Thank You Mikel

TotalArsenal

One more PL game to go in January and then we can make up the balance. Arsenal have done very well but so have Pool (and Forest), and so we have not been able to close the gap with the League leaders. Given the injuries and the high number of games the boys have played, I think we could not have asked for more of them. The intensity and hunger to win has been very impressive, and you only have to look at the sorry Mancs, Chavs or Spuds to know how different it all could be for us, right now.

Of course the media makes us fans perpetually unhappy with their narrative of failure to catch up with Liverpool, but the Merseysiders are simply doing very well, and if they continue this run of form we should all say ‘Chapeau!’ to them at the end of the season. For me the most important thing is that we consolidate our position among our competitors, and, ideally, improve slowly but surely. Being a strong contender to finish in the top four again should not be pooh-poohed by anybody. This is THE big first achievement by Arteta in the post-Wenger era. Arsene, the old romantic, had us play fabulous football in an era when this was still possible. Mourinho, and then Klopp and Guardiola, have changed the scenery significantly, and Mikel is our answer to both being competitive again and play football the Arsenal way.

I think it is fair to say we are not as good as last season and that’s why Pool are getting away with it. The main reason for this: untimely and area-concentrated injuries, and lacking that bit of luck at times (and rubbish refereeing of course).

Our right side, our strongest area by far in previous seasons, has had so many injury set-backs. Odegaard missed many games, White has hardly featured this season, and super-Saka is of course well-missed too.

The left side has lacked continuity too. I have no doubt that Arteta ideal three on the right are: Calafiori, Rice and Martinelli, but for various reasons they have not had many games together. Having said that Lewis-Skelly has been phenomenal as a stand in for the Italian stallion, (and so has Nwaneri on the right wing). It proves again that, as Big William of Strafford Upon Avon once put it, adversities can have their sweet uses.

Through the middle Arsenal are also still looking for the right balance. Partey has been superb in midfield; his best season donning our shirt. Rice keeps threatening to find his mojo and I think he is getting there now. I love him just for trying so hard. Exactly the same can be said about Odegaard and Kai (despite his sometimes frustrating demeanour) and Merino. I will never stop supporting players who give their all and care about the club, and these are exactly the sort of players Mikel has either attracted, developed or both.

I believe in these boys and the manager. We could really do with some fresh, experienced blood in attack, but let’s not just get a body/name. Getting this next CF signing absolutely right is paramount now (especially with Jesus’ sad and so unfortunate long injury).

Anyway, let’s just focus on the next game and forget about the rest. All the team ever can do is try and win the next game. Ooh to Be.

Thank you Mikel for working your socks every day and putting our beloved team back up there. The future is bright, the future is red and white.

By TotalArsenal.

115 thoughts on “Thank You Mikel”

  • Arteta confirmed Myles Lewis-Skelly’s has suffered “nothing serious” after missing Wednesday’s Champions League win over Dinamo Zagreb and “today, we will have a meeting with the medical staff”, while William Saliba “is something similar”. The defensive pair “will definitely be in for next week” but for “tomorrow we will see”.
    Defender Ben White remains unavailable but his recovery is “very good”: “He hasn’t trained with the team yet but I think he’s very close. He needs to tick a few boxes and, if all goes well and smoothly, I think he will be with us very soon.”
    On continued links with signing a striker: “My opinion is clear – we lost two very important players in Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Jesus. We lack goals, we lack people and we lack options. It’s clear – if we can get the right player. That’s why we are actively looking at it. Someone who makes us better. We need some help.”
    On whether a deal can be done in January: “You have certain resources, the ability to recruit certain players, develop certain players, use certain players from the academy. It’s a balance of what we can do.”
    Arteta confirmed terminating the loan of winger Raheem Sterling or goalkeeper Neto and sending them back to parent clubs Chelsea and Bournemouth respectively is “not an option”.

  • We can agree that the refs have screwed us over by applying rules only to us and nobody else. We can agree that injuries have been unfortunate, especially to the usually reliable Ben White and Saka. We can give kudos to the boys for doing their level best under these difficult circumstances.

    However, Mikel is the reason we are currently blowing our best chance to win the league in 3 seasons of trying. If we raked Arsene over the coals for only signing Petr Cech the year Leicester won the league because our squad was found out as too thin to take advantage of a year in which Chelsea, Liverpool, Man City et al all had nightmare seasons, then the same standard must be applied to Mikel.

    We entered last season light at CF and in the wide areas. Rather than sign an out-and-out striker (which we needed after Jesus’ injury left us short in the title race) we signed Havertz, Timber, and Rice. Havertz was not signed as a striker, but as the “new Xhaka”, to play the fabled left 8 role. This was especially infuriating as we already had Xhaka’s replacement in ESR, but Arteta refused to give him a chance in the position, and the club spent months leaking to the press that Arteta wasn’t satisfied with his training or some other such nonsense. We tried Havertz at left 8, and it was a spectacular failure. Arteta, however, persisted with the failing experiment and it was only another injury to Jesus that forced a reshuffle, pushing Havertz up to CF, and finally allowing the midfield to begin functioning properly again. But it was also clear that while Havertz was doing his best in the position, he was no striker.

    Which meant that we entered this summer with our need for a striker now a five-alarm bell. To then come out of the summer and into the season without addressing the most glaring, desperate need in the team would have been unforgivable in and of itself, but Mikel compounded it by selling ESR, loaning Vieira back to Porto, and then letting Reiss Nelson leave on loan on deadline day. Which meant he’d stripped the team of Odegaard’s two backups, and Saka’s as well. These decisions have come back to haunt us in a very big way. First, when we lost Odegaard, it was suddenly clear that he didn’t want to play Nwaneri there, despite the kid having demonstrated his capabilities in the role in the past. And, if you’re telling us Ethan wasn’t the depth option for Odegaard, then you’re admitting you left us shockingly light in his position on purpose. All this was already bad enough, but swapping Nelson for the washed-up, shell-of-himself that is Raheem Sterling, is managerial malfeasance, plain and simple. And then, we lost Saka to a torn hammy, and we entered January with absolutely no intentions of strengthening the squad. It took losing Jesus to an ACL for us to start scrambling around the transfer market like headless chickens, with the predictable result of no signings, and the window shutting soon.

    You’re thanking Mikel for that?

  • Yes, Mr. Bure, they are indeed thanking for that.

    Without the slightest irony or sarcasm these are the nicest people supporting Arsenal on this blog, but share a couple of – unspoken/unexpressed – belief or value, that
    – criticizing the manager is unbecoming to a true & loyal Arsenal supporter
    – the best we can do is to stand united behind the club, the manager and the players

    You brought some excellent point, including but not limited to neglecting ESR, leaving key players and positions without backup, or blowing the best chances Arsenal had for trophies in many years.

    The 2 points I don’t fully share are these:
    Firstly, I’m not sure that the striker issue is that black and white. 2.5 year ago Mikel bought Jesus for 52M and about 1.5 years ago he signed Havertz for 75M. We are (thank God!) neither Manchester United – who after buying Hojlund for 74M and Zirkzee for 42M are back in the market for a striker again – nor Chelsea who after signing Jackson, Nkunku and Felix now want to buy Vlahovic or Kolo Muani. But United have mitigated circumstances that the previous purchases were instigated by a former manager, and Chelsea also have an excuse by completely lacking any class when it comes to transfer windows. But I don’t think that Kroenke should have given another 90+ million only 2 years after Jesus’ and a single season after Havertz’s arrival to sign an attacker of Isak’s or Gyökeres’ caliber – and obviously (!) discard Jesus like we did with Auba and Lacazette.
    Also – regardless of Nketiah’s sale and Havertz’s alleged original position – we had some options up front: Jesus, Havertz, Trossard as well as Odegaard as a Fabergas-esque false 9. I’m not saying that it is equivalent of the front options of Real Madrid, but me personally didn’t see it as our main bottleneck for the season.

    Secondly, we disagree on Arteta’s main managerial mistake. (Which can easily happen as he has many, although it is like Voldemort here: if we don’t mention them they might not even exist.) I think that Mikel made an astonishingly excellent job by finding a football philosophy and starting eleven that can easily beat anyone in the Emirates (and I’m not only referring to defeating Liverpool and City last year, but we crushed the same PSG in October [without Odegaard] who destroyed Man City earlier this week). But at the same time the lack of rotation and competition for starting places made Arsenal a club that might be the best place to join if you are a guaranteed starter, but probably a bad career move to join as a squad player or a backup. Rice, Odegaard and Timber might be fine examples of the former, and just ask Turner, Trusty, Kiwior, Tavares, Vieira, Lokonga, Marquinhos or Jorginho about the latter. So after severing the academy ties (!!) and getting rid of the loyal Hale End players who had the patience and commitment to sit on the bench and wait for the rare chances, we are in a situation where a Simons, Bakayoko, Cunha, Gordon or Trincao would not only hesitate to join Arsenal and boost our tactical repertoire at RW, but they are smart to do so as the upgrade in salary, infrastructure and game atmosphere will be offset by the diminishing minutes and less chances to play for the national team.

    Look at the recent transfers. We either signed great players for the first team (Rice, Raya, Havertz, Timber) or mistakes (Kiwior, Turner, Marquinhos, Vieira). But it is really difficult to get players to give us depth. In fact the only way it works now if we have already signed players with the promise of the the first team, and we demote them to squad players (Ramsdale, Jesus, Zinchenko, White – and that would happen to Martinelli after an unlikely Williams-transfer). That’s why an unpolished diamond like Sesko are not thrilled to join, and for every Gyökeres and Vlahovic there are plenty of clubs standing in line.

    So Mikel is indeed facing an uphill battle to sign quality players to bolster our attacking options without guaranteeing starting place. But it was not an unfortunate or unforeseeable accident, but completely his own doing.

  • MrB,

    Welcome to the site and thank you for your well-formed comment.

    You seem to be assuming that squad strength and player purchases are purely Mikel’s responsibility, and I don’t think that is correct.

    I agree we were left light on attacking options, but injuries have clearly been brutal to us.

    I was one of those who didn’t believe we needed a pure CF to join us at the start of the season. Spreading the goals across the team seemed just as effective (and now we have scored more than Haalands City).

    But I have changed my mind.

    Third in CL second in PL, yes I thank Mikel, but this doesn’t mean he is perfect. We are very lucky to have him.

    BTW all players who have left over the summer, for good or on loan, needed to go. I love Emile and he made the right decision to go to Fulham IMHO.

  • Hi TA and everyone! Hope you are all doing well. It’s been a while since I posted a comment, though I read all the articles! 🙂 Great stuff and keep it coming 👍 Good piece TA and while disappointed at the results (especially when we are the guinea pigs for whatever new interpretation / implementation the PGMOL has on rules before they realize that it was not a great idea), the effort has been genuine like you say. Still hoping for ‘Pool to have a run of poor games to allow this to be a proper race.

  • Wow StH, how nice to hear from you! Hope all is well with you.

    I think there will be twists and turns to come and at this stage it is solely a matter to try and win as much as possible. That’s what the boys are doing and Mikel deserves,so much credit for it.

  • PB, one day we will have a beer and discuss the nature and importance of supporting something, especially when it is such a wonderful thing as Arsenal football club. 🫡

  • A diversity of views on here today, some new, some repetitive, but for me Stu wins 1st prize.

    Total, I’ve been perusing the gossip pages intermittently as I usually do and have noticed a slight shift in emphasis, in that Arsenal are being increasingly linked to talented teenagers from across europa.

    Does that mean that our recruitment team has pivoted as they tend to do in January, towards targets we can more easily acquire and afford without breaking our summer window budget?

  • Thanks Kev. 1st prize for me would be sharing that beer with Total, PB, Eris, LG, your good self and all BK contributors. Speaking of such, good to read St Henry again. He was writing when I first joined the blog a few years back, always enjoyed his thoughts.
    I read, with interest Mr Bure’s comments. Whilst doing so, Dylan’s “Ballad of a thin man” came to mind. No offence intended Mr B, you write well and logically but seemed to skip the many obvious reasons we are grateful to Mikel and those who run the club. Mikel is still learning (who isn’t?) but I wouldn’t change him for any other manager.
    “Something is going on” at Arsenal FC. Our beloved club is in good and well balanced hands and, if this ol’ Planet Earth of ours spins for a few more years around the sun, we will be stockpiling silverware.

  • TA, I’ll go with a cider, and would love to have Stu, LG, Eris and the rest of the boys with us.

    I expect we’ll have similar stand on the importance of supporting, but probably quite different approach on the nature of that support.
    As you know me, I value an objective, unbiased critical analysis – or at least the aspiration and effort to attempt so – over being nice for loyalty’s sake, but I admit I am probably quite a nerd in that regard, so I expect nobody to follow suit.

  • Never come across this story before. What wonderful characters, Big Pat and ol’ Big Head.

  • Hi, Mr B., it’s always nice to read a newcomer’s output (as well as a prodigal son’s, St. H.!).
    I’m with TA, here, if only because I think we might be witnessing Mikel’s best season at the helm of the club, given the circumstances he’s had to work under so far. We’ve barely played with both Martin and Bukayo together on the pitch, which is the football equivalent of the Stones performing without Jagger-Richards, Led Zep without Plant-Page, etc. – not to mention (which you did, actually) the other names on the injury list, or the refs’ (VAR included) grudge against us.
    Which is why still being second in the PL, and having made it through to the CL’s round of 16 already, is a remarkable achievement, which speaks volumes about how mature his management must have become. Let’s not believe our young players’ agents lie dormant in their lairs … I watched both thrashings Barcelona inflicted upon Real this season, and if even an old fool of a fan like me can see what the only thing Real need presently is our trident Saliba-Gabriel-Rice, I don’t believe one second Perez and his minions can’t. The other day Maresca was putting the blame on the TW, and the sollicitations on his young players going along with it, for their ongoing series of disappointing results. I think the same is true of our boys, but Mikel has succeeded where Maresca has been failing, ie keeping the team’s togetherness undented, in spite of the above-mentioned ill-winds, as well as of the sirens’ alluring voices … A big hats off is what the gaffer deserves for it, imo.
    Now what I like about your remarks (and Pb’s) is that they precisely come out at a time when everything is not exactly plain sailing, but going very well nevertheless, which means we can have reasonable discussions between lovers of the club, far from the madding crowd a dramatic drop in performance often unleashes.
    I hated (still do, haven’t got over it, in fact) the period when Arsène was being piled on, as though a levee holding back insanity had broken – no better way to put it than your “raked over the coals“. And I think you’re right to say that all the blame would have been put on him, had he:
    – put himself in a position to bench a 16-y-o GK in the Carabao semi-final, after letting Martinez-Leno-Hein-AOkonkwo-Ramsdale slip away. If one thing about Arsène was erratic, to say the least, it certainly was his post-Jens management of the GK position … but if something has changed in that regard under Mick’s rule, I wish someone could explain to me what it is, exactly. Raya is an excellent keeper, he has bailed us out in dramatic fashion an impressive number of times this season, but now, after all these comings and goings, his backup is not even deemed worthy of being given the nod to an FA cup home game. …
    – been the one overseeing the training sessions ending up with an injury list that long
    – been the one on the touchline, as the lads were throwing away a 2-goal-lead against Villa …
    etc., etc.
    None of this kind of fuckups (which they are) should ever be blamed on a manager only, though … they just go along with the job. It’s amazing, really, how very few people seem to remember Arsène’s late FA cup triumphs, including one against Conte’s Chelsea with a makeshift defense, and an improvised (3-4-3) setup. How can anyone say that such a man was finished? The same is true of Mikel. The truth of the football he has in store for us this season lies in what the boys produced away at Sporting, or at home against PSG. Mark my words: once everyone’s fit again, we might be in for a real treat, in the CL in particular. When the time comes for the real showdowns in that competition, we’ll have extraordinary players available again, as hungry as ravening wolves, and as fresh as blades of grass in the moon dew … Fearsome, formidable, is what Mick and lads will be, then.

    COYG

  • Objectively, scientifically, Arsenal,under Arteta are doing very, very well. Second in the toughest competition in the world and third in the toughest competition in Europe.

    It is not perfect but the journey is good and we’ll reach even bigger heights with a bit of cleverness and luck.

  • I sent a comment, TA … any chance you might pick it out the partition of cyberspace he got stuck in?
    Let’s peel off those tangerines, COYG

  • “When the time comes for the real showdowns in that competition, we’ll have extraordinary players available again, as hungry as ravening wolves, and as fresh as blades of grass in the moon dew … Fearsome, formidable, is what Mick and lads will be, then”

    Amen to that.

  • I’d rather our frontline were:
    Ethan on the right, Kai playmaker, Marti on the left, and Trossard CF.
    Myles is as brave as Jack W. was at his age, let’s hope he’ll be kept out of harm’s way … the big boys sure don’t treat him as a U18 …
    one-nil to The Arsenal is all I ask for today, c’mon lads

  • Don’t know what’s goin’ on with my comments (sent another one just before Oliver had one of his Commodus moments), but I’ll try again:
    How can some dare say Untold’s Tony is out of line about the PGMO, I’d really like to know!!!Well, 3-5-1 from now on?
    Raya
    Timber-Saliba-Gabriel
    Nwaneri-Partey-Havertz-Rice-Trossard
    Martinelli
    ???
    C’mon, kiddos, you’re gonna make it!

  • On a Roman highway to victory
    Riccardo, my boy, you’re a legend already, to me at least (for what it’s worth)
    1-0 to …
    YEAH!!!!

  • I guess that’s what seasons that stick in memories are made of
    I’m surprised Madchæl O. didn’t give Jurrien his marching orders for having his ankle trampled on. I thought such incompetently arrogant refereeing was a French thing. Obviously it’s not, but that’s no consolation, believe me.
    Bring on Cheaty now, this bunch of Gooners bow down to nothing, no one.
    Time for a tasty glass of “Hautes-Côtes-de-Nuits” burgundy wine to their health, COYG

  • What a mature performance by the team and the manager. Backs against the wall and all that, the lads stayed focused on the goal: just to get 3 points.

    After Michael Oliver did what we all know him for (make it about himself), by sending off our 18 year old trojan for an offence which a yellow card wouldn’t have elicited any protest from the hosts and the VAR, one hoped we won’t revert to defending for the draw and that’s what we did. Every one of those players were heroes today, for me. They entered warrior mode and played for the shirt to secure the needed win.

    With Forest losing badly (5-0) to Bournemouth, and Liverpool predictably winning at Ipswich, this was just the kind of result that would put some doubt in the league leaders’ minds. I am just buzzing about the result. Well done, boys!

  • Another word on the Ref, Michael Oliver. For a man responsible for some of the most questionable decisions against us, in times past, it did take him a few offences to send off Joao Gomez for Wolves, who was on a yellow but kept being petulant, as if asking for it; delaying quick free kicks twice and just throwing himself about. As LeGall, put it, Oliver may as well have shown Timber that second yellow for being in the way of a dangerous tackle. I’d say justice was done, but it could have been 10 men, both sides, much earlier. Oliver will have to explain how Gomez’s was a yellow and MLS’ a straight red. Michael Oliver is just a Muppet!

  • There are two kinds of red card, there’s your basic red card, you know, the one we’re all familiar with, the one every team gets and then there is the Arsenal red card, the special red card decision that is only handed out to Arsenal and we saw it again at Wolves today, just as we’ve seen it on three previous occasions this season…

    It kills your enthusiasm, it feeds your suspicions of corruption and if you complain you get fined or suspended.

    Dealing with the PGMOL is like living in North Korea…

  • I have been accused of naivety for my dislike of professional fouls, never intentionally performed one or coached players to do so, and would have, without a whisper of complaint accepted a yellow for our MLS. Maybe it’s my being 18,049 km’s from the action but I couldn’t see studs to shin in any of the angles shown. Or maybe at 65 (I’m counting the nine months in the womb) my eyes have dimmed. Of just maybe Michael O suffered a moment of rashness, or maybe, to reimagine the words of our Lord, “the good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of his heart his card pocket speaks.”
    Forgive my harshness, Lord. I confess my angst to You and my BK brothers.
    And rejoice that, by final whistle justice was done.

  • There are very few voices in this old world of ours as soulful as Joe C in full flight, or as fine as when LG picks up his pen.

    Yes, Kev, I can smell the stench from down here.

  • I’m not defending Oliver, per se, but I don’t think it was his fault.

    He is allowed to make mistakes – hell, he is Michael ‘feckin’ Oliver – he is expected to commit errors. Regardless of it being intentional or an honest mistake the real disappointment in my eyes is the VAR official as well as the PMGOL who stood by M.O. and issued a bullshit statement of the red card being the correct decision – which it obviously wasn’t.

    In any other half-civilized country (in terms of match officiating) it should have been a rescinded red card.

  • Oliver has officiated Arsenal, Man City and Liverpool over 50 times each.

    He’s given out 8 red cards to Arsenal, he’s given out 1 red card to Liverpool and 0 red cards to Man City.

    Maketh of that what you will?

  • I saw Oliver’s chart on Whoscored, Kev … The smell of corruption stinks to high heaven. As could be expected, we Arsenal fans are just crying out in the wilderness, though. Omertà/gaslighting (whatever you want to call that) already reign supreme. The latest caprice of PGMO’s Commodus is not even mentioned in the Guardian’s “ten talking points”. Shame on them.
    I think Untold’s and Arseblog’s latest outputs on the subject are very good. They pretty much wrap up everything there is to say about it. Unfortunately, the Arsenaldom will be their one and only echo chamber. At some point, the guy on Arseblog alludes to Webb’s past in the South Yorkshire Police, and advises the reader(s) to look them up.
    I did wikipedia them. I shouldn’t have.

  • PB, from the players’ reaction, Oliver should himself have asked for a review and watch the replays. This was a big call, and he did not care one bit. The stats tell us he has a bias against us.

    I have noticed how little the refs and VAR allow time for a proper review, other than offside decisions. Basically the power is back with the on-field ref and VAR plays second fiddle, which means that bias or worse can still be committed re pens and cards. Seldom are such decisions reversed now, and so the power balance is pretty much as it was before.

  • VAR can only ever be an unbiased oversight if it is totally unrelated to the PGMOL, then we wouldn’t get referees ‘mates’ looking out for them rather than suggesting they take another look at a contentious decision.

    So VAR should not be run by referees but by independent ombudsmen or women who are trained in the laws of the game and who can then take an unemotional view on decisions and not worry about upsetting an existing colleague.

    Howard Webb should consider his position or be forceably removed. His tenure has been an unmitigated failure.

  • You can trace Arsenal’s run of controversial decisions back to the Newcastle ‘over the line’ goal when Arteta was charged by the FA and successfully appealed, since then the PGMOL have had it in for him.

    It wreaks of double standards.

  • That’s good news, Stuart. Frankly, after the PGMOL came out in defence of their guy and lamenting the online abuse Oliver was getting (no one deserves that kind of treatment, mind you), I didn’t fancy our chances on the appeal.

    Thankfully, someone at the club had more faith than I did. Justice is done.

  • Yes Total, I can see you now, laying down some moves in a Smokey Amsterdam club to The Knack. 😁

  • The team sheets are out.

    Girona:
    Lopez, Martinez, Tsygankov, Ruiz, Asprilla, Danjuma, Romeu, Juanpe, Frances, Martin, Yaakobishvili

    Subs: Gazzinga, Danso, Van de Beek, Stuani, Miovski, Herrera, Solis, Portu, Comas, Clua, Kim, Artero

    Arsenal: Neto, Partey, Kiwior, Gabriel, Calafiori, Jorginho, Merino, Odegaard, Trossard, Sterling, Nwaneri

    Subs: Setford, Porter, Saliba, Tierney, Martinelli, Timber, Zinchenko, Havertz, Butler-Oyedeji, Rice, Lewis-Skelly, Oulad M’Hand

  • At last, Neto starts!
    Let’s hope he provides a steadiness for the team to build upon since he’s played in Spain and there’s little or no pressure on the team today.

  • What a terrific goal from the kid, Nwaneri! 1-2 Arsenal.

    So far, all going well for the boys.

  • Some interesting results for English sides at half time. Man City on the brink of elimination (fully expect them to turn it around against Club Brugge and get 3 points, though), Liverpool may drop their first points vs PSV, Celtic coming back from 2-0 down to make it 2-2 at half time; Arsenal look good enough to beat Girona to retain 3rd place on that table.

    A more exciting 2nd half in store for some of the other teams as they jostle for placements that will affect their play-off and next round opponents.

  • They have the automated set up for offsides in the CL, Eris. The image was shown here in NZ on DANZ, the lad was played onside by Calafiori. Only just.
    If Neto had reached that ball and made the save, he would have been sent off. Shaky start from him, so far.
    Pure Bukuyu, that Ethan goal. Love the lad, he is understated with his celebrations, works incredibly hard, what a gem.
    I can’t imagine the Ollie rumours are anything more than your second thought, Total. He’s a Gooner but is 29 and still has three years on his Villa contract.

  • Thanks for the heads up, Stuart. And good spot on the Neto dilemma; it was shocking to see how far forward our keepers come off their goal area. Kiwior too left that area too open as he went far forward too.

    I would love to have Ollie Watford, though. Aubameyang was 28/29 when we got him. Harry Kane has gone to Bayern at 31. The man is Premier league ready, loves the club, family are Arsenal fans… That’s enough for me. His hold up play and strength on the ball is like no one else we have. If it is for real, I say we go for it.

  • By all accounts he is a lovely lad, too, Eris. He is cup tied in the CL, so could only be available this season for the PL games. I cannot imagine Villa letting him go, tho, pressing as they are for top four and in the last 16 of the CL.
    Were not those two penalties conceded by Girona bizarre? Such crazy decision making by those defenders. Doesn’t seem to be Raheem’s season, tho’ I did think his knee was knocked when he went down in the box.
    City v Real or Bayern in lay offs, woohoo!

  • Great result in the end, could have been a lot more comfortable if Trossard and Stirling had had their shooting boots on, still I’ll take it…

    £60m for a 29 year old striker seems a decent bid, I wouldn’t go much beyond £65m but if Villa don’t think that that’s a good deal then I don’t know what is given his age!

    He’ll be an unhappy boy if Villa block him from joining his boyhood club, good luck with that…

  • Feyenoord, Juventus, AC Milan or PSV in the last 16. Dutch or Italian, what’s your pick, boys?

  • Any of them Stu, if when we face them we’ve got a fit squad to pick from then they’ll be more afraid of us than the other way around, we can take the Old Lady for a spin or give the Rossoneri the runaround, bring it on…

    I’m a bit worried about Raya for this Sunday, Neto doesn’t fill me with a lot of confidence…

  • I’d have to confirm it, Stuart, but I am not sure the cup-tied rule operates in the same way for UEFA competitions. If it does, well let him help us in the league, see how far we can go.

  • If we are raiding Villa I would go for Dhuran.

    Out of the 4 I would rather avoid PSV (unless we need 2 opportunities to decide whether to sign Veerman, Bakayoko or Mallik). The defeated Liverpool B, and they are flying high in the Eredivisie, so they can afford to prioritize CL over a couple of league games. Albeit on paper (TransferMarkt) Juventus worth more than Feyenoord and PSV combined they are struggling this season, their star defender and first-choice left backs are injured (although Cambiasso – unlike Bremer – is expected to return before the Round of 16 matches in the first half of March), and they score an embarrassingly few goals. (Juventus: 35 in 22 games, PSV: 65 in 20, albeit the quality of the opposing defenders are not exactly the same, to be fair.)

    Milan is a strong side, but their main threat is attacking on the wings (Pulisic & Leao), and I think it would not be effective against us if we can afford to play Timber and Calafiori, maybe even Tierney on the flanks. However if we need to rely on Partey, White, Zinchenko or Kiwior, then we might find ourselves in a big surprise, and not one of the good ones. As far as MLS is concerned, while I love the lad as anybody, I wouldn’t like to see him going against Leao. He has been thrown in the deep end of the pool against major clubs like Newcastle, Man United and Aston Villa, but we won neither of those games. So if we’ll have the luxury to chose from available full backs, I would prioritize skills and experience over potential on the left, and common sense on the right.

  • Last-minute TW rumours … Mathys Tel is said to be on our radars.
    Actually, the Watkins bid does suggest that’s a GJ replacement we’re after, not a versatile, as well as goalscoring, forward, who could operate across the frontline. I guess it’s a vote of confidence for Martinelli-Trossard-and of course, Ethan, to play this part, which makes a lot of sense, all the more so after yesterday night’s game. Any recruit, with that profile, who’d have to compete with our 17-y-o wonderkid next season, would have an Everest to climb to be in the starting XI.
    Now, however sincere his love for The Arsenal may be, I can’t say the £60(+)m signing of a 29-y-o classic CF would have filled me with much enthusiasm. And what of Kai, then? Mathys’s, on the other hand, is a whole different story. He’s been going through a TH14-at-Juve kind of period, but he’s a supremely gifted lad – still only 19. We would bring him in at exactly the right time in his career and, given his age, he wouldn’t be competition for Kai straight away, so that his signing wouldn’t be too much of a shockwave to absorb for the squad.
    You can never be sure, of course, but, if this move a) is real and b) comes to fruition, it might turn out to be one of our smartest … And (this is the stubborn Breton speaking) … Mathys can actually operate across the frontline, too!!

  • I’ve read somewhere that Milan are also a seeded team in the next round, so it is likely to be Juve or one of the Dutch teams. Much as I’d like “to take the old lady for a spin” I think the more open and entertaining games would be with be the Lowlanders.

    Ollie could prove a Robin VP signing and win us the league, but I’d side with our Breton bro’ and go for Tel.

    PGMOL seeking revenge by charging our players. Gits.

  • Part of the FA charge read;

    “The club failed to ensure that its players did not behave in an improper manner around the 43rd minute”…

    Well, the question is, the FA failed to ensure that it provided Wolves and Arsenal with an unbiased referee who understood what ‘serious foul play’ constitutes?

    It’s procedure but it makes the FA look juvenile and small minded, but I suspect that Howard Webb made the calls that ensured that the procedure was followed to the letter…

    Be prepared for Sunday and some outrageously biased officiating by whom ever is doing the ‘middle’…

  • Surely, they cannot be that obvious, can they, Kev? I fully expect them to be a tad more careful when on duty in games involving us, at least, until the furore dies down.

    If Michael Oliver had this job in Africa or South America, he will be the target of some beating by fans of the game. 😂 Refs have been known to be slapped after games or, as was seen in one viral video from South America, chased all the way out of the stadium as they dodged a gauntlet of fans’ kicks, slaps and punches. Crazy stuff ….

    Not an advocate of such behaviour but the Fans deserve better from the officials.

  • What about a slice of VI Nations for breakfast, Stu? France-Wales tonight/this morning, kick-off in 90 minutes!
    8 “Stade Toulousain” players in our starting lineup (Mauvaka, Meafou, Roumat, Cros, Borassi, Ramos, plus the return of the “charnière” (“hinge”) Dupont-Ntamack for the first time in a year and a half).
    There’s a good reason for that – the “Stade” have been playing a “poetry-in-motion” kind of rugby since the start of the season. And since our two 20-y-o on the wings (Pau’s Attisogbe and Bordeaux’s Bielle-Barrey) are pure dynamite, to say expectations are high up here, would be an understatement …
    Allez les Bleus!!

  • Youth Cup HT
    Fulham 1 Arsenal 2 (Ibrahim, and … Dowman, again – the lad definitely is “somethin’ else”). 45th minute is never a good time to concede, though …
    COYYoungGuns, and well done so far, but … sorry, rugby for me now

  • He came out of Lannemezan with his blue shirt running
    Like a watercolour in the rain
    Don’t bother setting out any defences
    He’ll just inflict pain
    It’s the year of Dupont.

    I wish that were a black shirt, LG. What a player.

  • Eris, nothing would surprise me with that lot…

    It’s looking likely that we’re not going to sign anyone before Monday and then anything can happen. It’s not the quality of our squad that concerns me it’s their energy, can they possibly keep going full tilt until May without any help.

    When Man City go out and sign three players it’ll be quite disappointing if Arsenal can’t get one substantial player through the door – an opportunity missed by the recruitment and ownership…

  • Wonderful song, Stu …
    I’d really like to watch Antoine play a football game; his cross-field kicks’ accuracy is lethal. Watching a Welsh team sink that deep was a bit depressing, though. Their number of failed tackles just went through the roof.
    Les Bleus will have to do much better next week at Twickenham. I think bad luck played a big part in England’s latest string of disappointing results, and Galthié takes too much inspiration from the Boks for my taste.
    With the players at his disposal, I wish he looked your way instead. Otherwise, why pick so many players from “Le Stade” – whose coaches make no mystery about their being (clever) copycats of your free-flowing, attack-minded, brand of rugby?

  • Kev, like you, it is the boys’ stamina to keep going till May that worries me; particularly the front 3 where we are definitely short. If this is some gamble, it is one that’s not worth taking.

    Forest have just battered Brighton 7-0, ramping up on their GD, in the process. With the squad we have, we tend to conserve energy when we go a goal up, where most other teams take advantage. This is the problem with not having freshness upfront.

  • Bournemouth should give Liverpool a game. But then, we need to take advantage by beating City, who will be up for this game too.

  • Alas! It wasn’t to be and the Liverpool side will take some stopping, even as they seem to benefit a lot from refereeing calls. Well, we can only keep ourselves close enough to pounce when the opportunity comes.

  • Could Marcus Rashford’s loan move to Villa signal hope with us snagging Ollie Watkins from them on deadline day?

  • “… seem to benefit”; I admire your self-control a lot, Eris. As for me, there’s not many names under the sun I didn’t call the refs this afternoon.
    Meanwhile, in Monaco:
    Monaco 4 Auxerre 2
    (Mika Biereth 57
    Mika Biereth 63
    Mika Biereth 65)
    …/…

  • Dan Carter played a bit of football in his youth, I wonder if Anton did the same?
    England have suffered some bad luck but it was their indiscipline which cost them against the Irish.

    I know ya’all are unlikely to be aware that my birthtown Auckland FC are leading the Australian League. It is the first season for the newly formed club and they are rocking a few Aussie boats. So, too is our Chris Wood, having the season of his life. If he scores another hattrick v ‘pool, I’ll lead calls to build him a statue outside the Beehive.

  • Lol, LeGall, what can I say? I am just the sort of guy who gives the benefit of the doubt…..

    Stuart, Chris Wood has been on fire this season. That hat-trick would have to wait till next season then. Forest have already taken 4 points off ‘Pool this season already.

  • Our Ladies have beaten Man City ladies 3-4, earlier, setting the tone for some good omen.

  • Anthony Taylor is 4th official while VAR is Paul Tierney; all Muppets on their day.

  • With that lot in charge Eris it’ll be a minor miracle to see the Gunners taking the 3 points, but I live in hope…

  • Arsenal XI: Raya; Timber, Saliba, Gabriel, Lewis-Skelly; Odegaard, Partey, Rice; Trossard, Havertz, Martinelli
    Subs: Neto, Kiwior, Calafiori, Zinchenko, Tierney, Jorginho, Merino, Sterling, Nwaneri

    Man City XI:
    Ortega Moreno, Nunes, Stones, Akanji, Gvardiol, Kovacic, Bernardo, Savinho, Marmoush, Foden, Haaland

    Subs:
    Carson, Grealish, De Bruyne, Gundogan, Reis, Khusanov, O’Reilly, Lewis, McAtee

  • 1-0 at half time; could and should have been 2-0 but for the Havertz miss. He had given the keeper the eyes and tried to put it in the other corner, but skewed his pass wrong.

    David Raya has been immense.

    Now, we just need to avoid resorting to trying to defend the 1 goal lead. We do have that tendency these days and that’s where we become susceptible to a second yellow, a penalty or some defensive error leading to an equaliser.

    Come on, boys. Let’s do this.

  • Kai!!!! At last.

    Relief. Now, we can watch with some assurance that nothing untoward can happen to deny us the 3 points now.

  • TA, it would seem my post at half time went missing, but you may have seen it, I am guessing.

    I am so chuffed now….

  • If we can keep that momentum – which is more theoretical than likely – that’s 7 against Newcastle.

    It was a performance for the ages.

    By the way, Declan Rice knows that if he wants Arsenal to score, he should pass to the teenagers. 🙂

  • Forgive me and allow me post a bit of my thoughts (which I thought I posted) at half time.

    *Now, we just need to avoid resorting to trying to defend the 1 goal lead. We do have that tendency these days and that’s where we become susceptible to a second yellow, a penalty or some defensive error leading to an equaliser*.

    Thank goodness the boys made sure.

  • Indeed, P. … this day will go down in memory as the dawning of the Nwaneri-LewisSkelly era of The Arsenal !!

  • How do I love thee? Let me count the ways!—
    Raya between the sticks.
    Our teenage rampagers.
    Thomas, so dominant.
    Kai, shrugging off his miss, making that marvellous run behind Gab and scoring his 18th of the season.
    The keep ball in the last ten minutes.
    MLS takes off Haaland’s lotus celebration.
    The fierce, unforgiving press.
    The hunger.
    The best midfield in the EPL.
    Arsenal ladies setting the tone.
    Big Gab’s Haaland shaped pocket.

  • Brilliant photo, LG. A “magi”c moment indeed.

    In the midst of all the joy, did you, Kevski, not share my chagrin that VAR took no notice of Silva’s sneaky kick on Leandro?

  • Thanks, TA. Just saw it.

    MLS is fearless and does like a bit of needle too. Love him.

  • Total, Bernardo Silva is a fantastic player but has that Paul Scholes snide about him that escapes criticism from the pundits ‘because he’s not that sort of player’ when he clearly is… If it had been say, Timber, then it would have been a VAR ‘Arsenal red card’ Bernardo got away with a few of those as he has done before also Odegaard got ‘done’ a couple of times but in general the referee found it difficult to stitch us up as much as he probably would have liked, but it’s in the post mate believe me….

    Partey was amazing, he’ll probably go in the summer as he’ll have some great offers on the table, it’s just such a shame he couldn’t have stayed fit like this a couple of years ago and shown this form as his contract would have already been extended.

    It makes you wonder if there’s been a change in his training and in his recovery instigated by the medical staff?

    The only result that can top today’s is if we go to St James Park and win 3-0

  • Love that song Eris, I did hear a nice little ditty on TV about Haaland and something about being humble, I think tha5 was it….

  • Sorry Stu, I meant to reply to you.

    Delighted to see Odegaard score as he really needed a moment like that to get him back into the groove – created by Havertz!

    Devastated for Kai when he missed that open goal, it could have killed him but he kept going and was crucial to the victory, so happy he got his goal, I love seeing him score because every time he does it kills Chelsea fans everywhere.

    When Haaland equalised I have to admit that I was concerned, the City players must have thought that they ‘had us’ again, but Sir Thomas of Partey did his ting and that goal broke the Citizens.

    Mr 49’er did his soft-shoe shuffle through the City defence and it was really time to party then, it was from that moment a case of how many as City looked vulnerable to the counter.

    Kai and the then the cherry on the cake from Ethan must have had my new young neighbours thinking they had moved next to a mad man.

    I could have gone today, my son had a spare ticket but transport issues and the cold weather put me off…

    Do I regret it? Yes of course I do but I also prefer being in the warm and drinking copious mugs of tea…

    Total I shall do you a post this Wednesday, as planned…

  • Total, you should do a bit of deadline rumour mongering in your post as well, if you think it’s worth it?

    I’m hopeful, but not expectant of a new addition, although I did think we’d get the Norwegian lad.

    I guess an 11th hour bid for Watkins might come to fruition if Villa bring in another forward (shame about Felix) but other than that the cupboard looks a bit bare…

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