Morning all.
Do you have the feeling Arsenal are at a make or break stage in the season? I know that sounds drastic considering we’ve lost just once in the League and once in the Europa League, but results aside, Arsenal aren’t playing particularly well for a full ninety minutes. Not for one minute do I expect Mikel Arteta’s teams to be playing at 100 mph for an entire game but in my opinion, all that was good, hasn’t been quite as good for the last few matches. We all know the officials royally cocked up in our game against Southampton but even so, we should have been able to stop them from equalising with the quality we have in the side.
Is the Europa League and fatigue the problem, or have we just hit a tough spot? Or is it just a case of the squad not being deep enough as far as player quality and strength goes or just bad squad management by Mikel Arteta?
I don’t know the answer but if the Arsenal board’s expectations of Mikel Arteta at the beginning of season was top four and a real go at winning the Europa Cup, then what choice has the manager had but to play a number of the ‘first team players’ in Europe? I’m sure if we’d have put the results to bed much earlier in certain fixtures, his substitutions might have been very different but as it’s turned out, that’s not really been possible.
Unless a manager has 30 top class players in his squad (allowing for substitutes), when rotation is required, a number of ‘first team players’ are going to have to play twice a week. Mikel Arteta barely has 15 top notch players in his squad right now and two of those are injured. As is Mo Elneny and he’s been a big miss in Europe. Had he been fit, I very much doubt Thomas Partey would have been called upon. Emile Smith Rowe would have probably been in the team instead of Granit Xhaka too. Perhaps against Zurich, we’ll see Cedric Soares back in action which would mean a rest for either Kieran Tierney or Takehiro Tomiyasu. Marquinhos, who did well in the away fixture, should also return giving Bukayo Saka a much needed breather.
The Arsenal board knew Thomas Partey is fragile in the summer, they knew Mo Elneny was going to be out for a long time before the transfer window closed and they also knew neither Eddie Nketiah or Gabriel Jesus would give us a plan b in the box. They couldn’t foresee Oleksandr Zinchenko picking up an injury though and let’s be honest, he’s been sorely missed.
Rotation can come at a cost either at the time or afterwards in my opinion. Rest all the ‘first team players’ in Europe and it’s unlikely we’d have already qualified for the knockout stage, play more of the so called fringe players in the League and I doubt we’d be top of the table.
Football for clubs in Europe is a bit of a catch 22 really. The earlier in a game a handsome lead can be achieved, the earlier the manager can make his five changes but to achieve that, he needs his best players on the pitch. Believe it or not though, the opposition are always going to put up a fight, especially here in England where no game is easy anymore. Not even against clubs sitting in the relegation places as Liverpool found out last weekend.
Going back to the question about fatigue, rotation etc etc, perhaps the answer is simple. Mikel Arteta just doesn’t have the depth in his squad to cope with two competitions we want to succeed in. He has numbers, just not perhaps the quality or the experience.
See you in the comments.
6 paragraphs in and the internet went down for 10 seconds and all was lost..
With 27 games to we have a 7 point lead on the team in 4th place with a game in hand , the top 6 traditional teams are in the top 8 places with Newcastle and Fulham joining in .
It all depends where the club set it’s target and where they expected or wanted to be when the world cup break arrived and I suspect that we are in advance of that expectation. But we cannot relax.
Teams like Chelsea , Man U , Liverpool currently 5th 6th and 8th will get their acts together and they are not that far away and as January comes will be in the same market as us to increase their chances of getting to the holy grail.
As suggested we have a good first team but because of the inexperience at this level of a lot of our squad when they are called in they are not of a similar standard and the impetus drops off .
I don’t know that buying players is the right way to go if we are to just try and upgrade on those that we have but there is a case for buying to adapt the style . Much of the reason for our current position is that we are not converting the chances that we create and that Jesus who came like a whirlwind is now double marked and finding that he has to drop deep to get the ball which nullifies his effect . Saka and Martinelli attack by cutting in but neither are prolific goalscorers and Eddie is a poorer quality version of Jesus If we get, between 8 or 10 goals for each of them it will be a bonus but not enough. We either have to find a way to get Jesus some space in the box or try something different maybe ESR when he is fit .
Creatively I have doubts about Vieira and Odegaard both of whom are very pretty when we have time but when we are pressed seem to be less effective and Partey on his own can’t hold the midfield for 90 minutes in another 40 plus games and has a history of coming back from internationals and spending time on the physio’s bench.
Work for Edu and Arteta ,
If it were me I would be looking for a big bustling centre forward and a central midfielder to time share with Partey .
In the meantime we have to just keep collecting as many points as possible , I know that sounds obvious but with so many seemingly on their knees , it’s not that easy.
Excellent Potter.
Interesting points and when you think back to last January and our attempts to secure Vlahovic it’s probably quite close to where Arteta wants to take us, unfortunately I can’t think of too many £40m Haaland clones swaning around waiting for Edu to swoop.
Maybe there’s a 6’ 3” centre forward quietly plying his trade in Brazil patiently waiting to be discovered?
Or in the championship if money is an issue.
Grealish should have been booked, such a diving cheat.
Our on loan defender….
Rotation is difficult when there is lack of available talent on the bench in critical positions. Midfield is one glaring example. When Partey is unavailable we really have only Lakonga and he is not exactly a beast of a defensive player. The other worrisome position is central striker. We are currently using Jesus in that role but the only alternative is Nketiah who is too similar in style to Jesus but no as effective.
The one area we are well stocked in is defence. Two good ‘keepers, five good full backs, White, Tomiyasu, Tierney Zinchenko (when fit) and Cedric. Three excellent centre backs in Saliba, Gabriel and Holding who can be supplemented by the ability of White, Tomiyasu and Tierney to play in various defensive positions.
The January window presents an opportunity to reinforce in both of the critical areas. Although it may be contrary to Arteta’s chosen preference of buying young potential stars, signing a couple of older, more experienced players may not be such a bad idea.
Hmm, De Bruyne with a terrific free kick puts City one nil up.
I agree with everything that has been written, I just don’t understand why, for example, Cedric being fresh and fit, hasn’t played 1 minute yet. It is an example of a player who could have minutes, rest others and allow more rotation.
Afternoon rico, all. Not sure we do have the numbers. When we let 8 players leave, many in the last few days of window, it was expected we signed a couple. But despite all the right noises, we didn’t put the money where our mouth was.Then indicated we ran out of time! Many of us were surprised then, but weak offers were not accepted and with just three injured, less than previous years, we struggle to fill our Europa squad. The quality with Laconga and Viera replacing Partey and Odegaard has been frankly disappointing and I bet Arteta feels the same. We all know the three positions we need reinforcing, hope the other teams haven’t caught up by the time we do.
So important tomorrow, we really should have a comfortable win against the bottom team if we can 80% approach our great start.
Afternoon Rico. We don’t have the squad depth to really push at the moment. I agree with many on here. Lakonga and Eddie, to name but two, are just too much of a drop over the first choice players. Both need an upgrade. If we can recruit well in January then we could perhaps have a meaningful run though. A bit of luck with injuries and suspensions would help too.
A lot of doubts at the moment though.
If Arsenal don’t beat Nottingham Forest tomorrow then the race for the Premier League title is over before we hit November…
Yeah, the biggest league in the world is a one club league and we can spend the rest of the season watching a procession towards a hat-trick of titles for City, and maybe a preclude to a 4th successive title in 2024?
Well done referee Jones and the PGMOL
Jm, Cedric has been injured I think.
Afternoon Andrew, Adam.
I think we have numbers, but it’s who those numbers belong to imo.
I see Brighton are 3-0 up against Chelsea.
This is Arteta team yet at times it seems that he has no confidence in his bench players.
Hopefully we can reset and win tomorrow and give our players a lift.
Totts trailing 2-0 at Bournemouth.
2-1 now Kane penalty coming up .
2 -2 now 10 minutes approx to go penalty still on the cards.
Am I fatalistic ?
BHA beating Chelsea is the only match in our favour this weekend, we must win tomorrow.
Yes potter, 2-3 🙁 what a surprise, even without a penalty
You could see it coming and it did . Not a penalty though .
Lucky lucky Totts as usual. Well, apart from in Europe 😆
Wolves Diego Costa straight red card for head butting, he will never change
Surprised it’s his first sending off in England!
English Premier League I meant
Perhaps Josh Sargent at Norwich bears looking at . He ticks a few boxes . Over 6 foot , top championship scorer and American to boot. I’m sure Kroenke could pull the odd string.
So am I, shouldn’t be though. Against us he should have seen red..
Not heard of John Sargent before now. Whoever we sign, if we do sign a striker, I can’t see him being a big name and big salary player, not with Jesus seeming to be the main man.
Hi all.
We have Balogan in France. He won’t be back this season but if reports a right he’s doing very well at Reims. Maybe he’ll be plan B next year? If he turns out to be a dud then perhaps Sargent or de Long could be an alternative or a foil for Jesus.
If we don’t beat Forest tomorrow god knows where we’ll finish this season, anywhere between second or ninth!
The recent performances have lacked zip, pace and directness. We’ve started to play Wengerball again! The team need an injection of energy tonic and speed up their thought processes. It’s become all too ponderous and predictable. We are playing a little bit with the handbrake on🥺
Still, all to play for. Let’s hope we turn up tomorrow and stick it up ’em😯😊
Liverpool lose again.
Good night one and all. 😴
Goodnight fellow Norfolkian , Chavs and Scouse lose a win tomorrow is very important.
Don’t forget to put your clocks back an hour in the U.K…
No rotation today, Arteta has no choice but to go with his strongest starting XI.
At least Elneny is close to a return and we’ve kinda missed him during this period, which is kind of a reflection on how ineffective Lokonga has been. He might well have a very high opinion of himself but his performances don’t back that up, in fact he will be safely behind Mo in the pecking order once King Tut is back…
I recon we are missing Zinchenko, he managed to lift the back line when he was playing,
Such tragic events in South Korea capital Seoul. 151 dead and 82 injured during Halloween celebrations in the city’s streets.
Wavy, I wouldn’t be surprised if this time next season, Eddie has gone and Balogun is in.
Cicero, yep, awful…
New post up now.