Morning.
Arsenal are in Champions League action this evening, taking on Bayern Munich at the Allianz Arena. There’s no major team news to report. Martin Zubimendi is with the squad, as he was on Sunday, and apparently Kepa is back after missing out the trip to Forest with an injury.
I don’t think we’ll see too much in the way of change from the team that started at the City Ground, although I suspect Jurrien Timber will replace Ben White at right back, and after scoring the winner, Noni Madueke is likely to get the nod on the left. I do wonder about whether the Declan Rice, Bruno Guimaraes, Martin Odegaard is exactly the right fit for an away game against a team as strong as Bayern, so if Myles Lewis-Skelly is in the manager’s thoughts, that wouldn’t surprise me.
They are without Michael Olise who was sent off in their last game, so that’s good, but make no mistake, this is very strong opposition who, this season, have scored 5 twice, 6 once, and even 7 in one game. There are no surprises in terms of who the danger men are and where those goals come from, and I’m sure the manager’s game plan will have been built around the threat they pose.
As I said yesterday though, this is a different challenge for us than facing a team who will sit deep. We will have to defend well, but also make the most of the periods in the game when we have the ball and can cause them problems. We’re not the quickest team, but for me it’s more about how quickly you move the ball than how fast you can run. That’s something I’d like to see from us later.
At the same time, Bayern don’t come up against opposition of this calibre every week in the Bundesliga, and if they get something from this game, they will have to work hard for it. For Mikel Arteta, matches like this have an extra importance, I think. Having reestablished Arsenal as a Champions League club over the the last three seasons, he’s used fixtures against the bigger sides as a marker of progress, and even though this is ‘just’ the league phase, I’m sure he’ll be out to do that again – especially at a ground that has given Arsenal some painful experiences down the years.
He says:
I’m really looking forward to the game, this is the stage, this is the kind of team, this is the kind of coach, this is the kind of club, the stadium that you want to be involved in. When you look at the squad the starting possible XI that they have, you know, first of all, as a team, how incredibly well coached they are, the mindset that they have, the competition that they have in every action and the individual quality moments that they can creator throughout the game when you look at the goals and chances that they generate.
That’s the opposition that you want to be facing and we will be facing and we’re just going to confront that and go for it.
So, let’s see what we get later on. Our league phase record has been very, very good, and I’m positive that’s something the manager will want to continue. I’m also looking forward to a game that gives us something a bit different from our last couple of Premier League fixtures.
—
Elsewhere, I’m loath to comment on absolute bullshit, but sometimes it feels necessary. Mikel Arteta was asked a question in his press conference yesterday by the Daily Mail, looking for a response to comments from Graeme Souness who labelled Bukayo Saka a ‘cheat’ on Piers Morgan’s podcast. I know, Daily Mail + Souness + Morgan = a triumvirate of cuntery that is hard to top, but still. He said:
I haven’t heard it so I’m not going to make any comment.
I’ll comment though. Graeme Souness is a silly old prick who has unfairly targetted a player who is, in the world of football, one of the good guys. If he gets a lot of free kicks, it’s because he’s kicked a lot, and has been ever since he made his breakthrough. Look at what people have been allowed to do him down the years. Studs down the Achilles, rotational fouling every time he gets the ball, getting clattered from behind time and time again, and even subjected to stuff that is more akin to assault than a tackle on a football pitch.
So if he has modified aspects of his game to withstand that, it’s not cheating. Kicking someone and fouling someone is cheating, but that’s seen as a manly, good old fashioned part of the game. Something Souness, of course, was prone to himself, but he doesn’t view inflicting violence on other people as anything other than just part and parcel of football. Studs in the knee, fine. Being awarded a free kick when you get fouled, ooooh, we can’t have that.
Here’s the thing. I’ve never seen Bukayo Saka do what Michael Owen did against Argentina, or what Wayne Rooney did with Sol Campbell, or what Jamie Vardy used to do for Leicester, or what Steven Gerrard did more than once during his Liverpool and England career, or what Harry Kane has done throughout his career to win penalties. But Bukayo Saka is a cheat? It really makes you wonder what the difference is, eh?
Also, when we’re right in the middle of the biggest cheating scandal in English football history, and perhaps in the history of the professional game (at least in the modern era), using the word ‘cheat’ is particularly loaded. I have no idea why a 73 year old man feels the need to court controversy like this, he could just shuffle off and nobody would miss him at this stage, but it’s deliberate, it’s unfair and it needs pushback. I understand why Arteta didn’t take the bait so obviously dangled by that noxious rag at his press conference last night, but as fans we don’t have to stand by and accept it.
I know, I know. We could just ignore it, not give it oxygen etc, but I think we also have to be quite conscious that we’re living in somewhat febrile times, and when a young black man is given an unfair label – for no good reason by the way – they are the ones who are likely to suffer the consequences, not the daft old bastard who throws stuff like that out into the ether.
—
Right, I’m gonna leave it there for now. As ever, we’ll bring you live blog coverage of the game later, as well all the post-game stuff on Arseblog News like the match report, player ratings, manager reaction, quotes round-up and more. There’s also a preview podcast on Patreon if you need something to listen to ahead of kick off. Don’t forget the updated Arseblog apps also have a cool new matchday centre, full of stats, alerts, and much more.
Catch you later for the game.