Hoi! and how are you?

Sunday the 18^th of October the Mighty Cannon meets up with Nottingham Forest for a PL clash at the City Ground. KO is at 4.30pm local time. Expected weather is, mostly sunny with temps at 13° ( feels like 11°) and 1% chance of rain.

After a decent performance against Lille, the Gunners hit the road jack and head up to the midlands for a wander in the Forest of Nottingham. It’s not been such a fortuitus ground for us in recent season, picking up on one win in six, so hopefully we can turn that one around today, especially as City are now tipped to win the league, which seems a bit premature and illogical considering pending outcomes, but I suppose people have to spill the ink and get those clicks in? Yawn.

Crocked for the Cannon are Hincapié, Big Willie and Κύριος Tzolis, and the Zube is looking doubtful.

For the Sherrif’s men, Jesus and Savona are out and not about. Doubtful be Gibbs-White and Milenkovic.

Statto HQ coughed up the autumnal stats and they read like this: Nottingham Forest (15th), have a 16.8% chance of winning. Arsenal FC (2nd) has a 59.2% chance of victory through moments of harmony.

Next up, clean up your Bier Steins and get ready to chomp on  Weißwuascht, for its a trip to Bavaria, as we take on Bayern Munich as the Alliance Arena in the Champions League. Till then, may fortune be your way. COYG!

Mills

Good day all.

At half time I was ready to tweet ” We had better hope City get docked 20 points this season”, because we didn’t look at all good. Then when we went behind I definitely feared the worse. But of course I was wrong, the goal seeemed to spur the players, and thankfully our now mega rich manager, into action.

The players sped up, more first time forward passes and direct play. It went from Leeds looking the better team to us running all over them until the final whistle. It does beg the question as to why we had to wait?

Critics of our transfer window point to a lack of attacking quality, and it’s not hard to see how they have formed this opinion.

Saka is a million miles from the “star boy” of old, although I have to admit I’ve never seen him in the “world class” bracket that some elevated him to. His decision making has gone from excellent to poor, his greed is rampant and his pace has run away quicker than he now can. I’m not sure we will ever see his star shine brightly again. Noni is a level below what is required and Havertz is some sort of hybrid that seems lacking overall. now don’t get me wrong, these lads are not bad players, but I think it’s fair to say that they are not up to the level of our midfield and defence.

Overall , given the 3 week break and the disappointment of our last result, we can be more than satisfied with the outcome.

Pedantic George.

Hello and how are you?

Saturday the 19^th of September sees the Mighty Canon (1st) move its artillery down to the south coast, as we take on Brighton and Hove Albion (5th) in the of our next autumn away days at the American Express Community Stadium. KO is 3pm (local time) and the expected weather is: 19° feels like 17° with force 5 winds.

Having beaten Ipswich in the C cup, we now take on a tough opponent. A side very much not to be underestimated, as Manchester united and Coventry found at their cost, they can be ruthless in front of goal when they choose. Fabian Hurzeler’s men are currently W2D1L1.

I hope we don’t go down there with too much hubris, as where there’s hubris there is nemesis…sure and steadfast, fire and skills boys..

Big Willie, Messrs White and Mosquera are out and not about for the Gun, Timer! is doubtful but who knows, I think we might see him for the showdown.

Hadjam took a knock against MU so he’s looking doubtful for the Gulls but Ferdi Kadioglu is likely to return. Azeez, Svoboda, Ferguson, Yohanna, Wieffer, Hinshelwood, Mitoma, Minteh, Tzimas are looking unlikely lads.

Statto HQ having returned from the cultural delights of Eastern Europe were now back at HQ, examining magazines showing the array and availability of new combine harvesters. Angrily they looked up and gave me the stats. The Southern Seagulls have a 20.5% of winning and Arsenal FC have a 55.2%.

Next up the infamous international break (21st-6th) where our plays get crocked for four months much to the delight of the hacks.

After that we host the irrepressible Leeds Utd for luncheon at the Emirates on the of 10^th of October. May your force be with you. COYG!

Mills

Morning positives.

I really enjoyed that game. To go away in the champions league and totally dominate is impressive, especially against a team like Napoli.

On the face of it ,it looks like a hard fought 1-0 close encounter, but it was anything but that. It could and should have been a cricket score.

Xg Napoli (0.21) 0-1 (4.31) Arsenal, massive, and live, it looked ever more than that.

From memory, Saka, Noni, Hincapie and Merino all missed when it looked difficult to do so. Now although at the time I was screaming at them, a more considered view is that this is an anomaly. Against Chelsea we had 26 efforts on goal and every single one of them was on target. That too was an anomaly, but had that anomaly happened last night we would have been in double figures. So I’m not concerned , it will level out over time.

I thought that Saka, Eze and Gyokeres could have done better, but none of them were what I would say “poor”.

The general play was dominant, inventive and relentless. We look to be going from strength to strength, it’s all very enjoyable and I’m going to soak it all up while it lasts.

Don’t forget that the starting eleven was perhaps missing eight of our “best eleven” players.

Pedantic George.

@xGPhilosophy

Napoli (0.21) 0-1 (4.31) Arsenal