₦airaland Forum

mostob:
Arteta has to have another one in his locker o. He needs to frequently update his tactic bank o

Abiii

Jodera:
Oya ooo
Those wey never see am

Lol, but why does it looks funny

Oya ooo
Those wey never see am

mostob:
Nobody saw it coming.
Arteta might implement it soon when he finally gets his ideal CB for the role. Football just keep evolving. Now GKs sef are playing CB.

Lol... I swear
My own be say before teams catch up with this our own make we carry am end season.
Or probably maybe Arteta has another one in his locker

mostob:
Haaa... You went on vacation bro?

Pep don invent another thing o. When playing with a proper wingers, Akanji/Stone will invert into midfield and Walker will stay back to form a back three. It has been going on since last season.

That 3241 formation ehh. To me, that's the formation that gave them the treble and Pep introduced it at the right time, when the season is 3/4 gone.

Omorrrr dem use am thrash clubs last season ehh, before any club would have adjusted to that formation dem don carry the treble finish

mostob:
Long may it last We pray.

Amin

Roland17:
Make e use all those ingredients do sacrifice/ prayers in Chelsea’s behalf.

Lol, dem get Pastor Skimple.dawg for and Native Dr Ebuk.acute for that. Maybe na why him think say those ones dey work on that.

But on a more serious note, Since pastor Skimple marry, Chelsea no come deh perform well again .

You sure say that guy never forget road to mountain from him beautiful house?

daveP:
Didn't they prove how good they are without Kdb? At least absence of Rodri affected the most so far this season than even KDB. Yeah, we are on fire right now and we'll kill their flow evidently. I usually brush off that game we played with holding in defense. I crode.


But we all know that Viking is a crucial part of setup. No matter how. Infact since his arrival, opponents that gave them problems have focused more on cutting off supply chain than actual defend like Man U did. It worked.

We can do both. Liverpool too. Special teams both!

Well, for the sake of Arsenal I hope it works out well If we finally get any. Osimhen is still my choice sha

mostob:
City of those years are very dangerous. You no go know who you wan mark sef. It is baffling how they didn't go unbeaten. But now, they have kinda become predictable. They don't have the fear factor like before. Take away Rodri and Benardo from their midfield and everywhere go become expressway. Haaland no dey get connection without KDB.

Arsenal is getting there sha. Imagine the like of Jesus, Partey, Zinchenko, Tomiyasu struggling for a starting spot.

True, it's exactly what I love about this arsenal. I mean I can't believe a time will come Jesus, Partey, Zinny and Tomi won't be available yet I no go shake
The mentality and quality this team is gathering dey give me Joy

oliverano:


That line is like a dagger in the hearts of those Chelsea fans wey no like Jorgiclass; the midfield maestro

However, that line is also like a two edge sword, if you fail to qualify with Jorgi in the lineup, then you'll have 1B mentions.

You need to be ready for onslaught!

Lol, I know bro.
I know some people don already mark this post waiting for let arsenal lose so that dem go carry their daggers out but I no send, the truth must be told.

OhBritannia:
Currently!! For Barcelona to be the best, we need massive profits who wll give us money to then compete for the best.

You need a very good coach and a good DM. Win trophies(at least you have only RM to battle it out with) and you'll get enough profit.

And finally, just admit it, Messi ship has sailed

mostob:
na fear factor you want abi na 3 points? You mean this current Arsenal team still don't have the fear factor? You want us to get a 9 that will give us a fear factor yet without the 9, we have a lot of fear factors not just in attack but all over the field.. Saka? Martinelli? Jesus? Trossard? Partey?

Lol, you know during that first leg where we won I was absent due to my health and unfortunately I wasn't able to watch the match.

I later watched the full match and mehnnn, against very strong defenders and good Midfield, Haaland will do Zilch!!
After that "body" Saliba gave him, my guy started running away from him moving towards Gabriel but even that one na werey!

Halaand just need Kdb to unlock him against good defence. The both matches he had no shot on target against us had one thing in common — absence of Kdb.

I fear past Man City over this present Man city (not denying this one isn't great too) but that one you no go know who to hold. D.Silva, Sane, Mahrez, Gundo, Fernandinho. All these people no need Haaland by their side make you fear dem

mostob:
This is a perfectly carved brilliant submission. Long ke? I will finish it o. Unless you're Captain Kmk, I like reading other's opinions because I tends to learn one or two things.

daveP:
Provided the fear of his presence is there, it is a big deal. Seeing that Viking ponytail moving around you....😂

Man City before Haaland was very very feared.

Lemme tell you something, take away Rodri and Kdb in this present 11. No, just take away only Kdb and let us play with our complete squad, I swear I'll be very certain of at least 1-3 points.

As long as my squad is complete, I fear no Haaland.

Shegzdave:
The guy no gree blend to Teta standard

Toor, you don see am na

Leyqute:
It’s not by numbers or stats. “Hazard is on the level of Ronaldo and Messi, minus the goals”

Lol.... Abeggoo

germaphobe:
There's also a big reason Haaland never had a shot on goal against us in the last two meetings (EPL and community shield. Shocking right?). Gabriel and Saliba (esp) knows that he's a traditional 9 and he can't be fluid to drag them out of position for someone to take space. Moreover, he can't bully dem as him deh do others cos they're both strong and very fast with great intelligence. It's no coincidence most top coaches opts for fluid 9

I wanted to bring this up, you beat me to it. Even if we buy any "traditional 9", we will still watch Arteta convert him to another Gabriel Jesus.

That's facts.

Nketiah is the least in pecking order amongst all our strikers/quasi-strikers. That should tell us something

hensben:
If you want Arsenal to win ucl you need our(chelsea) blessings, buy aroma schnapp and kola nut for prayers if not done nothing for you guys

Tueeh!!
Which blessings.??

I never meet my guy Rolan.d17 wey be Ac Milan fan wey go do am for me, na Una wey get. I no even meet Madrid fans sef, na Una wey get only two I go come meet.

WhoDeyHause:
I hope you guys and jorgiboy are warming up. No go disgrace EPL next week ooo.

Lol, no worries make we finish with Brentford first.

As long as say Jorgi boy deh to the give forward penetrative passes, then we go unlock Pepe and him goons. Na that pass from DM we lack for first leg

And who are those again that says Jorgi boy always do backpass and sideway pass?

mostob:
Frank will probably park the bus.

Better for us then

mostob:
Gbam! You have said it all. Another striker who does this well is Harry Kane.
And yea, about 3 city players used to hit double figures in goals those years until they bought Haaland. I like how goals do spread across the entire frontline. It makes the team unpredictable.

Very very unpredictable and non-reliant.

I watched analysis on our game against Newcastle and I saw how Saliba and Gabriel Man Marked Isak because he's their striker. From the way we press them, their only hope was punting the ball straight to Isak but trust our CBs na .
Even when he tries to go deep into the midfield, they know he's their traditional CF thus there's no means of him rotating with anyone hence dem dey follow am bumper to bumper.

But a fluid 9 will drag you (the CBs) out of position and some other player will fill in that space been vacated by the CBs. Look at our first goal against Liverpool (3-1), our 9 Havertz was already deep near our 18 assisting in buildup, hence nobody for Van Dijk or Konate to hold. When the ball came upfield, our furthest player was Odegaard whom Van Dijk assumed was the present 9 at that instant hence he went to press him. Pressing him vacated a space at the back of him which Havertz quickly ran into from deep and Odegaard laid a one time pass. Havertz fvcked up with his shooting but then we saw how it destabilised the defence. Same thing we've been doing in this our high wins recently. Sometimes you see Havertz in CF, sometimes you see Martinelli there and Havertz have drop deep, sometimes Odegaard pops into the space and sometimes even Saka. The confuses the CBs on who to mark cos if you Man mark person, dem fit drag you enter Midfield and another person will take that vacant space. A traditional 9 won't allow all these movements.


There's also a big reason Haaland never had a shot on goal against us in the last two meetings (EPL and community shield. Shocking right?). Gabriel and Saliba (esp) knows that he's a traditional 9 and he can't be fluid to drag them out of position for someone to take space. Moreover, he can't bully dem as him deh do others cos they're both strong and very fast with great intelligence. It's no coincidence most top coaches opts for fluid 9



Sorry, I know say e long

daveP:
Ohhh. I get your angle nowww


Haba

Was that your fear?

The modern 9 is now a norm already now.

Martinez
Vlah
Toney
Kane
Boniface
Lewa

Haaland
Osimhen

Alll are not waiting and strolling like Nketiah does sometimes. All contribute.

Recall i said a 9 that will do what Haaland did offball to Man U CBs, thereby creating space for Foden and co to exploit and scatter things

Haaland that have 9 touches per match will disrupt our flow ooo

Just forget his Man City stuff, pep system is good and set while we, we're still implementing our own, Haaland fit no work for us.

Anyways sha, the person I'll pick in that list is Osimhen

(Kane and Lewy are no go areas so it's understood)

mostob:
How we want take explain again o.
Dave, you want us to add a traditional 9 to the team and start feeding him passes. If any 9 is coming, it won't be in the mould of Haaland. Having a top o who is only concerned about scoring will be detrimental to the team's development.

Imagine Nigeria without Osimhen during the last AFCON. Don't you think our chance of winning will drastically reduce? That's the kind of team you want us to be. A team that shift the entire focus on the striker. A team that is toothless without their talisman. We saw how this panned out when Auba was still here FFS.

One thing you should note is that you can't expect goals to be coming from every part of the pitch yet still expect the 9 you're suggesting to score 30 goals in a season. That's close to impossible. You can only choose one. The reasons why we're clamouring for another striker is because Jesus is injury proned, he is not clinical and due to his height (maybe). What you're suggesting is not feasible.

Exactly, it'll be really really difficult and it'll be really really hard. To find such a Striker deh very very hard and the only person wey I fit think of na prime Suarez.

Omorr, and there's no how he'll be scoring back to back that they(others) won't subconsciously play for him. Look at Man city that normally have players in double figures season in season out (at least 3) now have just only Foden crossing the double figure mark with just one goal. Even Kdb that was known for goals and assists suddenly turn only assist maker. And this is a whole Pep team ooo.

I love my team like this to be honest, but if a striker comes and we stop spreading goals, omorr I go vex

daveP:
No condition is permanent. That's where Barca and Spain messed up. Tiki is still a good philosophy but strikers add value still. If we want to sustain threats(mind you were are already) we need to do what the big boys do. We need someone to match Auba numbers. Heck, we've not had any match RVP sef in forever. It's what the big boys do and i know MA knows that.

We'll play City soon and we are all subconscious of Haaland where he is effective that day or not, but what he can do if we slip up. That's the impression i want on other teams playing us going forward.

Just recently we saw how absence of a 9 affected our Porto game. Like it is embarrassing having 0 shot on goal for a team flying in space in 2024 so far. A natural will have registered 1 or 2 shots at least. It's their instincts. We'll come good. See it as firing from all canisters or cylinders

Tbh ehh, my subconsciously mind no dey halaand. The person I fear is Kdb cos he seems na him Sabi unlock Haaland well. As long as our two main CBs are present and I see no Kdb and Rodri in Man city starting 11, then I'm certain of 3 points. Haaland won't do zilch with our standard 11.

But then again, there's a reason Spain of then even with the plethora of strikers still went ahead with false 9 (Fabregas). I'm not against us moving from 88 to 110 o, but I'm just afraid it won't be at the detriment of our fluidity.

Man City even with the presence of Haaland didn't raise their goal scored to a great height compared to previous seasons. And to be honest, in the past 5 seasons, last season was the second lowest goalscored(I didn't include this season). Pep have harnessed his system for years hence he can use personal like Haaland. Can we?

Like I said I'm not against a traditional striker, just letting you know that getting one might not transition us from 88 goals to 101 except maybe we buy a Suarez

mostob:
I tire o. What I know is their plan will fail. I won't be surprised if they rule out another legit goal by 'forgetting' to draw a line.
We should try and score 5, they can rule out 3 ..then we go home with the remaining 2 and 3 points.

Lol... You know it was this same fixture that derailed us a bit last season with their ojoro line.
Now they want history to repeat itself but God pass dem

I know Thomas Frank will be wary of our attack too

mostob:
So Paul Tierney was banned from officiating this weekend but still get to be on VAR duty in not the other 9 matches but Arsenal's. What are this people planning?

Hmmmm...
How will they ban someone yet assign him to var duties? Are all not under refereeing?

Wetin be the difference between wetin England deh do and wetin Nigeria politics dey do whereby they sanction a governor but still give him ministrial appointment?

daveP:
Glad you said Haaland added gloss. If anything at all, he's not only scoring, his present is fear because of what CBs know what he's capable of. For now, we do not have that permanent presence.

We all saw how Osimhen was at just concluded Afcon even if he got just 1 goal. Every defence was nervous just because of his presence (finisher, provider, aerial)
From 88 to more than 88 is because a good finisher will bury chances more than one that's not. Besides, like I've always said, cross and nod goals will increase. Meaning we won't have to do much rogbodiyan on ground. Gabriel vexed me yesterday. He wan score but he was complicating things for himself 😂😂😂
If we had prime Auba in this current setup, we both know he will be on 30GA by now. Glad you used RVP example sef. That team was wack under Wenger in epl as regards creativity. Days we were praying for Song to return from injury so bad... PTSD days.

I won't mind not having a striker as long as the goals are being spread and it won't subconsciously affect all our plays to be centred towards and around him. That's just my biggest fear Tbh.

Your points are valid tho as long as my arsenal still maintain this threat they have not just having a striker who will be banging goals while been limited in other aspects of plays

daveP:
We go still need am. Kai is doing okay last few games, but to be bigger than the big boys, we need one that will spread fear just by presence alone. See how Haaland positioning in Manchester derby was causing the two CBs to stay glued and give space to Foden and co. Plus as we are at peak creativity right now, additional threat is a 9 that reduced wasted runs or chances. It will make CBs to forget leaving their zone. If without 9 we dey do 88. With striker, we go do 110. Esp if that 9 is provider too. The atmosphere is ready and great. Na GJ dey make person dey feel like that spot is trivial.

Are you sure about this?
If it was before (during their Henry time and so) where you need a traditional 9 to win things, I would have agreed but not now were football have evolved and system/automatism is in play presently.

Haaland just added gloss to Man city attack(even though he's devastating). Guardiola before Haaland in Man city was having superior goal difference and breaking all manner of records without a traditional 9. You can say "oh it's guardiola and he's a genius" but what about Klopp. He used Firmino (an Am in Liverpool) to win everything winnable. In fact, Liverpool would have been that Man city everyone is talking about if Pep wasn't sharing time with him.

My point is, the goal is to put the ball in the back of the net for a team to win and that's what Arteta is improvising on. Now anyone can score. Like literally anyone, so I won't have to be afraid where if my CF doesn't score or he's having a bad day, then I'm doomed.

I watched that video Sod09 dropped ystdy on Van Persie. In one of the clips I heard where they said in Van Persie last season for us, he scored 30 league goals while our second highest goalscorer (Walcott) scored 8. Geez!!!!

Imagine if Van Persie had injury towards the end of that season, that's how we would have been insulting village people.

Sometimes, it's subconsciously not healthy

Spy360:
The bolded is where you need to learn. It starts by asking 'why'

I also think you are not being 100% sincere about Havertz's performances. I said earlier that he is more productive as an AM than as a false 9. But being a false 9 expertly combining going forward and dropping into midfield is making me change my mind. He is just good any where he plays.

And stop confusing playing false 9 as CF. That's poor football knowledge.

Lol, you'll never stop falling your hand. CF is just a position just the way you have RB. It's like you saying I should stop calling White RB because he's inverting. You spew so much ignorance with confidence.


As for Havertz, the only "Why" Havertz is starting is because presently he's Arteta's "adopted" pikin and he must make him work. He personally requested for him and shelled out 65m for him and like Antony to Ten Hag, he must be played whether he underwhelms or not.
I mean, have Arteta ever did any Victory parade for any player who scored his first open play goal here aside adopted pikin?

As for the False 9 role, I've said it here countlessly that it's his only place he can shine and that's what he's doing. If you notice, him no need your defense advocate to come dey invent words for him, we're all seeing it with our eyes. Unlike him Midfield where he was mostly a passenger attackingly in a very good system but only comes alive when we're out of possession.


All the whole matches he's shone this season is in CF(wey everybody deh see) and if he later shines in CF, na you suppose dey give me apology. But then, not that I even need it sef

Spy360:
If in your mind he felt Havertz wasn't that good you would have suggested that Jesus simply replaces him. Simple replacement. Why didn't you suggest that?

Mind you, there are four players responsible for the recent improvements. These players improved in their roles. They are
White as an inverted RB
Jorginho with his forward passes
Rice in his mid block press (superb)
Havertz with his movements around the opponents low/mid block

For the changes, Partey will easily replace Jorginho (no doubt he is better) his only challenge will be pairing with Rice while drifting to the left wing when White inverts. The Jorginho -Rice pairing is almost faultless. He Partey overcomes this, he will be a better option and that midfield will beat any one in Europe.

As for Jesus, he will remain on the bench for Havertz.

Can you be honest enough to say here that Havertz of late has been the better false 9 than Jesus?

You can never drag me for Havertz playing CF cos I've vehemently said right from beginning of preseason that the only place he'll mostly be effective for us is CF while you were there yapping he'll be v.good as a Midfielder for us.

He's been good as a CF for us and like I said I'll still prefer GJ to him but GJ inclusion now will make him go back to Midfield (which I don't want) and Jorginho away from the starting 11 which will hamper the synergy.

And yeah, while Havertz movement is good, we shouldn't forget that Trossard was mainly playing that CF role and nobody was complaining meanwhile Havertz wasn't really that spectacular in midfield. With Trossard we walloped Crystal palace, West Ham and Burnley, so don't just make it as if Havertz at CF is non-negotiable

Knowing Arteta that he won't bench Havertz, (I know he's never benching Havertz) and that means high probability that Partey won't replace Jorginho.

It's the same way I wanted Partey to go small injury so that Arteta won't have to field him in that inverted Rb role while Gabriel (one of our best defenders is glued to the bench). All these small sacrifices is what I can take for the greater good of the team

Spy360:
What is Kai doing in the false 9 role that has made you now prefer him to G Jesus? It seems his off the ball movement is a better skill than GJesus dribbling.

You are slowwwwky eating your words

You read what I said — "if it's not broken, don't fix it"

Jesus intro will destroy a lot of things and not because he's bad but Arteta will place our players were they're not maximally effective in.

Havertz Midfield
Rice DM
Jorginho out.

Just Jesus inclusion in CF will sub-optimally affect 3 positions

OhBritannia:
Right now we are going through some financial challenges and we need money to compete at the highest level.
Since mbappe is most likely going to end up in Madrid, more pressure is now on Barcelona so we need to make a move that will hit back at them financially and in terms of the media clout.
The best way to rise up again is to sell as many players available including LEWANDOWSKI, Ralhinha, etc and sign halland.
Signing haaland will likely make more money for Barcelona than what mpabbe will make for Madrid.
In fact it will triple than what mpabbe will make for Madrid and then next two seasons with so much money and with camp nou ready, we can now fully compete in the market and signing Messi again for just one season so we can give him a proper fairwell will break bank for Barcelona.

All that i have said can be possible if laporta make the right phone call and i know Guadiola can help make it possible.

Will haaland leave Manchester city to Barcelona? 100% yes.
Due to the balloon d'or factor and that thrill to compete with mbappe.

Truth be told, we don't even need to buy much next season, just a good coach and halland is okay.
Defense is solid, midfield is solid, all we need are goal scoring machines.

You're sounding More like a business man who's interested in profit than someone who wants the best for Barca in terms of football sense.

Real Madrid already have their house in order and that's why they can afford Mbappe. Una wey need to set your house in order is looking for another prima Donna to match up with Madrid just for clouts.

You're even talking about bringing back Messi

Kontinueee