Up the Arse! Goons Thread

[glenferry23]

Such a wild, wtf just happened moment, for Calafiori to get injured against France yesterday. Studs into his calf, ouch.

 

[Cruyff14]

Such a wild, wtf just happened moment, for Calafiori to get injured against France yesterday. Studs into his calf, ouch.

Such an Arsenal injury to get.

 

[dirty2]

Hope that was a straight red... Dangerous tackle on calafiori.

 

[glenferry23]

Hope that was a straight red... Dangerous tackle on calafiori.

It’s one of those freak occurrences that I don’t think he even knew what would happen. You could try that move ten times again to try and choreograph it and I don’t think they’d be able to replicate this. Wild.

 

[giantroo]

Who's next?

 

[glenferry23]

The way his ankle turned, damn.

 

[glenferry23]

Arsenal in general need to be better at “playing the game”. So many examples of other clubs withholding their best players from time to with international duty. For example Foden this time. Saka played the 90 minutes for England along with Rice, and will likely play again overnight.

Odegaard limped through the match against Brighton after that heavy knock, yet a few days later he’s in Kazakstan playing 90 minutes for Norway. He shouldn’t even be playing really.

Arsenal have done considerably well to build out squad depth, “floor raisers”, in the last few seasons. A major gap remains though at the right 8 position. There are options yes however if it’s ligaments and he’s out for a duration of time, sheesh.

 

[giantroo]

 

[dirty2]

Doesn't look good for odegaard

 

[Planet14]

What a disaster. Partey, Havertz and Nwaneri midfield coming up?

 

[glenferry23]

What a disaster. Partey, Havertz and Nwaneri midfield coming up?

It’s a hell of a task giving Nwaneri his first PL start in this one. An alternative is a change in formation. Perhaps resembling a 442 style with a double pivot of Jorginho and Partey, Havertz playing off Trossard as second striker/a 10. There’s still some internationals to play tonight overnight so plenty of time for more injuries.

 

[dirty2]

These were just Friendly's weren't they? So injuries in meaningless games.

 

[RickSanchez]

These were just Friendly's weren't they? So injuries in meaningless games.

UEFA Nations League.
So, yes, injuries in meaningless games.

I realise this stuff happens, but it seems like that's just another pointless competition to cram into the calendar.
As glenferry pointed out, Arsenal need to be smart with managing players like the top teams do.
Players will want to play for their country, but with such a packed schedule precautionary measures need to take place if players are even a teeny bit off/have a recent knock.

 

[Judd2Sewell]

Ødegaard out for weeks and we have a tough run coming up. **** internationals.

Our EPL ambitions are cooked a few weeks into the season.

ESR would have been handy right about now. Another wide player / forward would have been handy too.

 

[Planet14]

Ødegaard out for weeks and we have a tough run coming up. **** internationals.

Our EPL ambitions are cooked a few weeks into the season.

ESR would have been handy right about now. Another wide player / forward would have been handy too.

I knew we had ended the transfer window with a weaker squad than we started, I just can’t believe it has been exposed this badly before the first post window match.

I assumed we would skate through until the Xmas fixture pile before we really felt it.

 

[glenferry23]

I don’t feel Arsenal’s squad is weaker necessarily. In trimming down the squad numbers, quality over quantity, I feel we’ve left ourselves exposed to the flawed logic underpinning this.

Arsenal prioritise signing players with versatility. Players who can cover across multiple positions. ie, Tomiyasu can play across the back 4. Jesus the front the 3. Trossard the flanks or as a 9. Havertz can be deployed as a 9, a 10 or an 8. Rice a 6 or an 8 etc etc.

So with a fully fit an available squad, that list of 17-18 players looks fantastic on paper. However the flaw comes when someone like Jesus is out. That’s cover in 3 positions, and all of a sudden we’ve called upon Nelson or Nketiah from the bench in the past.

The double injury to Saliba and then Tomiyasu 2 seasons ago was the hammer blow, all of a sudden we called upon Holding and the title challenge fell away from there.

In letting senior figures like ESR and Vieira go this summer, Arsenal has rolled the dice on Odeegard replicating his durability and fitness from last year. The Merino injury is just damn unlucky really, what can you do. Gabriel fell on him in a duel in training and he breaks his shoulder, that’s just bad luck. Similar to Timber doing an ACL last year opening day, you can’t mitigate for that unfortunately.

However Arsenal have chosen to trim down the squad numbers and herein lies the risk of that logic. We’ve had a number of players out at the same time which leaves the squad very light in key areas.

On that whiteboard in Edu’s office, Merino was likely there was an alternative at right 8. With Nwaneri probably 3rd in line. All of a sudden, through bad luck and a Rice red card, there’s a midfield conundrum for the NLD.

They made this decision intentionally with internal options in mind for such an eventuality, so I’m curious to see what happens. 3 away trips in a row now, NLD followed by Atalanta (on a Thursday night) with City to follow 3 days later.

Formation change of shape I believe will happen this weekend.

 

[Judd2Sewell]

I knew we had ended the transfer window with a weaker squad than we started, I just can’t believe it has been exposed this badly before the first post window match.

I assumed we would skate through until the Xmas fixture pile before we really felt it.

Just another case of Arsenal doing almost enough in the window, but still falling short.

 

[giantroo]

Mikel Arteta has agreed a new three-year contract at Arsenal, extending his stay at the club until 2027

 

[onthehill24]

I don’t feel Arsenal’s squad is weaker necessarily. In trimming down the squad numbers, quality over quantity, I feel we’ve left ourselves exposed to the flawed logic underpinning this.

Arsenal prioritise signing players with versatility. Players who can cover across multiple positions. ie, Tomiyasu can play across the back 4. Jesus the front the 3. Trossard the flanks or as a 9. Havertz can be deployed as a 9, a 10 or an 8. Rice a 6 or an 8 etc etc.

So with a fully fit an available squad, that list of 17-18 players looks fantastic on paper. However the flaw comes when someone like Jesus is out. That’s cover in 3 positions, and all of a sudden we’ve called upon Nelson or Nketiah from the bench in the past.

The double injury to Saliba and then Tomiyasu 2 seasons ago was the hammer blow, all of a sudden we called upon Holding and the title challenge fell away from there.

In letting senior figures like ESR and Vieira go this summer, Arsenal has rolled the dice on Odeegard replicating his durability and fitness from last year. The Merino injury is just damn unlucky really, what can you do. Gabriel fell on him in a duel in training and he breaks his shoulder, that’s just bad luck. Similar to Timber doing an ACL last year opening day, you can’t mitigate for that unfortunately.

However Arsenal have chosen to trim down the squad numbers and herein lies the risk of that logic. We’ve had a number of players out at the same time which leaves the squad very light in key areas.

On that whiteboard in Edu’s office, Merino was likely there was an alternative at right 8. With Nwaneri probably 3rd in line. All of a sudden, through bad luck and a Rice red card, there’s a midfield conundrum for the NLD.

They made this decision intentionally with internal options in mind for such an eventuality, so I’m curious to see what happens. 3 away trips in a row now, NLD followed by Atalanta (on a Thursday night) with City to follow 3 days later.

Formation change of shape I believe will happen this weekend.

3 losses in a row looks feasible

 

[glenferry23]

3 losses in a row looks feasible

Possible yes, however it’s perhaps not as bad a situation as previously. We’re not now calling upon Cedric, Holding, Nketiah, Elneny etc (with respect to them). Despite the absences Arsenal still have excellent options. Jorginho, Trossard, Havertz can be deployed accordingly, there’s also Sterling in the squad now.

Rice will be back for Atalanta and then City. It’s not easy however winning shit rarely is. This is the kind of stuff during a season that needs to be navigated accordingly.

 

[dirty2]

Possible yes, however it’s perhaps not as bad a situation as previously. We’re not now calling upon Cedric, Holding, Nketiah, Elneny etc (with respect to them). Despite the absences Arsenal still have excellent options. Jorginho, Trossard, Havertz can be deployed accordingly, there’s also Sterling in the squad now.

Rice will be back for Atalanta and then City. It’s not easy however winning shit rarely is. This is the kind of stuff during a season that needs to be navigated accordingly.

Ty glen, you have given me confidence.

 

[dirty2]

I'm bored. Can we fast forward to Sunday night?

 

[dirty2]

ESR with a nice assist.

 

[tigs2010]

Haaland going to score more goals than nearly every other team. Seasons over

 

[bok_party]

It’s interesting. Watched the Liverpool game. Two occasions within a few minutes both Robertson and TAA pick up the ball after a foul and walk away with it. I would have thought that is delaying the restart under the letter of the law.