Jase

Think that Lewandowski talk is more down to his agent's work. There are already theories/rumors circling that Bayern may eye Haaland next summer to replace Lewandowski. Bayern definitely won't let Lewandowski go this summer.

Yeah but they're not machines either. Even Mount has finally been rested. And Tuchel yesterday was talking about managing the players' workload because some may be in the red zone etc.

Apparently, West Brom didn't want to move that fixture. Hence, Man United v Liverpool got slapped onto that Thursday. Solskjaer already came out and said that he will rotate his squad and may end upsetting a few teams with his selection. I assume he will rotate heavily against Leicester and play his strongest XI against Liverpool, for obvious reasons.

Let's not break away from the norm. Let's try not to jinx anything. Take it one game at a time. 😉

So, how much do we care about the result today, especially after Leicester and Spurs lost? Surprised to see Werner starting after he started the last 4 games. I assume he and perhaps Kante will be rested against Arsenal?

Whatever you want to call it, at least Tuchel hasn't stuck with just the same, one formation like Sarri did with his 4-3-3 in every game, even when it's not working. Tuchel is constantly looking for options, solutions and/or variations. It's probably the first time since Mourinho 1.0 that we have had such a flexible manager in charge. Isn't it similar to what Conte did with Azpi in his back 3 system? He had a lot of joy setting up goals for Morata back then.

I do think that Tuchel will play or try out the back 4 at some point but am not too sure if it is wise to constantly change formation in the Premier League, if his past is anything to go by. It may have worked in the Bundesliga and Ligue 1 for him but highly doubt it will work in England. I remember Guardiola used to tinker a lot with the formation when he first came to the Premier League but then he eventually stopped doing it because it was hard to get any consistency going. To be fair to Tuchel, although we have stuck with the back 3, he has made small tactical tweaks along the way. We have played 3-4-2-1, 3-4-1-2, 3-4-3 and more recently 3-1-4-2. He has also made us play less of the nonsense slow, possession football and play a more direct style (not route one football). Regarding Ancelotti, think the biggest issue with his second season was the squad. We let players go and did not buy new ones to refresh the squad. They were almost on their last legs, as proven in the 2011/12. That squad was also wedded to only thrive in 4-3-3, although I remember Ancelotti did switch to 4-4-2 in the second half of that season to get us out of the slump. As for Conte, he did try to change to the 3-5-2 but think he was too rigid with the way how he wanted to implement it.

That was one of the very few times Azpi has resorted to such things.

Will they even qualify for the UEFA Conference League?

Guess he fits the bill?

https://www.goal.com/en/news/thiago-silvas-wife-lauds-werner-for-scoring-against-real/1ivz8v4isdh6410f2kit0ti8rz Werner revealed that Silva had apologized to him after the initial comment by his wife. Sounds pretty cool with the whole thing.

Arteta seemed to have a clear tactical plan last season, even if it's not the prettiest. But this season? God knows what he's trying to do. Can't tell if he's trying to make Arsenal a possession based team, a counter attacking side, a mixture of both or something else.

Would be surprised if Sarri can fix this mess, especially with the current state of their board.

Did he? At any other big club, if they sign a player for that kind of money, there would have been expectations, there would have been pressure for that player to lead the club to better things etc but no one in the media seems to talk about that. Arteta has gotten a free pass for the signings he's made. I mean, wanting a past-it Willian? Wanting a soon-to-be-past-it Aubameyang to stay?

Even if they sack him, who is good out there that they will hire?

Isn't that just due to low expectations at Arsenal? They signed Pepe for a club record fee of 70+ million and no one seems to talk about him failing to live up to expectations etc. Compare that with the spotlight that Werner, Havertz etc seem to have gotten here.

Waiting for @Tomo to come butcher Arteta...

Don't think Arsenal will qualify for Europe next season at all, which will be the first time in ages??

Unai Emery is just so inevitable in the Europa League. lol But Man United v Villarreal is so much worse than Man United v Arsenal.

I'd take the 'wait-and-see' approach with this. It just feels like it came out of nowhere. Can't imagine us trying to buy both Sancho AND Haaland from Dortmund in the same window.

Is there any other source beside Bild that reported our alleged interest in Sancho? Let's say IF we buy Sancho (with maybe CHO going to Dortmund) and Haaland, then how are we gonna manage the game time between Mount, Werner, Havertz, Pulisic, Ziyech, Sancho and Haaland, especially if we are gonna stick with the back 3? That's a lot of high profile players that would want to play week in week out.

I don't know who to believe when it comes to the signings of Havertz, Werner, Ziyech etc. On one hand, you have sources saying they are his signings. On the other hand, you have sources saying they are the club's signings. But either way, I remember all 3 - if not at least 2 of them - mentioned Lampard as a big reason why they decided to join us. Eh? Lampard was clearly a fan of Kante considering how desperate he was to use him whenever he's available. And just because he wanted Rice, it doesn't mean he was gonna ditch Kante. In any case though, we are gonna need a replacement for Kante sooner or later or at least a backup to him ASAP because we literally do not have another defensive midfielder when he is not playing.

Such stat can be deceiving.

Inclined to agree. Sarri was asked about the loanees towards the end of his season and he was interested in 2-3 players but didn't specify who. https://www.reuters.com/article/uk-soccer-england-che-transfers-idUKKCN1SE1FR

Mendy has already got 24 in 41 games now.