Arsenal 2023/24 - Born to be runner up

romufc said:
Well if you rotated and got kicked out... meaning you have 1 game a week in the PL only... why do you need squad depth?

Are you saying Arsenal only had 11 players? only 2 real injuries to Saliba and Tomiyasu and squad depth excuses came out.

I mean they had 1 game a week for the last part of the season, whilst being 7 points clear.
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There won't have been 1 single issue why we lost the league, most people have said squad depth was just 1 issue, of course there was a a mentality issue, inexperience of handling a run in as a team, an issue with loss of form of certain players (some maybe due to being overplayed, which can go back to squad depth issue), the fact that that City always had a game in hand and the knowledge we still had to go to their ground, and I'm sure Arteta will look back and wish he done some things differently as well. Maybe others are right in that the first half of the season form carried a bit of luck and was unsustainable as well.

People see things as black and white and demand simple straightforward answers when it can be several shades of grey and a combination or a culmination of things.
 
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romufc said:
Well if you rotated and got kicked out... meaning you have 1 game a week in the PL only... why do you need squad depth?

Are you saying Arsenal only had 11 players? only 2 real injuries to Saliba and Tomiyasu and squad depth excuses came out.

I mean they had 1 game a week for the last part of the season, whilst being 7 points clear.
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I don’t think anyone is saying we only have eleven players.

I also don’t think anyone is saying that squad depth is the only issue Arsenal had last season.

A few people (myself included) are saying the following:
  • City have arguably the best squad on the planet
  • Leagues are usually won by the team with the deepest squad
  • Arsenal having inferior squad depth to City was therefore a major factor in their unsuccessful title challenge
For some some reason, these points have become contentious. I’d love someone to explain which of those three points they disagree with and why.
 


3 players capable of playing LB on the bench with Timber and White starting: Mikel going full Pep :wenger:
Unless it's Gabriel at LB to try White-Saliba again... Not sure when this scenario would come up during the season.
Oh and apparently we've already got rid of Rice
 
GoonerBear said:
There won't have been 1 single issue why we lost the league, most people have said squad depth was just 1 issue, of course there was a a mentality issue, inexperience of handling a run in as a team, an issue with loss of form of certain players (some maybe due to being overplayed, which can go back to squad depth issue), the fact that that City always had a game in hand and the knowledge we still had to go to their ground, and I'm sure Arteta will look back and wish he done some things differently as well. Maybe others are right in that the first half of the season form carried a bit of luck and was unsustainable as well.

People see things as black and white and demand simple straightforward answers when it can be several shades of grey and a combination or a culmination of things.
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also the human mind is opportunistic and will pounce at every opportunity to rationalise, beat down, beat their chest etc with every action/incident that happens

gets tiresome emotionally.

The football fan base is one of the most childish, knee jerk and reactionary i've ever seen.
The tik tok influencers coming out are examples of this playing out.
 
That deflection :lol:
2-1 Barca after Saka missed penalty
 
Donaldo said:
Trossard is such a lovely little player.
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I hope he gets more time this year on the left to rotate with Martinelli. ESR back is also a great boost.
On a sidenote, Partey is annoyingly good...
 
awop said:
I hope he gets more time this year on the left to rotate with Martinelli. ESR back is also a great boost.
On a sidenote, Partey is annoyingly good...
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Missed a trick by not continuing to play him when he was in form after Martinelli returned from injury. We lost a lot of flow in those games (drew a couple on the bounce iirc)
 
5-3 Fun game to end the US tour. First 11, B team, youth, doesn't matter those Barcelona players were all right cnuts the whole game. Even Xavi was arguing with Arteta at the end...
Hope Madrid puts 8 behind this debt-ridden joke of a club on Saturday :angel:
 
I had a free ticket from a subcontractor so went to the game.
Over 70,000 fans there. Good atmosphere which looked to have about 60% Barca fans.

Saka looked great as usual and could have had 3 or 4 for himself.
 
Was a nice game to watch, thought the team combined well and were more structured. The press looked closer to peak levels from last season.

Our new boys are coming along nicely. Saw Timber on the left side in this game, and found that pretty interesting. He combined well with Trossard and Havertz on that side, and allowed us to create those left overloads again, giving space to Saka on the far end. I like that we have added this dynamic to our game, in addition to overloading the right side as we usually do.

Havertz combined well but also moved well between the lines. Found himself at that far post again a few times, so happy to see that pop up in a few of our attacking moves.

The negatives were the individual errors once again. Our game is very risk based, so we need to be more secure with the ball, and switched on as a rest defence.
 
Zagoon said:
Was a nice game to watch, thought the team combined well and were more structured. The press looked closer to peak levels from last season.

Our new boys are coming along nicely. Saw Timber on the left side in this game, and found that pretty interesting. He combined well with Trossard and Havertz on that side, and allowed us to create those left overloads again, giving space to Saka on the far end. I like that we have added this dynamic to our game, in addition to overloading the right side as we usually do.

Havertz combined well but also moved well between the lines. Found himself at that far post again a few times, so happy to see that pop up in a few of our attacking moves.

The negatives were the individual errors once again. Our game is very risk based, so we need to be more secure with the ball, and switched on as a rest defence.
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Agreed. We don't control games against top opposition. In fact, even lesser teams can give us trouble when we're trying to see out a game.
 
Every time I watch them Partey looks like their best player. Rice looks like a bit of a pointless signing for them at the moment when they already had a top class DM.
 
Blood Mage said:
Every time I watch them Partey looks like their best player. Rice looks like a bit of a pointless signing for them at the moment when they already had a top class DM.
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Partey is 30 and has never really been reliable over the course of the season. His first couple of years were interrupted by injury and last season his individual form declined towards the end (he was brilliant for about 75% of the season). Rice has been Arteta's primary target for a long time by the looks of things. He seems to see Rice in his midfield for the next several years.
 
Blood Mage said:
Every time I watch them Partey looks like their best player. Rice looks like a bit of a pointless signing for them at the moment when they already had a top class DM.
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Because he's class for 80% of games, and to be fair for 20% he's a liability.

But he's also older and injury prone so Rice will be useful long term. I still think Rice can replace Xhaka (Different profiles but in position)
 
Great game, goals, entertainment, drama, solo efforts, high intensity etc. Think the Americans enjoyed it a lot.

That stadium though... different level. Best stadium in the world currently?
 
Blood Mage said:
Every time I watch them Partey looks like their best player. Rice looks like a bit of a pointless signing for them at the moment when they already had a top class DM.
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I'd like to see them play together against the top sides. Rice - Partey - Odegaard is a solid midfield.
 
tinfish said:
Great game, goals, entertainment, drama, solo efforts, high intensity etc. Think the Americans enjoyed it a lot.

That stadium though... different level. Best stadium in the world currently?
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It should be for 5.5 billion dollars ! It has the biggest screen in the world that weighs 2.2 million pounds :lol:
Too bad for that money they don't have a proper pitch switching system...
 
mu4c_20le said:
75m down the drain
Kai Havertz benched again
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75m? I heard it was actually 85m.

Pretty crazy to sign a player for 95m and bench him, hopefully Arteta knows what he's doing.
 
Daydreamer said:
I don’t think anyone is saying we only have eleven players.

I also don’t think anyone is saying that squad depth is the only issue Arsenal had last season.

A few people (myself included) are saying the following:
  • City have arguably the best squad on the planet
  • Leagues are usually won by the team with the deepest squad
  • Arsenal having inferior squad depth to City was therefore a major factor in their unsuccessful title challenge
For some some reason, these points have become contentious. I’d love someone to explain which of those three points they disagree with and why.
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You're pretty much spot on. But you forgot a crucial 4th point. City cheated and continue to cheat to win. If Arsenal, or any other club, try to compete fairly, they will fail most of the time against such an imbalance.
 
Daydreamer said:
I don’t think anyone is saying we only have eleven players.

I also don’t think anyone is saying that squad depth is the only issue Arsenal had last season.

A few people (myself included) are saying the following:
  • City have arguably the best squad on the planet
  • Leagues are usually won by the team with the deepest squad
  • Arsenal having inferior squad depth to City was therefore a major factor in their unsuccessful title challenge
For some some reason, these points have become contentious. I’d love someone to explain which of those three points they disagree with and why.
Click to expand...
City is the better team so they won the league title. They even won the treble.
 
First trophy in the bag! :wenger:



In all seriousness, had a fairly mixed pre season, some good stuff, some poor stuff, don't look as fluid as we did last pre season so thats a bit concerning.

Also, Jesus missed today's game with a knee injury so hope that's not too serious! :eek:
 
Great, probably means 3 months knowing us.

Must be a doubt for the Utd game?

 
I really think they are going to under deliver this season…..the way all the pundits are talking about them and blowing smoke up Artetas arse is painful to hear….

Wouldn’t be surprised if they don’t make top 4 behind City, Utd, Liverpool & Chelsea.

Over achieved last season - not easy to do that 2 seasons on the trot…..will struggle to score enough goals
 
GoonerBear said:
Great, probably means 3 months knowing us.

Must be a doubt for the Utd game?

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Few months at least. Never heard of a knee surgery being a 3/4/5 week turnaround.
Pre season is always the worst time to get injured as well, there isn’t a level of fitness built up to fall back on
 
We're very overrated in the mainstream and social media. Artetas overbearing management style combined with complicated tactics will cause player burnout.

Got outplayed by Monaco. Albeit we didn't have all our main starters, it's still concerning. With Jesus out, we need a new striker.
 
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