TBH I’m excited for the League Cup

by imothyt

Game day! League Cup! And for the first time in years, I’m excited to watch todays match because I think three of Arsenal’s most hotly attended players will start today. I’m talking, of course, about Tierney-Bellerin-Holding. TBH. They could also go by the acronym THB or BHT but never HTB or HBT. That would sound odd.

I’m shaving my own expectations down a few so as not to put too much weight on their return but this is the moment that I think many of us have been waiting for. It’s not silly at all to think that the Arsenal defense, that the Arsenal midfield, and that the Arsenal’s overall possession game will improve with better ball-playing wide men and a much more physically commanding center back.

That said, Tierney and Bellerin might not start. Holding is going in to the team, but Unai Emery seemed to be hesitant to use Tierney and Bellerin because they played for the U23 just two days ago. They could come off the bench. I’m just excited to see them in any capacity.

It’s also a chance for Aubameyang to get a rest and for some of Arsenal’s other players to get a run out. Up top, Arsenal should probably start Saka, Martinelli, and personally I’d like to see Nelson. But there could be a surprise or two there.

And in midfield, Arsenal have a problem: too many good midfielders. Willock needs to start – he’s one of my favorites right now. I actually think he should be converted into a defensive mid. With his size and power, along with his silky-smooth ball control and passing, he could be one of the best DMs in the League in a few years. I’m prone to hyperbole so take that last bit with some cod liver oil but the point is that I like him and I’d like to see him start.

Guendouzi needs to be rested and Ozil also needs to play, so I would like to see Ozil given some minutes. This is going to be my only word on “the Ozil Situation”.

There’s definitely something going on between him and Emery and honestly I don’t care anymore. I’m not an accountant so I don’t care about his salary. If Emery doesn’t play him I also don’t care as long as the team are playing well. We aren’t really playing well but I’m also not really convinced that Ozil is the answer. He’s not proven to be well suited to whatever football Emery is playing (which is it’s own problem).

I’d like to see Ozil play, I think he adds a lot to the team. But maybe these two just don’t work together? It happens. You’ve all had acquaintances that you just didn’t get on with, right? People at work that you just can’t collaborate with? That’s this situation. If Emery were a bigger man, he would find a way to work with Ozil. If Ozil were more professional he’d find a way to work with Emery. But sadly, they are both being little men as far as I can tell.

Ha! There, I managed to alienate the ENTIRE Arsenal fan base.

And while I’m at it, here’s my word on Guendouzi. He’s fucking Ginormous. I have publicly been asking for him to replace Xhaka for a while now and I haven’t changed my mind. If he can play with the same passion he showed on Sunday, he should be captain of the club.

Here’s the thing though: you have to be prepared to see him “switch off” on defense. I remember complaining about this last season and for whatever reason he hasn’t worked on it. I wish I was a coach – there are some coaches who read/comment here, maybe they can help? If I was a coach maybe I would know why players switch off like that and what to do to stop it. I don’t though. So, since I don’t know, and since he’s done it pretty consistently, I am resigning myself to acceptance. Cesc Fabregas was a pretty terrible defender. Not that Guendo is a Fabregas (yet) but if he’s near that level I can accept the same terrible defending from him as I did with Fabregas.

Anyway, I have to exercise. The game is on ESPN plus and while I can’t recommend you pay for more streaming services I have to admit that ESPN plus offers the most bang for the buck. You get Serie A games, you get all of the cup matches (including the Europa League and the Champions League), and I think there’s some other sports in there if you’re interested. I saw Professional Lacrosse the other day.

That’s it. I’m excited to watch the Carabao Cup. Weird.

Qq

37 comments

  1. Totally agree. The Ozil situation is beyond weird at this point. I’m guessing Edu and Raul must also agree with how Emery is handling it?

    Anyway, I think our attacking coordination and defensive structure will improve with two proper wingbacks.

    Buzzing to watch us use the full squad tonight. Beware of Forest though!

    1. “I’m guessing Edu and Raul must also agree with how Emery is handling it?”

      This.

      How come nobody is talking about the possibility that upper management is backing this? Wage bill/salary cap and all.

      There’s only been talking about how Emery “hates” Ozil and stuff. Seems a bit too one-sided to me.

    1. He’s progressing exactly as expected. That means physically adapting to the Premier League. Also, Emery seems to insist on using him as some weird 8/10 but he’s not strong enough nor fast enough to play defense in our league. That doesn’t mean he never could but it does mean that I’m not sold on him as a permanent player. That leaves me back where I was at the start of the season: this was a dumb loan deal. I mean not epic dumb but unless he gets significantly better, very quickly, it’s a bust of a deal and he will soon lose his place to guys like Willock and ESR

        1. I wouldn’t, since he is a good playmaker who is capable of pressing and for Spuds to lose him to us would hurt twice lol

  4. I get exercised just watching Arsenal these days. I’d like to see our Academy players take Nott Forrest to task, but hey I’d love to see us take anybody to task.

    How did we get here with Ozil? This is totally, to borrow from US army soldier lingo, FUBAR. It went from Wenger SNAFU to Emery FUBAR.

    I’m watching the Rugby World Cup, which I think is totally awesome. Just saying. Ozil would turn into German schnitzel or Turkish delight if he tried to play rubgy. Just saying.

      1. Thanks. Are you in the USA? Both Arsenal.com and other websites that I have seen only list BR Live for Europa League.

  7. This is going to be my only word on “the Ozil Situation”.

    * writes two more paragraphs on the Ozil situation.

    Lol

    I couldn’t agree more though. I think there is fault with both parties here but an arguement can be made that it’s upto the manager to find a way to integrate your best creative outlet. However my frustration with Özil started in Wenger’s final season and you can also argue that it’s upto a player to show the manager his worth. It’s a real sh*tf*ck*ry of a mess.

  8. Also agree on Guendouzi. He needs to replace Xhaka not play alongside him. They are similar type of players though Guendouzi is way more mobile and adventurous going fwd as we have seen so far. Defensively both have a tendency to switch off and we really can’t have two of those in our midfield especially given our current set up. I think we can rotate Willock and Torreira to see who is the better partner for him in the long run. My money is on Willock.

  9. Ummm… 4-0 as I type this.

    Martinelli, Saka… oh man. They will fetch a lot of money on the market next year to help pay for Ozil’s salary.

    Mustafi looks… not bad. He definitely gets credit for sliding that through ball for Bellerin.

    Holding has been excellent.

    Chambers has been fantastic.

    Granted – Forest ain’t got much to test the defenders. But I would definitely want consideration given to Holding and Chambers paired at the back, with Bellerin and Tierney. I think that line-up has a lot of upside.

    Tierney is going to be the real deal. I can only imagine when he gets truly match fit.

  10. First half didn’t engage me much, but the second half had a number of reasons for optimism. Including Hector’s fabulous new hair.

  11. Great result.

    I think today is another example of why Emery does not use Ozil. . He Is a flair player who is a defensive liability and he has to consistently bring something special on the attacking end that no one else can give us or it makes no sense to use him. Unfortunately he no longer brings anything special on the attacking end.

    1. I have always wondered what “defensive liability” means to people. Is it that teams score by going through Mesut? Which is wierd because there should be more people behind him. Is it because he isn’t a good tackler? Is that a skill that we should be judging an attacker on? Is it another way of criticising his body language again? Is it his lack of intensity in defensive actions? Because that is his tempo, Mertesaker was never criticised for not running faster.

      What does this “defensive liability” term mean guys? It’s used so casually that it feels like I am missing something obvious. I have seen Mesut play under Jose at Real in a counter attacking side, which is supposedly what Emery is trying to do with Arsenal, and I saw him handed the #10 shirt after one season and provide some really incredible performances. In a side managed by a very risk averse manager. I have seen him play for Low in the German national side and completely take over the side for 5 years, winning the German player of the year 5 times as well, in a team that played a lot in transition. Isnt that also what Emery is trying to do?

      There is no way that a manager that is supposedly a chameleon tactically can have a player he doesn’t think will fit in his team. Shouldn’t such a manager have as many different options in order to play different ways? How can you be tactically flexible but with only certain players? To be a flexible chef, you need as many different ingredients as possible right?

      This “defensive liability” term still confuses me though. I have never seen a team concede because a hole in the attacking third was exposed, especially for a side that sits back as often as Emery’s side does. If you see Ozil as a defensive problem, by that logic, I shudder to think what our defenders are.

  12. —If Emery were a bigger man, he would find a way to work with Ozil. If Ozil were more professional he’d find a way to work with Emery. But sadly, they are both being little men as far as I can tell.—

    IMO, that is the most sensible way of looking at it.

  13. (Side question: Are you really being humble, if you’re calling yourself the ‘most sensible’?)

  14. I know it’s *only* Forest but looks like we have done a pretty decent job buying young players in the summer. Academy players are showing up too. That’s really unfortunate about ESR – he is quickly becoming one of my favorite players to watch in this team along with Saka and Willock. He seems unlucky with injuries though (not the same as injury prone). Wishing him a quick recovery.

  15. and old boy Cohen Bramall inspired Colchester to victory over that lot. Decent evening in all

    1. Thank you for the link Ray.. I grew up watching Brady. Seen many highs and many lows at this Great Club am can honestly say that Santi is in my top four fav players but also top four best players ever to grace the shirt

  17. Seems like the kids are alright.

    The team looked more organised and better suited to playing in a coherent way. Was Freddie the one the players (and Emery) were looking to for instruction? It seemed like it to me.

    Martinelli looks a real talent. I love Willock. Was hoping to see more of ESR. That was so unlucky, and looked painful. I hope he’s alright. And then there’s Ozil. Seeing a lot of hate for him, which is crazy. He was the best player out there and ran the game.

    It was only Forest, but I thought he had a good game against Watford too. Emery wants him to be something he’s not I guess but he keeps dropping him even after he plays well. I thought Ozil showed a lot of professionalism to come back early after the World Cup last season. Was cut out after a great performance at Leicester. And then to come back after the BATE loss and save Emery’s bacon. This pre season it looked like they’d reached an understanding, but then the attack happened, and Emery seemed more annoyed than anything about it. Like it was a personal injury to him rather than Mesut. Not sure what more is expected of Ozil to be professional. Just do what the coach says? Doesn’t work in any sport with talented players. Ozil’s never been a troublemaker anyway.

    Anyway, a good game of football, young talent on display, and onto the next round. But not for Spurs.

    1. “The team looked more organised and better suited to playing in a coherent way. Was Freddie the one the players (and Emery) were looking to for instruction? It seemed like it to me.”

      I know you are only kidding, but still, that didn’t seem like a classy thing to say.

      I wish you would be willing to make the same joke the next time the team plays in that way that you do not like. Because Freddie will sure as hell be on the bench there side by side with Emery -as was the case in previous games.

  18. Pires, Rosicky, Bergkamp, Ozil. If you can’t accommodate your magic players, you don’t understand the Arsenal and what it stands for.

    Im not say that he has to play or even start every game. But something is going on, as Tim said. Added to which is some clear willy waving by Emery. Good back to back results, but I wonder whether I’ll ever believe that this Head Coach is a good fit for Arsenal FC.

    1. Ozil in the same breath as Rosicky, Pires and Bergkamp? I don’t think so. Those 3 performed week in, week out and changed the course of games with not just their skills, but their application. What Arsenal “stands for” is commitment to the cause. In years to come you won’t see Ozil’s picture on the side of the stadium. I guarantee you that. If he’s not doing what is required of him by the manager, then I don’t see how he can be picked.

      1. that’s unfair. wenger knew how to utilize the talents of those players , including ozil. you can’t blame a player for a coach’s cluelessness. if emery managed all of those guys, he would have likely screwed their careers up the same way he’s jamming up mesut’s.

        1. Were you at the game last night? Özil was played in his favourite position (10). He was given the freedom of the park against a Championship reserve side. A good number of the side, particularly the younger ones, excelled themselves. Özil was not one of them, doing very little of any consequence. Managed to slow the game down in the process. In the end, he was quite correctly subbed off. They brought the Spanish kid on and immediately the tempo stepped up. I’m sorry but Mesut Özil has had chance after chance over the last couple of seasons and his game is tailing off dramatically. Nothing to do with the manager. He’s just a spent force. Class players like Bergkamp, Pires etc just go out there and make their quality felt regardless.

  19. Mark, Ozil’s offensive stats are superior to ALL of them.

    And Emery doesn’t give anyone “freedom of the park.” He created 6 chances.

  20. 6 chances? Really? I suppose it depends on what you define as a “chance”. I don’t recall a moment of danger when he had the ball. No one got out of their seats in anticipation, put it that way. “There are lies, damned lies and statistics”.
    He played the other night as an out and out No.10. He doesn’t track back anywhere near as effectively as Ceballos or Willock.
    Ozil’s decline started before Wenger left the club. It was quite obvious that in pressure games, especially away from home, that he would quite literally disappear. Taking him to Anfield or Old Trafford was a complete waste of time. What did Carlo Ancelotti say about him? “He doesn’t have the character to play for Real Madrid”. Or Uli Hoeness. “He has been crap for Germany and Arsenal for a number of years.” They’re in the business. Don’t you think they know?
    He earns 5x the amount some of the other players take home. 5 times! What effect do you think that has in the dressing room? Imagine sitting in an office where the bloke on the next desk doing the same work is pulling in 5x your salary. Happy about that, when that same bloke isn’t quite doing it?
    Apparently, Ozil 10 shirts fly off the shelves in some parts of the world. Having resigned themselves to losing Alexis, it looked bad to lose Ozil as well. It looks like the offer of the new contract was a “business” decision rather than a football one. A short term one at that, which we are now paying for.
    At the end of the day managers will do anything to win football matches. If Emery thought Ozil had it in him to win matches for him, of course he would play him. His job depends on it. The fact is, he doesn’t.
    Even if you discounted his inflated wages, he wouldn’t get into any of the other top premier league sides. Can you imagine him playing for Liverpool?
    Not in a million years.

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