— Balogun (@balogun) January 22, 2021
Sign him up Arsenal….
Morning all.
Any deal we might want to strike with Real Madrid for Martin Ødegaard might have taken a twist. According to Sky Sports he has a knee injury. Zidane has tested positive for Coronavirus but as long as Ødegaard tests negative, the deal can go through without the need of an isolation period. I don’t think Ødegaard can’t play in our Europa League fixtures by the way as he’s already featured for his current club in the Champions League.
There I was yesterday, saying the goalkeeper rumours had gone quiet and then Arsenal only went and announced Matt Ryan had be snapped up on loan from Brighton. Matt Ryan has joined the club on loan until the end of the season and he’s not made the move for fun. His intention is to challenge Bernd Leno. However good or bad you or I might think this signing is, let’s be honest, Ryan is a massive upgrade on Runasson. He’s played in England for years now so he won’t need to get used to the climate or the Premier League. He’s a bit on the under tall side for a keeper maybe he’s got a big spring in his legs. I hope he does well, I really do.
Another Ryan is being linked to Arsenal and that’s Bertrand, the Southampton left back who’s 31 years old and out of contract this summer. Whether Southampton would let him go or not is anyone’s guess but if Arsenal offer them a few pounds, I expect they would. After all, it’d be better than seeing him walk away for free in a few months time.
I’m sure we’d all prefer to see younger, better signings being made by the club, that is if Bertrand arrives of course, but it’s January, football is in a recession and I think our fixes needed to be short term. I mean bringing in players who’ll help the team get through until May. Then see where we are as a club, where we finish and what money is available. Then go for the proper targets. Plus, we have other younger players who’ll be back from loans in the summer or are simply playing for the under 23’s right now but could be ready to make the step up next season.
Anyway, Arsenal kick off in less than an hour. It’s the FA Cup which is a competition I’m sure Arsenal fans would love to see the club win once more. Southampton will be a tough nut to crack but crack them we must if we’re to go through.
Here’s the confirmed squad for the match.
Team to play Southampton: Leno, Bellerin, Holding, Gabriel, Cedric, Elneny, Xhaka, Pepe, Willian, Martinelli, Nketiah
Subs: Saka, Lacazette, Runarsson, Maitland-Niles, Thomas, Chambers, Luiz, Willock, Ryan
See you in the comments.
Morning al. Snowing here, big flakes and it’s bitterly cold. Don’t suppose it is raining white stuff darn scarf so our game should be unaffected. Here’s hoping anyway.
Ryan is a very good keeper. Last time I saw him between the sticks he pulled off some outstanding saves, and on the infrequent times I saw him play, he did as much as anyone to keep the Seagulls in the epl! He should serve us well, when called upon. At least he’s not the reincarnation of the young ‘Flapianski’ which is what our new scandi keeper seems to be!
Today’s game? Anybody’s guess. Pepe, Willian,?? Not my first reserve picks, tbh. Still we’ll see.
Is it on the television machine anywhere? Any channel will do??!
See you in the results Rico and all.
BT Sport Wavy.
Seem to be having problems today. Are you seeing the photos of Ryan and the squad?
Getting adverts at the moment but I seem to be on site and have the right channel. Thanks for that. The BT programme live TV guide made no mention of the game at all! But it’s on now, and I’m settled let’s hope for the right result. We are defending cup holders, after all😀
Thanks Wavy
That came from Willian losing the ball.
Bloody hell 😡
It’s not good at all Sue.
Something needs to change we look very shaky
Hmm. Must do better!
That was a really poor half, Rico. Expected much more – we are the holders for God’s sake!!
I take it back, it was Elneny who lost possession and not Willian.
We’re not coping with their pressing Sue.
When did Walcott decide to defend? Lol
Martinelli looks very rusty, a sharp Martinelli would have scored that chance when it was 0-0, Soares looks well off the pace at left back, Nketiah is a passenger, Pepe is a passenger, Willian to me is actually working hard but it’s not there anymore he looks bang average, I honestly can’t see where an Arsenal goal is coming from.
Their goal was lucky, if Gabriel doesn’t get a touch Leno saves.
Shit game
Yes Geoff, something needs changing. Pepe for one. Willian is running around a lot but achieving nothing. Cedric is out of place on the left and Gabriel looks rusty.
Another case of a right footed player struggling at left back.
I forgot, 5 subs permitted today. I think we’ll need them.
So glad to see Partey and Saka!!!
Lacazette next I reckon
Hope so, Rico!
That’s our FA Cup run over then. ☹️
Well there’s always next year.
I’m so disappointed.. I don’t know whether to launch my phone or the remote or scream or cry 😂 Europa is all we have left… gutted… City had better win it now
Our best player was anyone on the bench
What about the top six cup??
Not a good start to the weekend
Silly starting 11, but Southampton worked the ref much better than us.
Xhaka too slow and if pressed disappears , was he playing ? Willian unproductive little jinking runs cuts inside and passes back .Pepe and Nketiah too weak and with a midfield as strong as a wet sponge the back line under constant pressure .
Couple that with a ref that certainly missed a penalty and seemed quite happy for Long to commit a foul a minute whilst he was on it was back to normal service once we left our bigger guns out.
I suppose that had Odegaard joined us earlier we could have seen if he could play the Smith-Rowe role because none of the ones out there could . And if I was sitting on the bench or in the stands and watching that if I was Maitland Niles, Willock or Balogun I would be forming a queue outside the managers door and asking where my future laid.
https://twitter.com/ArsenalAcademy/status/1352967003737358338?s=20
https://twitter.com/ArsenalAcademy/status/1352934241798135808?s=20
2 great goals from last night, Rico..
Good afternoon everyone.
We are out. Simple as that. Did we go out with a bang?? Or a whimper?? Did Southampton win?? Or we lost it??
Imo we lost it. because weak as we were, all of you have mentioned everything so no need to add, we matched Southampton with regards shots on target (2 each) shots off target (9 each) and with regards possession we were better – 62% to their 38%. The only thing that they were better than us was how they managed the ref. Otherwise poor as we were in certain areas of the pitch we matched them and managed to lose. The difference was we did not take our chances because as Kev pointed out a sharp Martinelli would have taken that chance. Pepe 72million?? 72pence more like it. Willian, although he has gone up a level….he actually tried to work hard…..still runs around without any end product.
In the defence, Soares was a square peg in a round hole. He had a great game against NUFC only to have all his hard work undone by being played out of position. Yes we do need players who can play different positions but this fixing square pegs into round holes is detrimental to the players themselves. We need two players for each position ASAP. And if Arteta had to rotate today was not the game FFS. We faced a strong EPL side not some club sitting around 50-70 places below us. I love winning cups but even if the Champions league (we have to compete in it first) and the EPL should be tops the one I love is always the FA Cup….mainly because it is always held around my birthday (give or take 1 or 2 days before or after).
And I always love playing in the Charity shield. Honestly that is trophy I look forward to.
Southampton had a strong side out there today. If that is the strongest they could muster then us playing a weakened side was a blunder. Because as I said…..only we lost the game. They did not do enough to win it.
Yet they won it with an own goal. Against a side who had had a tepid first half and improved slightly in the second.
Can we sell Wiliian to a club from China or Japan?? Even for 10million. That would be the steal of the century.
And maybe we can find a dumb chairman willing to fork out 50 million plus for Pepe.
Agree re AMN, Balogun and Willock. I thought this fixture had their names all over it. Nelson too. I’m tired of watching certain players go through the motions without any real purposeful impact on our game..
Thanks for the link Sue
Afternoon Rico and the House.
A bad day at soton but a good day for the u18s
This morning they hammerd the SPuds 4-1
Thats 5 without defeat and moves them up to 5th.
7points behined the leaders (Fulham) with 2 games in hand.
Its looking good at the moment for the academy sides.
Am I angry and upset?? you can bet on that. And yes I am. A lot.
But I wish that at least if we lost we would have done so with our own players….like Nelson, Balogun, Maitland Niles, Willock and Chambers. Because at the end of the day I always want to gain even from a loss. Playing Willian and Pepe and to a certain extent Elneny what have we gained today?? Nothing. With those I mentioned above at least they would have had the experience.
Meanwhile, as Potter rightly pointed out, if I am one of those players and saw what happened out there today I would be knocking on Arteta’s door……not to enquire about my future though but to demand a transfer ASAP.
Afternoon Rick, that’s cheered me up. A tiny bit.
http://arsenalist.com/f/2018-19/24-southampton-goal-1-0-own-goal-incl-replays-2021-01-23.html
Xhaka-Elheny-William does not work. The team is broken.
And in my opinion, the evil is in William. He should play in the middle, but his physical availability and execution time do not follow the idea in his head. He takes refuge on the left side, where he plays better, because the time he played in the middle, more demanding and more application, is already gone. It is the weight of age.
To insist on what has cost us many points Is a mistake.
I don’t know if this was the best team available. There will be a game again on Tuesday. However, in my opinion, given the Arsenal classification, the F.A Cup would be the most important competition. Getting to 4th and going to a European competition is good, but it never takes the place of a Cup, with the inscription of the year, in a Museum.
Thank god Tierney and CDB will be back on Tuesday, today highlighted how important they both are!! I hope Auba will return also. wonder what’s happened with him?
I can’t help but feel we’ve squandered our only chance of silverware today…
I guess with the league and how unpredictable it’s been, we’re not as far behind the top 4 as you’d expect, having lost 8 already… but face quite a task finishing in the top 6… can you imagine no European football next season??!
Have to go for it in the EL…
Arteta cannot play his first XI in every single game, so I can understand his rotation, the Soares at left back didn’t work but remember all the blurb when we signed him, that is he can play both right and left back – well he can’t he’s an ok right back and an awful left back so let’s not go there again…
Martinelli just wasn’t sharp, he’s a great player, we all know that and just because he was off colour today doesn’t make him shit or Arteta wrong, it just didn’t work…
We know what we’re going to get with Pepe and Willian, 90 minutes of pulling your hair out but I did read that Pepe created the most opportunities for us during the game – yeah it surprised me as well… 😳
Elneny was poor and just how poor was shown up when Partey came on, but we know his limitations so there’s no traction in slaughtering him and I honestly don’t think that Willock or Maitland Niles would have made any difference, both of them are sloppy and continually give away soft possession with inaccurate passes.
We need to sign another centre midfielder of the same quality (or close to) as Partey.
Xhaka is ok, he’s slow I know but he’s ok, the rest are not good enough, not if we want to close the gap on those in the top four.
We have a raft of really exciting attacking midfielders in the academy but no decent defensive midfielders so we’re going to have to bring one in.
That’s why I wasn’t that keen on Buendia, I know he’s well appreciated i just don’t think he’s what we need, or should I say I’d rather see the £40m invested in another Partey type player.
A family issue apparently Sue.
I didn’t think Pepe did that much, a lot of puff but sloppy imo.
There were too many in hiding. Not one of them tried to force the issue,they just wanted to play safe and leave it up to someone.
Kev I would have preferred Willock instead of Willian in the number 10 position. While AMN should have been instead of Elneny. Yes they might misplace a few passes but surely would not have played worse than the other two.
Exactly Potter. Doing enough to collect their wage but not enough to earn a bonus. That is why I feel that Willock, AMN., Balogun and Chambers should have been in the team. Maybe Chambers is a far shot but the other three should have been in. At least they would have tried to force the issue. Or test their keeper.
Here’s more to cheer you up, Rico:
https://twitter.com/ChrisWheatley_/status/1353026254623174656?s=20
What a game that was! Hats off to Cheltenham and Ben Tozer. Fantastic performance… that is what the fa cup is all about..
I thought Cheltenham were going to be the big story of the 4th round for a while…
It’s like playing with a man down with Pepe anyway, add Willian and you’re asking for trouble.
Cedric at left back didn’t work, he was noticeably back to normal when he switched to right back. We looked so much better when Partey came on.
Unfortunately Nketiah looks lightweight(not just his physique) I like the player, he will always score, I can see him playing for a lower level Premier league team or maybe Championship. Get Balogun in the squad.
We can’t afford to lose on Tuesday, that would really affect our momentum.
COYG
So Edu and Arteta both claim that they like Balogun yet did not pick him, and looking at the team they picked and the way we played I think deep down Arteta doesn’t rank him or like him for some unknown reason
Morning all, watched the highlights again. Surely Gabriel didn’t look sharp and match fit in training to play from the start.
Secondly, we know Southampton press, why put all the slow players and slow minded play in the team.
I still feel Pepe doesn’t have the skill or will to play Midfield or winger.
For me carbon copy of Aubamiang, old style inside left.
Lastly, Nketiah needs quality wing play to be similar to van Niistelrooy. He won’t give u anything else like extreme pace to get in behind, or hold up play and not big enough to out muscle defenders.
Rico… it’s snowing!!!!
Morning Rico, yeah, I got the Pepe stats somewhere else, a reliable source usually, he said that Pepe created more goalscoring opportunities than the rest of the team combined, like you I’m not sure if I can remember that many but Pepe does stumble into a lot of dangerous situations quite a bit, losing the ball usually, all the same I can’t be arse to look for where I saw it and tbh it doesn’t really matter as it doesn’t change anything and it’s been snowing outside, so happy Sunday everyone…
I guess in the final analysis Rico, if Willian and Pepe were delivering as they should then we wouldn’t be desperately trying to complete on the Odegaard loan deal…
I suppose DG that Maitland Niles and Willock couldn’t have done any worse than Willian and Elneny as it was it was one of Elneny’s poorest performances of the season, up till yesterday he’s been ok without setting the world alight although I’m not sure he partners very well with Xhaka, he seems more effective with anyone than Xhaka.
The last time Joe and AMN played they were terrible, with them both being hooked in fact I’d say that they were as awful as yesterday’s incumbents so I’m not sure what difference it would have made?
I’m wondering how much AMN wants it at Arsenal because his laid back style when he’s taking pens which has me laughing isn’t really helping him in games. Arteta isn’t using wing backs anymore so I don’t know where Ainsley fits in, especially as the last three Arsenal managers haven’t fancied him in centre midfield. He might be worth a crack playing attacking wide midfield but I’m not sure if he’s going to be around long enough for that, the clock is ticking on him.
Just watched the episode of graham Norton with Arsene Wenger not a bad interview nice to hear him talk about the coaching side
I missed the fall Sue. 😂
Morning Kev, I think I’ve erased the match from my memory. You’re right though, Pep does seem to stumble into a good position, certainly not self made. If he had an ounce of a footballing brain, he’d have had more impact on the game yesterday. Willian imo, is finished. Runs around a bit to look busy but seldom offers anything precise in our attack, in fact a backwards pass seems to be his preference. I don’t recall hearing Xhaka’s name mentioned much during the match so that says a lot.
I’m in the ‘id have preferred to see the kids’ camp.
Root out on 186 and he looks gutted, but today he overtook David Gower and Kevin Pietersen with only Alec Stewart and Graham Gooch between him and Alister Cook as the best English batsmen…
Jimmy Anderson just keeps on rocking, 6 wickets in this test on conditions that apparently he can’t bowl on, hmm…
Just Anil Kumble above him now between him Shane Warne and the geezer with the bent arm!
Bradley, good to see you back.
Gabriel was sluggish to begin with I thought but got better as the game went on. Unlucky on the goal but did Leno give him a shout I wonder?
New post up now
Root finding some good form at the right time Kev. When is we play those cheats? 😂
Yeah, I get that Rico, it’s 6 of one and half a dozen of the other.
Whether it’s Willian or Willock or Pepe or Maitland Niles they’ve all had enough opportunities to establish themselves and none of them have done that so it kind of tells you all you need to know about the four of them, basically none of them are going to take us to where we want to go and you can probably add Elneny and Nketiah to that group of could – have – beens…
“”Whether it’s Willian or Willock or Pepe or Maitland Niles they’ve all had enough opportunities to establish themselves and none of them have done that so it kind of tells you all you need to know about the four of them, basically none of them are going to take us to where we want to go and you can probably add Elneny and Nketiah to that group of could – have – beens…””
Or never were really . We clamour to get them a chance to prove themselves but unless they take it ,they remain where they all are on the fringes.
Perhaps they need to leave their comfort zones , when they are reportedly earning around £30,000 a week where is the incentive to push .
It’s in their psyche , Saka and ESR have grasped the mettle and are pushing themselves hard but are AMN , Willock and Nketiah , or are they content ?
Sadly I can see a career path for them similar to the ones followed by Jenkinson and Afobe plus many others a gradual lowering of standard and eventual drift to lower league football or give up altogether.
Then of course we have the Willian , Pepe , Xhaka , Elneny type players who at best are squad members . These are the ones that you trade with and swap them for alternatives looking to improve .
It seems to me that we have a group of young players that should be emerging to supplement an already formed system unfortuneately they are the system that needs supplementing .
We have to be brave and cut the cancer out and start afresh tinkering on the edges is not going to work.
There is a new post up guys.
I get what you and Potter are both saying Kev, but I’d still rather see ‘our own’ guys get to play. Id argue for AMN as he’s not really played for a sustained period of time in his proper position. Yes he was terrible at left back but at right back v Everton I think it was, he was one of our better players. Imo of course.