Thought Emile Smith Rowe looked a bit more polished in and around the opposing penalty area than Willock despite his goal. Might be worth a run out againest Burnley

He is one of the only players in our whole squad who will get beyond the strikers. There is a bit of Ramsey about him and he seems to understand the role. Would give him a run in the team and hope he remains fit.

Managed to watch half of the first, thoroughly enjoyed it. What a goal from Elneny!

I would love to see Balogun play the number 9 roll up front with Lacazette playing deeper and as a creator. Aubameyang on the bench, maybe coming on as a sub will Giroud him into scoring again.

I enjoyed the little cameo from Azeez, something very Cesc-like about his poise, awareness and weight of pass. That turn in the middle of the park when he sent two Dundalk players the wrong way was sublime.

Hi Bubble,

Can't see Arteta playing Balogun in the PL just yet. Maybe off the bench.

See that one of Arsenal’s celebrity fans died yesterday. Barbara Windsor. Never saw her in Eastenders, a programme I haven’t watched for decades, and only saw the Carry On films when I was a kid, also decades ago. But I’m always sad to hear of Arsenal fans passing away, celebrities or not.

Yes, very sad. I think she really was a national treasure. My dear old Dad, early in his career, worked for Rank and was the on set publicist for the mid/ late 60s Carry On films. Had such fond memories of all the cast. Always spoke fondly of Babs.

Talking Dog

A man sees a sign outside a house - 'Talking Dog For Sale.' He rings the bell, the owner appears and tells him the dog can be viewed in the back garden.

The man sees a very nice looking brown dog sitting there."Do you really talk?" he asks the dog."Yes," the dog replies.After recovering from the shock of hearing the dog talk, the man asks, "So, tell me your story."

The dog looks up and says, "Well,I discovered that I could talk when I was pretty young. I wanted to help the government, so I told the SAS."In no time at all they had me jetting from country to country, sitting in rooms with spies and world leaders, because no one imagined that a dog would be eavesdropping."I was one of their most valuable spies for eight years. But the jetting around really tired me out, and I knew I wasn't getting any younger so I decided to settle down.

I signed up for a job at Heathrow to do some undercover security work, wandering near suspicious characters and listening in. I uncovered some incredible dealings and was awarded several medals. I got married, had a few puppies, and now I've just retired.

"The man is amazed. He goes back into the house and asks the owner how much he wants for the dog."Ten quid," the owner says

“£10!!? But this dog is absolutely amazing! Why on earth are you selling him so cheaply?"

"Because he's a liar. He's never been out of the back garden."

Rog. Made me laugh.

Arteta starting to show the pressure at press conferences when he received questions about the way the Europa team played as opposed to the PL team.

It strikes me that a proper reserve keeper is a priority in January. Failure to do so would expose us to an unacceptable risk. Imagine we don't get a new keeper in January and after the close of transfers Leno gets another injury.

The form of Martinez after he came in following Leno’s injury at Brighton last season was arguably something of a surprise. He hadn’t really shown much in the 25 games he’d played for Arsenal prior to that. Maybe Runarsson can do similar?

Bernard I would think it would be closer to miracle rather than surprise, particularly as his form at his previous club was reportedly very poor

Chief Executive Vinai backing Arteta:
https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-socce ... KKBN28M07B

Next will be the 'we have every confidence' and shortly after the departure of Arteta if it follows the usual path.

From JustArsenal according to Calciomercato...

https://www.justarsenal.com/mikel-artet ... eer/266615

Vinai states same about ma Arsenal will stay true to its values in an Evening Standard piece as well. Sounds so familiar to what Gazidis once stated as well.

I read Runarsson won the player of the year award at whatever club he was playing for in the 2017/18 season. That’s only two years before we signed him. If what you say about his form is true, that’s one hell of a bad year he must have had last season. Strange that the club signed him if his form really was that poor.

Yes this is correct signing a reserve goalkeeper is our priority right now

Someone in the coaching staff knows him from working with him before. I would suggest that's a large slice of why we brought him in as he did have a terrible last season in french ligue 2 I believe.It has been noted that he looks like an outfield player with the ball at his feet, so he fits the style in that regard. The problem is he's often looked like a outfield player when somebody shoots at his goal.

Talking about back up keepers, Martinez was faultless today for Villa, pulling off some great saves as they stole a 1-0 after going down to 10 men. They didn't really play it out form the back much from what I saw.

The thing that stuck out for me was Dean smith was managing his 500th game as a manager, what a contrast to Arteta, it's coming good for them this season, but they stayed up on literally results on the last day, and if you remember the terrible goal line cock up, with the goal that was clearly over but not given, they would have gone down.

I cannot stress enough how important I feel it is to have some patience, lots of it in fact, with Arteta. The thing that concerns me most is still the rest of the guys "in charge" from Owner, and executive and Edu to make the right decisions to support Arteta adequately. Where's the experience and knowledge to offset his greenness? Who's assistant manager now?

Guendouzi has just smacked a beauty into the top corner for Hertha Berlin.

See Dortmund lost 1-5 at home to Stuttgart. At the moment it looks like Leipzig will be Bayern’s main challenger this season. Leipzig are currently one point clear at the top having played a game more than Bayern. Therefore, Bayern will have to win away tonight at Hertha’s local rivals, Union Berlin, to go back top.

Totally agree, people need to remember he’s only managed 17 games in the league for us so far and is dealing with numerous problems brought on by the previous 2 regimes not to mention his only transfer window was in the middle of a global pandemic meaning he was unable to sell any players for cash due to economic uncertainty.

Do I expect our fans to give him a break ? Not a chance as they micro analyse any mistake or not Leno, Willian or Aubameyang produce and have gone from praising his sideline encouragement to deriding it.

Hardly the world’s most reliable source, but the Mirror are saying Saliba has no future at Arsenal while Arteta remains as manager. Sounds like the Mirror are jumping to conclusions but the whole situation with Saliba does seem odd. Whatever the reason, it appears he has been frozen out the first team.

Is he simply not suited to the English game? Has he found it impossible to settle in London or at Arsenal? Has the death of his mother had a catastrophic impact on his mental well being? Sure, it is very sad when your mother (and father) dies. But it is something the huge majority of people (those who die young being the obvious exceptions) has to show the emotional strength to get through.

Or, the big question, is he simply not as good a player as the club thought he was when spending £27m to get him?

https://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football ... dium=email

Bayern currently one down 10 minutes into the second half in case you're not following it Bernard.
Although my posting this almost guarantees they will equalise soon and go on to win.

Bayern have equalised. We need another post from you to get a late winner. (Imagine a smiley here).

EDIT: Too late for the winner, it finished 1-1. Good effort though bromley. At least you did your bit!

Made a mistake about having to win to go top. After drawing Bayern go top on goal difference.

I had a layover in London the past couple days. Had there been no pandemic, I'd have loved to have seen a game, ours or anyone else's.
Love the Harry Potter store at Heathrow. Had a nice long chat with one of the workers. She's a Tottenham fan. Joked about doubling the prices for me. Dealing with this pandemic made me realize how precious it is to be able to see live matches and I should have made more of an effort.
Hopefully, with the cure, etc, I'll reverse that.

Did you just say you made a mistake?

Nice story but not quite true. He got lucky early on as he spilled one. Might have been a different story if they had conceded then.

Such is the life of a keeper.

Eurosport also reporting the news that Saliba has no future under Arteta.
I will be absolutely gutted if this is true and will be furious with Arteta if he gets rid of a guy we signed for 29 million and he hasn't even given a chance to. How come fofana ,Saliba's partner at StEtienne be flourishing at Leicester yet saliba is cast aside to the under 23s.
I know ligue 1 is not up to the premier league standards but it's still a good league.
All this b%*&s%*^ about him improving young players yet he isnt giving time to saliba and helping him to flourish.
I hope this is not true.
I feel a bit uneasy about Arteta and his man management skills. Seems once he is off you there is no going back.

Well he made a good save and then immediately dived on it. It’s not like he parried it into danger. He had a great game.

I share your unease over Saliba tbh. We made this huge investment and had to be so patient and now this mystery of why he seems to be almost being forced out. If it’s football reasons then it seems really bizarre, not even Europa? If he’s going to make mistakes I’d rather see him make them and learn from them than just watch Mustafi make them anyway.

I still believe the club's failure to allow Saliba to play in the French Cup Final is the key issue causing the current lock-out. He might have confided his unhappiness about it to someone, and it reached the ears of Arteta. I always felt the club should have allowed him his day of glory.

Yes, when it happens I always have. My mistakes are so rare you obviously haven’t noticed. Understandable for you to miss it, I guess.

Each game now is pivotal if it doesn't result in a win. It's been a few games. Wins in Europe don't seem to translate to wins in the league. Maybe its so many different players who aren't involve in a league game. If you are playing league games but not playing European games, you may be happy we beat some continental outfit but if you are not on the pitch and part of it, its difficult to derive something to bring into a league game.

I still maintain our primary affliction is something intangible. We have a decent team on paper. Yes, tactics and players being played out of position or shouldn't be starting (Aubameyang on the wing, Xhaka starting possibly, etc.) is a factor. We can debate to what degree, but one thing that has been consistent from Wenger to Arteta is a consistent lack of belief, etc that has permeated this side.

All that said, I'm very happy for West Ham. Currently 5th. No one saw that coming after a dozen games or so. Also, Leicester consistently since their title been thereabouts in the top 6. I assume they have a great structure within. They perform no matter who is manager.

Hi david,

I agree, I share the same unease at his treatment of some players. It appears to be one rule for some but not the others.

When he first arrived I liked his self assurance and confidence, he seemed to be a man on a mission who knew where he wanted to be and how to get there.

A year on I am not sure if he's that or just an arrogant wanker who's out of his depth but too stubborn to admit it.

I think we will know one way or the other pretty soon because if he is the latter he will eventually lose the dressing room.

Don’t want to intrude but if you have a partner, what do they say about your frequency of mistakes. Although I believe I am always right, snd like you only rarely make mistakes; my wife has another take on it.