By Bulldog Drummond
Of course not everyone has got the message that this is a moment to play down the regular negativity about Arsenal, as Gunners Town leads with, “The Man who promised a plan has no plan – Emery must GO without actually thinking very much about the fact that after a campaign of a similar sort against Wenger we got Emery. So campaign against Emery and get someone else who will probably not meet the requirements of the blogger and do it again and again and again forever.
Physioroom now give us just three injured players: Lacazette for whom there is no update on his ankle injury, Mavrapanos who has recovered from injury and is now building up his match fitness, and Smith Rowe who has a face injury and who is ruled out while he is being assessed.
Elsehwere it seems there are lots of rumours about Tottenham players letting their contract run down – which is odd, as I thought we had clearly been told that only Arsenal players do that due to the gross incompetence of the people who run Arsenal. Anyway, Eriksen, Alderweireld and Vertonghen all have contracts that end this season while Dier, Rose, Wanyama and Skipp have contrtacts that end the season after.
So onto the team ramblings…
“Charlie Nicholas would start teenager Bukayo Saka at Old Trafford” says TalkSport, and maybe he will, but the media generally forget that starting a youngster too many time too early can bring about a lack of confidence which can knock a player back years. Doesn’t always happen, but when it does it then brings about a hurl of abuse from the self-same people who were promoting the player in the first place.
There is disagreement in the media over whether AMN has served his one match ban in the league cup or is banned for this game. The Express think he is clear for the Man U match and say he is “favourite to start at right-back following his suspension but Calum Chambers is also in contention…
“Sokratis Papastathopoulos and David Luiz are likely to line up in central defence but Shkodran Mustafi is another option while Rob Holding made his first appearance since December on Tuesday.”
They go with…
Leno
Maitland Niles Sokratis Luiz Tierney
Guendouzi Xhaka
Pepe Caballos Saka
Aubameyang
Just Arsenal have gone all honest on us and said that “it’s all guesswork at this stage”, which is refreshing even if it doesn’t give me something to write about.
The Sports Bank give us
Leno
Maitland Niles Sokratis Luiz Kolasinac
Guendouzi Xhaka Torreira
Ceballos
Pepe Aubameyang
Incidentally Bellerin has now played a full game for the under 23s, and so could be back either for the Europa game or the game against Bournemouth.
Matches against Man U have not been our most properous hunting ground, the last ten looking like this…
| Date | Game | Res | Score | Comp |
| 17 May 2015 | Manchester United v Arsenal | D | 1-1 | Premier League |
| 04 Oct 2015 | Arsenal v Manchester United | W | 3-0 | Premier League |
| 28 Feb 2016 | Manchester United v Arsenal | L | 3-2 | Premier League |
| 19 Nov 2016 | Manchester United v Arsenal | D | 1-1 | Premier League |
| 07 May 2017 | Arsenal v Manchester United | W | 2-0 | Premier League |
| 02 Dec 2017 | Arsenal v Manchester United | L | 1-3 | Premier League |
| 29 Apr 2018 | Manchester United v Arsenal | L | 2-1 | Premier League |
| 05 Dec 2018 | Manchester United v Arsenal | D | 2-2 | Premier League |
| 25 Jan 2019 | Arsenal v Manchester United | L | 1-3 | FA Cup |
| 10 Mar 2019 | Arsenal v Manchester United | W | 2-0 | Premier League |
Only three wins in the last ten, four defeats, three draws. And not a single away win. In fact the last time we won there was 2015 in the FA Cup (1-2) while in the league was 2006, 0-1.
So it certainly is about time we turned that run around. The team that day for the last league win was
Jens Lehmann
William Gallas, Johann Djourou, Emmanuel Eboué, Kolo Touré
Cesc Fàbregas, Gilberto Silva,
Aleksandr Hleb, Freddie Ljungberg, Tomas Rosicky,
Emmanuel Adebayor
Who would have thought it. Winning away at Man U with Gallas, Djourour, Eboue and Hleb in the team.
The Evening Standard give us
Leno,
Chambers, Sokratis, David Luiz, Tierney;
Xhaka, Guendouzi, Willock;
Cebellos;
Aubameyang, Pepe
The results of the weekend have seen us slip down the league. We really could do with a win…
| Team | P | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Liverpool | 7 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 18 | 5 | 13 | 21 |
| 2 | Manchester City | 7 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 27 | 7 | 20 | 16 |
| 3 | Leicester City | 7 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 12 | 5 | 7 | 14 |
| 4 | West Ham United | 7 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 10 | 9 | 1 | 12 |
| 5 | Tottenham Hotspur | 7 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 14 | 9 | 5 | 11 |
| 6 | Chelsea | 7 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 14 | 13 | 1 | 11 |
| 7 | AFC Bournemouth | 7 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 13 | 12 | 1 | 11 |
| 8 | Arsenal | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 11 | 10 | 1 | 11 |
why is maitland Niles, included in these teams surely he is serving a 3 match suspension following sending off, against Villa
Desmond, AMN was sent off for two yellows, hence a one-game ban.
@ Desmond Horgan
Ainsley Maitland-Niles got 2 yellow cards and not a straight red so it’s a one match ban. He has supposedly served the ban in the league cup match so I expect to see him in the matchday squad.
It’s always difficult to predict a matchday squad because you don’t know if there are some specific strategic plan the manager has.
My prefered lineup for a 4-4-2 Diamond.
Leno
Chambers Holding Luiz Kolasinac
Torriera
Guendouzi Xhaka
Ozil
Pepe Aubameyang
I’d still hold on playing Tierney until he has been tested against stiffer opposition preferably in the Europa League.
I think it’s about time for Emery, the Gunners head coach to listen to the numerous football experts who have been saying that Xhaka cannot protect the Arsenal back-four defense-line efficiently as he should in the PL matches. This is because according to them he hasn’t the requisite defensive quality calling in him that will allow him to do the job successfully for Arsenal as efficiently required.
Therefore, against Man Utd today’s night at Old Trafford in the PL, let Emery jettison his stubbornness in continuing to play Granit Xhaka, the Gunners captain in the defensive midfielder role alongside whoever to protect the Gunners defence in the Arsenal big game away to Man Utd tonight in the PL. Rather, Xhaka should be moved to the midfield duo with Torreria playing behind him to co-protect the Arsenal defence alongside another defensive minded Gunner. Playing Xhaka in the DMF position against Man Utd tonight could cost Arsenal getting a result at Old Trafford . This is because Xhaka playing as a DMF for Arsenal in the PL has shown in the past he can be error prone. But this should not be allowed by Emery to happen to Arsenal in the away match against Man Utd at Old Trafford tonight in the PL where Arsenal look set on paper to collect all the 3 points at stake in the match.
The believe among us the generality of the Gooners is Arsenal will for the first time in 13 seasons beat Man Utd at home in the PL because of the many key players that could be missing in action for them in the match. But Arsenal should resist falling into this temptation which could turnout to be a trap for them in the match if they are not careful. Because the other Man U players that will be selected to play in the match in place of the missing key Red Devils could play a game of their lives in the match against the Gunners to stake a claim for regular selection in the Man U 1st XI team. And this could be a danger for Arsenal to guide against and nullify it during the match to win it.
My Arsenal 4-2-3-1 starting XI and the 7 man Gunners bench who I’ll like to see Emery deploy for the Man U big game tonight are stated below.
Starts:
Leno;
AMN Sokratis Luiz Kolasinac;
Torreria Chambers;
Pepe Xhaka Saka;
Aubameyang.
Bench:
Martinez Mustafi Holding Tierney Guendouzi Willock Martinelli.
No showing of any favoritism by me in choosing the Gunners I want to see start the match which I solely based on their current top form and their showing of mental strengths in the big game at away in the PL. But have I been seen to make one big significant introduction at the base of Arsenal midfield as I brought in Chambers as the 2nd DMF alongside Torreria to protect the Arsenal back-four? This could turnout to be the turning point that will lead to Arsenal beating Man U resoundingly in the match tonight.
Just a quick pointer for tonight (and most other games). We have committed the fewest fouls of any team so far this season but have still received the most cards. Arsenal have 19 cards from 55 fouls. Leicester have the lowest number of cards with just five despite committing 35% more fouls than us. Palace and the Spuds have both committed over 90+ fouls so far but still have fewer cards than us.
They have also committed the most tackles which might otherwise have suggested that they were more likley to receive cards. However, we have made the fewest tackles so that’s another theory which needs further consideration!
@Mikey
PEA got booked for not retreating enough at a free kick and Leno got done for time wasting don’t think another GK or outfield has been booked for these offences so far this season .
It must be the quality of the offences we do on our opponents that attract the attention of Mr Riley’s friends
Mikey and Steve Vallins
I doubt we could point at a single yellow we have received and categorically say it wasn’t a yellow simply because so many are subjective.
Some are 50/50, some 70/30 or 30/70 and so on. Some even 10/90 or 90/10 but even they cant unequivocally be called wrong because the pure nature of subjectivity means the decision will always be right in somebodies eyes.
The problem we have is that 70 or 80% of our 50/50 calls go against us, when of course it should be 50%.
Referees are far less likely to give us the benefit of the doubt or cut as any slack.
This is a point I’ve been trying to make about the Aston Villa game, especially relating to the late penalty claim.
I can see why people think it was a penalty. In my eyes it was a 50/50 call that went our way. Personally I would not of had too many complaints had it gone against us.
But on the other hand throughout that match there were loads of 50/50’s but well over 50% went against us. Not only that but when they did we were also punished to the maximum degree, hence all the cards for relatively few cards.
The figures you have highlighted simply show that this is how we are being treated match after match.
Far too many tight calls go against us, and when they do we are punished to the maximum degree.
But going back to the Villa game if I may, this is why it angers me so much about the fuss made about Villas late penalty appeal.
We have all these tight calls going against and often as not being punished to the max, yet ONE decision seems to of gone or way and all hell breaks loose.
In summery I have to say that those stats you have shown Mikey are pretty shocking.
But don’t worry we’ll still have the usual suspects telling us how paranoid we are and how everyone laughs at us, but they wont have a single piece of evidence, or a single word of explanation as to why these ridiculous statistics come about mind.
@ Nitram
As mentioned before, I’m doing these stats for at least one season. I’ll keep you updated!
@ Steve Vallins
I mentioned last week that only four of five GK’s have received a yellow this season. Leno is the only one who has revived two though……
And these distorted stats have been going on for 10 to 15 years with many articles posted by me and others over the period reproducing the statistics regarding not only cards but penalties as well.
I/We have been:
-Berated as paranoid.
I think the stats suggest otherwise.
-Told it all evens out in the end.
We’ll it’s taking it’s time.
-It’s the way we tackle.
What? All our hundred’s of different players tackle differently to everyone else?
-It’s our style of play.
Well, even if you wanted to blame it on that during Wengers reign (which is stretching it to say the least over that amount of time, but hey ho) surely that is now debunked as Emery couldn’t have a more different style
And STILL it goes on.
MU making the rules as the game goes on and their ‘Friend’ gives them everything without question.
With Friend showing an excellent example of selective vision it is no wonder that United go 1 -0 in front.
Getting kicked off the pitch. Their play is so bad even they couldn’t avoid three yellows. Could easily have had two reds on a level playing field though.
VAR the excuse for blatant cheating by PGMOL. They do not show what they look at & they never show the red card offences against Arsenal.
So according to Gary Neville, “there’s no excuse for Sokratis to have his arm there” I.e. by his side!! What an idiot
Xhaka gets booked for being there when a United player dives!!!
Told you VAR would be great 😉
Stat of the year. Man U kicked our players more often than they kicked the ball…….can’t prove it but that’s what it felt like!!
When an assistant referee cheats and VAR corrects his obvious cheat they call Aubas goal a VAR goal. What a bunch of bilious commentators & media reporters.
There is no doubt about the PGMOL sloping the fields of green for their favoured rubbish.
The intelligence I mentioned in an earlier comment is lacking and Pepe needs some under 23 matches to get used to English football.
Well done lads.
Not perfect by any means but I’d of took a draw before kick-off.
I know some are saying how poor United are and how we should of gone for it, and there is something in that, but I think it was essential we didn’t lose.
For whatever reason our confidence is very fragile on the road and however we got it a draw at OT was going to help that. If we’d gone for it and got turned over I think it could of had a really bad effect on the team.
Now we have 3 top class defenders about to return with Lacazette on the horizon, and are sitting in the top 4 with Bournemouth at home to come before the international break.
I think that’s not too bad a place to be………considering how shite we are of course.
COYG
@menace
If that goal had been anywhere near borderline we all know it would have been disallowed.
What I would ask is, if a linesman [sic!!] can get a call so badly wrong when he knows VAR is watching, how many more goals would Thierry have got with VAR…..and how many would Man U have had chalked off?!!
I think that PIGMOB prediction of 102% correct decisions once VAR is introduced has proved to be a little optimistic don’t you Mikey?
As for Friend.
I think he started off diabolically but I believe even he got pissed off with what United thought they could get away with.
In the end, after the first half hour I think he was far more even handed.
We have played 3 of the top 6, two of them away from home, and are still in the Top 4 for now. No complaints here. Just wish we could play the first half like we did the second!
And I wonder why Saka isn’t getting all the praise he deserves, the boy got an assist.
This much maligned Utd may have drawn with Rochdale, but they have also done Chelsea and the universally admired Leicester already this season at home.
Not a perfect performance, but not the worst result, actually, quite a predictable result. But we are not great away so a draw at OT needs a little context.
Players to come back, players will develop and grow in confidence, clear work to be done in some areas.
Don’t get the Ozil thing, maybe he is pining for Banega, and must admit, would like the team to be more positive at times, but Emery knows he is out seasons end, or earlier if things go south so can to a degree understand his caution.
But enjoying seeing the youngsters get games, and we are not in a bad position despite a few iffy performances. Expecting performances to improve.
I though that we were very exciting to watch in the first half , till their goal went in. We were quite fast in the counter attack , but often the final pass would let us down.Saka was simply eleteric and a thorn in their side .
Much more controlled in the second half . That linesman ought to get his eyes checked . It was a diabolical offside call .
They were quite rough and kicking us in frustation. But an away draw to one of our direct contenders is not too bad a score.
And it keeps Man Utd’s (alleged) interest in AW in abeyance , for now.
Up the Gunners !
Results, in the grand scheme of things, are not bad, but performances most definitely are. And as last season showed, eventually that will catch up with you and leave you pissing around in the Europa League for another year. We can’t have that again.
That is all very well Gerry, but two years ago the approach to such a perceived forthcoming disaster was to call for the manager to leave, and he duly did. Are you suggesting we should do the same again, and then perhaps if that doesn’t work again, and again and again until ultimately perhaps by chance we do get a manager who can win the league. Or do you have another approach in mind – bearing in mind the reality of who our owner is.
Glad we got the benefit of VAR-and that was fair because it was a goal.
Crap game played in very poor conditions.
I was disappointed in our midfield performance- again- not so much about individuals but lack of pressure on the ball.
Thank heaven for Auba.
No I don’t have great faith in Emery or those who appointed him.
Yes I would like a coach who can get more out of this team defensively and I think another coach could.
Well, yes – that’s how it works. If a manager isn’t the right guy or falls short of expectations, you look for a new one. That’s exactly what Liverpool did till they brought in Klopp.
I don’t think this is the wrong way for a football club to behave