Arsenal vs Forest 12.08.2023 KO: 12:30

[HCZ_Reborn]

This will be a game where Arteta has to figure out who to play next to either Rice or Partey as he simply can’t play them both in a game like this (you can’t stodge up the midfield when you’re playing a team that will be playing for a draw)

My preference for games like this would be Zinchenko but he’s not fit or some shit


So I’d stick Trossard in there


Team id play

Ramsdale, Tierney, Gabriel, Saliba, Timber, Trossard, Partey, Odegaard, Martinelli, Havertz, Saka


(Almost certainly won’t be team that plays)


If Jesus hadn’t done himself a mischief I’d play Havertz as no10 and drop Odegaard as he was shockingly bad pre-season (but then again so was Jesus)

[Marc Overmars]

Would play Eddie instead of Havertz but I don’t see that happening.

Regardless of what the line up is though, this must be 3 points or it will be a rather embarrassing start.

[HCZ_Reborn]

Would play Eddie instead of Havertz but I don’t see that happening.

Regardless of what the line up is though, this must be 3 points or it will be a rather embarrassing start.

Oh we aren’t winning this game. 1-1 draw I reckon

[Marc Overmars]

I wouldn’t be shocked really. Pre-season was god awful but hopefully they’ve dusted themselves off.

[LDG]

Travel in is mental. Trains fucked, wouldn’t be suprised if the KO is delayed

Bloody hundreds of Gooners not getting into the trains

[HCZ_Reborn]

Pointless statistics time

Our record in the premier league era on the opening day stands at

17 wins
6 draws
8 defeats


We’ve previously started the season playing at home first 20 times and playing away first 11 times


Home record

11 wins 3 draws 6 defeats


Away record

6 wins 3 draws 2 defeats



Nottingham Forest are one of 11 teams we have played previously on an opening day of the season. The last time was in the 1998/1999 season where we scraped a 2-1 home win


This will be the first time we’ve started the season with a home fixture in five years, and first time in three years that we’ve started by playing a Saturday lunchtime fixture.


Only four times previously has a new signing netted for us on the opening day of the season


Nasri in 2008/2009 against West Brom

Vermaelen in 2009/2010 against Everton

Lacazette in 2017/2018 against Leicester

Gabriel in 2020/2021 against Fulham


Scored 54 goals in previous 31 opening day fixtures

Conceded 35

[HCZ_Reborn]

Travel in is mental. Trains fucked, wouldn’t be suprised if the KO is delayed

Bloody hundreds of Gooners not getting into the trains

Industrial action this weekend isn’t it I think?

At least when it’s just rail works they lay on replacement buses

[Mac76]

This will be a game where Arteta has to figure out who to play next to either Rice or Partey as he simply can’t play them both in a game like this (you can’t stodge up the midfield when you’re playing a team that will be playing for a draw)

My preference for games like this would be Zinchenko but he’s not fit or some shit


So I’d stick Trossard in there


Team id play

Ramsdale, Tierney, Gabriel, Saliba, Timber, Trossard, Partey, Odegaard, Martinelli, Havertz, Saka


(Almost certainly won’t be team that plays)


If Jesus hadn’t done himself a mischief I’d play Havertz as no10 and drop Odegaard as he was shockingly bad pre-season (but then again so was Jesus)

Leaving out Rice is silly, he's good at keeping possession i'd play your team but with Rice instead of Havertz

[HCZ_Reborn]

As I say you can’t have Rice and Partey playing together in a game like this, stodges up the midfield. You don’t need two defensive minded midfielders in games like Forest at home. If you can’t keep possession at home against such teams you’re fucked to begin with.

[HCZ_Reborn]

I can’t even

What kind of fucking starting XI is that you autistic weirdo


Honestly, the guy needs to be sectioned. He’s a danger to himself and others

[Marc Overmars]

Team to play Nottingham Forest: Ramsdale; Partey, Saliba, White, Timber; Rice, Odegaard, Havertz; Saka, Nketiah, Martinelli
Substitutes: Hein, Gabriel, Smith Rowe, Kiwior, Tomiyasu, Trossard, Jorginho, Vieira, Nelson

Partey at right back? Fuck off.

[HCZ_Reborn]

I’m revising my prediction. Forest to win 2-0

[Marc Overmars]

No idea why Gabriel has made way for White in the middle too.

Just weird.

[HCZ_Reborn]

No idea why Gabriel has made way for White in the middle too.

Just weird.


Apparently not fully fit. But then we have Kiwior.

[21_GOONER_SALUTE]

Team to play Nottingham Forest: Ramsdale; Partey, Saliba, White, Timber; Rice, Odegaard, Havertz; Saka, Nketiah, Martinelli
Substitutes: Hein, Gabriel, Smith Rowe, Kiwior, Tomiyasu, Trossard, Jorginho, Vieira, Nelson

Partey at right back? Fuck off.

Ok, this seems positive. If Trossard had started it would have been extremely positive.

Must say I didn't see this coming. I think I'll revise my earlier predictions, we'll score at least twice today. Just hope the defence will hold out.

[Marc Overmars]

Apparently not fully fit. But then we have Kiwior.

Fair enough.

I think he’s gone full retard anyway in wanting to make almost every player on the pitch fluid with their positioning. Might get away with it today but this is nonsense if this is how the season is going to pan out.

[HCZ_Reborn]

Ok, this seems positive. If Trossard had started it would have been extremely positive.

Must say I didn't see this coming. I think I'll revise my earlier predictions, we'll score at least twice today. Just hope the defence will hold out.

A different definition of the word positive that I’ve previously been unaware of

I agree that Trossard should have started but so should Kiwior and Tierney. With Rice and Nketiah dropping to the bench


Partey and Trossard in midfield, Havertz up front

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Team to play Nottingham Forest: Ramsdale; Partey, Saliba, White, Timber; Rice, Odegaard, Havertz; Saka, Nketiah, Martinelli
Substitutes: Hein, Gabriel, Smith Rowe, Kiwior, Tomiyasu, Trossard, Jorginho, Vieira, Nelson

Partey at right back? Fuck off.

Nottingham Forest: Turner, Worrall, Mangala, Gibbs-White, Johnson, Yates, Aurier, McKenna, Danilo, Boly, Aina.
Subs: Hovarth, Williams, Kouyate, Awoniyi, Chris Wood, Niakhate, Elanga, Freuler, O’Brien.

[Marc Overmars]

A different definition of the word positive that I’ve previously been unaware of

I agree that Trossard should have started but so should Kiwior and Tierney. With Rice and Nketiah dropping to the bench


Partey and Trossard in midfield, Havertz up front

Perhaps safe to assume Rice and Havertz are automatic staters. He’d never leave them out after spunking what we did on them.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Agent Turner to chuck some in. :bow:

[Marc Overmars]

Kick off delayed till 1pm.

[Marc Overmars]

Delay caused by the new e-ticketing system. :lol:

[Mac76]

Delay caused by the new e-ticketing system. :lol:

I knew that would happen, i'm not at the game but glad to avoid the shitshow

[The Wengerbabies]

This obsession with having an app for everything and forcing you to have a smartphone is a blight on society

[The Wengerbabies]

Trossard should be the first name on the team sheet

[HCZ_Reborn]

I knew that would happen, i'm not at the game but glad to avoid the shitshow

Not been since the 2021/2022 season. What is the difference to the system now. Is it all cards ?

I used to just scan my phone

[21_GOONER_SALUTE]

A different definition of the word positive that I’ve previously been unaware of

I agree that Trossard should have started but so should Kiwior and Tierney. With Rice and Nketiah dropping to the bench


Partey and Trossard in midfield, Havertz up front

Ok, so why I'm terming it positive is our best players are playing, except for Trossard who is far above every attacker (except for Saka) ATM.

Would I have preferred Partey, playing in his normal position...of course, however he's still on the team sheet and will probably still drift in the middle, especially with the absence of Zinchenko in this team. Of all our starting defenders IMO, Gabriel and White are the weakest, and if I had to pick between 2 of them, I have a soft spot for White so would probably go with him.

It's a positive team because he has set it up to control the game and create and utilise more chances. I like the fact we have 2 forwards which will push Eddie to make the best of what he gets today or Kai will make him look silly.

So yeah, that's why I'm terming it positive, mainly cause our best players are on the field and I think I get what he's trying to do to avoid being overly defensive as we were against Citeh.

[HCZ_Reborn]

Ok, so why I'm terming it positive is our best players are playing, except for Trossard who is far above every attacker (except for Saka) ATM.

Would I have preferred Partey, playing in his normal position...of course, however he's still on the team sheet and will probably still drift in the middle, especially with the absence of Zinchenko in this team. Of all our starting defenders IMO, Gabriel and White are the weakest, and if I had to pick between 2 of them, I have a soft spot for White so would probably go with him.

It's a positive team because he has set it up to control the game and create and utilise more chances. I like the fact we have 2 forwards which will push Eddie to make the best of what he gets today or Kai will make him look silly.

So yeah, that's why I'm terming it positive, mainly cause our best players are on the field and I think I get what he's trying to do to avoid being overly defensive as we were against Citeh.


Fair enough

Let me explain why I think it’s not positive

Having the best players means nothing if they are playing in the wrong position

Gabriel is unfit? That’s why we have Kiwior. We are expected to play out from the back without a single left footed player


Partey at right back is a travesty makes you wonder what’s the point of having Timber. Who is at left back where he is too defensive to get the ball forward essentially isolating Havertz who lacks the skill set to play LCM…but also isolating martinelli and putting all the pressure on Saka to be our attacking focal point.

[Marc Overmars]

Come on you Gunners!

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Us. :lol:

[Marc Overmars]

Johnson through on goal and puts it over.

Already caught out and should be 0-1 down.

[HCZ_Reborn]

So even though we are essentially playing with three centre backs we are still pushing up, so all they need to do to score against us is have someone quick enough to beat our offside trap by holding their run to a long ball

That Arteta, he’s a fucking genius isn’t he

[Marc Overmars]

Lots of probing but nothing incisive yet. This might be a long afternoon with their parked bus.

[HCZ_Reborn]

Odegaard bringing in his form from pre-season I see

[Munchies]

need the first goal asap

[McNamara That Ghost...]

NKETIAH!!!

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Martinelli. :bow:

[Marc Overmars]

EDDIE!!!! Great finish.

Lovely work from Martinelli too.

[GP]

Brilliant.

[Munchies]

there it is!

[Mac76]

Not been since the 2021/2022 season. What is the difference to the system now. Is it all cards ?

I used to just scan my phone

It was an electronic card until now, but you now have to use your phone, i just knew it would be a shitshow, i've a decent smartphone but i hate all that scanning stuff, what if you run out of battery ffs?

[Mac76]

Btw sounds like Eddie's missing sitters as usual

[Marc Overmars]

Do Jesus or Havertz shape to shoot in that position?

There was still a little bit to do and that fell to the right player.

[Marc Overmars]

SAKA!!!!!!

Wow

[McNamara That Ghost...]

SAKA!!! Holy shit.

[GP]

GET FUCKED!!!!

[HCZ_Reborn]

It was an electronic card until now, but you now have to use your phone, i just knew it would be a shitshow, i've a decent smartphone but i hate all that scanning stuff, what if you run out of battery ffs?

Yeah that’s what I thought. I personally have a portable charger but it’s exactly the kind of thing they wouldn’t let me into the ground with when they do the mandatory bag check because type of thing you could use as a projectile.

But I normally have enough charge to have the email copy of the ticket and just scan the barcode. What’s the idea other than conserving paper?

[Mac76]

Yeah that’s what I thought. I personally have a portable charger but it’s exactly the kind of thing they wouldn’t let me into the ground with when they do the mandatory bag check because type of thing you could use as a projectile.

But I normally have enough charge to have the email copy of the ticket and just scan the barcode. What’s the idea other than conserving paper?

It's to do with stopping touts i think

[Marc Overmars]

Martinelli has his fullback on toast.

[Marc Overmars]

Partey skinned but thankfully nothing came of it.

[Marc Overmars]

Timber hobbling off. Hopefully he’s ok.

[GP]

Good stuff.

[Marc Overmars]

HT 2-0

Controlled it and scored 2 nice goals.

Could so easily have been 0-1 down but no harm done…for now.

[HCZ_Reborn]

Bailed out by Martinelli and Saka.

Even Timber was apalling first half, almost a blessing that he seems to have nobbled himself

Partey….has he got undiagnosed motor neuron disease?

I suppose if nothing else, anyone who has watched this game won’t be disappointed when we don’t win the title. Because there is no realistic prospect of that.

[Marc Overmars]

Timber has gone down. Doesn’t look good.

FFS.

[Marc Overmars]

Possibly his knee which is fucking terrible luck.

[dostoy]

Why are Arsenal easing off now?

They should be trying to score more goals,.

They get complacent so quickly, and it's a very bad habit.

[Marc Overmars]

Eddie off, Trossard on

[HCZ_Reborn]

Why are Arsenal easing off now?

They should be trying to score more goals,.

They get complacent so quickly, and it's a very bad habit.

Because most of last season we ended up conceding goals in the second half of games where we were already comfortably in the lead, didn’t have the finishers to guarantee we’d extend our lead and ended up being caught on the break.

Plus we’ve scored two goals benefitting from tremendous individual play in an otherwise poor performance

[Marc Overmars]

Rice shot saved onto the post!

[WMUG]

It's to do with stopping touts i think

Which it hasn't at all.

Me and dad aren't in the country so gave the tickets to a friend.

We just forwarded him the email and it worked :doh:

[Marc Overmars]

Looks like we’ve run out of steam here and now playing on auto pilot.

[HCZ_Reborn]

Which it hasn't at all.

Me and dad aren't in the country so gave the tickets to a friend.

We just forwarded him the email and it worked :doh:

That’s how I’ve got most of my tickets recently. Cancelled the red membership years back

[HCZ_Reborn]

Looks like we’ve run out of steam here and now playing on auto pilot.

Boly should have scored. Forest should have had minimum two goals here.

As keep saying, woeful performance…papered over by two individual bits of brilliance

[Marc Overmars]

Rice hits one into the ground which is saved.

[HCZ_Reborn]

And there we go 2-1

[Marc Overmars]

2-1 :rolleyes:

[HCZ_Reborn]

Very least they deserve, they’ve clearly been too modest to accept all the other gifts we keep giving them

[Marc Overmars]

This is why we’re not going to win the league.

Again, making a straight forward win a life and death situation.

[dostoy]

They eased off far too much. It's been like this for years. This is one of the easiest games of the season and they are struggling to hold on.

[Marc Overmars]

Gabriel on, Martinelli off.

A change that’s only going to invite more pressure.

[HCZ_Reborn]

They eased off far too much. It's been like this for years. This is one of the easiest games of the season and they are struggling to hold on.

They scored on the break after a corner of ours came to nothing

[Mac76]

That’s how I’ve got most of my tickets recently. Cancelled the red membership years back

Well quite, these things are guaranteed to inconvenience legitimate fans while doing nothing to stop touting

[Mac76]

They scored on the break after a corner of ours came to nothing

This is why i don't pick any of our defenders for my FPL team, we're unlikely to win many games to nil IMP

[HCZ_Reborn]

This is why i don't pick any of our defenders for my FPL team, we're unlikely to win many games to nil IMP

Ridiculously really, we have some of the best defenders in the league but they are being screwed over by this insistence on playing this high line

[Marc Overmars]

Always amuses me how suddenly the opponent forwards turn into beasts after doing fuck all for 90% of the game.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

2-1 FT. :bow:

What a win.

[Marc Overmars]

FT 2-1.

Just so unnecessarily close.

[HCZ_Reborn]

Absolutely atrocious from start to finish

Thankfully Saka and Martinelli bailed us out. Otherwise we’d have deserved to lose. Of course we dominated possession and chances, but when you have no natural finishers and you keep on presenting the opposition with chance after chance after chance they’ll eventually take one.


We scraped through against last season’s worst away team. Top four is not happening, a title challenge is laughable. This is going to be a hard season but going to celebrate so hard when Arteta gets sacked.

[Letters]

We scraped through against last season’s worst away team. Top four is not happening
:lol:

Holy shit calm down, dude! Weren't you the one saying top 4 wasn't wrapped up mid way through last season when we had a little wobble?
Chill. Winning games where you don't play well is the Stuff of Champions

(I don't think we'll win the league, but I'm confident of Top 4. I don't think there are more than 3 better teams than us).

[Marc Overmars]

A couple moments of brilliance gets us the 3 points but once again we navigate a straight forward game to the point of life and death. Not particularly encouraging given this is a trait that was rife throughout last season. There’s a reason you rarely see City involved in games like this.

Probably be better at Palace at least. The system should fare better away from home.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

It's an opening day win and that is all that matters.

[LDG]

Saka should be benched for that second half performance. Awful.

People still have no clue about football on here though:lol:

[21_GOONER_SALUTE]

FT 2-1.

Just so unnecessarily close.

Yeah, unnecessarily close at the end but I think I am happy especially with the way we setout in the first half- it shows Arteta can see that creativity is an issue.

One thing for sure is we can't play like this against everyone, and a lot of tweaking needs to be done. But I do think, most of our problems now emanate from the fact that Arteta feels the need to start all the newbies which is ridiculous.

Again pretty happy with Timber's display and contribution till he left.

[HCZ_Reborn]

:lol:

Holy shit calm down, dude! Weren't you the one saying top 4 wasn't wrapped up mid way through last season when we had a little wobble?
Chill. Winning games where you don't play well is the Stuff of Champions

(I don't think we'll win the league, but I'm confident of Top 4. I don't think there are more than 3 better teams than us).

In terms of chances created and possession we did play well. But we have no finishers and we are committed to holding a high line which teams have worked out how to play against. Forest probably should have won today because of the space we gave them.

This is the best league in the world, you simply cannot have a coach like Arteta sandbagging us this way and expecting to finish top four.

[Letters]

This is why we’re not going to win the league.

Again, making a straight forward win a life and death situation.

I agree with this. I didn't see the game but from the accounts here there was a worrying taking a foot off the gas which resulted in a closer result than it should have been.
A win's a win but you're not going to keep getting away with stuff like that.

[HCZ_Reborn]

Yeah, unnecessarily close at the end but I think I am happy especially with the way we setout in the first half- it shows Arteta can see that creativity is an issue.

One thing for sure is we can't play like this against everyone, and a lot of tweaking needs to be done. But I do think, most of our problems now emanate from the fact that Arteta feels the need to start all the newbies which is ridiculous.

Again pretty happy with Timber's display and contribution till he left.


We’ve kept four clean sheets in last 25 home games. What makes you think Arteta is teachable. We’ve spunked all our money now so doesn’t matter what he notices anyway

[HCZ_Reborn]

I agree with this. I didn't see the game but from the accounts here there was a worrying taking a foot off the gas which resulted in a closer result than it should have been.
A win's a win but you're not going to keep getting away with stuff like that.

Again No. we conceded on the break. If we’d take our foot off the gas we wouldn’t have had so many people committed forward. It’s just a lazy metaphor employed by overpaid sky sports pundits who don’t have a single original thought between them.

The problem isn’t taking our foot off the gas, it’s an unbalanced squad and a poor tactical set up. We were begging them to score all game. Not being able to finish your chances isn’t taking your foot off the gas, it’s having players with no finishing ability

[Letters]

Again No. we conceded on the break. If we’d take our foot off the gas we wouldn’t have had so many people committed forward. It’s just a lazy metaphor employed by overpaid sky sports pundits who don’t have a single original thought between them.

The problem isn’t taking our foot off the gas, it’s an unbalanced squad and a poor tactical set up. We were begging them to score all game. Not being able to finish your chances isn’t taking your foot off the gas, it’s having players with no finishing ability

As discussed, I didn't see the game. I was going by the comments on here - it's what people on here seemed to think we'd done.
But I do agree about the lack of a finisher. It's weird, because last year we only scored 6 fewer goals than City, so we're doing something right, but we are over-reliant on midfielders chipping in. We don't have a Haaland or, dare I say it, a Kane.

[Mac76]

We’ve kept four clean sheets in last 25 home games

Didn't realise it was that bad, that's a shocking stat

[HCZ_Reborn]

Didn't realise it was that bad, that's a shocking stat

It’s also not true…apologies it’s actually five in 25 (which makes all the difference :lol: )

And to be specific it’s in the league so doesn’t include cup/European games

But yes it’s bad. And it’s curious that its counteracted by keeping ten clean sheets away from home last season

[Letters]

72% of statistics are made up on the spot...

But yeah, that's not exactly ideal. Need to sort that out of we're going to challenge. I mean, we did challenge last year despite that, but we certainly dropped silly points because of our inability to keep clean sheets.

[HCZ_Reborn]

72% of statistics are made up on the spot...

But yeah, that's not exactly ideal. Need to sort that out of we're going to challenge. I mean, we did challenge last year despite that, but we certainly dropped silly points because of our inability to keep clean sheets.

It’s not a bug it’s a feature

We play a very high line in order to play the offside trap and make sure we can win back the ball high up the pitch, because actually sitting back you might realise that inverted full backs aren’t too great for getting the ball up the pitch quickly.

In buying Rice we’ve committed ourselves to not being able to properly transition between defence and attack in a way that means we don’t have to play this unfeasibly high line. Actually having someone who can carry the ball from the back four to the midfield like oh I don’t know Moises Caicedo would have helped.

What would also help is not having a galaxy brained imbecile like Arteta.

[mandela8]

Saka should be benched for that second half performance. Awful.



<wipes tear>

[FootieJohn909]

Theres more sense in a dumb stick than there is in Forest