Overall, we dominated the game after conceding the first goal…We, however, did not defend well on their last corner and then gave away more chances for them to win against us although they were 1 man down…A poor show of discipline and maturity and killer instinct….This will cost us more against bigger teams…The performances have been paradoxical this season: at times, we dominate so much and yet we find ourselves in situations where we have to grind out wins at the end of the game or in losing points stupidly…
Like other fellow bloggers, I do feel that we were more solid last year with White, Saliba, Gabs, Zinchenko as our traditinnal back 4…We have been missing Gab’s areal ability, it is not to say that Partey has not been playing well but we are missing his (and Xhaka’s – see below) presence in midfield and we have been missing Gab in our back line. I hope that Arteta goes back to what was tried and tested last season with success.
Another ingredient that we have been missing is Xhaka’s presence in midfield. So far, Havertz – despite some hard working attitude and decent runs/passes – has not been able to pick up where Xhaka left off. No assists, no goals and no breaking-play fouls to day. It does not mean that he will not get there and maybe even be better but at the moment, it seems that the task is too steep for him and he needs more time to settle in into this new role.
So, ultimately, Arteta needs to reflect objectively on our performances and our results and hopefully, he will go back to our usual back line, put Partey back in the middle…
Ramsdale – 5
Partey – 6
White – 5
Saliba – 6
Kiwior – 5
Rice – 6
Ode – 6
Havertz – 5
Saka – 6.5
Trossard – 6
Martinelli – 6
Subs: Nketiah 6.5, Vieira 6.5, Jorginho 6, Zinchenko 6
Arteta: 5
A game to forget and yet to lean from so we can build a stronger team…Next up is the Man Utd armada…
PS: A big thank you to TIERNEY for his outstanding attitude and positive contribution to our team while he played for us. Wishing him happiness and success in Spain!
PPS: Our strongest starting XI according to me at this stage:
Ramsdale – White, Saliba, Gabs, Zinchenko – Partey, Rice – Odegaard – Saka, Nketiah, Martinelli
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Fatginger:
We gifted the first goal and conceded from a set piece. Not exactly time to panic is it!?
I’d be very surprised if we didn’t sign another defensive body before the end of the window, but to do that we need to get people out first, hence the Balogun deal and the Tierney loan.
It’s fair to say we haven’t hit our stride at all, but the fact we’ve got 7 points from 3 below par performances suggests we aren’t a bad side! Man City don’t normally kick into gear until January…..maybe we’ll do the same!?
People will look at Partey playing RB and think that Arteta is over-thinking things, but the game moves on so quickly these days that it’s only the managers who can forward think that are successful in the long term. Look how many teams are now playing with inverted full backs…..a couple of seasons ago it wasn’t even a thing, and in another 12 months it’ll be easy to play against! The reason that we will never see another Alex Ferguson or Arsenal Wenger is not just down to fans/chairmen having no patience, it’s also down to the fact that new ideas come in every season and 90% of managers are unable to adapt sufficiently. I don’t tend to read too much into team sheets these days as formations are so fluid. Partey being listed as a RB is irrelevant when we have 70% of the ball and he’s spending most of the game in CM.
Having said all that, I do feel that the team are still getting to grips with some of the tactical/personnel changes made during pre season, and injuries/suspensions are not helping. I think once Jesus and Zinchenko come back in, we will have a much clearer picture of what Arteta is trying to achieve, and we will see some much improved performances.
Aaron:
FGG,
But what kind of possession do we have?
The entire left side yesterday was unbalanced with Kiwior, back passes were the name of the game which left Martin alone and isolated up front.
Partey anywhere near rb is a waste of space for him and would generally prefer to see him as dm with Rice in the Xhaka’s place. I do not see where Havertz fits in this equation without the use of 1-2 true inverted lb/rb’s, which we only have 1, Zinc, who can’t play 70+ games.
On the front foot we looked average in possession and in triangle passing, on the back foot the team looked poor!
Fulham could have scored more, and had Traore gone down he would have had a clear penalty and AFC woud have lost and Saliba would be missing for the next few games!
The xG for AFC said 3.0 and .45 for Fulham, but did it really look like that?
The team looked off and if they play like that next week against manure, they will get Pasted and then the confidence levels will drop.
So, a shaky 7pts from 9pts and not a confident 9pts from 9pts.
Formations don’t always win games, players do, and our DEFENSE was so solid last with the Saliba/Gabriel partership, along with excellent offense too.
Not all EPL teams have the talent and players to stop AFC even though they might know what is coming.
AFC do not the time to lose points and we could be out of the race before 15 games have even been played
On the PSG front, it seems that Mbappe will stay for another season…PSG still keen to add Kolo Muani and K. Thuram to the team and I think they should look at Lukaku and Koopmeiners as well…
Donna – Haki, Marqui, Skrinia, N.Mendes – Z.Emery, Ugarte, THURAM – Dembele, MUANI, Mbappe
Navas – Mukiele, Kimpembe, L. Hernandez, Bernat (or a youth player) – Ruiz, D. Pereira, Vitinha – Asensio, Ramos, K. Lee
My opinion and squad to face Man utd
Ramsdale –
White, Saliba, Zinchenko, Partey
Havertz, Rice, Odegaard –
Saka, Nketiah, Martinelli
Will he be playing RC
Honestly wish the just bit rice next to partey in midfield just can’t stand havertz
I am with you Fred…If anything, we should try ESR in that role, not Kai…
Havertz is a good footballer, no doubt.
I think we just give him a break though for now from the first team…Let us bring Gabs back into our starting line-up and Partey back in the middle of the pitch 🙂
Balogun undertaking his medical at Monaco…45 Mln + 13 Mln in bonus…Sad to see a promising young gunner join another team, luckily it is not in the EPL. I hope that the contract somehow includes a buy-back clause or a clause that gives us a priority in case he departs Monaco…
Outs:
Turner – Niles, Trusty, Mari, Tierney – Marquinhos, Xhaka – Balogun
+ Runaarson
Still expected to leave:
Cedric, Tavares, Lokonga, Pepe
Sales: About 80 Mln EUR (45 Balo + 15 Xhaka + 8 Turner + 6 Trusty + 5 Mari) for now. Pepe could be sold between 20 and 30 Mln to a Saudi Club, apparently so we may reach 100 Mln in sales…
Yea really want him to be given a chance hope he does well in Monaco
League Cup and Champions League draws this week.
Think it’s more likely that we see Vieira getting a start over Havertz. He had a big impact from the bench against Fulham and it’s possible that Arteta will give him the nod over Havertz after an impressive showing. Hopefully this season we get to see the real Fabio Vieira as he has definitely struggled to settle into the team upto now.
Balogun has gone for £35m. Big money for a fringe player who hasn’t really featured upto now. It would’ve been nice to have seen him develop with us, but with Jesus, Nketiah, Havertz, Trossard and Martinelli in the squad, the chances would’ve been limited, and his value could’ve dropped. The loan he had last year gave the club the chance to get top money here and now and they’ve taken it.
Hopefully Edu can invest the money and find another versatile player who can slot in across the back line at least on a 12 month loan, if not to buy. I’m not a fan of buying players just to cover injuries, but I think the Timber loss needs covering if we want to challenge on all fronts this season. He gave us lots of options in terms of formation/personnel and they’ve now gone.
Holding apparently on his way out too…Luton, Sevilla and Braga are keen to land him…He should go to Braga out of these 3 clubs imho…If this is the case, here are our defenders
White, Gabs, Saliba, Zinchenko
Tomy, Kiwior, Timber + Partey (?)
If Timber is out for the year, fully agree we need another versatile defender…especially one that can play on the left…Melvin Bard?
Rumours of Bah from Benfica and Garcia from Barcelona. Funnily enough neither of which are regarded as left sided defenders. I think Arteta regards Kiwior and Tomiyasu as genuine LB options behind Zinchenko, whereas Arteta is looking at White as a CB which only leaves Tomiyasu and Partey (not really a RB) for the RB role, so it’s more likely we see someone who can cover RB/CB positions being brought in.
I just hope we get someone as a couple of injuries and we are really short up to January.
I am still in favour of getting someone like Tarkowski on the bench too. He is not the best but he can help especially in cup ties and to close a game out. There is Guehi from Palace, Mbemba from Marseille. Miquel (Grenada), Zubeldia (Sociedad) or what about Lenglet?
Quite some options available…we gotta pick one.
Also, there is no way we should sell ESR…That would be devastating. If he goes, then he should come to PSG…
I’d like to see ESR on loan this season. We have Trossard, Havertz, Vieira, Martinelli who can all play in the areas that he likes to operate in. I just think a season on loan will be great for his longer term development. I think a season at a Bournemouth or Brentford would be perfect for him. Maybe Wolves with them letting Nunes go to City. I’m sure he’ll get games at Arsenal in the cups, but I’d much rather he played 30+ games this season and came back ready to go next year.
I d rather keep him…If we do not play him before the X-Mas period, then let us loan him out but before that, I d like to have him in our team.
I think he should be given a chance ahead of Havertz…The main thing is that he has to deal with Trossard too and Trossard has been performing well when on the pitch, especially as a sub.
Meanwhile, Saliba is part of the France group.
I don’t see any logic to signing a Tarkowski. May as well just keep Holding if that’s the level we are looking at. As for Havertz, he was written off before he even arrived by some fans. I remember the same happening with Ramsdale. I just hope he’s got the appetite for a battle because he will need to show some real grit to get some of our supporters onside.
I wonder if someone like Kyle Walker-Peters would be a good option from Southampton. Can play LB and RB and would surely welcome a move back to the PL.
Got to laugh at the England squad. What is the point of picking Henderson??? Southgate now having to field questions about Saudi Arabia and the LGBTQ+ community just so that he can have an ageing CM player in the squad who will soon be retired. Makes no sense to me.
Well that draw couldn’t have gone much better!!!
Sevilla, PSV, Lens
No long away trips, and teams that are struggling a bit compared to last season.
Newcastle will have some great nights at St James Park to look forward to though. I’m pleased for their fans and look forward to seeing that place rocking again.
It’ll be great for us to reacquaint ourselves with the brilliant fans of Racing Club de Lens, we should be strong enough to win all of our home games and that might be enough?
I expec5 all the English clubs to progress.
Brentford (a) in the League Cup will be tricky and may not leave a lot of latitude for any youngsters to get minutes on the pitch as the Bees will go full strength.
Ot been a while since I have actually seen a youngster in these games correct me if am wrong
But it would be the perfect opportunity for players like Nelson, ESR, Veira etc to show the manager what dey can do
The problem with buying the proven players that the fans demand (like Rice, Timber etc) is that it reduces the opportunities for the younger players. It says it all that we are currently talking about getting in a flexible defender to give us enough cover rather than trusting any of our youth players to fill the gap.
It does seem that a byproduct of success these days is the total abandonment of your youth set up! City have just sold Palmer to a team that would normally be a rival, whilst at the same time spending £50m on Doku who plays in a similar position.
We’ve had some excellent young players come through in recent years with Saka, ESR, Nketiah breaking into the side, but it’s interesting that this happened during a poor period for the club. As soon as we’ve looked capable of challenging, the money has been splashed and the youth set up has gone on the back burner.
It’ll be interesting to see how the Saudi takeover impacts all of this. If players start going over there, then teams might have to start looking at their younger players again in order to fill out their squads and maintain a challenge. That’s still a long way off though.
Looks like a successful day in terms of players leaving but I do worry we are a little short of quality at the back until Timber is fit again.
6 first team defenders (White,Tomiyasu,Saliba,Gabriel,Kiwior,Zinchenko) plus Cedric and Partey, doesn’t look enough to me. Hopefully someone like Walters is ready to step up to the first team. He was on the US tour and played pre season I believe. Maybe he’s impressed Arteta enough to trust him as a back up option.
Man U showing their class by loaning Greenwood out rather than just cutting ties.
Pathetic.
They’ll be praying that things get forgotten about so they can get him back in the squad asap.
Cedric still with us wow
Zinc, Tomi and Saliba have to be rotated or they will go pop.
Can’t believe we did not purchase a minimum of 1 defender with Tierney going and another with Holding going.
But, hey Partey at rb and Saka at left.
Here we go!
FGG, no more incomings so you might get your wish with Reuell Walters the only academy defender who is at any kind of level to perform for the seniors if need be…
Cozier Duberry, Lewis-Skelly and Nwaneri will be pleased we’ve not signed anymore Tavares/Lokonga types.
Fred, Cedric will never leave, he’ll stay with us forever…
Partey has picked up an injury. The last thing we need right now, although it may be a blessing to some fans as it will probably see us revert back to a White/Saliba/Gabriel/Zinchenko back 4.
I hope it’s a short term issue or we maybe starting to regret the lack of deadline day activity already! The good news is Mmmmm though is that Jesus will be back which will mean a totally different dynamic in terms of our attacking play and pressing game.
Lol never understood how Cedric ended up with us, the man was on loan and just never left
Rice, Rice, baby!
Get in!!!
I don’t believe Partey was ever going to play in this game, now a convenient injury that should keep him out of international games — or at least that is what I hope.
Big win today, must admit I gave up about 10 minutes to go but all importantly the team didn’t and now we get to bask in winning glory which will help sustain us through the international tedium.
I heard 6 weeks
Havertz miss kick smh
Havertz still struggling…but he may get there…
Our team seems less solid this year or easier to attack. We are conceding chances…
MoTM: Rice, Odegaard, Saka 😛
I ll put a post up this afternoon
Have never been a fan of havertz so , actually don’t believe he will, nice to see viera making an impact as a sub
Interesting how we didn’t get the pen call yesterday it was soft but was that a clear and obvious error this season I definitely have seen some soft penalty given makes me wonder why dey always harsh with us
Fred, the non-penalty yesterday if it had been Liverpool at Anfield or Man Utd at Old Trafford, would not have been overturned, I’ve seen softer ones than that given against Arsenal in recent years and Arsenal players sent off, at least VAR saved us from United’s 2nd goal so evened up I guess?
RC78, I’m not sure we’re more vulnerable this season but if we are maybe we’re missing Xhaka?