Tag Archives: Mikel Arteta

by | February 1, 2021 · 8:38 pm

Report: Unai Emery planning to raid Arsenal raid for Reiss Nelson

Former Arsenal manager Unai Emery, according to report is ready and hoping to raid his former side Arsenal to complete the signing of Reiss Nelson.

The report is according to the Mirror, who are also reporting that Spanish side Real Betis are also planning a swoop for the midfielder ahead of tonight’s transfer deadline.

Reiss Nelson has fallen way down the pecking order under Mikel Arteta at the Emirates and is seeking first-team football in respective which side it would. At the weekend,  Manchester United fell further off the pace at the top of the Premier League as they were held to a goalless draw at Arsenal.

Nelson has only registered nine appearances in all outings for the Gunners this season, with just out of this coming in the Premier League.

He hasn’t even made a matchday squad in the top-flight since November and clearly isn’t fancied by Arteta. Emery was another boss who didn’t always see Nelson as the first choice at Arsenal.

He managed just six appearances under the former boss but he clearly feels he can do a job in La Liga. Emery’s team are currently fifth and he wants to bolster his attacking arsenal as he bids to take his team into Europe.

Nelson has 12 England under-21 caps to his name and really needs to leave Arsenal. However, the Gunners will be reluctant to offload the versatile winger permanently but getting him out on loan looks like a wise move.

The £15,000-a-week trickster needs to play and if he performs well he could earn a chance at the Emirates Stadium. Arteta has done some good business and some bad during his time in charge but loaning Nelson out seems like a no-brainer.

Playing under Emery will be interesting and the former boss nurturing a player ready for the Arsenal first-team provides an interesting twist of fate.

Nelson is a decent player but his career has stagnated somewhat this season. If he heads to Spain and plays plenty of football, he could earn an Arsenal reprieve next season.

The Hale End graduate enjoyed a loan spell at Hoffenheim previously, scoring seven goals. A similar run at Villarreal, or Real Betis, and he could earn more of a chance in North London.

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by | March 2, 2020 · 10:55 am

Alex Iwobi Or Tammy Abraham: In whose footstep should Arsenal young sensation follow?

Arsenal’s newfound assist king Bukayo Saka is enjoying life at the Emirates Stadium having laid strong hold on a regular spot in Mikel Arteta’s starting line-up this season.

Despite being deployed as a makeshift left-back by Arteta, the 18-year-old has been phenomenal at the final half of the pitch.

He already has 10 assists to his name, and he is obviously not going to stop at that as there are still 11 Premier League matches before the season ends. Carabao Cup and FA Cup also offer him more chances to add to his tally before the end of the season.

As much as Saka’s current blistering form has given him the chance to be an important figure at the Emirates Stadium, the player now finds himself in the middle of an intense international tug-of-war between the Super Eagles of Nigeria and the Three Lions of England.

Born to Nigerian parents, the 18-year-old is eligible to represent the three-time African champions, and he has the equal chance of featuring for Gareth Southgate’s side.

Though it is speculated that the Nigerian FA are ready to convince the youngster over playing for his father’s land, the European powerhouse are reportedly leading the race for his services.

Read also: Mesut Ozil to remain at Arsenal despite 2020-21 UCL uncertainty

Having played for England’s U16, U17, U18 and U19, progressing to the Three Lions squad won’t require much stress or change of playing pattern.

However, he will certainly need to overcome intense competitions from highly experienced players if he must get regular playing-time for the Three Lions.

Leicester City’s Ben Chilwell, Tottenham-owned Newcastle star Danny Rose and Manchester United’s Luke Shaw are all ahead of him in the pecking order of left-backs or left wing-backs available for selection.

Manchester City’s Raheem Sterling, Borussia Dortmund’s Jadon Sancho and United’s Jesse Lingard are also competing for a place at both flanks. Hence, choosing England over Nigeria means the player must develop his game in order for him to break into this formidable team.

Unlike playing for England, Saka will need to submit a change of allegiance document to FIFA before he could feature for the West African country.

He will equally need to get familiar with the country’s playing patterns— although, it’s not too different from Southgate’s tactical approach.

Nonetheless, he has better chances of breaking into Genort Rohr’s starting line-up judging by his work-rate and beautiful deliveries into opponent’s box.

Torino’s Ola Aina and Paderborn’s Jamilu, who are Rohr’s regular fullbacks, are not in good form for their respective clubs. This means Saka have a brighter opportunity of becoming the gaffer’s most trusted fullback in no time.

Having said that, it remains unknown if the youngster will follow Alex Iwobi’s footstep, who dumped England in favor of the African side, or he will imitate Tammy Abraham’s decision by ignoring Nigeria’s approach.

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by | February 1, 2020 · 5:13 pm

Burnley v Arsenal – Match preview, insights and predictions

Hello folks, I hope you lads and lasses are all up for another Sunday night action pack performances happening at the Turf Moor against Burnley?

Arsenal’s business this transfer is arguably one of the best since a while. Taking over the reins of the club from his predecessor, Mikel Arteta seems to be on the right track as Arsenal manager in the long-run.

The signing of Pablo Mari and Cedric Soares to Arsenal on loan is one of the club’s best winter windows business well done in recent memory with the potential option to buy, and also, they’ve loaned out six youngsters, including Emile Smith Rowe, Konstantinos Mavropanos and Tyreece John-Jules.

Considering how the winter transfer business at the club have panned out in the past, it can be said that the entire just concluded window is zero risks and incredibly high reward for the club at stake. That being said, Mikel Arteta’s reign as the Gunners head-coach continues with a trip to Turf Moor this weekend as we take on Sean Dyche’s Burnley, and the Spaniard looking to build on a mixed start since taking over at the Emirates last month.

Here are five insights you need to know about Sunday’s clash…

  • The Clarets have lost their 11 matches against Arsenal in all outings, a poor run for Burnley dating as far back as 2010.We have won our last 10 Premier League games against Burnley with our last 11 wins in a row against an opponent in the Premier League between 1994 and 2004 against Manchester City.
  • Funny and odd as it sounds, the Clarets haven’t led Arsenal for a single minute in 11 Premier League. And according to stats, the only team to have played more games against an opponent without ever leading is Championship side Portsmouth against Chelsea with a record of 14 Premier League games between these two sides.
  • Arsenal is favourites for three clear points heading into this fixture with none of Burnley’s last 17 Premier League outings ending in a draw with any team. Sean Dyche’s men have won seven and lost 10 league matches. However, the Lancashire side has won two matches in a row on three separate occasions in that, but they are yet to record three in a row win in the league since April 2019.
  • At the moment, we are unbeaten in our last six Premier League away games – winning one and drawn five matches. And should the odds be in our favour on Sunday night, we could hit a goldmine as the club has not drawn five consecutive away league games since August 1948.

Predicted Line ups:

Burnley Predicted Line ups: Pope; Lowton, Tarkowski, Mee, Taylor; Hendrick, Westwood, Cork, McNeil; Rodriguez, Wood

Arsenal Predicted Line ups: Leno; Bellerin, Luiz, Holding, Saka; Torreira, Xhaka, Ozil; Pepe, Aubameyang, Lacazette

Who is the referee for the day?

Chris Kavanagh.

What time is kick-off?

14:00 BST.

Betting ddds?

Burnley – 13/5: Draw – 13/5: Arsenal – 1/1

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by | January 20, 2020 · 5:25 pm

How Arteta can make Arsenal great again

Only the blinds, critics and deluded football fans won’t see a clear organization and direction in the last 6 games of Arsenal in which new manager Mikel Arteta has been in the dugout for the Gunners.

It has been tough 14 years for the Arsenal fans worldwide because they have been struggling to attain the top standard they set in previous years when they won the premiership without being beaten and also made it to the Uefa Champions League final, which they eventually lost to Barcelona.

Arteta has never coach any single team before he took the Arsenal’s Job, but he quite understands what it takes to be great and also be a force to reckon with. He has been part of Man City’s recent success, as an assistant to Pep Guardiola that made them dominate English football the past few seasons.

Since his appointment, it no flukes that teams’ performance in playing has slightly improved. Yet it can be argued that the result is not yet coming in after having two wins in six games managed so far. That is quite an Improvement to zero wins in ten that got Unai Emery fired in November.

Working in this kind of rot that Arteta met might be quite difficult for the result to start coming almost immediately because the psychological and mental battle in the course of the season is most time tough to deal with.

When your centre forward goes 6 continuous games without scoring for the second time in the season and also your best creative player has no goal threat, and currently have just one assist registered to him since the season started.  It is not rocket science to understand how Arsenal has been failing to kill off games since Arteta took over, It simply because of the team over-reliant on AUBAMEYANG’s goal.

Now is the best time to put emotions aside for some certain Arsenal players to leave. One of the Arsenal best legs, Ozil, is not getting younger anymore, he has offered his best he could in the past.

He can’t be replaced immediately in the course of the season, but a fresh leg needs to be brought in to relieve Ozil in the starting eleven. It’s thought that Arteta is eyeing a few players in his and a report from football blog confirmed Arsenal’s interest in Hakim Ziyech.

Lacazette is a decent striker but his current stat can’t take Arsenal far. He doesn’t run the game, not scoring enough, not also clinical enough in front of goal. Yes, it can be argued that he plays with huge passion and spirit. With stats from Myphonefootball confirming he has also gone almost a year without scoring away from home in the league.

All this cannot take arsenal to the next level. A potent striker needs to be brought in by Arteta to compliment Aubameyang. Arteta needs to work on the team’s athleticism. Best teams like Man City and Liverpool can have their players run for 90 minutes and still run their opponent ragged with ease.

Arsenal led in half time again Man United and Chelsea and they already looked tired in the first 45 minutes. Fitness is the basis for football to achieve success.  The centre midfield is also a big issue to fixed quickly by the Spaniard.

Torreira and Xhaka are doing a good job and also complementing each other, but the honest question is who is going to be the distributor? The reality is Arteta needs to bring in a good box to box midfielder with physical presence also a good ball distributor in the mould of Thomas Partey.

The defence also needs urgent revamping. Maitland Niles has no business playing in the Right Back position for Arsenal. Hopefully, Bellerin can be counted on, if he can be back to full fitness. Arsenal’s defence probably needs two need solid, commanding centre back that is around 26 or 27 years old.

Right now the squad is in mess, Arteta has tried to steady the team and also made below players looks decent. He should be backed in the transfer market to get the players that can fit in his idea and can help him make Arsenal great again.

The team needs 2 players in defence, 2 in the midfield and a goal potent striker. Arteta needs five solid players to revamp the team and also help convert all the draws into wins.

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