Them again.
Trouble with this game is that I am ambivalent – desperately want to beat the Miscreants but don’t want a two leg semi-final against Oilers.
How will Mr. Emery approach this fixture? Will he continue to utilise youth players or prioritise silverware and select a number of first teamers? I have no idea and doubt you do!
The 4-2 victory was glorious (any victory against them is glorious). Every goal magnificent. We witnessed one of the PL games of the season and gave them a hammering. The Emirates was rocking. Shame we couldn’t repeat a 5-2 victory!
Pochettino will want to end his final season at Spurs with some silverware, so I anticipate they will bring a very strong team including Alderweiss (isn’t that a song from Sound of Music?), Alli and all the other muppets.
We, on the other hand, are blighted by injuries and cannot risk some of our chaps. Dare we start with Nketiah upfront or play safe with Lacazette?
My Team:
Helmet
Licht Sokratis Medley AMN
Ramsey Xhaka Willock
Ozil Iwobi
Lacazette
Mustafi is recovering from injury, Kos played 90 on Sunday, Holding out, Mavro out, Wradrobe out, Chambers AWOL, we have to play either Monreal or a kid at CB, I choose the kid. SAka and Eddie on the bench. PEA given a night off.
We play Burnley at the weekend which must be the priority.
If we win – it is a fine victory
If we lose – it is only the Carabao and we beat them in the important game.
COYRRG
Arsenal News 24/7
arsenalarsenal.net 
Hey Peaches
Mirror thinks Skipp (with two ps?) will be in from start tonight! Worth a bet?
MEDLEY is most definately worth his chance , he is in a different class to Chambers who I hope stays at Fulham
I like this Post — a win is perfect, but if we lose there is a dignified way of saying ‘sod off’ we weren’t interested in a Micky Mouse cup anyway! Also perfect. 😀
I am all for playing the kids in these games, as in the Post, and perhaps even having some of them included in the team and not just on the bench for the Premier, but in a way it highlights our still fragile stock of fit, skilful and young players.
There are already rumours about who we might try and buy in the January transfer window.
So I am wondering, what will the next round of transfer activities bring us in 2019?
How do you feel when a juicy rumour appears out of nowhere linking Arsenal to a player we can all see is exactly what the team needs – maybe – well, we are all gluttons for newbies, and prepared to give them a go — these nonsense tidbits have cropped up many times over the years – right?
Then the next snippet comes out saying “club ‘x’ refuses Arsenal’s bid.” Even if no bid was actually made. Bugger!!
Umm? Usually in short order another juicy morsel will float across the screen saying that ‘Arsenal make an improved offer for player ‘XX’ and we await with bated breath for news that the offer has been accepted, and for the player to eventually be unveiled at the Emirates.
Except the media swiftly announce with unseemly glee that the new super-dooper improved offer has also been rejected, too. Double Damn!!
That normally cues delightful blogger rants about the media. Or tight fisted Arsenal, or … or … Well you get the drift. So, what is really going on?
The above sequence is, of course, made worse by the news (sometimes FAKE) that Madrid or Chelsea or Manure or Citeh have fluttered their eyelashes, and smartly collared various top class (and some not too top class) players, including ‘our’ hoped for player ‘XX’ mentioned above, who will almost certainly improve their squads and simultaneously reduce our chances of winning the Premier league. BumFartSugarBuggerDamnation!!
Arsenal have changed gears over recent times with a new set up where Emery asks the bosses for a player and they get on with establishing what can be done, leaving the Coach to …. coach.
The result is that the fans’ long-term frustration has abated, helped by the intense and dynamic new coach, and, until recently, the achievement of a long unbeaten spell – but let’s be honest the Arsenal fans’ frustration does not take much to be unleashed, so the New Year could be interesting.
Back to the earlier question; what is likely to happen in the big, bold world that we now find ourselves in, with the nascent ‘Pool and the monied, (cheating?) Citeh currently ruling the roost, with, heaven forfend, the Spuds starting to flex their football muscles with a bright new-ish manager …. and you never know, Manure might, at last, get a decent manager, and with all their Glazer money ……. Will there be room for us at the top table?
Of course, allowance has to be made for the media’s eagerness to invent stories to boost their ‘hits’, and many of the stories about Arsenal’s interest in this or that player, especially with the new transfer window coinciding with our latest crop of injured players, are inevitably bound to surge.
Beware the Ides of
March– January.For myself, cynic that I am, I cannot be anything but aware that it is foolish to take much, if any, notice of 99% of the stories, but like a juicy worm offered to a hungry fish, I still snap at it and get drawn in to the possibility that we will land another Torreira, or a Thierry clone, or a tall skilful, commanding centre back and guess what? I have asked Santa to bring us, pretty, pretty please a ………………… well you fill in the blank in!!
And what have you asked him for? Hmm. 🥺
Gotta go, Arrivederci.
Great post Raddy. regardless of what other priorities there are beating Spurs is always # 1 everything else pales in comparison.
The last time we won the League Cup (Coca Cola version) was in the 1992/93 season so it would be super to put another pot on the sideboard.
Wow RA, some of us (me) write mini-comments while you write long and interesting essays.
I hope the type of thing you describe becomes a thing of the past, It’s depressing, misleading and intended to get additional readership. However we are all human and get sucked into the process – like it or not.
It’s really good to see you back on AA and I sincerely hope that your health issues become a thing of the past.
Disagree wholeheartedly. Put out the strongest team possible, including Medley, perhaps, and beat the Spuds into the turf.
Who says we have to play the Oilers in the semi-final? Piss mOrgan is making the draw…..oops perhaps we will play them.
3rd place, Europa Cup and Carrier Bag Cup here we come!
Thanks Raddy. Brilliant as ever. 🙂
Yes, kids will be good for me. But also 20 more minutes for Kos. We ned him back to match fitness.
COYG.
GN5. 🙂 “regardless of what other priorities there are beating Spurs is always # 1 everything else pales in comparison” YES! 🙂
I think we can all agree that beating Tottenham is an essential.
And there is a 33% chance (I am crap at maths) that we will draw Burton.
As to kids – Spurs will probably have a couple in their team; AMN, Willock and Medley need experience and all will understand the importance of not losing this evening.
RA. Fine comment. A few years ago I would trawl the papers/internet for AFC transfer stories but no longer. Clearly, many of the rumours are created by unscrupulous agents hyping up their players.
Exactly, BR.
The annoying thing is that most of us know what the agents and the media are up to, and yet I, for one, still fall for it occasionally.
In the last few years, mainly out of desperate hope for new players, I guess I left my common sense in my back pocket. 🤩
Hi GN5,
Thank you for your kind comments, earlier.
I cannot be around as much as I would like.
I have had the tumour removed from my brain and it seems it was successful, as both my hearing and eyesight are beginning to improve, fingers crossed, but I have been warned about ‘excessive’ reading, and also ‘playing’ with my blogger friends!
I will not be sorry to see the back of 2018 as I have been in and out of hospital like a yoyo for a variety of different things. Can’t wait for a good 2019!
Anyhoo, I will be here whenever I am able. 😛
LBG…. we can’t confirm that Skippy will be starting tonight …but he’s in the squad
Disappointed if Xhaka plays centre back.
Thanks, BR.
You summed up my ambivalent feelings about tonight completely.
Winning will always be good but do I really care if we don’t have that double legger in Jan – no, not really.
Tim Stillman tweeted that, from a rational perspective, it might be preferable to go out on pens i.e. not lose in 90 mins but fail to win the random shoot out. He got some strong responses!
Xhaka centre back in a back 4 by the look of it.
Too many first teamers playing for me.
Will be a struggle tonight looking at the lineups. We have been obliterated in defence since we last played them and the Geundouzi/Torreira partnership gave lots of space to Southampton the other day. I’m hoping that Ramsey is playing centrally to try and help out with that, but as he’s probably in the 10 role so he won’t give us too much defensively. Fingers crossed, but I’m only 30% optimistic!
RA,
Rabiot has apparently rejected a new deal at PSG and is free to talk to foreign clubs in January with the view to signing in July. Emery, of course, had him at PSG so he has advantage over the likes of City and Chelsea who are also interested. Rumours he’s already signed for Barca have been denied and rumours PSG would rather sell in Jan than let him leave for free. He’s confirmed he wants out so will be a lot of clubs after him.
A quality addition if we can somehow get him in front of the big teams.
No match report from me, soz, early start.
Prob won’t watch the second half.
Oooops, we miss a simple one, they don’t. C’est la vie.
Iwobi has everything, except a final ball. Fantastic up to the edge of the opposition box and then just so inconsistent and often dreadful. The worrying thing is I’m not seeing any improvement in that side of his game, even with a good run in the team. So frustrating to watch.
On the plus side, I’m enjoying the way we are hunting the ball. We just need someone like Lacazette on to provide some decent link up play with Auba. They seem to understand each other’s game.
How are we not winning? Finishing has been awful.
Actually a really good first half. We’ve hunted the ball and created some excellent openings. We’ve just failed to make the most of them, wether it be because of the finish, the GK, or a sloppy final ball. They’ve had 2 decent chances and scored 1.
Iwobi is Walcott without the occasional goal. If you haven’t got the final pass at his age you never will and without that you shouldn’t be at THOF
Firstly, how have we let Kane bring a long ball down on his chest, turn, and flick a ball over our defence without a defender being anywhere near him?
Secondly, having seen Kane with time in the middle of the pitch, why hasn’t Koscielny dropped with the run of Alli?
Really poor.
That bottle onto Alli’s head was our first shot on target I think!
I missed the game but have recorded it. Given the scoreline there is little possibility of my sitting through it.
So no post match from me. Anyone willing to write something – however brief?
More disappointed by our younger players performances tonight than going out of the cup. Its good to see the younger players in this comp but I don’t think any of AMN, Iwobi, Geundouzi or Nketiah had a particularly good night. Shame.
Not to be. Again disappointed at missed chances.
Bottle thrower must be banned.
LBG
Or, we could give him a statue…?
I did not expect is to win but am still disappointed
That early miss seems to have been crucial.
As it is we hit the post twice and the bar once.
From the Ramsey shot the keeper knocked it onto the post and it then bounced back onto his head and out.
I did not understand bringing on neketiah then as there were 3 players chasing the ball from midfielders who could not find the right pass
Also why it was no foul when sissoko body checked amn is a mystery to me.
poor show. disappointed that so many senours were put on for nothing. Happy that Kos got a few more minutes.
Thank you GiE.
g’night all.
Thanks chaps, I’ll use them for the post.
NEW POST