I like Leno but one of the things I've seen mentioned is the lack of proper competition and rest. Rest for GK is still important for the mental fatigue more than physical I'd have thought, one effects the other in terms of reflexes.
Everyone in the squad needs to be kept on their toes with a quality player competing for their place. A proper No.2 is still required in the summer

Looks like Miguel Azeez could be in the squad tonight. He's a stand out central midfielder in the youth age groups - 18 years old. Worryingly though his contract is up this summer the same as Balogun

It's youtube but like the style

Lineup for tonight:

Leno
Bellerin, Holding, Gabriel, Cédric
Xhaka, Partey
Saka, Smith-Rowe, Willian
Lacazette

Aubameyang on the bench, and Azeez too per the recent comments.

Delighted to see Saka and Smith-Rowe back. Aubameyang deserves the benching. Looking for 100% effort and no stupid mistakes tonight and I also expect a difficult game.

Jamie Carragher saying Arsenal could have got themselves into another Özil situation with Aubameyang.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.skyspo ... rformances

Happy enough with the team given who was available. Only worry is our left hand side with 2 natural right footers. We could see Willian and Saka swap wings during the game.

Slavia play a very high press, if we insist on playing it out from the back they will come after us, prepare yourselves for some nervous moments! Need Partey and Xhaka to be right on it today to beat the press.

Nobody could have seen this coming given the way he finished last season. But as Carragher and Neville say in that article he has been a passenger recently. It just isn’t good enough. I hope he shows the character to fight back from this situation, and I think he can.

COYRs.

It’s an inadequate explanation to put Aubameyang’s decline down to a lack of creativity. He was outstanding before Ødegaard, Smith Rowe and Willian became regular challengers for places. In addition to them we also have Saka, Pépé and Ceballos who can be creative. Not to mention Xhaka who can pass creatively.

I hope it’s a temporary loss of form but as I’ve said a few times, he’s 32 in a couple of months. Hence the possibility that he’s already past his peak is quite strong. Or if he’s not, the chances that he soon will be is a safe bet.

I recognize maybe a handful of names at best. When I was in London in 2004, a cricket match was on TV and I saw Brian Lara play. I wasn't bored for once by the sport.

Vintage Cricket
tgAhfipehSril 6plaSunoan eastn s9to:S3u3 urPeMd ·
50 greatest Cricketers of all time as per David Gower....
1. Sir Don Bradman
2. Sir Garfield Sobers
3. Sachin Tendulkar
4. Shane Warne
5. Sir Viv Richards
6. Brian Lara
7. Sir Jack Hobbs
8. Wally Hammond
9. Malcolm Marshall
10. W.G. Grace
11. Imran Khan
12. Sir Ian Botham
13. Sydney Barnes
14. Jacques Kallis
15. Barry Richards
16. Dennis Lillee
17. Sir Len Hutton
18. Wilfred Rhodes
19. Richie Benaud
20. Denis Compton
21. Keith Miller
22. Bill O' Reilly
23. Sir Andy Roberts
24. Sir Richard Hadlee
25. Graeme Pollock
26. Sunil Gavaskar
27. Wasim Akram
28. Allan Border
29. Glenn McGrath
30. Muttiah Muralitharan
31. George Headley
32. Sir Curtly Ambrose
33. Javed Miandad
34. Ricky Ponting
35. Sir Frank Worrell
36. Herbert Sutcliffe
37. Greg Chappell
38. Fred Trueman
39. AB De Villiers
40. Dale Steyn
41. Kumar Sangakkara
42. Adam Gilchrist
43. Ray Lindwall
44. Harold Larwood
45. Joel Garner
46. Virender Sehwag
47. Kevin Pietersen
48. Kapil Dev
49. Jeff Thomson
50. Alan Knott

Er? There’s a football match at the moment.

A lot of energy from Prague, but you can see they lack the quality of most of the teams we face. Need to keep our heads cool and not give them anything here at the start, they won't be able to keep this tempo up all game.

Nice driving run by Smith Rowe. Livened it up a bit.

God it’s hard stuff to watch

GITS!!!

Get it to Saka.

A shot!!!!!

And another one. Horrible miss really.

Or maybe not

Indeed Haz

Said it before but Saka needs to improve his finishing

On top but pretty average stuff so far, to say the least.

They ain’t much. Really should be winning this.

The halftime highlights won’t take long.

Was about to post the same thing. We're not on top of our game, but there's a gulf in quality between the sides.

The best thing you can say from our perspective is we haven’t gifted them our customary goal (yet).

Not a single shot on target in 45 minutes yet we don’t have a problem with creativity

Just football from hell. No one touch, little off the ball movement. It’s coming from Emile Smith Rowe or saka or nothing. Partey and Xhaka want to be the same player. No early ball, no crossing with any quality.

Nothing just nothing.

It’s been the most exciting bit so far. Will we cock it up playing around at the back? I always fear the worst. Brought up as a row Z man.

The bloody finishing is the problem not the creativity. Holding to Saka was a very surprising weapon that got him through a number of times. Partey so sloppy on the ball! I don’t know where that Rolls Royce we saw before his injury has gone, looks like someone has snuck in some Skoda parts in the shop. If we can get the ball in the bloody net we’ll be ok you’d think. Need some luck in front of goal.

2 chances againest this lot who are shocking. Only 1 clear cut

It’s not good enough.

It’s not any single area. It’s the slo-mo sequences of progress.

Unfortunate for Willian

I am starting to wonder when Partey is going to show us the player that we had hoped he was. He needs to make his mark and boss the midfield. Just not seeing it right now.

I don’t think he’s that player LTG. I think he’s more of a Makelele than a Steven Gerrard. Him and player x together is too much.

Pépé and Aubameyang please.

It’s not getting any better. Prague looking more dangerous. Very very poor.

Right now, I think the best we can hope for is not to concede.

Makelele? Wow. If he became him I’d be impressed.

Saka looks knackered to me