Good morning all.
On this podcast with @shotta_gooner I start swallowing some of the humble pie that Arteta has been serving and talk about the performance, the marked recent improvement and Xhaka’s dominance in our midfield.
26 comments on “The Process, The Points and The Joy of Spanking Spurs.”
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Positively Arsenal 
Blinking heck, look at this situation with Mesut’s club in Turkey!
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-9364509/Rigged-VAR-biased-officials-Inside-Fenerbahces-row-governing-body-TV-broadcasters.html
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Enjoyed podcast, and for once was listening with a light heart after Sunday.
I totally agree with Partey v Xhaka comments both about effectiveness on the pitch and the post match reporting.
It is all very odd, pundits were very up beat about World class Partey’s arrival and have stuck with that line. Likewise Xhaka isn’t anywhere near good enough and however well he performs isn’t acknowledged.
I am hoping that the best is yet to come from Partey as he adjusts and returns from injuries. We have seen some useful touches but equally wasteful passes and woeful shooting.
The coverage of the match in general has been so biased, endless comments on the pen.
I will hang on to the many positives and a win and hope the trajectory is upward. Not sure we will see it reflected in the media anytime soon though.
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I would not have thought that we should get too carried away because of one defeat of a poor scum team, just as so many people got carried away when we beat a poor Chel$ki team a few weeks ago, which was followed by a few dire performances.
Similarly, the collective wishful thinking of so many fans that Partey is this wonderful player that he has, so far, not shown anything like, is hampering so many from being realistic.
I have said this before, and no one has countered this, in a that if he was that great why did not any of the big and wealthy teams come in for him when he was available for a relatively modest sum?
So far he flatters to deceive and distracts attention from players who really do deserve the plaudits such as you quite rightly noted, Xhaka.
I wonder whether fans from other clubs suffer from the same collective blindness that so much of our fan base suffers from.
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The Partey Xhaka thing is ridiculous, but as well as highlighting the idiocy of many watchers it does raise some interesting points. I think Xhaka plays better when Partey is playing because I think he is a more robust and dominant midfielder than Elneny or Ceballos. I also think Partey on occasions is a real liability, as well as sometimes hinting that he could become a very good player for the team. The problem I guess is that for Arsenal to go to the next level we need to find a midfielder who is at least as good as Xhaka, and they are likely to cost a lot more than 40m.
Im not sure that fans from other clubs do experience that collective blindness because by and large they don’t have their best players constantly targetted, questioned and pilloried by Referees, by Gary Neville and by so called club legends. And it is these pundits who form opinion – and then that opinion is parroted back by the fans.
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Foreverheady. I wonder why so many bloggers talk about Partey in such positive terms when we really have not seen anything that might indicate he is as good as they make out.
I put it down simply to wishful thinking. The idea being that if you repeat what you want to be a fact often enough, it will actually become a reality.
The same applies to the need for so many bloggers to talk xhaka down. Indeed that is what they did with the Exiled One.
It may all stem from the collective desire for arteta to succeed even if he does not look like he is or will.
His abilities are talked up in the hope that they may eventually be true.
One sees it especially after a win, followed by collective blindness when we don’t, when it is always the ref’s fault or a mistake by some errant player, never arteta.
It seems that the ‘buck stops here’s never seems to apply to him. His perfection is always supposedly evident even after a dire performance.
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I think it’s right to point out why we don’t feel positive, but wrong to tell others that they should not be hopeful. We al need hope.
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Fans that see no negatives are just as bad as those that see no positives. We should all be able to change or opinions as new evidence, one way or the other, is presented.
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Just had some great news, our great friend and contributor, Eduardo, has had a successful procedure and although still in ICU, he is doing well.
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That is great news George. Please do pass on my very best to him.
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Nice to hear some good news.
I respect his views and enjoy his contributions.
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I am all for being positive, but not when it is at the expense of truth and reality.
I am happy to accept that Partey is a good footballer and can do well in the role that he has chosen.
However, to say that he is great when we haven’t seen it yet is to unreasonably increase the hope of those people who may not be so in touch with reality.
Before he was bought he was touted by many bloggers, some of whom may have seen him play on TV or on Youtube.
However, they know nothing of him other than a few glimpses.
Do they know how he will fit into the hustle and bustle of EPL football and in a colder and wetter climate than he may be used to?
Many good players who came from warmer climates, eg the late lamented Rayes, could not settle in London, or cope with the EPL.
What we have seen from Partey is that he is struggling, both with injuries and also endurance. Whether he can overcome this and then show us what he can really do, that remains to be seen and clearly will not be seen this season.
So those fans who maintain that he is a shoe-in for each game and that Arteta should be building his teams around him, at the present time, are deluding themselves.
This is not being positive, it is being naive.
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Get well soon Eds!
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I don’t think you were wrong George.
The “how” Arteta made his calls in the autumn and how the club ended up in 15th is as you speculated. The “why” just involves more people.
He is a promising young coach who almost had his wings clipped and at times I felt a mixture of sympathy and scorn for some of his calls. but on fitness management there is no doubt he has to improve as players careers can be ruined.
JJ we should allow Partey some time to find some fitness and form but I agree he has it all prove in this league whilst Xhaka proves himself week in week out which is why he gets the treatment front Jenas and other uncredible plundits.
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Not an easy watch, but through, and just for now that’s probably all that matters. Classic case of turning up thinking it was already done – and then struggling to get a grip when they realised it was far from done. Should have been out of sight in the first half, but our CF just now seems late for everything.
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Imagine not holding on to a two goal advantage….
But we sort of did – and that lot definitly didn’t.
Up there with some of the great nights.
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Spuds out
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I will be interested to learn when the season is over whether Auba’s finishing stats indicate a decline. He does not seem very clinical right now.
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Amazing to see see just after we complete 180 minutes of mediocrity spurs unstage us with an even more woeful performance. Hundred banned smiles.
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It is a telling point Ian that there has been so little to smile about recently that I had even forgotten that smilies were banned.
I find Aubamayang absolutely infuriating at the moment: by his standards he is not having the best of seasons at all, and as has been pointed out here before if he is not scoring he ain’t doing much else for the team. I think he could do with a shot of whatever it is that the Irish trainers are giving their Cheltenham horses: he could do with finding a yard of pace again.
Odegaard was all class and composure (apart from a horrid effort where it seemed easier for him to score than miss) and his introduction straight after their goal steadied the ship significantly. Signing him permanently would be a good thing to do, I think. I live in hope on that one, for he is an unusual mixture of real class and industry. Injuries permitting of course, Odegaard, Saka and Smith Rowe could develop into a potent force that might just have the abiltiy to take the team forward. I’d love to see the Martinelli we saw last season playing in front of them: whether he can regain that form remains to be seen, but one things for sure, he has no hope of doing so if he isn’t given a chance to do so.
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Firstly, thank you Spurs. Second, yikes, whether it was the situation of defending the lead or the changes made it was a poor performance from us.
The players/pieces just didn’t seem to fit together as an effective team for me. Got better after the changes but I was left with impression for this season at least we’ve got to stick with strongest side as much as possible and only make changes if end up prioritising games, particularly if end up with all eggs in Europa League basket.
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Prague in the next round
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Auba seems to me at least to take outside issues onto the pitch at times, no evidence for saying that, but he just doesn’t strike me as a Xhaka type who seems to thrive on adversity. Auba clearly has his qualities, but still think Xhaka should be captain, player of the year, on a long lucrative contract and achieve legendary status, but that’s just my thoughts.
But Auba was extremely poor against Olym, but then again, he has always missed some sitters.
Not the worst draw next round, or even the semi, but we shall see.
And get well soon Eduardo
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Arsenal Women 2, Manchester United 0. og, Wubben-Moy. A must-win for their hopes of Champions League next season.
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Yeah get well soon ED,
After the initial elation about the spuds humiliation the next day I woke up to the realization that as bad as spurs are they will still probably have a better season than us.
They will sit back against city and try and.catch them on the break which is cities weakness.
The other thing is now they are out of Europe they only have the league to play for so plenty of rest in between.
With us continuing in Europe and being inconsistent in the league I think the spuds will finish above us again.
The slow lloris said that two years ago their side would pull together as a team and find a way to get a result but that is no longer the case, a real damming verdict on Maureen.
If they don’t win the league cup and finish outside the top four then Maureens job will be at risk even though it will cost 25million to get rid of him.
If we don’t win the Europa ( which I very much doubt we will) and finish 9th or 10th in the league there will still be no pressure on our manager to leave.
It is a terrible indictment on our great clubs fall from grace that the average club from down the road can a average season but better than ours and regard it as a crisis but we regard our season as part of some “process”
The two performances in the Europa were poor and many of the league performances are poor as well so at the moment there is not much for pre season optimism the time normally reserved for all fans to dream.
That will not change unless we have a dramatic change in consistency and performance.
I don’t think that will happen until players like Auba, Pepe and Ceballos are relegated to the bench at the very least.
Mikel has made some really bad decisions, Mezut, Martinez etc but now needs to start getting things right otherwise he may be gone by Christmas.
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“It is a terrible indictment on our great clubs fall from grace that the average club from down the road can a average season but better than ours and regard it as a crisis but we regard our season as part of some “process”…”
Ouch!
Ah well.
At least we have the best arse blaggers who pump out counting gibberish like (Ramsey and Ozil can’t play together just after they win three cups in four years or xhaka is rubbish when he’s been the best most consistent CM at the club for three or four years! i.e. People who know less about football then even mike Riley!!!). As long as they don’t mention how much money the Kronke’s have splurged on agent fees since AW left all is gravy eh?
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I suspect that given it was always Mesut’s last season that the Martinez call was the more damaging. Given the style of football Arteta wants to play.
That’s three or four critically bad goals or more this season simply because Leno can’t pass properly. Where Martinez might be the best at playing it out in the league…
Oops.
This call and Arteta’s fitness management have been a problem e.g.: Partey who might hit some form by the end of the season if his hammies don’t twang again. He’s been as badly mismanaged this season as the now immobile donkey Kane has been over recent seasons.
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Saka in the England squad for three upcoming games. Hopefully he doesn’t play much!
Hopefully Arteta will rotate and rest the player over the next two months.
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Given the draw the europa cup looks like the best bet for a good end to the season imo.
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