Hello everyone.
How are you?
Today in the podcast Shotta and me discuss what I think was a decent performance against a team that tried everything to stop a game of football breaking out.
I defend Arteta, Odegaard, Aubameyang and I’m about as cheerful as I have been for years about the direction we are going in. Have a listen if you have the time and see if you feel we are being fair minded.
Pedantic George.
Positively Arsenal 
Nuno goes past a few players and everyone thinks he’s amazing but watch his whole game.
He is greedy, not just in this game but generally he shoots or tries to go on his own when passes are on. He never looks up when crossing and as we see in the Liverpool game sometimes doesn’t look with normal passes as well. His defending is not great and very naive at times. He gave away a definite penalty on Saturday and was saved by some very poor officiating.
I’m not saying he hasn’t got potential, I think he could turn out to be a very good player but he is a long way off that and if anyone thought he had a good game Saturday must be getting sucked in to the bad play we have been watching for such a long while now.
I challenge anyone to go back to watch Arsene or Georges sides and then suggest we are playing well and anymore than Aaron, ESR and Saka are doing well.
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It is great to see our name being even mentioned as top four contenders but that’s just not reality.
We are getting results but against the alsorans but we are still not playing well and we are an injury away to our keeper from plummeting down the table.
Are we really going to assume we can do better than West Ham, and that the spuds and manure with their new managers are not going to be better in the second half of the season.
Then you have to think of Leicester, Wolves, Aston Villa and even Everton that are all capable of going on consistent runs. Now I’m not saying all those sides will finish above us but are we that far better than them that we can start to consider top six let alone top four.
I think the biggest thing is because we are not playing well it is difficult to gauge just where we will finish other than I would be surprised if it was lower than last season’s eighth.
Another good podcast Shotts and George.
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Ian I think I will just have to agree to disagree with you on Nuno’s performance on Saturday. Not only do most of the media and pundits in agreement on his performance on Saturday, but even the odious Garth Crooks included him in the team of the week. Yes he is still rough around the edges and needs to improve on his finishing/shooting. To limit your assessment of him to the no penalty incident is extremely harsh. I mean how many players can have the vision and skill to provide that assist! And the cross to Martinelli who really should have controlled the ball and would have been through on goal was sublime. Even the no penalty incident (which if given would have been harsh as the Newcastle player bought it, I think it was great defending, shoulder to shoulder and great effort to get back and stop a certain goal- in comparison to Martinelli getting absolutely taken out with a deliberate elbow/shoulder in the fact).
I believe Kieran Tierny is a more natural defender and a better defender than Nuno at the moment, but equally Tierny can sometimes be one dimensional in his attack and somewhat predictable. And unpredictability is Nuno’s greatest assets, he can beat a defender both on the outside and on the inside, in particular due to his ability on the ball. His link play also brings more of the midfielders in play and creates an overload on the left hand side. He does have his faults and is very raw (Anfield is a prime example) but he has resilience to bounce back and play the way he did v Newcastle. I suspect Tierny will get the nod at Old Trafford but would not be surprised to see Nuno keep his place.
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Surely the fact that the media and pundits and the out of touch crooks think he did well backs up my argument not yours.
We all know those people commentate on the result and not on the performance which is why the inference is he was shit against Liverpool and great against Newcastle.
The truth is somewhere in-between and he is nowhere near Keirans level of consistency yet.
Its not that those shots were wildly of target that is the issue, it’s that he shouldn’t of been taking them on in the first place when we are creating pressure. It wastes time and allowed defences to reset.
Like I said I think we are starting to measure performance against the dross we have watched for the last three seasons and not the beautiful football we we served so regularly in the years before.
Everybody might be happy scrapping past crap sides, playing crap football but I definitely won’t and it really surprises me fans have become so accepting.
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NT’s main value lies not so much in end product or defensive quality but in ball progression and attacking support.
All teams could do with someone who can carry the ball forward, and show up in attack (especially in orthodox places). Tavares does that extremely well, for all his shortcomings. In fact it’s absurd how much ground he covers (and how quickly), and this might also speak to a serious off-pitch ethic, but that’s theoretical.
Nobody’s going to call him refined, but he’s capable of some deft moments and is unusually confident with his right foot, which helps us bypass pressure quite a lot. It’s a weird mix of ingredients that keep getting him picked and they only suit this free-wheeling role on the left. He’d be a nightmare in Tomiyasu’s spot for instance.
It’s also how he can blast the ball into row z four times in ten minutes and still have a good game come full time.
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Yeah so apart from his poor end product and his defensive frailties his fantastic.
I agree about his potential and even his ball carrying but listen to yourselves he has many defects and at the moment he is an average player and still second choice left back by quite a way.
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Was not Kolasinak a good ball carrier on the left-wing and yet everyone rejected him for his supposed defensive failings?
So how is Tavares better than him?
I understand people trying to be positive, but if you want to do so, then be consistent.
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Earlier on this season I shared my cunning strategy for this season.
To celebrate every goal this season like it was a goal.
There’d been fewer and fewer of them over the years and it helped to make up for much of the mind numbing shite football.
I like goals. I suspect many do. Which is what made the expert blaggers praise of the lack of them over recent years whilst slagging off the best midfielder at the club more entertaining then much of the football in recent years.
Saka’s goal was hit so hard I don’t think the keeper had much chance, a little, but not much more then a sniff. And Martinelli’s finish reminded many of another Brazilian Arsenal striker.
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Just had a look at that incredible data source the PL table:
Tottenham, reassuringly reliable if you ever felt The Arsenal were being led by the owner’s spoilt kid for a fall over the edge of the Levy: eleven goals in twelve games.
If LCFC and The Mancs can stop letting in more goals then Leeds and this season’s Burnley they should eventually catch up with the Hammers in that battle immediately below the top three.
&
The Arsenal need to score more goals if they want to stay close to this pack and maybe others. They have been of late against mid (rival) to lower league teams which has been a lot more fun then what came before and the team will need to keep on scoring to keep up. Not sure that completely freezing out Pepe is the wisest plan as Saka probably can’t play every game till new year without getting injured. Ah Arteta.
Great podcast thanks!
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Ray Kennedy RIP, a legend at Arsenal and Liverpool says it all.
He left Arsenal far too soon, just like Charlie George, these sales were awful by Bertie Mee
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Arsenal Academy
@ArsenalAcademy
· 13h
Flag of Mexico Marcelo Flores has received his first call-up to the senior Mexico squad
🗓 Our #AFCU18 midfielder will travel to Austin for Mexico’s friendly against Chile next week
Congratulations, Marcelo! We’re so proud of you
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Sorry to read about Ray-thanks for mentioning it Ed. Before my time at Arsenal, but loomed as a figure of stature from the past.Recall him well at Livercrutches though. For me his most bizarre moment with anything to do with the Guns was in the third replay of the FAC semi against L`pool in 1980 and Ray seem to get pushed over, (he fell/slipped)I cant remember who crossed the ball over (Pat Rice?) but Brian Talbot headed the ball in. It was like some ghost pushed him over…its really weird to see it.
I always recall seeing his face in those posters in the mid 80s on the underground about Parkinsons and trying to get hep for sufferers of that horrible condition..
I read some bits about him years ago and seemed he had a tough time of things.
Entertained a lot of people though, and hopefully will be remembered for giving people joy.
RIP.
COYG!
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Arsenal U21 v Ipswich in the Papa John’s Trophy: Ejeheri; Norton-Cuffy, Rekik, Ogungbo; Swanson, Patino, Akinola, Lopez; Hutchinson, Biereth, Balogun.
Subs: Mitchell, Alebiosu, Olayinka, Salah-Eddine, Taylor-Hart, Ideho, Cozier-Duberry.
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Arsenal U21’s win on penalties, after a 2-2 draw, they were 2-0 down at half time.
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after tonights EPL results it means AFC can go 4th tomorrow with a win over man utd
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I like the under 21 team this season and they have had games where they faced real adversity and have come good. The more they progress in this competition the better for them.
We do have some real talents in both the under 21 and under 18 teams and if two or three make it to the first team that would be a real bonus.
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The big match is just a few hours away!
A win would be a great result
A win and a performance would be bloody marvelous.
I have got the jitters though!!
Let’s the Bees get a result against the tiny tots!
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TFL, since Mikel took over no academy player has made it through so don’t hold your breath.
Tonights game is interesting, on the face of it we are once more the more stable side with no-one really knowing what Carrick would like to set his side up and if the incoming manager will have a big hand on his shoulder.
Obviously manure would like to put on a bit of a show to herald in the new era but from our point of view I would imagine we will go for the blitzkrieg approach for the first 15 minutes and then sit back and use a mixture of counter and set piece attacks.
If Saka is injured we only have two of the magic three playing and again we will be relying on Aaron for most of the game. However get past this game and not only will we be up to fourth but with all our rivals ambition to drop points we could be knocking on the top four door come the halfway point in the season.
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The pgmob would not have given the goal VAR at its best! A goal from one the magic two thank you for the heads up in advance Ian!
Utd getting the shots in now but Martinelli with a decent chance could’ve been two.
Fred and Partey the two unstars on display hopefully Partey keeps it really simple and doesn’t even up Fred stepping on his own keeper. Fred has long been a favourite of mine. There’s always hope against Utd if he’s playing.
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Instead of going in at half time 2 up its 1-1 for fooks sake!
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White had time to control the initial intercept.
Was a great cut back from Fred tbf for the goal haha I wrote too soon my fault I’m sorry everyone.
ESR having a great game imo ignoring the goal
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We can’t sit back in the second half otherwise we lose.
Their defence under pressure will make mistakes.
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2-1 feck it!!!!
Fecking Ronaldo as well!!!
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Geertttttt innnnnnn
Odegaaaaard
2-2
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Aaaahhhb feck it
Odegaaaaard what a daft penalty to give away!!!!
Damn a game we could win now at best we will most likely lose
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Sitting back and defending spaces looked like a risky posture every time they put together a half decent move
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The story will be another miss by Auba.
Damn he’s really lost his mojo.
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Yes the musses by Auba could have been the difference.. we did have chances… Hmm
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Martinelli looked lively! Will Auba be dropped against Everton I wonder?
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Losing to ManUre or the Spuds has a special kind of pain and frustration. Poor old Auba from hero to villain with the Luton fans. Ramsdale take note…
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The Luton fans will , and have, flip flopped for years they are like goldfish and only have a 30 second memory span.
Generally I thought we played well last night especially under the circumstances there was even some good football breaking out in places.
Auba hasn’t been good for a couple of seasons and unfortunately for Eddie if Mikel has just realized it it’s all to late.
It’s a shame Tommy didn’t get his stonewall penalty but that was possibly the worst officiating I seen for years and when you think of the poor performance’s we’ve seen over the years that’s going some. The bloke was only 2 yards away from the Fred penalty and still needed VAR to correct him. He was way out of his league and I don’t think many divisions would like to see him turn up at their game. If we had a decent refereeing organisation he would be retired immediately.
I thought Elneney and Martinelli both came in and played well and really we lost the game through bad organisation rather than individual mistakes proving our defence is not that good it’s Aaron who been making the difference but any sane fan knew that anyway.
I thought it was a shame Henry concentrated on the Auba subtitling when the real error was taking off Emile and Martin who were our creative players and we seem to dip after that and finished the game flat.
All in all a good performance and a better game than I expected and with the hammers playing chelski and us playing the toffees we will be forth at the weekend anyway.
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I also agree that it seemed odd to take off both creative players at the same time
I was a winnable game in my opinion. was not too happy with Thomas P… Maybe its just me but I have not really been able to see what he does for the team… more oftn than not he seems to lose the ball rather than win it back!
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Khayon Edwards yet to sign professional contract he was offered several months ago by Arsenal
Arsenal offered Khayon Edwards a professional contract several months ago but he has yet to sign the deal.
The 18-year-old striker has been in outstanding form for Arsenal’s U18 side this season, scoring 14 goals.
However, he hasn’t received many opportunities for the older age groups.
Edwards provided an assist against Newport County after coming on as a substitute in the Papa John’s Trophy and he scored against West Bromwich Albion in the U23 Premier League Cup but he hasn’t played for the U23s in the league this season.
With Folarin Balogun continuing to play for the U23s and Mika Biereth having also featured prominently at that level, Edwards hasn’t been called upon, although he could receive more chances after January if Balogun goes on loan.
A player with excellent link-up play and technique in addition to his prowess in front of goal Edwards worked his way through the ranks at the club’s Hale End academy before signing scholarship terms in 2020.
Edwards’ scholarship deal is set to expire at the end of June next year, with Mauro Bandeira, Taylor Foran, Luigi Gaspar, Henry Jeffcott, Remy Mitchell, Charles Sagoe Jr, James Sweet and Billy Vigar the other remaining second-year scholars.
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Good morning
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New post is up
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