Tag Archives: Arsenal

Drained from Munich, but we go again tomorrow!!!

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I am a little bit slow of mind this morning. A European trip will do that to you.

Four flights, all of which were delayed, about 10 hours sleep over 3 days and countless steins of beer later, I am back in England with a cup of coffee. I am getting too old for these trips.

There is the old saying “do not let the 90 minutes ruin a great day at the football”, and that is certainly the case for European away games. When you are spending £500+ on a couple of nights away for The Arsenal, you naturally become “less bothered” by the football.

That does not mean I do not care. It just means that I am not going to let the game ruin what was a great few days in Munich.

As I have said before, if you want a guaranteed happy ending, go to Thailand.

Winning the league, and winning the Champions League, is not easy. Some online commentators would make it seem like it is the easiest ever, and that Arsenal season would have been a failure if we finish 2nd and have been knocked out by Bayern Munich in the QF of the Champions League.

For years, all we wanted was to compete. And for the second season in a row we have competed with Manchester City (and Liverpool). Yes, we might come up short. But is it failure to finish behind Manchester City with their state funded spending?

Man City spend around £150m more on wages than us. They spend on average more than £100k a week per player than us which will naturally mean that they can recruit better players, and have more squad depth. It is no shame to finish below them.

If they win the league, they would have won 6 of the last 7 Premier League titles, and became the first team to win 4 English league titles in a row in the history of the game.

Jurgen Klopp will leave England with just a single league title during that period. I do not think anyone would label his time in this country as a failure. It just shows how hard it is finish above the Manchester City sportswashing jaganaught.

And likewise, was anyone really expecting us to win the Champions League in our first appearance since 2016?

It took Manchester City to appoint Pep, give him billions of pounds to spend (on transfer fees and salaries) and 7-years for him to finally win them a Champions League. If it was that easy, they would have won it a lot earlier during Pep’s reign!

To compete for the title, finishing 2nd or 3rd (although the season is not yet over), whilst making the quarter final of the Champions League is a solid season and backs up last years improvement. We just now need to keep building.

Following the Munich defeat, I heard people saying we need to make wholesale changes. I tried to ignore those demanding Mikel Arteta get sacked or that the Kroenke’s to invest more money in, but they can be a noisy moany bunch.

We are 2 points behind Manchester City in the league, and it was the mighty Bayern Munich who beat us – and it is not the poor Bayern side some are making out. They are 2nd in the Bundesliga behind a superb Leverkusen side! We are not a team that needs wholesale changes.

What we need is a summer like last season – 3 quality players to come in that improve the top end of the squad, pushes players “down one in the peaking order” and with those at the bottom leaving.

For me that is buying a new striker, new winger and new midfielder. And departing would be Eddie Nketiah, Emile Smith Rowe, Reiss Nelson, Mohamed Elneny and Thomas Partey.

The 3 new players would easily replace the 5 mentioned above (considering how little play time they get) and would improve both our starting XI and overall squad depth.

I excluded David Raya from the equation as that deal is done.

You would be surprised if those 3 new signings cost much less than £150m. Add in Raya and a 2nd choice keeper and that will be close to £200m spent again. It is what is needed. Add in the returning Jurrien Timber and we would have moved our squad forward again.

But spending the £200m will not guarantee us the league title or Champions League, more will it mean Arteta would be a failure if we do not win either of the big two.

Liverpool have been doing this sort of spending (adjusted for inflation) throughout Jurgen Klopp’s reign and have just one of each. For every pound Arsenal or Liverpool spend, Manchester City can spend £2 (without taking account what may or may not be put into offshore bank accounts!).

Football is not easy. If you are of the thought that “anything but winning is failure” then you are in for a tough ride for your life. You can not live by thinking that unless you achieve more than anyone else you have failed.

Me? I just need another coffee and another nights sleep. Then it is off to Wolves tomorrow with no trains back…

Keenos

Tomiyasu IN, Jesus OUT as Arteta keeps an eye on Munich

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Anyone struggling to focus this morning?

Whilst I am trying hard to only look at the game ahead, it becomes very hard to do when I am also getting my shit together to fly out to Munich on Monday.

A busy day at work scheduled on Monday means I am having to get everything done today. Close up the bar, get the washing done, close the house down for my trip abroad and pack. That means I can not stop thinking about Munich when we still have Aston Villa to play today.

Today will not be easy. Villa are a top 4 team for a reason.

Yes, Manchester City thrashed them, but Unai Emery “threw” the game making wholesale changes. I would be very surprised if he does the same today. He will want to make a statement in North London having been cast aside over 4-years ago.

Today will be all about the midfield battle. It is Villa’s strength.

The midfield quartet of Douglas Luiz, John McGinn, Youri Tielemans and Boubacar Kamara has proved compact and hard working, but still with enough guile to create. They are weakened through Luiz’s suspension and Kamara’s injury, but Nicolo Zaniolo will likely step up as they transition into a 3 man midfield.

Villa are a huge threat on the break. They are probably the best counter attacking team in the league right now with Ollie Watkins, Leon Bailey and Moussa Diaby. We will have to ensure that as we look to play in Villa’s half and dominate position, we do not leave the back door open.

The ball over the top does not even need to be that great. Watkins has proved himself to be a willing runner, chasing everything. And Diaby and Bailey have the pace to quickly catch him up.

It is a given that Ben White, William Saliba and Gabriel will start. I have a feeling we might see Takehiro Tomiyasu at left-back to counteract Villa’s wingers who love driving centrally.

With no Kamara and Luiz, Villa’s midfield will look at little more lightweight in the press. Kamara sitting deep allows McGinn and Luiz to play higher up the pitch and put the pressure on. Tielemans is then given a bit more freedom to roam. For this reason I would look to start Jorginho. He should have time and space on the ball.

Ahead of him, it will be Declan Rice and Martin Odeegard. Again, Villa’s missing men will make it an interesting match up as McGinn and Luiz also tuck in alongside Kamara when things are on top. Zaniolo is classy on the ball, but he does not have the work rate of Luiz or Kamara.

Whilst I have said their midfield has been their strength, we might be able to overwhelm them in the middle of the park if they go for that midfield 3 of McGinn, Tielemand and Zaniolo. McGinn could be in for a tough day.

Up front will be interesting.

Bukayo Saka will start. And I think we might see Kai Havertz and Gabriel Martinelli complete the front 3.

With an eye on Munich, I think Arteta will go with Jesus starting and Havertz on the bench. The German is much more dangerous in those closing moments of a game when we are pushing for a goal and the opposition are camped in the box. For that reason I think Jesus will be given a rest this weekend.

There has been a lot of talk this week about Leandro Trossard’s importance to Arsenal. He has proved to be a superb signing and a fantastic squad player. But I do not like him starting.

I feel the Belgium thrives in chaotic games. When things are a little less organised, a little quick and players have to do a bit more off the cuff. That make shim brilliant for those last 20 minutes when we are chasing a goal. I always thinks he struggles a little when he starts a game and the build up is slower and more accurate.

If my head is not fully in the game today, I am sure the players will be.

Manchester City’s big victory against Luton Town was utterly predictable and I expect Liverpool to beat Crystal Palace by a similar scoreline in the earlier kick off. Big wins for the pair will see them jump ahead of us and close that goal difference. For now we need to not worry about GD and just get the 3 points.

I think we can afford to lose one game between now and the end of the season. We just need to ensure that we can go to Tottenham and Manchester United with that chip still in play.

Get the 3 points, then focus on Munich./

Keenos

Patino decides to leave Arsenal this summer as club focus on next generation

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Happy Friday! Well done for making it through another week.

Is that it for Liverpool? Not long ago I spoke about how it felt they were in a similar position to us last season – just getting through games, looking like they had run out of steam and about to drop off.

Now I am not saying I am right, but last night against Atalanta they were shocking. A 3-nil home defeat coming off the back of the weekend draw at Manchester United.

In their last 5 games in all competitions, they have won just twice against Brighton (2-1) and Sheffield United (3-1). Before this run, they also needed a 95th minute goal to beat Nottingham Forest.

Now I am not saying they will not win the league. They are clearly still in the title race and things can change quickly. But as we saw with us last season, momentum is a huge thing in football.

I expect them to win this weekend. Then they have those 3 Premier League away games in a row, followed by Spurs at Anfield. Sandwiched in between is the return journey to Atalanta.

The wheels can come off quickly, and they might find themselves out of the title race in a blink of an eye.

There is not much real Arsenal news floating about. Press conferences are today ahead of this weekend’s football, so we will blog about them tomorrow.

There is talk that Charlie Patino has decided to leave the club this summer. Not a huge surprise.

Patino was supposed to be the next big thing, in a long line of next big things. But like most of those before him, he has shown how hard it is to go from dominant youth team football to having an impact in the man’s game.

As a 15-year-old, Patino was part of the England youth set up alongside Jude Bellingham and Jamal Musiala. Whilst they have kicked on, he simple has not.

I have watched him on loan at Swansea City and he still looks lightweight. He has not really bulked him since that performance against Nottingham Forest in the FA Cup back in 2022 which showed he was not ready for men’s football.

He has had two OK loan spells at Blackpool and Swansea, but has not dominated. The reports are he wants to see more first team football, but his performances over the last 2-years would not be good enough for The Arsenal.

We are at a different stage of our evolution compared to where we were 3-years ago. The level you need to be playing at if you want to be part of our first team squad is much higher; as seen with the reduced game time of Eddie Nketiah, Emile Smith Rowe and Reiss Nelson.

Smith Rowe is clearly superior to Patino, and if he is not seeing much game time, there is not much hope for the younger man.

Football at a youth level is very fast moving. One day you are the biggest prospect at the club, and within a blink of an eye you are in your 20s and there are other 17-year-olds everyone is talking about.

Ethan Nwaneri & Myles Lewis-Skelly are the pair looking to usurp Patino.

If the club think these lads have a higher ceiling, then they are better off investing time in them rather than Patino. A bit like when we cast aside Henri Lansbury to give Jack Wilshere more opportunity.

One thing you always have to remember is Arsenal’s coaches would have seen a lot more of Patino, and other youngsters, than anyone else. Whilst fans might cry on Twitter about them not getting a chance, they are basing their opinion on very little evidence.

Patino is clearly technically gifted. Someone will take a punt on him and we should get above £5m cash money!

Enjoy your Friday. Grab yourself a beer at 4pm! You deserve it.

Keenos