SHAKTAR - MATCH PREVIEW
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE RETURNS WITH THE WEEKEND ON THE MIND
Have you shaken it out of the system?
Good.
Time to move on.
Victimhood is addictive. It’s nice to think the reason the world is against you is because you’re being treated unfairly. But as my dear friend Matt Kandela tells me when I call to whine.
‘Nobody cares mate. Get on with it.’
Best bit of advice I received in a long time. I waste less time feeling helpless, more time getting in the mixer to deliver some extreme toxic positivity on the path forward.
So here we go…
Shaktar D is nice game a few days after a footballing atrocity. They’re a decent side from a weaker league who will pose enough of a threat to keep the boys on their toes, but hopefully not too much of one to pick us apart when we’re a little raw.
Arteta has some pretty interesting tests on his hands this evening.
Andrew over at Arseblog has confirmed that there will be no Bukayo or Timber this evening which is problematic for a number of reasons. Mostly to do with the weekend. You want two of your top performers in the groove before playing a beastly side in great form. I also think Timber would be preferred at centre-back at the weekend in the absence of William Saliba. There’s no time to test that out this evening. So one would imagine that job will go to Ben White. I wonder if Arteta will switch the two (France have had Saliba at left back in the past).
Then we need to accommodate our forward line. There are shouts that the midfield lacked creativity because of how '*poor* we were against Bournemouth in the opening 30 minutes. I’m not sure I agree with the analysis that we were poor - a slow start was likely part of the game plan against an aggressive high-press team, with a war of attrition part of the 90-minute plan. We’ll never know, which is why I find the childish bed-wetting after the game a little bit boring and emotionally driven. 1 loss in 6 months and we’re hearing Arteta out from the usual suspects. Youtube screamers on the Tesco basics these days, so they’ll take any chance for a little bit of temporary rage.
My gut says Martinelli will get a run out against Liverpool - so might we see Trossard given another game this evening after his drab offering against Bournemouth?
There’s also chatter about Nwaneri. Arteta has been reluctant to roll the dice on the teenager despite him looking brilliant every time he’s given a cameo. I’ve already seen teenage twitter accounts talk of disrespect for the player, which is deeply amusing when you consider how slowly Phil Foden was integrated into the mixer at Manchester City and how high the standard is at Arsenal these days.
Partey on three games a week heading into a monster game against a beastly midfield at the weekend gives me pause when considering the midfield tonight. But he did have a two-week rest last week, so who knows what Arteta will do here. We certainly need to have Merino in the mixer if the manager believes in him because he’s off the pace at the moment. The player certainly likes talking in the media which I suppose is a good sign of his comfort at Arsenal at the moment.
Beat Shaktar and we’re getting close to some sort of qualification in the next round. Though clearly important, the purpose of this game tonight is to get us in a better frame of mind for what’s to come this weekend at The Emirates.
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Enjoy the game! Catch you later! x
The slow integration of Nwaneri.. would be easier to take if every time he came in he didn't look like the best attacking midfielder out there.. driving the team forward and helping with link up play. Pretty much the opposite of what Fabio Vieira looked like who we played right away when we needed a sub and kept trying until it was clear he was not going to cut it. It's that inconsistency along with clearing the deck for Nwaneri by selling ESR and moving Vieira out that irritates me..... clearly the plan last summer was to play him when needed this season , well play him then. I think everyone understands he is young and will make mistakes. Don't think we need to protect him from that.
Squad assembly is as important a characteristic as in- game management, tactics, formation, substitutions etc. However, it's regarded here as less important. Arteta does not seem to learn. Three seasons ago he quite rightly discarded misfits and those whom he did not like, which is his prerogative. For example, players sold or loaned out included Mustafi, Sokratis, Torreira, Guendouzi, AIM, Kolasinac etc. However, squad numbers were not replaced and by the end of that season, a "4th place trophy" we should have easily have secured disappeared as injuries, poor form took over and we lacked numbers, let alone quality in the run-in. This was ridiculous and negligent. This pre-season, Arteta had the opportunity to further improve the squad and build on two seasons' 2nd place. What does he do, get rid of Smith-Rowe, Nelson, Nketiah, which we can all understand to some extent. However, he then buys yet another defender and defensive midfielder in Calafiori and Merino and loans in the has-been, Sterling. Where is the balance? We have no-one to understudy Saka or Odegaard,refuses to play Nwaneri and picks another has-been, Jesus, to play and as a captain last night! This follows the highly creative midfield of Rice, Partey and Merino against the mighty Bournemouth. Arteta has not given the club the best chance of success this season and his risk averse and safety first tactics will be found out against better clubs going forward.