So here we go again, another loss against City in the EPL. The first 15 minutes were rather embarrassing, conceding an early and silly goal, hardly touching the ball and running like headless chickens. After that, City was not very dangerous but always in control and we hardly created a chance. The gap between City and AFC is rather big and it does not seem to get narrower. City exposed our limits but also this game showed that we could, at times, also compete with the best of the best so I suppose there are some positives to take from the game as well, including:

• Saka is just too good
• We managed to keep City at bay for quite a while after we conceded the goal.

I thought the line-up was odd and the omission of ESR and Laca really stood out for me for this game.

So another loss and almost the end of our hope to qualify for Europe via the league this year. We have to put in a good shift in the Europa League now. Here are the ratings:

Leno – 6 – Not a bad outing and a good save.

Bellerin – 4 – Another yellow and another average performance

Holding – 5.5 – Not great on the goal but then a steady performance before being substituted by Luiz who brought nothing to the party.

Mari – 6 – Rather solid

Tierney – 4.5 – Torrid first 15 mins and then struggled also going forward.

Xhaka – 6 – Rather solid

El Neny – 5.5 – Rather solid but lacked quality passing or dribbling

Pepe – 4.5 – Not helped by Bellerin and not doing enough overall. A game to forget.

Odegaard – 5 – A mistake to play him in this game. Looked lost, at best.

Saka – 8 – Our shining star

Auba – 4.5 – Even less involved than Pepe…not a good outing

Arteta – 4. Poor team selection and not getting results against big team. I don’t think he will be able to continue on this run of form comes Jan 2022. We need results and improvement, now – also in the EPL!

So let us aim to finish in the top 10, ideally above Tottenham.

SALIBA – The new Varane or the new Squilacci?

Saliba, a highly touted and well regarded young central defender, who has been recruited for 20+ Mln but has yet to feature for us. Currently in Nice where he is doing rather well after a very slow start. He has played in a back 3 and a back 4 and has been able to accommodate. He has recently spoken out about his disappointment at not being given a chance by Arteta – not sure it was smart to do so…Clearly a talented CB but clearly not as talented as Fofana…What do we do with him? We could ship him out easily this summer at no loss. We could also keep him and hope that he will grow with us and be part of our CB options along with Holding, Gabriel, Mari and eventually Luiz and Chambers..So what do we do: Keep / Loan out again next year / Sell

KOLASINAC – Auf Wiedersehen!

The writing is on the wall for Kola. He has been a good soldier for us, plenty of promise the first year but then, physical issues and lack of adaptation to the defensive rigor required in the EPL. So: Thank you and good bye.

TORREIRA – Adios amigo?

A player that had a decent start of life at Arsenal before dipping in the pecking order. Definitely a fighting character and an OK midfielder but is he good enough to be part of our midfield options? Not sure. He is not used too much by Atletico. What do you think: Keep or Sell?

GUENDOUZI – Dr. Ramsey and Mr. Song?

A divisive player in all clubs he joined. Clearly a big character and a big potential but is his ego stopping his evolution? Rather solid everywhere: getting the ball back, driving the ball, passing the ball. A lack of discipline on the pitch too…Is he one of those players that get axed in bug clubs because of being divas? So: Keep or Sell?

AMN – A Loan to grow or a prelude to departure?

A fan’s favourite I would say. A cool cucumber and always a positive attitude on the pitch. But has been hampered in his progress, by injuries and maybe his versatility. He is now playing in midfield at WBA on loan. Let us see how he fares. So do we believe in him or do we let him go?

WILLOCK – The last chance

Willock, an exceptional player in our youth set-up like Nketiah in a way. A positive start at AFC and then it seems that the EPL became a bit too big for him. He is now at Newcastle and hoping to show that he can compete at EPL level. He started brightly at Newcastle but let us see what he does until the end of the year…So do you believe that we will keep him or sell him?

Let us hope that the Euro takes place this year…In case it does, do you think that any of our English players would make it on Southgate’s team?

Rob Holding – CB –

The competition there includes Stones, Gomes, Maguire, Dier, Mings, Coady, Keane and eventually K. Walker. That is a lot of players but Holding is in form. Does Southgate rate him? Not sure…

Assessment – Probably in the reserve team but will not go to the Euro

AMN – Wing Back

The competition there includes Trent-Arnold, Walker, Trippier, Bissaka, Reece James, Chilwell, Luke Shaw and Saka too.

I think on the right side of the pitch, it is almost impossible. On the left side, there might be a place to take as Shaw is not guaranteed a spot whereas Chilwell is. Now, Southgate may decide to only take 7 defenders in total and to bank on Saka as a player that can play in this position as well…

Assessment – Will miss out the team and the reserve team too. Will not go to the Euro.

Saka – FW/Wingback

The wingback competition was listed above and up front, there is Sterling, Sancho, Greenwood, Rashford, Hudson-Odoi and you can include Grealish and Foden to the list too..So very touch indeed.

I think Saka’s card to play is that he can play on both sides and as a wingback and as a forward. So his versatility will be well appreciated by Southgate in the end. As Southgate will need to accommodate his attacking talent and I think he will take less defenders…

Assessment – Will go to the Euro if he stays fit.

So what’s your take on our players’ chances to join England at the Euro?

Here is my predicted group for England, barring injuries:

Henderson, Pickford, Pope

Bissaka, Trent-Arnold, Walker, Stones, Maguire, Mings, Chilwell, Saka

Rice, Dier, Henderson, Mount

Sterling, Sancho, Grealish, Maddison or Foden

Kane, Rashford, Greenwood, Lewin

So we were talking about Depay earlier and how he could be an interesting recruit for us and then I thought, did we have a similar player in our team in the last 10 years? And the only name that came to my mind was Podolski, although Podolski played more as a forward-striker than Depay.

Also, I was thinking about German players that played for us or players that joined us from Germany as we were saying goodbye to Ozil, Sokratis, Mustafi recently and, again, Podolski came to my mind. Like Ozil, Metersacker and Mustafi, Podolski was part of the German squad that won the World Cup in 2014.

Podolski played 60 EPL games for us, scoring 19 times and assisting 11 assists. So one goal or assist every 2 games BUT…scored 11 goals and delivered 9 assists in his first season and scored 8 goals and 2 assists in his second season. He also played a key role of FA Cup win in 2014, thereby contributing to ending our trophy drought.

Overall, Poldi scored 31 goals and delivered 17 assists in 82 games across all competitions including 8 goals and 1 assist in 12 Champions League games.

So was Poldi under-rated when he left us by both clubs and fans? Do you miss his left foot and his excitement when he scored a goal? And for @Sue – do you miss his looks?

Anyways…how do you feel about Poldi?

Another game in February and another loss…and still the bitter taste of the Wolves’ defeat after this villain defeat.

If you look at the stats, we dominated the game but when you look at the game, we could have lost 4-0 with the errors we made in our own are and the fact that we hardly hit the target. Martinez reminded us of how good he was, especially on that Pepe’s strike. I do not agree with Arteta’s assessment that we deserved the win. I think we played positive and energetic football but defensive lapses and lack of final product in the last third were just glaring today.

Ryan had a rough start with a goal conceded in the first 2 mins but then kept us in the game

Bellerin and Cedric were not great today – neither at the back, neither going forward

Holding-Gabriel – Holding was solid as per his recent outing but Gabriel is still struggling to find his original form

Xhaka-Partey – Xhaka was tidy and Partey had some really good spells and also some lapses. Sad to see Partey off injured, again..

Saka-Pepe – Both played with energy and tried to create and shoot and dribble…Saka the main threat but I am liking Pepe’s attitude these days on the pitch.

ESR – Energetic but lacking the spark/creativity.

Laca – An OK display. Missed a golden opportunity to delivery an assist to Saka in the first hald.

Auba – Nice to him again on the pitch but still not scoring goals. Worrying still.

Odegaard – A good entrance.

Willian – Needs to justify his salary…how can he struggle so much with us?

Ref – no comment. Arteta really upset with the Konsa foul.

Let us try to finish in the Top 10 at least…

Here is the picture so far:

1. We have lost our FA Cup, losing to Southampton in the 4th Round
2. We are out of the Carabao Cup, losing to Man City in the quarter-finals
3. We have played 22 games in the EPL, collected 31 points and sit 9 points behind 4th placed Liverpool (they have played one less game than us) and 5 points behind Everton (they have played 2 games less than us) and we are 17 points ahead of the best placed bottom 3 team.
4. We are still qualified in the Europa League, where we had a flawless group stage and are now facing Benfica in the Round of 32.

So two trophies are out of reach already, a top 4 finish is clearly going to be tough and a top 6 finish may even be difficult. The Europa League then becomes DE FACTO our best chance for trophy/success.

So what shall be our expectations for this season?

A. Finish in Top 8 and win the Europa League

B. Finish in Top 17 and win the Europa League

C. Aim to find our best XI this season, soak in the Arteta’s game plan and do our best in the EPL and EL.

D. Other?

What a weird game it was! A very frustrating loss to be honest.

Our first 45 minutes were nothing short of brilliant. We defended quite decently especially in the middle of the park and our attacking game was at times amazing! Saka was absolutely brilliant, Laca’s hold up and link up plays were great, Pepe had a positive attitude and scored a good goal and Partey was pulling the strings in midfield while Cedric was also having a good game going forward. ESR also had a few good moments. We were so unlucky to only have scored one goal but all was going well…until Luiz got a red card, which is hard to understand because it seems there was actually no contact. So we lose Luiz and we concede a PK, which was well taken to be honest.

4 minutes into the second half and Moutinho scores a screamer. Could Partey or Leno do better? Hard to say. And then we hang in the game and we have a few openings to maybe draw…but it was not meant to be for us as Leno also gets red-carded. This red-card is actually harder to contest – what was Leno thinking? Stay in your box and collect the ball, mate…After that, it was a matter of just the game ending.

Overall, I felt that our first 45 minutes were the best of the season. It was nice to see us play so well. But then, our dark side resurfaced with losing a ball in the middle of the park leading to a very harsh sending off and then Leno just lost his mind in the second half…So the second half was clearly to be forgotten.

The positives: Saka, Partey, Holding, Laca, Pepe, Xhaka, Cedric + the first 45 minutes! And seeing Auba play.

The negatives: Ref, Leno, Luiz (?)

Could do better: ESR, Bellerin

The transfer window ended last night with a lot of players moving away from AFC, most notably older players that played in the Bundesliga who saw their contract terminated (Ozil, Mustafi and Sok) as well as some of our younger players eager to get some playing time in the EPL (Willok, AMN) or a solid league abroad (Saliba). Overall, some people think that the window was successful as we also landed Ryan and Odegaard but we did not manage to get a left-footed left back but then again, we have Cedric to deputize for Tierney…

So our squad has now been trimmed down and for tomorrow, some players remain missing like Tierney and potentially Aubameyang. Saka is a doubt but he may play and Laca seem to be ok. Saiss, Nouri and Jimenez are notably missing for Wolves.

Wolves are not an easy team to manoeuvre but I expect Arteta to set the team up in the 4231 formation of late but I think he will give a start to Pepe, Willian as well as Nketiah. Mostly to manage Saka’s injury, Partey and Martinelli’s physical sharpness, Laca and Auba to be on the safe side.

Leno – Bellerin, Holding, Luiz, Cedric – El Neny, Xhaka – Pepe, ESR, Willian – Nketiah

Arteta would then have plenty of ammunitions on the bench in case the starting XI struggles to create or defend. This game will be tight and I expect teams to press but I don’t expect the teams to take any risks. This is a game to remain focused especially on set-pieces and a game where both teams will try to break counter-attacks with cynical fouls.

I would be happy if we snatched a 0-1 victory but I could also see the game end in low scoring draw.

Our key men for tomorrow are Leno, Luiz, Cedric, Xhaka, Pepe and Nketiah. If these guys are having a good game, we have a decent chance. If they lose their defensive focus and counter-attacking abilities, we can be in for a narrow but stinging defeat…

COYG! And best of luck to AMN and Willok with their new clubs!

Our unbeaten streak in the EPL has been extended to 6 with a good win against the Saints!

A pleasant football match with both teams trying to create chances early on. We should have been up in the first minute but Laca missed a glorious opportunity. That lost opportunity proved costly as the Saints scored right away on a corner where their player is left unmarked in the middle of our surface area…But Pepe who was given a start on the left wing as Auba was missing restored parity with a well taken goal from a good assist from Xhaka. Fast forward and Laca atones for his miss with a glorious assist to Saka who rounded the keeper to finish in the empty net. But Saka is a kind player and after receiving a beautiful diagonal pass from Cedric, he first times a cross in front of goal for Lacazette. From then on, Saints tried to push and Luiz almost handed them a goal but Holding and Leno saved him the blushes. Another good save from Leno and the game was over.

Overall, we played well going forward and we were good enough at the back although we could have defended better. Our game management is improving for sure. Leno, Holding, Partey, Xhaka, Saka and Laca are in good form and Cedric had a great game at LB while Pepe showed some quality and had a decent game overall, scoring a vital goal. Arteta knows his set-up and is definitely close to having his starting XI.

Leno – 7. A solid performance.

Bellerin – 6. Still seems like our weak link

Holding – 7. Another solid outing

Luiz – 6.5. Not a bad performance but was the weaker CB and almost gave a goal away.

Cedric – 7.5. A very good game at LB. Impressive diagonal long passes and did the job defensively.

Partey – 6.5. Started brightly and then faded before going out in the second half. When he will be fully fit, he will be our heart and lung in midfield.

Xhaka – 7.5. Another assist and a tidy game. A bit slow at times but clearly a good spell for him.

Saka – 8. An assist, a goal and constantly creating chances. MOTM

ESR – 7. Industrious but went out injured.

Pepe – 7. A well taken goal and a positive attitude overall. A good showing but could have done better in some instances. Was this game the turning point of his AFC career?

Laca – 7.5. An assist, a goal and his usual drive, shame he missed his opening chance.