₦airaland Forum

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.

Leyqute:
THIS!

I’ve told my brother and several friends who are big Arsenal fans that this is the major problem with Gyo. Man wants to come into the team and have everybody play to his style and whims. But that’s not how things work. You have to learn how your teammates and find a way to acclimatize your game to theirs. Else, you’ll struggle.

Cunha had the same mentality at United earlier in the season. He was always trying to do everything by himself. He’s wiser now, hence his recent goals and assists, but there’s room for improvement.

Gyo needs to do exactly that, aside improving his touches, reading of the game and so on.

I don't understand how a lot of Arsenal fans don't see this. If you talk about Gyokeres they start thinking you don't know ball.
Big shout out to Spy360 I can now understand a bit of what it felt like defending Havertz everyday. Cus the same fans that criticised kai heavily can't take or understand the little being said about Gyokeres.

mine3112:
Hatrick. MA needs to study how the national team is using him. He is actually a prolific striker but we just need to know how he should be used so that he can be banging in the goals.

he's prolific no doubt about that, but it's not just about how he's being used, there's more to his play than how he's being used. I just want to see him score more goals and utilise his chances well

Gyokeres, two goals already. Abeg just carry this spirit and form come back Arsenal biko.

BlueRayDick:
One thing I noticed is that we have fans who are emotionally attached to some players , maybe because of the hype surrounding such players or just personal sentiments sha. Even when we perform well without such player in the lineup, they would still want the coach to find a way to squeeze him in and make gold out of dust.

Below is one of the instances Gyokeres was actually fed but his first touch , second touch and his inability to make a run at goal with ball at his feet led to him missing a very sweet chance.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KWCxH85GGz8?si=PxlSs4JkulqNXHs3

When we point these things out, it's not because we want to blame the player exonerate Arteta for whatever the eventual outcome of the game would be, but just to put things into context .

I agree with you that Gyokeres should be doing better with his big frame and not let average defenders silent him in crucial matches.

he has actually made such runs countless times!!. Like, let your first touch drag the ball into the right position and be in front of opponents defenders chasing you, with his big frame he can either draw a foul or have a run into 1v1, but he would drag the ball off the right course and wait to pass back, most times losing the ball. We see it time and time again, but you know, he pushed to be here, broke up with his ex, and lost money to play for us, so yeah, we shouldn't criticise him.

BlueRayDick:
Personally I am indifferent about Gyokeres; I don't have any sentimental attachment to him.

All those times some fans were running agenda that he's being starved of passes in the final third, I didn't read any meaning to it at all because as someone who played football I can see that most times his positioning is suspect. He was also struggling to flow with the game maybe because of the pace of EPL compared to the Portuguese league.

However, I want to believe he will come out good with time. He just needs to keep improving and hold his head up high. To be fair to him, he's like the only striker doing better compared to all the strikers/forward signed by the top EPL teams this season. If injury doesn't come knocking at his door, he should be in blistering form next season.

i know Gyokeres can't replicate what he did at sporting here in Arsenal, but some fans can't see that. I just need him to improve, that's all. Some fanbase would rather turn a blind eye than see his lapses. Igor thiago, Joa Pedro, Ekitike all have more goals than him. And even sesko has more goal to minutes played ratio than gyokeres. He can have more goals than all these names if he really pushes himself to knowing how the team plays and making better positioning. On sunday, with his big frame and all, haaland had a better game than him, and haaland played against world known best center back pairing while he was with Ake and khusanov. With hom being the preferred no.9, he really have to turn up for us to win titles.

We can always talk about how our attack is dead but we shift blames when it comes to our traditional striker. Everyone knows Havertz issue is his clinicality, he gave us 9 epl goals in 23 appearances before his injury in January with 5 months of epl still to be played. This season Gyokeres have 11 goals in 29 appearances but all of a sudden it is not not fault. Countless times I have talked about his runs and positioning and some see it as hate watching. But the truth is that he needs to do much more better especially with the out cry that made us sign him. We complain about him not getting chances but when kai, Merino or jesus plays, they get more chances than him. Truthfully he is more clinical, but not knowing when to run and where to be at the right time is his achiles heels. On sunday when we were pressing against city, kai got into a nice position but couldn't finish it off and I hear people talking about how eze, Merino and Martinelli would have scored. No one mentioned Gyokeres, he's the striker that should be attacking the box.
The agenda of when he is off we are pressed have died. They don't feed him well, have died. Yet everyday new theories keeps coming up to defend him, just because he wanted us and pushed for a move. No one is calling Arteta out for always playing him ahead of others even though he is not being productive.
Selective criticism is welcomed shaa.

BlueRayDick:
Yeah, I want to believe most of players withdrawing from their respective national team duty during this international break is a signal that they are locking in for the next 7 games and want to see things through without any significant distraction. All they just need do is win as much as 6 out of the outstanding 7 games and results will cancel insult finally.

I want to see those players smile after the pain of failure in the past 2 to 3 years. I believe they have what it takes to do it. Make we just focus on our own games and not concern ourselves with city ; if they like let them be winning 13-0 each match going forward.

focusing on our game is the priority, if we can win our matches regardless of city's result, it will be great for us. If we can avoid a loss against city and win 5 matches, we're champions.
Gyokeres needs to be proactive if we are to win the title. He is the preference no.9 but keeps ghosting in important matches. For a team that has created over 60 big chances this season, our striker has 11 goals and 8 big chances missed. It's funny that no one talks about that. I clearly don't see the difference with what kai had in his first and second season even though he played some games as a midfielder and not a striker. Last season kai had 19 g/a in 35 games, in his first season he had 21 g/a in 51 games. Gyokeres currently have 17 g/a in over 40 games and yet everyone choose to be silent and defend him like it is normal.

BlueRayDick:
I agree with u.

the win on sunday has given man city a major confidence boast, it remains to see how how players react to this loss in the upcoming games. Throughout this season, each time we lose, we go on a long undefeated run, I hope we replay that in the epl with 7 games remaining and get 5 wins.

Kai got into a nice position and couldn't convert, this was the kind of things that made people shout for a no.9. But the no.9 we've got no fit ever enter that kind of position not to talk of shooting. He drags the ball so lazily, makes slow runs, and watching him play is sometimes frustrating.
I hope we have our attacking midfielders back before the visit to etihad.

eph12:
Arsenal will still win the league. I don't know why there is a meltdown about Carling cup

they say "attack wins you games but defence wins you league". This was just a game that our attackers choose to be fuccked up. Of all the rants I've heard and read online and offline, no body is talking about how Gyokeres, kai, saka and trossard cost us. The focus is on kepa for making a mistake. Yes, he made mistakes but what did our attackers do about it?. No pressing upfront, not managing and controlling the ball well, not burying the little chances they got, losing 1v1 situations, not linking up well.
Kepa should have done better with that first goal, but 10 minutes leading to the goal we looked disastrous and finished. If we get the ball from city we only loses it in seconds, the structure was disorganised at the back and they kept pushing, I knew a goal would come from that, cus it was obvious we lacked focus and structure to keep our heads cool.
I just want us to get far in ucl and fa cup, by then we would have won the league. The shift in mentality after we're confirmed league winner would be obvious.

Fkforyou:
Look at Guardiola formation today. It required in game management to adapt to the game.

Arteta got in wrong.

Whether Raya should have started or not, was immaterial at that point.

So, yes, for today, it’s on the coach.

I’m still backing the team to win the premier league though.

i really don't have the time to loathe this team. It is truly not worth it. We had the best chance in first half to kill the game but... Make them no just Bleep up epl and ucl. We move regardless.

Exactly. Na only league we want. And we don mark attendance in cup already. Next is to drop out of fa cup and ucl. If we bottle the league, e no go bad shaa. At least we would have a reason to sack Arteta

Basically, we're practically doomed!!!.
I no know why this match mo dey pain me,
Una put mind for quadruple, una no trust and rate Arteta, una know say na rubbish coach and una dey get hope untop him matter na when and if we lose epl I go talk, but all this ones no really concern me. We no spend billions to win calaba Cup or fa cup. Na epl i want 😛 😝

mostob:
Arteta wey we go soon sack. Thank God, De Zerbi is available.

even potter sef. We only have one fa cup in 6 years of spending billions, and we agitated for major trophy, now he lost the most important trophy in history of football. Sack him jhoor. Now we're only in rubbish epl race, 9 points clear in rubbish trophy and lost this wonderful chance to get a major trophy.
SACK ARTETA NOW!!!

mostob:
na wetin dey muse me pass for here. Hossanah today, nail him tomorrow. They swore the reason we lost the league last season na because the coach no buy striker. Unfortunately, the striker was not fit to make the lineup today.

e no funny you how none of them is talking about striker. Abi the striker dey score 5p goals per match wey we no know?.