You got in before I did my Leno instead of Klopp edit.

Saw some article on the BBC site about the spurs manager being under pressure already and fighting for his job. I know they were bad Saturday and it is proper funny but my god the bloke has had little time to change things.

And on that subject There is a plan it just takes time

https://twitter.com/gunner2jasper/statu ... 55428?s=21

I only saw the first episode. That was enough to put me off watching the others. If I wanted to sit through tributes to Manchester United, I’d simply use their official website.

Someone put a clip up of Arteta 1 year ago talking about a game when we played Liverpool, saying how we pressed well, almost perfect but then "Van Dijk hit a 60 yard cross field ball straight on to Salah's chest and they were out.....that's quality" The point of posting I believe was showing that Arteta knew what he wanted and needed to mould the team how he wanted and a big reason for signing Ben White.

I must say I've always felt much safer with centre backs who have pace and technical ability - if they can have height and power as well you've reached the pinnacle of CB.

True, but that was in the cosplay stage when he was trying to sew an occasional flawed diamond into a collection of sows ears.

Levi does not give his managers a free hand on buys and sales so it's strange he brought in this manager is it not? Likewise as a manager he made his own team and developed them himself.

I cannot see tyhings getting better for Spurs, such a shame, not.

French journalist Romain Canuti: "There are a few players at Marseille who are struggling with Guendouzi. His way of working, when he always blames others for things, when he falls to his knees in training to implore God because a touch isnt good enough, it grates"

quelle suprise...

Supposedly good news. ESL fines dropped.

https://www.justarsenal.com/uefa-drop-f ... ssion=true

Mertesacker invited Seaman to come and do some informal coaching work with the U23 and scholar GKs at the club. No indication it’s any more than that. A good move though. Seaman is an absolute Arsenal legend and having him give his time to the young players of only to educate them on the history of the club and what it means to play for us it can only be a good thing.

Good news for Kronke, hadn’t the Kronke’s said they would foot the bill for any fine rather than the club

And apparently Saliba had a shocker at the weekend vs Lens.

Hi Rich,
Pretty much Kroenke would take care of the fine. Yet Arsenal haven't officially withdrawn from ESL.

And so it goes....

“I don’t blame him for this attitude, we know this type of temperament in Marseille, but there are foreign players who aren’t that into it, who have a lot of trouble with that. When you’ve got a guy like that, who always criticises, you might not want to sympathise with him down the line. That being said, OM need characters, Guendouzi has some, so that’s good too”.

Jekyll and Hyde perhaps

Merson saying if Arsenal keep their first choice 11 fit they can challenge for top 4. Only a few weeks back he was saying we were clueless and going absolutely nowhere. Far too much reaction is based on the last result whereas the reality almost always lies somewhere between the extreme views.
Every week in the prem another big club and manager are ‘in crisis’, it’s Spurs turn at the moment but it wouldn’t surprise me for Man U and Ole to be next in the media’s sights

Well that’s not possible even for the next game if Xhaka is out.

They never stop being in the media's sights. I think they'd be after Ole even if he won the EPL and the ECL in the same season, they'd just go quiet for a bit until the next lost game.

Both opinions are as daft as each other.
We've beaten two poor teams and survived Burnley. Looked good in one half against Spurs, but they did give us a fair bit of help. We could have a team able to go for a European place, but I can't see us getting close to top four this year.

Messi scored his 27th goal in 35 games against English clubs. So nearly a full seasons worth of games. And he’s playing all those games against the best 4 teams in the prem on any given year. And people still doubt whether he could ‘do it’ in this league.

There will be somebody somewhere who will have said anything and everything, including that. But to be fair I don’t recall anyone here ever saying it.

I don't know if it has any legs, but should we take Sanchez back?

Why is what I want to know? He's 32, a turncoat, and do we need him and more importantly is he anywhere close to what he was? Maybe he is. I've not watched any Serie A at all. I doubt it though.

Very true, Pode. As much as I enjoyed Sunday's result and the very promising performances of the likes of Ramsdale, Tomiyasu, White, Emile Smith Rowe etc we have to get real here. We've only played a few games, let's revisit this after 15 games and if our new recruits and star boys are still producing box office performances then we can start to believe that they may be the real deal.

As for now, it's obviously very encouraging but there are still lots of potential pitfalls ahead and lots of big challenges, both physical and mental, that need to be safely navigated before we can even dream of being a top four contender again.

Would imagine most know Xhaka will be out of action for three months due to knee ligament damage.

That’s a big blow. Really need Partey to stay fit. I’d guess the options in order are now, Lokonga, Partey on his own, AMN, Elneny

Worth noting the African Cup of Nations might not be as disruptive as some think. ACN is on from Jan 9th to Feb 6th. Arsenal only have 2 league games inside those dates. We have a game on Feb 8th so would imagine any players making the final would miss that as well.

Partey, Elneny and Aubameyang will all be away. Xhaka should hopefully be back

I'd love to see a ANC game some time. In fact, I would love to take some weeks off, get a Euro rail pass and just see the local sights and take in a match in various countries. I'm definitely going to see us play a home game. The Covid19 lockdown increased a need to visit when it was over.

Next 3 league games are more than winnable base on our recent performances. A good chance to perfect our style and tactics, build up some confidence and move up the table.

I am cautiously optimistic.

No you're right. People who question Messi's ability to do it in this league also tend to be the football fans who see nothing wrong with any tackle as long as you get the ball first, got to get in their faces 'avn't we? I don't see any of that on this forum.

I do enjoy debating the Ronaldo v Messi one with friends who side with Ronaldo, because Ronaldo is primarily an elite goalscorer - yet however you cut their stats Messi scores more goals than Ronaldo. Messi does this from a deep position not as a poacher/striker. Messi also creates.

Something I've always found ridiculously superhuman in Messi was the regularity and consistency of scoring goals from outside the box (including free kicks). His goal last night was a prime example first time shot in to the top corner from 20+ yards. Look at some highlight reels there has never been anyone do this with such accuracy.

From BBC: The league said only seven clubs' squads are more than 50% fully vaccinated.

I find that pretty astonishing. Why are 18-35 year old footballers so out of kilter with the general cross section of society in terms of getting vaccinated?....or are they? Are the 11% of brits yet to get vaccinated (or whatever the latest figure is) made up mostly of 18-35 year old men - it might be?

Saw that.

The comment about “ rewarding “ the players for getting vaccinated made me laugh. Of course they bear no responsibility for their own or others health right ? Literally live on another planet.

I said at the start of the season i said I doubt many of our players would have been vaccinated. Unsurprisingly we had a splurge of it.

!!!

I sometimes wonder if Geography is a subject taught in American schools. On holiday, having told a Californian where I was from, I once got asked if London was near Europe.

Huh?
Rich mentioned the Africans Nations Cup and I'd like to see it? What's strange about that? I'd also like to take a train around Europe and catch games in the various leagues (Bunesliga, Eredivisie, etc.).

lol...not sure what the exclamation points are for but....

...ah....took a look at my post and could see 'In fact threw you off. Poor choice of words on my part. 'I'd also' would have been better.

One of the big plusses of the game was Aubameyang scoring. If he can anywhere close to his best with us, we'll be in good shape going forward.
I've always been optimistic about the Gabriel/White pairiing. I'd love to see Saliba back. I've always been a fan of Holding. I never thought he'd be first team quality but a decent 3rd or 4th CB. That said, I hope we can see Saliba sooner rather than later but if or when he comes back, how will he be used? Off the bench, 3 at the back with White and Gabriel? Replacing one of them (White would be my guess if so, Gabriel seems a bit more solid right now, White is getting settled). The back line is better all around.
The midfield is shaping up though. Looking more solid.

Why?
What do you know that makes you want him in the team? Would you think that if he'd been bought for £2m? Have you watched the Marseille matches?
He's had some reported good performances for them and one awful one - but that's in France; and with journos wanting to talk up what Arsenal are missing.

Arteta does need to readjust the midfield. Brighton this weekend in particular.

Either way a hit or miss.