Morning all.
The wheels are coming off around us aren’t they? Mike Dean had a big bust up with Maurizio Pochettino after the Toots were beaten by Burnley at the weekend, resulting in Dean being removed from their match against Chelsea tomorrow night and Poch being charged by the FA. Chelsea lost the League Cup, Kepa wouldn’t be subbed towards the end of extra time makes for a story the media are milking for headlines. They’ve even managed to print Mourinhos views on the whole thing which is hilarious in its own right. In for a penny, in for a pound, he’s had another dig at Utd too for drawing with Liverpool.
Liverpool dropping points has led to them choking another title challenge in what’s been labelled ‘their season.’ Every season though is ‘their season’ but the reality is, it never has been. 2005/06 was their last moment of glory and they’ve been living off that FA Cup ever since. Oh yes, who can forget their big night in Istanbul…. Yawn.
Finally there’s Utd who not only have been struck down with injuries after the weekend but they have a problem with big bucks Alexis Sanchez who simply hasn’t been the star player they thought they were getting. Apart from being much richer, I bet he wishes he’d stayed at Arsenal. Marc Overmars thinks he could return..
All the above is doing us a favour really. Our Ozil storyline has dropped down the pecking order, Xhaka has been getting good reviews after his performance against Southampton and believe it or not, Shkodran Mustafi made the Premier League team of the week. Depending on whose team you view. The drum roll though goes to an Alan Shearer comment on Arsenal, or rather Sead Kolasinac:
“It was a constant all afternoon, him looking to get into forward positions with his pace going forward. He was the first to react a lot of the time, that’s your left-back there [in the middle of the box] supplying chances.
“He was driving the ball forward, [playing the] give and go, getting in behind and so much energy and that didn’t change for the whole game.
“He played that left-back role and look at how impressive he is to try and get forward. “He got into superb positions and he was a threat constantly, and he had to do his bit defensively as well. I thought he was superb.”
I reckon Shearer must have some kind of virus…
Top of the tree though is Arsenal and a clean sheet. Who’d have predicted that eh? Things really are looking up.
Ok, I jest a bit but not conceding is a confidence booster, or it should be. We allowed Southampton too many dangerous moments in the box but those little things can be worked on although I feel like I’ve been writing that for the last ten years. At least!
Chances will always come and go and even the best teams in the world will present opportunities for their opponents to score. Sevilla v Barcelona at the weekend was proof of that but it’s what a team does to stop those opportunities turning into goals what counts isn’t it? Either that or just score more than the number conceded which is just what Barcelona did, what City did in their last Champions League match and what we did earlier in the season. 1-0 or 3-2, it’s still only three points won.
Which would you prefer to watch. Lots of goals and a victory, or a Mourinho style victory? I know, somewhere in between…
Good morning Rico, am I still asleep and dreaming? Praise for an Arsenal defender? Oh! Hang on minute, praise for an Arsenal defender…..attacking! Not defending! Now that makes more sense. Back to the land of Nod. 😴
Morning Cicero, I think he said Kolasinac defended well too. I’ve been in shock… lol
Morning Gooners
Morning Rico, I see that Abou Diaby has retired, a rather sad end to a career that should have seen him become a massive player for us rather than the subject of numerous sicknote jokes borne out of the frustration of Arsenal fans knowing how much we really needed a player with his dynamic qualities.
It makes you wonder how much more Wenger could have achieved during that period with a fully fit Abou Diaby and Tomas Rosicky?
Morning Kev. Yep, two very talented players robbed of their career. One thanks to a fellow player, the other through just bad luck…
Kev, if he and TR7 stayed healthy, we’d have won titles.
Morning all.
You know I kind of respect Brendan Rogers for his, reported, decision to leave Celtic in favour of a move to Leicester. At the Scottish club he is assured of more trophies at least for this season and probably the next, by which time Rangers may be in a better position to compete with Celtic. At Leicester he is assured of only one thing, a mid-table finish in the Premiership.
Maybe the money is better but the competition will be vastly fiercer and perhaps that is what he hankers after. Good luck to him, I say.
Me too Cicero, he clearly fancies a challenge.
Best thing Diaby did was boot Terry in the face… 😜
Rico, volley of the century.
Emery seems to want two wide players who can run with the ball and supporting the lone striker, with those wide forwards themselves supported by fast overlapping full backs.
At the moment, Emery has Alex Iwobi on the left, who plays nearly every game and has certainly improved under Emery even if his finishing still needs work. He has a way to go to convince everyone, but I like him.
On the right Emery has his other ‘favourite’ Mkhitarayan, another player who divides opinion, but there’s no doubt in my mind that Arsenal have looked a lot better since he returned from injury. You feel that there’s a lot more that he can give but for some annoying reason he tends to drift out of games. I think he misses Bellerin a lot as we all do and just as Iwobi looks more effective in tandem with Kolasinac and misses him if he’s absent.
Therefore the signing of Denis Suarez may make more sense than we think, because in Suarez, Emery has a wide forward, who can run with the ball and can play either wide right or wide left, offering an alternative to both Iwobi and Mkhitarayan and allowing Emery the option to rotate.
The importance of our full backs and the age of Monreal and Lichtsteiner make it pretty clear to me that another pair of full backs, who Emery can rotate with Hector and Sead, is a top priority for next summer if possible…
Maybe the need of a new centre half isn’t as crucial as we think in the short term if Mavropanos can get a few games under his belt to confirm what we all hope and that is that he’s a bloody good defender, allied to the return of the much improved Rob Holding next summer.
Of course if we can source another quality centre half that can allow us to sell Mustafi and Chambers, then that’s not a bad thing, Koscielny has surprised us all with his level since returning, but at 33 how much long has he got?
Sokratis has been a great signing and is still young enough to give us few good years yet and then there’s the promise of Zach Medley, that’s if we don’t flog him first..!
Kev, Kozzer has not surprised me-he’s a gun 🙂
Great post and you have offered plenty of food for thought!!!
Whether or not Emery gets the right players, I’m positive he won’t sign anyone without having out a hell of a lot of thought into it, as finances alone dictate we get the best we can for every dollar spent.
Let’s hope Suarez does well and I reckon he will.
Kolasinac defends poorly and is slow to react defensively. It’s one of the reasons why the defense has to be well organized and make compensations and coverages, which is bad.
The same goes for Bellerin, who defends much better.
I do not speak MN or Liechteiner. Jenkinson I do not know if he’s Arsenal player anymore.
Dont forget Amaechi and Saka can run with the ball ! 🙂
Or get Walcott back he can run without the ball ! 🙂
Think I should move to Oz for the cooler weather ! 😎
Thanks for the inspiration Kev… 😆
New post up now