Hello people,
In this podcast I wax lyrical about the recent improvements, before adding caveats. There is a bit of a young player and Xhaka love in too. At last it’s mostly positive about everything.
Pedantic George
113 comments on “Arsenal Have Improved massively.”
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Positively Arsenal 
Arsenal have made tremendous improvements upfront. This was an area we were all worried of. With the resurfacing of Gabriel Martinelli I feel we are now good to go. Arteta should convert this young Brazilian to a striker. Then play ESR and saka alongside him. This will help us get goals anytime.
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Love the positivity and long may it continue.
Predicted line up today we could possibly see 10 changed
Leno
Cedric Chambers Holding Nuno
Elneny Maitland-Niles
Pepe Smith-Rowe Nketia
Bolagun
A few academy players may be on the bench and depending on how the game goes may get a chance. Would be nice to see one or two coming with 20 mins to go – Maybe Patino or Salah for Smith Rowe.
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Well I’ve just about retrieved the toys chucked out of the pram, and the spat dummy’s been located too, so please let me apologise for poor behaviour a few weeks ago. Mills quite sensibly pointed out that it was wholy unreasonable to expect anyone else to share my particular point of view, and that the value of this site was that it catered for more than one opinion. And I missed listening to all that you all had to say, so please forgive me for having been ridiculous.
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Great again listening to a measured and jovial podcast that I mostly agree with.
The only thing is have we really got two players for every position I’m not sure just how good our squad would be if it was tested up a pretty good side with say 5 players out. Certainly now we are playing with confidence changes are easier to make that is still a question we’ve he as not had answered.
If my memory is correct we have still not come from behind in any game yet either.
As far as 10 or eleven changes are concerned tonight that is not in Mikel’s history this is a quarter final, a really important game I think six is the maximum he will change and still have a strong bench.
Patino and Balogun may get on the bench but I can’t see more academy players making it tonight unless maybe the keeper who has been there before.
I would imagine Mikel could flog Partey to death seeing as he is going away soon and we have no loyalty to his international side.
The consistency in selection has been the cornerstone of our recent success so tonight should be interesting in many ways.
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Nothing to forgive Heady! Just glad youre back.
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Mari and Sambi have Covid AMN not in training. This obviously effects selection and means we may have a larger outbreak for our next league games. We could be about to see if our squad are good enough.
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Maitland Niles not in the squad, is it due to COVID?
Let’s hope to see Patino.
Exciting team, let’s hope they gel quickly as Sunderland will be well organised.
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We could been 3 or 4 up but we let them in and they caught us napping. Our work rate off the ball needs improvement as the defence has been left exposed a number of times.
Unlucky for Bolagun not to be on the score sheet, two decent chances, should have buried the header. And if Smith Rowe strike had gone in boy that would have been some goal!
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Bet that was fun for those who were there, well done to all of them, especially Eddie and Charlie Duck, or I think that’s the translation, on his debut and debut goal, hopefully the first of many
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Chaaaarliieeeee Paaaatinooooo
Oh what a moment for the lad. Brought a tear to my eye!
And the joy on the other players faces when he scored!!
Stuff of dreams.
Nketia superb but celebrated clearly like someone who knows he’s off.
This game changed on thing – the introduction of Xhaka. Minute he came on, the Sunderland puff ended. He brought calm to the proceedings and organised things superbly. The way the midfield settled down with Xhaka was unbelievable.
Tavares has clearly been going to crossing school – he’s deliveries were on the money.
Odegard I swear has eyes behind his head, he seems to retain a mental picture of where a player will be and some of the passes to Pepe were unreal.
Pepe though reminded Arteta he’s still alive. He was a nutmeg hattrick, and tormented the fullback. Assists and a goal can’t ask for more.
Cedric looks good going forward but very shaky defending. The gulf with Tomiyasu is glaring.
Elneny improved when Xhaka came on, prior to that he didn’t really push the game, played lots of safe passes.
Smith Rowe also had a quiet game too I thought but could have scored a screamer.
Leno is definitely the number two to Ramsdale. Leno just doesn’t seem to trust his distribution. He could have pinged the ball to release midfield or the flanks when Sunderland were pressing but always passed to the full backs slowing the game.
It was entertaining for 60 minutes of you were a Sunderland fan and they deserved at least one more goal. But after that it was all the Xhaka and Arsenal show
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Capt Xhaka can make a very big difference to his team, at times, they can look rudderless without him
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Mikel Arteta was in great spirits after we beat Sunderland 5-1 to reach the semi-finals of the Carabao Cup.
Our manager faced the media afterwards and discussed the performance, Eddie Nketiah, Charlie Patino and more.
Read on for a full transcript:
on the performance…
Very good. We are through to the semi-final which is what we wanted. We decided to rotate quite a lot today and it took some time in the first half to get that cohesion. We scored two good goals but after that we lacked something. We got more control in the second half and scored some beautiful goals as well.
on Nketiah’s future…
I tell you every day that we want to keep Eddie. We see how he trains, that’s what he does every day, he works so hard and puts the ball in the net every session. I am really delighted with him. Every time we have needed him he has always responded.
on whether it’s tough to leave him out of the Premier League side…
The way we planned the squad and the way his situation looked in the window, he had a lot of options to go and we thought that was probably the best way to go. But the way we assembled the squad the situation changed and he decided to stay and it was hard to found minutes for him. But he’s finding the space right now and is using his minutes really well.
on whether Eddie could still stay…
We are trying. It’s not about anything else but minutes. He wants gametime, he wants to be on that field and that is the only reason to say, ‘Can I do it here?’ That’s the question. We all want him to stay.
on whether he will have more chances now…
Yes. Recently he’s played more minutes than in the past and we’re going to need him and he’s going to play more minutes.
on what he offers that the other forwards don’t…
I don’t know if he’s different to other other strikers but I really like what he has. He has incredible work rate, he has pace and has the smell for goals. He has the capacity to finish in the box on any surface and then I really like his character. He wants to be the best and works all the time to do that. He’s a player that has come through our system and that’s why we want to keep him.
on how encouraging recent performances have been…
When you win football matches everything looks much better. We have to be consistent with the decisions that we make, keep trying to improve all the time the way we play, perform better and better and the results will come. They are coming right now and now it is about consistency. There are a lot of games coming up and we want to maintain that form.
on whether the competition is treated with enough respect generally…
I don’t see a lot of coaches and clubs tossing this competition off, because everyone wants to win and everyone wants to win trophies. If you see the lineups 10 years ago and now they are pretty different.
on Charlie Patino’s debut goal…
A beautiful moment. He is a kid that is coming through our system, a lovely kid. He is training with us almost every week. It was a dream. As a debut to come here, to score in front of our fans, a really special moment.
on the hype about him…
I see that! I saw it around the club.
on the fans singing his name before he came on the pitch…
I know, I know. I think that is very positive. They heard about him and know what he can become and now we have to cook him slowly. Today was a good start, I think.
on whether there’s too much hype…
No, that is what we have to avoid. He still has a lot of competition in front of him. He is really young. And he needs to go step by step. Today he was lucky, he got the opportunity and he took it really well.
on Pepe’s display…
It is hard for everyone who doesn’t play. What they have to do is when they have the minutes, show on the pitch that they can do it and they are ready when the team needs him.
Copyright 2021 The Arsenal Football Club plc. Permission to use quotations from this article is granted subject to appropriate credit being given to http://www.arsenal.com as the source.
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Arteta was asked if we are going to see Aubameyang over the Christmas period
Answered “He wasn’t selected for today’s match”
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It is so great to watch this crop of Arsenal youngsters play and what a debut for Patino. Whenever Xhaka is introduced the team gain direction although the sudden rush of blood to the head hangs over his performance.
I thought that Cedric played well and then we have the dilemma that is Pepe. First half a lot of those forward dashes, excitement mounts, then fizzles like a damp squib. Second half however his trickery and skills were amazing and productive. Can he do it every week? Will he get more chances? Maybe if he doesn’t give Arteta a slap.
I really enjoyed it and admit that even though we gave Sunderland good chances, my only regret is I gave my nephew my ticket.
Tougher games await but enjoy the moment.
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Yes Mandy, our little duck took to the big stage like water. I always find it interesting to see how young players cope with gong up a level: many can’t do it at all, some find it hard to reporduce stellar youth form and become just another competent pro, and the odd one in a million says thanks very much, this is where I belong. If we can make it into the Europa League next year then with luck we’ll see a bit more of him on a regular basis.
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media reporting that Arsenal want to sell or loan Aubameyang out of the club.
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All the big teams in the quarters
I bet we draw Spuds
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Semi Final draw
Arsenal V Liverpool
Chelsea v Spurs
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We are going to have to win this thing the hard way.
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In defence of Xhaka:
Arteta was always a cautious midfielder for the Gunners after a decade spent playing a Bowen type role further up the pitch for Moyes at Everton with his younger legs.
Those who watched him play football in n5 expected a cautious coach. One who like the odd foul. And argument.
It makes the continuous and let’s be honest and put the footballs on the table the racist treatment of Xhaka all the more amusing. Some big blagging clowns were recently bewildered that Arteta would want a midfielder who stomps occasionally without injuring opponents (who knows how to foul as in an old skool Reducer) in his team!
Apparently in spite of the podcasts longer then the football matches these liars never saw arteta make similar fouls and I guess this must be because:
They don’t know Football?
They are blind?
They are racist liars?
Which could it be?
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For anyone confused Xhaka is a footballer a lot like Jorginho, who recently won some baubles, but he is slightly better. As he showed not once but twice in the 2017 & 2020 cup finals.
(He also takes better pens then Laca and Auba…).
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TFL, difficult to say we are going to have to win it the hard way when we’ve had it really easy all the way through.
You have to expect semi and finals to be hard.
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Merry Christmas! Hope you guys have a good time.
Cheers to you all.
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Wolves’ match with Watford on Boxing Day has been postponed due to Covid, which means we will have less than 48 hours rest to play a team that has had 212 hours rest.
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Ian the hard way starts now.The fact that we have had it easy so far is neither here nor there. Beating Liverpool is near impossible at the moment for almost all teams. Would have much preffered Leicester or Tiny Tots. However it could work in our favour if fixture congestion leads to Liverpool fielding a weakened team again and we don’t do a Leicester.
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Happy Christmas everyone
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Arsenal: Ramsdale, White, Holding, Magalhaes, Tierney, Partey, Xhaka, Saka, Odegaard, Martinelli, Lacazette,
Subs: Leno, Smith Rowe, Pepe, Tavares, Mari, Lokonga, Elneny, Nketiah, Patino.
Norwich:
Gunn, Aarons, Kabak, Gibson, Williams, McLean, Gilmour, Sargent, Dowell, Placheta, Pukki.
Subs: McGovern, Byram, Cantwell, Tzolis, Sorensen, Lees-Melou, Mumba, Giannoulis, Idah.
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Arsenal have confirmed that Takehiro Tomiyasu, Cedric Soares and Ainsley Maitland-Niles have all tested positive for COVID-19
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1-0 to the Arsenal, Saka
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man city are 3-0 up on leicester after 21 minutes
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2-0 to the Arsenal, Tierney with a fine finish, after Martinelli wins the ball back, then odegaard plays in the overlapping Tierney to score,
hopefully it will shut up these mouthy norwich cunts
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HT: Norwich 0-2 Arsenal
Saka and Tierney with the goals, no more than a dominant displays deserves
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other half times
man city 4-0 leicester
spurs 2-0 crystal palace – zaha sent off too
west ham 0-1 southampton
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P™
@SemperFiArsenal
·
12m
Commentator :- “If in doubt book Xhaka”.
Commentator just described English referees in a sentence
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https://twitter.com/i/status/1475130836760547338
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https://twitter.com/i/status/1475121460993794053
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this ref is a disgrace
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you really have to laugh at some AFC fans, when it comes to their hate of xhaka
here is two comments from the same guy only minutes apart
Bloody Xhaka even had a do with Dean Smith at half time.
He really is an idiot.
Naughty little stamp from Saka
so xhaka is an idiot for having words with the mouthy dean smith, but saka was just a little naughty for stamping on a norwich player, ha ha ha, they really have no self awareness at all. blinded by stupid agendas
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martinelli goal ruled out for offside
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leicester have pulled two goals back v man city,
west ham drew level with southampton but are behind again
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its now man city 4-3 leicester city
west ham 2-2 southampton
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3-0 to the arsenal, Saka with his second of the day
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now
man city 5-3 leicester
west ham 2-3 southampton
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https://twitter.com/i/status/1475141071109767173
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elneny on for partey
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pepe on for saka
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penalty to Arsenal after lacca brought down when sent in by sub ESR
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4-0 to the Arsenal, Lacazette scores the penalty
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5-0 to the Arsenal, ESR
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FT: Spurs 3-0 Crystal Palace
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