Blame - Eddie gets a few minutes.

Pépé has played well, I said before that Pépé plays well when he’s almost forced to match the tempo of the other forward players. Put Martinelli and Saka there and the tempo and workrate and pace were there and Pépé steps up to that.
Put slower players with him and he brings himself down to that level as well

Pépé has drifted in and out of the game, but created the second goal and has casued them some trouble tonight. I think he's become a pretty consistent threat this season, and I can't help but feel if his numbers would reflect that if he got to start more regularly.

Pépé laid it for Nketiah instead of shooting. Very unselfish of him

Don’t get Arsey. Try and have a sense of humour.

Pépé is now Helder btw and you did say he was like him.

Totts lose at home and we win away.

That’ll do.

Wooh. A clean sheet.

Very good performance tonight have to be happy with that despite the quality of the opposition. Perform like that on Thursday and we should overcome Prague.

Everyone played well but special shout out for Ceballos, Partey, Lacazette and the quite brilliant Saka. What a prospect.

You calling someone else Arsey.

Now that IS funny.

A good day.

Yeah, I stand by what I said after the Slavia game - it's completely in our own hands. If we turn up with the right energy and perform well, they can't match us because the gap in quality is too big. Unfortunately that's a pretty big if for us this season.

Yep good offensive awareness from Martinelli on the goal. Makes the forward run on the turnover, makes sure he stays onside when Pépé hits the shot and gets a nice reward with a tap in. Good to see this guy back. A nice game from him tonight.

That’s been our problem for much of the season. We are actually much better than the teams we face, but for some reason (mainly lack of effort and confidence imo) we’ve had a really poor season.

I’m also Confident about Thursday.

He'd probably be world class if we played him as keeper too ...

But I just think we are overplaying him badly.

I agree we’re overplaying Saka. Could be the reason he got injured today.

Tierney out for the season?

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.expres ... ierney/amp

Very interesting tactics and positions from the players today.
Seemed like a back 3 with only 1 wing back on the right side in chambers. Xhaka playing left CB and left back and Ceballos drifting over to that left side as well.
With Tierney out for the season it might be something we see more off, there is certainly something more comfortable with a natural left footed out there.
Partey was very good as well. He’s had some criticism recently, I’ve certainly expected more from him - I think the problem is we hold him to higher standards that the rest of our central midfield. With hindsight, even when he’s not at his best he’s still performing better than any other midfielder.

Delighted for Martinelli. He needs to start on that left side in Prague.

Saliba getting some good reviews in France. Exceptional stats for accurate passes and one of the lowest rates of any Cb in the league for being dribbled past.
We need him back with us next season, there is huge talent there. Saliba, Holding, Gabriel, Mari isn’t perfect but there is a balance and a decent set of CB to work with

A good win today. Had that been a loss, most likely a huge meltdown on here. Good we're going into Thursday on a positive mentality. It is a must win after all.

I find the way some media outlets report certain things just odd and unnecessarily painting a picture that doesn’t give any context. I’ve read a lot of outlets shout in capital letters that it was Martinelli’s first goal for 15 months. Nothing in the headline that he was injured for 12 of those!

It’s the same when they churn out stats about team X not having won at team Y for numerous years without pointing out the two teams were mostly in different divisions for most of that time!

"Martinelli out for 4 weeks"

Just when you thought Lacazette should be out....

I'm hoping and praying Martinelli doesn't end up like RvP and is often injured. Tape bubble wrap to him in training or something. It seems every game he starts there is an injury scare.

Now wait and see if The Boss plays the same team the same way, it is an away game, without making too many changes. I'm betting rhein will be 4/5 changes not due to injuries. Hope I'm wrong.

Saka went off injured yesterday and Ødegaard wasn’t fit to play. If they’re not fit and with Martinelli being out, not to mention Tierney, we’re really going to need Willian in Prague. We have to score at least one, so whatever the issue really is with Aubameyang (genuine flu, poor attitude, bad form), him too I reckon. How long is Smith Rowe out for? Will he be fit Thursday?

The injuries are piling up for what I consider the most important game of the season.

There was a good report of the game by James from gunnerblog. He talked about the balance of players in this game and how other players might blend with Aubameyang when he plays.

I think we will knock over Sparta because it is an away game. Our home form has been shocking but away we aren't too bad. The big unknown is what players are actually fit and whether they form a balanced team.

I am not sure what to make of the Aubameyang flu.

One thing I forgot to mention was - a good decision by Arteta to play Xhaka at LB. We need Saka forward. Hope his injury is not too bad. Best youth player I have seen at the club. I think even better than Fabergas given the other players he has around him.

It worked well. I was advocating (reluctantly) playing Saka at left-back simply for that left footed balance, I hadn't contemplated Xhaka back there - probably still have visions of him playing there and defending against Zaha.
With Smith-Rowe and Ødegaard out it was probably more important to get Saka's creative influence higher up the pitch. He was excellent in the No.10 role.
Strange to think earlier in the season we were crying out for a No.10 creative player, at times shoe-horning Willock or Lacazette in to that role, now we have 3 who can play it.

I've read a fair bit online of people really praising Cavani for his movement in the box, a classic No.9. He really is good. It doesn't matter how old he is, he is constantly on the move. Fans often look at the goal being scored and wonders where on earth the defenders were and how the striker had so much space - sometimes you just need to look at the movement of the striker. Cavani is top class, watch his goal and disallowed goal vs Spurs for evidence. Any young No.9 should be looking at this.

Just seen the Cavani disallowed goal from yesterday.

Can’t quite believe it that got disallowed. Surely one of the worst ever

Spurs and Mourinho have mastered the art of cheating in order to manipulate the VAR decision

Well here is a moment in time. I agree with you on this point.

It was Son.

He’s always been a cheat, regardless of who his boss is.

We know united are pretty clued up on penalties and VAR decisions too from Mourinhos time there. Not as bad as spurs but bad

Bizarre set of post match interviews by Ole and Jose. First Ole talks about Son feigning injury and conning the ref, then saying if his own 'son' had done this he would send him to bed without dinner. Jose then jumps on this and sounds deadly serious essentially saying Ole should be ashamed because as a parent you always have a responsibility to feed your children.

What on earth is going on!?

Positions from yesterday's game.
Any guess for what formation you'd say that was?

Ødegaard and Smith Rowe weren’t fit to play yesterday. Will they be able to in Prague? Saka and Martinelli got injured yesterday. I wouldn’t have thought it likely they will and in Martinelli’s case, if he’s out for four weeks he definitely won’t. Who knows what’s happening with Aubameyang but if it genuinely was the flu, hopefully he’ll be over it by Thursday.

If none of Smith Rowe, Ødegaard, Saka and Martinelli are fit or able to play, what are the options? Aubameyang (if he’s over his flu), Lacazette and Pépé as the attacking players? Even though some moan about Aubameyang playing on the left, is there another realistic option apart from Nelson? Partey, Ceballos and Willian in midfield, assuming Xhaka will be needed at left back if Tierney is out for the season?

I’m expecting the away leg on Thursday to be really tough. We have to score or we’re out, even if we don’t concede a goal. If we do concede it gets even tougher. I wish I was as optimistic as you, as in my view Prague away represents the most important game so far this season.

% of minutes given to u21 players:
Arsenal 11.3%
Man City 7.8%
Liverpool 6.7%
Chelsea 5.9%
Man United 4.7%
Tottenham 0%

I heard the interview with OGS on MOTD2 last night. To be fair, I didn’t think he came across too badly. Without saying ‘Son cheated by grossly exaggerating the contact’, he made it perfectly clear that’s what he did think.

MOTD hasn’t been any good since Alan Hansen left. Feels a bit like blue peter these days

That said OGS shouldn’t moan too much

https://youtu.be/To_MGJvRkcI

I thought this was ridiculous

It was a strange analogy but I think Ole did it slightly tongue in cheek - the more bizarre part was Jose's response.

It reminded me a bit of when Fergie claimed his team were better than Arsenal even though we'd just won the title, in response Wenger said "everyone thinks they have the prettiest wife at home" and I think Fergie took it as some kind of insult directed towards Mrs Ferguson.

Jose doesn't say anything to the media without considering the consequences, its just that they don't sit back and lap it up and kiss his feet over every word anymore. Also, the age old tactic of deflecting attention away from the a poor performance doesn't work because he's too far in now.

I for one am delighted to see the usual pattern of Mourinho's management play out.