Definitely ahead of Kolasinac if they're both fit. You'd think, given that Saka is unlikely to be moved into LW any time soon, that they're probably both behind him at the moment.
Up the Arse! Goons Thread
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Agree with this by all reports he's pretty good but hasn't had the chance to prove it at arsenal been injured majority of the season and struggled to get into the side when fit ahead of kolasinac
3 in a row. Auba is a gun, enjoy him while he is here, will probably leave come season's end.
Game midweek against Olympiakos then we have the weekend off thanks to the League Cup final. Hopefully by then Tierney should be close, Saka looked gassed.
Game midweek against Olympiakos then we have the weekend off thanks to the League Cup final. Hopefully by then Tierney should be close, Saka looked gassed.
That’s a big result. Can’t recall when we last strung two league wins in a row, let alone 3 overall in all competitions.
Kolasinac injured though, yet again. Saka very impressive once more.
Kolasinac injured though, yet again. Saka very impressive once more.
Geez, shocking defending on both of their goals. Utterly terrible.
bbc.com
'The best week since I've been here'
Arteta has made a positive impact at Arsenal since taking over from Unai Emery in December.
Sunday's win means they remain unbeaten in 2020 and gives them back-to-back league victories for the first time since the opening two matches of the campaign.
It also means they have won three games in the past week, having won at Newcastle before beating Olympiakos in the first leg of their Europa league last-32 tie on Thursday.
But they had to work hard for it on Sunday after gifting Everton their two goals through defensive mistakes.
"I'm really pleased with the performance," Arteta said. "It's not easy to play three times in seven days, we got back late from Greece, and then to concede an early goal as well.
"That asks questions of you. The team reacted really well. This is the reaction I am hoping for when we face disappointment. It's the best week since I've been here."
'The best week since I've been here'
Arteta has made a positive impact at Arsenal since taking over from Unai Emery in December.
Sunday's win means they remain unbeaten in 2020 and gives them back-to-back league victories for the first time since the opening two matches of the campaign.
It also means they have won three games in the past week, having won at Newcastle before beating Olympiakos in the first leg of their Europa league last-32 tie on Thursday.
But they had to work hard for it on Sunday after gifting Everton their two goals through defensive mistakes.
"I'm really pleased with the performance," Arteta said. "It's not easy to play three times in seven days, we got back late from Greece, and then to concede an early goal as well.
"That asks questions of you. The team reacted really well. This is the reaction I am hoping for when we face disappointment. It's the best week since I've been here."
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D.Cabellos is an absolute must keep. What a cracking player.
Is he though? Been pretty up and down, started off well then went kinda bad and got injured, had a couple of decent last couple of games, jury is still out for mine.
He really is the perfect Ramsey replacement. It’s uncanny.
I liked his game this morning, really linked the play well taking the ball from the centre halves. Mustafi too was very good this morning I must say.
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Yep, he's got his Gooner on ! I can see Real calling him back.
He seems to have improved under Arteta. To begin the season he held onto the ball for too long and took way too many unnecessary touches, lately he is releasing the ball much faster and playing more effectively as a result. Given our lack of technical midfielders who can pass and receive under pressure he stands out a little more in our squad but beyond that he doesn't offer a lot else. He isn't much of a goal threat and defensively he tries but is weak and loses more challenges than he wins. We need to see more but unless he comes at bargain basement price Im not interested in buying him given that money could be better spent elsewhere. I can't see Madrid being interested in keeping him given who they already have ahead of him and will no doubt be looking to buy a big name or bigger talent soon (already been heavily linked with Camvinga). While apparently Ceballos doesn't get along with Benzema so he could potentially be had cheaply.
I find the comparison to Ramsey rather odd as well. They both like to try different flicks and tricks but beyond that I don't think they have any similarities. Ramsey when fit is massive goal threat from midfield, eats up a ridiculous amount of grass and wins most of his challenges.
Look, Mustafi like Luiz are pretty good with the ball at their feet but they can't header and if you are a center half in England and you can't header, than you should not be in the side.
We played a better than average team this morning and the two most forward players for them made our two center halves look pedestrian and very, very iffy. We will not improve until those two are gone because good sides will punish us. Xhaka too, for all his supposed improvement was a disgrace at trying to prevent crosses.
Let's not polish over the fact that defensively we are still mid table at best, at best!
No-one likes to see players injured but Kolasinac going down is an absolute blessing for the team but not for the poor bloke. He is woeful and he only got a game because Saka was dog tired. I belive that if Kolasinac had stayed on, Everton would have scored again and again. When the kid did came on, he put in even though he was exhausted.
Great result though and fully deserved and the most pleasing aspect, apart from the three points of course, is the never-give-in-attitude and fight the players all exhibited; even though some are liabilities and will cost us against good sides because no matter how much fight the team has, top quality opponents fighting at their optimum will do us in.
We played a better than average team this morning and the two most forward players for them made our two center halves look pedestrian and very, very iffy. We will not improve until those two are gone because good sides will punish us. Xhaka too, for all his supposed improvement was a disgrace at trying to prevent crosses.
Let's not polish over the fact that defensively we are still mid table at best, at best!
No-one likes to see players injured but Kolasinac going down is an absolute blessing for the team but not for the poor bloke. He is woeful and he only got a game because Saka was dog tired. I belive that if Kolasinac had stayed on, Everton would have scored again and again. When the kid did came on, he put in even though he was exhausted.
Great result though and fully deserved and the most pleasing aspect, apart from the three points of course, is the never-give-in-attitude and fight the players all exhibited; even though some are liabilities and will cost us against good sides because no matter how much fight the team has, top quality opponents fighting at their optimum will do us in.
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It seems like our midfield is a massive unknown at the moment, it remains to be seen what sort of setup Arteta wants. It's hard to tell if he's happy with the players he has or is just trialing them to see what they can do. Aside from Guendouzi (we'd be mad not to hang onto him) I wouldn't be surprised to see any of the others go.
Ceballos definitely isn't like Ramsey at all- perhaps only in the sense that he's a creative player who's better as a centre mid than in an advanced role. We also have to distinguish between Ramsey at his rarely sighted best (constant goal threat making runs from deep, unlocks defenses with incisive through balls, nicks the ball back often) and the rest of the time (often injured, leaves defensive gaps, needs support from two more disciplined midfielders to be effective).
The comparison to Ramsey was made because Ceballos has played a handful of good games, then goes missing for a few games, then gets injured.
Whoosh
Whoosh
Was looking so promising 14 months ago with Ramsey still on deck, Torriera showing really promising signs, Xhaka playing consistent and for the most part error free football and Guendouzi looking like a world class prospect. Fast forward to now and Ramsey is gone, Torriera defers too much for a possession based team and Guendouzi plays 3 awful games for every decent game he plays. Xhaka for his faults is the only one who performs on a consistent basis. We've been linked with Thomas Partey this week for his reported buy out clause of 50m which if this is true then we would be ******* stupid to not be willing to pay that. We desperately need stronger and more athletic midfielders in the team and Partey is just that, with the added bonus on being able to link the midfield with the front three.
On a seperate note there is a big ass elephant in the room. That being Auba who many have suggested should be the one to be leading the line but in spite of that he has 15 goals in 20 appearances at left wing versus 40 goals in 65 appearances when leading the line. A fair argument could be made that he is better suited out wide in this Arsenal team. Personally I think it comes down to what the manager wants out of his striker and it appears Arteta requires hold play better than what Auba can provide, which neither Lacazette or N'ketiah are significant upgrades in terms of hold up play but they're marginally better. Where it does potentially become an interesting discussion is if Auba signs on and Lacazette leaves do we find a striker like a firminho or Jiminez or does Auba go back to leading the line and we find a new LW.
If Auba signs and Laca leaves, I think the immediate response will be to give Saka a prolonged run at LW. He's shown too many promising signs to ignore. Auba then goes back to leading the line.
Saka - Martinelli - Pepe is our long term forward set up (provided we can retain them all of course). Would certainly like to see Saka deployed wide ahead as soon as we have Tierney fit again.
Xhaka has been doing a decent job slotting across to cover the left side when Saka moves forward, but its not sustainable. Need some fit fullbacks back in action asap.
Im not saying no to Saka one day becoming a full time LW but there is zero reason to move him from there as of right now (next 18-24 months) when he performing as one of the best left backs in the world let alone league. Its like Liverpool fans wondering whether they should put Trent Arnold Alexander in midfield because he played there in his youth but has established himself as an absolute weapon at right back which very few clubs can emulate. He might be a very good midfielder but what he offers at right back is in unrivalled compared to what other right backs offer other teams and gives Liverpool a massive leg up. The same could be said of Saka if he continues his current form. Not only that but Saka went through the youth ranks at left back it was only once he got to u18's that he transitioned into left wing. While if you look at Saka average positioning across an entire game he is practically already playing a left wing role and that role probably suits him more given he is running into space when he is receiving the ball rather than being forced to create from a standing start which suits a more technical wingman (Sancho/Alexis for example).
The only reason to take Saka away from the left back position is either we change our structure or he proves to be a massive goal scoring threat on the wing because as a creative outlet he just as dangerous at left back as he would be at left wing. I don't want to pigeon hole Saka into any one role but at the same time teams are spending ridiculous sums of money on fullbacks capable of providing what Saka is currently providing us.
On a seperate note Huddersfield fans are raving about ESR and having seen some match complications he showing his form from U18/23's at that level. I feel in senior games with Arsenal to date he is only real showed his end product but not his ability to drive at the opposition and take the game on but on the footage I've seen he is back doing this. In the games he has started Huddersfield have won 3 games, drawn 1 against Brentford who are top 5, lost to Fulham who are fourth and lost to Cardiff. They had 7 wins from 27 games before he arrived.
ESR looks a massive talent.
He is. I had kind of soured on him given he had struggled to replicate his creative play at senior level and was only really showing end product which is generally speaking the hardest part to replicate when making the step up from youth football but this spell at Huddersfield has got me believing again.
How has it been 8 years since this game?
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