Morning all.
Thank goodness the transfer window is shut for the next four months.
Deadline day saw Brazilian goalkeeper Neto join us from Bournemouth on a season long loan and then very late in the day, Raheem Sterling joined Arsenal on loan for the season. Edu admitted in an interview last night that Sterling wasn’t in the clubs plans but when the opportunity arose, Arsenal took it. Yes, I’m underwhelmed but he’s experienced, he knows this league inside out and he was one of Chelsea’s more productive players last season. Sterling admitted he wants to be back playing for England so there’s every reason to think he’s going to give everything to Arsenal for the next ten months.
As per this summer in general really, Arsenal were busy moving players on yesterday as Aaron Ramsdale signed for Southampton on a permanent deal, Reiss Nelson joined Fulham on loan and Eddie Nketiah secured a permanent move to Crystal Palace. All three played a part in helping Arsenal return to Champions League football and taking us closer to winning the Premier League than we’ve been in years. I know we faded after Christmas in the 2022/23 season but injuries blew our title hopes apart.
I doubt I’ll ever forget Ramsdale’s save against Leicester City, Eddie Nketiah’s late winner against Manchester Utd and Reiss Nelson’s late goal to beat Bournemouth. I hope all three do well and wish them nothing but a long and successful career. No, I’m not expecting Reiss Nelson to return.
Mikel Arteta had some rotten news for us yesterday during his pre match press conference as new signing Mikel Merino has suffered a freak injury which is likely to keep him from making his debut “for weeks”.
Yes, it very unfortunate. Yesterday [Thursday] he had a collision, and he’s got a shoulder injury. It looks like he’s going to be out for a few weeks. It was his first session. It is [bad luck]. He was very excited – we all were – everything was looking very good, and he landed on the floor, Gabi [Gabriel] landed on top of him and it looks like he’s got a small fracture. He was in a lot of pain, but we need to do some more tests to have some conclusive answers.
Last season it was Jurrien Timber who suffered an awful injury on his debut and this time around it could be Merino missing for a long time, especially if he’s suffered a fracture. Hopefully, further tests will show little more than bruising. Either that or Arsenal are just keeping away from international duty as he settles into life in north London.
Kieran Tierney, Takehiro Tomiyasu and Gabriel Jesus are ruled out of today’s lunchtime fixture against Brighton too.
One of Brighton’s new signings, Matt O’Riley is ruled out indefinitely following a nasty challenge on him in midweek and Solly March misses out because of injury too.
New manager Fabian Hurzeler has certainly been backed financially this summer having spent nearly £170 million on nine players and one of those was free – Amario Cozier-Duberry who has now gone out on loan, something he could have done had he remained at Arsenal.
How do Brighton play under the youngest manager in the Premier League?
Arsenal’s Adrian Clarke has the answers, writing in the official matchday programme:
Hurzeler is lining Brighton up in a 4-2-3-1 that becomes a 4-1-2-3 in possession. In this shape both wingers try to keep their width with a view to isolating full-backs. Brighton have the second-highest number of dribbles so far, with Kaoru Mitoma leading the way (12), ably assisted by Yankuba Minteh and Pedro (both 7).
They flood the box whenever they are inside the final third, and have shown a real penchant for counter-attacking with serious menace. With pace to burn right across their forward line, we must be wary of the threat Brighton carry from these turnovers, even when they begin inside their own half. Out of possession Hurzeler has got his players pressing with enthusiasm. Last weekend they outran United by 4.66km, having covered an astonishing 12.6 extra kilometres in the previous match at Everton. The Seagulls’ average distance covered is currently far and away the highest in the division.
Central attackers Danny Welbeck and Pedro, are great at hassling defensive players, and this is the trigger for everybody else to hunt in packs from behind. However when they commit to a press the south coast side squeeze their back four up to the halfway line, so early passes played in behind could pay off, while the use of one holding midfielder in possession could mean we look to overload whoever occupies that role with 2 v 1s in transition.
Brighton are always a tough opponent regardless of where and when we play them. As said, they’ve added a number of players to the squad this summer and with a new manager just three competitive games into his new challenge, everyone will be keen to impress.
Arsenal will need to be at their best today, especially in front of goal because as Man Utd found out, if chances are missed, Brighton will take advantage.
Catch up later guys…
Not very good morning Rico, Mikel Merino is ruled out for some weeks to come after breaking a shoulder during his first training session in a collision with Gabriel.
Morning Cicero, yes, rotten news re Merino.
Good post Rico and very early.
So, Raheem is a Gooner for the next 12 months, a move that has Jorginho and Trossard written all over it.
Will Raheem Stirling make the difference this season?
I’m not sure but he’s an upgrade on Eddie who btw should have a great time at Palace, it’s like Ian Wright in reverse.
I was never a massive Stirling fan, maybe it was the Gillette advert, I can’t stand it. But he’ll bring with him a knowledge of how to win trophy’s along with an ability to score important goals and he is a bit of a goal hanger, a finisher of moves and we sometimes have missed that.
Sesko and Williams were who we really wanted but you can’t always get what you want.
Thanks Kev, early as I’m off out shortly and not back until the game.
Perhaps Arteta’s knowledge of the player helped re Sterling. The good thing is it’s only a loan and he can get his big payday elsewhere next summer. That should inspire to play well..
Shoulder injuries are notoriously difficult to recover from particularly for footballers remember Walcott?Let’s hope Mikel Merino recovers a bit quicker than Juren Timber did.
Good morning Rico..
Sterling is not a bad signing knowing that our prime targets weren’t available and it seems we are doing well by avoiding us having too many average players who we will have problems moving.
Our forward options are not that bad bar injuries, but we can’t rule injuries out.
I would prefer a Jorginho to start today ahead of Partey but let’s see what Arteta lines up.
Left back will be interesting Mexzy, Timber, Calafiori or Zinchenko.
,Not sure what to say , on the surface it’s another Chelsea reject . Does Boehly have something over Kroenke that we keep him out of PSR problems. On the other he’s an ageing 1 year deal to give Saka a bit of a break and it depends on the deal we have struck with him and his understanding of it .
In this window we have shed 4 English players and replaced them with 1 italian , 1 Spaniard 1 Brazillian and now 1 Englander. Did we need that to keep the numbers up ?
Re Sterling I am neither happy or fed up I am just MEH. I see him as a last ten/ 15 minute replacement to Nelson as long as that’s what he signed up for he’s an experienced body to fit a shirt if needed.
We still are weaker up front , no recognised goal scorer and even now no Eddie to call on .
Afternoon Rico and all.
After weighing up all the in /out and who I was hoping to bring in and sell, I am prettty happy with this transfer season
@Cicero indeed left back is jam-packed, the good thing is Timber can play both right back and centre back as well if necessary.
Tienery is still with our squad as he didn’t get a move due to his injury.
I fancy both Tienery and Zinchenco will have to leave maybe in January
Raya, White, Saliba, Gabriel, Timber, Rice, Partey, Odegaard, Haverzt, Saka Trossard.
Mexzy I for 1 will not miss Tierney,
looking forward to tonights match as it’s a decent time in OZ
I am in front of Tv. 🙂
COYG
25 minutes in Raya seems to be playing more long passes than his normal short pass to bring the ball back into play
We seem a bit sluggish today and we’ve not made the most of our own chances whilst Brighton are too good to not have a good period.
Plus the referee is a cnut…
Might be a good day for Califiori…
Also Havertz needs a goal, it’s not quite happening for him atm.
Unbelievable, every minor contact the Arsenal forward players are falling down. If the refree is not calling it, be strong and stay on your feet. It it so hard to watch.
Saka thats what happens when you play strong. Nice finish hy Havertz.
That’s my boy… 👍🏻
nice setup by saka for Havertz to score.
Don’t know why Brighton manager is getting upset as the ref should have booked their player earlier for time wasting for kicking the ball away.
Delightful goal by Havertz, beautiful set up by Saka. 🔔
Another right plonker of a referee, he looks out of his depth and needs to use what brain cells he has when deciding between fouls and dives.
I’m worried about Odegaard, he was injured in that tackle and looks to be struggling at times.
missing Martinelli’s industry , reckon a swap at 70 mins
Rice off for a second yellow, absolutely ludicrous decision.
Stupid by Rice but how can the ref say he is fair when Rice gets a yellow for tapping the ball yet their player got away with it. This ref must be a Brighton Fan
Rice… wow. Very dumb.
All of you that been calling for Trossard to start. How about it now? We have to understand that some guys are just impact subs.
Arteta needs to take Party off before this ref gives him a second for sneezing
Odegaard subbed, I thought he was struggling.
What a dreadful referee Kavanagh is. Even though by the letter of the football laws, Rice second booking was correct.
Ian wright claims the ref had a good game,
The problem I have with Rice second card, was that the ref let there player get away with it earlier. A good match wrecked by the idiot in blue.
Rice deliberately kicks (deflects) the ball. According to the rules, it’s a yellow card. The rest happens later. What must be sanctioned is the first offense. Even if the free kick was repeated (I think the ball would be in motion and would be ordered to be repeated), the player cannot be prevented from taking the free kick quickly.
In any case, Arsenal’s weaknesses were exposed. A theoretically superior team, playing with 10, should be able to maintain that superiority. It turns out that Arsenal don’t have the players to make these changes. The game ends, Arsenal makes 3 substitutions (one of them due to injury) and Brighton 5. We look at the players on the bench and conclude that God help us to hold on to the result. It was necessary to refresh the team and go after victory. It’s not possible. However, Rice is excluded for 3 games. We are entering September and I think there are 5 players unable to play, due to injuries and suspensions. Does anyone realize that to achieve Isn’t it enough to have 15-16 reliable players?
Rice shouldn’t have been so naive imo.
Rice misses one Jm as it was two yellows.
I thought as a team with 11 or 10 men we were pretty poor and Brighton are a good side .
We don’t play well against very physical teams
The ref was totally biased imo and ruined the game .The Rice sending off was very dubious looking at both yellow cards
Partey isn’t up to scratch
Timber looked OK but not sure how injured he was as he was taken off .
Odegaard didn’t play well in fact not played well in all three games compared to last season
Saka ran riot in the first half and probably we should have had 2 not i goal .
I know Havertz scored but he misses a lot and I am not convinced by him.
Raya looked very good again
Trossard was quiet but the Brighton defence stiffled most of our attacks.
I expected better beforehand tbh.
Did anyone notice Danny Welbeck going to the referee that it’s a 2nd yellow when Rice was sent off and nodding in agreement at Rice when it was issued.
He can fcuk right off in future…,
Southampton are awful, poor Aaron. ☹️
It’s going to be a long season and there are going to be off-days, today was an off-day despite the idiot with the whistle. The next game at White Hart Lane will be another level and without Rice very very difficult.
Stirling might be a blessing in disguise because he scores goals and a few of our regular scorers have temporarily lost their mojo.
Jesus might be back as well, but midfield will be an issue for us at WHL.
At the end of the day, a draw is better than a lose,
I wonder if Edu is now wondering if he made a mistake by not getting a true striker
Partey and Jorginho probably Kev.
19/09 – Atalanta (a)
01/10 – PSG (h)
22/10 – Shakhtar Donetz (h)
06/11 – Inter (a)
26/11 – Sporting (a)
11/12 – Monaco (h)
22/01 – D. Zagreb (h)
29/01 – Girona (a)
Just Spurs away .
Computer caught up after I posted . Having trouble with the site today comments don’t appear until after I post.
I have the same problem today,Potter
I have the same problem too..
It’s the Russian bots
Good Evening Rico and all
Surprise Surprise. Rice red carded and the next three games are Away vs Spuds, Away vs Shitty and Home vs Leicester. The script couldn’t be more accurate.
Rice gave the whistle blower a choice. And we usually know how such choices end. Especially with the next two away games looming. So as has been said above……it will be Jorginho and Partey Or maybe Merino will make a super recovery and will heal in the next fortnight. Spain international games came too much early for Merino who has not kicked a ball in competitive matches since the final. The transfer window should have slammed shut on the Wednesday before the 1st league game.
Rice was stupid. Stupid enough to fall into the trap of a sheep following blindfoldedly. Brighton players kicked the ball away. It does not mean he has to do like them.
The decision taken by the referee was stupid imo. Or it was planned before hand to have him sent off. Its not only Arsenal supporters who know the fixtures. Refs do so as well. Someone said he must be a Brighton supporter. I must say he isnt. He is a spuddie. And he made sure that Rice gives him a decision which played into his own hands.
And again….we shouldnt lay all the blame on the ref……we need to score our chances. We had twice as much as them on target…..yet we scored only one. If we score chances no amount of refs or any other team will stop us.
Evening Devil, he’ll only miss the Totts game for two bookings.
I thought he would be banned for three games
I think that’s only for a straight red.
Never trust a referee from Manchester
My understand it is only one match, but if you are playing in a cup match round before your next premier league match you can use that match as the one suspended for.
Raya starting to have a habbit of making great saves while on the ground.
Ramsdale had a night mare of a start with his new club, i’m sure he will improve once he and his team mates get on the same page.
I think that the Ramsdale situation is of no real concern to us now. I wish him well but his ship has sailed as far as Arsenal is concerned.
I am now more worried about what might happen to Raya , one injury and we are in copious amounts of brown stuff especially if it comes around carabou cup time.
I am still seething over yesterday and do hope that so is everybody involved in the club and that the situation is used to create the them and us attitude that we are going to need.
I am getting less convinced by the leadership of Arteta and Edu with real concerns about the squad and how their strategy planning is carried out . They remind me of kids in a sweet shop, they buy without concern to what we need only what looks attractive at the time .
Just about everybody and his dog thinks we need a forward but we buy midfielders and defenders . We could have won yesterday had we taken our chances but we didn’t and although they are a different case Haaland ‘s hat trick just proves that it’s the way to blow aside teams that live on the edge of European qualification.
Morning all.
I too am bitter about the double standards of officiating and Kavanagh couldn’t wait to ruin what should have been a very good game. I wonder if someone had a word in his ear about the challenge Rice made earlier in the game.
But, that aside, this transfer window has been dreadful in as far as we’ve halved our attacking options and signed Sterling who isn’t going to get the kind of goals we need to bolster our tally.
We needed a goal scorer, desperately in my opinion and as much as Nketiah wasn’t necessarily the solution, he was an option which we no longer have. As was Nelson who I’d actually prefer to see play than Sterling.
New post up.
I dont think this transfer market has been as bad as it could of been.
I was hopeing a striker might come in, but wasn’t holding my breath as Arteta and Edu are conviced we need is 12 goal keepers. as goal diffeence at the end of the year does mean anything. Edu once again said fans need to relax as somethink special is about to happen I am still waiting or did he sterling