Arsenal vs Forest 13.09.2025 KO 12:30 GMT

[HCZ_Reborn]

Crocodile Greeky is back in the premier league after an absence of three matchdays. I doubt he will have had time to stamp his gung ho style on Forest, so I imagine it will be defence first and try and hit us on the counter attack, which I’m a bit worried about as when the Saliba/Gabriel partnership gets broken, defensive lapses creep in.

But we are where we are


Here is the lineup id play


Raya, Timber, Mosquera, Gabriel, Calafiori, Rice, Odegaard, Nwaneri, Gyokeres, Eze, Madueke

Subs: Dowman, Trossard, Martinelli, Zubimendi, Merino, Norgaard (is he fit?), Lewis-Skelly, Hincapie, Kepa


Who we most likely will play


Raya, Timber, Mosquera, Gabriel, Calafiori, Zubimendi, Rice, Odegaard, Martinelli, Gyokeres, Madueke


Anyway 0-3 Zombie Trevor Francis hat-trick

[Marc Overmars]

Hopefully the time off has helped with a reset.

Result obviously most important but a top performance is also in need after 2 stinkers out of 3 so far.

Eze must start.

[Letters]

I hope we win, tbh.

[IBK]

This is going to be a tough game in which our defensive credentials will be tested. I think that of your most likely line up Eze will play in place of Martinelli. Hopefully, some of our key players will take their recent international form into this match, and we should win this home game.

[HCZ_Reborn]

This is going to be a tough game in which our defensive credentials will be tested. I think that of your most likely line up Eze will play in place of Martinelli. Hopefully, some of our key players will take their recent international form into this match, and we should win this home game.

I dunno, Arteta has his favourites

It’s ironic in a way as Martinelli was frozen out of the team in Arteta’s first year as coach but now he barely gets dropped


I also don’t think wide left is Eze’s best position, would I play him there over Martinelli yes…do I think he’d be better at no8, no10 or as a false no9 with him interchanging with Gyokeres on the left….also yes

[Mac76]

0-3 Wood hatter

It's a shame Zin is ineligible to play, we could have exploited his complete defensive incompetence and tendency to give the ball away at awkward times

[HCZ_Reborn]

0-3 Wood hatter

It's a shame Zin is ineligible to play, we could have exploited his complete defensive incompetence and tendency to give the ball away at awkward times

He’d probably give a Zidane like performance and score the winner given our luck

[dazthegooner]

For some reason Arteta’s dropped Rice must be carrying an injury or he feels Merino’s goalscoring exploits are needed? <_<

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Going to have to get used to seeing a lot more changed line-ups this season i think.

[HCZ_Reborn]

Rice on the bench with Merino at 8

That’s interesting, wonder how much that was inspired by Merino’s international goal feast

Mosquera in for Saliba, Eze for Martinelli, Odegaard starts


Hincapie on the bench

[HCZ_Reborn]

Going to have to get used to seeing a lot more changed line-ups this season i think.

Think he wants to try and emulate the partnership merino and Zubimendi have for Spain. In the premier league which is all around pace and strength…not so well I imagine

[Mac76]

Going to have to get used to seeing a lot more changed line-ups this season i think.

Good, that's what Arteta's been failing at for five seasons

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Arsenal: Raya, Timber, Mosquera, Gabriel, Calafiori, Zubimendi, Merino, Odegaard, Eze, Madueke, Gyokeres.
Subs: Arrizabalaga, Hincapie, White, Martinelli, Trossard, Nwaneri, Rice, Lewis-Skelly, Dowman.

Nottingham Forest: Sels, Williams, Murillo, Milenkovic, Morato, Anderson, Sangare, Gibbs-White, Ndoye, Hudson-Odoi, Wood.
Subs: Victor, McAtee, Hutchinson, Boly, Luiz, Kalimuendo, Bakwa, Savona, Yates.

[Mac76]

Should be MLS at LB ffs, so much for rotation

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Come on Arsenal. :bow:

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Sels saves from Merino!

[HCZ_Reborn]

Seems like no threat being offered from open play. A disappointment

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Lovely from Madueke.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Odegaard off injured, Nwaneri on.

[HCZ_Reborn]

Odegaard off injured, Nwaneri on.

Same shoulder problem as well. Feels like we are putting in players before they are fit

[McNamara That Ghost...]

He played two games for Norway tbh

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Madueke. :bow:

[McNamara That Ghost...]

ZUBIMENDI HOLY SHIT!!!!

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Zubimendi goes for another volley. :lol:

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Forest have come out a bit now they're behind.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Nwaneri has been really good since coming on.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

1-0 HT.

[Marc Overmars]

Madueke has been very good. Dare I say a lot more direct and quicker than Saka too.

[21_GOONER_SALUTE]

Same shoulder problem as well. Feels like we are putting in players before they are fit

This is a disturbing new idiosyncrasy Arteta has revealed this season... makes absolutely no sense especially with the amount of cover we now have.

[21_GOONER_SALUTE]

Madueke has been very good. Dare I say a lot more direct and quicker than Saka too.

Definitely happier to have the ball than the Saka we've had for a year or so....I must say I've suspected for a while he hasn't fully recovered from the injuries he's had, its been quite noticeable with his movement and unwillingness to take on defenders the way he use to earlier.

[21_GOONER_SALUTE]

I'd say this half has been the most attractive half of football we've played this season, probably mainly due to Madueke's fresh attitude.

Also, even before Zubimendi scored, I felt he was enjoying his football and coming into his own with some noticeable contributions in the final third.

In fact that's the only positive of Merino starting, Zubi feels more at ease to move forward which might be a good thing if Odegaard will be out for a while.

We're still not utilising our striker properly nor are we giving the ball to Eze.

So basically, it's been a good performance so far but all the problems are still quite glaring.

Oh and Nwaneri is playing pretty maturely at the moment, hope he gets his complementary goal which will hopefully force the manager to use him more.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

GYOKERES!!!!

[21_GOONER_SALUTE]

Well, who knew they could shut me up so fast.

Good one Caliafiori.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Wood hits the bar!

Great defending Mosquera.

[HCZ_Reborn]

Wood hits the bar!

Great defending Mosquera.

Replay suggests great save by Raya

[HCZ_Reborn]

GYOKERES!!!!

Bit of route one football there

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Nwaneri strike. :lol:

Very good from Eze.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Gyokeres smashes the woodwork!

[HCZ_Reborn]

Gyokeres smashes the woodwork!

Almost breaks the thing I would say

Still not sure he’s the player to break through stubborn defences but what he is definitely is a player that can capitalise on space once we are in front to seal the points, and given how many times we had a single goal lead last season and blew it that really can’t be underestimated

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Calafiori and Gyokeres off, Lewis-Skelly and Rice on.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Great header from Mosquera.

[HCZ_Reborn]

Eugene Levy goes up front, I mean why not I guess

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Trossard and Martinelli on for Eze and Madueke.

Very good from both the latter two.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

ZUBIMENDI GOAL MACHINE!!

[HCZ_Reborn]

ZUBIMENDI GOAL MACHINE!!

Lolz

[HCZ_Reborn]

Trossard and Martinelli on for Eze and Madueke.

Very good from both the latter two.

Yep especially from Eze id say

[McNamara That Ghost...]

3-0 FT. :bow:

[HCZ_Reborn]

3-0 FT. No complaints from me…Odegaard injury hopefully not too serious although we coped well enough without him

[21_GOONER_SALUTE]

More enjoyable than the Leeds win as we were definitely more fluid and looked far less "constipated" than we usually do.

Good performances from all the new signings I must say and I hope we are getting closer to a team that is more easy on the eye and has a proper positive attitude when attacking

[21_GOONER_SALUTE]

I forgot to mention I really enjoyed Noni's early corner kicks....nice to know we aren't limited to Saka taking them on the right.

[Mac76]

More enjoyable than the Leeds win as we were definitely more fluid and looked far less "constipated" than we usually do.

Good performances from all the new signings I must say and I hope we are getting closer to a team that is more easy on the eye and has a proper positive attitude when attacking

:gp: it felt like we were dropping back more when they had possession then transitioning more quickly, I think the breakthrough has come with so many new attacking signings, it's harder to condition them into Artetaball so maybe finally he's learning to play to the strengths of the team

There were so many good performances but the moment when Eze crossed for Gyok to score was what we've been waiting for, a top class winger finding the striker in the middle

[21_GOONER_SALUTE]

:gp: it felt like we were dropping back more when they had possession then transitioning more quickly, I think the breakthrough has come with so many new attacking signings, it's harder to condition them into Artetaball so maybe finally he's learning to play to the strengths of the team

There were so many good performances but the moment when Eze crossed for Gyok to score was what we've been waiting for, a top class winger finding the striker in the middle

You are on to something and I'll repeat this again, IMO the best football we played under the Arteta era was the first title charge, and it was because of some of the things you highlighted.

Simply put, we defended more that season than we did probably any other season, or more accurately I should say, we played the game more in our half that season than we did the subsequent seasons that followed.

Doing this allows teams to come at us and create space, which was why that particular season had both our wings purring, as both Martinelli and Saka were able to take advantage of swift counters and score. That season was Martinelli's best season under Arteta, and the stats showed it.

However once he had another transfer window and was able to buy more players and tune the team to his slow control fantasy of being Peplike, we started losing the ability to exploit space as we would unnecessarily hold the ball for long periods of the game doing absolutely noting with it and allowing teams to get into great defensive positions.

This is why our defence looks so great and looked so much better after that particular season. Not only do we have some of the best defenders, but by having unnecessary possession, we don't even allow teams to come at us which is why no one is able to score 3 or more goals against us usually.

This is something Barca have been doing for decades, using possession as their main weapon of defence, and this has helped camouflage the fact that they've never had a good defence. Which is why they are repeatedly exposed and knocked out by teams in Europe who can actually defend and attack at the same time.

Simply put, what we need to do is get the balance right in the League. We should accept losing possession once in a while, believe in our defenders and our ability to soak pressure, then always set ourselves up for the counter.

Gyokeres has scored 2 goals that were pretty much the same. We need to build on this and Arteta needs to learn from the Klopp school, accept losing control once in a while, embrace Chaos, see it as your ally and exploit it regularly.

As far as I'm concerned this is the difference between us and Liverpool, we have the better players but are being held down by a limited footballing philosophy. There is a reason why Barca and Pep's Citeh have so few CL titles, we don't need to copy their prototype so late in the game when the flaws have already been exposed.