₦airaland Forum

MSGAMBLE9:
He said Saka had a problem ... Let see if he wouldn't start on Tuesday For that useless dead rubber match 🤣🤣🤣🤣...

Na here we go dey...

Saka had niggle, if it isn't managed tight, you would be the first to cry wolf bro. The fact that he was chosen to finish the game and and start it is still about managing his minutes. If he starts on Tuesday I wouldn't be surprised, I will only be surprised if he finishes the match.
Ps: losing dat dead rubber game can put our top 4 finish in jeopardy. But what do i know.

BlueRayDick:
Saka and Trossard played vs Loserpool and the match ended 0-0 just as this one.

Was that one too on Arteta?

See na the team as a whole no turn up. Against Loserpool I was asking what was Arteta supposed to do in that match that he didn't do, nobody could come up with anything tangible to say. It was obvious the team just didn't take their chances.

The same thing happened to do. People are only tagging today's result to Saka and Trossard not starting. More like fans just need something to point at as reason why we didn't win.

you forgot Liverpool draw was because Zubimendi didn't turn up. Don't forget too soon. We tend to blame who we want to blame and you can't do nothing about it.

BlueRayDick:
God bless you!

If we can't start Madueke and Martinelli against Forrest, then which team are they fit to play against? Is it Man city? Chelsea or Loserpool?

the should be playing only carabao cup, but unfortunately we are in semi final, so the best is to leave them on the bench till season ends, and then blame the coach for running our first team to the mud and ruins. Saka having a niggle before the match makes it understandable why madueke had to start, but, no it would have been better if he started, and with the triple marking he got when he came in, probably get a knock and we blame the coach for starting him. Shebi I asked if it was the two wingers that played 45 minutes made us draw?. Same Arsenal that played Athletico Madrid first half like shit and turned the game in the second half to get 4 goals, played not so good half time against Bayern and turned up in the second half, Same with city game, Newcastle game. E reach Nottingham forest we shouldn't put in our best legs and performance in second half because the opponent might abi must have gained confidence. confidence that couldn't produce a shot on target.

MSGAMBLE9:
Again I will repeat, bringing your best legs on after the he opponent has gained confidence is like doing deals with your weak hands put forward....Once you stupidly cedes advantage to your opponents, you may never regained it like the Japanese did in WW2...

those two 2 were equally wasteful on that day, it's only that we don't have set-pieces and Gabriel to bail us out today ..

Hoping Saka would come and change the game you willingly sabotage yourself is plain stupidity on his side, SAF wouldn't benched Rooney for Welbeck in this type of game because he's a serial winner and knows what it takes...

there's nothing like opponent gaining any momentum bro. Momentum that couldn't produce any shot on target?, which momentum?. Arteta just said in his interview that Saka had a problem before the game so his minutes had to be controlled and managed. Second half when ur preferred players were brought in, forest created nearly zero direct goal threat while we had 7 shots and 5 were on target, so what are you saying about opponent momentum again?. Rice was visibly angry with the kind of performance his follow player put in, but some how you are here blaming the coach as if na coach tell the players to play with carefree spirit, not to track back, to loose balls in dangerous positions and to fire wide, or lose control unnecessarily. But what do I know, you have a coaching batch and knows better.

MSGAMBLE9:
Thank God you mentioned Brentford and Bournemouth whom Roland17 called "Hypertension games" here... Those 2 almost ruined the game with their missed opportunity but we were lucky to make it safe when the best legs came in... They were games of small margins that we could have easily lost or drawn....

In Business, you don't do deal or make it by putting your weak hands forward or playing low balls as we call it...

I won't excuse his ( Arteta) immature complacency today cos it might cost us in long run....

against Bournemouth, Martinelli wasn't so bad, and if i remember it was his rebound shot that fell to Gabriel to score(not sure though). So if the fresh legs won us the games in those two games, what happened today?, why couldn't the fresh legs fire up against a weak defence that have started since first half?. So because of two players that played 45 minutes that is the reason why we failed to win today?, is that what you are saying?.

BlueRayDick:
Help me tell am. It just looks like he wants to call dog a bad name just to cook and eat it

if we can't play both wingers against a team who has only won one of their last five games and 17th on the table, which other match we fit play them in epl?, abi na only lower cup ties they signed to play?. It's not like both are seriously out of form oo. The question is, when Saka and even the Trossard that I wanted to start entered, did the scoreline change?. This season i can count how many times the starting xl gave me doubts but we still ended up winning, today that the win didn't come, we wan kill the coach. Even if the xl was bad, was the subs bad too?.

MSGAMBLE9:
Yes it's a dead rubber....We have a 3 points lead on the 2nd and others are on 13 points with superior goal difference even losing the next 2 wouldn't take us off top 4...

He messed up big time, e go pain seeing Saka and the likes starting dead rubber on Tuesday...

Imagine SAF or Mou doing this, No it's will never happen...

against Brentford and Bournemouth both of them started and we won the games, right?. Last match Martinelli had goals and Madueke assists, it wasn't a mad choice starting both against a struggling n.forest. our attack wasn't potent enough even after the right changes were made.
Ps: inter is not a dead rubber game. A lose against interest put pressure on us bro. Check the table

mostob:
I still believe so too but one thing is to believe, another thing is to execute. I don't know how long I can keep the belief.

we're still 7 points clear against our main rival, so i am still hopeful. If we can maintain a nice run of at least 5 or 6 wins, I know surely city would still drop points.

MSGAMBLE9:
Wetin go pain me pass is seeing Saka, Rice, Zubi and Tro starting that useless match on Tuesday...

finishing 1st-4th gives you a better advantage of playing weekend teams. In as much as we have a hard game next week, the match against interview is still important and not a dead rubber game.

Optimist will say 1 point gained, but realist will say 2 points dropped. Failing to win the two times our direct rivals dropped points is so bad!!. This was the reason we couldn't catch up with Liverpool last season, now it is gradually repeating. Anyways, I try to take positives from the fact thay the two draws were against teams we also drew with last season. If we can go on a winning rin against the next 5 teams just as we did last season, it will be a very good opportunity.

iamoyindamola:
We need serious fasting and prayer
Until we get trophy handle to us then I can confirm we are winners

i still believe we are winning the epl this season but the problem of not capitalising when our competitors fail is a trauma that hurts so much.

iamoyindamola:
Thank you
What ever happened to nwaneri sef, I trust that lad than madueke

Madueke gives me missed feelings each time I am watching him, he seems to know what to do but then almost always fucck up

mostob:
Bro.. Trossard and Timber have been battling with fitness lately. Even Saliba and Gabriel were forced to play while not 100% fit. So I understand why Arteta kept rotating his wingers.

But the Almighty question is what has been the impact of our wingers lately? Like, let's just compare their performance and see how they rank. Trossard would rather dance on the wing for five minutes than cross or shoot.

Ok let's agree he made a mistake with the lineup. At least he brought in Trossard at half time and Saka around 56th minute which means both played roughly 40 minutes. What was their impact biko?

i love Martinelli more than almost all the other players, but bro Martinelli wasn't it today. Martinelli plays well with jesus on the pitch. I won't leave out Arteta while criticising the players today cus how we starts each match determines to a large extent how we end it. And the forest goal keeper was solid today, let's not take that away. Make I no just talk about Gyokeres today, make I just avoid to talk about am.

BlueRayDick:
Nobody is celebrating 1 point, maybe you are making that one up in your head Sha.

You sounded as if players like Martinelli and Madueke are not good enough to start against Nottingham forest. These are the same players that have played in higher profile matches sef and tbey delivered this same season.

There's no big deal the coach playing those aforementioned duo against Forrest. It's anxiety and PTSD of the seasons we didn't win the league that's making you suddenly think Forrest is a team we must start Saka and Trossard ( who came on and didn't score) against them......

Make Una calm down small. All these negativity are just not necessary.

I wonder how u guys even enjoy watching matches when you already have negative mindset even before the match starts. I don't envy Una o

that's the issue the pain and trauma of previous seasons. He made the right call of removing Martinelli on time, but still kept Gyokeres in the game. Those fans that criticised Saka heavily for not passing to Gyokeres, I am waiting to hear their excuse today. He got chances, crosses was made to the box and yet........
We move on to the next.

Trossard should have started today, that's my opinion. Martinelli is better in ucl cus teams don't usually play low blocks like epl teams in ucl and that gives him space to attack. But overall, the team performance was not good. S/o to sells abi wetin be him name, he made some good saves to deny us goals. Arteta failing to utilise man city's double drop in points is enough reason for any one to get angry. Should Aston villa win tomorrow, it will be 4 points gap. God abeg ooo.

Fkforyou:
Come I don’t get why some Arsenal Fans are having a meltdown because of Man City’s transfer? I just don’t get it. I don’t understand how it will stop us from competing for the league? As long as we keep winning our games, if them like make them buy Mbappe join.

you just said it all. The league is in our hands, how we win it or lose it is down to us.

iamoyindamola:
Build your premier league tots in the first half of the season

https://share.premierleague.com/files/77/77239a4468f3fb2554ddff4beb3805f9.html

we have almost the same team.

KING KAI is back!!. See movement in the box, outside the box. That pass to Madueke to force the corner was madt!!!. still got into better positions INSIDE THE BOX to get two shots which were unfortunately blocked. Man!!!.
Ps: Eze can never bench odegaard. At least not with the kind performance I have been seeing lately.

iamoyindamola:
Yes na
It's like the year is ours
6points clear

it's in our hands now for sure. I trust the team and the coach oo, but to be honest..... omor, dat fear of bottling it still dey my mind. Na Arteta cause this trauma shaa.
Ps: make una take am easy with odegaard abeg. Na beg i dey beg una.

iamoyindamola:
Odegaard will first romance and caress the ball then pass to saka
Rinse and recycle

E don happen!!

mostob:
Bro... I have criticized him severally concerning his goalscoring on this thread but I can't deny he has been given his all. One crazy thing is we tend to concede anytime he is subbed off. At the same time I understand how goals will help his confidence. Hopefully, he start banging the goals cos that Norwegian viking is practically dragging those 115ers to the title.

that's why i said every forward offers something different. If i can be patient with kai, why would I rush to write off Gyokeres, you get?. He will come around with the goals once he is really settled and understand how other players play. There was an up loop pass Odegaard gave him that he didn't make the run on time thereby losing the ball. If he understands that kind of moment better, he will be killing it cus the ball was placed to his right side, it was just to meet it quicker and fire a shot.

mostob:
Sorry, I disagree. Eze can pass too. Just look at his assists against City and Bayern. I agree they're different players. I can remember arguing with Jodera here that compared to City, Odegaard is like Benardo and that we need a 'KDB' too. Even the pass mentioned here, Odegaard is fumbling. Eze can give some of what Odegaard gives and more. The only edge Odegaard has over him is pressing.

you see that long passes Eze gave to Martinelli twice against the teams you mentioned, both were from our half when just recovered position and Martinelli made a run. Tell me you haven't seen odegaard make those kind of passes before??. Odegaard controls the midfield and tempo more than Eze does. Even leading to jesus goal against villa, did you see how he progressed the ball?. Odegaard is a more better passer than Eze from what I have seen in Arsenal setting.

BlueRayDick:
Madueke still dey progress with the ball at times, just that he may either run into a maze of opposition players or show bad finished products after his run ; but he's better than Odegaard who will recycle ball back to defenders

Eze cannot give to the team what odegaard gives to us. Eze is more of a goal scorer and always has eye on the goal, but odegaard is more of a controller. Some if not most of the passes he recircles are to hold possession and avoid losing the ball in dangerous situations. Against Bournemouth, we tried to play through the left, but they kept blocking the spaces. We can't take away his brilliance when it matters. That pass to Saka and the assist for Rice are sone of his brilliance that Eze might not be able to see. For Rice, he had the option of shooting to seeing Rice shout out to him, he knew Rice was in better position and that's where his vision is applauded by me. After having set the ball for a shot, most players would definitely take it without thinking twice. And that overhead loops he has been giving is actually line breaking too. 3 or 4 times he has given such passes opened the box but the players at the end of it didn't utilise it well. He's a kind of player that even if he is having a bad game can still create a magical moment with his passes. I don't think there is anyone who can bench him in our squad.

mostob:
Brock Lesnar for a reason... 5 players on only you. Wtf 🤣

when we signed Gyokeres, Tata said he spoke to him about how he will cope when he doesn't score in 6 or 7 matches. That ability to still give your all and put the team first really matters. His goals will come, even if it is not this season as we expect. Every of our forwards has something different they offer to the team and i can't wait to see him florish with goals cus he really love and wanted to be part of this team. But which one be Brock lesner again.

The rate at which we are giving out the ball is really bad. And we're attracting pressure to ourselves. Martinelli should have done better with that chance. Make Teta talk to them abeg.

Recently Saka haven't been his best self, especially in front of goal and making final decisions. Maybe Arteta should try playing Madueke today ahead of him to allow hom rest and maybe come in later. We need him to be sharp during this new year run.

iamoyindamola:
We had the toughest run in and depleted with injuries yet we maintained the points difference
This is moral booster for the team, we are getting our injured players back too

like..., I don't know between this year and last year which one is worse when it comes to injuries, but shout out to the players for always giving their best no matter the condition and position they play. They are all playing with a purpose this season. To me Trossard and Rice are the ones that play with more passion, like they hate every opponent we play and wants to beat them. Lastly, shout out to Arteta for learning from last year's mistakes and managing injuries better, Bertha for a nice business. Let's see how it ends by May.

dominique:
That their midfield over choke, dem wan kill man city players. I hope they can hang on for the remaining 10 minutes thereabouts. I respect the way they're holding their own despite missing key players to AFCON and injuries. I hope they qualify for European competition this season

i knew man city will definitely have a hard game in the stadium of light. Missing players or not, that place is just like our home this season. A fortress.

Roland17:
Make Sunderland no give me useless hope laidis!

be calm now.

iamoyindamola:
The ball was still in transition here bro 2 more seconds he was been swamped up, so it's his fault the system by our coach isn't working for him?

the attack started from that side of the pitch, and those five villa players were already positioned around that area, odegaard had to drag the ball to create space and VG sure made a good run. That was a good run he made, we are not arguing that. But it wasn't five players that was on him at the time of passing the ball. Talking about system, the same system that have worked for other forwards so far. Or is it the coach's fault that he hasn't adapted to our winning system even after many matches

iamoyindamola:
No vex i no fit read all i had to screenshot this the last man can't enter the picture
But this is the link

Martin Odegaard vs Villa (H)pic.twitter.com/pEHKMS4HwD

— AFC_Adi (@AFC_Adi06) December 31, 2025

konsa even had his back to VG and was trying to track zubi, if odegaard had pass the ball to VG, it would have been hard for him to turn on time. But that's not what we are talking about. See a more clearer view and angle below and how many players were actually tracking VG.