Tag Archives: Premier League

Martinelli injury, Humbled Haaland and Guardiola departing

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Martinelli injury

With 2 goals and 2 assists in the last 3 games, it felt like Martinelli was finally regaining his confidence and returning to form, so it is frustrating to read that he hobbled off in training yesterday for Brazil.

It is not yet clear if it was a pre-caution, or a sign of a bigger issue. What we do know is Gabi was feeling discomfort in his right calf, and he had the area strapped during training. He has since had an MRI scan.

I would be surprised if he plays against Peru, and a longer absence will be frustrating for Mikel Arteta having also seen Bukayo Saka pick up a hamstring injury for England.

What I would say is in Gabriel Jesus, Raheem Sterling and Leandro Trossard, with have 3 options who can all play outwide against Bournemouth this weekend.

If either Martinelli or Saka is not fully fit, we need to look long term and give them a week off. Following Bournemouth is Shakhtar at home followed by Liverpool away.

Without being arrogant, we should overcome Bournemouth with a front 3 of Sterling, Havertz and Jesus. Saka and Martinelli can then focus on getting fit for Liverpool.

Humbled Haaland

In Martin Odegaards absence, Erling Haaland has been wearing the captains armband.

Following last nights 5-1 defeat to Austria, the stand in captain refused to answer media questions, highlighting that great goal scorers do not necessarily make great leaders.

Players should always be angry and upset when they lose, but a captain should also be aware of his obligation to face up to defeat. Not to run away, hide and cry. Haaland is clearly not leadership material.

I have always thought that Haaland comes across is arrogant. As aloof. That everyone else is below him. And this might be what has helped him become the greatest goal scorer of his generation.

Maybe he needs to take his own advice and stay a bit more humble. Realise that defeats are part of the game. That you can not expect to win every game. And that when you do not get a positive result, you can not just throw your toys out of your pram, abuse others and hide away from your obligatins.

Guardiola departing

At the risk of becoming a Manchester City blog for the day, I want to talk about Roy Keane saying England should “go for” Pep Guardiola.

I get where Roy is coming from. England should go out for the best. But it also shows the Irishman is grasping for headlines in the same way as his pal Greame Souness. it is very clickbait of Roy to say England should go for Pep.

What I did not realise, however, is that Pep’s Manchester City contract is expiring at the end of the season, and Pep has been very coy about his future saing recently “I’ve not decided anything, everything can happen. So I don’t know. Let’s see on my future. I still need to reflect and decide what I want to do.”

Considering Jurgen Klopp’s departure from Liverpool, and Mo Salah, Virgil van Dijk and Trent Alexander Arnold are in the last season of their contract, the English football could look very different in 12 months. And a host of departures could leave the door open for Mikel Arteta and Arsenal.

Arteta has build a young squad that should stay together for the next 5 or 6 years. But we now just need to win the trophies to keep the players happy. Pep departing could put City into disarray. We are perfectly positioned to take advantage of any drop off in City’s performances over the next half a decade.

Keenos

Souness: Wenger a lucky man, not a football man

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What a bitter, bitter man Graeme Souness is.

In a podcast with Simon jordan and Troy Deeney, he has sated that Arsene Wenger was not a football man, just a lucky man.

He goes on to claim that he inherited the “best back 4 in the world”, a “22 year old Dennis Berkgamp and Ian Wright” and got lucky that he managed in a time when “French football produced its greatest ever group of players”.

What a load of rubbish!

Now I get these days that the media these days is all about “creating viral moments”.

Driven by the rise of AFTV and the like, the likes of TalkSPORT now rely on their presenters making outlandish statements or going on rants that can then be clipped for social media in the hope it goes viral. In turn that leads to an increase in revenue.

And podcasts are like this on steroids.

The podcasting world is crammed with idiots fighting for airtime. With podcasters trying to say anything and everything in an attempt to go viral on social media. And this is why a gambling company would put Souness, Simon Jordan and Troy Deeney in a room together.

The Up Front podcast is not about providing an informative look on football by those who have spent decades in the game. It is all about creating viral moments that lead viewers to setting up a betting account.

Souness clearly has a grudge against Wenger. And this comes out later in his rant when he explains that Wenger was the “only manager that ever” came into his office after game and how after a game, he would go to Wenger’s office and Arsene would “never be there”. Jordan is probably spot on when he says “maybe he didn’t like you”.

As for the statement, I always laugh at the back 5 statement.

Yes, Seaman, Dixon, Adams, Keown and Winterburn were a fantastic defence, but Wenger made them better. But each one of those has spoken about Wenger and what he did for his careers. They all credit Wenger and his new fitness regime with letting them pay on so long.

As for his comments about Bergkamp and Wright….

The Dutchmen was 26 when he joined us. He had struggled for consistent form since leaving Ajax for Inter Milan at 24. In 1997, under Arsene Wenger and aged 28, he was named the 3rd greatest football on earth by FIFA.

Meanwhile, Ian Wright was on the decline. He lasted one season under Wenger as a starter before losing his spot to a teenage Nicolas Anelka. Was that lucky?

Wenger built an invincible team. His back four contained a Cameroonian midfielder signed from a mid-table Spanish team and an Ivorian midfielder/winger who had never played centre back, signed for £150k.

In midfield it was a Frenchman who was sitting on Milan’s bench, an unknown Brazilian playing in Brazil, a Swedish fella with red hair and a soft Frenchman who every pundit said di not have the heart to make an impact in the Premier League.

Up top was a former wonderkid winger who was found sitting on the bench at Juventus, An ageing Bergkamp. A Kanu. A player no one else would touch due to heart and knee issues.

Souness is attempting to re-write history with his slander.

I would rather listen to what Ray Parlour, Lee Dixon, Thierry Henry et al say on Wenger (Adams has become bitter in his later years due to being snubbed for a job. What he says these days is very different to what he wrote in his 1998 autobiography Addicted).

Souness is clearly a very unhappy man. Or is just peddling extreme views at the request of a betting company to get clips going viral. And if it is the later I guess I have fed the beast with this blog!

A final thought.

Arsene Wenger signed George Weah. He was discovered playing for Tonnerre Yaoundé in Cameroon. He would go on to win the Ballon D’or.

Greame Souness signed Ali Dia. He had never played a professional game of football before. He was signed following someone calling Souness and telling him Dia was Weah’s cousin. It is considered the worst transfer in Premier League history.

Keenos

MATCH REPORT: Arsenal 3 – 1 Southampton

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Arsenal starting XI: Raya, Partey, Saliba, Gabriel, Calafiori; Jorginho, Havertz, Rice; Saka, Jesus, Sterling.
Southampton starting XI: Ramsdale, Suguwara, Harwood-Bellis, Bednarek, Walker-Peters; Downes, Manning, Aribo; Fernandes, Stewart, Dibling.

Match officials:
Referee: Tony Harrington. 
Assistants: Darren Cann, Derek Eaton. Fourth official: Josh Smith. 
VAR: Michael Salisbury. 
Assistant VAR: Ian Hussin.

Premier League
Emirates Stadium
Saturday 5th October 2024
KO: 15:00 (UK)

As we build on two recent positive results against Leicester and PSG, we look to face  Southampton today for another home fixture. Arteta will be looking to implement the same ideas in the first half against PSG against a weaker opposition. 

With Saka and Havertz in form we will be looking to punish Southampton who have had a struggling start to the season as they are currently sat in the relegation places following their recent promotion from the championship.

Only one major new injury concern apart from the missing Odegaard which is the absence of Jurrien Timber who was taken off at half time in the midweek fixture against PSG.

As we got up and running, in the first few minutes Southampton allowed us to keep the ball ticking as we maintained possession. Our first opportunity came as the chance fell to Sterling who couldn’t bundle home. Saka then came down the wing and cut the ball into Jesus whose attempt didn’t affect Ramsdale. 

We then had shouts for a penalty as Sterling went down however, the referee was having none of it. Our relentless pressure was forcing Southampton to make mistakes as we edged to towards the first goal. Moments later we had two corners however, neither could be converted with Havertz heading over. 

15 minutes in Southampton made their first surge into our half as a weak volley was straight at Raya. We had another corner which was just about pushed out by Ramsdale again for another Arsenal corner. Rice swung it in but it went straight out of play. Saka then went down after a strong challenge from Walker-Peters however, Bukayo was able to continue. 

Southampton then had their own injury concern as Stewart went down and was replaced by Cameron Archer. A couple of minutes later, we earned a free kick which was whipped in by Saka but straight into the arms of Ramsdale. As we look to build our momentum Havertz’s effort was blocked well by Walker-Peters. 

A different corner routine this time as Rice played it short to Sterling who laid off to Saka whose effort went high and over. Jorginho then had a close effort with Ramsdale scrambling which went wide. Sterling was the latest Arsenal player to have their moment as his firing attempt was blocked by a defender. 

Two minutes were added as Partey’s effort was parried out to Sterling by Ramsdale as Sterling fired the rebound wide. After a frustrating half, the referee blew the half time whistle.

Half time views:

A very dominant performance where we haven’t been clinical in the final third. Arteta will be happy with the posession kept and closure of any signs of Southampton pressure.

No subs need to made just a good half time talk form Arteta as these games are never easy as we learnt last week against Leicester.

The second half began and Southampton looked to keep the ball as Dibling left Calafiori for dust and played the ball to Fernandes whose effort hit the bar. Sterling had looked quite hungry and did brilliantly to find Havertz from the byline however, the German was only able to win a corner.

Against the run of play of the first half, Southampton broke away as Fernandes sent the ball over to Archer who cut in and finished nicely into the bottom right corner. As the home crowd jeered us up we looked to equalise and so we did instantly. Saka won the ball back and played the ball to Havertz who instinctively ran with it and fired a shot in off the left post and into the net.

Arteta then made a triple substitution as Jorginho, Jesus and Sterling made way for Merino, Martinelli and Trossard. Partey’s shot then deflected off of Bednarek’s boot and out for a corner, which came to nothing. We were really ramping up the pressure and we finally got the lead as Saka played a beautiful lofted pass to the back post to Martinelli who was there to poke home past Ramsdale. 

The triple change by Arteta had made a huge difference since the equaliser. Southampton then tried to carve out a chance through Archer, however he was quickly crowded out by Arsenal players. Southampton then pushed on as Dibling hit the outside of the post and then seconds later, Harwood-Bellis’s effort struck the bar from close range.

 A minute later, Havertz’s effort went into the side netting. Partey was then replaced by Tomiyasu for his return to the team. We then added our third goal as Saka swept home after a poor touch from Sugawara. One of our last changes of the game came through Calafiori who was replaced by Kiwior. 9 minutes were added on as we still looked to find another goal. 

We looked for breakthroughs however, the players made the right decisions to hold the ball up for no mistakes as Southampton looked down and out.  After 100 minutes, the referee blew the full time whistle to end a hectic second half.

Full time views: 

A very disjointed first few moments to the second half, however a great response from the lads to keep going a push for the win. Arteta will be disappointed to concede another goal at home to a weaker side but will still be proud of the performances from our attack.

My MOTM has to be Saka. Although there were other good performers such as Havertz and Sterling, Saka’s quality ultimately won us the game.

Anyhow, onwards and upwards as we head into a two-week international break and return at Bournemouth away.

COYG

Hudson