₦airaland Forum

iamoyindamola:
But we all predicted this would eventually happen, how he overlooked it is surprising

shows how stubborn and rigid he can be. He should allow Saka and Odegaard get back to full fitness before rushing them out again. Find a way to win matches with the players we have till these guys are ready enough.

mostob:
All this talk about saka and Ode playing too much sounds funny especially considering where it is coming from. When we drew against Forest, many here swore at the manager for playing Noni and Martinelli when Saka (who should be resting) is on the bench. According to them, the coach is not serious about winning title.

MLS and Noorgard....
We all watched this two drop a stinker against Southampton. I'll give Noorgard a one off though.
Everyone has the right to criticize but please let's be consistent.

Bro, we all know Saka and Odegaard needs rest. He is the manager and he should know when and how to rest them, not just only Saka and Ode, but also others too. Fans can only complain when the result don't go our way. Many other matches that Saka sat out and we won none of them said anything. Our fan base is too emotional which is why we are always targeted by rivals and pundit to creat rage bait and generate traffic. Some fans just wait for one thing to go wrong before the criticise and then their criticism goes extreme because of how rivals and pundits paint it.

Today the world will witness the biggest game in epl this season. Not entirely a title decider but a match as important as any other title defining game.
Today the whole team needs to be on their best, a 10/10 performance from the whole team and we would be walking out of etihad with maximum point. this is a kind of match this team is made for, a match that cancels the questions and doubts if we get the maximum point.
regardless of who starts where, we need to be clinical and convert our chances, zero room for errors in both boxes.
we have shown many times that we can compete and come out strong with the best teams and Today is another day to show that.

iamoyindamola:
Why did this man managed and his Saka's injury from us
1. He doesn't want to miss WC
2. Playing him more can wear off the injury, but this is the Achilles here

These footballers are just turning into robots and risking their lives

Saka and Odegaard has played the most minutes under Arteta which is why their injuries this season hasn't been something out of the blue. They have been Arsenal's best players for a long time with no worthy deputy for years. He should learn from this and rest other important players more often than usual.

Personally I think this game needs Havertz as a CF than Gyokeres. Victor can come in later but let Havertz start as cf and not anywhere near the midfield. With what I saw in the efl Cup final, kai can disrupt the city defence more than gyokeres, with both link up play and aerial prowess, which isn't a strong point for Gyokeres.
City will try to attack from the beginning, it is left to see how we can neutralise and absorb it and how clinical we can be in the final third.

iamoyindamola:
Even the players don't give themselves hope with the rubbish they play in Europe

one of the games this season that i liked the strong will the team showed was against Brighton, the game where Saka scored early and we defended till ft. The attack was dead that day but every other department was good. They held their own and played with passion and believe to see the game out. Lately that coordination isn't there anymore but it can always show up if they believe. If Zubimendi can come out strong and give a positive display after many games of criticism and show of shit, then they all can come together and get their shit right. We don't even have to play beautiful football with city to get the maximum point, we only have to play our own game and avoid unnecessary mistakes.

Fkforyou:
That apology is from a parody account..o

That Wednesday fixture is supposed to give us a mental and emotional reset before the man city game.

Also, I want the coach to back off the team for now, let the guys decide if they want to write their name in history or not.

the coach back off?, I don't understand. Our first trophy wasn't meant to come as a hand out to us, we have to bleed for it and show character development and maturity. It was always going to be hard and that's where Arteta and his boss shows what they are made of. This loss should open their eyes, if they go on to win the league, the respect would be great because they showed strength. We can only hope Arteta does better and think correctly going forward.

MSGAMBLE9:
Do you know Raya received 38 back-passes only on Saturday against almighty Bournemouth...

Rice and Zubi has been mis-used playing needless minutes in a game with healthy leads...Norgaard has suffered

God help us this coming Sunday...

i have this flicker of hope that we would come out of etihad without a loss. I saw Zubimendi's apology post, thank God he knows the gravity of his mistake on Saturday and accepted responsibility. It's left to see how he and the rest of the team react on Wednesday and sunday. 4 league losses should be the maximum number if we are serious about epl trophy, anymore loss would be a big jeopardy. If we can avoid a defeat to City, then 15 out of 18 possible point is enough to win the league.

MSGAMBLE9:
Our gameplay is very cautious with heavy emphasis on ball retentions which allows most sensible teams to get back in defensive shapes when they lose the ball... I watched Spain vs Turkey ( both home and away), do you know that Merino created more big chances than Pedri and Arda Guler in both games....

I would not excuse Zubi for his bad recent performances but statistically Rice has been worse in duels and giving possessions away but he covers it up with hardworks... If it was Mosquera that did what White or Gabi did yesterday, he would have been skinned alive by the British press and Arsenal fans respectively...

I want us to win this Title and get this overtly cautious approach over with...

you see Rice matter, e get as e be. He's a warrior and a fighter for sure but he makes silent errors a lot. His errors are always undermined because he puts up a fighting spirit to recover most times. This is two times that I am focusing on Rice play and seeing him direct players to pass the ball back. He go dey point to zubi to pass back, na so he been dey tell Martinelli to pass back against sporting. They play with too much caution and it's affecting their mentality how they don't even notice.

MSGAMBLE9:
This is what have been saying ; the team has been generally poor recently not excusing anyone including Rice with Team lowest duel-won % yesterday, White comical defending recently and Gabi error leading to the second goal yesterday etc....

But it all down to Zubi who we played close to 25 minutes without yesterday and still we couldn't progress the ball from deep....

My number issue with Arteta is that he is seeing that Zubimendi is tired, I think at this stage with what we saw on the pitch yesterday, it is now getting to a psychological part, cus tell me why other players are all trying to cheer him up. He is feeling the impact of the errors he keeps making, but Arteta would still start him next match. While not rest him and maybe give him a day break to be with family or whatever.

iamoyindamola:
Our LANs are back fear not
I don't know why I am still having this feeling the league is ours
Just don't lose to city moreover city still have Brentford and villa with palace
We have Newcastle and westham

we dey together.

I knew that efl cup final would have an effect on any team that won, I said it here and it is happening. And the fact that we also lost to Bournemouth is giving city every reason to believe they can win this epl. It's just to win us next week and win their match with Palace and it's all done.

iamoyindamola:
Finally you agree our players don't have freedom
Hallelujah somebody!!!

baba it's been cleared all along, na just say we dey manage win matches. When every match day most touches by our players are from defenders, when even the leaders in the team encourage back passes. It's obvious that something should change. It's not even about singling out a particular player anymore, because every match day there's a new person to single out if we really check it. Arteta needs to do better, the deal from the first half of the season is gone and we're just hanging on a thread waiting and hoping for this season to end. For us to believe truly again, he has to go to etihad and come out with a win.

iamoyindamola:
Be like everyone is tired
Get it done or get embarrassed out

to be honest who wouldn't be tired. In as much as I love Arteta, I still recognise deficiency when I see one. We have been playing shit for a long time but have been managing to win games. It's been a reoccurring issue and he should have found a way to work on that. Our players play like robots controlled by positional play. No one plays with freedom and suddenly every player is making errors upon errors. Rice lost possession about 17 times yesterday and Zubimendi 12 times, when your midfield keeps loosing balls like that, it attracts pressure to the back line. Let's hope he doesn't lose to City at the etihad. Let's just hope.

I just de see the mumu reason Gyokeres gave for today's failure. "Pitch was too dry". Chineke!!!. Na striker wey suppose give us league dey talk dis kind rubbish. Our home pitch ooo, no be away pitch. Your home pitch was too dry that the away team was so comfortable to beat you in that dry pitch. Yeye dey smell.

Zubimendi is mentally down, first season and Arteta wan over work am. At some point Rice,Skelly, Gabi and Madueke was talking to him to lift his confidence and fron his body language you can see that he's tired. These guys need a big mental push, abi dem no get team psychologist ?. All of them just playing as washed as ever. Nonsense and ingredients.

Dis man go just dey talk like pure Aristocratic whereas ne werey kai in midfield doesn't work, he always plays better when he leaves that midfield and drift to cf. Simply drop Gyokeres and play him or drop him and sub him in for Gyokeres later. Martinelli had only 7 touches today, na only back passes all them midfield sabi. Raya had over 33 back passes to him and over 60 touches. Zubimendi always playing each match when we have norgaard. Even Eze sef na akamu. We were playing so defensive like dis is a 2 legged fixture where we won the first leg 2:0. Man city winning Chelsea tomorrow and winning us next sunday and it's all gone again. I still have faith shaa, alas little faith. In as much as our players need to sit up abi stand up sef, dis man needs to fuccking jump up. Wtf!!!. Always being our own achilis heels.

BlueRayDick:
A 2-0 win today should put pressure on Man city who would be playing Chelsea tomorrow evening.

I want the boys to do everything to win ghid match ; I learnt Eze is fit and may feature in today's match which should be a boost for us.

When season ends Gabriel Jesus and his bumper salary needs to leave this club abeg!

today is a must win, maybe the biggest match in Emirate so far. We have never been ahead with more than one point after week 32 since 2004. We need to win, even if it is half a goal. Lets get this win so I can support Chelsea fans to give man city 3 points and watch them lose ucl spot.

daveP:
Is it truth Arteta mounted a large screen in training to show players their terrible mistakes from start of season and what they need to improve on?


Zubimendi, white and Odegaard go hearam be dat😂😂😂😂

the source i read from said it was to show and chant their names in order to raise their confidence. Arteta go just sey bring wierd options.

iamoyindamola:
I mean next season, what everyone is interested in to get the epl and reach reasonable stage in ucl if not winning it
Next season, he should be off pressure to build up attacking team that can compete in all competitions

i agree with you. He will maintain this format till the season ends and can only change his tactics next season if we win the epl. But if he somehow loses this epl, he has no reason being here as the coach anymore. From the beginning epl and perhaps ucl was the goal, the burden of a quadruple was put on us by rivals so they can laugh and ridicule our season when we finally win the epl for failing to win other titles.

Roland17:
If he doesn't win the UCL/ EPL he needs to go. He has had enough time..my goodness! We have done everything that needs to be done for him under the sun. If he can't reward the trust that has been given to him for 7 years, then he needs to go. You are saying next season, by December next season, he will enter his 8th year as head coach! 8th!!!! Winning the double is the only reprieve he will get from me as a fan. We can't continue like this na. Arteta needs a perfect situation to win and that is impossible even for the best teams around the world. Their coaches bridge that gap between perfect and near perfection. He needs to win the double or resign.

he's right you know. If we win the epl this season, I think and feel he would change a few of his attacking tactics next season but not necessary this season.

BlueRayDick:
You see that Zubimendi ehn, I just feel people are judging him harshly on the few bad games he's had and they are using it to rubbish all the good work he's done.

I don't think any other player in the squad has played the same number of games as him but as of today Zubi has played 31 out of Arsenal's 31 EPL games this season. This is something you would hardly see Partey do (staying fit and injury free) throughout his time at Arsenal .

I'm not sure Zubi had up to 6 or 7 bad games all out of the 31 EPL matches he has played this season. When I see people hammering on his bad games, I always wonder if they forget that despite Partey not being as fit as Zubi, Partey still had his own bad games too.

Like you rightly pointed out, Zubi's performance in the first half of the season was fantastic to the extent that he was looking like the only player that has justified his signing out of all the new arrivals at the club this season.

in my head, I can still remember two games partey cost us. Can't remember the teams exactly, but I know it hurt me so much then. And the fact that he picked up an unnecessary yellow card against Madrid to miss the first leg of psg last season. Something wey no concern am at all, no be you foul, no be you ref dey talk to, no body was complaining, still yet you carry body go dey go over sabi. E pain me shaa. I remember few times he wasn't able to track back on time on his marker, few times he also made wrong passes. We will be alright last last, make we just win this epl first.

Arsenal are considering selling Nwaneri and MLS. I feel like they see Dowman as a better prodigy than Nwaneri, and Skelly hasn't been the Skelly of last season. Can we just wrap up the epl on time and try MLs in midfield?.
As much as there's always a controversy with Martinelli, I feel he should be given a chance as a CF too. He has been that player for us in this ucl run, I feel he still has something to offer. Many players talk about how good he is in training but sometimes what we see on the pitch isn't reflection such opinions, but all the same he tries to give his all. Rewatching our game against sporting I noticed Rice was telling him pass back before he eventually made that run and drive inward to create an assist for kai. Sometimes it's not just Arteta but the team itself. The number of safe passes we rotate at the back Sometimes is frustrating especially when we are looking for a goal.
Talking about Zubimendi, he used to be the go to man from the back, defenders trusted him to always make better use of the ball when dropping back, earlier in the season he would always get the ball in tight spaces at the back and progress it so well that Rice was always speaking high of him each match day, along the line I don't know what happened, now we as fans are even scared of him receiving the ball deep in our half. There was a time you would hardly tell who is playing as a 6 between him and Rice cus one minutes one is up the box and the next minute the other is up while the later is playing as a 6.
Partey I watched couldn't play as Zubimendi played in the first half of the season.
I just want everyone of them to get their shit together in this race. Gyokeres has a lot to do. Kai is doing what he does best, reading and getting into better spaces and creating chances. With odegaard a doubt for tomorrow and Eze coming back from an injury, it is left for kai and Gyokeres to link up well and save our asses.

Fkhalifa:
Like Arterta has reached legendary status for him to deserve a guaranteed job. Ofcourse he has tried and deserves his flowers, but then, he hasn't reached it.

I'm not calling for his sack, but he should be under pressure.

In a season where almost all rivals are so weak, it is expected he capilizes on those trophies.

FYI

🚨 𝗕𝗥𝗘𝗔𝗞𝗜𝗡𝗚: Mikel Arteta has failed to win 23 out of 26 possible titles:

2019/20 season (1/3):
❌ Premier League
🏆 FA Cup
❌ Europa League

2020/21 season (1/5):
🏆 Community Shield
❌ Premier League
❌ FA Cup
❌ Carabao Cup
❌ Europa League

2021/22 season (0/3):
❌ Premier League
❌ FA Cup
❌ Carabao Cup

2022/23 season (0/4):
❌ Premier League
❌ FA Cup
❌ Carabao Cup
❌ Europa League

2023/24 season (1/5):
🏆 Community Shield
❌ Premier League
❌ FA Cup
❌ Carabao Cup
❌ Champions League

2024/25 season (0/4):
❌ Premier League
❌ FA Cup
❌ Carabao Cup
❌ Champions League

2025/26 season (0/2 so far):
❌ Carabao Cup
❌ FA Cup


The above isn't a job assurance results.

tbh, we should be winning some trophies with how we have been strong and challenging since 2023. It's a pain in the ass that we are playing so good and not winning anything at all. I can excuse the early years but from 2023 we should at least have some efl and fa cup. One trophy each season since 2023 should have been the standard judging from how we play. But......... it's heart breaking shaa. Moving on already, I no fit kill myself, no be today dem start to de play with our emotions. Still waiting to see what happens at the end of the season.

mostob:
Jesus !!!

i think the last time Arteta won the manager of the month award was in February 2024. And we went on to win 2 out of 3 games in March. We won Sheffield utd and Brentford and lost to Aston villa. we can get 7 out of possible 9 points this April. I am saying 7 out of 9 because of the match at etihad, we should avoid a loss at all costs there.

Roland17:
Na we go break this rubbish jinx.

God abeg oh!

seven points out of the available 9 this month would be great. Abeg oo

Arteta don win motm.

iamoyindamola:
Now that de zerbi have gone on a suicide mission to rescue our useless neighbour, ethan loan to marseille is now paining me

i think De Zerbi can navigate spurs to avoid relegation. He's a good coach. No need to regret the loan move of Nwaneri, it is still part of development, the mental aspect of his development would be enhanced more, cus he's there without family and growing to be a man, making his own decisions. It will greatly reflect in his games.

Roland17:
We play differently in comparison to Sweden. Also, his role with Sweden is easier for a traditional striker to flourish in comparison.

Italy’s problem over the last 2 decades stems from a strong shift away from grass-root football. Italian football has always been hinged on the strong identity that comes from developing through the youth teams, particularly U21.

Italian legends like Baresi, Nesta, Buffon, Totti, Delpiero, Pirlo, Maldini, Canavarro, etc all played youth football. Today, you look at the top teams in Serie A and you’d struggle to find young Italian players who came through the ranks.

Worsestill, coaches during this period have struggled with what style of play they should employ. Naija own na corruption and a bunch of entitled drama queens if you ask me.

welcome back sir.