Morning all.
He’s gone at last and possibly never to be seen in the Premier League again. Other than hoping he’d take Man Utd into greater depths of despair, I’m glad to see the back of Mourinho. I may have gone right off Arsene Wenger as his Arsenal career came to an end but he was a gentleman compared to his Portuguese counterpart. Good riddance I say.
In other news, the racist idiot who threw the banana skin towards Aubameyang in the last NLD has been fined a miserly £500 and banned from the stands for just four years. Our striker isn’t overly impressed with the punishment and I totally understand why. A lifetime ban would have been more appropriate and would make these ignorant idiots think twice about behaving in such a way.
Finally, Blackpool scraped through their FA Cup replay against Solihull last night. 3-2 after extra time means they’re up against us on the 5th January. Should we manage to win our match tonight, we’ll have a semifinal 1st leg just 2/3 days later and then after a short trip across London to face West Ham that weekend before the fixtures calm down a little. Before then though, which is the 12th January, we’ve got eight fixtures to cram in in eighteen days. That’s if my fingers and toes have got it right. Tough going eh.
The first of those eight fixtures is tonight, a ding ding, round two. Another derby against the team whose hides we whipped not so long ago. We were pretty darn good that day and that’s the kind of level we need to be at again tonight if we want another victory. Totts will want payback I’m sure but it’s highly likely that Poch will rotate his players as he’s probably fool enough to believe his team have a chance of winning the Premier League.
Mathematically, we can too but I’d imagine no one associated with Arsenal believe we will. Instead, the focus is more likely to be on a top four spot and all three cups we’re involved in. During the 22 years of trying, Arsene Wenger never managed to win the League Cup but then he never really gave it a good go imo. This was the competition he used to give youth a chance, understandably I hasten to add as it’s the one competition which many clubs don’t treat too seriously. Unai Emery has used his squad/youth players so far too but that might change tonight as a place in the semifinals is on offer. And because it’s them of course, those noisy neighbours.
In the last round against Brentford, he fielded:
Arsenal: Leno, Lichtsteiner, Holding, Mustafi, Monreal (c), Elneny, Guendouzi, Smith Rowe, Iwobi, Mkhitaryan, Welbeck.
Subs: Martinez, Bellerin, Ramsey, Torreira, Kolasinac, Nketiah, Lacazette.
Since that match we’ve been hit by injuries. Bellerin has joined Welbeck and Holding. Mustafi, Smith Rowe and Kolasinac are doubts but Lichtsteiner has been declared fit. Sokratis is back in contention after his one match ban, as will Mustafi be should he make a late recovery. Whether Koscielny starts his third match in seven days remains to be seen but if not, it’s either youth or a makeshift partnership again. Not ideal.
So who else might he play?
’Our first idea is that we play with the best players that we can use tomorrow in this derby. The opposition is very big and it’s demanding a big performance from us tomorrow. We can use some young players because we think with a big performance, they can help us win tomorrow.’
Steady on Unai, they’re not that big…. I know what he means though, they’re not Qarabag FK are they, so fielding a very young side would not be wise. By the sounds of it he’s not going to either, perhaps one or two. Forced by our injuries no doubt. Totts have injuries too with Dier, Wanyama, Vertonghen and Dembele all missing. They have doubts over Sanchez and Foyth too.
“Football is emotion. In a derby, maybe this emotion is greater. I think showing our emotion, the players, the fans and me, is good. But every time we must respect them. When you win it’s amazing, when you lose it’s horrible. But respect is very important.
Another victory would be amazing and the perfect way to get over the loss last weekend but to do that, we need a much improved performance on the one we saw on Sunday. An evening kickoff and a full Emirates Stadium right behind the team should make for a great atmosphere and Arsenal need to use it.
Not lose it…..
I can see Ramsey getting a full 90 minutes hee possibly with the armband.
Which begs the question I put on yesterday’s post as this one was posted.
Should we bin Ozil and give Ramsey a better deal ?
Me too re Ramsey tonight, he’s a cert I’d have thought.
If we had to keep one of the two, I’d rather it be Ramsey.
Afternoon Rico and all. As long as we show some serious spirit tonight and don’t put in another limp display. Things have slipped a bit.
Calling Cicero , what’s your pub like for food on Friday ,. The family are off to Blickling but the Buckingham and Black Boy are usually packed. If they do it should I book .
G’day Rico and all.
I think Mourinho knew he was onto a loser at the start of the season, perhaps as early as his pre-season tour, he and his agent have orchestrated a campaign to get him out of Old Toilet with as much money as possible in the quickest possible time. Falling out with the club record signing Pogba was a brilliant tactic, as can be seen from the scathing comments, about the player, from the old guard such as Butt, Neville and various others. Fred and Sanchez also suffered badly under Mourinho’s rule. He has destroyed a good team and walked away with millions.
The priority for the club is to quickly appoint a Director of Football who can take the day to day running out of the hands of the banker Woodward. He should also cut Ferguson loose, it’s obvious from the appointment of two of Old Rednose’s muckers, Solskjaer and Phelan, that he still has way to much influence at the club.
I don’t think the Glazers will be happy at having to pay off Mourinho’s contract nor at the prospect of paying in excess of £30 million to Spuds for the services of Pochettino if that’s the way they are looking. Levy will be rubbing his hands in anticipation at getting such a windfall to help pay off some of the debt on the New Swamp.
Potter. try the Earle Arms at Heydon, only a ten minute drive from Blickling, a small (very small) village pub with open fires and a good menu, good prices too. Don’t expect a gastro pub, just a good honest village inn.. 01263 587376. As it’s the holidays it may be an idea to book.
To walk off the lunch, turn right out of the pub, pass the church on the right and go through the gates into the grounds of Heydon Hall. Enjoy.
Sorry Potter, turn left out of the pub, the beer can be pretty strong. 😀
Afternoon Adam, Cicero.
Not sure having Lacazette and Aubameyang commentary on the 4-2 victory of Totts all over the official site is a smart thing to do just before we play them again.
Adam, if think we might see a much improved performance on Sunday. If we don’t, it’ll be worrying.
Will pass the details to the others , who knows we might meet up in the pub one day.
Team selection is all important tonight . Do we give Eddie a run or play Lacazette or both . Maitland Niles , Willock ?
Too nasty for Saka in my opinion , I don’t want some nomark putting him in hospital he needs to be bought on gently and a NLD is anything but gentle.He will have time but will be targetted as soon as he starts to play rather like Jack Wilshere was. Kid gloves for that one.
Any bets on tonight will be one hour before kick off , hard to say before teams are announced.
Jon Moss is the ref, just saying..
Evening All.
Tonights team
Cech, Niles, Sokratis, Zhaka, Monreal,
Torria, Guendozi, Mikky, Ramsey, Iwobi, Auba.
Cech
AMN…Sokratis…Xhaka…Monreal
Torriera…Guendozi….Micky….
Ramsy…..Iwobi….Auba
Subs Martinez, Kossy, Liechstineer, Elneny, Willock, Laccazet, Eddy
Interesting team.
well that was completely shit… only positive is hopefully they now have a few big games ie semi and final sandwiched between prem games maybe drop a few points.
a) We left the Cup without honor or glory.
b) Two straight losses. The first defeat, in my opinion, moved the team’s performance. This defeat will stir more.
c) Totts have always been quieter in the game
d) The team is very confused and complicated. No ideas and a lot of fuss.
Wasted chances and two goals given away by poor defending.
Good night Gooners…..Everywhere.
Morning all:
Work beckoned, so I missed the game.
Dad tells me we squandered chance after chance, they had just a few and nailed some.
We’ve seen that often enough over the years.
Seems plenty of talk if Ozil heading to Juve.
Ronaldo will one that, and the chance to play with CR again may tempt Özil to take a lower wage.
Could be a goer, and he’s dead in the water at Arsenal.
Morning Scott, all.
I think the early miss by Mkhitaryan set the tone. If he’d have buried that chance, things might have gone differently. We’ll never know..
New post up now.