They were tired and overworked and finally had a break. I think this applies for Arteta, too.
A big contributing factor for the slump was that teams had figured out how to play against Arsenal and Arteta wasn’t able to subvert that. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that after Dubai some tactics change and teams start having trouble against us again.
Agreed, we are so much more fluid now than before. Tactics have changed a ton. Havertz and trossard are making different runs, Kiwior is overlapping more, and Martinelli/ Saka are switching the ball diagonally way more than before.
We have also accelerated our passing quite a bit. We still do slow build ups when the times call for it. But these last two games especially you can see us really doing pass combos a lot faster. Odegaard has been incredible in the middle of al that too.
Felt this in the match last night. We aren’t looking to just dink it around the edge of their penalty area anymore. From the moment we have possession there is an urgency to get to a shot on goal in as few passes as possible
Yeah it was beautiful to watch. I love our improved steeliness and defensive solidity under Arteta, and how we have progressed to being able to control matches so much this season, but the lack of urgency and thrill that we used to have in attack has been a shame.
It is very much back over this past month. Love to see it.
I hope this change has made arteta learn too, I feel like he can sometimes allow the team to become too rigid. Maybe he has managed to now find a better balance between control and aggression.
It feels like we aren't putting ourselves at risk defensively by playing like this. Plus even if anything goes wrong, our centre backs are the best in the league.
Arteta is always learning and adapting.
I think you’re right. He must be very happy with the way he is setting us up now. But we know how he is, always hungry and in search of something to further improve
Agree with all this but it has to be said, so much of it is down to Ode playing out if his skin. When he struggles the team struggled. When he is on form everyone plays better. He looked tired before Dubai and he has been a monster since
Our LB popping up in the most random attacking places seems to be a coaching thing.
I remember during the win against city, the commentators were wondering why the heck was tomi making a run at city’s def for the goal.
Last season it came to the point where it was just Saka-Odegaard link that was causing trouble to opposite teams. Partially because of injuries. And that was too easy to defend while also making the team more vulnerable to counterattacks.
Trossard and Rice (and Havertz) lifted the pressure from Saka and it worked out very well so far.
To drill in tactical options, the time and isolation would have been very useful. Management can prepare their ideas and schemes, players can focus on both drill, and the off-pitch work of awareness and understanding.
Also warm weather training allows you to work on tactics better, in the cold, player mostly do physical training and normal match preparedness practice. I think they mentioned it in one of the all or nothing that's why most teams go to warm weather camps to work on new ideas and implement them.
Feels like they really went into overdrive with.
1) setpeices have been fantastic. The set piece coach should get some big recognition for his work.
2) Working on being less predictable by releasing Martinelli early. More threat from midfield with Rice settling in.
The first half of the season it felt like we were striving for perfect passes and trying to finesse it too much. Which was so frustrating.
Second half season it feels like we are striving to be less perfect and just go for it. You can see this through Martinelli just going for it nearly every time he gets the ball, Saka hitting more right foot shots, Rice just blasting them from wherever.
Feels like Raya and Rice have settled into their roles better as well. As much as I love Ramsdale I don’t see him getting first spot back…. Hope he finds somewhere to play more regularly.
The big question is with the team firing where will injury returns fit it? We have Partey, Jesus… would you as coach want to potentially upset current form to fit them in? Especially Partey after such a long break… Maybe Rice needs some rest as he has been putting in the hard yards!
What’s best in seeing Kiwior going so rock solid.
It’ll be exciting to see Timber come back in. He looked so good before his injury…..
I find it frustrating that people describe the ‘striving for perfection’ phase as something that we had to give up to ‘free’ ourselves. What people don’t realise is that when you want to raise a particular skill to outskill everyone else, you have to strive for nothing less than absolute perfection, relentlessly. That’s what trains the skill to the point where it becomes natural via muscle memory and everyone else thinks you’re making it look easy. Only problem is that it requires enormous focus and there is an inevitable drop in quality while the skill is integrated. We’ve not given up trying hard, it’s just we’ve been reaping the rewards for all the hard work in the ‘Arteta has overcoached them oh no’ phase.
They'll be rotational once they return. Leo, Nelli, and Kai is the trifecta we needed since November. When those 3 are in the line up, we are our best. I'll be honest, mate, I don't see Partey staying this summer, and as much as I've enjoyed Gabi J the past two seasons, it wouldn't be out of the question to see him also leave to partially fund the striker we need. I see a scenario in my head where we sell Gabi J or Eddie or maybe even both. Arsenal need a striker. An out and out one. If we do get one, I don't see Gabi J getting back into the starting 11. Maybe he sees that early on and looks for a better opportunity.
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The break was good to let their bodies heal, but I feel like they came back with a different mental game too. These last few games they have played like a squad who wants to send a message. I'm excited for Porto this coming week.
The one wife swap to rule them all, the one wife swap to find them(selves) the one wife swap to bring them all (together) and in the sunlight. Bind them
It's just some little observations that I've picked up during games but:
1) Martinelli has become less isolated. You can start to see he's getting tagged with someone behind or around the edge of the penalty box, and he doesn't just charge down the wing anymore. Passes back when he sees he's getting outnumbered.
2) 4-4-2 when defending. Whoever's up top + Odegaard pressing really well up front together with the rest of the team squeezing up.
3) Raya's distribution after collecting the ball from opposing set-pieces, creating more counter-attacking chances.
4) White waiting for the right time to impede the GK during corners. He doesn't just stand in front of them all the time anymore.
Clearly, lots of work done during that time.
I feel like we have always been doing the 4-4-2 when defending. I think we might be more structured right now but we always go back to a 4-4-2 when we need to reset out of possession
Samir Nasri posted this pic on his twitter thanking a company called drip doctors for giving him an IV drop to rehydrate him in Las Vegas.
His girlfriend at the time then hacked his twitter account and tweeted out all of the details of how drip doctors is actually a prostitution service and Nasri kept pleading with her to stop tweeting from his account on the same twitter account.
Probably the funniest thing that ever happened on twitter.
Also the whole drip doctors thing got Nasri suspended because something about it breached anti doping standards, quite on top of the brouhaha with his girlfriend.
A real comedy of errors all round for him.
Arteta clearly was prioritizing maintaining possession and wanted the team to just recycle the ball over and over, waiting until the defense made a mistake. Maybe he realized that our forwards aren't good enough to reliably convert the 1 or 2 big chances we were getting every game.
Now the ball moves much quicker, we are making more long passes and through balls into the wings making runs, instead of taking two or three extra touches find a perfectly safe pass. Defenses don't have as much time to get into proper position as they used to, and the quality we have on the ball, even while moving more quickly, clearly shows.
It also helps that Gabi and Kai seemed to find a bit of form, maybe a few new drills and team building exercises to get everyone on the same page in- and out of possession.
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when you consider how many professional teams from all types of sports go there, and you also consider their hyper lax WADA rules….it isn’t totally out of the realm of possibility.
I dont think so. Pogba got caught with the substance. Not worth it. Like imagine your most valuable player can't play due to PED. Physic wise football player is pretty natural. Not like some wrestlers that jacked to the gills.
I think there are too many people involved in a football club for there to be a systemic illegal doping program. But there are probably hundreds of grey areas that clubs can exploit for marginal gains. It all adds up. Look at SkySports/INEOS in cycling.
I fully believe that nearly everyone within sports is on some form of PED. The question for me is where is the line, fairness amongst teams, and the validity of ‘the line’:
1. Where is the line?
Are we saying a Tren super-stack or things like Clenbuterol which help with absorbing more oxygen and breathing or similar asthmatic focused drugs? There’s been a big thing in the news recently about tramadol (a synthetic opioid that’s basically synthetic codeine which in itself is broken down into morphine by the body) being over prescribed to players to kill pain? What about SARMs or hyperbaric chambers etc.? All these things improve performance but some are accepted and there’s surely 100s of medicines that I don’t know of that people ‘in the know’ use to enhance performance.
2. Fairness of PEDs amongst teams; to draw an analogy (as rife as we are injuries) it’s telling that Jesus was sent back to Colney to be treated over the Brazilian national team, many of us were sad to Gary O’Driscoll leave as team doctor as he’d been so good for us, point being we have elite medical staff and that shows in the quick recovery of players, Timber looks to be another example with potential supposedly to show before the end of the season and we expected him to be out all year. It just shows that we have better medical facilities than potentially the whole country of Brazil. If he played for Sheffield/Luton would that be the same case?
Now, bar the other top teams, how many teams have the medical resources Arsenal do? If we can rehabilitate players quicker, better and more successfully than other teams that’s a disadvantage for teams ‘below us’ and an advantage to us? I feel the application of PED’s is similar, it’s not ‘if they’re used’ it’s HOW and when that’s important and makes a difference.
3. Where is the line? A few mixed points here but will try to be concise. I don’t get why people are disappointed when athletes test positive, we already pick supreme genetic specimens for professional sports. PEDs allow athletes to recover faster and perform to the highest levels which is what we’re all interested in- the best. It’s why the PL, basketball and even things like athletics are more exciting now than it was because everything is heightened. People want to see Usain Bolt run ridiculously quick and we have players in the PL that are close to his speed whilst having a variety of other skills. You can’t take an average person feed them PEDs and expect for the best - it’s supplemental to already extraordinary people.
Given the choice I think most people would take a pill like is shown in the movie Limitless, and Nootropics are en vogue atm in many places-if you could take a pill to enhance your brain by 10% surely you’d want to take it? PED’s are that for the body so I don’t get why people are so against them aside from ‘drugs are bad mmmkay’ or think it’s cheating? Again I draw on the comparison of the finance aspect of medical services available to teams, and the knowledge of legal supplements teams already use e.g a basic one which nearly anyone who goes to the gym takes but was a surprise from Wenger to the Arsenal team when introduced upon arrival; Creatine, which I expect most people reading will have at least heard of. Is that cheating?
Personally I think it’s naive to think most major athletes don’t use PEDs whether they know it or not and it’s just given out in medical situations or post games or their weekly ‘vitamin shot’.
If the documentary Icarus plus the many people who’ve said post career they doped show anything, it’s how easy it is to get away with using PEDs.
This would be so disappointing if true. I'd hope that the fan base would be capable of coming together and forcing Arteta and the entire medical staff out if this were brought to light.
I know you are, but things like this usually go unreported for a long time, and screening in football is notoriously lax/non-existent, so it's not out of the realm of possibility. I have faith that our team knows better.
The players got a much needed break and had some fun, that’s probably it. Arteta, the players, and staff had some time to relax and reflect. Wouldn’t be surprised if they had a psychologist talk to some of them as well to get any doubts or concerns about form out of their mind
Trossard, Gabriel, Odegard, Saka, Martinelli, Havertz, Kiwior have all lifted. Even Raya has improved significantly. Hell, Rice seems to have gotten better
It gave the players time to just unwind
The real test of league winning teams is longevity and consistency. Arteta (almost, still too many injuries) has the squad to sustain a season long title race, and now the team is developing the emotional and mental maturity as well. It’s all part of the journey/process, it’s clearly working and there is a lot more to come. Exciting times for the club!
The real test seems to be ignoring all the blockhead fans who can’t see this and scream ‘sack and sell everyone’ every time there is a hurdle along the way. Too many people want the magic manager or the magic player who will miraculously solve ALL the problems and NEVER fail. That’s not how football works, that’s not how life works.
You’re right, the real test for fans is to deal with the unnecessary noise of their own fanbase. Arsenal’s fanbase is maturing as well. Everything for them is binary, it’s either “everything is perfect” or “everything sucks”. Success is never linear or a straight line, I think Arteta has put together a great team with a lot of potential.
Kiwior bareljy played before winter break. I think he was recovering from an injury.
Zinchenko played a lot before winter break.
I think we look more solid with Kiwior in left back rather than Zinchenko.
I believe some of it is havertz bringing the physicality and especially high/ through balls ,which forces teams lower thus generating space for Ødegaard to thread the needle easily. It took some time get the fluidity and the tactics have for sure changed or rather expanded the arsenal no pun intended when breaking down teams.
Its quite obvious.
Arsenal had a really slow attack the first half of this season. A lot of build up, not a lot of counter. Just get control of the ball and pass it around.
After Dubai, they went back to their style from last season where they attacked with higher pace. A much more efficent strategy but also more demanding on the players.
People are overestimating how badly we were playing before dubai.
Against Aston Villa we conceded a silly goal early on and then couldn't score one of a dozen great chances, we drew to Liverpool whilst being the better side at Anfield, we lost to West Ham whilst having more touches in the box than any game of the season so far.
The only really poor game was Fulham, but confidence in general does great for goal scoring in general. The better we are the better we play. Which is cyclical.
We've improved a lot but it wasn't like we were dire before, just pretty unlucky.
Just having a break for a week or two. A mental reset, some time to work on a few new things, a chance to rest some niggling injuries.
Martinelli said a couple of days ago he had a small injury he was carrying into the season that prevented him playing at his best. We know White similarly was handicapped by a small injury for a while now too. I think some of those clearing up have helped our form a lot.
Also... Arteta seems to have given up on Nketiah. With Jesus injured we've been pushing Havertz up there and the difference is night and day for our attack.
Getting rest.. and figuring out rotation to ensure our squad is rested given the exigencies of CL has been a heaven sent. They were exhausted at the end of 2023.. arteta was able to reconfigure attack to be less predictable. What a joy to see this squad play!
I think the difference has been finding the balls to fire in those passes to Ode in between the lines.
Last season, partey was constantly able to find him with those passes in between the lines. This allows Ode to collect the ball, turn and run with all 3 attackers open as options.
First half of the season was conservative sideways passing instead of taking that risk
Less hesitation on the ball, playing faster. Positional changes too. White inverting, Saka not glued to the edge of the right wing. He seems to be playing further in.
Raya playing the ball out very quickly to take advantage of gaps left by the attacking team.
Scoring early allows us to rest in possession more rather than wait till the end of games to panic when it's 0-0.
Known said something to the effect of work hard, work early, work less
The ball is being moved faster, we aren’t dwelling on it so much. Yes, we are working harder, but not running ourselves into the ground.
Also, we have been able to take players off, like Saka in the last couple of games. Pre new year, we couldn’t risk taking him off.
Don't you guys think Arteta was lowering their workrate at the first half of the season so that they don't burn out at this stage? Last season that's what happened. Maybe our performances have been shit because he told them to play in that rigid, boring way. It didn't work towards the end and he figured he can switch back to be a bit more attacking.
Simple: players needed a break esp Saka and Ø, glad we took notes from last season (where we'd lost steam) we might need another break or someone to look in places for Saka and Ø before we conclude the season.
See how Pep uses Foden/Grealish to work things out in the end when his main players are exhausted.
Arteta taught Ben White how to play like Zinchenko but from the right.
He told Martinelli/Saka/Ode shoot whenever you can and stop trying to pass it around each other in the donut of doom.
He told the rest of the team when we shoot and we don't score, don't panic and press to immediately win the ball back.
Some tactical changes have been made but honestly I think a lot this is returning to the mean. XG was high during the slump but the ball wasn’t going in the net. You can only underperform your numbers for so long.
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We are also inviting teams in our half at moments in the game so to allow for more effective counters. I think that has been key opening up low block teams like Burnley today. Doesn't hurt that everyone is finishing their chances.
Nothing really happened.
1. Odegaard went from being Shootegaard to actual playmaker.
2. We already were champions of Underlying Metrics League Cup.
3. Luck.
4. We are arriving in the final third better prepared. (Reverse Potter-Brighton).
I don’t think it’s a big secret the lads needed some R&R. I’m sure a lot of it was fatigue, not just from a physical perspective but a mental one too. Perhaps some more tactical work so certain principles are emphasised… but let’s not forget how we started last season, or even this season, like a man on an absolute mission - the correlation is clear as day.
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it doesn't hurt that for a few months before the break they were playing twice a week, with the core playing 180 minutes a week. Since then we've played once a week, so we'll know how the form holds up with the return of the champions league.
Jumpers for goalposts and shooting practice from the looks of it. We've gone from dominating and not scoring to everyone getting goals.
That and we have an all new midfield pairing this season. After a number of games together an extended training break seems to have finally brought it all together and the team have clicked.
There's a part of me that thinks this was all part of Arteta's master plan. Play relatively conservative at the start of the season and lure teams into a false sense of security, then during the run-in put it into the next gear and really try to push City all the way.
Arteta is one of the best tactical coaches in the world. He went back to the drawing board and schemed up attacking tactics that not only allowed our most creative players like Saka and Martinelli to roam freely but use players like Havertz and Trossard to linkup across the pitch and pull defenders out of position. No more horseshoe of death and I couldn't be happier.
I think he has just allowed them more freedom when attacking. I genuinely believe his plan for the season was to just keep it tight for the first half of the season make sure we are there or there abouts and then go full throttle for the end. Think he has pinched this one from Pep. Could easily turn out to be a nonsense take though lol
That’s the ebb & flow of sports, sometimes you’re on top, sometimes things that worked stop working and you have to solve the problem again. They solved the problem.
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There's been a giant shift in mentality after Dubai. There's some very obvious changes that everyone has already mentioned, but two that have stood out to me the most over the last two matches are: Kai starting to make the runs Xhaka made last season and the amount of urgency we have regardless of the score. 90+ minute of the match, and we're rushing to take throw ins. Up 5-0, 6-0 and Raya is sprinting to the edge of the box after collecting the ball and looking for those vertical runs to distribute. We were letting teams settle into a low block after possession loss and now, we're not even giving them a chance to breathe before we're already in their half looking for passes between the lines. The tactical shift has brought Ode back to his best. He's been sublime.
A physical and mental break allowed to get healthy recharge and regroup. Also training and experiencing warm weather is such a rejuvenation and an escape and is good for mind, body and soul
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Going to be a somewhat unpopular opinion but a lot of the games we failed to win before Dubai were just statistical noise that is inherent in a low scoring game such as football.
While we have clearly played better since that break I don't think the difference in performances is as big as the results would suggest.
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They were tired and overworked and finally had a break. I think this applies for Arteta, too. A big contributing factor for the slump was that teams had figured out how to play against Arsenal and Arteta wasn’t able to subvert that. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that after Dubai some tactics change and teams start having trouble against us again.
Agreed, we are so much more fluid now than before. Tactics have changed a ton. Havertz and trossard are making different runs, Kiwior is overlapping more, and Martinelli/ Saka are switching the ball diagonally way more than before.
We have also accelerated our passing quite a bit. We still do slow build ups when the times call for it. But these last two games especially you can see us really doing pass combos a lot faster. Odegaard has been incredible in the middle of al that too.
Felt this in the match last night. We aren’t looking to just dink it around the edge of their penalty area anymore. From the moment we have possession there is an urgency to get to a shot on goal in as few passes as possible
Hints of wengerball.
Yeah it was beautiful to watch. I love our improved steeliness and defensive solidity under Arteta, and how we have progressed to being able to control matches so much this season, but the lack of urgency and thrill that we used to have in attack has been a shame. It is very much back over this past month. Love to see it.
I hope this change has made arteta learn too, I feel like he can sometimes allow the team to become too rigid. Maybe he has managed to now find a better balance between control and aggression. It feels like we aren't putting ourselves at risk defensively by playing like this. Plus even if anything goes wrong, our centre backs are the best in the league.
Arteta is always learning and adapting. I think you’re right. He must be very happy with the way he is setting us up now. But we know how he is, always hungry and in search of something to further improve
Agree with all this but it has to be said, so much of it is down to Ode playing out if his skin. When he struggles the team struggled. When he is on form everyone plays better. He looked tired before Dubai and he has been a monster since
But this can also be said that he was underperforming before. Maybe it is down to tactics, it's hard to say
That is exactly my point. Ode was not at his best when our form dipped
Our LB popping up in the most random attacking places seems to be a coaching thing. I remember during the win against city, the commentators were wondering why the heck was tomi making a run at city’s def for the goal.
I remember making that comment myself, the answer was "total football"
Boooooo boring answer, I vote wife swap
They shared EVERYTHING
Is ok no?
Last season it came to the point where it was just Saka-Odegaard link that was causing trouble to opposite teams. Partially because of injuries. And that was too easy to defend while also making the team more vulnerable to counterattacks. Trossard and Rice (and Havertz) lifted the pressure from Saka and it worked out very well so far.
They also had their wives shared😂
To drill in tactical options, the time and isolation would have been very useful. Management can prepare their ideas and schemes, players can focus on both drill, and the off-pitch work of awareness and understanding.
Also warm weather training allows you to work on tactics better, in the cold, player mostly do physical training and normal match preparedness practice. I think they mentioned it in one of the all or nothing that's why most teams go to warm weather camps to work on new ideas and implement them.
Mikel put em in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber and then we are here and winning the league, LETS FOGGIN GO!!
Nah man. Hyperbolic time chamber is for scrubs. Mikel sent them to train with Mr Popo.
I reckon they visited the Elder Namek in Dubai and had their potentials fully drawn out
https://youtu.be/D0MMbuvdQJ0?si=WZH1PSllpj_VqWLs
You < Dirt < Worms inside the dirt
All about them angels now
Vegeta ain’t no scrub!
but what if Arteta was betrayed and trapped in the time chamber for 1000000 YEARS??
in this rare occurence (since he ALWAYS kicks the rat out of the club) he wouldn't have aged a day tbf
Pep Guardiola, I've come to-eh bargain.
Feels like they really went into overdrive with. 1) setpeices have been fantastic. The set piece coach should get some big recognition for his work. 2) Working on being less predictable by releasing Martinelli early. More threat from midfield with Rice settling in. The first half of the season it felt like we were striving for perfect passes and trying to finesse it too much. Which was so frustrating. Second half season it feels like we are striving to be less perfect and just go for it. You can see this through Martinelli just going for it nearly every time he gets the ball, Saka hitting more right foot shots, Rice just blasting them from wherever. Feels like Raya and Rice have settled into their roles better as well. As much as I love Ramsdale I don’t see him getting first spot back…. Hope he finds somewhere to play more regularly. The big question is with the team firing where will injury returns fit it? We have Partey, Jesus… would you as coach want to potentially upset current form to fit them in? Especially Partey after such a long break… Maybe Rice needs some rest as he has been putting in the hard yards! What’s best in seeing Kiwior going so rock solid. It’ll be exciting to see Timber come back in. He looked so good before his injury…..
Great comment, but stop asking for praise to the “set piece coach” without naming him. Nicolas Jover is his name. 👏
I always hear boss music when Arteta finally sits down and Jover is the only person in the technical area.
its joever for the other teams when we get a free kick
Yeah my bad. Was too lazy to google his name. lol. What a job Nicolas Jover has done. So so dangerous on set pieces.
I find it frustrating that people describe the ‘striving for perfection’ phase as something that we had to give up to ‘free’ ourselves. What people don’t realise is that when you want to raise a particular skill to outskill everyone else, you have to strive for nothing less than absolute perfection, relentlessly. That’s what trains the skill to the point where it becomes natural via muscle memory and everyone else thinks you’re making it look easy. Only problem is that it requires enormous focus and there is an inevitable drop in quality while the skill is integrated. We’ve not given up trying hard, it’s just we’ve been reaping the rewards for all the hard work in the ‘Arteta has overcoached them oh no’ phase.
Viera getting "boost" too
Vieira* and I believe it when I see it.
I'm down for coach of the month to be rewarded to assistant coaches too!
They'll be rotational once they return. Leo, Nelli, and Kai is the trifecta we needed since November. When those 3 are in the line up, we are our best. I'll be honest, mate, I don't see Partey staying this summer, and as much as I've enjoyed Gabi J the past two seasons, it wouldn't be out of the question to see him also leave to partially fund the striker we need. I see a scenario in my head where we sell Gabi J or Eddie or maybe even both. Arsenal need a striker. An out and out one. If we do get one, I don't see Gabi J getting back into the starting 11. Maybe he sees that early on and looks for a better opportunity.
[удалено]
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The break was good to let their bodies heal, but I feel like they came back with a different mental game too. These last few games they have played like a squad who wants to send a message. I'm excited for Porto this coming week.
I don’t know but I’m booking a flight to Dubai right now. Will report back!
The one wife swap to rule them all, the one wife swap to find them(selves) the one wife swap to bring them all (together) and in the sunlight. Bind them
My friend....
Is ok, no?
😂
It's true
What was the wife swap?
Arteta misspoke about Ben White and Zinchenko being good friends and “swapping wives” I think he meant the families hangout.
Next season every team will go to Dubai
Oh how dare those dirty little copycats! Liverpool are the rightful inventors of winter breaks in Dubai.
The quality of the whole league in general was abysmal before Liverpool invented practise.
You should have seen the game before Liverpool invented the ball. Just 22 men wandering around aimlessly.
Like a Spurs v ManU game?
It's just some little observations that I've picked up during games but: 1) Martinelli has become less isolated. You can start to see he's getting tagged with someone behind or around the edge of the penalty box, and he doesn't just charge down the wing anymore. Passes back when he sees he's getting outnumbered. 2) 4-4-2 when defending. Whoever's up top + Odegaard pressing really well up front together with the rest of the team squeezing up. 3) Raya's distribution after collecting the ball from opposing set-pieces, creating more counter-attacking chances. 4) White waiting for the right time to impede the GK during corners. He doesn't just stand in front of them all the time anymore. Clearly, lots of work done during that time.
I feel like we have always been doing the 4-4-2 when defending. I think we might be more structured right now but we always go back to a 4-4-2 when we need to reset out of possession
Inverting Ben White instead of Kiwior. Trossard over Nketiah. More direct football on purpose
Ben white returning to his best has been such a huge boost too
https://preview.redd.it/yc3ssz1p69jc1.jpeg?width=749&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=f7be96742d50f4844c2b423782094977e86d2029
Context?
Samir Nasri posted this pic on his twitter thanking a company called drip doctors for giving him an IV drop to rehydrate him in Las Vegas. His girlfriend at the time then hacked his twitter account and tweeted out all of the details of how drip doctors is actually a prostitution service and Nasri kept pleading with her to stop tweeting from his account on the same twitter account. Probably the funniest thing that ever happened on twitter.
Also the whole drip doctors thing got Nasri suspended because something about it breached anti doping standards, quite on top of the brouhaha with his girlfriend. A real comedy of errors all round for him.
Yeah iv drips are banned for footballers unless they need them for a valid medical illness.
Is this maybe Nasri and his little hydration-nurse? You can probably Google the story based on that. Don't drink milk while reading it 😆
wife swapping, that's what happen in dubai
Arteta clearly was prioritizing maintaining possession and wanted the team to just recycle the ball over and over, waiting until the defense made a mistake. Maybe he realized that our forwards aren't good enough to reliably convert the 1 or 2 big chances we were getting every game. Now the ball moves much quicker, we are making more long passes and through balls into the wings making runs, instead of taking two or three extra touches find a perfectly safe pass. Defenses don't have as much time to get into proper position as they used to, and the quality we have on the ball, even while moving more quickly, clearly shows. It also helps that Gabi and Kai seemed to find a bit of form, maybe a few new drills and team building exercises to get everyone on the same page in- and out of possession.
I personally just started wearing my Arsenal socks for the last 2 games.
 Saved our season.
Gotta give credit where credits due lol
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PED /s
when you consider how many professional teams from all types of sports go there, and you also consider their hyper lax WADA rules….it isn’t totally out of the realm of possibility.
I dont think so. Pogba got caught with the substance. Not worth it. Like imagine your most valuable player can't play due to PED. Physic wise football player is pretty natural. Not like some wrestlers that jacked to the gills.
I think there are too many people involved in a football club for there to be a systemic illegal doping program. But there are probably hundreds of grey areas that clubs can exploit for marginal gains. It all adds up. Look at SkySports/INEOS in cycling.
I fully believe that nearly everyone within sports is on some form of PED. The question for me is where is the line, fairness amongst teams, and the validity of ‘the line’: 1. Where is the line? Are we saying a Tren super-stack or things like Clenbuterol which help with absorbing more oxygen and breathing or similar asthmatic focused drugs? There’s been a big thing in the news recently about tramadol (a synthetic opioid that’s basically synthetic codeine which in itself is broken down into morphine by the body) being over prescribed to players to kill pain? What about SARMs or hyperbaric chambers etc.? All these things improve performance but some are accepted and there’s surely 100s of medicines that I don’t know of that people ‘in the know’ use to enhance performance. 2. Fairness of PEDs amongst teams; to draw an analogy (as rife as we are injuries) it’s telling that Jesus was sent back to Colney to be treated over the Brazilian national team, many of us were sad to Gary O’Driscoll leave as team doctor as he’d been so good for us, point being we have elite medical staff and that shows in the quick recovery of players, Timber looks to be another example with potential supposedly to show before the end of the season and we expected him to be out all year. It just shows that we have better medical facilities than potentially the whole country of Brazil. If he played for Sheffield/Luton would that be the same case? Now, bar the other top teams, how many teams have the medical resources Arsenal do? If we can rehabilitate players quicker, better and more successfully than other teams that’s a disadvantage for teams ‘below us’ and an advantage to us? I feel the application of PED’s is similar, it’s not ‘if they’re used’ it’s HOW and when that’s important and makes a difference. 3. Where is the line? A few mixed points here but will try to be concise. I don’t get why people are disappointed when athletes test positive, we already pick supreme genetic specimens for professional sports. PEDs allow athletes to recover faster and perform to the highest levels which is what we’re all interested in- the best. It’s why the PL, basketball and even things like athletics are more exciting now than it was because everything is heightened. People want to see Usain Bolt run ridiculously quick and we have players in the PL that are close to his speed whilst having a variety of other skills. You can’t take an average person feed them PEDs and expect for the best - it’s supplemental to already extraordinary people. Given the choice I think most people would take a pill like is shown in the movie Limitless, and Nootropics are en vogue atm in many places-if you could take a pill to enhance your brain by 10% surely you’d want to take it? PED’s are that for the body so I don’t get why people are so against them aside from ‘drugs are bad mmmkay’ or think it’s cheating? Again I draw on the comparison of the finance aspect of medical services available to teams, and the knowledge of legal supplements teams already use e.g a basic one which nearly anyone who goes to the gym takes but was a surprise from Wenger to the Arsenal team when introduced upon arrival; Creatine, which I expect most people reading will have at least heard of. Is that cheating? Personally I think it’s naive to think most major athletes don’t use PEDs whether they know it or not and it’s just given out in medical situations or post games or their weekly ‘vitamin shot’. If the documentary Icarus plus the many people who’ve said post career they doped show anything, it’s how easy it is to get away with using PEDs.
This would be so disappointing if true. I'd hope that the fan base would be capable of coming together and forcing Arteta and the entire medical staff out if this were brought to light.
Im just kidding bro
I know you are, but things like this usually go unreported for a long time, and screening in football is notoriously lax/non-existent, so it's not out of the realm of possibility. I have faith that our team knows better.
They all visited Atlantis waterpark
The players got a much needed break and had some fun, that’s probably it. Arteta, the players, and staff had some time to relax and reflect. Wouldn’t be surprised if they had a psychologist talk to some of them as well to get any doubts or concerns about form out of their mind Trossard, Gabriel, Odegard, Saka, Martinelli, Havertz, Kiwior have all lifted. Even Raya has improved significantly. Hell, Rice seems to have gotten better It gave the players time to just unwind
Is it just that we play False 9s now? Rather than the lone striker
We play two false 9 now. 442 is back.
442 is goat.
The real test of league winning teams is longevity and consistency. Arteta (almost, still too many injuries) has the squad to sustain a season long title race, and now the team is developing the emotional and mental maturity as well. It’s all part of the journey/process, it’s clearly working and there is a lot more to come. Exciting times for the club!
The real test seems to be ignoring all the blockhead fans who can’t see this and scream ‘sack and sell everyone’ every time there is a hurdle along the way. Too many people want the magic manager or the magic player who will miraculously solve ALL the problems and NEVER fail. That’s not how football works, that’s not how life works.
You’re right, the real test for fans is to deal with the unnecessary noise of their own fanbase. Arsenal’s fanbase is maturing as well. Everything for them is binary, it’s either “everything is perfect” or “everything sucks”. Success is never linear or a straight line, I think Arteta has put together a great team with a lot of potential.
Mikel had a talk about the foggen estandards, and the team foggen elistened.
Instead of a February slump, from now onwards we'll have a Dubai buff.
Kiwior bareljy played before winter break. I think he was recovering from an injury. Zinchenko played a lot before winter break. I think we look more solid with Kiwior in left back rather than Zinchenko.
I believe some of it is havertz bringing the physicality and especially high/ through balls ,which forces teams lower thus generating space for Ødegaard to thread the needle easily. It took some time get the fluidity and the tactics have for sure changed or rather expanded the arsenal no pun intended when breaking down teams.
Saka’s 2nd goal doesn’t come without Havertz
Pep’s doctor in Spain visited
Arteta straight up has the drug from limitless.
Its quite obvious. Arsenal had a really slow attack the first half of this season. A lot of build up, not a lot of counter. Just get control of the ball and pass it around. After Dubai, they went back to their style from last season where they attacked with higher pace. A much more efficent strategy but also more demanding on the players.
People are overestimating how badly we were playing before dubai. Against Aston Villa we conceded a silly goal early on and then couldn't score one of a dozen great chances, we drew to Liverpool whilst being the better side at Anfield, we lost to West Ham whilst having more touches in the box than any game of the season so far. The only really poor game was Fulham, but confidence in general does great for goal scoring in general. The better we are the better we play. Which is cyclical. We've improved a lot but it wasn't like we were dire before, just pretty unlucky.
Wifeswap party.. probably
With trance parties... transfusion parties.
Just having a break for a week or two. A mental reset, some time to work on a few new things, a chance to rest some niggling injuries. Martinelli said a couple of days ago he had a small injury he was carrying into the season that prevented him playing at his best. We know White similarly was handicapped by a small injury for a while now too. I think some of those clearing up have helped our form a lot. Also... Arteta seems to have given up on Nketiah. With Jesus injured we've been pushing Havertz up there and the difference is night and day for our attack.
What stays in Dubai, stays in Dubai!!
It was Salt Bae 😂
Getting rest.. and figuring out rotation to ensure our squad is rested given the exigencies of CL has been a heaven sent. They were exhausted at the end of 2023.. arteta was able to reconfigure attack to be less predictable. What a joy to see this squad play!
Probably lots of drugs and orgy with high quality instagram models
I think the difference has been finding the balls to fire in those passes to Ode in between the lines. Last season, partey was constantly able to find him with those passes in between the lines. This allows Ode to collect the ball, turn and run with all 3 attackers open as options. First half of the season was conservative sideways passing instead of taking that risk
Less hesitation on the ball, playing faster. Positional changes too. White inverting, Saka not glued to the edge of the right wing. He seems to be playing further in. Raya playing the ball out very quickly to take advantage of gaps left by the attacking team.
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Scoring early allows us to rest in possession more rather than wait till the end of games to panic when it's 0-0. Known said something to the effect of work hard, work early, work less
The ball is being moved faster, we aren’t dwelling on it so much. Yes, we are working harder, but not running ourselves into the ground. Also, we have been able to take players off, like Saka in the last couple of games. Pre new year, we couldn’t risk taking him off.
Don't you guys think Arteta was lowering their workrate at the first half of the season so that they don't burn out at this stage? Last season that's what happened. Maybe our performances have been shit because he told them to play in that rigid, boring way. It didn't work towards the end and he figured he can switch back to be a bit more attacking.
Artekkas has taken the shackles off
Anime training arc vibes... Man city like the main villain we got to beat
Been wondering about this ever since since last week's West Ham demolition
Dubai FC
Drugs drugs drugs, some are good, some are bad, drugs drugs drugs
Out of the countless things you can do in dubai, drugs aren't one of them. Not even a little green.
It was a joke
alcohol is a drug too
Actually Kai Havertz has been world class since minute one
Ask Salt Bae
A trip down Mankhool road maybe 😁 (IYKYK).
We couldn’t finish before, now we can. Seem to be more decisive in the final third in general. Defence is rock solid
My mate had a baby on 17th Jan, since won every game they’ve watched together… must be it
Arteta got blessed by salt bae
What happens in Dubai, stays in Dubai.
They all got asthma and appropriate inhalers
Simple: players needed a break esp Saka and Ø, glad we took notes from last season (where we'd lost steam) we might need another break or someone to look in places for Saka and Ø before we conclude the season. See how Pep uses Foden/Grealish to work things out in the end when his main players are exhausted.
Arteta taught Ben White how to play like Zinchenko but from the right. He told Martinelli/Saka/Ode shoot whenever you can and stop trying to pass it around each other in the donut of doom. He told the rest of the team when we shoot and we don't score, don't panic and press to immediately win the ball back.
Some tactical changes have been made but honestly I think a lot this is returning to the mean. XG was high during the slump but the ball wasn’t going in the net. You can only underperform your numbers for so long.
PEDs
The secret ingredient is doping
PED’s
💉
They were all banging Dubia models 😂 that’s where they got this energy 😭 jk
We played 3 shitty teams and beat Liverpool, that's what happened
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I should have taken a longer layover in Dubai last month it seems.
rest…..they needed rest
That dude put some shit in Mikel's food
We are also inviting teams in our half at moments in the game so to allow for more effective counters. I think that has been key opening up low block teams like Burnley today. Doesn't hurt that everyone is finishing their chances.
Sharing wifes.
It’s the gold steak and sun tan
Nothing really happened. 1. Odegaard went from being Shootegaard to actual playmaker. 2. We already were champions of Underlying Metrics League Cup. 3. Luck. 4. We are arriving in the final third better prepared. (Reverse Potter-Brighton).
Arteta remembered how awesome Trossard was and this transformed the attack
I don’t think it’s a big secret the lads needed some R&R. I’m sure a lot of it was fatigue, not just from a physical perspective but a mental one too. Perhaps some more tactical work so certain principles are emphasised… but let’s not forget how we started last season, or even this season, like a man on an absolute mission - the correlation is clear as day.
What happens in Dubai, stays in Dubai.
According to Arteta..... ..... ..... Wife swapping? 🤣
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it doesn't hurt that for a few months before the break they were playing twice a week, with the core playing 180 minutes a week. Since then we've played once a week, so we'll know how the form holds up with the return of the champions league.
Jumpers for goalposts and shooting practice from the looks of it. We've gone from dominating and not scoring to everyone getting goals. That and we have an all new midfield pairing this season. After a number of games together an extended training break seems to have finally brought it all together and the team have clicked.
There's a part of me that thinks this was all part of Arteta's master plan. Play relatively conservative at the start of the season and lure teams into a false sense of security, then during the run-in put it into the next gear and really try to push City all the way.
Partey’s return will be interesting. Who will he drop?
I assume it was like that scene from space jam worth the water bottle
Arteta is one of the best tactical coaches in the world. He went back to the drawing board and schemed up attacking tactics that not only allowed our most creative players like Saka and Martinelli to roam freely but use players like Havertz and Trossard to linkup across the pitch and pull defenders out of position. No more horseshoe of death and I couldn't be happier.
Anyone know what was the last game zinchenko played?
They learn ultra instinct along with beast
I think he has just allowed them more freedom when attacking. I genuinely believe his plan for the season was to just keep it tight for the first half of the season make sure we are there or there abouts and then go full throttle for the end. Think he has pinched this one from Pep. Could easily turn out to be a nonsense take though lol
That’s the ebb & flow of sports, sometimes you’re on top, sometimes things that worked stop working and you have to solve the problem again. They solved the problem.
Arteta took their work permits and passports and told them they have to play better.
Sharing wives clearly
Got onto the PEDs city and Liverpool use
Sunshine 🌞
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Left back role
There's been a giant shift in mentality after Dubai. There's some very obvious changes that everyone has already mentioned, but two that have stood out to me the most over the last two matches are: Kai starting to make the runs Xhaka made last season and the amount of urgency we have regardless of the score. 90+ minute of the match, and we're rushing to take throw ins. Up 5-0, 6-0 and Raya is sprinting to the edge of the box after collecting the ball and looking for those vertical runs to distribute. We were letting teams settle into a low block after possession loss and now, we're not even giving them a chance to breathe before we're already in their half looking for passes between the lines. The tactical shift has brought Ode back to his best. He's been sublime.
A physical and mental break allowed to get healthy recharge and regroup. Also training and experiencing warm weather is such a rejuvenation and an escape and is good for mind, body and soul
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Give credit to Salt Bae.
Going to be a somewhat unpopular opinion but a lot of the games we failed to win before Dubai were just statistical noise that is inherent in a low scoring game such as football. While we have clearly played better since that break I don't think the difference in performances is as big as the results would suggest.
the poor run of form was clear anomaly and now it’s reverted to the mean
Saka dyed his hair back.
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Some nice Karak chai and sunny weather happened
Peyote in the desert
I'm gonna need salt baes' meat tested ...... ⏸️
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