Arsenal Thread | 2024/25

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bridgeno1 said:
Nobody is thrashing Arsenal. We might not get through but it will be at least competitive. Our defence will make sure.

I'd rather play Real than Atletico though from the perspective of getting through. Real are obviously a very talented side but they like to attack and for all their A player attackers they aren't super strong in midfield and at the back and I think we could overpower their midfield, with our defence doing a decent job of keeping Mbappe/Vini at bay.

Atletico on the other hand are Arsenal's worst nightmare. Defensively solid, able to play a low block, effective on the break. No thank you - bring on Real.
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Sorry pal but just like us you are winning nothing this season and we have been absolutely shocking by our normal standards.
 
Come on after they beat you we sll know this was coming a way over the top emotional club going over the top with celebrations but when it really matters this us what they are really all about.
We can all see its gonna hapoen but it becomes funnier season after season
 
I was very disappointed in Arsenal yesterday. Had an acca at the weekend. The 1st 6 teams won on Saturday meaning I was relying on Arsenal for £355. Should have known to not go with my heart rather than my head
 
Turns out that julian fella on AFTV is a porn film director
 

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youngbob said:
I find all this "stay humble eh" stuff from Arsenal to be really cute. They've been little more than a joke to basically everyone for about 15 years, so they're jumping like mad at the first sight that they might be a great team again. What's all this "stay humble eh" nonsense gonna be for if they come up short and win nothing - again? You can't go round giving it bigun and then get yourself knocked out of both cups in the space of a few weeks while lagging behind in yet another title race.

Fact is, ever since the Adebayor knee slide they've been absolutely desperate to get one back over City. That day dented their ego and that entire period, as we went past them in the league while nicking their best players, did so much damage that they've never really recovered. So, exactly like they're doing now, they'll cling on to literally anything to feel like the big boys in the playground again. "Stay humble eh" is all they've got, let them have it.

When we went to the Emirates in 2010 and deliberately stank the place out to get a 0-0 they chanted "Boring boring City" at us. The pro-Arsenal pundits were apoplectic at full-time and called us all the names under the sun they could think of. Said we were approaching football the wrong way and that Arsenal's tactics were pure of heart. We ultimately finished above them in 3rd and won the FA Cup while Arsenal finished the season empty-handed.

When we went there in 2012 and beat them 1-0 to get into the next round of the League Cup, that Arsenal lad Frimpong ripped his shirt off at full-time to reveal his "DENCH" vest and decided to give Nasri a slap for some reason. Arsenal fans had a big laugh about that and called Nasri a fool for leaving. Nasri ended up winning the title in 2012 and Piers Morgan had to give him £10,000, and then Nasri beat them to the title again in 2014.

Frimpong was last seen playing in Cyprus and retired at the age of 26.

What they really, really can't stand is that we replaced them in the old "Big Four". Even before Pep came, we took their place, signed their best players, and won their titles. We took Nasri and Clichy out of a team that had won nothing since 2005 and immediately made them winners and champions. And they couldn't fucking stand it. But because they were nowhere near the top table between 2016 and 2022 they could do fuck all about it.

Which is why the game that really got in their heads and broke them psychologically was the 2-1 win on New Year's Day in 2022. Arsenal thought they were on our level suddenly, but shot themselves in the foot with the stupid red card and the silly penalty they gave away. Then we nicked it at the end. And it went right back to the 0-0 in 2010 in their heads - pro-Arsenal pundits in fits of rage that we'd done a job on them, unable to comprehend what had happened, claiming some cosmic injustice.

Since then they've had a major vendetta against us - they'll never admit it but it's absolutely true. You can see it on their faces that we rattle them to an insane degree. Rodri celebrating that winning goal flipped a switch. But they bottled it and collapsed in 2023, then bottled it and collapsed again in 2024. Rodri spoke honestly and saw right through them, that Arsenal don't have the mentality to win title races because they fold under pressure.

Haaland looked them dead in the eye earlier this season and said "Don't start acting like big men until you become big men" and they still just do not get it. They think one win in the league over a depleted City side suddenly makes up for two bottled titles and somehow makes them top dogs over us. Forgetting, of course, Haaland's point - that they've done absolutely nothing to justify how uppity and arrogant they've become.

What's funny to me is that, finally, City aren't good enough to win the league, but Liverpool have just breezed past Arsenal despite spending fuck all in the summer or January. Because Liverpool as a club, as an institution, knows how to win. We beat them to two titles by inches but it never broke them - they never got this stressed about it. They just moved on, won the league ahead of us in 2020, and they're going to win the league again this season.

By June, Arsenal will have gone 21 years without a title. 24/25 was their season to do it: City have finally fallen, Liverpool have lost Klopp, and Chelsea aren't the finished article yet. But Arsenal still can't get there. It's eating away at them like it has been ever since Gallas burst into tears at Birmingham all those years ago. They deliberately misunderstand the "stay humble eh" comment because if they acknowledge the truth of it, they'll snap again.

Can you imagine what it would be like if all we had over Arsenal, after all this time, was the Adebayor knee slide? What would it say about our failure to reach our own objectives? If all we had for ammo against Arsenal was the Adebayor knee slide it would mean they'd bested us on the pitch for 15 years. Instead we've overtaken them in every department, on the pitch and off it, to the point where nobody at City really brings Adebayor up anymore.

It's like that scene in Mad Men when your man turns to Don Draper in the lift and says "I feel bad for you". Don doesn't even look at him, he just says "I don't think about you at all" and walks off. That's us with Arsenal. They can shout "Stay humble eh" until they're blue in the face but they're still gonna finish this season with as many trophies as us. Zero. Actually, scratch that, we've got the Community Shield, so we've already got one more than they do.

I wanted to like Arsenal under Arteta. He was a terrific assistant for City during an incredible era for us and he deserved to make it on his own. But ever since that run they had at the start of the 22/23 season, they've become so entitled and arrogant. A reminder for us all that Arsenal fans - despite the last 20 years - just expect to win trophies simply because they've turned up. A far worse bunch than Liverpool by every conceivable measure.
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Stand by every word of this a month later. They just do not get it, at all. Declan Rice shushing the Old Trafford crowd after the equaliser yesterday, instead of getting the ball and starting the game again ASAP, sums them up.
 
youngbob said:
Stand by every word of this a month later. They just do not get it, at all. Declan Rice shushing the Old Trafford crowd after the equaliser yesterday, instead of getting the ball and starting the game again ASAP, sums them up.
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Same Declan Rice that couldn't hide his joy when Rodri limped off. Probably thought they'd just won the league
 
Ok rant warning.

That was absolute garbage yesterday. This was an opportunity to stick it to an absolute scumbag team that has historically cheated its way to get PL titles ahead of us. Whether it's kicking the hell out of our players or the Big Nosed w*nker pressuring the refs to add on time or gain penalties, yesterday was a chance to humiliate United and put them in a negative mindset so they go out against Sociedad and their season is done. All we've done instead is give them hope and belief and if those twats end up winning the EL and getting a CL spot I'll be fuming.

1st half we were well in control possession wise but once again football games aren't won based on the number of sideways passes you make. Low blocks can get bypassed if you go down the sides but once again tactically we messed that up.

Odegaard has been poor this season and he's a bit of a wet lettuce personality wise so I'd remove him as captain and give the armband to Rice or Maghalaes instead - both of whom have more drive. I'd contemplate selling Odegaard (maybe even to City as a ready-made KDB replacement) if we can get £80m+ for him as we have the situation coming soon where Saka will be back and will get into the team and that will force Nwaneri out. Nwaneri is young but should be a starter and maybe he can take over from Odegaard as that's his best position anyway.

It's been mentioned many times before and I'll do it again - our summer transfer window was negligent. Signing Merino (who doesn't get into our 1st XI in midfield) and not signing a striker, only to now play Merino - AS A STRIKER is just mindbogglingly stupid. That's on Arteta and the board. Talk of signing Isak is nonsense - why the hell would he go to Arsenal when he could walk into other teams where he'd be guaranteed trophies. Isn't going to happen so we'll get a Sesko or someone like that who is unproven in the PL and could well end up being a Hoijlund. We had the chance to get Toney for £45m in the summer - what on earth compelled the board to sign another DCM instead?

There are some on-field tactical fuck ups as well. We are very passive in progression and rarely cut loose - additionally Arteta likes to play Lewis-Skelly ahead of Calafiori. I like to see youth come through the academy (are you listening Rag scum - pinching them from other clubs' academies isn't the same) and we have a decent crop coming through. Nwaneri is a supreme talent, he could turn out to be a generational one. Lewis-Skelly is a decent player but absolutely nowhere near the same potential as Nwaneri and Calafiori is a better left back. So play the Italian National Team defender you spent a fortune on instead of the 18 year old (who is actually a midfielder) who spends half his games getting red cards.

Regardless, with the squad we have, I ask myself, 'would we have done better with another manager? Would Pep have finished higher? Simeone? Ancelotti? Inzaghi?' I think the answer is yes so that's something the board need to ponder on given the fact Arteta has been given a ton of money. A truly elite manager is needed to take the club to the next step. We've just signed an elite Sporting Director (from Atletico). I wonder what he'll make of it and if he sees Arteta as the way forward given the fact he's worked with Simeone for the past years. Arteta is probably Poundland Simeone by comparison - maybe we should try and get the real deal!
 
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