This should be relatively straightforward, the new manager bounce not withstanding.
The starting xi picks itself, unless Partey is not fit enough to start and Lokonga takes his place.
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I F*****g hope you are rightThat city game showed me we can beat them, I am very confident we will win in a couple of weeks times at the emirates.
Win against Brentford and beat city and we’re laughing, this game will be completely forgotten. Have to keep our heads.
Brilliant postBeen out this evening but the game still weighing heavy on my mind. A few thoughts:
- Why is Nketiah not encouraged to drift out to the wings to link up they way Jesus does? I'm not buying this idea that he can't do it. Yeah he can't do it to the level that Jesus does but hardly any forwards in world football can. But he didn't do it ONCE. Makes our play really predictable at times. Switch out to nelli/saka who then either try get to the by line or try a give and go with Ødegaard/xhaka. Rinse and repeat. Some of the chaos has gone from our attacking play.
- Pretty sure sth isn't right with BW. We joke about it but for real. Tomi should be starting and Ben needs to purge his demons.
- If we're not going to be providing ANY options to our lw, either from the fb or the left 8, then we should be playing trossard instead of martinelli. But really I don't understand why we need both Zinchenko to invert AND Xhaka to stay compact. Xhaka only really started making those runs of his after the 70th minute.
- WTF has happened to our set pieces?
- It's sometimes easy to forget that we have a ridiculously young attack. They sometimes lack composure, and it shows. Nketiah when he took that shot - the fact that it was such an awful attempt kinda distracts you from the fact that Martinelli had made a REALLY good run and was a very simple ball away. Saka with that right foot volley - don't get me wrong I never expected him to get that on target with his weaker foot. But it was SO similar to the situation Mitoma found himself in against liverpool. I reckon he could have tried to flick it over the onrushing defender with his right and almost certainly would have got a penalty as that guy (don't remember who it was) was fully committed.
- When one or two players have an off day, you take a long hard look at them. When half the team has an off-day, it's somewhere else you should be looking... We did not look ready for that game. Which is weird, coz everyone knew exactly how Dyche would approach this.
- In the big scheme of things, it's not the end of the world. Complacency is a fact of life. It's almost inevitable you start coasting at some point when everything is turning up roses. It's better we get brought back down to earth now than in the proper run in. City will drop points this season, they're just not the same outfit. I still think we're favourites, but only just.
He’s also still learning his trade, to be fair@BigPoppaPump
All jokes aside, Saliba is slightly Kos like when you watch him.
Both very good (William with a higher ceiling) but something off about the way he does some things.
Especially when you compare him to Gabriel, who I thought was very strong back there...Saliba got a little rattled, not for the first time either.
So what was the big idea in playing him on the FA cup game then? Still waiting for the advocates of this to defend their viewpoint. Not that I'm expecting them to. People here are vociferous in stupid opinions before games and slink quietly away when their daft ideas are exposed.That Partey sub was definitely pre planned, clearly a little injured.
The main issue with him, you can't really trust him to be fit...and he's our most important player too, ffs!
Think Vieira only had 1 season in 9 for us, were he didn't make at least 30 league appearances...while the only real time Gilberto was out for us was when he literally broke his back, but he wasn't even injury prone after that.
Miss that kind of reliability/availability from Thomas, can't lie.
Tarkowski is no giant, it comes down to desire- the desire to challenge the ball. If Ødegaard ever went to an Irish wake, he’d be thrown around the place like snuff. Man up you f**kin lightweight captainWell if they’re blocking you’d want someone bigger than Ødegaard to block Tarkowski. Obviously Ødegaard should have just done a better job of it anyway.
Dunno mate, Arsenal is by far the best team in the league away from home. The table reflects that too so Arteta has got it predominantly right in that aspect this season.It's very easy to speak after the game but i really think Mikel should change his approach when we go to places like Everton and Southampton. The sexy football is not enough over there. It's 80% about how we can sustain the physical match-ups.
He needs to play the players you can trust in those physical games. I really think Tomiyasu and Tierney should have started at Everton. They are more equiped for the defensive battles than BW and Zinchenko.
Also Ødegaard has almost always struggles in those physical away games in the past. Reinforcing the midfield with Jorginho was also an option.
I understand he wants to impose our style on the whole league but you just can't hide from the physical battles in the PL so there is no shame in changing the starting 11 when you know what to expect...
Yeah fair points about Eddie & Martinelli they certainly couldn't affect the game but as said I think credit must go to Everton. Even Saka struggled & he is easily the best all round 'footballer' in that front 3.Well said. I think Nketiah was quite bad like Martinelli. Worst games from both I think. It's not easy when your striker and LW both have a bad game.
Once teams start doubling up the full backs need to be instructed to overlap because once Sake or Martinelli pass the ball back they basically have to reset. One thing that would have helped the game overall was Eddie though. He completely disappeared bar a few moments.
nothing wrong with this we won 16 from 20 playing like this but our wingers are isolated and little support Arteta need to change the shape bit more just allow White and Zin to overlap more you can't expect Martinelli to preform wonders when he alone against tow defenders same with Saka.
Maupay is an absolute b to play against & really winds me/Arsenal up.
Maupay was casually strolling out post match. Should have been careful as Ty could be lurking
Our game in hand over City are these goons at tge Emirates.. let's batter them there
Today physically we were not up to it - looked like all the players were in the same boat. Probably the first game this season it's been the case, so don't know if it's worth bringing in the "physical" players for this type of game. We were also very slow and poor on the ball today; it won't be helped by bringing in the non technicians.It's very easy to speak after the game but i really think Mikel should changes his approach when we go to places like Everton and Southampton. The sexy football is not enough over there. It's 80% about how we can sustain the physical match-ups.
He needs to play the players you can trust in those physical games. I really think Tomiyasu and Tierney should have started at Everton. They are more equiped for the defensive battles than BW and Zinchenko.
Also Ødegaard has almost always struggles in those physical away games in the past. Reinforcing the midfield with Jorginho was also an option.
I understand he wants to impose our style on the whole league but you just can't hide from the physical battles in the PL so there is no shame in changing the starting 11 when you know what to expect...
Tbf we are normally decent from corners so i wouldn't read too much into yesterday's goal.Well if they’re blocking you’d want someone bigger than Ødegaard to block Tarkowski. Obviously Ødegaard should have just done a better job of it anyway.