If the shoe was on the other foot, I think I’d be asking for a foul. Granted, the stamp is accidental, but it’s still a stamp. Plus, the on field ref even says he didn’t see that in real time?
If the shoe was on the other foot, I think I’d be asking for a foul. Granted, the stamp is accidental, but it’s still a stamp. Plus, the on field ref even says he didn’t see that in real time?
@gunnerblog.bsky.social in case you’re wondering, it’s pronounced “Mow-land” 😉 Thanks again for the shoutout on @arseblog.com #arsecastextra
As you also highlighted, the analysis is complete nonsense, lowest common denominator crap, written by people who didn’t watch the game and who have it in for us. Unfortunately, there’s enough of an idiotic audience this appeals to. Thank goodness for Arseblog and the teams content!
@arseblog.com touched on this pre-season; unfortunately this season is dubbed by some media outlets as “now or never” for Arteta, compounding the anti-Arsenal agenda. They will latch onto any evidence that supports this. As rationale fans, we need to try & block out the noise 👍🏼
Yes yes yes
Evening guys, In an attempt to try & stay positive after the result, how impressed were you with Calafiori? He’s started the season in fine form and seems physically super fit. His one-on-one defending also seems to have come along way in a short space of time; Salah quiet today. #arsecastextra
Just a quick shout out to Calafiori; he has started this season in fine form and looks very physically fit.
Yeah, and he was just a kid when he had his best season with us. Progress isn’t always linear. Would be stupid to write him off.
Quite nice to see some Arsenal fans supporting Gabby. He gets a lot of slack - some which is justified - but I don’t like the constant negativity. His work off the ball does go under the radar.
GW3 Half-Time Instant Reaction: Better side by some distance at Anfield is no mean feat, especially with Saliba off in first 5 mins. Mosquera has looked very assured and can see why we went after him; pacey, can find a pass and composed passing. Madueke offered biggest threat; 45 to go. #Arsenal
#ManchesterUnited
We LOVE this game
I have a WhatsApp group called the following:
Bloody magpies really are useless
Szoboszlai at RB gives me Partey at RB vibes
Goodly morning guys, Bearing in mind the potential injuries to Saka & Odegaard, what is your starting front 4 for the trip to Anfield? Saturday’s positive win aside; it’s great we have the squad depth, but it’s a shame we’re being forced into using it so early on into the season #arsecastextra
Eze. Next.
GW2 Instant Reaction: Fantastic result, but everything masked under two injuries to key players. Have to pray they’re not serious, but don’t hold my breath for Saka. Great we have the depth, but using them to cover injuries isn’t ideal. Very pleased for Big Vik to get off the mark. #Arsenal
No way Big Vik just did the hair flick to the camera 😂😂😂😂😂
This game can be such a bastard. So many positives, shrouded in two injuries, one that looks really bad. We didn’t buy these new players for this!
Gyokeres scores!
You LOVE to see it 🤫 Big Vik has arrived
not to dampen spirits too much, but think this means Kai’s injury is quite bad 🙃
“Go grab the prayer beads”
Does anyone else get the feeling this means Kai’s injury is suspected to be quite bad?
Calafiori & MLS are not asked to overlap like Timber & White, and on a day where our attack in general was poor & our two CB’s exposed in transition, his defensive quality was really important. Madueke will need to improve here; Amad got the better of him a couple of times in the 2nd half. (2/2)
Goodly morning guys, What did you make of Martinelli’s performance yesterday? For me, his workrate off the ball needs some recognition, alongside appreciation that our left wing is so different in attack than the right. (1/2) #arsecastextra
GW1 Instant Reaction: Had to lean into our best asset; our defence. United the better side, moving the ball wide quickly Sloppy individually at key moments going forward, but cannot fault the effort off the ball At this stage, it’s all about the result. 3 points to start the season; we take it
We’re less than 20 minutes into the new season and we’ve already had a VAR howler and managers insinuating simulation. Some things never change 😂
15 minutes in and this 😂
No booing, no jeering; silence Football is just something else. We’re back!
We see you Kirky
Different season, same Spurs 🤡😂
A quick summary of the Arsenal squad for 25/26 season. Injuries aside, it’s quite mad to think we could head to Old Trafford without Jesus, Zinny, Trossard & new signing Mosquera in the travelling squad. @gunnerblog.bsky.social @arseblog.com @lgambrose.bsky.social @philcosta.bsky.social
£50m? 😂😂😂
@gunnerblog.bsky.social @arseblog.com
For reference, yesterday we accumulated 1.7 xG and in the Villarreal game 1.6. Whilst I haven’t analysed the quality of xG per individual shot, we know creating chances (vs converting them) was our primary issue last season.
Goodly morning guys, In the 23/24 PL season, Arsenal averaged just over 2 xG per game, before decreasing to 1.58 xG last season. Based on pre-season & y’days performance - where we saw a team that better resembled our PL starting XI - is getting back to 2 xG per game realistic? #arsecastextra
Wait, what? How is that not handball? And why did we not hear the decision?
Like last season; Liverpool’s biggest weakness remains their defence. Can expect a lot of goals going forward but will always be susceptible at the back.
As Arsenal fans who know all too well the fallow years of the club doing their best to sustainably live within their means post Emirates, United are doing the opposite. All we can hope for is more on-field malaise & disappointment, resulting in their crippling financial position only getting worse
It’s very interesting stuff. You have to assume United are essentially going “all in”; spend big now with the hope they’re only out of UCL for say 1/2 years, rather than scale everything back and accept the reality of being out of it for longer. It’s certainly a gamble.
Have you seen anything like this? Test cricket: you are something else
They’ve had to reinvest in attack & defence after losing TAA, Diaz & Jota (😢) - all of whom were starting XI players - but I’m not sure their defensive flaws have been addressed. Mind you, I don’t think that will matter if their new attack is blowing teams out of the water 3/4-0 by half time! (2/2)
Morning guys, If Liverpool do sign Isak & considering their summer business so far, how much stronger do you think they’ll be this season? (1/2) #arsecastextra
Saudi Arabia want to play both sides of the fence. Felix would be worth £10 at best on the free market. Shouldn’t the PL be screening fair market value for player sales?
100% “Leading from the front” when Big Vik signs
We see you ellipsis 👀💬
As long as there isn’t a repeat of Merino’s broken shoulder, I’m OK with it
He was never an option; he’ll command a price tag well over £100m. I however echo the sentiment that he needs to move abroad, not within the PL
Morning guys, With the 30 man squad for Singapore tour confirmed, do we anticipate Arteta giving minutes to players we (as fans) anticipate leaving - as a means to try & drum up interest - or will he focus on the core group we know, with some minutes given to academy prospects? #arsecastextra
Are they going to share starts & minutes in the #9 role, with rotation in and across games (I’d like to see more eg 60th minute subs so we use our squad better), or do we see them spending a lot of their time on the pitch together, with Gyokeres playing at LW? Keen for your thoughts! (2/2)
Morning guys, With Big Vik all but confirmed with some positive news overnight from David Ornstein, how do you guys see his minutes playing out & what impact do we think this will have on Havertz? (1/2) #arsecastextra
The chronology of this transfer window continues to be wrong It’s giving me too much stress man Once Gyokeres deal is sorted, I’ll be in a better place to rationalise Madueke
Don’t like the idea of this coming instead of Eze…that seems like the more logical option
@mjslater.bsky.social I think you also referenced the “too big to fail” point on The Athletic FC podcast. Clubs need to be help accountable to the way they operate. The challenge is; should the players and fans be punished for senior mismanagement? More fan representation may help in the future
Felt like this was possible considering noise around the state of Ligue 1 broadcast deal too
Please keep doing what you’re doing, telling the right stories in the right way. No clickbait nonsense; no hyperbolic rhetoric: just genuine content 🙏🏼
Thank you @gunnerblog.bsky.social & @arseblog.com for continuing to be the genuine fans that you are, and I deliberately use the term fans because - even though you both have careers anchored around Arsenal - you, without question, have the fans & club’s best intentions at heart 👏🏼
Morning guys, Not that I believe this came into the clubs process, but do you think prioritising Gyokeres - who in raw terms has better absolute attacking output over Sesko - mitigates our risk of future, weak, clickbaity narrative from the media around who we should have gone for? #arsecastextra
“Don’t eat there, mate”
I’m impartial given both have pros and cons, but I think Gyokeres is smart to ward off negative press. If we went with Sesko, and he doesn’t deliver whilst Gyokeres does, it’s very easy for the media to spin “you knew his numbers; Arsenal should have gone with Gyokeres!”
@philcosta.bsky.social I’m impartial given both have pros and cons, but I think Gyokeres is smart to ward off negative press. If we went with Sesko, and he doesn’t deliver whilst Gyokeres does, it’s very easy for the media to spin “you knew his numbers; Arsenal should have gone with Gyokeres!”
Sounds like you know what you’re doing (not that that’s a surprise) 👏🏼
Head to the Cotswolds and you’ll see just what makes England great. Unfortunately this country is losing its way.
This summer is becoming a bit Hollywood
Have to think the club knew this was coming, as they didn’t do a “Thank You” post like they did for Tomiyasu
It’s hard to argue this from a cynical perspective
I think that’s fair. Bilbao for a number of reasons has that family feeling, especially considering his brother plays there. Arsenal was a logical move if he was to entertain moving abroad (eg London appeal & multiculturalism, Spanish manager/coaches, SE weather), but not a strong enough pull.
Perhaps he was stuck between a rock and a hard place? Leave Bilbao and his reputation is tarnished (quite literally with his mural) but then Barca can’t afford to register him with their financial issues. The weird thing is that the risk of the latter isn’t exactly new.
I’m okay with it to be honest. He seems to be a magnet for drama. Could easily see that coming to a head with Mikel.
May be jumping the gun, but that’s now two summers with transfer drama for him; his temperament may not have been the right fit?
@philcosta.bsky.social you called it, but doesn’t make it any easier 😮💨😢
Man, that sucks. I was at the Emirates for his debut against Norwich, that 1-0 win after the first 3 defeats of the season. Back then, you could immediately see the quality he added, and I think it’s a testament that today we still think he would add something @philcosta.bsky.social
Do we think Zubamendi will bring similar or different strengths when he signs playing in the #6? @arseblog.com @gunnerblog.bsky.social #arsecastextra
Morning guys, With Partey’s departure all but confirmed by an Ornbomb, I decided to watch a “Welcome to Arsenal” video from 2020. It showed how he has lost many of his best traits; his ability to receive, turn & distribute, line-breaking runs & recoveries.
Trying to have his cake and eat it too me thinks
In a parallel universe, these are our 25/26 best XI’s 😂 the stuff of nightmares! @arseblog.com @lgambrose.bsky.social
Sorry calendar year 24; when we were spanking the likes of West Ham and making their fans leave at half time! I’ll feel much more comfortable once we get a striker sorted!
Killing games is so key; it’s what we did so we’ll start of CY24 - and that’s why adding 2/3 attacking players is so important - more important than spending time trying to get a Partey replacement IMO
Yeah appreciate he does seem to take a few games to get up to speed, so I’d like to see Mikel use the squad more in-game; bring him on at 65-70 mins for a string of games and then start eg UCL league phase and cup matches etc
With other areas on the pitch a priority, I’m not sure committing any serious amount of money to a 2nd #6 is a good idea, if that hinders our ability to reinforce elsewhere. Thoughts? (2/2) #arsecastextra @gunnerblog.bsky.social @arseblog.com
Morning guys, I’m interested to get your take on the Partey contract situation. I feel the ‘path of least resistance’ would be to renew his contract & have him as cover to Zuba (which may help mitigate his risk of injury too). (1/2)
You need to see the distribution of unique players & their performance, to see whether it’s normally distributed or not. Could hypothesise an increased long tail of players taking 1/2 low XG shots contributing to that underperformance. Aggregate data analysis can often tell you very little.
I think that’s pretty representative
Then I’m with @philcosta.bsky.social as hes spot on 😂🥵
😂 to quote Raj from The Big Bang Theory: “The plot like my sauce thiiiickens”
He looks cream-crackered 😂 but my word does he have an engine
@arseblog I’m with @lgambrose.bsky.social - Declan Rice ALWAYS looks absolutely knackered 😂 But it’s all a facade (clearly)
100%
2022/23: Element of Surprise 2023/24: Clinical Depth 2024/25: A Bridge Too Far
I read this and focus on XG. In 2022/23, we didn’t come up against a low block anywhere near as frequently as we do now, coupled with a horrendous injury-plagued campaign. We need our creators given the bandwidth and opportunity to create, and that’s across the front 3, as well as depth at 10.
Yes and no; true professional for sure and offered stuff off the pitch I’m sure, but I didn’t like how he tried to win cheap free kicks and often didn’t get them; Raheem-esq. Appreciate what we had; look forward to what’s to come
What this doesn’t necessarily account for is the seismic impact no European football will have on next year’s accounts. I wouldn’t say they are out of the woods by any stretch.
At £5m & 30 YO, this feels like an extremely logical signing? Very much here for it 👍🏼
At £60m, he’s not cheap and I’m happier us pursuing either Sesko or Gyokeres #arsecastextra
@gunnerblog.bsky.social @arseblog.com Morning guys, what do we make of Cunha heading to Man United, particularly in the context of strikers we’re interested in? He’s a good player, but if his temperament & discipline are anything to go by, I’m not sure he’s an Arteta player (1/2)
If I’ve interpreted the per X figure under each hit rate eg 0.41 why are they not fixed at eg per 90? Having two different denominators makes the output non comparable?