When the draw was made for the FA Cup fourth round City away was the draw we didn’t want. When the good people at the TV companies decreed that it should be on a Friday night with an 8pm kick off, some choice words were shared in the countryman household. Friday night traffic, road works everywhere and a very late bedtime beckoned. However the memories of two very different trips to Manchester were in my mind. That night in 2015 when 9000 Gooners rocked up at Old Trafford for an FA Cup tie to see us victorious with goals from Nacho Monreal and recently transferred Danny Welbeck rounded David de Gea to leave us with a memorable 2-1 win. Rather less memorably, my last trip to the Etihad in August 2021 when we were two down and with only ten men after 20 minutes and lost 5-0.
So off we set from Cambridgeshire at 2.30 pm and as expected, the traffic was a little sticky in places. However we got to our excellent prebooked parking space, within sight of the stadium, about 6.30pm. We feasted on fish and chips from a great little chip shop right outside the stadium. During dinner the team news came in. We had been expecting a strong side, but the boss made six changes from the side that started against United. In particular, the name of Rob Holding at centre half stood out. Rob Holding v Erling Haaland. Oh my. City named a strong team with Haaland, De Bruyne, Mahrez and Grealish all featuring.
Fish and chips done we made the very short journey into the stadium. Up in the lift to the third tier. I’ve now been on all three levels in the usual away section, levels 1 (ground level), 2 and 3. Level 1 is definitely best! However for this game it was given to the home fans and we were in levels 2 and 3. As CER (who, together with 21CG and True Storey were also at the game) noted in the last drinks, there were police everywhere, fully kitted out in riot gear. I have to say the pensioner lady next to me looked well dodgy so who can blame them. Evidently the red scousers and Chelsea had been misbehaving and lobbing things over the edge onto the home fans below in recent games, hence the police, rather than usual steward presence. Of course if they just gave us the lower tier it wouldn’t be an issue would it? Having said that it wasn’t a bad view, in the front of tier 3 right behind the goal (picture taken about half an hour before kick off when it really was, as bt8 remarked to me privately, when I shared the pic, the Emptihad).
Before the game, Robbie of AFTV was on the big screen being interviewed (WTF?). In a quiz about Arsenal, Robbie proudly revealed that he couldn’t remember the year when we last won the FA Cup (2020), or which player had played the most games for the Arsenal (David O’Leary). Go figure. Not impressed.
The game began and we started fast. KT3 and Trossard were linking well down the left hand side and Trossard (received very well by the travelling Gooners) was giving the young Nico Lewis the run around. He twisted and turned and fed Tomi for a fierce shot which was well saved. Later our new signing again found himself around the edge of the area. One of the things I like about Leandro is his willingness to shoot and he fully tested Ortega in the city goal.
However the stand out contest in the first half was Capitola Rob v Erling Haaland. The way Rob kept touch tight to the big Norwegian reminded me of the instruction given to my left back son at U14 level by his coach when facing a very tricky winger. “Son get in his shorts and don’t get out until the end of the game. Give him no room”. It was a very physical contest, bringing back memories of Rob putting Diego Costa in his pocket in the Cup Final v Chelsea. He was fully supported by the crowd “Rob Holding, y’know. He’s better than Cannavaro!”. Sadly it came to an end in the 42nd minute when, from a throw in on the half way line, Haaland received the ball, tapped it back to the thrower, spun and set off on one of his usual runs towards the penalty area. Rob, still keeping touch tight, grabbed him by the waist and brought him down, receiving in the process a deserved yellow card. Now Rob was a red card waiting to happen.
I thought our team with six changes were the better team in the first half. Very encouraging. Apart from Rob on Haaland, KT3 did a great man marking number on Kevin de Bruyne, keeping him very quiet.
At the start of the second half, Arteta wisely subbed off Rob before he got sent off and brought on Saliba (prompting his song). Saliba did an equally effective job on Haaland, but less, how can I put this, frenetically. City looked to have upped their game a little in the early minutes, then came the key moment of the game. Partey was subbed off, it later proving to be a rib problem that will need a scan to determine how serious it is. Oh fuck. Sambi Lokonga was brought on. I would have much preferred, in the absence of Elneny, to see Zinchenko slotted in there (he’s played there for Ukraine). Now I don’t want to be too negative about Sambi, who did grow into the game, but he is not Thomas Partey and we instantly, and I do mean instantly, lost control of midfield and the way we had been rotating the ball in the first half. Where Thomas steps forward, Sambi steps back. He gave the ball away with his first three touches (as he did at Anfield last season). As I say, he got better, but he just isn’t ready for a game of this level.
City took more and more control and Pep brought on Alvarez. Just four minutes later he crashed a powerful shot that cannoned against Matt Turner’s post. It fell to Grealish who cleverly made space before rolling it to Nathan Ake who passed it neatly into the corner of the net. Arteta reacted and brought on Gabi for Trossard, Zinchenko (cue song) for KT3 and Ǿdegaard for Saka (who had been well controlled by the impressive Ake). Gabi slotted in on the left, Zin at left back and Ǿde for Fabio who was moved to the right. This was again a sub I didn’t quite get as Vieira is not a winger. I’d rather have seen Trossard kept on and Fabio subbed. Fabio had one great chance as the ball fell to him after some scrapping by Eddie but he failed to take a touch and blazed it over. Otherwise he was anonymous on the wing. Gabi had some fun on the left, skinning the quick Kyle Walker several times and the ball dropped tantalising close to the very hard working Eddie several times. But gradually the intensity fell and City saw it out.
The crowd were immense. 7800 Gooners made a hell of a noise despite being in the Gods and comfortably out sung the Mancs. Even when their goal went in, the impassioned roars of Arsenal!, Arsenal! drowned out their celebrations. Top songs were “we are top of the league” and “super Mik Arteta”. As the quiet passivity of the Manchester crowd got even quieter, increasingly the ironical chant was “is this a library”. It feels so good to be one of the loudest and proudest supports in the league, home and away. As we left the stadium it was Arsenal chants that were ringing out in the streets around the stadium.
Nobody thought this was a bad defeat. Of course we really wanted to win it, but if we couldn’t then a narrow defeat with our heads held high was the next best option. We now have two competitions to focus on.
Homewards. Roadworks. More roadworks. A 4.5 hour journey, eventually getting home at 2.45am. Onto the league. What’s next for me and my son? Oh yes. Everton away. A very early start but should be home in time for dinner.
Not the best day, but far from downcast. Pray for Partey. COYG
Mike
Brearley 2 streaky runs to start the innings.
Spot. On. Exactly the game I saw. Re Sambi, 21CG made the point last night that it could be a case of Granit Xhaka syndrome. We all think of him as a Partey play-alike, when in fact he should be utilised in the more advanced role now being played so brilliantly by Granit. I think there may well be something in that. Agree with the observation that Zinny could well stand in for Partey, not least on the basis that every time he plays, I can’t figure out what position he is playing in in any case! He’s omnipresent…..Favourite chants were the foul mouthed one informing Conte that his team of chancers are 14 points behind along with the Tom Hark inspired ditty informing City fans that Pep thought they weren’t very good.
Traffic was ludicrous after with roadworks seemingly all the way out from East Manchester, as far as Manchester Airport and then more between there and Stoke. In fairness, it didn’t feel like a defeat and no one among the visiting crowd was at all disheartened, So the more than 5 hours door-to-door, while not exactly flying by, passed comfortably enough .
Thanks for the report. I love the at match ones.
C100
Thankyou for a great report full of your usual positivity and atmosphere. While I’ve never wanted Arsenal to lose , I can’t remember ever being less concerned by a defeat . I thought , even given a much weakened team , we were very much in the game and I felt we disrupted Citeh a lot . They did flatten the game well at the end though .
We have a superb first 14 players but then the standard drops significantly.I’m afraid that I’m very underwhelmed by Sambi and so far pretty unmoved by Vieira who doesn’t look suitable for English football yet ( or ever?) Note how much better Saliba, Partey and Odegaard looked than their deputies . Tomi is a fine right back and Trossard was excellent It appears Partey is not seriously injured . Our number of wins stays at 14 . Maybe we can equal that number in League title wins ?
Congratulations to you and all our fans who gave magnificent support throughout.
Cheers C100!
Top notch, Esso.
RIP Tom Verlaine;
Feeling every one of my 62 years;
Great report, C100. Let’s sort the wounded and move on. I hope this other fella from Brighton is good enough to justify the major wedge we are bidding for him.
Excellent review Countryman; nuanced and bold in exactly the right proportion.
Sambi came on for Partey as a half-time sub, not after the second half started. I thought he did fine with the ball. But he doesn’t have Partey’s defensive awareness and the City players immediately detected the half-spaces where they excel at now opening up in front of our defensive line. They had more time on the ball in front of our penalty box and that allowed some of their fluency to return which we did an excellent job of stifling initially. Sambi and Vieira are indeed big drops in effectiveness compared to Partey and Ødegaard, but at the same time I think the arc of Nathan Ake’s career provides a good example of why we shouldn’t write them off just yet. Other than the accomplished finish, I thought Ake had a superb match nullifying Saka for the most part.
Among Arsenal players Turner probably impressed me most, and once Saliba came on the ease with which he dominated Haaland was quite eye-catching too. Trossard started sharply, and he already looks a very good fit with the way we try to play.
As everyone mentioned, the growth of this team over the last one year has been quite phenomenal. As long as Mikel continues to be supported by the club I believe that will continue.
Esso@8: that’s such a great great album. The guitar playing matches the superbly crafted songs. “I remember how the darkness doubled/ I recall lightning struck itself.”
Thanks C100, great stuff and much appreciated. Nice set-up of the game, nailed Robbie, and then described all the key events of the match itself succinctly.
Personally I was pleased that MA rang the changes but even better was that we more than matched up to Shitteh even with half the side changed in the first half.
We didn’t learn a lot from the game really, Matt Turner looks the part more these days and Sambi and Vieira are still works in progress. Rob is Rob and I love the determination. KT and Tomi would walk into nearly every other PL team as starters and I can’t remember us ever having a better set of four full-backs. One big benefit of Trossard is that he is PL ready and he’s made a good start. Squad is just getting better and better.
TP is so important but we knew that too.
I like Caicedo as a player having watched him a few times now and think that at only 21 he would be a great get. I also think he’s not worth what we will have to pay but Brighton have us between their rock and a hard place 😉
I hope we have a Plan B too, as Boehly will just throw money at this as we’ve seen already. Our best chance is that Caicedo wants to join the better team and win stuff.
Great stuff, C100.
Excellent report, Countryman!
You away supporters are the mutts (and, oh how I wish I could join you). You lot definitely came through loud and clear on the telly, and, many times, I laughed and joined in on the singing (drawing quizzical looks from the six other patrons of the bar I visited 😂).
Also, I imagine you really must keep your good eye on dodgy, female pensioners…
We saw the same match generally. As much as I like Sambi (and I have from the start…still do), I think his race at Arsenal is run. He needs games to get his form, but, given his current form, he can’t be trusted with games.
But the KEY thing I noticed was Odegaard’s reaction. Did you see it? There was a sequence when Ode rotated to trigger our team pressure, Sambi was slow to rotate, and Ode (very appropriately) let Sambi know about it. Very publicly. Couple that with Sambi, evidently, heading straight down the tunnel (instead of applauding the away support with the team) AND Nketiah’s admonition as documented in that All or Nothing episode, and you have a player who seems to be on the outs with a lot of things.
Loan for the rest of the season and sell in the summer, or loan in the summer and sell at the first oppprtunity. Our purchases (and our academy prospects) don’t portend well for Sambi’s future at the club…and that’s ok.
Anyway, roll on Everton. I do hope Arteta nuts Dyche in the technical area.
Drinks on the bar.
MMBD
Sharply observed, C100 and a match report catching the atmosphere, as always. Nothing to disagree with in your assessments of the personnel. As Lonestar notes, the singing came through loud and proud on the telly. I am still disappointed that we lost. The game was there for the taking, and I have a nagging concern about how we were unable to prevent City from closing down the game after scoring. Some City blogs are suggesting that they have burst the Arsenal balloon and the title will surely be theirs. I disagree with that, obviously: there was little between us and one of the best teams in Europe, but we need to score a hatful at Goodison to restore the good karma.
Great and evocative away day report c100. Also good job Lonestar with the singing. 😆
The usual atmospheric, on the spot account, C100 – great stuff !
The Arsenal support this season is THE best – home and away. Well played all !
We can’t let Sambi go until we have a replacement. Our midfield resources are very stretched especially as ESR has effectively been out of action for a year and has broken down again . I’d keep Sambi at the club even Elneny’s injury but we do need to sign a heavyweight midfield alternative to Partey and Xhaka
Arsenal Women showing how to win an FA Cup game, sticking nine past Leeds today.
TTG@20: you are certainly right about not letting Sambi go unless we have Partey cover, but the boy desperately needs a Saliba-type loan to get him out of the funk he has got into and to turn him into the player that I think is lurking in there somewhere. Brighton has us over a barrel with Caicedo; it is silly money or nothing, and if it is silly money, then Arteta has to be 110% sure that the Ecuadorian is Partey’s long-term replacement as well as an immediate Trossard-like slot into the first team. The stats suggest the quality is there, but it is an awfully big cheque to write, regardless. Zinchenko is a possible Partey fill-in, given that is the role he often plays for Ukraine and obviously has the technical ability for it; Benny Blanco is versatile enough that he could be trained to play there, but probably not in time to anchor the run-in at the pointy end of the season.
Separately, ESR’s injury niggles are a worry. I know you have always had concerns about his durability, and they are repeatedly justified. I would worry ESR will fall behind if he can’t start playing regularly again.
The other teams might not like it if we were to sign Caicedo and Rice. (Use of subjunctive intended.).
To them I say: Feck right off.
Use of imperative intended.
CER. 🤣🤣🤣
News flash: “Dyche’s first game as Everton boss will be at home to Premier League leaders Arsenal on February 4.”
We need to be ready for this one.
bt8@25: As Lonestar said @16, we need to nut him in his technical area.
I think we can expect Dyche to set up his team next weekend not to be beaten, probably in his favoured 4-4-2, having them run their socks off and challenging us to break them down. In Keane, Tarkowski and McNeil, he has three of his Burnley team who will know his system. His problem will be scoring goals, as it was for Lampard. Despite all, there is enough talent there if Dyche can get it organised to get out of the dogfight at the bottom of the table. Only three points separate the bottom seven.
A tough draw for the women in the fifth round of the FA Women’s Cup, Chelsea away.
Just saw that Balogun scored the equalizer against PSG in the 96th minute on Sunday. That puts him at 11 league goals for the season behind the likes of Neymar at 12 and Mbappe at 13.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/french-ligue-one/top-scorers
A link to the Ligue one charts. Balogun is doing well as ecg said.
A tough road to our first XI past Jesus and Eddie but anyway it’s nice
to see us developing more players over the last few seasons.
Should make our accountants happy too.
Do I want Jorginho at The Arsenal? That is the question over my cornflakes this morning.
OM@30 – I guess he is better than nothing. I think.
“Arsenal have rejected a £7m bid from Monaco for Belgium’s Albert Sambi Lokonga with the Gunners reluctant to let the 23-year-old go while they are light in midfield.” (Foot Mercato – In French) – as reported in the BBC gossip column
Sambi cost 17.5 million euros and his market value is still around that so Monaco is just trying it on.
That was my own conclusion ecg. I’d prefer a loan but I can’t imagine Chelshit will agree.
It didn’t make the cornflakes taste better.
Looking like Jorghino done. 18 month contract, £12m. As cover for Partey I’m happy as Brighton clearly didn’t want to sell Caicedo. We have 27 games left, maximum. Add Trossard and Kiwiord with Rice priority in the summer and I’m happy. We have cover in every position.
If it’s Trossard, Kiwior and Jorginho in, and Cedric, Marquinhos and Sambi out of the current squad then we clearly have a better balance as were lacking cover especially as Mo will be out for several months. Norwich seems a good move for Marquinhos and I agree with the general view that Sambi really needs a loan.
MA the driving force to get Jorginho it seems. He is quite similar to late career Mikel in some ways.
ecg at 28: also: Lacazette at 12. 😉
If we win the league, Jorginho will look like a bargain. On the other hand, if he turns out to be the second coming of Willian…
But, like Trossard, he comes Premier League ready and fills a hole we have all long said needs filling. An 18 month contract gives some timing flexibility over bring in Partey’s long-term replacement.
Ollie@37: Looks like Laca has rediscovered his mojo. Balogun’s scoring rate, a goal every 129 minutes, is impressive.
Ollie@37: I chose to ignore the Laca part…
The profiling stats on Jorginho suggest he is a more defensive player and a better defender than either Partey or Elnenny but his distribution is much weaker than both of them. I guess the question is whether that is something Arteta can coach into him in short order.
Rekik joins Azeez on loan at the Championship’s cellar dwellers, Wigan, where Kolo Touré is the gaffer.
Was the gaffer Ned. Got the tin rack last week.
You are indeed right, SP@43. Shaun Mahoney in. Hard to keep up with all the revolving managerial doors. 🙂
Anyhoo, Jorginho is a done deal.
https://www.arsenal.com/news/jorginho-signs-arsenal
Now that Jorginho is done, do we still have time to muck up Chelsea’s bid for Fernandez?
Sadly not, ecg, by the looks of things. But Sambi is being loaned to Palace for the rest of the season, plus Butler-Oyedeji, Foran, Taylor-Hart and Vigar have been sent on loan from the Academy.
Paddy will teach Lokonga all about midfield play. He couldn’t be anywhere better to advance his education.
We also loan Marquinhos to Norwich.
I’m supposing Kiwior might be the extra midfielder we need. We can’t survive 27 games with 3 midfielders unless we utilise Zinchenko which I think Arteta will be loath to do.
We have at no.6- Partey , Jorginho, Kiwior
At no.8- Xhaka , Jorginho and ESR
At no 10- Odegaard, Vieira, Trossard
Zinchenko, in an emergency could play 6 or 8
Chelsea’s expenditure is ridiculous and I hope it blows up in their faces
Just in time at the far post
@48
Agree completely, it’s a kind of lifeline for Sambi who has looked to be sinking recently. Marquinhos to Norwich is a good loan too if he gets playing time.
Well in for the half-ton, OM.
All in all, a decent window’s business. Jorginho is an upgrade on an out-of-sorts Sambi, who will, hopefully, get re-invigorated at Palace. Norwich will give Marquinhos the playing time he needs, and Cedric’s loan to Fulham will hopefully get converted to a sale. Kiwior is one for the future, and Trossard is one for the present. Lots of Academy players out on loan to get tempered by senior football, too.
Although the focus during the past couple of windows has been recruiting for the long term, this window felt like we needed to bring in players that can support the team now given our position in the league. With Trossard and Jorginho, and to some extent Kiwior it seems like we have accomplished what we needed to do. And I am pleased we did not overspend for the likes of Mudryk and Caicedo. Now let’s go win the league!
TTG, Ned and ecg have well described the window that I saw so I’ll just say well in Matt @ the half ton, not to overlook c100’s critical pre-assist.
*applauds Matt for a finely-timed run*
I think we all know what our first XI is. This is now our bench.
Turner
Tomiyasu
Tierney
Kiwior
Jorghino
Viera
ESR
Trossard
Nelson (soon)
Jesus (soon)
Genuine quality to come on or rotate. We’re nicely set up for the second half of the season.
And Balogun and Patino into the first team squad next season, plus more quality transfers.
Countryman@58: Maybe one more year out on loan for Patino in a PL side or a different top-tier league and then return to compete for the first choice? Next year he is likely to be Xhaka’s understudy in that left-sided #8 role and won’t get too much playing time.
Reiss’s injury was really unfortunate this season. Whenever he stays fit for an extended period of time he starts showing that he has the attitude and discipline to fulfil his early promise. He has such accomplished technique.
Thinking about the Jorginho signing, once the traumatic memories of the previous signings from that club have subsided, in the clear light of reason it looks a rather astute one. He is not coming in to be a key player like Billy Gallas (shudder) or Willian (shiver) were meant to be. He is coming in to cover for Partey, and while he doesn’t quite provide Partey’s unique abilities to get out of press and quickly transition into attack, he will provide the positional and tactical leadership, defensive awareness, and a highly valuable degree of guidance to the squad as the season enters its final phase. Apparently Mikel wanted to sign Jorginho while he was at Napoli and Mikel was in City’s coaching team, then again for us when Mikel became our manager. Finally he got his man … 🙂
C100@58: I wonder whether Jorginho’s arrival means Patino will get another season or half-season out on loan, perhaps in France or with a promotion-chasing Championship side from January next year.
I see Dr F. and I are of like mind regarding Patino — and Jorginho, come to that — but the Boston bibliophile has the nimbler fingers.
Patino has been playing as one half of a double 6 or as the most defensive of a midfield three in a 4-3-3 for Blackpool. Does Arteta see him as a post-Partey 6 rather than a post-Xhaka 8, which would seem to be ESR’s natural fit?
Ned@61: I don’t have to attend to a retinue of hyper intelligent monks who most likely find it hard to get along between themselves. 😂
I guess some of these midfield configurations will depend on who else we sign in the summer. And how well Jorginho does in the remainder of this season. Mikel definitely prefers a single #6 — the Sergio Busquets type, or the role that Partey now plays for us — and Patino is likely to not yet have the tactical nous to do that. Another season out on loan likely to improve his overall understanding of the game to find the demands of Arteta’s midfield more manageable.
Balogun scored three more this evening. He’s sur le feu!
It occurs to me that there has been some horrid criticism of Jorginho.
The man has effectively turned his back on a lucrative Bosman to join us- on an initial 18 month contract not a 5 year madness . WE have a year option on a 31 year old man. The more I think about it this is a very good deal and the risk is limited . My one concern is losing two MFs and gaining one .
Thiago Silva has shown that if your attitude is right Age is just a number and Jorginho’s CV is wonderful . Remember Euro 21 when the Italian midfield overcame the English one and Southgate failed to respond?
Who anchored that Italian midfield ? None other than our new signing .
Balogun has a hat-trick tonight and Patino is pulling up trees at Blackpool.
As C100 says we have a wonderful squad . Add Balogun , Rice , maybe Patino and a couple of new stars and we can have a serious go at the Champions League next season..
The Chavs are saddled with very expensive non-players because they cocked up the administration of players going out last night . That may cost them £12-20 million for players who can’t / won’t play . Shame
One lad affected is Omari Hutchinson who left us to explore a ‘ clearer pathway ‘! What !
Ziyech us left high and dry as are several other players That is rank incompetence.
And, as I understanding it with that hat-trick Balogun surpassed Mbappe, Messi and the complete array of other superstar goal scorers that Ligue Un has to offer. The French must be thinking about him as a walking PR machine for that Top of the League club across the channel…
The neighbours are in discussion with the South African tourism authorities about a three-year £42.5 million sponsorship. Apparently, one concern for the South Africans is that the Middlesex Marshdwellers get relegated.
https://www.polity.org.za/article/inside-sa-tourisms-nearly-r1bn-tottenham-hotspur-sponsorship-proposal-2023-02-01
However, given our tourism promotion sponsorship with Rwanda, I am not sure where doing a deal with the South Africans would lie on the opprobrium spectrum.
Interesting post Ned
Having done two trips to South Africa which were a mixture of business and pleasure it would be hypocritical of me to criticise this initiative. At least in South Africa you will be able to avoid the deportees from Britain who pour into Kent on a daily basis and who the Government intends to pass on to Rwanda.
One last thought on the Chavs . Their ‘ strategy ‘ depends on seeing opportunities and arbitrages that previous PL clubs have failed to recognise . But how slick must their operation be if they’ve failed to get the right documentation in place to ydo outward transfers ? Operational excellence is one of the great competitive advantages but I can’t see much evidence of it so far !
TTG@63: Age is indeed just a number. With Kazuyoshi Miura going on loan to Oliveirense in the Portuguese second division at 55, there is hope for us all.
Perversely, with Reiss Nelson and ESR’s injuries and Marquinhos always likely to be sent out on loan, Omari Hutchinson might have had a shot at being Martineilli’s backup had he stayed. I saw that his proposed loan to WBA got banjaxed at the last moment because the Baggies landed Marc Albrighton from Leicester. Them’s the breaks for what the Sun calls the ‘Chelsea wonderkid’, although he seems to be well-entrenched among the non-playing squad at the Bus Stop.
Dr F@62: Castle Ned is not academia. Harmony and collegiality reigns. 🙂
Well well well back to ecg at 28. Forget your Mbappés, Neymars, Messis, Lacazettes, Moffis, Davids, Ben Yedders: Balogun scored a hat-trick tonight and is now the sole top goalscorer in Ligue 1.
c100, spectacular report, and pretty much what mine eyes saw. capitola rob did well from the start, but wasn’t quite strong enough to hold off haaland. saliba showed how to play him, with less emphasis on shirt-tugging and wrestling. an excellent second-half performance from our french tyro.
and i thought most of the squad played well. tomi deserved a goal for his strike, and if only vieira had brought his ball down rather than try to make the spectacular volley. he had time and space and could have really punished the mancs.
a great way to lose a game, certainly better than 5-0 previously. i can’t wait to see what we offer them at the grove; our last two home games against bigger teams ended up 3-2 to the arsenal, i’d take that in a heartbeat. first things first, though, and let’s get everton tonked, and introduce dyche to the new arsenal order.
our young balogun. well, well. the bbc has some interesting stats beyond his ligue un-leading 14 goals. better goal conversion (29%) than mbappé, laca, and messi. better shot accuracy than messi. 108 minutes per goal, second only to wissam ben yedder of monaco (89!). nicely done, folarin. what was it he said? “By moving abroad, I’m starting to learn what he meant by [develop as a man]. It doesn’t just mean on the pitch but also off the pitch. I think by the time I go back I’ll be in a better place to compete than I was before I left.” well, if you’re developing as a man as well as you are as a player, you’ll fit right in to the ethos of team arsenal…
Sky report that Gabriel Jesus is training on grass for the first time in two months.
Hopefully that does not involve marijuana.
In any case, I will take that as a positive.
I thought that monks are found in monasteries. These are in a castle?
I’ve heard that one’s home is one’s castle, Potsticker. The odd thin g is, there are no monks runnng around in mine.
Jonathan Liew on the transfer window madness
https://www.theguardian.com/football/2023/feb/01/premier-league-january-spending-bubble-transfer-window?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other
Tim Stillman is excellent as always, on Arsenal’s recent squad building.
Potsticker & bt8: Should you ever find yourself in the Polish town of Malbork, you should visit its splendid fortified monastery, a UNESCO World Heritage site. It belonged to the Teutonic Order, who were military monks like the Knights Templar and the Knights Hospitaller. There is no shortage of fortified monasteries (and their ruins).
At Castle Ned, of course, we are peaceable people.
Ned@76: I found this list of fortified Christian monasteries recommended by archaeologists
https://digventures.com/2015/06/8-of-the-worlds-most-heavily-fortified-monastic-ruins/amp/
Ned I see the castle is nearly adjacent to Kaliningrad / Konigsberg, an area of the world that has seen more than its share of military disputes. The monks must be enjoying their spell of relative quiet focusing on their research tasks, one would suspect.
bt8@75: Thanks for the link. Stilman makes a good point about how the need for the spine of the team to be playing regularly makes it difficult for youngsters playing those positions to learn their trade unless they are starters, which few are for all the obvious reasons. In the old days, reserve-team football was able to provide that regular playing time as well as tempering up-and-coming youngsters with senior football. No first-team subs in those days, of course, so no need to prepare 18 players for each first-team game and have them together on match day, so reserve team football’s return seems highly unlikely. Yet it is a problem the big clubs are going to have to solve, possibly through a B-team structure or a multi-club model.
Dr F@77: Castle Ned combines the fortitude of Lerins Abbey with the condition of Leiston Abbey. 🙂
and the fortified wine of buckfast?
As the late, great Irish comedian Dave Allen used to say, scruz, ‘another miracle!’
https://www.skysports.com/football/news/11670/12800988/folarin-balogun-how-on-loan-arsenal-striker-is-topping-the-ligue-1-charts-in-france-at-stade-de-reims
bt8@83: Thanks for the link. The piece implies that Arteta seeks to generate low moments for his youngsters as part of their development. Not sure if that would be true as opposed to him using those that occur as teachable moments.
As interesting is the story of Stade de Reims manager, Will Still. He is the youngest person managing in the top five European leagues at 30, did not play senior football professionally and doesn’t yet have his UEFA Pro Licence that managers in the top leagues need (and for which Reims are fined 25,000 euros per match). He may be the first manager in the top leagues to have come up as a video analyst. Nonetheless, with Balogun’s goals, he has dragged the club out of the relegation zone and into mid-table.
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