₦airaland Forum

BlueRayDick:
We were below par tonight by our own standard.... But thank God we salvaged a point.

We really need to do something before the second leg o. I wish that Dowman boy can play LW; would've preferred him starting ahead of Martinelli.

for some reason, we have been poor since 2026 as compared to 2025. Is it the pressure??.

iamoyindamola:
Germaphobe
You see why I questioned extending saka contract mid season, this guy have been shiit since last season and he's too comfortable with it.
He's walking away with 300k per week dropping poverty stricken numbers every season, we should have waited till end of season and evaluate our options with him, Odegaard and martinelli.
We deserve accountability too, no wonder they say we don't have any world class, the guy can't beat his man again and will rather stroll around.

Everyone at the club knows Saka isn't turning up as expected, that's true. But Saka is not the kind of player you allow his contract to run down before making an attempt, cus a lot of clubs are monitoring the process. Today he wasn't convincing especially after the restart, just like in some other games. But there are also games where even though he didn't score nor assisted, he played good.
I believe it is a matter of time and form, but then till when...

Timber made it difficult to control play from his game and made it difficult for attackers when in nice attacking position with the ball. Very forgetful display from him.
Saliba, na him know wetin just dey do am.
Unto the next Everton.

Nice change. Saka isn't giving this second half

BlueRayDick:
I mentioned it the other day that most of the criticism against Arsenal by rival fans, players and coaches are emotion driven and not necessarily facts driven.

It is our duty as fans of this great club to put down some of those agenda with fact and not allow them gaslight us to the extent we start attacking our own team manager when the chips are down.

The Yeye Brighton manager was complaining about Raya wasting time in our midweek match. He was blowing hot and making it seem like Raya was always in the habit of delaying restart of games to rub down the clock in almost every matches we played. The guy was just blabbing and packing all his frustration on our team and would throw just anything to see which one sticks.

The article below shows Raya is actually number 3 on the list of keepers quick to release the ball after picking it up. Raya spends an average of just 3.96 seconds to let go of the ball after a pick-up or claim; only two goalkeepers have done so quicker. They are Bournemouth's Petrovic and Newcastle Nick Pope.

https://www.givemesport.com/premier-league-goalkeepers-ranked-time-wasted-football-soccer/?link_source=ta_first_comment&taid=69aaec025934da00013c07ce&fbclid=Iwc3NjcAQYOG1leHRuA2FlbQIxMQBzcnRjBmFwcF9pZAo2NjI4NTY4Mzc5AAEeosaAjWpe2OTkaKe03ruHeCSE3eaTY9wFZ3Pkh8NVQVWtFpUP6iwsC5luY9o_aem_jwbbseZyXCz4fyOCABTLAQ

If as a fan you allow these people to gaslight you, na you Sabi o

Evra is not changing his mouth from katsina to kaduda, saying he doesn't hate arsenal that it is just banter and how he would love Arsenal to win. I just dey look de werey as he dey talk trash. There's a difference between banter and hate when you go over the line to construct and say things that ain't real just to play down the hard work of others. The same coach at st pauli that engaged in all forms of dirty tactics including pissing off the opponent minutes before start up is complaining, maybe e pain am as he see say Arsenal sabi do am pass him, cus it takes a time waster who's now wanting to win to recognise 2 seconds of time wasting from opponent.

iamoyindamola:
Guys oti zeh
We know who to vote right

say less , on my way to do the lord's work.

Shegzdave:
Have you seen what Micah said about this issue?
Very reasonable guy

Micah is a low key Arsenal fan, he knows where we are coming.

Eze is just playing regular cus of Odegaard absence, still yet to command a competition for when odegaard returns. Nelli in for Trossard and mosquera in for Saliba.
Go for the win.
COYG

iamoyindamola:
We have jesus on bench and kai eventually entered guess who still stayed on till the end?

sometimes, everything depends on game plan you know. I will always repeat my stance that Eze is good in cup games where defence isn't too tight. Leaving Eze and talking about Gyokeres, yesterday he had the lowest rating among our players.

iamoyindamola:
Is that enough to leave him till the end of the game
Person no play well our coach leave am for field so if it went sideways who's at fault

odegaard was out, kai is still coming back from an injury and shouldn't be rushed. There wasn't any other AM available aside the option of playing Saka in midfield.

iamoyindamola:
Don't worry when the extended one is out I will gladly share

bro, do you know we created more chances against utd than we did against Chelsea?.
Few weeks ago we had a talk about Eze and you kinda defended him which is understandable and then came the spurs game where he delivered. Fast forward to yesterday, he wasn't at his best again. Sometimes it is not just Arteta, but these players.
I remember when MSGAMBLE9 complained about starting Madueke ahead of Saka and the next match Saka was shit too. We can only talk as fans but the coach knows what he sees in training.

iamoyindamola:
If we get paired in the same place as city
We will be meeting them 4 times in 4 weeks, icing on the cake can make it 5 times if they both paired in fact cup next round

we avoided City. Leverkusen route to the final is less stressful than atlanta routes I think. After Leverkusen it's either sporting or bodo in qf and then barca/atm/spurs/Newcastle in semi final. Everywhere good.

BlueRayDick:
It was evident all along that Eze gets overwhelmed with the tactical demands of playing in this current Arsenal team. This Arsenal team is not some small Crystal palace where he is allowed to play free role, give the bearest minimum when it comes to tracking back his man and lose ball in critical part of the pitch without any serious consequence.

In this current Arsenal team as much as you have your primary role to play either as an attacker, playmaker, central midfielder or defender; you still have to be tactically aware and cover up not just for your own flaws but for other teammates' when the going gets tough. He really needs to work on his stamina and play with his head 100% in the game. He needs all the self awareness he can get when playing that playmaking role else he will find it difficult to bench Odegaard anytime he is fit.

As regards Gyokeres, I am not surprised he mentioned that he's beginning to understand his team mates better. We all saw the flaw in his positioning and runs which made passes difficult to get to him. And when the passes get to him, the pressure of trying to prove naysayers wrong has been really making him nervous leading to low output for him.

If he continues to make the kind of runs he mad yesterday particularly the one for the second goal which was from Odegaard's one touch pass, I don't see any reason why he shouldn't shine bright in the later part of the season. When he makes runs like that , it makes it very easy for his fellow players to pick him out with the right weighted pass. His first touch for that his first goal is also an improvement from the heavy first touch he's had for most part of the season .

we can only wish and expect that it isn't a one game thing, but a process moving forward.

iamoyindamola:
Didn't we say it
Just yesterday I was telling you how Eze wasn't bad and gyokeres was starved.
The funny thing is the guy una they defend they open up sometimes and admit his flaws.
When we criticised him we already see the flaws which he's supposed to correct them but his defensive mindset wouldn't.
I am sure if we had drawn the match, una go scapegoat rice

bro, I think you get me wrong sometimes. I didn't say Gyokeres is bad, you can dig up to say my post about him. I was just about his positioning and lack of getting into space at the right time. Yes Eze and Arteta finally found a way to make it click, thank God for that. But you know my only worry was about his epl performance, of which he surprised me yesterday again, and I give him that.