please log in to view this image Venue: Craven Cottage Date: Sunday 8th December 2024 KO time: 14:00 GMT Overall Record Wins: 42 Losses: 8 Draws: 13 Last six meetings Fulham 2-1 Arsenal Arsenal 2-2 Fulham Fulham 0-3 Arsenal Arsenal 2-1 Fulham Arsenal 1-1 Fulham Fulham 0-3 Arsenal please log in to view this image please log in to view this image please log in to view this image please log in to view this image
Fulham had a really impressive 3-1 win over Brighton at home tonight. Former Gunner Alex Iwobi with a brace. They currently sit 6th in the table. Sunday will be a very tricky affair. They have some excellent technical players and ball-carriers. They also play in a mid-block, which is our Achilles' heel. We need everyone to be up for it and need to be fully prepared tactically.
At least we can justify our atrocious showing last season there by the fact we had Havertz at #8 and Nketiah up front. Hopefully if we've got Calariori back at LB, Merino and Rice in the middle and the usual front four, then we should play good football. We smashed them 3-0 there two years ago when we had a more sensible starting XI.
If we beat Fulham, then we'll only be 1pt off our total from the same corresponding fixtures last season... and that's with us playing gash for most of the season so far. That's not too bad.
It's a big 'If' though. Fulham are a very decent side. And they had our number last season. We're gonna need to put a lot into this game to get a win.
They had our number last season because we had Havertz in midfield and Nketiah up front. Meh. We should be smashing them. They shipped four at home to Wolves who are toilet.
There's a bit more to it than that. They got a draw against us at The Emirates when they had 10-men and were 2-1 down. We looked vulnerable in transition and didn't defend set-pieces properly. Nketiah didn't start that game, he came on as a sub. The game at their place was one of the worst performances I'd seen from Arsenal in ages. We looked jaded and made a lot of technical errors under no pressure. It was genuinely a horrible performance and they battered us. They've clearly improved since then and are in good form. We should be beating them, but it's not going to be a walk in the park.
Another one of the early season ‘Havertz in midfield’ horror performances though. We were gash most of last season early on until he moved up front. we also didn’t have a proper LB at this point. If we play a proper 3, 6, 8 and 10 then we should have the balance to win easily. Calafiori, Rice, Partey/Merino and Odegaard critical for our good play. We lost attacking spark without Cala on wednesday.
Calafiori isn't a guarantee to start on Sunday. Both he and Gabriel weren't training with the first team today. If Zinchenko starts, God help him against either Harry Wilson or Adama Traore. We should have a squad that can deal with a few injuries. We were able to get the job done with a few injuries on Wednesday, let's hope for the same on Sunday if they are out.
Still no Gabriel or Calafiori. Kinda insane how many absences we've had in defence this season. Zinchenko injured too - quelle surprise. Not a huge fan of that front 3, but it is what it is. Really hope we've got enough in the locker to win today.
This is why we need another striker. Its all well and good having Jesus in the squad but... Jesus and Havertz as our only No.9 options is dumb If Havertz isn't scoring its not like Jesus is going to come on and win us a game, The Brazilian never scores. What a ****ing joke.
I don't think Jesus would score in the Championship right now. He looks shot. We have to bring in another attacker this Jan.
I'm going to go on a bit of a rant here because I'm fuming with that result. But I can't say it's unexpected because I wasn't confident when the line-up came out. OK, 5 injuries in defence is far from ideal, but why does he keep moving our best midfielder this season out of position to accommodate others? Why didn't he play Lewis-Skelly at left back and keep Timber at RB? Partey at RB never works, it's idiotic to keep doing this. Saka, Havertz and Trossard front 3? Fine, it did well against a poor West Ham last week. What other time has this front 3 ever been dynamic and dangerous for us? I'll wait... Seriously, what the **** did this club see in this squad that made them think we don't need another proper forward of quality? Even if it wasn't a number 9, at least upgrade that left hand side. It's unbelievable we neglected to strengthen our attack properly. So many teams in the league have better attacking options than we do. Martinelli, I'm sorry - I love the guy, but he's just not progressing and we cannot afford mediocrity. Either sell him or upgrade that position because I know for a fact we can do better than this. Trossard - inconsistent yet again. There is no point in him starting because he's only ever useful off the bench. Kiwior got a lot of flack for the goal, and he did get caught out of position, but Saliba...why did he not close the space down for Jimenez? It was such a poor goal to concede at a moment where we'd been utterly dominant. We had so much time to go and get a winner, yet we wasted it by playing sterile football and not combining properly or passing the ball backwards and sideways with no penetration or guile. Havertz. Signing a back-up striker at best for £65m and putting him on £275k a week was absolutely criminal and that decision has completely set us back a few years. Joke of a signing. Honestly, this club had a huge opportunity to win the title this season and we've totally ****ed it because, yet again, when there's potential for us to really seize the moment and take the initiative, we never do. Another ****ing bullshit season awaits. Unless we do something in January - but that's not gonna happen, let's be real.
Oh one more player I missed - Gabriel Jesus is finished at this level. Flog him off in January because he offers absolutely nothing. Genuinely awful player. Those knee injuries have totally ****ed him up.
Found these two comments on another forum and I think they're pretty accurate: " The way he (Arteta) has constructed our attack and set us up some time is mind boggling really. Two inverted full backs, Trossard outwide who can't run and Havertz up front who's pretty much a target man...everything just gets congested, our only fast player is Saka and he's marked by an equally fast fullback...what's the plan, possession then win a set piece? Pool have Diaz and Jota that are pure pace (plus Salah, who's a matchwinner too) even Chelsea have Jackson and Neto who are elite off the ball runners...you need speed and dribblers, what do we have? It's Arteta is trying to play 2010s slow build up Wengerball, but without giving the players freedom to do it properly. God our attack is boring individually. " And this one: " He should be getting some heat tonight. He's persisting with players that aren't good enough in certain situations and putting them in those positions time after time. Wenger said that a young player will cost you points but atm, the old timers almist guarantee it, so maybe he could try something else. " It really frustrates me that we can see this and analyse this as fans, but the manager either can't or doesn't want to. And by the time he'll realise, it'll be too late. Which is what happened last season too.
Our system so painfully relies on Odegaard and two good full-backs. Take any of those out and you get the dross we've had so far in Bournemouth, Newcastle, yesterday etc. Plus, it's not like this season is the only evidence. Partey experiment at RB happened last season and was rubbish and yet he tried it again. Havertz experiment at CM happened last season and then he did it AGAIN against Villa at home and it went as expected. He's never repeated that one again. Hopefully, he doesn't repeat the Partey RB mistake again. And as naff as Martinelli is, at least the pace gives us an option. Timber RB, Cala/MLS, Zinny LB, Odegaard #10 and we'll cook. Merino needs to be #8 too... when he's played he's actually looked really good. Rice and Partey can share the #6 role. But for the love of god, stop shoe horning all three of them in at the expense of full-backs or a proper #10.
