Morning all.
I don’t know if Mikel Arteta suffers with his nerves but he simply can’t sit down, let alone sit still. His chatter can be heard from start to finish, his orders barked clearly. Well, I guess so although I can’t tell when he switches away from English. Whatever he’s saying, it seems to be working, certainly since Boxing Day. Perhaps much of that is down to the players being more willing to listen. More willing to work, more willing to run.
No Tierney, no Aubameyang, no problem. Pepe upped his game, Cedric was solid and Xhaka was far more affective than he was at the weekend. Partey superb. As for Lacazette, he seems to have a huge spring in his step. His work rate has always been good but now his all round game is so very different. Much improved in my opinion. Would he have scored the same kind of goal six weeks ago? I don’t think so. He’ll be disappointed he didn’t bury his chance in the opening minute of the game but he certainly made up for it afterwards.
What is there left to say about Saka. 19 years old and he just gets better and better. Having half shot, half crossed one which ended up flying past the post, he too made up for the miss by rounding the Southampton keeper and finish like a top class striker. Xhaka’s pass to Pepe was perfectly placed and perfectly weighted. Finished perfectly our number 19 who seemed to enjoy playing on the left far more than he does on the right. But then a left footed player suits the left more because the need to always cut inside, predictably so, is removed from his game. If Aubameyang can’t play on Sunday, perhaps it’s not all doom and gloom after all. Plus there’s Martinelli too.
Then of course there was the cross field pass from Cedric which landed at Saka’s feet. No control needed just a first time hit across the box and there was Lacazette, determined to get a touch. He did.
Taking my Arsenal hat off for a moment though, what a belter of a shot it was from Armstrong to open the scoring for Southampton. Leno got his hand to it but it’d have to have been made of steel to stop that one. Unlike the free kick late in the game which he saved well, just as he did during the first half to stop ache Adams from scoring.
All in all, I thought we played really well against a good, high pressing Southampton team which many pundits are raving about, including those on BT Sport prior to kick off. We pressed ourselves, we forced defensive errors and we forced Southampton to stop playing out from the back on every occasion. Yes, we were good. A superb three points on the road.
Unlike that lot in west London with Frank Lampard, the Arsenal board stood by Mikel Arteta during his tough time. Rightly so I thought at the time and still do. Rome wasn’t built in a day, yes, that old chestnut but it’s true, it wasn’t. Arteta needed time to sort the squad, remove the shirkers and I think trouble makers too, and move this squad forwards with younger and more energetic players. Willian slipped through the net I think but I’d imagine he knows he won’t last long if he doesn’t do more. Arteta and Edu seem to be more ruthless than their predecessors.
Anyway, I enjoyed watching Arsenal play the way they did. Not just because we won but it was very clear that every single player out there wanted to win and that’s the way it’s been in the League for a few weeks now. Long may it remain……
Injury update from the manager:
Emile Smith Rowe…
He was injured for the game in the FA Cup so he wasn’t available. We knew that he probably could not play the whole game today. He has some muscular discomfort so he had to come off again.
Partey having cramp…
We don’t know, we don’t know. He was feeling some discomfort and hopefully it’s nothing, but he was struggling.
on whether Tierney could return for Manchester United…
I don’t know. He wasn’t available against Southampton in the FA Cup, he was injured. He’s still injured today. Let’s see how he progresses for the game against Man United.
on Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang…
No [there’s no update] but I love how they support each other and how they protect each other. Auba is having a difficult time. We are all behind him and this win is for him.
Fingers crossed ESR, Tierney and Partey are fit for the weekend and whatever Aubameyang is going through, I hope it’s not too bad.
See you in the comments.
Hooray for the new post, well done Rico….
Morning all. Good report rico, very good win, good performance. Cedric was the biggest gain as he was much improved on his last performance on the left.
To not miss Tierney shows how well he did. Leno is making a great save every match recently, so pleased for him because it wasn’t his fault he got injured and that we sold a superb goalie that we loved, so cheaply.
Saka, only a bad injury can surely stop him going to the very top. England will switch him from left wingback to right wing!
Partey unspectacular but just the effective player we needed, and his excellent ball control just when you think he’s turned into trouble!
Lacazette is more of a team player than Auba, we need both firing, but he is far more in tune with the younger players.
Luiz had some very bad touches, and knew it, Gabriel back up to speed soon I hope to form a partnership with Holding. Along with Mari, the best three CBs we have had to choose from for a while.
Nice when it all comes together. Just need a little more inventiveness on a regular basis and we aren’t too far away.
Good morning Rico. Amid all the well deserved praise for Saka let’s not overlook another fine performance from our new “Mr. Reliable” Rob Holding. Calm and alert he bailed Luiz out on a couple of occasions and managed a couple of goal attempts too.
On another note, Jack Wilshire scored for Bournemouth last night, his first goal for eighteen months. It’s good to see you back, Jack.
Morning Rico and the House.
Can I say go easy on Auba I hear there is a death
in his family. At this moment I know how he must
be feeling.
The frequency of games is going to have an effect, look at Southampton, I wonder if they now regret voting against the 5 subs and the opportunity to rest players during matches, well you get what you deserve.
Mention in dispatches for Rob Holding, Xhaka and Pepe.
Pepe seemed to be playing more centrally, Rob it seems just wins everything in the air and Xhaka for all his lack of pace doesn’t stop working for the cause, a right team man.
I had a feeling that that might be the reason Rick, my guess was that it was Covid related.
To be fair nobody has dug him out anywhere that I’ve read, you’d have to be a complete moron to not to appreciate the times we are living in, but thanks for the info mate.
Sorry to hear about you sad news Rick…
Morning all.
Firstly, on Auba-whatever the problem is, I hope he’s getting privacy, and all the support he needs.
Is this issue something that’s sudden, or has it been on his mind for months-who knows but no matter the problem, i hope he comes out the other side a happy and healthy man.
Now to the game, as I said earlier, I think we were brilliant.
Every player stood up and without trying to take anything away from Saka, Laca etc etc as every guy mentioned here and in the media deserve the applause, but gee I reckon Holding and Leno are building into bloody brilliant Arsenal players.
Soares was all at sea on the weekend, but was brilliant last night.
I could go on but again, every player was fantastic!!!
The talk a while back that Arteta had lost the dressing room was rubbish, imo, and I said that at the time.
Any player he’d “lost” wasn’t worth keeping anyway and we March on.
One last word (for now), the goal Pepe scored showed something he hasn’t yet offered us.
He shrugged off the defender, with tenacity and strength and no urge to go to ground.
Loved it.
Every bit of it.
Still a long way to go though so while I’m ecstatic, I’m not getting too carried away 🙂 🙂 🙂
There you are. Had to keep refreshing for the post.
For the benefit of everyone who want to see Jack score a good goal here it is……
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5h3MK4Gjyz8&feature=emb_title
He had a good game as well. Wearing the number 11 shirt he gave a good account of himself. I am glad and happy for him. I just wish that Arteta gave him a chance till the end of the season to rest and rotate with ESR. Yes I know about his injuries but I feel he would have helped ESR much more than anyone else in all aspects of his game.
Scott its ok to be ecstatic and happy. and no you are not getting carried away. its not a false dawn either.
Leno and Holding are growing yes. And the reason Soares was better was due to not having Gabriel in defence. He had Luiz and had it been Mari he would have played much better imo. Gabriel is a good solid defender but I feel that Covid took a little bit of his edge and it showed in his rustiness during the weekend. Covid is not a joke and even if you are asymptomatic it will still leave effects on anyone who has it. It affects everyone differently and there are cases where it affected balance or alertness or agililty. we only know around 70% of the side effects. There is still a lot more to be discovered especially long term. But be prepared for a topsy turvy few games from Gabriel till the end of season.
Yesterday all players pulled their weight. Even Willian did his bit when he came on and he harassed their players as well. He put in a good shift in the time he was given. Maybe for now it is better that he is used as a sub coming on late in the game till he finds his feet.
What I did not agree with was the fact that for the last five minutes over the 90, Arteta should have at least bought on Chambers to give him a few minutes. From now till the end of the season we are going to have at least 20 more cup finals, 18 in lge and 2 in Europa lge. So no games in which he can experiment and give him minutes. I would have subbed Pepe for Chambers instead of Willock.
Devil, Gabriel most definitely needs to be treated with kid gloves for a while.
You could well be right abut the reason for Soares improving, but I think his positioning was also much better yesterday.
Either way, he’s shown his versatility and for the price, what a bargain 🙂 🙂
Things certainly looking much better now
Covid can be worse than muscular flu because while it attacks the coronary system it also can affect the central nervous system and that in turn weakens alertness, reaction time and also strength. Due to the fact that it affects the coronary system and muscles the chances of tiring earlier is high. So the body needs more time to recover and also to regenerate. Muscle fibres, which previously would have recovered in a day or two now would need more to recover. So yes you are right Scott….we need to treat those players with kid gloves. And the most important thing is that the players themselves do not take risks, but keep themselves safe and take all precautions.
Testing, earlier post vanished, told home broadband off for 3 days, worlds going downhill! But at least Arsenal won!
Power cut over , off to read post.
Apparently Odegaard will wear the No.11 shirt…
No developments regarding Torrieira to Monaco or Guendouzi to PSG or Mustafi, only four days to go guys so you’d better sort yourself out…
Morning Kev. I would love to see both Torreira and Guendouzi leave but only for money. No part exchange for me. And certainly not Draxler. If Mustafi is to leave (his dad has denied it) he will free more money with regards wages as well. I value Guendouzi at 30 million while Torreira at 25 million. That would be a cool 55million to work with.
And if Mustafi were to leave that would free us from heart in your mouth moments besides the money from his wages.
Morning all
Good win. Good win.
Off to listen to PMQs! It’s better than any stand up currently available, including ‘would I lie to you?’
Refreshed, I’ll be back!
Apart from the early mix up we looked the better team throughout . I would imagine that following Holding’s comments about their dead ball ability that Pepe got a severe talking to after not being aware of his man or the space 3 minutes in.
From then on we were just too quick for thwem and reversed the tactics from the weekend with better players.
The table looks a bit better now but with so many cancellations once the games in hand have been played it may not look quite so rosy.Still points on the board as they say.
To climb the table we cannot afford any more set backs and the United match will be quite illuminating and give us a guide to what we can expect.
The Norwegian’s arrival may tell us more about Ceballos than Smith-Rowe but with each carrying calf problems I can see the value of the move . Lets hope he hits the ground running .
Wavy , PMQs was about as insightful as mud , Starmer going on a rant , Johnson bumbling half answers and every Scot especially Blackford requesting more money for absolutely anything . Had the SNP spent a bit more time preparing for the January change instead of trying to derail it t
hey and their businesses might not be having the problems that they are now facing.
Mind you as the ?? deal ?? was taken to the wire this was always likely . We should have stopped negotiating in July and had 5 months to iron out a way of handling the paperwork instead of coupling a fudge together at the last minute.
Great result,everyone worked their socks off.Pepe took his goal well,Saka is just brilliant.Soares solid,Holding too.The only weaker links for me were Bellerin – it will be interesting what happens when Tierney returns,and a couple of shaky Luiz moments.
I’m sure others have commented but the ref was atrocious.
On to Old Trafford,let’s keep the run going.
Yes the Pepe booking was a farce , It should be rescinded but it wont be.
Andrew, ‘twas the spelling of your name.. lol
That’s really sad to hear re Auba….
Afternoon all.
Potter, games in hand does not mean points on board. There is no guarantee that those with games in hand will win them. They might draw or lose them.
The most important thing is that we keep on winning……each and every game from now till the end of the season.
Is it impossible?? yes to us it might seem that way. But we went a season unbeaten. So half a season is not beyond us.
Limey, the United game is at The Emirates.
Ah yes, I forgot to mention Rob Holding. Mr Dependable at the back.
Looks like Benfica are objecting to moving our EL fixture.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/sportsnews/article-9192885/Footballers-play-March-internationals-countries-PMs-quarantine-list-NOT-exempt.html
Cedric Soares is still listed as a Southampton player. lol 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
Have we signed a left back yet?
Hi Rico.. Auba released a statement:
https://twitter.com/Aubameyang7/status/1354463499884392450?s=20
Hi Sue, that’s positive news. Glad his mums health is improved.
The announcement today by the Prime Minister that all travellers arriving in the UK from high risk areas, including Portugal, must be isolated in selected hotels for ten days, means that our Europa League match with Benfica will most likely be played in a neutral country. That is if it goes ahead at all. Benfica have been hit by are high number of positive tests and may not be able to field a competitive side.
That’s in the link 8 posted earlier Cicero. 😆
Apparently, Benfica are objecting to a neutral ground.
What Benfica are certainly not considering, and I feel sure about it, is that they must come to England at least 10 days before the game at the Emirates. That means that since the game will be held on the 25 February, they will have to come immediately after the game on the 14 Feb so that the 10 days will be over on the 24 Feb meaning they can be free to go out in England.
Now considering that on the 14 Feb they have a game against Moreirense, then on the 18 Feb they have their home game against us, then on the 21 Feb they have a game against Farense while on the 25 they have our game.
So if they play hardball with us I presume our club is intelligent enough to point this issue out to them. Honestly they cannot afford to do that.
I feel that it will be played in a neutral venue. Possibly both games.
That’s great Cierco,I’ve always hated Old Trafford.
Nice result Burnley beating Villa 3-2, that’s another one of their games gone without a win!
Likewise the Fulham Broadway Oiler’s 0-0 is very handy, yes the chasing pack is closing up.
DG, yeah mate I reckon £25m for Torrieira is about right but I’m not sure about £30m for Guendouzi as his reputation is sure to go before him, I don’t really want either of them back so get what we can and move on.
Mustafi probably wants a free and all his wages paid up for him to leave this month and that’s not happening. I’d keep him until the summer as we can still register him and use him if need be, we surely don’t need to register Runarsson, but who knows with our club?
There is another option, either Arsenal or Benfica withdraw or UEFA decide to award one or the other a bye depending on who they feel is most to blame.
The lawyers will be licking their lips!
I bet both clubs will lose out Kev.
Tbh Rico I’m finding all this a bit tedious, I’d rather finish high in the League than risk any of our players getting infected by Benfica players and officials, it’s not worth it.
Mancs lose, Leicester draw at Everton, all good results for us, keep it up lads. 😄
Same here Kev. It’s not worth the risk.
Some good results tonight.
If we beat Man U on the weekend and with their loss last night let’s start the sack Man U coach and take the pressure off Arteta
Nah Geoff, we want some of these clubs to stick with their managers hahahahaha
Just read in a news paper from Perth Australia Auba absent was due to his mum’s ill heath, The good news is Auba said His mum’s heath is now improving and he is heading home. hope she makes a full recovery.
Morning all.
New post up now
It hasn’t reached Norfolk yet. 😉