for a few weeks.
No Timber or Calafiori either.
for a few weeks.
No Timber or Calafiori either.
This is beyond a joke now. I'm generally a Vedic hippy, but perhaps we should find some first born sons of Sperz fans and sacrifice them to those dodgy Aztec Gods that are into that sort of thing.Quote:
Originally Posted by Rich
One of them really likes it if you flay them first, apparently.
Is it possible for something to be utterly absurd and not even remotely surprisng at the same time?Quote:
Originally Posted by Rich
I think we are reaching the point where serious questions have to be asked about what is going on behind the scenes. There is clearly a significant problem.
Well we may have to cut the medical team / coaches some slack on this one. Was an impact injury picked up against Brighton. Not enough to force him off.Quote:
Originally Posted by Peter
He was hopeful of playing today and even stayed in the hotel last night. But recovery has not quite been as swift as he & Arteta hoped.
If we can find a left back then might be nice for MLS to play there as I think he has some great qualities as an 8.
Too late. MLS slipped as he was leaving the hotel. Unfortunately, he slid along the floor and took out Raya, Saliba, Gabriel, and Merino. Knee injuries all round.Quote:
Originally Posted by Rich
Then Saka tripped getting on the coach and landed on Odegaard and Gyokeres. Impact injuries for all. Zubimendi saw the whole thing and fainted, banging his head.
Not clear how long all of those will be out for, but the hope is it will be days rather than years.
:hehe:Quote:
Originally Posted by Peter
:-(
A few months ago I joked that when our SIX injured forwards came back we would probably start losing defenders.....Quote:
Originally Posted by Rich
Yesterday I joked that midfield would.presumably be the next injury crisis.....
I should probably stop joking about it :-(
How do we know Timber and Calafiori are out?Quote:
Originally Posted by Peter
You lot a serious bunch of bed wetters :hehe:
Timber has moved back to the Netherlands so is expecting to be out for a while.Quote:
Originally Posted by WES
Calafiori was last seen in a full body cast.....
On a serious note....Wes, it is ****ing ludicrous. Farcical.Quote:
Originally Posted by WES
Timber was seen with the squad, if he starts and Gabriel starts we will be missing 2 of what most people considered to be our first 11 at the start of the year. And some thought MLS would be first choice.Quote:
Originally Posted by Peter
And we will have Martinelli, Jesus, Madueke, Nwaneri
and Eze on the bench.
So not really that bad at all.
Fair enough. I think Rice is a pretty bloody big miss, particularly for a big game.Quote:
Originally Posted by WES
Let's hope Tomber plays because God knows who the 5th choice right back is.....
So arguably we are missing one of our first 11, Rice.Quote:
Originally Posted by WES
And a bench of Havertz, Madueke, Martinelli, Eze, Jesus, Norgaard, White and MLS
Bedwetters
We?ll lose, of course :-(
but yes, Rice a big lossQuote:
Originally Posted by Peter
Having Ben White back is big and might help us keep him and Timber fit.Quote:
Originally Posted by WES
I don't think we will necessarily lose but I don't really see us winning. And we absolutely need to.
Premier League defences have all had too much Christmas pudding :-(Quote:
Originally Posted by Peter
Read it and weep. 30 fkin games since 24/25.Quote:
Originally Posted by Peter
Jesus wept
https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/ricc...spieler/502821
He?s like Jesus, 7s. If he played every day we couldn?t have bought him. He?d be in Italy. :shrug:Quote:
Originally Posted by 7sisters
It is probably all your fault, P.Quote:
Originally Posted by Peter
We were out of wingers, then strikers, then LCHs then RCHs then RBs and now MFs. There's only Daveeed and Kepa left to get injured at the same point.
As an aside, Triphop was looking good before the injury and Hinchappy has been looking great at LCH. Really wins those aerial duels around the half-way line and starts attacks.
Oh, and Vik looked useful yesterday. Couple of headers that were decent attempts and his link up play around the box won the corner for the first goal. Would be great to see Kai come back at his very best and then have Vik as an option, with Kai coming on for Zubi and playing inside left with Dec at DM, or coming on for a FB and playing 3 at the back and 2 up top.
Top reverse jinxing, P. Keep it up.Quote:
Originally Posted by Peter
I also thought Gyokeres looked better. I really don't get the hate directed towards him. He is a very different striker than we are used to, but that is precisely why we bought him. He needs to adjust to the PL and we need to adjust to him.Quote:
Originally Posted by Ganpati's Goonerz--AFC's Aboriginal Fertility Cult
Not sure how anyone can write him off after 19 league games.
And we pasted a very good Villa team without Rice and effectively without Saka given how bad he was. Quite the performance.
Agreed. He gives us something different and the fact that Kai's been injured and the starting XI changing every week has thrown him in at the deep end. He'll never be that their levels but DB10 and Titi both took half a season to show what they can do.Quote:
Originally Posted by WES
His skill on the edge of the box won the corner for our first.
And then switching him for Jeez confused their defence.
Given we'd already arranged Zubi as the Wigwam replacement, buying a 9 was the only signing that wasn't squad depth. And given who the options were - him, Sesko, Isak or Etitike - we couldn't have done better.
So far, the lad at Liverpool looks comfortably the best out of those signings. Doesn't mean he would have been right for us.Quote:
Originally Posted by Ganpati's Goonerz--AFC's Aboriginal Fertility Cult
Gyokeres isnt great, it has to be said. But I don't think there were options that would have given us someone better than Havertz. I never thought signing a striker was going to be some huge turning point for us.
The bigger question is what does Arteta do with Eze. He is looking like a luxury item at the moment.
We just need to get Alvarez out of Atheltico in the summer. Berta has signed him once and so presumably knows his people - he can do it again.Quote:
Originally Posted by Peter
Pretty nice luxury to have. Hat-trick in the NLD. And can see us, when needing a winner, having Dec-Odin, Easy - B, Kai, Leo/Gabby.Quote:
Originally Posted by Peter
We were playing in the CL knockouts with MnM up top and no forwards on the bench. Adding Easy, Vik and Noni with no-one leaving has been a touch. It's a bit like saying Noni's a luxury, but look at that goal in the CL.
This year it's been about squad depth.
But we know what Madueke does and we have seen him do it. No real problem there.Quote:
Originally Posted by Ganpati's Goonerz--AFC's Aboriginal Fertility Cult
Eze doesn't replicate Odegaard's role at all. Very different players. And it is a lot of money to spend on a guy who isn't going to play much.