The State of The Arsenal

Mark my words plenty of games to be lost by all teams especially those trying for the league !?

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Our block of games before the November international break. Frankly an embarrassment.

Next game is Forest at home.

Hmmmmm.

Lovely gane to play for team that can barely score. :heart_eyes:

traffic light city

Big opportunity for either of the two Centurions to show up now.
It’s now or never really.

Neither Martinelli or Trossard are convincing.
Both are called up by their national team, something the two Centurions haven’t achieved in fuck knows how long.

The likes of Odegaard, Rice and Saka are staying back so you’ll have top class company.
They’re the two most decorated and experienced players in our squad, you have to step up and show us why you’re here.

If not, we should absolutely evaluate our options with these two in January.

I thought Ode got a call from Norway. And are Rice and Saka really staying back for this one? That would be good.

Edit: Just read on another thread that Rice and Saka might sit this one out

Yeah, apparently Odegaard got a late call up. :roll_eyes:

https://x.com/FemooAFC/status/1855691377268404491
Don’t like the guy but this video is a perfect representation of how many rival players we attract our right side and as a result how much space opens on the left, that unfortunately rarely gets exploited.

(This was decent ball from Martinelli, so no gripes with this specific sequence).

There doesn’t appear to be any sign of addressing it - not that I’m suggesting it’s a problem. Left backs almost always invert, the midfielder on that side isn’t as ‘mobile’ or appears to have the skill and vision in the similar ilk of odegaard (havertz/rice/merino). The ideal scenario would be to create the same options on the left as the right, but perhaps there are reasons it can’t happen…? Having another midfielder like Odegaard would weaken the team defensively? Overlapping left back could consistently leave bigger spaces for opponents to use and for defenders to cover?

It’s still a position - that odegaard type player for the left side - which I’d like to see become an option, even if it’s to rest Ode or give opponents something different to think about once in while. Not a ‘nailed on’ starting strategy. Trossard is the closest we have to that and he’s been by far the worst player in the squad since he scored at villa.

I think the main blueprint with the left hand side:

  • An inside forward on the left that can go 1v1, make runs in behind, position well in the penalty box and be a decent finisher
  • A duel winning midfielder that can crash the box and ideally have the ability to find the left winger when they make runs in behind
  • A front-footed and defensively strong left back that can go in or out when needed

I think that’s a big reason why Zinchenko lost his spot, also why we signed Merino after Havertz moved up top. Rice can do that job too.

Martinelli kinda fills that role down the left but we all know he can and should be doing better.

Partey being the outfield player with the most minutes this season after Gabriel is crazy.

Shhh…Don’t say it out loud lest you jinx it.

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yeah now look what you did.

3 wins on the bounce in all competitions, 13 goals scored, 3 conceded and things are starting to look up but have we left ourselves too much to do?

We’re only a third of the way through the season but right now, it feels quite daunting a task to claw back 9 points over Liverpool. In their next 5 league fixtures, they play Newcastle, Everton and Spurs away. Hopefully they drop 2 or more points in that run but equally, hopefully we keep to our winning ways cause we have some tricky games ourselves.

One thing I would like to see us do is go back to being the best defense in the league. There is no reason we cannot do that, apart from injuries and I hope we get a bit of luck with that.

yeah probably. but we’ve played more of our difficult fixtures, and then we play them away at Anfield our 3rd to last game of the season, on the 10th of May, If we claw back 7 pts til then we’ve got a shot.

Also you never know what injuries can do, squad depth usually comes into play the second half / the last third of the season, if we’ve already had our share of injuries and theirs is to come you never know.

If Liverpool get through the next few months unscathed, then they deserve to go on and add another title to their name.

I think that we have (likely) hit our stride in time to at least keep the pressure on them and we probably benefit from ‘chasing the pack’ rather than lead it.

We’re entering a congested period and it’s difficult to predict what the outcomes will be at the end of the season but we just need to focus on ourselves right now and claim every point possible. We look reinvigorated as a team and look dangerous again.

Christmas will be the biggest teller, usually is with the fixture congestion. However this fucks keep grinding out wins.