Nah, he’s talking like he’s got information, not sharing his opinion.
He knows what Arsenal players have been told and knows when Martinelli will be back when Arteta has never addressed that.
I’m pretty sure that account is total bullshit. It put forward a lot of ITK stuff over the summer that seemed fake.
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We’ve come along way from Arteta pushing Partey back on the field to defend whilst clearly injured.
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wow very uncharacteristic of him to compliment an opponent unprovoked
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He does like to compliment good work, until of course you’re a threat to him.
Then it’s open season when it comes to taking shots at you.
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Ultimately what we saw in Portugal and what we see in the Premier League in this particular Arsenal set up were never going to translate one to one. Fans set certain expectations and largely from an aesthetics bias.
For us he is a battering ram there to rough up & occupy CB’s and capitalise on anything that presents itself including the ugliest of the ugly opportunities. Whatever his shortcomings are technically he does have brute strength and good running power with crucially SOME hold up play in him. Him not dropping deep like Havertz pushes the line back and takes some pressure off the wingers and attacking mids.
People want to call that donkey work that’s fine. This Arsenal team embraces all manner of pressure on the 6 yard box and on occasion will find that intricate move. This is simply not the swash-buckling Arsenal of old this is a very adaptable team.
He’s never been an amazing footballer and he’s not a freak athlete like Haaland but he’s filling a role in this squad that is serviceable given the overall setup. He might only get 15 goals and possibly ugly as hell but if it’s helping us win the title it just won’t matter much. It’s about the team not about him despite all the stocks people put in him.
Every opposition we face now sets up to defend very deep. When Havertz and Jesus come back the manager will have completely different options to select from to unsettle backlines and connect our attack.
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I agree with everything you said but he has not exactly done this part well imo.
That said, I am not concerned since I find more value comes from his movement rather than his physicality.
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Happy for him to be rested for this anyway.
Play Merino
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Been a regular enough theme this season that people arent in training/training pics but still feature. Reckon he’ll be on the bench.
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We’ll be fine
I still expect him to be ready for Sunderland. Wouldn’t be surprised if he also makes the squad for Sparta, not that it matters much. We should do fine there no matter who plays up front (Merino, Martinelli, Trossard).
Andre Annous on bench when we play Prague. We’re good over here
Arteta just said he’s unavailable for tomorrow and they need to do further scans to understand the extent of the injury.
He didn’t sound concerned about it being a huge one but also didn’t sound all that optimistic about Sunderland either.
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It’s honestly crazy the amount of unavailability we’ve had with attacking players over the last 15 months or so.
I suppose when Kai and Jesus have been 2 permanent outs over the last 9-10 months pretty much it means you’re always at least 2 down.
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They’ll make sure not to use him so he misses the International break
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Asked if he was worried about the problem or whether it might be short-term, Arteta added:
“No, I am concerned because he hasn’t had many muscular issues, and he had to leave the pitch, and he was feeling something, and that’s obviously never a good sign, especially for a player that is very, very explosive.
Maybe suspecting a hamstring issue or something of that sort?