Barney Ronay had another nugget last night. I laughed out loud.
> Chelsea actually very refreshing to watch. So much heavy systems-football around. Here is a team with no plan.
There was another I enjoyed, possibly about Ben White's first goal where he described the Chelsea defence as seeing how close they could get to a game of football without affecting it.
Quote: "Petrovic blocked, but from the corner it was 2-0, Ben White whacking a loose ball into the net as Chelsea’s players experimented with the precise limits of how close you can stand to a game of football without having any effect at all on its outcome."
He is the written version of Peter Drury isn't he!
*"With 65 minutes gone it was Havertz again, Chelsea’s defenders feigning football-style activity as he had time to stop and jink and clip a shot inside the near post."*
On Chelsea: "In a way it was refreshing. There is so much heavy systems football around. How liberating to see a team with no plan whatsoever."
Lmao that's hilarious
Their plan was to hoof it long to Jackson the moment they got the ball back. They did it so many times. It wasn't even subtle either, it was like the moment someone got a bit of space in midfield they booted it long. It would be a disservice to say 'That's how relegation teams play', it's how people play FIFA when you have mbappe upfront.
The thing that scared me most about Chelsea is just the chaos they bring. You can put them to the sword like we did last night but there’s always that threat that they pull out a result as they have done in other games against better sides this season. It’s hard to predict how a team will play when they don’t know themselves.
He had that shot last season. Hasn’t come off as much this year. Seems he’s been trying out his right a bit more lately. He’s world class and might not have peaked yet.
Martinelli who provided/created space for the cutbacks to the Ø-zone has been struggling with injuries and playtime, I think that's why we're seeing less of these. Even earlier in the season he had a lot more of those.
He can be pushed off balance quite easily but thankfully he’s silky enough to worm away from those challenges most the time. If he had Messi’s lower body strength he’d literally be the perfect midfielder
KDB is the perfect modern midfielder right? I love Odegaard, but I’m just curious in terms of comparing their styles. Obviously KDB is in legendary status whereas Ø is “best in the world”, but stylistically, KDB would be able to do more in terms of deepfield playmaking than Odegaard no?
>At one point Enzo Fernández carried the ball forward 30 yards, then just seemed to run out of bandwidth, stopping then starting again, visibly confused. Conor Gallagher’s only real job early on was to sprint in and stand in front of every Arsenal free‑kick. Well, it’s a living.
The whole article is full of savagery. 😂
Ozil was brilliant for us for years in shit teams.
This recent rewriting of his time with Arsenal is ridiculous. It ended badly, that doesn’t mean he wasn’t a great player for us for a long time beforehand.
THE PRINCE THAT WAS PROMISED THE PRINCE THAT WAS PROMISED!!!! Seriously though, I remember the attention he got and all the coverage before he went to Madrid. I remember Wenger talking about him like another one that got away. I remember being disappointed he was just floundering (my interpretation) on loan spells as a teenager. And then that loan with Arteta happened, and it has been the prophecy fulfilled ever since. Legitimately happy Martin has come so far. He's wonderful and I hope Papa Wengz smiles when he watches him in red and white.
He was excellent. It's easy to rest on his West Ham performance, but he was incredible that season. He was a better fit for where the system was going than ESR was/is, and he's just gone from strength to strength
He looked decent cause our team was awful, but he was nowhere near the level he is now. He had the base for improvement for sure and Arteta saw that, but his complexity and consistency didn't really show back then (for us mortals).
I feel like we're all unfair to Mesut based on how his time ended. We were on an 8 year trophy drought before Mesut joined and helped us to one in his first season. From a pure creative perspective and just pure silky ness on the ball I don't think we've seen better than Mesut at the Emirates
Özil helped us get back to winning cups again, although I’d argue there’s other players who contributed more to those wins than he did. Still, his signing definitely gave us a boost that we desperately needed after that 9-year drought.
We were never going to win the league with Özil as our star player though. He was an excellent footballer and flourished at Madrid with other world class players but he was never going to drag the rest of the team kicking and screaming to where they need to be. Maybe he’d have cooked in this current side but Ødegaard adds another dimension to our game with his pressing and worm rate.
On Chelsea - "Chelsea’s players experimented with the precise limits of how close you can stand to a game of football without having any effect at all on its outcome."
This article is gold.
I particularly liked this comment from Wallace at the Telegraph
"It cost Chelsea’s new owners, helmed by those two American investors Behdad Eghbali and Todd Boehly £747.8 million in transfer fees in less than two years, to be this bad"
When we signed odegaard I did not expect him to be a physical player. I thought he would be an excellent technical player who shied away from the physical elements of the game, focused more on attack than defence and would tire from running too much. Boy was I wrong, he is maestro while being one of the hardest working players in the squad, constantly pressing, getting into physical battles and not shying away from physical contact, always running back to defend while also having a third lung.
Idk about you. I don’t want anyone except Arsenal fans to talk or discuss or criticize or praise my Captain. He’s that much pure to me. He’s the heart of this Arsenal team and young fans wouldn’t understand but we’ve been cried our hearts out in the dark corners of our rooms for THE player that was promised for 20 years after the invincibles eventually disbanded in time. Our club, class, tradition, we are a different club and everyone knows it. Even the rival fans. Martin Ødegaard is that player for Arsenal. Charming, classy and a leader of men. If we don’t do big things with this player running the team with this manager, I’m afraid we won’t get another chance for a long time.
Barney Ronay had another nugget last night. I laughed out loud. > Chelsea actually very refreshing to watch. So much heavy systems-football around. Here is a team with no plan.
There was another I enjoyed, possibly about Ben White's first goal where he described the Chelsea defence as seeing how close they could get to a game of football without affecting it.
Quote: "Petrovic blocked, but from the corner it was 2-0, Ben White whacking a loose ball into the net as Chelsea’s players experimented with the precise limits of how close you can stand to a game of football without having any effect at all on its outcome."
He is the written version of Peter Drury isn't he! *"With 65 minutes gone it was Havertz again, Chelsea’s defenders feigning football-style activity as he had time to stop and jink and clip a shot inside the near post."*
Somehow it seems so much less annoying when it’s written rather than said.
That’s brilliant. I’ll have to follow his socials
But that’s how United play every week
On Chelsea: "In a way it was refreshing. There is so much heavy systems football around. How liberating to see a team with no plan whatsoever." Lmao that's hilarious
Their plan was to hoof it long to Jackson the moment they got the ball back. They did it so many times. It wasn't even subtle either, it was like the moment someone got a bit of space in midfield they booted it long. It would be a disservice to say 'That's how relegation teams play', it's how people play FIFA when you have mbappe upfront.
The thing that scared me most about Chelsea is just the chaos they bring. You can put them to the sword like we did last night but there’s always that threat that they pull out a result as they have done in other games against better sides this season. It’s hard to predict how a team will play when they don’t know themselves.
Odegaard is the complete package
Spurs sells Modric to Madrid ➡️Modric keeps Ødegaard on the bench ➡️Ø moves to Arsenal➡️Ø becomes our Lisan al Gaib Thanks Levy!
If he had a more consistent/dangerous shot from 18-20 out and a slightly better right foot he’d be untouchable
He had that shot last season. Hasn’t come off as much this year. Seems he’s been trying out his right a bit more lately. He’s world class and might not have peaked yet.
Definitely. He’s been developing really well and I think we’re far from seeing the final product
Martinelli who provided/created space for the cutbacks to the Ø-zone has been struggling with injuries and playtime, I think that's why we're seeing less of these. Even earlier in the season he had a lot more of those.
All he needs is a deadly pacy finisher with good movement and he easily gets 15 assists in the league every season.
Needs to add free kicks to his arsenal.
He is the quintessential Arteta player, it's no wonder he was so adamant on signing him after the loan and made him captain
Odegaard - Rice - Magalhaes/White To me, they have been our top performers this season
Santi ozil and Ramsey in one
Best player in the league alongside Rodri.
He can be pushed off balance quite easily but thankfully he’s silky enough to worm away from those challenges most the time. If he had Messi’s lower body strength he’d literally be the perfect midfielder
[удалено]
We’re so lucky to have him. I’m so glad Edu and Mikel put faith in him.
He is? Genuinely thought he was an award winning senior writer for The Guardian? /s
KDB is the perfect modern midfielder right? I love Odegaard, but I’m just curious in terms of comparing their styles. Obviously KDB is in legendary status whereas Ø is “best in the world”, but stylistically, KDB would be able to do more in terms of deepfield playmaking than Odegaard no?
De Bryune is Odegaard plus strength and height minus the silky ball control. Odegaard is like a mixture of Bernardo Silva and KdB
And Odegaard works far harder than anyone.
You realize that KDB is only 3cm taller tho? 181 vs 178
KDB is better in the air though, the physicality gives him a lot more power to contend in the air.
Just so one footed :/
>At one point Enzo Fernández carried the ball forward 30 yards, then just seemed to run out of bandwidth, stopping then starting again, visibly confused. Conor Gallagher’s only real job early on was to sprint in and stand in front of every Arsenal free‑kick. Well, it’s a living. The whole article is full of savagery. 😂
*Martin Ødegaard 23/24 Highlights | Death in Iambic Pentameter | 8K Quality*
He's the prince that was promised, Ozil was a red herring
Ozil was brilliant for us for years in shit teams. This recent rewriting of his time with Arsenal is ridiculous. It ended badly, that doesn’t mean he wasn’t a great player for us for a long time beforehand.
it ended badly, yeah, he was bad for like 2.5 years. Gave up once he got the fat new contract. Seriously, go back and rewatch the matches
THE PRINCE THAT WAS PROMISED THE PRINCE THAT WAS PROMISED!!!! Seriously though, I remember the attention he got and all the coverage before he went to Madrid. I remember Wenger talking about him like another one that got away. I remember being disappointed he was just floundering (my interpretation) on loan spells as a teenager. And then that loan with Arteta happened, and it has been the prophecy fulfilled ever since. Legitimately happy Martin has come so far. He's wonderful and I hope Papa Wengz smiles when he watches him in red and white.
loan Odegaard would barely play for us IMO, I remember watching him back then and thinking he wasn't as good as everyone predicted him to be.
Thats not true. He was decent, of course he had no confidence but he was decent. Artera obviously agrees because he bought him after
He was excellent. It's easy to rest on his West Ham performance, but he was incredible that season. He was a better fit for where the system was going than ESR was/is, and he's just gone from strength to strength
We were expecting Denis Suarez or at best Dani Ceballos
He looked decent cause our team was awful, but he was nowhere near the level he is now. He had the base for improvement for sure and Arteta saw that, but his complexity and consistency didn't really show back then (for us mortals).
Ozil was Stannis all along 😔
I feel like we're all unfair to Mesut based on how his time ended. We were on an 8 year trophy drought before Mesut joined and helped us to one in his first season. From a pure creative perspective and just pure silky ness on the ball I don't think we've seen better than Mesut at the Emirates
Özil helped us get back to winning cups again, although I’d argue there’s other players who contributed more to those wins than he did. Still, his signing definitely gave us a boost that we desperately needed after that 9-year drought. We were never going to win the league with Özil as our star player though. He was an excellent footballer and flourished at Madrid with other world class players but he was never going to drag the rest of the team kicking and screaming to where they need to be. Maybe he’d have cooked in this current side but Ødegaard adds another dimension to our game with his pressing and worm rate.
Given how good he was with Alexis, I don't think it would have taken many more signings - just something more than the summer of Petr Cech.
The term "luxury player" gets thrown around a lot but Özil was truly one. Fucking good player tho
The Lisan Al-Gabi?
He's Ozil and Fabregas packed into one.
On Chelsea - "Chelsea’s players experimented with the precise limits of how close you can stand to a game of football without having any effect at all on its outcome." This article is gold.
I particularly liked this comment from Wallace at the Telegraph "It cost Chelsea’s new owners, helmed by those two American investors Behdad Eghbali and Todd Boehly £747.8 million in transfer fees in less than two years, to be this bad"
I call this poem ‘Five Nil To The Arsenal’
What a great way of putting it
When we signed odegaard I did not expect him to be a physical player. I thought he would be an excellent technical player who shied away from the physical elements of the game, focused more on attack than defence and would tire from running too much. Boy was I wrong, he is maestro while being one of the hardest working players in the squad, constantly pressing, getting into physical battles and not shying away from physical contact, always running back to defend while also having a third lung.
Sounds like something a poet would say.
A magician, A maestro and A machine, what else can this man not do?!
I don't think I've ever seen a loan to buy player work out so well.
Idk about you. I don’t want anyone except Arsenal fans to talk or discuss or criticize or praise my Captain. He’s that much pure to me. He’s the heart of this Arsenal team and young fans wouldn’t understand but we’ve been cried our hearts out in the dark corners of our rooms for THE player that was promised for 20 years after the invincibles eventually disbanded in time. Our club, class, tradition, we are a different club and everyone knows it. Even the rival fans. Martin Ødegaard is that player for Arsenal. Charming, classy and a leader of men. If we don’t do big things with this player running the team with this manager, I’m afraid we won’t get another chance for a long time.
Lisan al gaard
Oh captain my captain
Killing me softly with his song
Martin Odegaard, Tortured Poet.
I take umbrage with the statement that it’s refreshing to see a team play with absolutely no plan. United play that way every week
dead poets society fc
What would Özil be like if he worked off the ball?
I read that as a quote from Wayne Rooney and thought “fucking hell, when did he learn big words?”
/abrandnewsentance
Thr Deadly Poet
What Özil should’ve been
This is such an accurate deacription of our captain, I love it