to ArtetaI, I’m not saying sack him but just send a rocket up his ass
When we score, Arteta is very animated but a) we’re not scoring and b) he’s probably trying to be less animated on the sideline because the officials will be on him in a flash.
Morning Rico and all.
Did you hear Arteta’s interview after the game / My question is how long does the process last ?
No excuses yesterday we were to a man diabolical and Arteta’s is lost as to what to do.
Should have made changes at half time but dithered .
One has to write as to what one saw and now one point in nine is not looking great .
Morning Kelsey.
I think the players need to look at themselves too. I agree re the changes though, perhaps Arteta needs to me more ruthless.
New post up now.