{"id":824365,"date":"2025-02-04T10:14:04","date_gmt":"2025-02-04T16:14:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2025\/02\/04\/guns-outwards-for-the-north-london-derby\/"},"modified":"2025-02-04T10:14:04","modified_gmt":"2025-02-04T16:14:04","slug":"guns-outwards-for-the-north-london-derby","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2025\/02\/04\/guns-outwards-for-the-north-london-derby\/","title":{"rendered":"Guns outwards for the North London derby"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Morning all.<\/p>\n

After two cup defeats in a week the next game always takes on a bit more importance, and it just so happens this is already one of the most important in any season \u2013 a North London derby. Arsenal\u2019s need to respond and bounce back is obvious, but there\u2019s even more heft to this evening\u2019s fixture by virtue of the fact Liverpool dropped points last night and there\u2019s an opportunity for us to close the gap a little bit.<\/p>\n

I can\u2019t see much in the way of rotation for this one. The manager said Jurrien Timber\u2019s problem on Sunday was cramp, so I expect the back four to be the same with Riccardo Calafiori still absent and Oleksandr Zinchenko linked heavily with a move this month to Borussia Dortmund<\/a>. I think we\u2019ll see a midfield trio of Partey, Declan Rice and Martin Odegaard, and ahead of them there isn\u2019t much for the manager to choose from.<\/p>\n

As I wrote yesterday<\/a>, delivering in this game would help Kai Havertz put a bad week behind him, and it\u2019s two of Gabriel Martinelli, Leandro Trossard and Raheem Sterling to play either side of him. We are down to bare bones going forward, for obvious reasons, and I did wonder if Arteta might be inclined to start Sterling in order to keep someone more \u2018reliable\u2019 on the bench should we need them. It\u2019s not as if Martinelli and Trossard have been in brilliant form, but we know they are capable of finding the net \u2013 we don\u2019t really know that about Sterling yet. It\u2019d be a risk, but maybe one he\u2019s considering to keep some strength on the bench.<\/p>\n

Beyond that, what needs to be said about our approach? I think everyone has been frustrated and disappointed by the cup games, and reasonably so, but tonight it\u2019s about turning the guns outwards \u2013 as our old friend Goonerholic used to say. A fast start from the team can energise the crowd, get everyone on board with the job at hand, and it\u2019s something Arteta referenced in his pre-game press conference, saying:<\/p>\n

\n

Let\u2019s create the best atmosphere that we have played at the Emirates, that\u2019s our objective. That\u2019s something that we control, the players, the staff, and everybody that turns up tomorrow. This is something that we can do, so let\u2019s do it.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

It is a two-part thing. The team need to deliver, the crowd need to respond, but I have no doubt if the first part is accomplished, the second will follow. And if the team need the crowd, I\u2019m sure they\u2019ll give them that backing. We know how this lot are going to try and play, and hopefully we\u2019re ready and able to make the most of that, because there will be more space and more room than in some other games this season.<\/p>\n

Ultimately though, however we make it happen, it\u2019s about taking all three points tonight. There\u2019s more focus on the league after what has happened in the cups, and we can\u2019t let another opportunity to get closer to Liverpool pass us by. I think this team will be absolutely fired up for this one, looking to put right some of what went wrong, and a win this evening would help soothe some of the wounds of the last week.<\/p>\n

Fingers crossed!<\/p>\n

\u2014<\/p>\n

Elsewhere, we had official confirmation that Gabriel Jesus has suffered an ACL injury<\/a> and will now be sidelined for an extended period. It\u2019s a really cruel blow for a player who has struggled with injuries and fitness since picking up that injury at the World Cup in 2022 \u2013 a tournament I suspect has played a part in a lot of major injuries for players since. I\u2019d need to dig into that a bit more though. He\u2019d gone through a terrible barren spell, but found some form and goals and happiness in his game again, and now this. Awful.<\/p>\n

He\u2019ll undergo surgery, then begin the long and difficult rehabilitation process, and all we can do is wish him a speedy and uncomplicated recovery. It obviously leaves the team and the squad in a more difficult position though, and when asked if the club would respond in the transfer market, the manager sounded a bit more open to that than in previous press conferences, saying:<\/p>\n

\n

The fact that I love our players a lot doesn\u2019t mean we\u2019re doing nothing about improving \u2013 I am not that stubborn. We are actively looking in the market to improve the squad, and that\u2019s been the same since day one. It would be naive not to do that because it is always an opportunity to evolve the team and improve the squad, especially with the circumstances. So yes, we are looking and we are trying and let\u2019s see what we are able to do.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The fact is Jesus is now unavailable for the best part of a year, and even then you never quite know how long it takes a player to get back to their best \u2013 if they ever do. Arteta also said:<\/p>\n

\n

We have very clear ideas of the players that we want.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

It\u2019s now a question of if they can make it happen in January. Whether it\u2019s an out and out striker like Benjamin Sesko or someone more versatile, this squad needs an addition in the forward areas, so let\u2019s keep everything crossed they can make it happen sooner rather than later. There are two weeks of the window left, but still plenty of games to play this month, so the quicker we get someone in the better.<\/p>\n

After that, there was an interesting story \u2018leaked\u2019 (perhaps to dampen down the fires after the Man Utd game), about how we\u2019ve basically agreed a deal for Real Sociedad\u2019s Martin Zubimendi<\/a>. He\u2019s a player we\u2019ve been after for some time, and a player both Liverpool and Man City have tried to sign too. I think he\u2019s excellent and would be a very good addition to a midfield that will probably lose the two out-of-contract veterans in the summer (which is the right thing to do, in my opinion).<\/p>\n

Zubimendi would be a great way to offset those departures, and on that basis I\u2019m 100% on board. There will be some who would question buying another \u2018defensive\u2019 player, especially after you\u2019ve already spent \u00a3100m+ on Declan Rice, and I get that, but if you lose Partey and Jorginho, you have to make a midfield signing so why not get the best one you possibly can, and he\u2019s up there with the best available? What it means for Rice going forward is certainly an interesting topic, and concerns about a midfield signing when we need so much further forward may well be offset in the meantime by an arrival (or two) there, so let\u2019s see how it all plays out. If we can get it done though, he\u2019s a very good player and a solid signing.<\/p>\n

\u2014<\/p>\n

Right, let\u2019s leave it there for now. Join us later for live blog coverage<\/a>, plus you\u2019ll get the match report, goal clips, reaction, player ratings and much more over on Arseblog News<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Come on you reds!<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

arseblog
Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Morning all. After two cup defeats in a week the next game always takes on a bit more importance, and it just so happens this is already one of the most important in any season \u2013 a North London derby. Arsenal\u2019s need to respond and bounce back is obvious, but there\u2019s even more heft to<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":824366,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1319,141422],"tags":[7876,141421],"class_list":{"0":"post-824365","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-north","8":"category-outwards","9":"tag-north","10":"tag-outwards"},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/824365","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=824365"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/824365\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/824366"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=824365"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=824365"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=824365"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}