Tonight, we could secure Champions League qualification with two games to go. This despite us being “awful” according to many.
Beat Burnley by an England cricket score on Saturday and we could be watching Match of the Day from the top of the table. Not bad considering Mikel Arteta has been “found out” this season.
Manchester City have already lost twice in 11 games this season. Liverpool struggled to a draw away to Luton Town on Sunday Aston Villa were beaten comprehensively by Nottingham Forest Tottenham were thrashed at home to Chelsea Brighton were held at Everton
Of the Top 7 going into last weekend, only 2 got all 3 points – Newcastle and Manchester City. It is tight at the top and Arsenal could well finish the weekend top of the tree, or in 5th place…
That is why we have to learn to ignore the noise behind every defeat, every draw. Because all it is is noise.
Compare the fall-out from us losing away to a very good Newcastle team to Tottenham who lost 4-1 at home to Chelsea.
Tottenham, rightly, went down to 9-men. Both men sent off could have been shown a red card earlier in the game.
There brilliant, young up and coming manager, 58-year-old Ange Postecoglou, then deployed kamakazi tactics that you would not even see in the 3rd Division of the Essex Corinthians League. And yet the Aussie manager and his team came out of the game with praise.
They lost 4-1 at home, their players were ill-disciplined and their manager tactically naive. I am not sure why Sky were heaping so much praise on them.
Were this Arsenal, and it was Granit Xhaka and Shkodran Mustafi sent off, Sky would have dedicated a whole new show to the pair letting the club down again. About how they were a liability. About how Wenger (who would have been managing us then) was tactically arrogant.
Instead, Ange deflected. He played the nice-guy act. Praised the referees who got every decision right. And all Gary Neville et al could go on about was “how nice is the Tottenham manager” rather than “how bad were Tottenham”.
My view is Neville, Jamie Carragher, Michael Owen and others have a deep -seated hateed for Arsenal. This leads them to overly criticise our club, trying to make a negative mountain our of every molehill.
Due to this hatred against Arsenal, then they love Tottenham. “The enemy of my enemy is my friend”.
They overly praise Tottenham for poor performances and their manager as a dig at Arsenal, not because they actually think Tottenham have done well.
I also think the relationship between the PGMOL and Sky Sports needs to be investigated.
Following the Liverpool game, where Sky pundits correctly heavily criticised officials, the PGMOL released the audio of the decision making exclusively to Sky. Since then, they have continued to exclusively release audio to Sky for them to discuss the weekend decisions ahead of Monday Night Football.
And the pundit often left to lead the analysis of the PGMOL audio? Gary Neville. And who is he often joined by? The Professional Game Match Officials Limited Chief Refereeing Officer, Howard Webb.
Is it not a conflict of interests that Sky release audio exclusively to one channel, and the PGMOL is also associated with that channel?
Have the PGMOL told Sky executives “tell your pundits to tone down their criticism of our officials and we will provide you with more access”. It would not be a surprise if that was the case.
My final thought on this is would Jamie Carragher’s response have been different if it was Liverpool who got those decisions against Newcastle? Had Jurgen Klopp come out and said what Arteta did? And had Liverpool made the statement of how they are looking to work with the PGMOL to improve?
He would probably be praising his former team for looking to work with the PGMOL on improvements rather than just criticising.
Tonight, we beat Sevilla and we are through to the knockout stages as long as PSV do not beat Lens. We will join Manchester City and RB Leipzig as the teams guaranteed qualifcation after just 4 games.
So block out the negative noise, The Arsenal are in a good place both domestically and in Europe, and we have not got close to hitting top gear yeat.
Eddie Nketiah was poor against Newcastle. He was also poor in the West Hma League Cup game. Those back to back performances came off the back of his hattrick against Sheffield United.
I have long been a defender of Nketiah – or more a defender of our position against buying another striker.
My thinking has never been that there is not better strikers out there than Eddie. It has always been would a better striker be happy joining us to sit on the bench and basically only play when Gabriel Jesus.
Last season, Eddie played just 1,073 Premier League minutes. That would not be enough to keep a better striker (Ollie Watkins?) happy.
What Eddie has shown us in the last couple of weeks is probably what we all knew of him – he is a decent option to play up-top gainst those lower teams in the Premier League, but does not have the quality if we need someone to come in long term for Gabriel Jesus.
Eddie’s issue he is now facing is that come the end of the seaosn he is 25-years-old. He will unlikely improve much more than his current level. And that level is not good enough if Jesus continues to miss 10-12 Premier League games a season.
The question, however, still rmeians as to who else is there? One option is to be clinical with Gabriel Jesus.
The Brazilian missed a few games last season through injury, and is already on his 2nd injury this season. Is it time to change our thinking from “we need better cover for Jesus” to “we need better than Jesus, and Gabi can be the cover”.
You go and sign an Ivan Toney or Victor Osimhen as first choice, and then Jesus is their cover. Taking into account he can also play left and right wing, there will be plenty of games to keep Jesus happy.
The alternative is that we look for someone who is up and coming, that we might think might quickly overtake Eddie’s level and be a better back-up striker.
This alternative obviously has more risk – especially as that replacement will come from abroad (Nicolas Jackson has looked no better than Eddie this season). There is no gaurantee that the replacement will come in and be a better option.
On a side note, we were strill right in selling Folarin Balogun in the summer. Remember, he was not content with being 2nd choice and fighting for first. He wanted gauranteed first team football. He has not exactly set the French league alight in his 2nd season.
So what options are there?
Better than Gabriel Jesus
For me, there are only really two strikers that I would be interested in if we decided to improve on Gabriel Jesus – Victor Osimhen and Ivan Toney.
Osimhen was key for Napoli last season and has the presence, athleticism, strength, pace and eye for goal to take us to the next level.
I was actually surpsied he remained at Napoli last summer taking into account that both Manchester United and Chelsea were on the look out for a new centre forward. “Why did he not leave?” is a genuine question to ask despite him having just won the league with Napoli.
Napoli have not been as scintilating this season, and currently sit in 4th place. It is increasingly looking like last seaosn was the peak of their project, not the start of a period of dominance. That could mean Osimhen will be on the market come the summer.
I have a feeling that the Nigerian will end up replacing Kylian Mbappe at PSG (who in turn will finally get his move to Real Madrid).
The alternative is Ivan Toney.
I did laugh after the Newcastle game when “journalist” Henry Winter said something like ‘the £65m spent on Kai Havertz could have gone towards the £100m for Ivan Toney, a finisher Arsenal need’.
Winter completely ignoring the fact that Toney is currently serving a ban, so his suggested recruitment would have made zero difference. That changes in January when he can begin playing football again – 16 January to exact.
Toney would be a perfect fit for Arsenal. He is a natural finisher and, like Jesus, also has a fantastic work rate.
He turns 28 in March, which is a slight worry, but then that was the age(ish?) that we signed Ian Wright. And Toney’s journey to the top level is not to disimilar to the Arsenal legend.
Toney has had to fight his way up through the league, and has been no stranger to controversy during his rise. He is a rought diamond and Arsenal might be able to put that final bit of polish on him like we did Wrighty.
But £100m for a soon-to-be 28-year-old does not seem like a sensible investment. We have surely learned out lesson spending big on strikers who might only have 2-3 years left at the top (although unlike Aubameyang, Toney dos not rely on blistering pace. I can see him performing at a high level for much longer).
If we can get a deal done for closer to £40million (can Brentford be bullied to that low?) then we do not even need to think about it. He would be a great signing.
Both Osimhen and Toney would see Jesus return to the “back-up dancer” role that led him to leave Manchester City. But considering his injuries (44 games played, 22 missed for Arsenal), he will surely have to understand that he can not be relied upon for 50 games.
You can easily see Osimhen or Toney starting 40 games up top, with Jesus playing the other 10. Jesus would then start another 10-15 games as he is rotated with Gabriel Martinelli and Bukayo Saka out wide, and then probably have another 20 substitute appearances. That will see him playing over 40 games!
We continue to grow our Arsenal inspired shin pads collection…
On the store are some fantastic bespoke artwork shin pads, as well as personalisable kit shin pads
If we are not yet done with Gabriel Jesus as our first choice striker, the other option will be to scout a 20-23 year old striker who we think could play at a similar level to Nketiah, but perhaps has a higher ceiling. This is where our scouts will earn their money.
Personally, there is no one in England right now who would excite me. There is a reason why Eddie has been called up to Gareth Southgate’s recent squad. If a player comes in to replace Eddie, they will probably have to be currently playing abroad.
Last summer, I looked at those who we might move for and non looked ready to step up and replace Eddie. Some players on my watch list have gone to another level, and I am sure that during the course of this season some new names will appear.
So who should we be currently watching?
Akor Adams – Montpellier – with 7 goals in 10 games for Montpellier, this has been the breakthrough season for the 6ft 3 Nigerian.
Prior to joining the French team in the summer, Adams had spent two seasons playing in Norway, scoring 22 goals in 36 league games. A physical presence, he turns 24 in January. Would one good season make him a better option than Eddie? My feeling is his level is similar to that of fella Nigerian Taiwo Awoniyi. One to wach still.
Elye Wahi – Lens – Lots of clubs were watching him last season, he ended up leaving Montpellier (do be repalced by Adams) and joined Lens.
He comes with a lot of baggage, but could much of that be put down to immaturity (most of his controversies occured as a 14/15 year old).
Just one goal in Ligue 1 this season (against 19 last). Only 20-years-old so clearly a talent. We would have to ensure he is not another Mario Balotelli.
Bryan Mbeumo – Brentford – I recently blogged on why Ivan Toney’s short term epalcement down the middle at Brentford could be a genuine option for us. Plays on the wing, plays down the middle. Having a very good season.
Santiago Giménez – Feyenoord – The Argentine forward has backed up a very good debut season in Europe this season. Now has 38 goals in 58 games for the Dutch team. He reminds me a lot of Olivier Giroud with his near post runs. He gives away some physicality in comparison to the Frenchman, but is certainly sharper.
Worry is for every Robin van Persie or Luis Suarez who have come across from Holland, there is a Afonso Alves, Luuk De Jong, Alireza Jahanbakhsh, Sebastian Haller, Vincent Jansen or Memphis Depay.
Evan Ferguson – Brighton – The hype around the Irishman now seems to have died down a little.
After a hattrick against Newcastle that led some to claim he was a £100m man, he has done very little. – just the 1 goal for Brighton in the 9 games since. Will be a huge price tag for someone who has yet to show much consistency, but clearly has a lot of talent.
Loïs Openda – RB Leipzig – Cam onto my radar 12 months ago whilst keeping an eye on Balogun. Felt he was the same level as the English-turned-American whilst in Ligue 1. Whilst Balogun seems to have taken two steps backwards, Openda has gone up another level after his £35m move to Germany.
8 goals in 9 Bundesliga games, I wonder if we have “missed the boat” with him? Probably too good to be our number 2, but maybe not yet good enough to be our first choice. Would also cost £60m+.
That opinion could quickly change if he continues his fine form in the Bundesliga. Openda might become one of those that we class as “better than Jesus”.
There are a few options beginning to appear that were not really there during the summer.
The question now for the club is should we be looking to repalce Eddie Nketiah as secondchoice, or replace Gabriel Jesus as first choice.
My preference, today, is that we look to replace Gabriel Jesus as first choice. Go get Toney, Osimhen or (potentially) Openda. Jesus then becomes the back-up option, and also covers both wings. Eddie then departs for pastures knew, probably at Leicester City.
There is a reason why they finished 4th last season, why no other Premier League side lost less in 2022/23. Why this season they have already beaten PSG and Manchester City at St James Park.
They are a big, strong physical side, well drilled by Eddie Howe.
Just 3 home Premier League defeats since the beginning of last season – twice against Liverpool and once against The Arsenal.
St James Park has gone from being filled with whinging losers to whinging winners. When Newcastle are playing well, the ground is a fortress. When they are playing poor, the crowd quickly disappears.
In the last season and a bit, their home Premier League record reads: P 24 W 15 D 6 L 3. So any Arsenal fan that expected the team to rock up and take 3-points without breaking a sweat were deluded.
Their victory yesterday over us took them back into the top 6. They need to be considered a big player in the Premier League, and a visit to St James Park should now be up there with the likes of Anfield as dangerous away trips.
I actually thought we played well, but Newcastle did what they did in many games last season and ground out a win.
The Kai Havertz situation certainly got the locals blood boiling, but I think the ref got it spot on.
From inside the stadium, the challenge looked dangerous and reckless. Havertz flying in late and high and taking Sean Longstaff out. But on replay, it was clear that Havertz’s leading foot got nowhere near Longstaff and the contact was minimal with the back foot.
I fully see why their players and fans were angry. They had mis-read the situation. I am sure if the situation was reversed our players and fans would have reacted in the same way. But the ref kept his clam whilst others around him last their head and read the situation spot on.
As Havertz got nowhere near Longstaff, the challenge could not be considered dangerous. And whilst it does not need contact for it to be dangerous, Longstaff did not need to take avoiding action to prevent a bad injury. Therefore, the lack of contact removed the dangerous element.
I am not soo sure how VAR decided that Bruno Guimaraes did not deserve a straight red for his challenge. Elbowing an opponent in the head whilst not challenging for the ball is clearly violent conduct. They got that one wrong.
As for their goal, I am satisfied that the correct checks were done and the officials were right to give it.
The ball being out is a bit like the Japan one against Germany last year. The angle can be misleading. It is incredible though that we have not invested in the same technology as used on the goal line to provide a 100% accurate result.
The foul wass one of them. If the ref gave it, the decision would have stood. As it is he did not and VAR stuck with the decision.
I do wonder whether they should adopt a cricket stance of the onfield ref giving a “soft signal”.
Onfield officials are encouraged to keep their flag down, or not blow up. This makes it seem like they did not think there was an infringement and VAR then back the ref.
If the onfield ref can give a soft signal – ie “I thought it was a foul but let play go on just in cae it was not” then we would have more clarity on VAR not overturning (or giving them a chance to overturn more). A lack of decision by the onfield ref should not automatically think there was no infringement.
The time it took VAr to make their decision also came in for some critcism.
On one hand, we demand VAR take their time to ensure decisions are correct, then on the other we moan how long they take. As a fan of rugby and cricket, we will just have to get used to VAR not having the capability to always make an immediate or swift decision.
Our unbeaten start to the Premier League is over, and the fact we are in 5th shows just how tight it is at the top – had we beaten Newcastle we could have gone top.
The Premier League looks strong this season.
Manchester City and Newcastle have certainly not gone backwards, whilst Liverpool and Tottenham are both better than last season. Throw in Aston Villa and there sensational form, it will be a campaign where teams will lose plenty.
Last season, Manchester City won the league with 5 defeats. They were to Liverpool, Manchester United, Tottenham away and Brentford away (the last coming after the title was won), sand Brentford at home. They have already lost twice this season to Arsenal and Wolves.
I expect this years league winners to lose at least 5 games again. Therefore it is important when we do lose, and we will lose again, we do not overact as a fan base. We do not act like it is doom and gloom.
We should not over analyse every defeat, every draw, every poor performance. It will become tiring very quickly and just led to negative actors trying to create divisions within the fan base,
There is no shame in losing at St James Park. What is important is that we dust ourselves down and go again.
Things change quickly in football. We could have been 1st today, instead we sit 5th. Looking at our upcoming fixtures, things will change quickly again.
UTA.
Keenos
Batch 2 of the Mini Clockend Clocks on https://t.co/DYtSIZ2ysC now. Please note Despatch for these is 14th November and as a pre-order please dont order any other items with it. pic.twitter.com/PaAQ0UdarK
She Wore A Yellow Ribbon 