₦airaland Forum

iamoyindamola:
Are you admitting kaikai is also otule

you sef ehh.

iamoyindamola:
Watching Raya yesterday, arteta is 200% dropping ramsdale
He was the best passer

took you so long to say this, knowing how much you criticised Raya's signing. 🫡

Games like yesterday are games were we would normally loose, I'm happy to see us win. Sunderland, Newcastle, Villa and Wolves are matches that would have all taken 3 points from us cus of how we retreats and try playing with caution. Thank God so far we've lost only to villa. We might have the confidence of going forward but that fear of loosing sometimes shakes us more than both Arteta and his players choose to admit. Everton is going to be another tough game, but thankfully by then the players should be getting enough rest before the match, and also Everton will be losing two of their integral players to afcon, so we should be winning that one too.
Got Saliba back and lost White, every match day feels like we are about to lose another player.

iamoyindamola:
Odegaard and Eze seems not to be working, arteta should try nwaneri, we need change fast

when trying to break low blocks, I think odegaard is more able to do that. Eze thrive more with spaces but odegaard can play a bit more comfortably in tight spaces than Eze. Nwaneri is best when he is free too, our match against club brugge is an example. He can control the tempo more if he isn't bullied and have space. Nwaneri needs more minutes in such tough matches to grow in confidence and learn, but at the same time, Arteta is more scared of loosing than even us the fans which reflects in his selection and subs.

BlueRayDick:
How’s it that Merino get serviced when he starts as false 9 ?

How’s it that Jesus who just returned from injury got serviced in the two games he’s had cameo appearances this season ?

How’s it that Havertz before his injury was over serviced starting in that 9 position ?

Are we implying that the rest of the team don’t fancy Gyokeres well enough to service him ?

Jesus and Havertz are the main men for our attack and have a chemistry with our wingers than any other player up front. Our attack became potent when we signed jesus and Havertz because of how they confuse defenders with their movement. Gyokeres is more traditional box striker and defenders knows what to expect from him when he's making a run or have the ball on his feet. It is more easy to mark him than the others, he's strength lies in his ability to overpower the defenders and sometimes when he gets into those positions, they players don't trust him making a difference hence they focus of dragging the ball to see if more space can be opened for other players to utilise when he drags the defenders.

BlueRayDick:
For all the criticism of Odegaard holding on to the ball too much , we much be truthful to ourselves that when Odegaard plays 10 there’s always a ray of hope that we may still find a way to break low block playing teams .

On the other hand , Eze playing 10 against a low block team just doesn’t inspire any confidence we may break them down . I think Eze is best suited for playing those long passes from our half to pick out a runner when teams lose possession when pressing us high . That was what played out in the City game and Bayern game.

Saka and Odegaard exchanging passes along the right wing seem to be the only thing has worked in breaking the resolve of low block teams thus far. Definitely Arteta and the coaching crew need to find more ways around breaking low block teams thus far, but for now that seem like the only thing working .

Eze is a very good player but he seems to struggle in that 10 role for now

don't know if you noticed, at some point odegaard shifted to the left side but the attack and connection wasn't as good as when he links up with Saka. Wolves sat back and allowed us play our game but had total control of their own organisation. It was a frustrating game for us because we were actively pressing and attacking but the end product was limited. They got a good 5 minutes and made it count, our overall defensive unit isn't as it used to be. I think Gyokeres gets into good positions but he is either too fast to go in or the players with the ball don't trust themselves enough to release the ball. Both the players and Gyokeres should work on changing their games to bring out the beast in him.
Just like Henry said "the fear of winning is sometimes more than the fear of losing, especially when you haven't won anything yet". In as much as we can say this team is mentally up for the challenge, we can't write off that fear of bottling again. They panic and try to hold on to their results during the end of games, they try to be careful and defend, but Arteta should know that the approach isn't necessary if we can still kill the game by controlling the midfield and up pitch play than sitting deep to defend. Saka played like a world class player he is and made the difference. Big shout out to little chilli 🌶

iamoyindamola:
Roland17
Jesus had more touches in the little minutes played than gyokeres, I think he needs to start making himself available the competition are coming back with kai close

Watching Saka, Nelli and Jesus was like a throw back to me, Free flowing soccer. Jesus created multiple chances, and was in the right position to receive passes that could have changed the scoreline more. His two finishes were weak and one was superb. Gyokeres is a good player but can't bring that kind of movement and fast attacking football. Ethan sef was so good with his passes that I think he made us more free than odegaard did yesterday. Norgaard too was solid at the back, Noni was great from first half and his corner kicks improved from last match, Nelli came alive in the second half and his goal was wow!!, same with Noni's first goal. Make dem carry dis mindset dey play epl games too.

We know we will lose matches, but the way we lost is what matters. We should lose while trying to win, not lose while trying to draw. Yesterday we kept balling balls from first half to finish, knowing that Villa were pressing so hard and yet we couldn't calm the pressure down. Zubimendi was so off, I don't know if odegaard dropping deep to pick up the ball instead of him obstructed his game play. Our match intensity and calmness has gone down with Salliba and Gabriel so much that it feels like we run more without the ball more than we should. Running more without the ball makes us jittery during the closing minutes. Thank God by weekend Trossard and Saliba will be fit to start.
Match week 15, if we can get 16 wins out of 20 by match day 35, we can still be on course.

iamoyindamola:
The reason I am happy for the international break is because since the efl match we looked fatigued and depleted
The other reason is because of the incoming players from injuries, we are expecting 3-4 key players including Jesus
If you look at the game yesterday we suffered in the attack even though our once reliable defense failed us Sunderland had 2 shots and scored both
If we look at it, it's one of those days in football I want to believe our next game won't be like this

how the team responds against spurs will show if we're really into this title race like we think we are.if we can get a win against spurs, then the confidence will be high against Chelsea cus more players will be available too.

Roland17:
We made only one substitution throughout that game and that came in the 82nd minute. We needed fresh legs to see us through because the entire team was exhausted. That same front 3 played only 4 days ago in the UCL.

The more I rewatched that game, the more I realized we messed up with how we finished that game, particularly with our lack of substitutions. Those boys were spent and that led to a lack of concentration.

Everyone is saying thank God for international break. The problem is, the bulk of our players will feature for their national teams, so I don’t know how much rest they get. However, we should get many players back and that should help.

I hope he goes into the Spuds fixture with a strong mentality, otherwise, we will have a difficult end to the year.

we need maximum point against spurs and Chelsea. Yesterday our attacking option on the bench was two teenagers who i think that match would have been too physical for them, but norgaard should have been substituted earlier. Our defence was chaotic during the later part of the match, just like it have been in the last 2 matches before Sunderland. Zubimendi, Rice, Merino, Gabriel and Saka are they only ones I think will get more minutes in this break. If Odegaard, Gyokeres and Martinelli can be available against spurs with other first team players being available without injuries from this break, then we can have a good run again.

mostob:
I don't think there's anything he could have done with that first goal. The first goal was partly on Gabriel for ball watching. Raya even made a couple good save in the second half

Yesterday's just an unlucky day for him.

i feel like if he had stayed back instead of rushing out like that, seeing that is Gabriel contesting for the ball too, maybe just maybe he would have got a hand on the ball.

In the matches leading to this Sunderland game, you will know that something like this is eventually going to happen. It was a matter of when and not how or why. The statistics might be convincing but watching the games you will know this was going to happen. Hopefully with players coming back after the internationals, fresh legs who didn't go for the break and those that won't get more involvement, we should be able to come back to winning streak. Arteta have been on a progressive run with the number of losses we accumulate at each season end since his first full season. So looking at that, we should be able to avoid more than 5 defeats this season and then try to win as many as possible. If City wins today, we should focus on widening the gap from 4 to 9 before January.

mostob:
It's a decent lineup TBH. Harriman-Annous starting makes it somewhat weaker. Could have been Chidi-Obi.

this is the first time of the xl playing together and it's against a Brighton side that is playing their strong side. If we can win, I will take it but truly, I am not optimistic. I was thinking we would throw in strong experienced players on each section. Was thinking Gabriel in defence and Merino in attack

Can this line up win Brighton in the first half?.