Win Europa League: Arsenal 1 - 0 PSV Eindhoven | Thursday 20th, October | KO: 18:00 BST | BT Sport

We need to rest all our starters barring Xhaka. Some of our players are approaching the red zone.

Prediction

Arsenal 2-0 PSV

 

[AbouCuéllar]

A-M told me this Gakpo lad was the best thing since sliced bread and much better looking than @Riou , but I was much more impressed by that rastafarian Spanish lad, thought he was their best player by quite a distance and has far better hair than 90% of A-M tbh. Also only 19, so much younger than Gakpo.

Lol he’s Dutch. Named after Xavi. Was a La Masía boy. Then went to PSG.

Good talent, still young.

Yeah. Gakpo doesn’t impress me. Just not that explosive or dynamic. Saw he was on a purple patch and saw he scored a banger last Thursday in Europa so had a look and nah, nothing special still. You have to score 50 goals and make 25 assists to be interesting in the Eredivisie. PSV reminded us just how low the level is. Bodo is a superior side.

 

[Morning_woody]

Partey is very important for us . Just look at his passes and his vision and we can see how worse Lokonga is. Partey doesn't need to run too much and he is very calm on the ball

I agree on all of the above but i think it's a bit unfair to judge Lokonga when he is playing in such a demanding position. As I wrote in another thread, you have to be world class to do well as a #6 at Arsenal. In our 4-3-3 formation the #6 is all alone and when you make a mistake than there is no one to cover you. You have a huge responsibility as a #6 because you need to constantly find players in between the lines and be able to cut off counter transitions all by yourself. Partey is world class at all of the above, that is also the reason why Partey is one of the top earners at Arsenal and that is also why we struggle when Partey is out injured.
Lokonga is an #8 and not a #6 and we only play him as a #6 because Elneny is injured. I hope he will get a couple of games as an #8 with Partey behind him - when resting Xhaka. I haven't given up on Sambi just yet

 

[razörist]

Gakpo is unbelievablely hyped up. He has a banging shot, but he doesn't have the attributes to get into position to use it. He isn't fast and has no acceleration. No way he flourishes in England. I hope United drop 50 million on him.

Been telling the youtube scouts on here that but they would not listen

 

[Yousif Arsenal]

Positive news for us against Southampton they'll be without Walker-Peters and Bella Kotchap both injured.

 

[razörist]

Very bad behavior from psv supporters why throwing flares?

Apparently our fans were waving Ajax flags at them.

W imo.

 

[Erlis]

I liked yesterdays match, and watching it on TV screen makes it look much better >D. I thought the performance was great, only that the goals were missing. I thought the whole team played smoothly, with no rush as if being certain of the win, and being aware of the tight agenda of the games. I knew the win was coming just was waiting for a goal. Some great performances yesterday.

 

[Tomb Bombadil]

This isn't fifa. You don't just play your second string to rest your first team. Arteta is handling it well.

But if you controll the game and are 1-0 up you can change your forwards. Bring Nelson and Marquinhos for Saka and Jesus after the goal.

 

[Riou]

Me in the crowd last night...

 

[The_Playmaker]

If Partey is such a unique football, based on what you've said about finding someone who can do a similar job, is it really wise building our entire system and style of play that relies so heavily on a player who has only been fit to play about 50-60% of possible matches since he joined?

Also you are right it isn't fifa. You can't just play match after match with players at 100%. At some stage the toll will tell.

If we have an opportunity to give players like Saka and Xhaka a rest for 5-6 days, while reaching our goals we should be doing that. We haven't got a huge squad like City or even Liverpool when everyone's fit. We have to manage the squad correctly. Which means taking a hit on a result that isn't extremely important to help our chance in another game where the result is important.

Okay so Partey is unique because essentially, he can do everything. He can do everything because he is supremely confident and borderline arrogant. You cannot buy a player with that level of confidence in the age range of 18-22 range, especially at the base of a midfield. Fabregas is THE exception. Thats even before you consider the talent. There isn't anything he can't do.

So when building for the future, we need to really think about how we play and the players we target. We play a possession based style of play with positional rotation. Players need to be intelligent but their base line level of technique that comes before everything is that they need to be able to pass the ball. Watch another Premier League team. We take for granted how good at passing our players are. Statistically our entire back four are in the highest percentile for passing and also in the highest percentile for completed passes. Tierney is the exception who is in the 70s which may be an indicator to an upgrade. However, Zinchenko is in the 99th percentile. We will not entertain signing players who cant pass the ball.

Look at Caicedo. The flavour of the month, but his passing is ****. It isn't the team he is on or where he is playing. He cant pass well enough to play for our team just like Bissouma couldnt. There are good young players who have good short to medium passing and physicality. Kone at Monchengladbach, Fofana at Monaco, Thuram at Nice. They have the physical profile and on the eye they look good, but in reality, they simply are not good enough passers. Arteta won't entertain it. We won't sacrifice passing quality for physicality. They also dont have the mental capacity to hold the midfield.

Now. The one player we should be buying in the summer and we should go up to 100 million if needed is Rice. I see a lot of debate about Rice, but the reality is that he is so good he can play CB, CM, AM and DM. If we are talking positional rotation, he could literally drop into CB to play from there. He is a leader, he is physical and he can do it all. Statistics back it up also. He beats Partey in every passing metric except progressive passing. My opinion is that is due to the team he plays in. Watch any compilation of Rice and you will see him cutting in from the left. He is an 8 who can play 6 and CB. I would buy him over Bellingham because we could play him with Partey and with Xhaka.

The player I would bring in during the January window is Tielemans. We have been dependant on Partey, not by choice, I feel. This is why we have Zinchenko and White to aid in buildup. Partey isn't as focal when those two play, if anything its Zinchenko as he is a better passer. Bringing in Tielemans would allow us to keep everything that Partey does. Tielemans is also good at recovering loose balls which is the main thing Partey does. He juts does it in a different way. Partey isn't fast either. He can't recover, so that meme of Tielemans is irrelevant. Tielemans would be protected by two defenders either side of him during transition.

Xhaka, Tielemans and Partey come the summer would do us till the end of the season. Rice after that would complete the 4.

Any combination would work with those 4 because we have two monster CBs and our fullbacks are good on the ball.

Rice's family are Chelsea fans. He won't move out of London. We are the only club who can compete for his signature if we really wanted to. Arteta could literally call up Moyes. I would blow £100 million on him as he completes our midfield and makes it impossible to lower our floor. He is probably the future England captain also.

 

[Tell.]

You make Rice sound like Pirlo . The guy's passing is average at best.

 

[BergMan]

Rice is a very good player but £100 million? That’s double what he should be worth.

 

[Tom Mix]

Rice is a very good player but £100 million? That’s double what he should be worth.

Worth two Haalands'??? Never!!!

This isn't FIFA so when your crucial players get injured or tired your replacements are not as good. You fight a war on several fronts, you lose them all. I remember as a kid that happening to Leeds year in, year out. Always in the running for four trophies, rarely won any.

 

[ArsenalInMyHeart]

Okay so Partey is unique because essentially, he can do everything. He can do everything because he is supremely confident and borderline arrogant. You cannot buy a player with that level of confidence in the age range of 18-22 range, especially at the base of a midfield. Fabregas is THE exception. Thats even before you consider the talent. There isn't anything he can't do.

So when building for the future, we need to really think about how we play and the players we target. We play a possession based style of play with positional rotation. Players need to be intelligent but their base line level of technique that comes before everything is that they need to be able to pass the ball. Watch another Premier League team. We take for granted how good at passing our players are. Statistically our entire back four are in the highest percentile for passing and also in the highest percentile for completed passes. Tierney is the exception who is in the 70s which may be an indicator to an upgrade. However, Zinchenko is in the 99th percentile. We will not entertain signing players who cant pass the ball.

Look at Caicedo. The flavour of the month, but his passing is ****. It isn't the team he is on or where he is playing. He cant pass well enough to play for our team just like Bissouma couldnt. There are good young players who have good short to medium passing and physicality. Kone at Monchengladbach, Fofana at Monaco, Thuram at Nice. They have the physical profile and on the eye they look good, but in reality, they simply are not good enough passers. Arteta won't entertain it. We won't sacrifice passing quality for physicality. They also dont have the mental capacity to hold the midfield.

Now. The one player we should be buying in the summer and we should go up to 100 million if needed is Rice. I see a lot of debate about Rice, but the reality is that he is so good he can play CB, CM, AM and DM. If we are talking positional rotation, he could literally drop into CB to play from there. He is a leader, he is physical and he can do it all. Statistics back it up also. He beats Partey in every passing metric except progressive passing. My opinion is that is due to the team he plays in. Watch any compilation of Rice and you will see him cutting in from the left. He is an 8 who can play 6 and CB. I would buy him over Bellingham because we could play him with Partey and with Xhaka.

The player I would bring in during the January window is Tielemans. We have been dependant on Partey, not by choice, I feel. This is why we have Zinchenko and White to aid in buildup. Partey isn't as focal when those two play, if anything its Zinchenko as he is a better passer. Bringing in Tielemans would allow us to keep everything that Partey does. Tielemans is also good at recovering loose balls which is the main thing Partey does. He juts does it in a different way. Partey isn't fast either. He can't recover, so that meme of Tielemans is irrelevant. Tielemans would be protected by two defenders either side of him during transition.

Xhaka, Tielemans and Partey come the summer would do us till the end of the season. Rice after that would complete the 4.

Any combination would work with those 4 because we have two monster CBs and our fullbacks are good on the ball.

Rice's family are Chelsea fans. He won't move out of London. We are the only club who can compete for his signature if we really wanted to. Arteta could literally call up Moyes. I would blow £100 million on him as he completes our midfield and makes it impossible to lower our floor. He is probably the future England captain also.

Tielemans is a very good passer but poor defensive. Can he play in Partey's position? Maybe in our system he can be better. His fee will be lower in January

 

[Henry boi]

Thats why Lokonga will never be a good Partey backup. Although we know he has a good pass , he will never attempt such passes in the game. If Lokonga is on Parteys place in these two situations , he will most likely pass the ball back to defence or to the nearest player to the side. We were lacking this all game so Arteta had no choice but to bring in Thomas. We desparetely need a good backup DM and one who will eventually be a starter.

To be fair to Lokong very few players can make that pass

 

[drippin]

Also you are right it isn't fifa. You can't just play match after match with players at 100%. At some stage the toll will tell.

If we have an opportunity to give players like Saka and Xhaka a rest for 5-6 days, while reaching our goals we should be doing that. We haven't got a huge squad like City or even Liverpool when everyone's fit. We have to manage the squad correctly. Which means taking a hit on a result that isn't extremely important to help our chance in another game where the result is important.

I still find it amusing that our record in the UEL is almost perfect with four wins out of four games, only complain is that we haven't been more clinical. Which in turn has forced Arteta to play the important players more to quarantee a win, as 3/4 of those matches were one goal wins.

This gives us great options for the remaining matches, however they are planned for the squad.

Still people complain about Arteta's rotation, which he has done more than ETH at United in UEL for example. You just can't please some people.

 

[14Henry]

I still find it amusing that our record in the UEL is almost perfect with four wins out of four games, only complain is that we haven't been more clinical. Which in turn has forced Arteta to play the important players more to quarantee a win, as 3/4 of those matches were one goal wins.

This gives us great options for the remaining matches, however they are planned for the squad.

Still people complain about Arteta's rotation, which he has done more than ETH at United in UEL for example. You just can't please some people.

I would definitely use the PSV match to rest Xhaka, Partey, one of Gabriel/Saliba, Ødegaard, Jesus, Saka and Martinelli.

If we lose the game we only have to match what PSV do against Bodo who are no push over.

I get people say win in PSV and play the reserves against Zurich, I just think we could win at home to Zurich with fringe players and the PSV match is irrelevant.

 

[KrissKringle]

Okay so Partey is unique because essentially, he can do everything. He can do everything because he is supremely confident and borderline arrogant. You cannot buy a player with that level of confidence in the age range of 18-22 range, especially at the base of a midfield. Fabregas is THE exception. Thats even before you consider the talent. There isn't anything he can't do.

So when building for the future, we need to really think about how we play and the players we target. We play a possession based style of play with positional rotation. Players need to be intelligent but their base line level of technique that comes before everything is that they need to be able to pass the ball. Watch another Premier League team. We take for granted how good at passing our players are. Statistically our entire back four are in the highest percentile for passing and also in the highest percentile for completed passes. Tierney is the exception who is in the 70s which may be an indicator to an upgrade. However, Zinchenko is in the 99th percentile. We will not entertain signing players who cant pass the ball.

Look at Caicedo. The flavour of the month, but his passing is ****. It isn't the team he is on or where he is playing. He cant pass well enough to play for our team just like Bissouma couldnt. There are good young players who have good short to medium passing and physicality. Kone at Monchengladbach, Fofana at Monaco, Thuram at Nice. They have the physical profile and on the eye they look good, but in reality, they simply are not good enough passers. Arteta won't entertain it. We won't sacrifice passing quality for physicality. They also dont have the mental capacity to hold the midfield.

Now. The one player we should be buying in the summer and we should go up to 100 million if needed is Rice. I see a lot of debate about Rice, but the reality is that he is so good he can play CB, CM, AM and DM. If we are talking positional rotation, he could literally drop into CB to play from there. He is a leader, he is physical and he can do it all. Statistics back it up also. He beats Partey in every passing metric except progressive passing. My opinion is that is due to the team he plays in. Watch any compilation of Rice and you will see him cutting in from the left. He is an 8 who can play 6 and CB. I would buy him over Bellingham because we could play him with Partey and with Xhaka.

The player I would bring in during the January window is Tielemans. We have been dependant on Partey, not by choice, I feel. This is why we have Zinchenko and White to aid in buildup. Partey isn't as focal when those two play, if anything its Zinchenko as he is a better passer. Bringing in Tielemans would allow us to keep everything that Partey does. Tielemans is also good at recovering loose balls which is the main thing Partey does. He juts does it in a different way. Partey isn't fast either. He can't recover, so that meme of Tielemans is irrelevant. Tielemans would be protected by two defenders either side of him during transition.

Xhaka, Tielemans and Partey come the summer would do us till the end of the season. Rice after that would complete the 4.

Any combination would work with those 4 because we have two monster CBs and our fullbacks are good on the ball.

Rice's family are Chelsea fans. He won't move out of London. We are the only club who can compete for his signature if we really wanted to. Arteta could literally call up Moyes. I would blow £100 million on him as he completes our midfield and makes it impossible to lower our floor. He is probably the future England captain also.

So, assuming we have 100 million to spend on a midfielder, or any player for that matter, you want us to spend it on Rice? Ffs.

 

[The_Playmaker]

So, assuming we have 100 million to spend on a midfielder, or any player for that matter, you want us to spend it on Rice? Ffs.

Yeah. I want the 23 year old who is 188cm, good in the air, statistically in the highest percentiles for ball carrying, passing and intercepting. The guy who is the current captain of his club and probably next in line. The guy who can play CM, DM and CB. The guy who has physically the pace to recover and drive forward.

You can laugh all you want but he is playing under 2 managers who have no clue about how to structure offensive, possession based football and is still in the highest metrics for everything. Put him in our midfield and he elevated to a new level.

 

[Penn_]

Why has it become fashionable to not rate Rice? We’d be lucky to have him in our midfield.

 

[drippin]

Why has it become fashionable to not rate Rice? We’d be lucky to have him in our midfield.

Just AM things.