Offical match day thread

That performance was utter dog ****, one of the worst I've seen from us this season, and we've had some picks to choose from. But against Liverpool at home, it was unforgivable really.

That said, I think we'll get a result against Slavia.

We're that inconsistent.

 

I think we should get a result against Slavia, but I can't be confident when we play like we did yesterday. Are we seriously that reliant on Saka and Smith-Rowe that we look totally disjointed when they don't play?

Arteta deserves the large majority of the blame for yesterday, but several players simply didn't work hard enough or didn't want to work hard enough. And in a game against a big opponent, that's absolutely unacceptable.

If we have any hopes of wanting to win the Europa League, we absolutely cannot play like that again. But the likelihood is we will play like that again at some point because we've seen us do it multiple times throughout the campaign.

The injury to Tierney I hope won't be too long because I really do fear for us if that's the case.

And I hope yesterday puts an end to any idea that Chambers/Holding are good enough to be playing for this club.

 

The whole team were abject last night. It was a thoroughly depressing performance.

Xhaka gets a lot of ****, but he was badly missed last night. Ceballos offers pretty much nothing in that role and should be sent back to RM in the summer.

And yep, we still need massive improvements in personnel in defence.

 

So we now know for sure that:
Auba on the left and Laca up front doesn’t work
Auba isn’t a leader, never appears post match
Ceballos, Holding, Chambers need to move on

We still need major improvements across the whole squad, and there isn’t going to be a quick fix solution, so we need to stick with Arteta and the board must back him.

 

one problem is - I don’t think we have money. So I don’t think Arteta will get the proper backing he wants.

 

We can recoup quite a bit from selling:
Nketiah £20m
Laca £15m
Chambers & Holding £20m
Willock £15m
Ceballos £nil - saving on loan fee and wages
Bellerin £25m
Luiz £nil - saving on wages
Willian £nil - saving on wages
Xhaka £15m
Nelson £15m
Torriera £5m (back to home club)
Guendouzi £25m
AMN £20m
All other loaned players release.
That’s £170m from fire-sale approach so we could get more.
I am also uncertain if Auba wants to stay, so if he wants out we could get £20m and huge wage saving.

We need to ensure we keep Saka and ESR and Martenelli at all costs - see reports in press that we could sell !! Selling them would cause a huge rift with fans as it’s short sighted and not the way forward as we need to build team around them.

 

I would probably try to start building a team from the academy.

We should explain to the fan base about the financial situation and ask for patience.

Through this approach save a bit of money for the upcoming seasons and (assuming we get better) then mount a full spending spree in 2-3 seasons for some real top players.

considering Saka and ESR both made the step up to the first team, we might be able to find 3-4 more academy players that can do the business. We can possibly supplement this with cheap martinelli-esque signings.

this is all mainly because I don’t think they spending big approach (nor the old free agent approach) is working for us right now.

 

Some bad news ahead of tomorrow's fixture against Slavia.

Tierney will be out for 4-6 weeks, thankfully no ACL, but there was ligament damage.
Odegaard also a doubt for tomorrow with a niggling ankle problem.

Not what we wanted to hear...

 

Tierney looks a proper player but he does seem a tad fragile .

 

I wouldn't say he's fragile. The way he plays is full bloodied and totally committed, so he's always going to run the risk of injury where another player would just pull out.

 

That's a blow for sure.

On a more positive note, Saka and Smith Rowe should be back

And the much maligned Xhaka is back too. imo he's been one of our best players this season.

 

Our whole Season basically comes down to this tie.

 

Looks like Willian is back to his early Season form.

 

Sadly, we have put ourselves under so much pressure to win the cup. We have slept walked this season, there is still a lot of football to be played in this tournament - whatever happens, happens. I feel already not qualifying for the Europa League could be a blessing in disguise... As for the Champions League via winning this tournament, doubt it. We kinda safe in the league, this should be an opportunity to blood more of the youngsters in the remaining league fixtures!

 

I would love Arteta to explain what Willian offers that Martinelli can't.

 

Does anyone believe we can realistically win the Europa league?

I think it’s still a pipe dream really.

if we somehow get passed Slavia Prague, I think Emery will knock us out, and if we somehow get passed Emery, I think United will best us in the final.

 

I think he would say experience (but not a good enough reason for me).

 

Hmm those are both winnable ties though. Nothing too scary.

But on the other hand we've been awful since the Tottenham game.

 

Just wondering out aloud - is it possible for a player during contract negotiations to stipulate he is played x number of times in a season or to say, if fit he cannot miss 2 consecutive games? I can't for the life me, understand what William has done to warrant a start in what is arguably our most important game this season? There must be something there about Willian that we do not know!

 

I think it is more than a pipe dream sir... With the way we have been playing of late, I will not trust us to beat Fulham!