As we're unlikely to see terraces again at football, this is the virtual equivalent where you can chat to your hearts content about all football matters and, obviously, Arsenal in particular. This forum encourages all Gooners to visit and contribute so please keep it respectful, clean and topical.
Thought most of the first half was as dull as it gets - we really are a very hard watch when a game is 0-0 these days. Merino got the stroke of luck we needed and as a result I think the game was better after that.
Odegaard is absolutely as bad as it gets right now - his transformation into modern day Hleb is now complete. Can he actually receive the ball and run in a straight line towards the opposition goal? Seems like that is beyond him and instead takes 10 touches to end up precisely in the same place he was whilst the oppo nicely regroup and sit 9 players behind the ball. I'm going to say it now - a manager with any bollocks would see that he has been shite all season and with Saka back, now is the time to drop Nwaneri into that slot as he, a rejuvinated Martinelli and Saka would pose far more threat, directness and creativity
I see MLS is getting some stick on here but lets remember this lad is 18 and has been an absolute star whilst permacrocks and pussies all around him have let the side down for months - the odd reckless challenge and youthful naivete is going to be part of what we see with him but for me he has been one of the men of the season so no criticism from me. At least he's brave and drives forward and makes himself constantly available - compare and contrast with our captain who has been nothing short of disgraceful as both a senior player/leader and a supposed key attacking part of the team
This has long been my biggest gripe too - it's all well and good bemoaning opposition teams playing negative football or complaining about them playing two low blocks, but the reality is that odeargod and his two dozen tippy tappy touches is allowing the opposition teams to get into defensive shape thus making it harder to break down. Ask any winger especially (but also striker) and they will tell you that they want the ball early before the defender gets settled, plus when you release the ball to them earlier it opens up the option of the ball in behind the defence for our attackers to run onto - that option simply is not there when we play slow tippy tappy ball. Right now you could have a wrighty or henry up front and they wouldnt be anywhere near as effective as they could be because of the service they would be getting, but if you had a Bergkamp instead of odeargod think of how many goals he would set up for our wingers like he did for freddie and pires.
This manager has constantly shown that he has favourites imo and no doubt captain invisible is one of those - as long as that remains bthen so will our trophy drought
I didnt see any of the second half so is there any word on what Gabriel's injury is ?
Also (and I say this as a martinelli fan) yes he was better tonight, BUT it is so easy read our wingers - give them the ball, they run forward a bit, then 90-95% of the time they cut inside or turn back because they are playing on their un-natural side and are not able to go outside the full back. Why the cone boy doesnt swap them over for 20 mins in a game is beyond me cos at least it will challenge the opposition full backs and give them something different to think about
I really dont know at what stage there is going to be a serious talk/movement about upgrading odeargod - he was awful in the first half AGAIN last night, and again a seriously ambitious team would recognise that we win nothing with a captain like him and especially when he is meant to be our creative midfielder but creates fcuk all
time and and time again in a game situations arise where theres an issue, but arteta never reacts to change anything tactically....
Like I pointed out here a while back, real madrid have been signing young midfielders for a few years now, and its very telling that the one they decided wasnt worth keeping, is the same disappearing c.unt that is now captain of our club FFS they even kept ceballos ahead of keeping odeargod, and as we all know, ceballos is shit
Like I pointed out here a while back, real madrid have been signing young midfielders for a few years now, and its very telling that the one they decided wasnt worth keeping, is the same disappearing c.unt that is now captain of our club FFS they even kept ceballos ahead of keeping odeargod, and as we all know, ceballos is shit
Whataboutery.
Following the logic here we should have kept ESR to play him in the 10? He was as crap as Odegaard. So should we have kept him? Read Fulham’s forum. They think they’ve been had. Which they have.
There's no doubt ESR has fitness issues - he did here and Marco Silva made reference to it the other day. He looks like a lot of footballers did in the 70s and 80s, but by today's elite fitness standards he looks overweight and sluggish. Most footballers these days are absolutely ripped and the pace of the game and distances covered demand it. ESR looks like someone who struggles with that. An undoubtedly gifted footballer but not fit enough. The excuse here was that he didn't have the game time but at Fulham he started the season as their regular 10 and has now become a fringe player there too. Many of us will hold him close to our hearts because of what he did a few years back but those days are gone
As for Odegaard, he is rapidly becoming the biggest pussy captain since Gallas
