Tonight’s clash with Palace should be utilised to do a bit of experimentation.
Considering our exploits in the last few Premier League games, and also taking into account Mikel Arteta’s poor European record, a majority of the gooners see the cup competitions as the most likely source of silverware this campaign.
Since his FA Cup triumph in 2020, Arteta hasn’t come too close to winning the cup competitions ever since due to a lack of prioritization. The Arsenal fans are starting to turn on him so he should very well take It seriously as it could paper over the cracks of this campaign.
Tonight we’ll have a chance to move a step closer to Carabao cup glory when we welcome Crystal Palace to the Emirates, it has been termed as a must-win due to the reasons above, however it will provide Arteta with the chance to give minutes to the fringe players of the squad which will in turn, most importantly, provide rest for key members of the starting eleven. We should have enough to beat Palace regardless of this so why shouldn’t we do it anyway.
Among the players he needs to give minutes to, the duo of Kieran Tierney and Raheem Sterling will need it the most, especially the latter. Starting those two will give us the chance to have a closer look at a possible combination on the left side of our attack.
Tierney hasn’t played for us in over a year and Sterling barely gets a look in this season, even after the performances served up by Martinelli and Trossard recently. I’ll be very curious to see how well they link up down that side if they both start, we just have to try something different and become less predictable, the duo might provide just that for us.
Tierney is the most traditional full-back we have in our ranks, he likes to bomb forward and put in balls in the box, while selflessly providing support for his winger on the left. I would be curious to see how Sterling would do with this amount of support if the pair get to start together. It might bring us joy down our left hand side, and who knows, it might even unlock another weapon in our armoury!
We’ll be playing Palace two times in the space of three days and this first clash isn’t the most important, so it won’t hurt for Arteta to experiment a bit with his starting lineup.
Would they complement each other well?
BENJAMIN KENNETH
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I kind of wonder if giving Tierney a game or two might help with his value (or to show that he is an asset)? As for Sterling, I don’t know why we brought him in…
I don’t think Tierney’s value is an issue any more.
It’s been reported that Arsenal’s not extending his contract which expires at the end of June next year. And he’s not likely to be sold in January (unlikely that any club will buy a player who will be available free in 5-6 months’ time).
So it seems Tierney’s time will end with a whimper. No transfer fee for the club – they obviously see him as more likely to break down and cost them his wages than play well and/or get sold for a profit. I’m not sure they’re wrong tbh.
Arteta obviously does not recognise what KT could bring to our team in terms of pace,energy and defensive ability,and the match against an anti football side like Everton, who I would not pay a £ to watch,would have been an ideal opportunity to give him an outing.As it is, in Sarr, Palace have one of the best right wingers I have seen this season and whoever fills in at left back will have their hands full.I expect Kwior to play at LB tonight and I doubt if Sterling will start.
Arteta is wrong about Tierney just like he was wrong about Emi Martinez and Saliba whom he tried to ruin before fan pressure forced him into give him a chance.
Give it a rest pal. Fan pressure had nothing to do with Arteta playing Saliba. Emi Martinez has been awful since he won the Copa America. In fact the majority of people now say Raya is the best keeper behind Allison. Tierney cant be trusted because he will need subbing off after 20 mins because hes a broken man. If he was a viable option surely teams would have tried to loan him in the summer but hes not even worth the risk on loan.
Liam you seem to set out to antagonize those who’s opinion you do not share.I am sure QD will not rise to your bait, but I would respectfully ask you to tone down your aggressive attitude and show more respect for your fellow fans.
I can sympathise with Liam and respect QD opinion but there is no substance behind QD comme ts.
MA is wrong on KT and EM
KT has been injured forever and a day not just with us but also with his loan clubs
EM wouldn’t accept being no.1 with a 99% assurance a.d for many a year had been 3rd 4th choice and sent out to clubs such as reading
He has an unbelievable season for us when Leno got injured and he deserved his move and has proven to be a top GK but we got good money for him and why didn’t AW AND UE use him when they were in charge
The same reason MA didn’t use him before the Leno injury – there were better keepers at the time.
MA made a decision, not a mistake – putting your best DM at RB twice is a mistake!!
Les pray but what kind of team has he put for crystal palace players who haven’t played for so long and changing the squad
Agree about Tierney and Martinez (though I I don’t like Martinez’s disrespectful attitude) the Saliba comment is total rubbish, as loaning Saliba out helped turn him into the player he is today.
Arteta isn’t flexible with his tactics even though he tries to change oersonels at times I don’t see Arteta using KT I would be surprised if he selects him. I don’t know what he sees in training but imo KT and Sterling deserves some good minutes. We can’t allow this players to become “rusty” on the bench and lacking form and hence when they are needed they arent effective.
KT & Sterling double act could be great I think more traditional left back will bring the best out in Sterling.
I would rather see M-LS get more minutes, Tierney needs to be wrapped in cotton wool to protect him from hurting himself. I wouldn’t mind Sterling getting a run out, even if it’s on the left. I have lost faith Martinelli will ever come good, and Trossard is looking more like an impact player without the impact.
I’d start Tierney – whatever I or arteta thinks of how he fits into this side, he’s certainly not a bad player and he deserves a chance to show what he can do if anyone does – either to help with a future transfer or even to work his way back into our team if he still wants to. At left back, he’s far better than kiwior and we could do with resting timber or another of our fullback options anyway.
I’d consider playing Lewis-Skelly at the base of the midfield as I think he could be the future solution to our partey problem.
Not sure about sterling tbh. If he’s not going to start EPL games, might be better to try to get something out of martinelli or trossard to raise their confidence?
We lack an overlapping left back who can cross accurately. Where on earth could we get one?
Tonight’s game is bigger than Saturday’s match as we need to win a trophy and that’s not going to be the Premier league. So play your best team possible with maybe a couple of changes, win the game then worry about Saturday tomorrow
People who say Arteta shouldn’t play Tierney because of his injury record make me laugh.
Because going by that logic, wouldn’t Arteta have done away with Partey long ago.
He didn’t and correct me if I’m wrong, but haven’t Arsenal reaped the rewards of introducing Partey back in the team.
What’s to say the same thing couldn’t happen with Tierney. It may not work, but we’ll never know if we don’t try will we.
My thoughts exactly Derek.
Derek
I’d give Tierney a go. We will then know whether it was worthwhile or not
I’d give Tierney a start too as we will have back up on the bench when he breaks down again😊
GB,
It sounds to me that your hoping he breaks down, how sad is that. 👎🤦♂️
SueP & Grandad,
SueP & Grandad,
Thank you for your backing.😉👍