Daily Bits and Bobs

Potential banana skin but not expecting Arsenal to slip up.

Posted on by rico

Morning all.

What a day it was yesterday, I’ve never seen trees bend as much as they did during storm Eunice. Rain, sleet, snow, we had it all but I managed to keep busy ploughing through The Sopranos.

The players had to ditch the outdoor training yesterday and head into the gym and other indoor facilities. Everyone is fit though and that’s the most important thing. Even Tokehiro Tomiyasu although going by what Mikel Arteta said yesterday, I don’t think he’ll start today after being out for a while.

Our record against Brentford isn’t the best but their only victory in six competitive trips to Arsenal was back in 1938, winning 2-0. Kev was there that day. Lol

Mikel Arteta talked about our up and down season during his press conference yesterday:

It’s part of football, part of the job to lose football matches, it’s part of this, unfortunately. There’s a lot of things that you learn in terms of the preparation, the team that you selected, analysing what happened and how it happened, not analysing it in a different context, exactly what happened with the players that you had on the day and don’t lose focus on the direction because it’s really easy to start to shift one side and the other and keep what you’re doing in your beliefs and keep going and be very stubborn on that.

Honestly, I’ve no idea what he means there. One minute Arteta mentions learning from what’s gone on before the game, who he selected along with what happened and how but then he says it’s not good to change the belief or direction. Surely the idea is to change something when it’s not working, either during a game or before the next one? Isn’t that the way to improve? Perhaps I’ve just totally misunderstood what he means.

It’s sticking to what we planned and understanding the difficulties along the way. I said on day one, I think the club was very clear, this is not going to be a clean ride, it doesn’t happen. When you go from A to B or C, or the level that the Premier League has, it’s not going to be a straight line up there, it’s never going to happen. It’s going to be a line that comes down and then hopefully we will get there and you have to be prepared for that, because if not, you will change your direction and then you will be in big trouble.

As said, I’m confused….

Anyway, Cedric/Tomiyasu and Kieran Tierney will have a job on their hands trying to keep Rico Henry and Sergi Canos quiet, our centre backs will have Ivan Toney to worry about if he’s passed fit and Bryan Mbeumo too.

I think Arsenal need Emile Smith Rowe back in the team, he’s our highest goal scorer and we’ve been lacking in that department. The last time we scored more than once was on Boxing Day 2021 when we beat Norwich City 5-0 at Carrow Road. This year, we’ve managed just two League goals and unless that changes, securing a top four spot will be little more than a pipe dream.

Gabriel Martinelli misses this one through suspension so there’ll be one change at least from the team which did so well at Wolves. Options are Nicolas Pepe, ESR, or Eddie Nketiah.

This is the kind of game which could go horribly wrong for Arsenal. Brentford haven’t won in a while, the Arsenal players haven’t played for over a week and it’s a derby. But, I’m hoping those days are behind us. Mikel Arteta has banged the ‘right attitude’ drum for long enough now for the players to know what’s expected of them so I’m expecting a quick start, take control of the game, and if we can score early, a few more to follow.

See you in the comments.

 

 

 

rico

68 thoughts on “Potential banana skin but not expecting Arsenal to slip up.”

  1. Sue says:

    Hi Rico.. Nice post! The Sopranos hey? Seen bits of it, not too keen on the violence side though haha…watched Edie Falco in Nurse Jackie – loved that!

    Eriksen isn’t ready apparently and if Toney isn’t fit that’ll be a bonus – it shouldn’t be as scary as watching Big Jet TV yesterday!! 😅
    A day in front of the box – Hammers v Barcodes, Soccer Saturday, City v Spuds – Nice 👍

    The pictures of the team training yesterday made me chuckle, Holding’s new barnet looked wild in the wind but unsurprisingly, even Eunice couldn’t mess with Mikel’s hair!!

  4. Cicero says:

    Good morning Rico, Sue. Fine, sunny and breezy this morning.

    Pepe has returned from the ACON as a happier and rejuvenated player, according to Arteta. I expect him t replace Martinelli this afternoon.

    We’ve started watching the Nordic Noir The Young Wallender on Amazon. Don’t know how far it’s going, at the end of episode 1 he’s stabbed and left for dead in an underpass.

  6. Wavy says:

    Spoiler for you Cicero, he recovers……….surprise, surprise😃

    Will make a ‘comment’ later. In a bit of a rush got to nip to the local market, if it’s on for our bread supplies.

    Nice one Rico. Arteta does occasionally talk in riddles. But you know, you just have to get used to it! I’ve learned a whole new skill, understanding sign language having studied his antics on the touch line. To be fair, it has about as much meaning to me as it does to the players. Not surprisingly, he complains about them not following the game plan. They don’t understand an arm he twirls or a leg he shakes🤣

  8. Aussie Geoff says:

    Morning Rico and all.
    Rico I still love Arsenal but if the roof leaks now why not replace it with a fully closeable roof then we don’t have to cancel matches due to bad weather, after all we have a Aussie rules ground with a fully closing roof that they use during very bad weather or exstream heat. I am trying to keep positive but it’s hard with the way we play at times, and no real goal scorer and then watching the manager run up and down like a yoyo showing little trust in the players.

  9. pbarany says:

    I half-agree with Cicero.
    I also think Pepe will start, but not at Martinelli’s place. Saka will move to the left and Pepe will play as RW.
    ESR might start on the bench, but could (and would) come on practically to any position.
    COYG

  10. potter says:

    Personall i would rather have a player or two Geoff and the shape of the roof would need an engineering masterpiece .
    I have kind of decided to buy my ticket get on the bus and go for the magical mystery tour and see where we end up.. Second guessing Arteta seems pretty pointless as he talks in riddles but at least unlike Emery his riddles are in a kind of pidgeon English although it may not be the same pidgeon that the players speak.
    We have a limited squad and are unlikely to be able to spring surprises and very other team will have scouted the likes of Hutchinson and Patino so a twenty minute cameo from one of them is not going to come as a great shock.
    I can’t see a festival of football here today but would think a win with a scrappy goal or two will be enough to keep the momentum up.

  14. allezkev says:

    Morning Rico, morning all, I’ve just been enjoying a pop up about the London Stock Exchange, yes, it really got me in the mood for the game. Now I’m really looking forward to the next one, probably about Wall Street or maybe holidays or funeral arrangements, lovely… 🌋

  15. allezkev says:

    Don’t worry Sue, what Rico doesn’t mention is that I dropped her off at the turnstiles at the Schoolboys Enclosure in 1938, we chatted about the Munich Conference on the way to the game on the tram… 😆

  19. rico says:

    Team news
    Arsenal v Brentford (15:00 GMT)
    Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta makes just one change from the win at Wolves, with Emile Smith Rowe recalled to replace the suspended Gabriel Martinelli.

    Arsenal XI: Ramsdale, Soares, White, Gabriel, Tierney, Partey, Xhaka, Saka, Odegaard, Smith Rowe, Lacazette.

    Just the one alteration for Brentford, too, with former Arsenal midfielder Josh Dasilva coming into the side for his first start of the season, with Vitaly Janelt dropping to the bench.

    Christian Eriksen is not involved with Bees boss Thomas Frank having said the Danish midfielder isn’t quite ready to make his competitive debut.

    Top scorer Ivan Toney still isn’t fit enough for a place in the squad.

    Brentford XI: Raya, Ajer, Jansson, Pinnock, Canos, Jensen, Norgaard, Dasilva, Jensen, Henry, Mbeumo, Wissa.

  21. pbarany says:

    Manchester United is 4 points ahead of us, but we might take the 5th place back and stick to the Mancs with 2 games still at hand.

  42. Cicero says:

    2 – 1 full-time a bit shaky at the end. Strange tactic to bring on Pepe when we are two nil up and holding onto a lead. Still that’s Arteta for you. 😕

  43. Aussie Geoff says:

    Brentford had there chances but in the end a nice win, bit strange Xhaka refusing the captain arm band, Is this a hint at him leaving at the end of the year.

  45. Potter says:

    We have the ability to turn a stroll into a slog in four foot of snow wearing flip flops.
    Thankfully we got the second or else the what we have we hold tactic would have cost us 2 points

  49. rico says:

    Just been chatting about that with family Sue, a weird appointment. Apparently he’ll be working alongside Michael Gilkes as an interim duo.

  51. pbarany says:

    I was quite pleased with our midfield.
    Partey was really combative and performed team high 3 tackles, while Xhaka made the most – you would never guess – key passes.
    Soares was also fine; even though was less involved in attacks than Tierney, but was more efficient with the end product.

    On the negative side I found the “crosses from the bylines” tactics pretty boring and ineffective. We made 43 crosses and only 9 of them were accurate (Brentford’s 1/8 was similarly inefficient, but probably less painful to watch).
    I’m not mad about the goal conceded, that’s part of the game. There are no foolproof ways to prevent it, so the best strategy is to lead by 4 goals. However it did stop us from overtaking West Ham, so still waiting for our chances at #6, but the games at hand make me optimistic.
    Ramsdale’s distribution wasn’t very convincing, but if that would be the biggest issue after most games, I would be really pleased.

    What I don’t understand though, why did we grant only 21 combined minutes to the substitutes. Pepe should have gotten more (than 15) minutes to infuse our play with his energy, Nketiah would have deserved more than lousy 6 minutes, and the last substitute wasn’t even utilized. I would have given 30 minutes to Pepe, 20 minutes to Eddie, and 10 minutes to either Tomi to facilitate his full return or Hutchinson to enjoy playing a little in front of the home crowd – Odegaard seemed to be tired anyway.

  53. Sue says:

    Very strange, Rico. He hasn’t managed in years!! Might have something to do with his son being there…?

    I don’t know what’s worse; seeing the Spuds play this well or listening to Carragher commentating…

  61. Joaquim Moreira says:

    It seems to me that we were harmed by a penalty, which did not go to VAR (?).
    It certainly depends on who the emblem corresponds to.

  62. Potter says:

    1. Penalty and an offside goal disallowed with no lines shown on the stream I was watching. Maybe motd or the sky highlights will show it.

  63. allezkev says:

    Yes Rico, the pop up usually goes away but what I’m finding is that the script of the blog is constantly jumping about and every time you scroll up or down it jumps up and down again and continues to do so constantly…

  64. allezkev says:

    Lacazette penalty? Handball in the box, I only saw brief highlights on MotD but fatty Moss was at it again, what a useless lump of lard he is.

    The pop up popped up when I posted my previous comment and now the font is a jumping and a jiving and having a great time, it was up the top of the page and then it backs down and now it’s up and then it’s down, up, down, up again, hmm it’s still up – oh no it’s not it’s down again, no it’s up and then it’s down, up, it’s not moving, has it settled down? No it’s down again 🙄

  65. allezkev says:

    The pop up is back, hooray and the page has jumped up, really up and now it’s down. 🙃

    Down, up, down, up, down, it’s like it’s doing the Hokey Cokey, up, down, knees bend, arms stretch, ra ra ra… Night

  67. pbarany says:

    I was also wondering during the game if the “lost probabilities” should have been accumulated.

    1. There was claim about a fault on Lacazette in the first half. Referee waived play on. VAR confirmed the contact, but decided “not strong enough”, penalties are awarded for such faults maybe about 30% of the time. So they went with the ‘no penalty’ scenario, but Arsenal lost 30%.
    2. White was kicked in the penalty box. Referee waived play on. The VAR official so that White was indeed kicked, maybe a tad before the ball was touched, but it was close enough to call it simultaneously, and penalties are awarded for such faults only 40% of the time anyway. So no need to stop the play, but Arsenal have lost another 40%.
    3. Arsenal players are lobbying for a penalty after a handball situation. Referee didn’t see the incident properly, and waiting for some support. The replay shows clear touch on the upper arm (below the shoulder, so no doubt qualifies as a hand), and it was in a 30° angle from the body, so the player didn’t do his best to keep it next to his body. In such incidents a penalty is awarded 70% of the time, yet VAR should only overrule the referee if there is an undisputed (90+%) situation. The ‘no penalty decision’ is still understandable in the individual incident (not correct, though), but the accumulated probabilities Arsenal lost on those cases amount to 140% already.
    4. While the referee shouldn’t balance out his decisions based on past judgements – especially as he doesn’t know how correct or incorrect were those past decisions, but shouldn’t the VAR official take all these into account, and award a penalty next time players will be tussling after a corner kick?

    Independent if and how Arsenal is affected, what do you think?

  68. rico says:

    The officials should just be fair, judge each decision as it comes and goes without prejudice. Consistency is all I wish for.

    New post up now

    Morning all.

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