Arsenal v Forest Preview/ Lineup: Let’s Blast Away That Insult of a Performance in Eindhoven

TotalArsenal

Forest, apparently also nicknamed The Tricky Trees, which I love, come to the Home of football for a 2pm kick off. Despite a poor PL start, Steve Cooper has all the confidence of the owner, Evangelos Marinakis, who even rewarded his head coach with a new contract, recently. Well, I like this sort of vision and trust in a manager: a breath of fresh air.

Forest have spend money and brought in bus loads of new players, and of course it will take time for the manager to turn them all into a football machine. I like it that the famous two time European Cup winners are back in the PL, and I hope they survive, but today we will need to give the Garibaldi (another great nickname) a proper hiding.

The Canon will be red hot and the Gunners fired up after the Eindhoven insult of a performance. The Big bounce back is required and I expect the boys to be pumped up in front of the loyal home crowd. Honour and pride are at stake here, our values need to be reemphasised, and our place at the top of the table retaken.

Lineup

Well our good friend Le Gall said it all in the last post:

For what it’s worth, I would have loved Mick to give BigBill, BigGab, and GabMart a rest, and try something new, like
Ramsdale
Tomiyasu-White-Tierney
Nelson-Partey-Xhaka-Saka
Odegaard
Nketiah-Jesus
BUT
Ramsdale
White-Saliba-Gabriel-Tomiyasu
Partey
Saka-Odegaard-Xhaka-Martinelli
Jesus
… it’ll be!!

Le Gall is right with his last predicted lineup of course, and I would definitely not like to see any experimenting this afternoon. Let’s play our strongest team and at full tilt.

Come On You Rip Roaring Gunners!!!!!!

By TotalArsenal

126 thoughts on “Arsenal v Forest Preview/ Lineup: Let’s Blast Away That Insult of a Performance in Eindhoven”

  • Thanks, TA. My concern is with the two key players we have on 4 yellow cards, who risk a suspension against Chelsea, should they cop another caution today.

    Granit Xhaka and William Saliba have to tread carefully today.
    COYG!!

  • We’ve been blessed to be able to have the consistency of lineups lately. Now we just need to regain our ealier form. Have we been a little off, or have teams adjusted to what we were doing?

    I think we can get back to a higher standard, because we see short periods of excellence, domination, it’s only that we see less of them.

    It would be nice if Jesus can get back that confidence from preseason. Would lift everybody up.

  • Jesse Lingard and Morgan Gibbs-White will have something to prove; having had a whole week to prepare, they may be the more energetic team, the longer the game goes. So, an early goal or two will help.
    Taiwo Awoniyi will run and run, putting himself about too. Needs to be watched. But then, they have to watch our entire front five.

  • 1-0 to the Arsenal off a pure poacher’s goal by Martinelli, from a pin-point cross by Saka. I struggled to find GJ9 around the box for the goal. He needs more goas and has to stay in the frame for that to happen.

    Forest are fighting back and test Ramsdale with a straight shot.

  • Saka is limping badly. Martinelli nearly gets his second but for a goal line clearance, after Xhaka squares a dangerous ball into his path.

  • After trying to run it off, Saka succumbs to his ankle injury. Reiss Nelson comes on for him. First Premier league start for him. Hopefully, he stays calm and plays his game.

  • It sounds like we have struggled to overcome the loss of Saka and played less after his substitution. But 1-0 is a good score and Arteta can now refocus the team for the second half.

  • 1-0 at the break. We have to one better than this scoreline; it only gives the opposition hope for the rest of the match. We need to press our advantage and get as many as we can. Gabby Jesus needs the goals and we must play for him to get them. Trossard already has 6 or 7 goals in the league and he is a midfielder not on the class of Debryuyne….

  • Didn’t realize there is a domestic game in between. If that’s the case, they’d better do well to get the yellow card today, so as to be s upended for the cup game (can’t believe I am suggesting something so sinister in the game.

  • TA, if you have internet, then you can watch some of the streams…

    Nobody is bad from us so far, Saliba, Tomi and Martinelli are particularly good. Xhaka, Partey and Jesus should step up. Maybe even Gabriel, but I would be content if he won’t have to face big tasks today.

    If we score a second goal, I’ll be relaxed. So far this could be Southampton all over again, except from being at home, playing against a recently promoted side who is searching for its own identity.

  • Eris, we play at Chelsea next Sunday and host FC Zürich mid-week.
    The Carabao Cup fixture against Brighton – of which I’m not sure being a lighter challenge – will take place on the 9th of November (Wednesday night) in the Emirates.

    I hope Xhaka won’t get a yellow card as he will sit out our last EL group game anyway, so he can rest for the derby at Stamford Bridge.

  • Yeah guys we need a bit extra from Gabriel today. I will never fault him for his workrate and he does a lot for us, but now and again we him to ripple the net.

    Streams never work for me. PB. But will have a look.

  • Try this, TA…

    LIVE STREAM on your Mobile/PC

    Arsenal vs Nottm Forest
    bit.ly/3UbnGRq

  • Ben White has been excellent, pitching in all the way on the left side, a vital blocked shot in a moment of danger.

    We actually got off 2 good shots that were going past the keeper but we’re blocked ..one by Partey, another quick touch from Martinelli. Still too close for comfort. Don’t want a replay of last week where we regret not taking advantage while we were fresh and dominating.

  • Reiss Nelson at the double!!!
    3-0. GJ9 is being unselfish but I’d just want him in among the goals.

    Nelson on a hat-trick.

  • Keeper saved from GJ9. He just can’t catch a break, these days. We’ll, this is just the game for it.

  • Arteta makes a double change. Martinelli and Tomiyasu off for Vieira and Cedric, respectively.

  • GJ9 misses another good half chance; he should have lobbed the keeper there. Another chance for him; again, should be hitting that first time.

  • GJ9 misses what I’d call a sitter. A flick off the head of Ben White and he just needed to make contact at the base of the far post. He missed the flight/bounce of the ball.
    Team should just play him in on goal…
    Another chance for him blocked. Lol.

  • Game over. Our first clean sheet at home. Great watch, even though one sided. Should be our biggest win at home in a while.

    For a team that beat Liverpool last time out, I was concerned about how we would navigate the game against Forest. For me, this was a statement win. A demolition job, indeed.

    Back to the top and 2 clear of City.

  • Great result and shame that it was not live on TV in UK. Haven’t really understood the logic of this. PB I thought streams in UK don’t work properly. So didn’t try this time and heard the audio on Arsenal.com.
    It actually better if Arsenal.com can stream for a Tenner these kind of games. I remember way back in the invincible season or may be the earlier one in bought an Arsenal game against Southampton for 5 quids. It was value for money as Bergkamp master class was on display and we scored 7. So worked out less than a quid a goal.
    Shame really that in 2022 we can’t watch a game live on TV with multitude of useless channels

  • I couldn’t be happier for Nelson. My dream is that he’ll do an Nketiah from last season. Prove his value to Arsenal, and take the challenge of renewing to be part of this exciting team. Not even calling it a project, because we have liftoff.

  • Woohoo! Captain Fantastic and the green grass cowboys. That was worth getting up for. Other than losing Bukayu (those Forest rascals certainly targeted him early) and our Jesus not able to shake the rust from his shooting boots, that was a very fine performance. He worked so very hard tho’, on his toes and on every defenders toes. MO8 was sublime. My sermon this coming Sunday is titled, “Vikings and Saints”. Martin is a bit of both. He has both a sword and a halo.

    If LeGall could perhaps have a few more Sunday afternoon dinner parties… 😁

  • The Arsenal Ladies have now taken a more comfortable lead over West Ham ladies, in the WSL. A come from behind lead too…

  • Gentlemen I’m forced to suspend the competition for a while.

    Last week I had an Ablation treatment on my liver and it’s taking a lot longer to heal than I’d considered. I have to sit with my feet raised out in front of me and I cannot do that in front of my computer.

    All of the results are already logged in my data base so nothing will be lost – other than the time it takes me to heal.

  • GN 5 take care and hope you recover fast. Don’t worry about the competition , just sit back and recover fast.

  • Saw the goals on YouTube and then caught the highlights on MotD and I suspect, from the little I could glean from such a small source, that Arteta has seen something in Reiss Nelson and has been coaching him in possibly the targeted way he does with players who are engaged in wha5 he’s trying to do, Sterling is always the classic example. For me Nelson has always been a highly technical player who has a tendency to operate on the fringes and doesn’t impose himself on the game enough.

  • What I saw yesterday was a guy, who at the age of 22, finally gets it, with his contract running down and his need for a new deal pending, maybe that as much as extra-ciricular coaching has given him a psychological kick up the arse because I saw a totally involved Reiss Nelson that I hadn’t seen before, a Reiss Nelson driving into the box, a Reiss Nelson demanding the ball and looking a goal threat, much as we’ve seen also from Granit Xhaka this season. It’s refreshing and encouraging to see these formerly one or two goal a season players blossom into a new phase of their careers based around an end product.

  • Goals are, obviously, the thing that influences the majority view on players in general, we’ve all seen players who are technically limited transformed into hero status by the amount of goals they contribute, it’s the currency of the game, all the technical proficiency in the world countsfor nothing if you cannot score and we are seeing this as the goal drought being experienced by our fantastic centre forward is seeing him and his place in the process questioned in some quarters.

  • So yes, I am delighted for Reiss and hope that his brace yesterday is the start of the next phase of his career, something he can build on and hopefully utilise in order to extend his career as another Hale End graduate.

  • I have been a fan of Ben White ever since he signed for us some 18 months ago and despite the hiccups he has developed into a vital cog in the Arsenal machine, his interviews are a must see and you can see with his relationships that he is one of Arteta’s key lieutenants in the team, someone with the intelligence to understand the process without needing in depth explanations.

  • He has seized the opportunity afforded him by the pre-season fitness issues of Tomiyasu, to replace the irreplaceable from last season, he’s taken on the right-back/inverted centre-back role and made it his own and to such a degree that Arteta has had to leave an automatic pick in Tierney out of his his best starting eleven and use Tomiyasu as a utility defender, which in itself isn’t a demotion because being equally good in various roles is exactly what the modern football squad requires.

    Yes Ben White is growing and evolving into one of Arsenal’s most important players and he’s fast becoming a big favourite of mine.

  • Gn5,
    Get well soon. I know we’re all keeping a good thought for you.

    Kev great comments. Lots of positives.
    Maybe my far fetched hope for Nelson is a little bit closer to coming to pass.
    Namely, that he’ll be this seasons Nketiah. Proves his value and ends up renewing to stay part of our ascent, success. All would be thanks to Arteta.

  • “And how shall the BKers do?
    During LeGall’s tomorrow’s parties?”
    They’ll do just fine actually, or so it seems
    Just watched the highlights (twice), will watch the whole game later on
    Martin’s goal reminded me of Maradona’s against Greece in 1994, no less
    As for Reiss, it is an understatement to say I’m delighted for the boy. Dummy to fool two Foresters into tackling nothing but air, left-foot attempt saved, accurate right-foot volley in the top-corner, with enough power to leave the other defenders helpless … Cool, calm, collected and focused all along, in spite of the pressure (it was yesterday or never for him): not that many players can do this, I think the boy’s special but yes, Kev, he’ll have to be more consistent and score on a more regular basis …
    There was Armagnac yesterday indeed, TA; that’s the (highly) recommended one:

    Click to access Armagnac-Delord-Fiche-technique-25-ans-dage.pdf

    I love wine(s) but I’m not that keen on stronger liquors to tell the truth, they often have too much of a “scald the teapot” effect on my throat (in other words: I’m soft), but this one was indeed excellent, and I do love the … smell of armagnac, whisky, cognac etc.
    Cheer up, GN, you’ll get through this
    “your old hometown is so far away
    But, inside your head there’s a record
    That’s playing, a song called
    Hold on, hold on
    You really got to hold on”

  • Thank Total.

    Johnno I can’t help worrying about the ‘last year on contract syndrome’ that Arsenal have often got a raw deal from, Aubameyang being the most recent sufferer.

    Walcott, Ozil, to a certain degree Eddie, their form seems to disappear the moment they put pen to paper, all except our wonderful Bukayo, so is Reiss going to follow in the footsteps of the former or the latter if he does indeed earn a new contract. Arteta genuinely seems happy with his work and maybe he’s finally maturing so it’s up for grabs I suppose?

    Will the club let his deal run until next summer before deciding or does he have an option on it anyway?

  • Big week for me, BKers.

    As you know my dear dad passed away in June and now my mum’s chemo treatment for cancer stopped working. This week there is a meeting about next steps based on the results of an all body scan. It’s not looking good but hope lives eternal.

    So this week I am back in Pancake Land and will be posting less.

    TA

  • Please pass on all our best wishes from the gang and BK. And give your Mum a good cuddle from all of us TA

  • Regarding Nelson, if you see his second goal, he collected the ball from corner clearance and lays the ball and during that he was bought down. So when the counterattack started he was laying on the ground. He picked up himself and ran the length of the ground to be in a position near post to make contact with the cross from Jesus. Hope he continues that’s hunger and ability to get into the box.

  • It was great to see Reiss making a huge impact and give the team a nice boost. Goes to show Mikel does have faith in him and he has been one of his projects. Sends a message to other academy hopefuls to keep persevering and you can get a shot or at least build a career even if it is away from Arsenal.

    Sending prayers and positive light to you TA and family.

  • GN5, take all the time you need to get better, good man. Stay strong and it will be well.

  • TA, we understand how it must feel for you. Just remain hopeful and prayerful. We shall stand in the gap on your behalf.
    Cheers.

  • (HT) Meadow Park:
    Arsenal U21 – Palace U21 1-1
    A true confrontaion of opposite styles, between Palace’s tall, strong, powerful lads, and our light cavalry of diminutive boys (with the exceptions of Foran-Awe)
    Very unbalanced performances: on the one hand an excellent Quesada-Thorn – Cozier-Duberry left-flank in creative mood on a high-energy tempo, on the other a very disappointing Walters – Marquinhos right flank; Marquinhos looks like he’s completing his afternoon map, as for Walters he’s just been awful, both offensively and defensively, the poor lad
    I found Ali’s setup in midfield strange, to say the least; our three boys play along a “vertical” line, Smith in Pirlo mode in front of Foran-Awe, Bandeira by himself higher up the pitch in the engine room, and Henry-Francis still higher up, almost on the same line as Marquinhos – Butler-Odeyeji – Cozier-Duberry
    Our “Paddy” paid the higher price for it, he seemed at a loss ’til he played his (brilliant) part in the gorgeous move which led to Bandeira’s calm, resolute, classy equalizer
    Cirjan for Henry-Francis, and SagoeJr. for Marquinhos wouldn’t be a bad idea imo …
    COYYoungG

  • Graczyck looks to me like a brilliant young GK; right before Palace’s opener (TH14’s “special” by Palace’s left-footed RW) his instinctive save on a point-blank header was truly amazing

  • FT 1-1
    somewhat messy, chaotic 2nd half, but overall a highly entertaining U21 game
    Smith’s passing always a joy to watch, Walters improving as time went by, but the Palace kids never bowed down, kept threatening us ’til the final whistle
    Well done to the 22+ lads

  • Good comments, Le Gall.
    Jeorge Bird contemplates whether Cirjan and Ibrahim were not involved as they will be playing against Zürich on Thursday.
    But that’s highly unlikely. I’m not expecting academy players to start, and if anybody would be involved, it is more likely to be Hein, Sousa or Matt Smith.
    It’s strange that Walters was poor tonight, he is one of the few players who is clearly ahead of his peers and might have a chance for first team football (along with Brook Norton-Cuffy, Sousa and Patino).

  • T, don’t worry, we’ll be fine here, drop back in whenever you feel like it.
    Let your family know that your gooner friends are thinking of, and praying for you all.

  • TA all the best for this week hope things turn out better for you mate. Old parents is one of the reasons I never shifted out of my country even though I had a chance of Green Card and then recently settling in Canada. It’s a tough responsibly mate and one that is always in our mind when we make any decision.
    All the best TA

  • Seems that the early info coming out of Arsenal regarding Saka is positive and that he has a good chance of playing against Chelsea.

    I’d imagine that Reiss Nelson will be starting on Thursday.

  • I’m a bit sceptical about the rumours of Arsenal being interested in the Torres guy who plays in the MLS as all the info seems to be coming from his agent and in my experience that means that Arsenal may have enquired but have now moved on to new targets.

    Be prepared for an exhaustive pre-January Window of lies, more lies and rumourmongering agents

  • I will be watching the Marseille v Spurs CL game tonight, with keen interest. For one, to see if the Spuds get booted out at the CL group stages. Then, it will be great to see which (ex-) Arsenal player will stick in the winning goal, of Alex is Sanchez, Guendouzi, Tavarez and Kolasinac.

  • Marseille’s players will have to keep a cool head, be patient
    Won’t be easy … on nights like this there are not that many erupting volcanoes like the “Vélodrome”!

  • Spurs get a late late goal to finish it 2-1, making them top of the group. It was that kind of game after a while. The Marseille players look dead on their feet.

  • I had mixed feelings because I didn’t want Tottenham in the Europa, but it would have been funny to see them lose out of the CL money, anyway, it is what it is.

    Looking forward to tomorrow and how Arteta will select his starting XI..?

  • Matt Smith, at long last? No way this’ll happen if Mo’s fit and available again …
    With sunday’s 12.00 KO in mind, it’d make sense to field something like:
    Hein
    Soares-Tomiyasu-Holding-Tierney
    Elneny
    Marquinhos-Vieira-Lokonga-Nelson
    Nketiah

  • Le Gall, that would be my line-up almost exactly.
    I would bring back Lokonga to CM reverting back to 4-2-3-1, and probably save Tomi for the Chelsea game bringing Saliba to the back 4.

    However I can imagine a 3-5-1-1 formation with
    Hein
    Soares – Holding – Tierney
    Maquinhos-Lokonga-Smith-Elneny-Nelson
    Vieira
    Nketiah

    I hope that the 90 minutes will be shared between the not-yet-fully-fit Elneny and Matthew Smith (or Catalin Cirjan), but as you know me, I’m not particularly optimistic.

    In fact, I won’t be surprised, if beyond Saliba we would see Partey and Jesus among the starters, hell, maybe even Martinelli. And most supporters – and pundits . will hail the decision for taking the game seriously.

  • Needless to say, Ramsdale will obviously start, although he probably shouldn’t.

    Yes, I know you feel like starting Karl Hein between the sticks would be dangerously downplaying the last group stage game, but he has 16 senior (and 19 junior) international caps under his belt. And if the guy has faced Wales (G. Bale, D. James, H. Wilson – and kept a clean sheet) and Belgium (Lukaku, Hazard, Trossard, Benteke, Lokonga), then I don’t think we would need his brown pants against FC Zürich in the Emirates.

  • And the boy passed his international tests with honors – almost every time, “L’Equipe” picked him for their MotM …

  • Thanks for keeping us in the loop Total, we kinda realise that you’ve got your hands full with more important things but your in our thoughts. Take care.

  • Mikel Arteta’s tough task of splitting Arsenal squad in two for World Cup break
    Amy Lawrence
    “Merry Christmas.” It is not the farewell gesture you would expect to hear from one supporter to the next as they hugged their goodbyes at a match close to Halloween. But there it was — stark evidence of the utter oddity of a winter World Cup. Most weeks there is that end-of-game chit-chat: you coming to the next game? Is it your turn on the ticket? But the realisation that a couple of mates in the North Bank wouldn’t see each other until Boxing Day was surreal.

    Inside dressing rooms, players are trying not to make too much of it for now — not while points and cups remain in their grasp over the next few days in three different competitions. But it is not normal to have a situation where several players are about to go into World Cup mode while the rest are heading for a holiday. Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta always preaches “unity” but his squad are soon to be divided up into World Cup haves and have-nots. That is one thing during a regulation end of season, with summer holidays and pre-seasons to play with, but quite another a third of the way through a season hurtling along the crest of a wave.

  • This FIFA-made break comes at a fascinating time for a club that has made such strides this campaign. An outstanding start, as Premier League pace-setters, is about to hit pause. Behind the scenes, Arteta and his staff have been carefully planning how best to manage this phase that sets some very specific challenges. His squad will be split into two groups with vastly contrasting schedules. Reconnecting everyone when they reconvene in the colours of Arsenal and rebalancing all the levels quickly afterwards to reach the required collective intensity will be a fiendish trick to pull off.

    Those who go to the World Cup are pressed straight into high-intensity competition. Arsenal’s players selected for Qatar meet up with their national team within two days of their final club match at Wolves on November 12. Then comes a week of preparation for the tournament, which kicks off a week later. Crazy.

  • Meanwhile, those not going to the World Cup are granted a vacation, before returning to London Colney to ease back into gear with a warm-weather trip to Dubai and a couple of friendlies.

    As things stand, Arsenal are almost certain to wave off seven players — it would be a major surprise if Aaron Ramsdale, Matt Turner, Takehiro Tomiyasu, Thomas Partey, Bukayo Saka, Granit Xhaka and Gabriel Jesus don’t make the cut for their countries. Another half a dozen are in the maybe category. The rest, including important players whose nations did not qualify such as Oleksandr Zinchenko and Martin Odegaard, will take a breather.

    Last year’s winter trip to the home of their Fly Emirates sponsors was designed to mix feel good with fitness. Players and staff were invited to bring their families on tour, creating an environment that was purposefully more relaxed, combining training and fine tuning with happy times and holiday vibes. Space to recharge and reboot individually and together as a group is an addition to the calendar that has gone down well within the camp.

    This winter training will have to be a halfway house for some of the World Cup players — those out of the competition after the group stage can make the short hop from Qatar to Dubai and spend a few days meeting their family before rejoining the rest of the group. It is hard to predict whether it will be enough to prepare them for the slog of the rest of the season. Nobody can tell. Managers, players and the rest of us will just have to wait and see.

  • Meanwhile, any players who go further into the competition knockouts will miss Dubai and come back to London to restart. Each individual case, in terms of the sliding scale between sharpness and fatigue, will need to be assessed. The World Cup final is on December 18 and Arsenal are aiming to have a friendly that weekend.

    If they go through next week against Brighton in the Carabao Cup, the next round takes place on December 22. Arsenal’s Premier League campaign restarts shortly after on December 26. It is a whirlwind that won’t slow down.

    The psychological pressure for any player who makes the final stages in Qatar cannot be underestimated. In World Cups past, players have been known to find it difficult to readjust after an extreme high (or low of a dashed semi-final or final). Clicking back into Premier League rhythms won’t come with the flick of a switch. Some patience and latitude may be imperative.

    Is this break coming at a good time for Arsenal? For those not involved in international football, it’s a godsend of sorts. Arteta has been pushing his squad to attack all the competitions in front of them. Arsenal had a minor dip during the week where fatigue told during a fortuitous win at Leeds, a tired draw at Southampton and a leggy defeat at PSV Eindhoven, before accelerating again with a 5-0 destruction of Nottingham Forest.

    Arteta will be urging his players to drive themselves on through the next four contests before the big split. After that, come late December, bringing together all the strands of the squad, the second act of this season has so much to play for.

  • Thanks, Kev for this Lawrence of the North Bank’s Pillar of Wisdom.
    Now, BigBill is much more likely to be picked by Deschamps than GJ9 by Tite. With Varane, Konate, Fofana injured and Upamecano always disappointing in the “Bleu” shirt so far, there’s no way the Tequila boy will be left out of the French squad.
    As for Benjamin Le Blanc I just can’t see one single sensible reason why any England manager in his right mind would leave him – i.e. one of the two best PL defenders (along with WS2) – behind.
    That’s nine, then, who run “the psychological pressure for any player who makes the final stages” risk. Actually a successful run in a World Cup tournament can be a “Dementor-type” experience and suck out the very soul of the players who make it to the last 4. Being knocked out in or before the round of 8 would free one week at least – guess MA is praying hard for it.

    Glad to read that you and your loved ones are holding on, TA
    “Hope springs eternal in the human breast” indeed; it sure does in mine for you all

  • Arsenal Starting Lineup:
    Ramsdale, Ben White, Holding, Gabriel Magalhaes, Tierney, Vieira, Elneny, Lokonga, Nelson, Nketiah, Jesus
    Arsenal substitutes:
    Hein, Hillson, Partey, Saka, Odegaard, Martinelli, Saliba, Cedric, Tomiyasu, Marquinhos, Zinchenko, Smith.

    FC Zurich:
    Brecher, Aliti, Katic, Kamberi, Boranijasevic, Conde, Selnaes, Guerrero, Rohner, Okita, Aiyegun

    Subs: Kostadinovic, Omerovic, Hornschuh, Hodza, Mets, Sauter, Omeragic, Krasniqi, Marchesano, Santini, Viunnyk

  • Cracking goal for KT. Love that left foot of his. One for Total. Thinking of you, mate.

  • We are making hardwork of an, otherwise, straightforward win. Now, we are having to bring on some of our big hitters just to get the win we need to top the group. If anything, the visitors have been emboldened to make a game of the last 5 minutes.

  • On the downside Tomi picked up an injury and hopefully it is not too serious but his reaction was not encouraging.

  • It wasn’t an entertaining game by any means.
    And while the substitutions were nothing surprising, they were really very sad from the academy point of view.

    But at least we came on top of the group, so we can calm down and focus on the game against Chelsea, and we saved 2 games in February.

  • There I was, hoping we would have stuffed them ful of goals and we’d get to see Zinchenko, Marquinhos and Matt Smith at some point…

    Anyway..needs must, I guess.

  • I wonder if Mike Riley has any relatives in Belgium because I reckon that that was his Flemish cousin officiating this evening, absolutely appalling performance by a guy who wouldn’t know a foul if it hit him in his Winterslags.

    Finishing, or lack of it once more made that a far more difficult job than really necessary, but, anyway, C’est La vie as they say in Rouen.

  • Thanks for the article Kev.
    The only thing she left out is that all our rivals will have similar issues to deal with. Some with more players in the tournament. Arteta not the only one trying to navigate what she describes.

    Eris,
    By not scoring early or enough in the group stage games, and losing to PSV.. we didn’t get to rest our best players as much as we wanted, or to look at Smith or get a little work in for Zinchenko.

    Not perfect, but we came through on top.

  • Johnno, there’s this media schtick about Arsenal looking tired tonight on some blog and I thought, typical ignorant narrative by a guy looking for hits. Most of the team tonight hadn’t played for a week so how were they tired, it was the usual dumb commentfrom somebody who doesn’t know and is just repeating parrot fashion what they read from some other dumb f**k.

    Arsenal players are no more tired than anyone else’s players, everyone is running on empty, thanks to the poxy World Cup…

  • Call me old school, but I often wish our well-behaved boys considered retaliation; at some point yesterday, it looked like they were on a limping contest.
    Those away kit robbers deserved at least a few stud marks on their ankles …

  • Lol. Saw this play on Biblical figures’ names as we look forward to our fixture vs Chelsea:

    “On Sunday, Chelsea will explain to Jesus why they sold Abraham and Moses… and Sacked Thomas.” 😂

  • Yes, Jync. Needs must. We came through and can avoid a very tricky round against some potentially difficult opponents.

    For some reason, I just knew we won’t concede even as the visitors huffed and puffed. That’s the thing with this team we currently parade.

  • Will Chelsea be punished for doubting Thomas is the question indeed.
    Massive “South v. North” rugby saturday ahead … and the French rugby teams are never as dangerous as when they’re not given a snowball’s chance in hell
    (just sayin’, Stu)

  • This French team is not being downplayed down under, mate. They have beaten us the last four games against them. However our girls are playing out of their skins. I am taking a wedding today but shall quietly slip out of the aftermatch celebrations (with a piece of cake in hand) to watch the game.

    Eris; the High Priest, Aaron, the Archangel, Gabriel and Jacob’s son, Benjamin will all be in the mix in punishing Chelsea.

  • Have a great ceremony, mate, and enjoy the game afterwards – I have a feeling this game will stick in the memories of rugby lovers, the two teams have been outstanding so far
    About the Stamford Bridge game … I like this Old Testament side of yours a lot, btw

  • What a game of rugby. So proud of our Wahine Toa beating such a magnificent French team. Bring on the poms in next weeks final.

    Let’s celebrate with our 4th song for Eris. No one pours herself into a song like our Janis…

  • A (wonderful) game of two halves
    Just watched the post-game interviews, and I can’t help but feel for the heartbroken “Bleues”, but I do hope the Black Ferns will keep their crown now (another “game-to-remember” the final might be)
    Fitzpatrick, what a player …

  • Fine song and performance, Stuart. Not sure it is a proper celebratory song though, but it does keep one enraptured. 👏👏

  • Morning Gentlemen, after a week of rest and healing I’ve gone from feeling 60% to 95%. Thank you all for your kind words and thoughts. All being well I will restart the competition on Monday Nov 7th.

    I’m terribly sorry to read about your mother’s failing health Total, my thoughts are with you and your family at a very troubling time in your lives. Cancer is a horrid and unpredictable illness.

  • Hmmm. Just watched Sheffield United beat Vincent Kompany’s championship table leaders, Burnley, 5-2. Burnley has had this long unbeaten run and we’re runaway leaders until this loss which has brought Sheffield Utd to within striking distance.

    Moral: When you are the leaders, every side will seek to take you down a peg, or two, playing their best. So, take your chances when you get them and keep winning.

  • A random thought on the game vs Chelsea tomorrow.

    Ramsdale must be decisive when he receives a back pass or is playing out the back. We all know how hungry for a goal Auba will be and how he is quick enough to upset a keeper with ball at feet, and taking too long to clear or pass out the ball. God knows, Ramsdale has been guilty of taking too long, at times.

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