Hello and how are you? Sunday 12th of January sees the Mighty Cannon host our old rivals of another era, Manchester United in the 3rd round of the FA Cup, kick off 3.00pm (western European time).
Well, here we go again! I’m hoping that we can slough off the skin of frustration that came out of the 70% possession, 24 shots, 11 corner kicks, 3 French hens, but only 1 shot on target first leg of the Carabao semi-final. I’m hoping Kai doesn’t think too much when he has a chance to score from a header, and I’m sorry to see that old problem rise again (as it was when he first came) also I’m hoping that Martinelli doesn’t panic when he has a shooting chance. Its easy to be the hindsight, advice-giving, non-playing guru though. Thankfully I’m not the guru or good at giving advice. What a nightmare that would be…
I read that Newcastle ‘outclassed’ Arsenal in that game, personally I’m a bit sceptical about that, certainly they took their few chances and we didn’t, and they parked the bus, throwing man after man in desperation to block all they could and it worked. On another day we might have hit them for four or more. But we didn’t. Bad day at the physics lab! However the tie isn’t over yet and the landscape of football will be different for good or bad when the 2nd leg gets under way.
We might not be favourites, but that too, might go our way, hubris might be the undoing of Newcastle yet? There is one question that’s niggling me, is Isak a bit overrated? Of course judging by which scale, but it is a question worth asking. We are so missing up front that the idea of anyone can be a bit tempting?
Perhaps, and maybe it is only perhaps, if the shuffle and seaweed-scrape of the Brighton game with its preposterous penalty decision might have gone our way then who knows how we might have ventured in the semi-final? Newcastle had their tails up going into that game as we sometimes do and sometimes don’t. But that’s be the main problem of our team this season? However, scenario-speculation is a sure heck of a waste of time?
Even though this sites called Positively Arsenal I’m not some Pollyanna character, although I’m sure Pollyanna had a good life and good mental health, but I haven’t given up hope yet in that game. Sorry, there’s nothing I can do, I support Arsenal, and my version of that is a bit simplistic and dippy really, even if 3-0 down I still think we can do it, I know what it makes me, but that’s the way it is. When the second Newcastle goal went in, I still urged our boys on to hopefully get a goal to keep us in the tie and will still go into the 2nd leg believing we can do it, even if they get an early goal which I’m sure will be their aim, like.
Ok, enough of that crap, so its onto our old enemy ManUre. And in the cup. Oh brother, why them and now? Their draw against Liverpool probably has invigorated them, and despite us being grateful for the dropping of a couple of Scouse points, they will make the trip down south with a little gleam in the eye. Well fork that! Who do you think you are the milkman?
The Mighty Cannon has been given a 58.7% chance of winning according to stat HQ AI, whilst thems from Old Toilet are only on a 17.5% chance. I’m sure United have looked endlessly at the Newcastle game and will try to use it as a blue print for beating us. But watch out Madchester, that was the first time we’ve lost since Villa came and did the business last April, and we are sore , we want revenge and we don’t like you. Grrr! You hear me?
“what that? I can’t quite hear you”
The cup might not be what it was, but then what is? Anyhow, by the time Sunday comes, I’m sure Arteta and the lads will be pumped up and ready to rumble. If not then we are going to need some mega-vitamins to get over the grumbles when facing the Spuds. I was going to get into a big rant about a racist ManUre fan I worked with years a go, but I’m saving that one, the worlds negative enough without me digging up old graves and us examining the rotting corpses together. Pfui!
Well that’s it, lots of bits and pieces that I’m sure have made you feel like going off and listening to your old Del La Soul records instead of reading this. Yodel-eh-e-oh!
Even so, here’s to a great game for us and lucky horses!
COYG and keep on keepin’ on!
Mills
Positively Arsenal 
Fernandes 1-0
Odegaard 1-1
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anad 2-1
Havertz 2-1 – woeful penalty, no pace at all
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yoro 3-1
Rice 3-2
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Martinez 4-2
Partey 4-3
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zirkzee 5-3
arsenal out
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out of the FA Cup and 2-0 behind in the CC in the same week, missed a hat full of half chances and a few good chances in both games. Spurs up next on Wednesday and a win is a must or this season could fall apart big time very quickly
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Somebody else is going to have to step up and do the coming previews Im not available.
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has that game broke you Mills,
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a disappointing result, and made worse by missing the penalty in the game that would have won it.
I really hope Arteta, when he looks at the game again, sees how much better we look in attack when we inject speed into our play, when we did quick first time passes, quick one twos, we caused lots of problems for utd, but we far too often play slow possession football. Its clear that we do that cos when we were doing the quick attacking play we did leave ourselves open to the counter attack, but our slow play has seen us out of the FAC, and 2-0 down in the CC, and trailing behind liverpool in the league.
Maybe the fabled elite striker signing would transform the results and the goals will flow with our slow possession play. We can only hope.
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Yes, but I have some bad health problems and need to avoid having a stroke (which I think I’m on the edge of, which is terrifying )etc. Just want to be quiet for a bit. Sorry to everyone. Hopefully sometime later. COYG!
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look after your self Mills, football is not worth your health. With you being a positive type supporter these sort of games must be harder on you, while I go into these games not expecting much more than what we are seeing, slow sterile possession and missing too many of the chances we do get.
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Arteta on the need for a striker
“We miss from various ways. From different players”
well I have to agree with him, as its something I’ve said to many of those claiming that a new lethal striker would see us totally dominate the trophies, as we miss from many different players I’m not sure if that alone would be the transformation many think it would be. For me we need more than just a striker, we might need another forward too, and still for me its an attitude change in attack we need more than anything.
Now from Arteta’s comment above, i’m not sure if he thinks we need more than just a striker or if he thinks we don’t need anyone at all. As he also once again in his comments went on and on about how we should have won the game easily due to our high possession stats etc
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Thanks Ed, thats very kind.
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Garbage, garbage and more garbage. Manure weren’t very good, we were worse and the officials also had a bad game (no bollocks shown) As discussed Mikel and his coaching staff.
If we had to pick an ARSENAL MOTM it would have to be Raya, which is a dammini indictment on our performance in a game where we played against 10 men for getting on for 80 minutes.
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well Ian I agree with you to a large degree on all you say, the first half we were woeful, the second half was an improvement but only in sporadic bursts, which happened when we injected some pace into the game. I’m not sure if Sterling was good or only good for Sterling, as his bar has not been high, but he for me at least tried to inject pace into our play, but for the most part way too much of our play was just hopeful high crosses. We play like we have a six foot six battering ram striker in there.
Areta came out after the game with his usual, we should have won easily, the team played great, we created enough chances to win several games.
As for the officials, well if ever there was a display that showed why VAR is needed then this was it, they didn’t know what they were doing, decisions to both teams were bad and there handing of what happened at the penalty was little short of a disgrace.
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one thing that really pisses me off and is a symptom of our slow possession play, and that is the god damn amount of time it takes us to take throw ins, corner kicks and freekicks. today I was surprised that the ref did not book a couple of our players for it, but then as I said above the officials were woeful, so maybe no surprise that he didn’t notice.
But everything we do is in the gameplan, its artetaball, its the system, and its bloody damn boring.
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Arsenal are not Mikel managed, we are Micromanaged
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seems the Jesus injury is not the knee he hurt at the world cup, but the other knee and that there are big concerns that it is really bad one, Jesus was said to be distraught about it, that he fears its a season ender. tests will be carried out later in the week
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The thing that worries me about our players is that too many of them (all of them, bar Saka?) seem to lack the courage to win the game. You see it most glaringly in front of goal, with half hit shots or hit and hope shots or no shots at all and taking the easy option to pass the responsibility to another player. And in terms of micro-management, how on earth was Havertz allowed to take a penalty when his confidence must have been shot to pieces after a whole hatful of misses.
Take care Mills, and let’s hope a few of us can step up to give you something to read on match days.
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We also had a striker on the bench, admittedly young and not tested but if you’re normal players can’t hit a barn door with a banjo what’s the risk.
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good point Ian about Butler-Oydeji being on the bench but not used, but this is nothing new from Arteta, wasn’t it two years ago we went out of the CC away at Liverpool, the game Arteta played White in knowing he was injured, claiming he had no other option, but was able to switch the defenders around for the league game a few days later, but back to the point, we badly needed a goal that game and we had forwards Hutchinson and Biereth in the subs but he didn’t bring either of them on, we had other youths on the bench too and he did not use them. Ruell Walters was a sub 20 times but never got to make his AFC debut. Arteta has to be forced to use young players, its laughable to see the praise he is getting for the game time Lewis-skelly and Nwaneri are getting, but if you look at it Myles only got in cos new summer signing Calafiori can’t stay fit, nor can Zinchenko and our third option left back Tierney is neither wanted here and is seldom fit, and as for Ethan, when Odegaard was out injured Arteta used all sorts of midfield compositions that did not include the natural replacement Nwaneri, and even when Saka went down injured Ethan was not the first option he turned to. Arteta does a lot of talking about the youth getting a chance, but he needs several injury crisis to play any of them.
Against Newcastle he had Kabia and Butler-O on the bench, neither seen the light of day.
As I said yesterday on X in reply to someone saying Arteta is right not to throw in the youth, whats the worst that could happen, maybe it would see us go 2-0 down in the CC and get knocked out of the FA Cup, which happened anyway. Now what is the best that could happen, one of the young lads being unknown does something the opponents don’t expect and scores or assists, and we have a young lad with high confidence that could be the making of him.
Just one last thing on the game yesterday and how it fits in with my theory that Arteta accepts draws and defeats, we were swinging in crosses and lofting in high ball for large part of the game, and had no one up there that likes to battle for such balls, and true neither of the young unused subs suit it either, but we do have Gabriel in our team, the heading goal king for us, so why not throw him up front to give us some power in their. As I always say we never get the charge of the lights brigade from Arteta. If wenger was in the same situation he would not only have put Gabriel up top he would have thrown on one if not both young forwards and risked getting caught on the break, he’d be of the view whats the worst that could happen, we’d get knocked out by a goal on the break, but to Arteta that is not something he will have said about his team, he can defend losing on penalties but not on conceding a goal by getting caught on the break cos we threw too many players forward.
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New post is up.
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