Morning guys.
Champions League football kicks off for The Arsenal tonight with an away fixture against Napoli. The Italian club has started the season a bit ropey having won just one of their opening three fixtures in the league. But, they are under new management after Conte left by “mutual consent” at the end of the season with Massimiliano Allegri replacing him.
Along with the League Cup, this is the only competition Mikel Arteta hasn’t got against his name. Could this be the season I wonder? We’ll find out in May and there’s a lot to do before then.
Last season we breezed through league phase of this competition but by the time we reached the final, many of our players were running on empty or missing through injury. As suggested yesterday, the strength and depth of our squad this season means as and when Arteta opts for rotation, there should be no drop off in our football. Different players bring different things but that’s a good thing. It makes us less predictable although I wouldn’t suggest for one minute that we are predictable this time around. I thought the set-piece Martin Odegaard simply passed into the path of Riccardo Calafiori against Chelsea was brilliant. Any touch from our left back/winger/midfielder and he’d have scored I’m sure. I wonder what else Nicolas Jover has up his sleeve? Whatever it is, I’m sure it’s something to look forward to seeing.
Allegri is known for being a pragmatic manager who puts defending at the top of his agenda. His teams are usually compact, organised and defensive. It’s highly unlikely that David Raya will be put under much pressure as Allegri and a high press don’t really go hand in hand. I watched a bit of their last home match against Como and Napoli didn’t seem to cope well with the press Cesc Fabregas’ team imposed on them. We’re good at that.
Napoli’s midfield strengths have been dented as Scott McTominay has needed to undergo heart surgery, surgery which was a success by the way but this match comes too soon for him. Added to Allegri’s problems is McTominay’s partner in crime, André-Frank Zambo Anguissa is unavailable too. Allegri has confirmed that three out of Kevin De Bruyne, Billy Gilmour, Stanislav Lobotka and Antonio Vergara will start in midfield.
Other Napoli players ruled out through injury are Alessandro Buongiorno, Giovane, David Neres and Luca Marianucci.
Up front they have Rasmus Hojlund, a flop at Man Utd thank goodness but he already has two goals against his name this season. Honestly, I wouldn’t mind him at Arsenal.
I digress…
Jurrien Timber has travelled to Italy which is good news but it’s too soon for Cristhian Mosquera and of course, William Saliba but that’s it’s as far as injuries go.
Regardless of their injuries and poor start to the season, Napoli are likely to be a tough nut to crack. We’ll be favourites I’m sure but Napoli will want to start their Champions League campaign well, especially after last season’s dismal competition.
Arsenal too will want the perfect start. On paper, we should be too strong for the Italians but football isn’t won or lost on paper. Performance and goals win games and I hope Mikel Arteta’s players have both tonight. Not that there is any reason to think they won’t.
Catch up in the comments.
Morning all.
I didn’t see the game but it sounds like we made it a lot more difficult than it should have been.
Agree re Gyokeres Potter, I like him too but he must be so frustrated. His situation is a little like Lacazette’s was. A goal scorer who didn’t really fit into Arteta’s setup. But he worked hard for the team.
Does beg the question of why sign someone of his profile when our football isn’t stupid to get the best out of him..
New post up now by the way.
Surely you mean Bukayo, Stuart.
Noni did have a one on one saved but played well otherwise. Bukuyu and Piero were also guilty of spurning gilt edged chances. But a terrific goal from our skipper and an away win in an intimidating venue is to be applauded. The team were patient, professional and I just love ’em. But not those red shorts.
I like Gyokeres as a player but I have concluded that he does not fit in this team and the way it’s set up. The problem is that I can’t think of one player that does.
We play through Odegaard and it seems to be an unwritten law that he will go to the right and feed Saka and an overlapping White. When that is cut off he will turn and spread a ball out wide left but the time it takes cuts off any movement in the middle.
Gyokeres would thrive on early passes when he can run at a back line but once he is caught up and surrounded he becomes impotent.
Tonight as we did the usual movement down our right Vik made runs to the near post but as per usual Saka cut inside looking for a curling shot to the far post . As I said earlier sadly if I were him I would be looking for a move in the next window.
Not his fault but he doesn’t fit the system which is designed for goals to be spread around .However for that to work we need to work on our finishing where it’s reported that we broke a record by having 26 shots but only 8 on target.
I’m not going to name names but I can’t help feeling that we have 2 or 3 really good players in our squad who seem to be being left behind as this team develops and evolves beyond them and their abilities and qualities.
Tzolis has every chance of being the bargain of the summer window, maybe we should shop more often in Belgium where the prices seem far less hysterically ridiculous. I reckon we could pick up a couple of really well-coached and affordable squad members from the Spanish Netherlands.
That’s what we said too.
Madueke should have scored in his one-on-one with the ‘keeper. Martinelli wouldn’t have missed the chance.
One goal, clean sheet, we march on. 🔔
But I bet he’s the one who gets lambasted.
F I was him I wiuld want to go. He moves around the 6 yard box as we go sideways by the time we get it in there he has 4 players round him
What’s Gyokeres playing like?
Let’s have Tzolis on for Eze, he keeps losing possession and his attempts on goal are pathetic..
Need to practice shooting we keep getting under it
It’s frustrating not being able to watch…
He needed that 60 Cicero..
Hi Stuart..
Gyokeres leading the line.
Good morning Rico, ‘Cinders’ and all. Cracking goal at Barca to wake me up properly. Good news about Jurien. And about Scotty M’s recovery. Always admired his work for Scotland.
England recovered to finish 156 for 4, Gay bowled for 60. The boy done good. 😉
He’s still there Rico but he looks very rocky as does our reply 52 for 3.
Pgmol just showing that they are inept
, A report recently compared the top 5 leagues in Europe and we came out the worse for mistakes and waiting for decisions . WE HAD 31 REPORTED MISTAKES TAKING 1126 MINUTES whereas Germany at the bottom had theirs resolved in 604 minutes. It was noted that in the other leagues referees tended to stick to their original decision more often than in England .All of the other leagues had over half the wrong decisions than here.
Highlights the shoddiness of the officials in public though. Webb won’t like that I’m sure..
133 all out. Need Gay to have a good afternoon now.
What’s the point of the K M I panel? They can’t alter the result of a match. They can only cause more discontent among fans already p****d off with incompetent referees by drawing attention to their failings.
Another wicket down 107 for 9.
Arsenal should’ve had penalty for Maatsen challenge in win at Aston VillaThe Key Match Incident (KMI) Panel has determined that there was one missed VAR intervention during match round two of the Premier League.
The missed intervention was at Villa Park, where Arsenal should have been awarded a penalty in their win at Aston Villa for Ian Maatsen’s challenge on Bruno Guimaraes in the second half.
The panel felt that a penalty should have been awarded on-field for what was described as a ‘reckless’ tackle from the Dutch international.
They also concluded that VAR should have intervened, as they deemed the on-field decision to constitute a clear and obvious error.
“They also felt that VAR should have intervened as the non-penalty awarded was a clear and obvious error. The panel felt that the challenge was reckless and therefore a second caution should have been awarded,” the KMI said.
No poop Sherlock!
Morning Cicero, thanks.
Just been watching England, just hope the weather hold for the next couple of days..
Excellent news about Timber, we are going to need him as White can’t do it on his own and Salmon is still a bit raw.
Good morning Rico.
First pre-match of the new campaign, and as good as ever, thank you.
Looks like we are in for a short test match again Pakistan 26 for 4 after only 50 minutes play.
I think my nickname would have to be thermo… lol
Following on from Cicero’s grate father , I have to confess that my nickname has changed since we moved to the country where there is no natural gas supply .
We have a multi fuel burner and my new name is Cinders.