A new season begins!
Big Andy is back for Newcastle so that's us getting fucked over straight off the bat :doh:
Come on Arsenal. :bow:
Throw all the new signings in.
A new season begins!
Big Andy is back for Newcastle so that's us getting fucked over straight off the bat :doh:
Come on Arsenal. :bow:
Throw all the new signings in.
Pepe got a nasty kick in training (probably Mustafi) but should be ok. As should Lacazette.
Think Willock is in with a shout. Ceballos prob on the bench. Luiz to start with Sok.
Glad we’re starting away, we need to keep improving and turning up away from home.
That said, if we’re looking at fourth then we’ll lose a good few games along the way and most of them will be away.
Don’t really know what to expect if I’m honest. :lol:
At least David Luiz should go straight in.
We have to sort our away form out this year.
Big changes, all bets are off.
Make no mistake, this is Emery's team now, hes got to deliver
5 nil to The Arsenal
------------------Leno--------------------
AMN-------SOK------Louise-----Monreal
-----------Willock-----Xhaka-------------
Mhki--------------Ozil---------------Auba
----------------Lacazette------------------
No idea how fit / ready to start Ceballos, Tierney or Pepe is so will have to be the usual suspects.
i'd much rather have started with a home fixture, Newcastle away with Carroll up front is definitely a potential banana skin
i just hope we're solid, get decent possession and give Auba and Laca plenty of chances to do their thang
Think Carroll is injured (I know shocking if true)
Yeah he has an ankle injury so won’t be in the squad.
1-3 Arsenal.
Latest injury news from the club.
on Pepe they say: "Regaining full match fitness following late return from African Cup of Nations. Decision to be made on participation for Sunday." :shrug:
and if anyone's interested, it's the same for Elneny... :tumbleweed:
https://www.arsenal.com/news/team-ne...llerin-holding
Be that as it may...... I don't expect to see him start Sunday.
Ridiculous.
So not playing due to security reason's... Makes a change from Ozil's usual feeling unwell :sarcy:
Oh and Le-piss has predicted we will finish sixth so a top four finish it is then :jumpnana:
Does that mean they're housebound?
Can we not get private security to get them from home to the game? The police can do whatever their doing in any case and they can still do their jobs surely. Not trying to be an arse.....just surprised it has come to missing an actual game! The season't just started and we're off to a flyer.
Think it’s a bit odd personally but I’m sure they wouldn’t have gone to this measure without good reason.
Revising my team....
If The Spanish kid is ready to start (and I've heard nothing suggesting he can't) Emery may just throw him in. He's been promised games, so has to squeeze them in somewhere. Equally wouldn't be surprised to see Guendouzi start with older brother Louise, so let the curly lock/fries fun and games begin.
------------------Leno--------------------
AMN-------SOK------Louise-----Monreal
-----------Willock-----Xhaka-------------
Mhki-----------Ceballos------------Auba
----------------Lacazette------------------
To be honest if there was shit going on around my family the last thing I’d care about is my job. And if theyre on the pitch you can assume their minds would be elsewhere. We’re pretty privileged to know what is going on most of the time but there’s a lot we don’t know. Apparently Sky we’re reporting outside one of their homes after the incident, which probably didn’t help keeping the address secret. Retaliation isn’t that surprising from a gang made to stupid on camera.
Douzi has to play whenever Luiz does - we need a decoy on the pitch who can take a red for the team whenever Luiz goes mental...
I’d love to think Emery would have the bottle to play Nelson or Martinelli over Mkhi, but I reckon you’re probably right on that one *sigh*
Do you think Luiz will be ready to go straight in after 2-3 days at the club? I wouldn’t be surprised if Chambers got the nod...
I think it is a risk in terms of familiarity but I think we might just need to accept that. If Sokratis' English really is that bad though, then I suppose being with Luiz won't make much difference on the communication front.
I'm really not sold on Nelson and haven't seen enough of Martinelli but Mhki is so hit and miss I'd welcome seeing others play.
I’ve seen Nelson look brilliant and I’ve seen him look anonymous - not sure which one we’d get, but I’d rather chuck him in as an unpredictable wildcard than go with Mkhi who is utterly predictable and who we know will be anonymous if we play him on the wing.
I think I’d lean towards Martinelli over both though - haven’t seen a great deal of him in an Arsenal shirt yet, but he’s looked focussed and dangerous in the few minutes I have seen from him. I think he might be first-team ready (or very close to)?
As frustrating as he is, suppose we can't have Mhki and Ozil ducking games all season simply because of how much we pay them.....and Mhki was the best player for us for a solid month and a half / 2 months last season so he's capable of turning it on.
Don't think Nelson or Saka are of the level required to give regular games to though, so a bit gutted we lost Iwobi on that front.
Their wages are more of an annoyance to me than anything now. At the start of the summer I was genuinely worried that they would hinder our ability to recruit, and leave us hopelessly reliant on having to pick the two of them each week. But as it turns out we’ve actually recruited really well, and we’ve ended up with plenty of other options to choose from, so I’m not nearly as bothered about it as I was.
The principle of it still rankles, of course, but I’m way past the point where I’m expecting to see any kind of value for money from them. I really hope it’s not a factor that Emery has to consider when picking a team - that should have been what his first season was all about.
For what it’s worth, I don’t think the younger players like Nelson and Saka are starting-quality yet either, and I’m sure they’ll have plenty of games to forget along the way, but I will say this for them: at the very least, I expect them to be eager to impress and to look busy when given a chance. Plus we’d actually be working towards something with them, developing potential. I can live with either Özil or Mkhi as a no.10, but I just don’t see where we’re going or what we’re hoping to achieve with them as wingers.
Lacazette and Pepe were both training with the main group, David Luiz also.
Funny photo where it looks like Sokratis is incredulous somehow Mustafi is still here.
https://www.arsenal.com/news/first-t...-league-opener
I'm happy to see Mhki get a mini run wide whilst we are integrating late arrivals into the team and or/ determining go to formations but I'm probably in a minority.
I think Saka could have done with a loan but our wide options could easily be;
Aubu
Pepe
Martinelli
Nelson
and I'd be fine with that.
Saka may still yet go out on loan though I suppose as may others.
Is the loan window still open for outgoings? I can't find anything to suggest that it is.
Think external loans last as long as each individual window.
https://www.espn.co.uk/football/blog...desligaligue-1
I assumed loaning abroad was the same as selling abroad. I haven't seen anything to suggest it isn't.
Ah yes it does seem to suggest they could still be loaned out.
I think only one of Nelson/Willock/Saka would be and even then I am doubtful.