The Arsenal v Citeh, FA Community Shield, Sunday 6 August, 4pm

[Mac76]

I probably won't be able to watch this but i will say that i think it's vital for us to really go toe-to-toe and try to at least get a draw (i know it then goes to pels but that doesn't really matter)

To win would obvs be psychologically positive, though admittedly without indicating too much about whether we'll beat them in the PL

but to lose, especially if it's a tonking (not out of the question after seeing our defending the other night), would be psychologically very bad news

Not having Jesus is very unfortunate - if we start with Eddie we will lose the game

I'd probably go with this:

Ram
White Saliba Gabriel Timber
Partey
Odegaard Rice
Saka Trossard Martinelli

[Marc Overmars]

I know this game doesn’t mean much in the grand scheme of things but we really need to end this hoodoo against them.

[HCZ_Reborn]

I know this game doesn’t mean much in the grand scheme of things but we really need to end this hoodoo against them.

Well the hoodoo is really in the league, and winning on Sunday won’t make it any more (or any less) likely of getting a result against them in league fixtures. The league hoodoo has lasted almost six years but we beat them in the fa cup semi final three years ago

[LDG]

Does not matter. Another run about.

The indicators from a charity (sorry, community) shield have never indicated what is to come.

It’s another match you should want to win, but 3 points v Forest is preferable

[Letters]

What LDG said

[Mac76]

What LDG said

Well obvs beating Forest is more important, but I do think if Citeh beat us comfortablly it will be a real blow - not least because you just KNOW that Arteta will be desperate to win this

[21_GOONER_SALUTE]

I probably won't be able to watch this but i will say that i think it's vital for us to really go toe-to-toe and try to at least get a draw (i know it then goes to pels but that doesn't really matter)

To win would obvs be psychologically positive, though admittedly without indicating too much about whether we'll beat them in the PL

but to lose, especially if it's a tonking (not out of the question after seeing our defending the other night), would be psychologically very bad news

Not having Jesus is very unfortunate - if we start with Eddie we will lose the game

I'd probably go with this:

Ram
White Saliba Gabriel Timber
Partey
Odegaard Rice
Saka Trossard Martinelli

Yeah, I think you've put our strongest lineup down....though I do wonder, how we'd look if we dropped Odegaard and played Jorginho...just a different way of coming at the game.

I also agree with those who say a good result is important....an embarrassing show will surely spill into the season, I'm sure of that.

[HCZ_Reborn]

Genuinely apprehensive about this season and pre-season has done nothing to alleviate this, in fact I’d argue that it’s made my apprehensions worse. Of course you can’t win every game, but to win only two out of five….and look toothless in front of goal in three of them is hugely concerning.

We’ve got a talented squad of that I’ve no doubt, but we are married to a system which I think teams have found us out with

[mandela8]

Yeah, I think you've put our strongest lineup down....though I do wonder, how we'd look if we dropped Odegaard and played Jorginho...just a different way of coming at the game.

I also agree with those who say a good result is important....an embarrassing show will surely spill into the season, I'm sure of that.

We'd look absolutely shite with absolutely Zero creativity in the middle of the park as we just invite wave after wave of attack as we can't progress the ball. It'd be fuckin awful.

Timber Saliba Gabriel Tierney

Partey

Havertz Odegaard

Trossard Nketiah Martinelli


Maybe Rice in for Eddie and swap with Havertz but you then have multiple people out of position.
I'm assuming Tierney is fit and Balagun isn't.

[21_GOONER_SALUTE]

We'd look absolutely shite with absolutely Zero creativity in the middle of the park as we just invite wave after wave of attack as we can't progress the ball. It'd be fuckin awful.

Timber Saliba Gabriel Tierney

Partey

Havertz Odegaard

Trossard Nketiah Martinelli


Maybe Rice in for Eddie and swap with Havertz but you then have multiple people out of position.
I'm assuming Tierney is fit and Balagun isn't.

Yeah, I get what you say about Zero creativity but do we really thinking we can out create or play better attacking football than Citeh??

Most teams that have beaten them are teams that are good at soaking up pressure and countering ... the 3 men upfront posted by Mac are good at the counter, I think Odegaard slows our counter attacks down and hasn't proven himself useful in any City game, ever!

So maybe Havertz instead of Odegaard, but I'd really like to see how comfortable we are in sitting deep and countering or trying something new as I have given up on trying to dominate City for 90 mins.

[mandela8]

Yeah, I get what you say about Zero creativity but do we really thinking we can out create or play better attacking football than Citeh??

Most teams that have beaten them are teams that are good at soaking up pressure and countering ... the 3 men upfront posted by Mac are good at the counter, I think Odegaard slows our counter attacks down and hasn't proven himself useful in any City game, ever!

So maybe Havertz instead of Odegaard, but I'd really like to see how comfortable we are in sitting deep and countering or trying something new as I have given up on trying to dominate City for 90 mins.

Was thinking similar after I replied. Can see Arteta trying summin 'different'. As you say, going toe to toe hasn't worked before and trying summin different also provides a bit of a get out..."it was only a friendly and we tried this new thing, so nothing to read into" kinda thing.

[21_GOONER_SALUTE]

Ok, so even I'm swinging back and forth now.

Just found out Debruyne won't be playing, and with Gundoughan gone and others....we might actually have a shot at outplaying them.

So yeah, I'm not to sure which way to go, but I don't get paid a gazillion quid to make these decisions!

[HCZ_Reborn]

Havertz being played as a centre forward. That’s quite a u turn

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Arsenal: Ramsdale, White, Saliba, Gabriel, Timber, Partey, Rice, Odegaard, Saka, Martinelli, Havertz.
Subs: Turner, Tierney, Tomiyasu, Kiwior, Holding, Vieira, Trossard, Smith Rowe, Nketiah.

Manchester City: Ortega, Walker, Dias, Stones, Akanji, Kovacic, Rodrigo, Silva, Grealish, Alvarez, Haaland.
Subs: Ederson, Lewis, Gomez, Laporte, Phillips, McAtee, De Bruyne, Foden, Palmer.

[21_GOONER_SALUTE]

Havertz being played as a centre forward. That’s quite a u turn

I could see this happening, because when he was asked if Jesus's injury changed anything regarding Balogun, he responded with a resounding "No" that he has plenty of options. Clearly this was what he meant.

Anyway all the best to Kai for today, lets see if he is indeed a big game player like some have said.

[mandela8]

Tierney and Nketiah must be fumin.

[mandela8]

...and Trossard, tbh

[HCZ_Reborn]

I could see this happening, because when he was asked if Jesus's injury changed anything regarding Balogun, he responded with a resounding "No" that he has plenty of options. Clearly this was what he meant.

Anyway all the best to Kai for today, lets see if he is indeed a big game player like some have said.


I had a feeling he was going to persist with Nketiah or play Trossard there

It’s certainly encouraging that he’s open to changing his mind. I don’t think he envisaged playing Rice and Partey together but in games like this it’s a necessity. Though I can appreciate in certain games (mid table side at home) why you’d need another more attack minded player but just don’t see Havertz being that player. Feels more like someone who should play anywhere in the attacking diamond

[The Wengerbabies]

Who is this heffer with Roy Keane? If they insist on having women on the panel at least get a looker.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Good clearance from Alvarez.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Arteta. :bow:

Was an obvious yellow for Rodri but the ref can't be arsed for some reason.

[HCZ_Reborn]

Partey being a dick head

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Good move from us.

[HCZ_Reborn]

Stuart Atwell being a massive dickhead

[mandela8]

Rice been absolutely shite.

Partey rolls a simple ball inside and he's just sleeping on the edge of the box. Just looked lost.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Alvarez booked. :faint:

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Havertz. :lol:

[mandela8]

Timber looks good though.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

0-0 HT.

Alright I guess.

[Globalgunner]

Havertz. :lol:

As incisive as the back of a blade. Why did we buy this guy?

[21_GOONER_SALUTE]

As incisive as the back of a blade. Why did we buy this guy?
i think I've enjoyed Havertz contribution so far..yes a top class striker would have buried the second chance but Martinelli was also guilty of wasting a good chance by doing the obvious.

I think Trossard should come in for Martinelli straight away as he's been all energy and no end product so far.

The more I see Martinelli play, the more obvious it is that he has a lot of learning ahead of him

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Grealish off, Foden on.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Haaland off, Palmer on.

Kovacic off, De Bruyne on.

[Mac76]

Arteta not making any changes so far despite our being fairly blunt in attack, already looks like he's learnt nothing

Trossard should be on by now FFS

[Marc Overmars]

1-0 Palmer :rose:

[Letters]

What a finish!

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Rice off, Nketiah on.

[Marc Overmars]

Poor second half really. Not created anything.

[Globalgunner]

Commentator saying this would be our 9th loss in a row to City. That means its a mental issue as much as anything else

[HCZ_Reborn]

Commentator saying this would be our 9th loss in a row to City. That means its a mental issue as much as anything else

Well that and a quality issue

[Letters]

Well that and a quality issue
This.

But the lack of creativity is a bit worrying, we’ve not had a single chance in the second half

[Globalgunner]

Well that and a quality issue

Doubt any other team in the league has a 9-0 record against them. So no. its not quality. If you cant scrape a draw in 9 meetings, you are defeated even before the first whistle. That or your manager is a first class chump

[HCZ_Reborn]

Doubt any other team in the league has a 9-0 record against them. So no. its not quality. If you cant scrape a draw in 9 meetings, you are defeated even before the first whistle. That or your manager is a first class chump


You’ve answered your own question

[Marc Overmars]

We could play another 90 mins here and not be anywhere close to scoring.

[mandela8]

Saka...ffs.

[Globalgunner]

You’ve answered your own question

You love to argue , so Ill leave you with another win and another Arsenal loss to rationalise

[Marc Overmars]

Trossard pubs it in :haha:

1-1

[Letters]

We could play another 90 mins here and not be anywhere close to scoring.
1-1

[Marc Overmars]

1-1

I mean, that goal is fitting for the quality we’ve shown today.

[Mac76]

1-1 :haha:

[McNamara That Ghost...]

TROSSARD!!!

[Letters]

:haha: The pubbiest of pub team goals.

[Letters]

I mean, that goal is fitting for the quality we’ve shown today.

Pretty much. We’ve not been good.

Playing next goal wins now apparently

[Marc Overmars]

Penalties

[Mac76]

Pels :popcorn:

[mandela8]

Why is Ben Shite fouling there. Fuckin spastic.

I thought he was decent in the first half but reverted to type there. Idiot.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Pelanties! :lol:

[HCZ_Reborn]

Pels :popcorn:

Well you said Friday we needed to get a result even if it meant going to pels (I agree by the way)

You got your wish

[Marc Overmars]

Odegaard scores

[Marc Overmars]

De Bruyne hits the bar!

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Odegaard. :bow:

[Marc Overmars]

Trossard scores

[McNamara That Ghost...]

De Bruyne. :haha:

Bottle job.

[Marc Overmars]

Silva scores

[Marc Overmars]

Saka scores

[Marc Overmars]

Ramsdale saves from Rodri!

[Marc Overmars]

Vieira to win it…

[Marc Overmars]

Vieira scores!!!

Time for an open top bus parade.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

VIEIRA!!!

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Arsenal win the Community Shield!!! We won the big one!!!

Nobody beats Arsenal nine times in a row!

[GP]

WE ARE GARGANTUAN!!

[Letters]

:haha:

We’ve got that quadruple feeling :scarf:

[Mac76]

We beat Citeh :faint:
:

[Mac76]

Nobody beats Arsenal nine times in a row!

:lol:

[HCZ_Reborn]

Still worried about lack of goal threat, but can’t fault the determination and heart…even if the goal was about as attractive as Theresa Coffey.

[Globalgunner]

So obviously our problem is not quality

Onwards and upwards:ladynana:

[HCZ_Reborn]

Special mention to Ramsdale who kept us in it, and has made saves in back to back shoot outs

Nothing like being linked with another goalkeeper to focus the mind

[Mac76]

I was only listening on the radio, but it sounded all too predictable:

- wrong lineup (Trossard should have started)
- subs made too late
- the lack of a top striker

This last one as we all know is the biggest fail of our summer, not only have we not signed a striker, we're not showing any sign of realising how much we need one - ofc there's Balogun and if we weren't so determined to sell we could have used him today

Even if Jesus was fit, he's not that effective in front of goal

Havertz isn't the best in that position, Eddie is beyond shite, so we should be starting Trossard if we really can't stomach admitting Balogun is right to deserve a chance

[Letters]

I’m a bit worried at just how happy we look :lol:

[WMUG]

Yay

[WMUG]

https://twitter.com/SimpsonsArsenal/status/1688238824478900224

:lol:

[HCZ_Reborn]

Trossard isn’t a striker either really is he?. He always played wide left or wide right for Brighton (and occasionally in the no10 role). I agree with you about needing a goalscorer, our players all tend to be providers rather than finishers.

I get the impression Balogun already decided he’s going, because we’ve given him no guarantees of first team football. Then again, if Inter keep trying to low ball us over him maybe we will end up keeping him.

The main thing that comes across to me is that Arteta does not know what his best XI is at the moment. You mentioned that once again he was too slow with substitutions which I felt was him trying to play it safe (if we can’t win don’t lose).

Interestingly I think we might end up in a situation where we don’t have a settled team (at least not at first). Rice and Partey are clearly the best midfielders we have, but you do wonder if there’s an issue of us creating fewer chances when you have two more defensive minded players in the middle of the park…and when you have Timber on the left who is a good defender but doesn’t get forward as much as others in that position.

[Letters]

City won the treble.
We just beat City.
If my maths is right we’re basically the best team in the world right now :cool:

[21_GOONER_SALUTE]

I was only listening on the radio, but it sounded all too predictable:

- wrong lineup (Trossard should have started)
- subs made too late
- the lack of a top striker

This last one as we all know is the biggest fail of our summer, not only have we not signed a striker, we're not showing any sign of realising how much we need one - ofc there's Balogun and if we weren't so determined to sell we could have used him today

Even if Jesus was fit, he's not that effective in front of goal

Havertz isn't the best in that position, Eddie is beyond shite, so we should be starting Trossard if we really can't stomach admitting Balogun is right to deserve a chance

Are you sure you didn't watch the game, because the 3 points you made were spot on.

The most annoying of them being the subs and why he had to wait so late to make them for something that pretty much is still a friendly and doesn't really matter in the grand scheme of things.

Arteta's inability to trust his squad and stop the blind love for his starters is the main reason managers like Pep will always have his number. Do you think an Arteta could have pulled out Haaland the way Pep did when he noticed he wasn't getting joy...not in a million years as we can clearly see with the way he handles Saka when he's being ineffectual.

If Trossard and Tierney had been given more faith by being brought on earlier, it would have been a whole different game and Tierney wouldn't have made that Palmer guy look like some new Wayne Rooney.

I'm glad we got the result but the manager's behaviour worries me...you can't count on Arteta to play out best performing players, he'll just keep believing he can't do better than his starters and clearly thats a big weakness in modern football.

The 8 mins extra time is the only reason we got this result...hopefully this bodes well for us this season but I can see it coming to royally bite us in the ass later on.

[GP]

City won the treble.
We just beat City.
If my maths is right we’re basically the best team in the world right now :cool:

I heard a rumour that we're by far the greatest team the world has ever seen.

[LDG]

Is there a highlights show tonight?

[Marc Overmars]

I thought Timber looked really good. Very strong and composed.

[mandela8]

Are you sure you didn't watch the game, because the 3 points you made were spot on.

The most annoying of them being the subs and why he had to wait so late to make them for something that pretty much is still a friendly and doesn't really matter in the grand scheme of things.

Arteta's inability to trust his squad and stop the blind love for his starters is the main reason managers like Pep will always have his number. Do you think an Arteta could have pulled out Haaland the way Pep did when he noticed he wasn't getting joy...not in a million years as we can clearly see with the way he handles Saka when he's being ineffectual.

If Trossard and Tierney had been given more faith by being brought on earlier, it would have been a whole different game and Tierney wouldn't have made that Palmer guy look like some new Wayne Rooney.

I'm glad we got the result but the manager's behaviour worries me...you can't count on Arteta to play out best performing players, he'll just keep believing he can't do better than his starters and clearly thats a big weakness in modern football.

The 8 mins extra time is the only reason we got this result...hopefully this bodes well for us this season but I can see it coming to royally bite us in the ass later on.

Aye, I did find it bizarre he left it so late for subs when it clearly wasn't working in attack.

Rice looked lost anaw.

There were a few obvious changes to make yet he persisted. Exactly what he done last season. I was hopeful the improvements to the squad would see him open up a bit but he's just so fuckin stubborn.

[21_GOONER_SALUTE]

I thought Timber looked really good. Very strong and composed.

He and Saliba were really good today....but yeah he reminds me of the kind of defender a 90's AW would have loved.

A real athlete, always getting stuck in and comfortable on the ball...pretty rare for us.

Though his defensive game was excellent, his drives forward can't be compared at all to Zinchenko or even Tierney.... but yeah in a tight game like this I'd play him ahead of both of them.

But its clear we'd get more from him in the right flank where he's more comfortable. Ben White has been one of my favourite players in this new Arsenal but now I am beginning to see that his levels do drop dramatically in a 90 min game and Timber is looking more and more like a much needed upgrade.

[mandela8]

I thought Timber looked really good. Very strong and composed.

Best player today, for me. Then Odegaard.