It was inevitable that the sparkling run of form – in the early months of the winter — that helped Arsenal to rapidly propel forward towards the (once quotidian, now hallowed) comfort of planet Champions League – lest I am misunderstood, I am not claiming that we should or must attain a top four spot at the end of the season, just that the distant glimpse of that tantalizing possibility had started to make itself visible — is not going to go on smoothly until the end of the season. Even the most starry-eyed optimists among the fanbase would have expected a veering off course sooner or later before the season ends. Stalling of the engine (room), some random powerful asteroid carrying ill omens of injuries and illness dragging the spaceship Arsenal away from its chartered course.
Following the unfortunate home loss to Manchester City – in a true Arsenal fashion a loss which is all the more memorable because how impressively well our youngsters played against one of the best teams in Europe – we dropped out of the two domestic cup competitions in quick succession. Whereas the loss to Liverpool – following an event of such an extraordinary low probability that the SETI institute (“Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence”) has been pondering if they should move their headquarters on the Merseyside – in the League Cup semifinal was somewhat expected despite the valiant heroics of the first leg, the third-round loss to an efficient Championship side in the FA “Arsenal” Cup was disheartening.
Mikel Arteta had started his best available eleven – the squad still considerably depleted by senior players unavailable for one reason or another – in the second leg of that League Cup semi at home, but it was abundantly clear that many of these players are still recovering from injury or illness, or just very tired. Our options from the bench were so limited that Thomas Partey – disappointed as his country Ghana had exited in the league stages of African Cup of Nations – a few hours after arriving in London following a 10-hour flight came on heroically to instill some experience and quality in the midfield to help turn the match around. The tired challenge that led to his second yellow was the price we have to pay this weekend, but we cannot really criticize either him or Mikel for trying their best with limited options.
Our opposition this weekend is Burnley, a team that is to football what a drunken guest full of vaguely chauvinistic opinions is to an evening soiree. You cannot ignore them, they make you uncomfortable, you wish they were not there, but as they behave just within the limits of the acceptable you gallantly try your best to make the evening successful.
Last time this season we had met them away at the Turf Moor our evening was made successful by a perfect freekick by Ødegaard, who has since then established himself as a key player in our attack, demonstrating his exquisite technical abilities and remarkable vision and awareness. Martin and Martinelli were two of our better players in our loss against Liverpool on Thursday, and I hope both are fit enough to start the match and play to their best abilities.
Barring any unfortunate injuries or illness since Thursday, most of the team select themselves. Forced by the lack of options in the central midfield Mikel had set the team up in a 4-3-3 formation on Thursday with Ødegaard and Emile Smith-Rowe accompanying Sambi Lokonga. Against a team that is as adept at collective high pressing as Liverpool this didn’t really work out well, and even though Sambi had some impressive moments this was too early in his promising career to carry that responsibility without an experienced head next to him in a double pivot. Given Partey’s one-match back this would probably be the area that would give Mikel most to think about before Sunday’s game. If Chambers is available my preference would be Sambi & Chambers in the middle and ESR dropping to the bench (and then to score his customary goal coming on as a substitute, of course). If Chambers is not available we can play Holding – his weakness of lack of pace is not going to be exposed by Burnley, whereas his nous, experience and aerial qualities would come in handy – next to Gabriel and White in the center of the midfield. Assuming Chambers would remain unavailable my starting eleven would be
Ramsdale
Tomiyasu – Holding – Gabriel – Tierney
White – Lokonga
Saka – Ødegaard – Martinelli
Lacazette
To carry on the flight for the European spots – and maybe even the Champions League spot, there are still a lot of games left in the season and with a few judicious reinforcements in the January window I think such an achievement is not beyond the realms of possibility – we must win this match, and given the newfound bond between the players and the fans at home, I am hopeful that the energy feedback loop (paraphrasing Mikel) will give the players the necessary push to overcome what would be a difficult opposition, irrespective of their current league position.
I am not a betting man, but if I were a 2-0 win in favor of the Arsenal would be the result that I would feel most confident about.
Happy viewing everyone!
As excellent as ever, Dr F. We need the afterburners at full throttle on Sunday, no question.
2022 is a personal Annus Horribilis in a sporting context and Arsenal as Dr. F pointed out in his excellent preview there is a contrast between our performances against the top sides and that awful effort at Forest .
I think both Arsenal teams , Men and Ladies , are struggling to maintain their pressing game and certainly the men’s team are carrying injuries . Tomi and Tierney missed training today and we may see a defence that looks like
Ramsdale
White Holding Gabriel Chambers
I think the rest of the team will be similar to Thursday’s starting XI but ESR May start from the bench as he is far from fully fit .
I dislike Burnley , managed by Otho Bludge , with a fierce intensity and hope we help to propel them through the relegation trapdoor. They contribute very little and won’t be missed .
I will watch my first live match at the Grove for almost two years tomorrow and to make it an even more enjoyable prospect I will break bread with two Holics and their sons beforehand . I expect to see a narrow 1-0 win
Enjoy the return, TTG and the breaking of liquid bread.
Chambers seems unlikely to be fit for Sunday. If Tomi and KT3 are also out, I wonder if we will see a back three of White, Holding and Gabriel, flanked by Alebiosu and Tavares at wingback. Lokonga in the middle. Saka, Ødegaard and Martinelli in front of them behind Laca. One of Patino, Salah-Eddine and Hutchinson might well get to come on at some point — hopefully when we are 5-0 up after half an hour — so Saka can be rested.
Thanks Dr. F. It doesn’t bear thinking about what anything but three points in this game would mean to our season. Grab the points in any way possible and send Burnley down.
*Knocks on wood.*
We ought to be able to keep a clean sheet against Burnley, or at least you might think so considering that with the departure of striker Chris Wood this month their top goalscorer in the Premier League will be central defender Ben Mee with two goals, with Ivory Coast forward Maxwel Cornet (six goals) away at AFCON. Set pieces beware.
Excellent preview Dr F. Such a huge game today. I see TTG has outed himself as one of a small group of GHF regulars lunching before the game, so I expect to see North Islington teeming with paparazzi. Let’s hope he leaves that flamboyant shocking pink suit at home.
Off to North London shortly!
Thanks for a stellar preview, Dr F. Accumulated injuries and suspensions are really biting hard this January and we may have to rely on precocious youth even just to field an eleven. We must hope that they are able to boldly go (split infinitive by virtue of the direct quote rather than sloppy grammar) where the seniors would have gone to achieve victory.
Hammer those dilithium crystals, Scottie! There’s a two week rest at the end of this challenge.
Go win, Gunners.
No pink suit but a fetching lilac onesie !
Cheers Dr F.
It will probably be a tough match, but let’s hope we scrap a win before the long break.
Looking forward to Dyche moaning…
Cheers Doc!
Tommy not fit then
Cheers, Esso.
As strong a starting XI as Arteta can put out. It remains to be seen how many minutes are in Saka and ESR, and perhaps KT3, especially as Burnley will be physical.
Slightly surprised to see Leno and Chambers making the bench given their injury reports. Lots of promising youth among the rest of the subs, if that is the right spin to put on it.
sigh. so light in midfield.
kudos, belated, to ttg for the liverpool review. a difficult yet accurate piece. thank you.
and to dr. faustus, for the above. let’s hope your 2-0 comes good!
COYG!
guess the linesman had to spend 2p.
we are playing like we have no energy. not unexpected, i guess.
nice run, laca. deserved a better shot!
lovely sequence. two shots blocked and a corner.
at least the ref is having a good game.
though that should’ve been a second yellow on westwood.
great ball to saka, sambi.
nice break, don’t lean back kt3.
excellent break, wide by saka.
uninspiring first half, though burnley deserve to be playing with 10, really. i do hope they go down. a few nice breaks by us, but lots of heavy legs. looks like we are running through treacle, at least when we try to get in our flow.
What a furrow!
I’ll pinch the quarter century after all that hard work!
bastahd! but we haven’t seen a 10 post run since cba’s demise!
Tired minds as much as weary lactate-rich legs. We need a moment of magic matched by deadly precision to overcome these well organised pub brawlers.
Indeed @26. I dedicated cate the pot of Viking silver found at the end of your furrow to the memory of that revered but crazy Irishman.
Missed the first half due to snow shoveling duties. COYG
All you missed was a couple of lovely but unfulfilled moves and a lot of assault and battery.
ouch. knee to knee, saka and pieters.
let’s see a brilliant free kick here, after the foul on saka.
close, mø, close.
clever corner, great save by pope from esr.
martinelli geeing up the crowd behind our goal. good pressure mounting from us.
brilliant from esr, laca couldn’t finish. damn.
we are pushing hard for a goal. COYG!
Working v hard. On another day we would have been 2 or 3 up. ESR superb.
Working v hard. On another day we would have been 2 or 3 up. ESR superb.
COYG
And Lady Luck 🍀
not disappointed with the last quarter hour.
we are suddenly looking really leggy.
ah well. we just didn’t have the legs to get all 3 points.
now for a rest and recovery. wolves in 17 days or so.
Not great. But not the absolute disaster some will claim.
agreed, esso.
Esso knows. I am already seeing incredible doom on twitter.
We need a striker who can put the ball in the net, but we knew that.
We also looked like a team running on fumes. Can’t fault the effort.
How many times did Porters foul Saka in the second half? I lost count. Laca with our best opportunity when he was set up by ESR but otherwise we were missing a vital degree of sharpness and quick ball movement. Frustrating to watch.
Time to ignore Twitter, Ollie. The Twitterati would have us think that unless Arteta’s team is playing like the Invincibles on a good day, the club is going to hell in a handbasket.
Pieters. Once an orc always an orc.
Very true Ned @48. And @46 too, we never stopped trying.
*raises bat*
There’s many times we might have lost that frustrating game to a breakaway. Came close several times but didn’t have enough to break through. Tired minds and knackered legs and Last Luck on furlough. Too many high balls into the box being gobbled up.
We all know we need a goalscorer. Hopefully we are now looking elsewhere. That Serb has no intention of joining us. Time to tempt DCL to join the Gunners. Apparently Wham have been quoted £60m.
*Lady
Well in Ollie!
Absolute crap result, regardless of the performance. Which I didn’t see as stream chasing is never worthwhile.
I never thought we had much hope of 4th but it’s obvious now that we’re a long way off it.
Well in for the half-ton, Ollie.
We have improved from being a team that more often than not loses those sorts of games but haven’t yet become a team that somehow finds a way to win them.
Bath@52: You are right about the Serb and if he did come it would be for all the wrong reasons on his part.
Dayglo Costa would be a colourful short term signing.
Comparatively cheap too.
Not that I think it’s a great idea.
Lennon. Once a spud always a spud
i kept thinking that, g_ks. saw him trying to discomfit rambo and laughing about it. always will have the knuckle-dragging, woad-wearing taint.
As bt8 said, I despise the orcs, hope to never see them again
Speaking of Stoke they are in ninth spot, not far off the second tier playoff places. Looking at the table, only seven points separate 7th placed Middlesbrough and 13th placed Luton so the Orcs have plenty of competition. Odds checker lists them at 4/1 to make the playoffs so hopefully we won’t see them next year but it’s hard to predict who we will be seeing.
It’s going to be hard for anybody to catch Fulham at the top but only five points separate 2nd placed Bournemouth and 6th placed Huddersfield. Blackburn are doing better than they have in recent seasons, and are joint favorites to make the playoffs along with West Brom, with QPR and Bournemouth squeezing the Orcs out of the betting. Barring Stoke I wouldn’t mind seeing any of those clubs taking Burnley’s spot in the Premier League.
We will no doubt dissect the performance today in the blog . I thought we were very poor indeed upfront.We don’t tend to do hyoerbole here but without a decent striker ( and we haven’t got one ) we won’t make Europe next season and CL is impossible . Burnley should have been battered but they dealt with us pretty comfortably .
One thing that might help is not taking a left-wing corner that ends up three passes later back with the goalie as happened in the first half . That comes from risk averse coaching and a lack of intelligence. We put the ball at risk in our area but don’t do it in the opposition area. It’s stupid and ridiculous .
The women were just as toothless and lucky to get a point, although City’s goal was balls.
The women were playing the in-form side in the league away from home .As you say Cynic their goal was ridiculous . The deflection of the ref changed the whole direction of the attack . I thought their performance was way better than the men playing a garbage side like Burnley . At least they showed some variety .And they didn’t pass corners back to the keeper!
TTG @8.
There is only space for one onesie-wearing nutter in this bar. So, because I know you are far too much of a statesman to challenge me for the role, I can only express my deepest gratitude and respect for your eventual decision to leave the lilac onesie at home.
By doing so, you have once again shown you are a scholar and a gentlemen.
Perhaps a pioneer in proving this point via this method 🤣
Cheers Doc. Preview much appreciated and nicely done.
I’ve been busy all day, didn’t see the highlights yet, let alone the game.
I will say that (despite media bleating) we have worked really hard in the last few weeks to fulfill fixtures… and it has cost us big time.
Yeah, Pool’s ability to get the first leg of the League Cup postponed was undoubtedly in their favour, but I am not quite as quick as the Doc to write off the cost of having to play Patino in CM against Forest. If that kid fulfilled his own wildest dreams and, in future years, won a Ballon D’Or… it wouldn’t be as a CM. It isn’t his position, even at his best, on his very best day. So why anyone thinks, in his first professional start, he’d be any good at it is beyond me. Our lack of available first team players cost us that match, nothing else.
Taken all together, I reckon when we get a full contingent back, they will have every reason to feel aggrieved and be hungry. And I reckon Arteta is just the type of coach who won’t let them whinge about it but will insist they step up and use that sense of injustice to fuel them. There is a ways to go this season, and I wouldn’t bet against us just yet.
I’ve been saying for ages I’d go for DCL. I’d spend 60m on him far quicker than on the Serb.
And I would not jettison Auba without serious attempts to build that bridge.
I just took a look at the schedule and we only have two matches in the next 39 days (Wolves and Brentford). There might be a another match if one of the postponed matches can be rescheduled in that time period. Hopefully this will allow the injured to get healthy and we can make a strong run at 4th. And maybe someone can find Laca and Auba’s scoring boots during that time. If not, then I hope Arteta seriously considers Martinelli for the striker position.
But will Arthur bring Excalibur?
DCL could at least gotten on the end of one of those pointless crosses we kept sending in against Burnley.
If Vlahovic doesn’t want to come, ef him. Hi might be good but he would definitely need time to adjust. DCL however could be sent straight in. And considering our purchase and attraction power he might be one of the best options, similar to what we bought in summer.
James Horncastle article in The Athletic about Aaron Ramsey’s time at Juventus includes these two items about his midfield colleague Arthur: “repeated issues with his ankles” and “ Transgressions like being late for training which led to Arthur being left out of the squad”
If we are looking at a half season loan, I’d take Ramsey over Arthur.
Bt8
Thanks for this .
Arthur is injury prone but scarcely anyone in Europe is more injury prone than Ramsey. Ramsey isn’t really the holding midfielder we need but he would probably spend more time in the opposition box than Lacazette did. False 9s leave me bemused especially if you haven’t got an actual 9! I’d move on from both midfielders and look at some of the up and coming midfielders Mike McDonald reviewed recently .
GSD makes a great point about Patino at Forest. The kid was thrown under a bus because of poor planning by Edu and Arteta in this window.
>>>>>>>