At last! We finally beat Man City in the EPL! We waited a long…long…long…long time to do so.
Everything was not perfect, starting from a very dreadful first half by Raya…But we executed a very smart game plan consistently during the game. We did not concede many chances and City was clearly getting frustrated as one could have seen at the end of the game (ie: Kyle Walker at it again with staff…). We also managed, especially after 30 minutes and definitely in the second half, to put City under pressure defensively with some incisive passing and runs…Overall, it was a cagey match and if it were a boxing match, we would have won with points rather than with a TKO…We were the slightly better team yesterday.
The impressive thing is that we did not start
- With Saka and Martinelli, our best wingers…We had Jesus and Trossard on the wings and Trossard was not 100%…
- With Partey, who has been excellent with us in the last 12 months or so…
I really liked our defensive work yesterday and our stability, Jorginho has a very good game and Rice was outstanding again and so were Saliba and Gabriel. With Partey back, I d love to see Ode, Partey, Rice in midfield.
Our subs had a big impact – Martinelli, Havertz, Tomy, Partey immediately got into the game and made their presence felt. Martinelli’s goal is largely the result of wonderful work from our subs. It is just so nice to know that we can count on a squad rather than just 11 players.
And what can we say about the Emirates? What an atmosphere, what about our fans? Amazing place, slowly but surely creating a “Highburyesque” type of hype around it 🙂
And a good win for us…Can you believe we are top of the league but with Spurs? Man City only 2 points behind though and Liverpool 3 points behind…
Ratings:
Raya – 4, a disastrous first half and a better second half. I m keen to see Ramsdale back in goal…
White – 7, another solid defensive display.
Saliba – 8, contained Haaland again – not so easy to do but he has done it.
Gabs – 8.5, why he did not start at the beginning of the season beats me? He is our defensive leader, most of the time.
Zinc – 6, tried hard sometimes too hard and was beaten also defensively once or twice.
Jorgi – 7, early booking but solid game overall – well done!
Rice – 8.5, what an amazing player we have recruited! Solid and industrious display, another one 🙂
Ode – 7, well contained in the first 30 minutes but then grew into the game.
Jesus – 6, tried hard and could have been decisive but overall worked hard despite lacking a final attacking product.
Eddie – 6, same as Jesus.
Trossard – 5, did not seem 100%.
Subs: Martinelli – 8, Tomy – 7, Havertz – 7, Partey – 7.
MOTM: Gabriel, Rice, Martinelli for me in that order
I am hoping that Arteta will
- play our usual back 4 (White, Saliba, Gabs, Zinc)
- establish Ode, Partey, Rice as our mid 3
- be able to count on fully fit Saka, Martinelli and Trossard soon
- reflect on Raya-Ramsdale and the need to maybe bring Ramsdale back between the posts.
Our next 5 fixtures are:
Chelsea – Away
Sevilla – Away
Sheffield – Home
West Ham – Away
Newxastle – Away
We need to get 10 points in the EPL (3 wins, 1 draw) out of 4 games and at least 1 point vs Sevilla.
The EPL will be tight this year. Man City lost two in a row, Spurs are overperforming and so is Brighton. Liverpool has been performing well in the last 6 months and Chelsea is starting to find their rhythm while Newcastle, Villa, West Ham and even Man Utd cannot be totally discarded…
COYG!
Arsenal News 24/7
arsenalarsenal.net 
With the rice partey partnership who should be the one going forward personally I think it should be partey
When rice and soucek were so good year before that how it was
What you all think
It is hard to tell…Partey and Rice can both be “the shielding DM” and can also play as CM. I agree that Partey may have more experience in that role but I think that Rice may be able to handle the physical demands of that role more since Partey has been so prone to injuries and the “B2B CM” requires sustained fitness…
Rice would need to of course improve his passing and shots but his runs have already improved and he is still very performant with his defensive duties so based on physicality only, I d put Rice in that role…Plus nothing stops the team to having Partey play 30 mins in a role and then swap with Rice 😛
Ramsdale – White, Saliba, Gabs, Zinchenko – Ode, Partey, Rice – Saka, G. Jesus, Martinelli
If this were our best XI, then I think the main areas for upgrading could actually be…LB and CF, which is amazing since we are talking about Zinchenko and G. Jesus…Who is better than them actually and a potential target/recruit for us? Not many players so we are in a decent place at the moment…At DL, there is potentially: Davies (Bayern), T. Hernandez (Milan). At CF, there is potentially: L. Martinez (Inter), Osimhen (Napoli) and other long shots include Gudmonsson, Watkins, Moffi and Chiesa…
Anyways, the point I was trying to make although not clearly enough is that we have a solid XI and now good quality on the bench as well
Statistically this season, Lautaro Martinez is better than G. Jesus and A. Davies is better than O. Zinc…
That said, I am really enjoying AFC as it is now, even with its areas of improvement
Excellent write up RC, very enjoyable, must admit I didn’t expect to be feeling the way I do now this time last week. Hey, the sun is even shinning here.
By the way I think you are both looking in the wrong direction. First establishing that I completely agree with the idea of RIce, Partey and Odegaard I think you are wrong to assume that a choice of just one has to stay back and play the more defensive role……..I think they will play vertically, each defending when necessary and each moving forward when required.
Also, the decision to play Partey at right back was to me all about getting him on the pitch at the early stage of the season — Why? for now, for the very obvious calls of having Rice, Partey and Odegaard play together.
Partey had to play RB to accommodate Havertz and Rice who had to start to kick start their acclimatisation into the first team. It would not have made sense to have bought both of them at the price the club paid and not to have started them.
The only thing that surprised me about yesterday’s team selection was that Partey didn’t start but note how good we looked when he came on…..a true Rolls Royce of a player, calmness personified.
LB – maybe you are right about Partey’s initial selection at RB but the team looks so much better with our usual back 4 and with a solid Mid-3. Jorginho did really well yesterday and when Partey came in, we got even better so I hope that the Ode, Partey, Rice trio is given a chance now in midfield…
As for Havertz, he made a positive contribution yesterday and maybe that “subersub” role suits him better for now, just like with Trossard…
I am just a bit worried at the lack of playing time for ESR
Our supersubs, seemingly this season:
GK – Raya or Ramsdale
DF – Tomy
MF – Jorgi
AM – Trossard
Winger – RN
CF – Nketiah
We have still Vieira, ESR, Havertz…
Quick prediction: Luis Enrique may win only 1 trophy this season with PSG and may not be our coach next year. His communication is disastrous and is acting like a despot already, according to various reports…
Havertz though when tomi headed down to him who else was thinking he was just going to take a touch and score
Not I said the Frenchie…
Luis Enrique acted like a despot on the field, that has always been his character.
Indeed…I don’t think it will work in Paris beyond Year 1. He may decide to leave bc now the press is against him after what he did yesterday to a journalist, basically calling him an idiot
He’s been saying for a few weeks that I was going to be there for City. Obviously, we were saying that Gabi it would be too early for you, and yesterday he said, “boss I told you, I’m going to be ready for this.” And it happened after 30 minutes Leo [Trossard] felt something in his hamstring. So, when I turned around, he was already ready, to go with his kit, and saying “boss, I’m ready to go”. He’s just got the joy of a kid, his mentality is incredible at his age, and it’s just a joy to have him because today he could change the game and he was really helpful for us to win.” – Mikel Arteta on Gabriel Martinelli
Gabi is too committed to the AFC cause 🙂
Jesus role can’t be questioned he may not be the best finisher but he help the team alot
I would take toney over lataro any day
I like Toney too but Lautaro (although not as strong physically) is a better player overall
Toney a proven EPL player
Just remember lukaku is a great seria player so it doesn’t mean the transition is seemless
Sometimes I even wonder the point of talking up other players cause we not on the transfer window
Indeed Fred, indeed…
So the UK and Ireland will host EURO2028, that’s good news but somehow, they selected Hotspurs’ stadium over ours in London…
Will u be attending euro games RC, has always been a dream of mine to attend euros and WC
I d love to get tix for the Euro, especially if it takes place in the UK and Ireland…Can’t wait for it.
Also keep an eye on Mathys Tel – young French forward snapped by Bayern Munich last year from Rennes and currently having a very productive spell with limited game time. He is very very good and if he does not get injured, he will be one to watch very carefully…I think he is already better than Kalimuendo for example
The Partey/Rice debate is an interesting one, and, as always LB has it spot on. Both, can and do retreat and advance vertically. Simeone wasted much of Partey’s ability to play dynamic balls through the lines, and, at his best, this skill is magnificent.
Rice is a master at fifty yard, diagonal passes to change instantly the point of play, using the width Saka and Martinelli give us.
Pundits like Keane, retract full praise for Rice on the bases of “not enough goals”, not enough Lampard or Gerard in him. The comparison is a false one for both Partey and Rice. They are not box to box players ( they are not our Ramseys of 2023.) But total destroyers of opposition attacks, AND thoughtful, intelligent creators to add to the genius of Odegaard, they are!
There was an interesting article about Real Madrid today in the French press…It was about the transition from the “Modric, Kross – CR7,KB9” era into a new era and how Real basically has started this transition a few years back already so the spine of their team (except GK) is already in place for the foreseable future:
Militao (CB, 25) – Tchouameni (DM, 23), Camavinga (CM,20) – Bellingham (CM/AM, 20) – Vinicius (FWL,23)
And then they have as squad players: Valverde (DM/CM, 25), Rodrygo (FWR, 22)
They still have relatively experienced (but not too old) players too like Carvalaj (31), Alaba (31), Rudiger (30) at the back so expect these two-three players at the back for at least another 2-3 years.
Apparently, Real are now looking for a youngish GK (better than Lunin – Unai Simon), RB, LB (better than F. Mendy) and CF (they say they want Mbappe but apparently, Haaland is also one they want and considered better suited to their needs)
UNAI – ?, Militao, Alaba, ? – Tchouameni, Camavinga – Jude – Rodrygo, HAALAND, Vini
The point is that Real is extending their best young players, all of them are world-class to be honest. They are also looking at bringing in young superstars to the team to ensure continuity of team excellence…and guess who is also doing that? OUR TEAM (Saliba, Saka, Martinelli, Rice…)!
So in terms of the transfer market, I think that the top 16 teams in Europe are just going to battle it out even more for young talent so we (i) have to make sure our best young players are extended in time, (ii) have enough funds to compete with the likes of Real, City (…), and (iii) improve our talent spotting capabilities.
Again, sorry, I do need coffee it seems…Although all the above points were true in the past, it feels like we have to be even better and stronger in our recruitment and talent spotting than before…
New post