₦airaland Forum

Auba is a 9 never on the wings.

Assist of the season

Luiz,Sokratis and Kola have bad positionings, you against Son and you are leaving that much space?

Kolasinac should please go in January, all he does is side and back passes..

Guen is not good at attacking, he can only try there, we need Ceballos/Ozil

I hate to see Auba on the wings crossing, he should be in the box, I'll rather try mhicky there..

Thanks Granit Xhaka, you've picked up from last season's costing us points..

I hope they get red carded,and we finish them up in the 2nd half.

The line up is good for 2nd half after taking the lead, Pepe is the only creative player here, Ceballos is needed..
Well, Spurs fielded too many attacking players, hope we stop them..
And please, our forward, just bury all chances, goals win games abeg...

sod09:
no edge here bros, this is a Derby
And ndombele is injured I don't see why we should not beat them

I was talking about the teams, nice to read Ndombele injured, we struggle against big players a lot, yes its a derby and we would be up for it.

I hate that I'm smelling draw in this game please help me beg our front men to sha be converting any/every chance, goals win games, I don't care about possession in games like this..

Spurs holding city 2ce at the Etihads is the only thing scary about them ATM..

We need to take advantage of utd&Chelsea, Good thing is we always raise our game in north London derby.

Spy360:
NLD
Who has the better eleven?

Arsenal:
Leno;
AMN, Socratis, Luiz, Kola;
Xhaka, Ceballos, Torriera;
Pepe, Lacazette, Aubameyang.

Spurs:
Lloris;
Trippier, Aldeweireld, Sanchez, Rose;
Sissoko, Winks, Ndombele;
Son, Kane, Eriksen.

It's 50-50, they only edge us in that they have been together for like 2/3 seasons and have established system, the only addition is Ndombele..

We on the other hand
, have our entire backline and goalkeeper new to one another, our front4 of CLAP have also not yet clicked like thiers.

Spy360:
Going forward, now that we have only Kola left, let's see how he copes with the challenge. He is in the make or break period of his career.

Exactly, last chance for the Bosnian Tank,He should bring the street fight to the pitch.

ndidibabe:
What an assnal? Just read that your best defender has left.

Iwobi and Monreal's departure is a huge blow to that Left wing. We need Tierney to be fit quick and get Soares Everton in Jan.

Spy360:
He looks like sod09
Lol

Lol
I think Sod is a nice guy, he's just frustrated of the failures, and then transfers his anger to any player of fan who provokes him

pickabeau1:
whats there to say

we are now in what was feared...mediocrity

Unai needs time (one more season) to make his own team

Hello bro, your moniker looks like you used to frequent here, it'll be nice to read your opinions again, so I can see what you looked like

Spy360:
Order of preference
1. Europa league
2. Top 4
3. FA cup
4. Carabao

Hmmm Truly Europa is double glory, but I feel its easier through the league route.
Some tough teams can drop from UCL and come be a bone in our throat.

BlueRayDick:
I understand what champions league football means to the players we parade and to the Financials of the team. I will never ever assume FA cup is better than getting to the semi's of UCL, but the issue is when last did we get to that stage of the competition. Even with our current team, if we are to feature in the UCL this year it is only by miracle we will go past the quarter finals. This is my grouse and that is why I would prefer us winning the FA cup in the interim rather than competing in all the 4 competition and end up winning none.

As regards ur point about not knowing when last u felt really elated about arsenal like when the wọn against Madrid, Milan, barca etc in the UCL; bàbà the last time me I felt like that was that FA cup final. I'm a complete gentleman(the kind they call officeman on the street). If I tell u that day immediately Ramsey scored I don't even know how, but I off my cloth throway am, I ran metres and shook almost all arsenal supporters in sight that day. The last few minutes of the match na better beer I dey sip dey shout upandan. Till date I still wonder what came over me.

Baba cup victory dey sweet no be lie

Cup victory sweet true true.
Especially when you beat a rival in a dramatic way like that Ramsey's goal, That day should be on par with those UCL nights...

The most hurtful thing is being tagged trophyless, I had mini Malaria when Obafemi's Birmingham denied us Carling cup. Shame no gree me enter campus that year..
I lowkey like trophies than exiting UCL in round of 16.

Roland17:
While I am not sure where I stand on this issue because both have strong points, it is important for us not to forget that the excitement of winning the FA Cup trophies was not in isolation of qualifying and playing the UCL. The consecutive qualifications for the UCL increased the value of winning the FA Cup. If we win the FA Cup this season and fail to qualify for the UCL, I can assure you there would be a lot disgruntled and disappointed fans because this is not a Europa League squad anymore especially if everyone stays healthy but if by chance we win the FA Cup and qualify for the UCL, it would be a greater achievement and Emery knows this.

Again, I am divided about it and just making a point for both sides to consider.

Exactly, both will bring excitement and are almost as equal or a bit bigger than the other.

Jodera:
Yeah, exactly. Also, I remember how people were angry at Emery for bottling the top4 cos he prioritized Europa over top4. So you can imagine how those same people will call for sack if he continually finishes 6th but win fa cup and carabao cup consistently. There's a reason both van gaal and conte was sacked even after winning the fa cup but lost the top4 position,: board no go send you sef... Winning trophy is good, no doubt, in fact it's great, but mehn, for players and coaches alike, been in champions league and playing with your mates is all where top players wanna be...and that can only be achievable with top 4(except of course you sneak through Europa league).
If they want to give more relevance to carabao and fa cup now, let them just say the winner will qualify for champions league... Hmm, you go see as klopp go dey put firminho, salah, mane van dijk and all against Coventry.
Lol

Also, one thing I noticed that have made Wenger stayed that long was because of his consistent top4 finish even tho he didn't win much trophies latter yrs unlike his beginning tenure.
The day it was clear he dropped out of top4 was the day d board have to part ways with him, even tho he had a s/f match against athletico in Europa. A potential trophy still didn't save his job.

Succinctly put. When Luis Suarez wanted to force Arsenal move for UCL football, only then I realised what UCL can attract.
You've said it all.

Jodera:
That's final bro, and that's guardiola. We all know guardiola, him no dey joke with spoon, not to talk of trophy. Not discrediting trophy tho, and never will. But like I said, top4 is for relevant, maybe one or two trophies down the line, but with the money in EPL and champions league, sincerely, no coach will trade those two for carabao cup and fa. Even most clubs use 2nd eleven and academy during preliminary stage. That tells you something.

you'll be surprised fans opinion will be divided on this matter, Even Auba and Laca said at the start of the season, their ambition is to get back to UCL that they so want to listen to that Anthem from the dressing room again..

I also like trophies, going by what we faced from rival fans, but in recent times, UCL football has looked so lucrative that fans and players of teams like Lyon,Genk and Zenith take group stage games like a big colourful memorable festivals..

Also, personally, I prefer memorable nights like Liverpool's 4-0 at Anfield, Spurs at Etihad and Ajax etc to carabao and fa cup..

Till date, I don't remember the day I felt better as an Arsenal fan than these days:
Madrid 0-1Arsenal at Bernabue
Arsenal 2-0 Juve at Highbury
Ac milan 0-2 Arsenal San siro
Arsenal 2-1 barca Emirates
Those were my best nights, the joy I felt supersedes winning our recent trophies except when we ended the drought.

BlueRayDick:
You are referring to 16 years of consecutive UCL football as a success, but u didn't bother to talk about the the taunts arsenal fans endured during this period. See u gaffed even saying mostly sef cos no true fan who is interested in his team being regarded as one of the best in England would throw away a chance to win a trophy just to mark attendance in the champions league.

In case u still think bragging about trophies is mostly a Nigerian team, take a look at the screenshot below and see if any Nigerian was involved in these tauntings directed at arsenal. Even uncle Cech sef troll us before he played for us

For u to even know how important trophies are see Arsenal trolling Tottenham when we just win FA cup despite years of UCL football o

I understand your point that going too long without a trophy is a mess on its own, but UCL football can be a good consolation and get us up if utilized very well.

I understand most Arsenal fans will not want any trophy slip away from us since those trophyless taunting days.. It is why losing finals hurts me deep.

BlueRayDick:
This is not true. Arsenal fans worldwide have been trolling spurs for years now for not winning a spoon; Are these fans mostly Nigerians?

Madrid and Barca bragging about who has won which competition the most, is that also a Nigerian thing?

If u are picking appearance in champions league over winning league cup, it is only because u are looking at the business side i.e the potential revenue that may accrue to the club as a result of the team playing the competition. However, as a fan I am mostly concerned about my team winning trophies. Afterall, I started supporting the club because of its history and that history is entrenched in cups won in the past, memorable display in crucial matches( of course not losing 10-2 on two legs in a champions league match) and great Players that have played for the club in the past.

That's the reason I said "mostly" I'm sure most Nigerian fans will choose trophies, but when I saw them debate it on AFTV and other top oyinbo forums,most are rooting for UCL football.
Wenger made that statement of UCL is like a trophy, and the white people celebrated him for bringing us UCL for good consecutive 16yrs..
Klopp in his first pre match conference said top4 is his target and doesn't see his side as title contenders..

So all these made me see UCL football as success and I may be wrong.

Barca and Madrid have no top4 or UCL football issues, financial or any big issue other than enriching their history.

Eness:
Our Europa league opponents

Group F

Arsenal

Eintracht Frankfurt

Standard Liege

Vitoria SC

This is a strong and tough Group
I see my darling Arsenal club qualifying for the next round

#COYG

Ahh and I was thinking we should rest first team players till January
Well, Emery has to mix bench,youths and few first teamers for group stage and round 32.

sod09:
let me throw it to you do you prefer when they tagged us trophy less with normal UCL register and nothing to show or winning trophies and finish outside top4

I used to prefer those trophies till Mr Roland analysed the huge benefits of playing UCL every year and how it made teams like Liverpool, Atletico,Spurs and Dortmund get bigger and stronger..
I would be happy with ant trophy but I'll probably prefer 2/3 yrs of consecutive UCL, strengthen the team, then start fully competing with the big guns in Europe, like Liverpool,Atletico and Spurs looks.

BlueRayDick:
There's nothing special about finishing top 4. If u are not finishing top of the league, then u should be winning a cup( F.A cup in particular) for a decent team. What is the essence of finishing top 4 (without a trophy) and getting knocked out of the champions league in the second round or quarter finals the next year?

I will go for F.A cup any day any time. We got trolled for finishing top 4 each season without having anything to show for it until we won the FA cup. E get reason why na

I gat your point and I used to feel same way about your first paragraph, but not until recent times teams like Atletico,Liverpool, Spurs and Dortmund look to be growing bigger for reappearing in UCL.
Your 2nd paragraph, it's mostly a Nigerian thing, fans brag with trophies..

For me, I think I'll be happy with either of the 2.

Let me even throw this open..

Which would you prefer as a fan?

Finishing top4 or winning Carabao or Fa cup?

sod09:
did they win any trophy
Yes or no?
Explain how they were better than arsenal

Arsenal and Spurs have a special trophy they play every year, it is about who finished ahead of the orther, they did and we couldn't celebrate St.Tottenham's day

Also in England now, Top4 is like a trophy, they did.

sod09:
Tottenham don't spend this is the total amount spent since 93/94. I wonder what they have been spending don't people don't just get it.

Who did they buy in 18/19 season, All this stats from Iwe Iroyin no be am at all..

They didn't sign in the whole of last season and still bettered Arsenal, that's the claim.

Abeg let's forgive Esther, even if she gets evicted, don't give her Enkay treatment..
Its a pity, she began to play the game late.

Roland17:
This N.
Monreal to R. Sociedad rumor is gaining steam.

Bad news
He's been our best defending full back for in recent times, he only struggles against very pacy wingers,

I hope the transfer falls through,maybe jan or when season ends

I don't trust Kola at all and Tierney should be eased in.

Spy360:
Why Torriera didn't start at all is mind boggling. Introducing the duo at 60mins surely could have driven the game to an edge. Anyways, we have Tottenham next, hope Emery has learnt his lesson.

I'm thinking Emery has issues with Laca, he subs him out quick, brings him late, when he's clearly been delivering in most of our big games..

I'm sure he'll learn, he isn't as stubborn as Pa Wenger.

Spy360:
Obviously it wasn't OK, but it served the while. Though it allowed their fullbacks free way into our defence but it also exposed their CBs. They were forced to depend on crosses into our box. Even the goal they scored was from set piece, which is not a function of the formation. We also had clear chances to score, several times we caught them 2vs2 but failed to bury the opportunity.

For me, it served, only that we didn't bury our chances,
Previous results of us attacking them has been 4-0 and5-1, its only wise he tries new thing..

Truly, the game wasn't lost on formation, goals from corners, penalty give away and wasting chances are beyond the manager's Can.
Though he really f.up by leaving it too late to introduce Torreira and Laca.

Jencejyde:
I will have to objectively disagree with you on this. If the coach lays emphasis on fitness, teams can be equally or even better fit than liverpool. Pressing for me has to be organized. I may hate Mourihno with my guts but the man has one of the best footballing brains ever. Our pressing is outright nonsense when players are more than 10 yards apart of each other. Pressing should be done with same movement from the man up top to the Goalkepper Once than man Upfront makes a move , simultaneously the wide men, midfield men and defense should step up higher. Sorry to say but Arsenal's press has been non in-existence for some years now. Barcelona is the greatest example of press. They are well drilled and organized in doing that. You can hardly have 3 seconds on the ball when they press. This boils down to the coach and majorly to how the players execute the press. Unfortunately one cannot say where the blame lies. Is it the coach or the players, but if you ask me. I always like to take responsibility as a player and i would say some of our players currently cannot be relied upon to press with co-ordination. One person that pressed well for us and i was mad when he left was Sanchez. Hate him or love him, he had his faults in giving away possession at times but if only the team around him were able to press in co-ordination with him. Im sure we would have won away at top six teams which we haven't in the past six years or so.

Now Mancity have players with exceptional ball retention and distribution abilities that have awesome awareness with simple one or two touch football to break any press, (closest we had then was Santi who by the way still won Villareal Player of the season. What a player!) But even mancity or any team at that will eventually make mistakes if pressed continuously with precision. We have seen Liverpool do it to them in the Champs league so it can be done. Problem is i really do not think we have the personnel plus i really do not know if this fits in with the overall philosophy of the coach.

This guy sabi sha, I look forward to reading more from ya.
At the bolded, Sanchez was the man, I think South Americans have got big engines, Chile was able to win the Copa back to back then with that style, no much big names,but super energetic.

The only players close to his strength are Laca and Torreira, others are either too slow,lazy, old or moderately fit.

solomonbrown64:
..... I don't think you understand what I and a few guys perspective and point of view on this subject is just yet. No one said that Guen is better than Torreira currently, that would be blasphemy but can you guys at least acknowledge he does something right. If he plays well, he is useless, if he doesn't, it's the same thing. There are several weaknesses to his game as well as other midfielders in our team. I don't think he was brought in to start immediately but lack of midfielders has necessitated that and so he has to learn on the field. He is not perfect yet and still very raw but tagging him useless like he offers the team absolutely nothing is the reason for calling some of you guys out. Nothing more. Comparing him to the likes of Walcott and co is not fair as those had years upon years to prove what they could and they couldn't. This new admin won't be so lenient.

They understood you, it's you who doesn't...

Some do not want him ahead of Torreira and Xhaka on any important game, they trust Xhaka 90% more, we score and concede less with Xhaka than Guen.

Some want him far from first eleven, they want him on the bench or u23 battling with Smith Rowe & Nwakwali, and if he can't still do wonders and shake Europe like the following:
McTominay,Jorginho,Fred,Harry Winks, Foden and Lingard, then he should be sold asap.

I hope its clear now? Use your head or I'll ask them to ban you from here.

sod09:
bros the same way you felt for guen is the way lfc fans are feeling for ox he is still the old ox we know.
vela 219 appearances with 66 goals he really improve i agree

OK.

sod09:
how did ox improve liverpool? showing moments of brilliance once in blue moon the way he does at arsenal.
vela: can we have his stat at soceidad? They got tired of him and his drinking habit plus his hot and cold form he was sold to mls to compete with pensioner zlatan

Where did I say he improved Liverpool? I said he improved at Liverpool, ask Liverpool fans what they felt about him prior to his injuries..
Vela scored 3 goals for Arsenal from 2005 to 2012.... then proceeded to score 66goals between 2012 to 2017 at soceidad.