So Man Utd invested massively over the summer with Varane, Sancho and also brought CR7 back to Old Trafford. They have a quality and talented squad for sure but for some reason, they have not gelled yet. I am hoping that their struggle will continue at least until February 😛

My love for AFC grew in the 90s and my dislike for Man Utd grew proportionally as their team back then was full of annoying players from Schmeichel to Neville to Keane and RVN but also talented ones like Scholes and Giggs but anyways, for me, I get even more annoyed with Man Utd than with Spurs…anyways…

Tonight is about “not losing” – making sure that we are solid, do not give away cheap chances and goals. Stay focused and pounce on the counter if you can. We need resilience, power and pace today to keep Utd at bay. They have a devastating strike force with Rashford, CR7, Sancho (+ their subs) and then Fernandes can create a goal of nothing. I always feel that Maguire has a goal but also a mistake in him so for me, it is going to come down to who is going to dominate the midfield and makes the least mistake and I d play the following line-up:

Rams – Tomy, White, Gabs, Nuno – Partey, Lokonga – Saka, ESR, AMN – Laca

but I am expecting: Rams – Tomy, White, Gabs, Nuno – Partey, Lokonga – Saka, Laca, ESR – Auba

Whoever starts, let them put in a good shift and bring at least a point back from Man Utd.

COYG!

The Top 3 teams in the EPL are, at least, within the Top 5 teams in Europe:

• Chelsea, Man City, Liverpool, Bayern, Real…

There is a case for Dortmund (as always), Ajax (who is having a great year again) and may be even Atletico Madrid but teams like PSG, Juve, Barcelona and Man Utd or Sevilla or Villareal are looking a bit off the pace SO FAR… the December reality may not be the May-June reality…

In the EPL, the top 3 teams have widened the gap with the rest of the pack until now whether it is Man Utd, Leicester, West Ham, Tottenham and ourselves. At this stage, we cannot totally discard them but Wolves and Aston Villa or Brighton do seem to be fighting more for a Top 8 finish but who knows..

The interesting thing is that there are 5 genuine contenders for the 4th and last Top 4 sports and it is hard to tell which team will come on top comes the end of the season.

• Man Utd has a deep and talented squad and now a very good coach so there is a chance that they kick-on…
• Tottenham has a good squad and strong coach as well and they may start winning games more regularly in the second half of the season
• West Ham has been playing well this season and building on last season’s progress
• Leicester has a core group of players that knows how to get things done and a very good coach as well
• And then we have been rather good, built a good set-up and shoring things up defensively mostly…

So who will land the prized 4th spot?

• Project Arteta?
• Project Conte?
• Project Moyes?
• Project Rangnik?
• Project Rodgers?

I am, of course, hoping for Project Arteta but the other teams have talent and proven coaches so it won’t be easy….The direct games against these teams are going to be key to securing the Top 4….What’s your take?

COYG! Let us finish in the Top 4 and start building a Champions-League worthy team….

A convincing win against a poor Newcastle team. We dominated possession, we dominated the midfield, we dominated also defensively. Overall, we just dominated – we maybe conceded 1-2 chances and I believe we should have been awarded a PK at the end of the game as Lascelles’ elbow into Martinelli’s face was a clear foul and intentional…Anyways…Two very well taken goals by Saka assisted by Tavares and Martinelli by Tomyasu (our wings are working decently 🙂

Ramsdale: Untroubled, calm…6

Tomyasu: Proving to be an astute purchase. An assist and solid going forward and defensively. 7.5

White: Not bothered. Did not take any risks. 6.5

Gabriel: Solid and more daring than White. 7

Tavares: Slowly but surely becoming the Nr.1 option as LB. Bright, brave and solid. Needs to be more aware at times defensively but wonderful going forward. An assist. 8.

Partey: Solid but also guilty of some poor passing once we were up 2-0. 6

Lokonga: Solid, sober. 6.5

Saka: Wonderful before his injury. A goal and plenty of gusto. MOTM. 8

Ode: A rare start. Did not help his cause but did not make it worse either. Some good passing. 6

ESR: A quiet game by his recent standard. 6

Auba: Ghastly. 5.5

Martinelli: Full of life and trickery. A great goal and should have gotten a PK at the end.

Laca: Energetic but not decisive. 5.5

El Neny: N/A.

I think today was a real marker for Arteta’s AFC in many ways

• Ramsdale and the back four are rather solid and seem to enjoy defending together.
• We were supposed to be excited about Auba, Laca and Pepe but in the end, it seems that our excitement and goals may come from ESR, Martinelli and Saka! ESR and Saka are clear starters now and although he needs to become fitter, Martinelli could be the striker we need. Has the change of guard happened…
• Partey, Lokonga – Ode – did not look out of sorts but I still believe this is the area of the pitch that could use some improvement.

The losers: Pepe, Saliba, Auba, Tierney, Cedric/Chambers.

The winners: Tomy, Tavares, Martinelli

The last few years, we have been crushed by LFC in the EPL at Anfield:

• 2019/2020: Liverpool 3 – AFC 1
• 2018/2019: Liverpool 5 – AFC 1
• 2017/2018: Liverpool 4 – AFC 0

So we had conceded 12 goals and scored two in the last 3 away EPL games at Anfield and it seems that last week-end, we were unable to reverse the tide against Klopp’s Red Army…

This game was supposed to be a benchmark for us in terms of measuring our progress but if you look at the score and the way we conceded the goals, you cannot be objectively optimistic. Of course, LFC are a well-drilled and oiled team with a fantastic trio up front and a robust defense but could we not have done better? Should we not have done better? Wasn’t it Arteta’s responsibility to set-us up better against this formidable team…

4-0, 2 soft goals and then a capitulation….There were weaknesses all over the pitch and on the side line for us. It was a no contest and the better team won convincingly and deservedly.

AFC – Players Rating: Average of 4. / Manager rating: 2 (because of his yellow card, otherwise 3.5)

Not much to say besides the fact that we are still maturing as a team and that we must do better in next game and next time against such opposition.

There is no shame losing to LFC, Man City or Chelsea but we need to put in better performances, grind out some results. I would be super happy if we finished 4th behind them but will it happen? Are we the best of the rest? Some teams have better squads like Man Utd for example and some teams play better as a team like West Ham this year or Leicester last year…Is a top 5 finish and a Cup win, the minimum for Arteta this year?

The press is indicating that Newcastle is interested in purchasing some of players currently playing in the EPL, including at AFC:

• Apparently, they want some Man Utd players like Lingaard and Van Den Beek
• Apparently, they are also interested in AMN, Holding and Chambers

So the question is to see whether we should actually consider serious purchase offers from Newcastle…if they are willing to invest in some of our lesser used players…

What is your take on:

• Chambers
• Holding
• Mari
• Kolasinac
• Pepe
• El Neny
• …

Shall we consider an offer from Newcastle for them in January?

So as we have Ramsdale, Saka and ESR in the England squad and we also have Balogun in the youth set-up, it may be time to reflect on our English contingent at AFC since 1990 and onwards…Who will make it in your ultimate all English AFC XI?

Here is mine:

Seaman – Keown, Adams, Campbell, Cole – Parlour, Merson, Wilshere – Saka, Wright, Walcott

Will Jenkinson, Bould, Winterburn, Dixon, Smith, Chambers, Chamberlain, AMN, ESR, Smith, Wellbeck, make it into your team?

A link to get some ideas

https://www.englandstats.com/club.php?cid=4

Needless to sat that ESR’s trajectory in the last 18 months has been fast and ascending. Not only has he managed to establish himself as a regular starter at AFC, he has also impressed his coaches at England Under-21 and his bright start of the season has seen him get his very first call-up to the senior England national team…

Quick recap: ESR is a 21 yo attacking midfielder, an AFC academy graduate who also had short but useful loan spells at Leipzig and Huddersfield town. He has represented England at youth level and has won the 2017 Fifa U-17 World Cup with Brewster, Foden, Gibbs-White, Hudson-Odoi and Sancho amongst others. This season he has registered 5 goals and 2 assists including 4 goals and 2 assists in the EPL. He operates as an attacking left midfielder from the left side…

Hence drawing comparisons with Pires and Hleb but also with KDB who started as a wide attacking midfielder in Germany…

So ESR works hard, had a decent eye for a pass and a goal. He is not necessarily fast but he is not slow either. He is not a winger crazy about dribbling and crossing from the touchline and he is not a fake 9 either or a 10 in the mould of Ozil. He is also not an 8.

So according to you, is ESR more like Robbie Pires, Hleb or K. De Bruyne? Our nemesis R. Ferdinand says that he is a blend of Pires and Hleb and for once, he may not be totally off the mark

Pepe joined us a a few years back now for a hefty transfer fee and his level of performance and consistency so far have not really justified the huge sum we paid for him…That said and despite being frustrating and predictable, he somehow manages to snatch a few assists and goals (1 goal, 3 assists in 8 games so far) here and there and also, he has vastly improved his defensive contribution. Now, is he being unfairly judged because of the price we paid for him? Is his improvement since he joined us good enough? Can he be more decisive? On the latter part, I think we should push him even higher up the pitch so that he has no choice but to make quick, instinctive decisions…

Odegaard, I am still unsure on why we bought him. He is a good passer of the ball, a decent presser as well but his defensive awareness is not great at all and seems he can only be trusted as a Nr.10. He does not seem to have the tactical awareness or physical attributes to play as a Nr.8. Arteta likes him and I can see why but I would much rather see ESR as a Nr. 10 and Lokonga, AMN or even Xhaka as an 8.

Martinelli, our Brazilian speedster who got slowed down in his progress because of injuries. He is always trying to make things happen on the pitch but he can be a bit clumsy at times and his lack of playing time seems to affect him and his ability to score or assist. Make no mistake, the kid is very good but he needs more playing time and for that, he needs to be better when called upon…It is a catch 22 situation..

So how do you feel about Pepe, Odegaard, Martinelli (POM)? In our 4231 set-up, are they good enough to challenge the Saka, ESR, Auba (SEA) trio? Can the POM take over the SEA?

Food for thought…

Three points in the bag. A rather accomplished performance (barring the last 10 minutes) and some interesting displays from some players…

We totally dominated the first half, had 14 shots and did not concede one shot…We were passing the ball smoothly and creating chances and Aston Villa was all over the place. We score on set pieces first through a Partey header and then an Auba rebound from a saved PK…The score line was fair and the PK was obvious.

In the second half, Aston Villa changed their system and were a bit more coherent going forward and also defensively. However, after some good passing, ESR scored through a deflected shot but as a result of a potent counter-attack. Martinez made a few saves, we conceded some chances and then Ramsey scored a screamer for AV. Few minutes later, we almost conceded another one through a header following a throw in…The last minutes were nervy but we managed to see the game through.

So what did we learn?

• Lokonga is a much better option than Odegaard next to Partey in a double-pivot
• ESR is more at ease without Odegaard and playing through the middle or coming in from the left. He is in good form and really is showing that he can be a key player for us.
• Laca is really a key clog in our team especially for the press and hold-up play
• Tavares is showing early promises of a good left-back. What are we going to do with Cedric?
• Tomy had a good first half but then faded. Shall we rest him a bit?
• Partey had one of his best outings yesterday and his goal is a deserved reward. I hope that his injuries will leave him alone because it seems he has finally found his rhythm.
• Saka also had a good first half but also faded…Shall we rest him too?
• Auba had some good looks at goal and seems happier with Laca in the team.
• Gabriel was impressive last night especially in the air.
• Ramsdale’s passing is much better than Leno’s and he is also much better at launching our attacking play

Some pundits say we played a 442 but I am quite sure we were set-up as a 4231 with Auba just playing higher up on the left.

Here the ratings:

MOTM: Emile Smith Rowe

Ramsdale – 6
Tomy – 6
White – 6
Gabriel – 7
Tavares – 7
Lokonga – 7
Partey – 7
Saka – 6
ESR – 8
Auba – 7
Laca – 7

Next up is Leeds in the Carabao Cup, a chance to play some subs like Martinelli, Pepe, Balogun, AMN…However, I d not want to see Leno in goal to be honest…