AFCON, Leadership, and Sadio Mané
Speaking of Sadio Mané, congratulations to Senegal, the new African champions. Nigeria settled for the bronze, which is consolatory if you ask me. Beating Egypt is nice and all, but Salah continues to wait to lift an African tournament title sad when you consider his legendary status.
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| Image Credit: Getty Images via BBCdotcom |
Once again, Sadio Mané, take a bow you showed the world how to re-enact Rudiyard Kiplin's Sage 'IF'. The leadership and calm you displayed were exemplary. You let your football do the talking on the pitch, and that is the example the world should emulate....'Africa doesn't deserve the negative image' he said, cue the applause!
Winning Mentality: Arsenal, Pressure, and the Fine Margins of a Title Race
Winning Mentality, the forest game was mega frustrating and a it of De'javu, a scorelss draw versu Liverpool and followed by another scoreless draw vs Nottingham forrest . two things, thatwas the first tie the gunners went consecutive games without scoring, and more importantly on both occasions, we failed to take max advantage of our closest challenges in City/Vila sipping up. It is really raly frustrating. Declan Rices adlib circulating o the media pages adds more on teeth gritting to the whole stuff. Lets quickly get that out of the way, Rice s an amazing player and this teamwork's well when e is n form but his recent performances, as with the others haven't been up to the high standards. I do understand the sickening feeling of now bing ble to capitalise on City or villa slipup, but its getting to squeaky bum time and Rice needs to calm down. Once incident, okay... two incidents, maybe a concern but now three incidents....I am thinking, is our supposed captain material going to lose his nerve like Gallas. Arteta needs leaders on the Pitch, Saka , Odegard, Rice, Big Gabby, they all need to be able to hold their nerve when the pressure cranks because there is no shying away from it, there will be pressure. Arteta call them into a room and give them the dresser. A good example is Sadio Mane's exemplary leadership in the heat of the moment, his singular act (God knows I cant) probably spared the blushes of CAF, Senegal and hosts Morocco at the just concluded AFCON. LEADERHSHIP by example..... that's what it is!
Now lets get back to the Forrest game, obviously in hind sight that looks like it wasn't two points dropped, but one point gained, its fair to say the gunners are enjoying a bit of luck this season and to be fair, we are due some good run with mother luck. Or how else can one explain city's form of 1W in 5 and Villa's 2W in 5 while stuttering Arsenal has 3 in the last 5. I mean, Haaland seems to have lost his scoring boots (touch wood), while Villa's lack of squad depth looks to be finally catching up, we falter and the chasing pack oblige us with their faltering. We ended up extending our lead at the top of the #EPL table by 1-point, despite not winning at the city ground. Instead of us going all Declan Rice frustrated, we can spin it by saying hey context matters, the league is a tough one ...look at everybody else (City Villa Liverpool) they all dropped points too. Now, dont get me wrong, a leed of 10 or 11points would be much much comfier say if we had just taken maximum points from one of the last two games, so I get the bad taste not doing that leaves. That been said, we need calm heads in the game, we acknowledge our slip ups, we tell ourselves the levels must be upped again or else we are in danger of choking and then we do the business on the pitch. I believe we are in the best position to win the league title this season, especially having seen how lacklustre City continues to remain but we cant keep hoping other teams would keep handing us points gifts wrapped in indifferent performances. ManCity still have Pep Guardiola at the helm, arguable the greatest of all time. Unai Emery also has Villa punching waaay above their weight, those are legit reasons to be apprehensive about us not getting it over the line this time around. If i know this, I am sure Arteta knows this too, which means the players must know this as well. I wont talk much about MARTINELLI's inglorious miss or the penalty shout. Martinelli should be scoring that, left heel or not and that for me wasn't a penalty at all. The same way Saliba's kick on Barry during our 0-1 win at Everton, blowing a penalty for either 'offence' would have been very soft in my own opinion (I may be wrong). The less I mention for Odegard, the better, I kept asking myself where was my captain in this match? Iknow Sometimes, you just have to salute the opponent for doing a good job but maybe its time to trust Nwanneri wih a good run Mikel. Sean Dyche seems to know how to nullify Mikel [Burnley, Everton, Forrest]. Before I move on, i have a message for the whimpy gooners, get you act together, PTSD is making y'all lose your cool and its just not helping the team. If you want us to win, Back the team all the way, then you are a true Gooner. I'd maintain the same energy.
Champions League: Inter Milan vs Arsenal at the San Siro
Let’s head to the Champions League and the San Siro, as Arsenal face Italian giants Inter Milan. Finely poised between two strong sides, many are calling it a battle of attrition as two of Europe’s best defences go head-to-head. Who comes out on top with a clean sheet?
Last season, the blue half of the San Siro was blown away by a rampant PSG side. After reaching the final by beating Barcelona in that 11-goal thriller, dubbed by many as the final before the final. Inter’s collapse in the UCL final was an unexpected anticlimax. With a new coach in the dugout and additions to an ageing squad, it will be interesting to see how they approach this. Obviously Mikel Arteta has to rotate, with one eye on the upcoming matchup versu United. Arsenal currently top the group with 18 points from six games, architects of their own destiny. This raises the big question: with a resurgent Manchester United coming up at the weekend, does Mikel rotate heavily and rest key players like Rice, Saka, and Zubimendi, or does he maintain momentum with a strong XI?
If it were up to me, I’d field a largely B team. As much as I’d love revenge for last season’s group-stage loss to Inter, the United game is far more important. We simply cannot afford to drop more league points and then start praying for favours from other teams. Nah. Mikel, be smart. Use your much-talked-about squad. Give Ethan, MLS, Nørgaard, and Eze meaningful minutes, and allow your key players a full week’s rest before Saturday. United not being involved in Europe means Carrick has had another full week with his lads to prepare. The way they ripped City apart must have been very worrying, for City fans and a pause to be wary for us Gooners too.
With Arsenal needing just one win from their final two group games to qualify comfortably, rotation shouldn’t be an issue given the quality we have. Inter coach Christian Chivu summed it up well:
“Arsenal are a complete side, but they also need to worry about us.”
There’s no trophy for topping the group stage. I won’t be overly fussed by the outcome, though of course I want Arsenal to win. My priority remains the league clash against the Red Devils at the weekend. My team sheet would look like this, Norgard at right back, while I give the midfield trio of our captain, Rice and Zubi the day off. In comes Eze, Ethan [before he heads to Marseille on loan] and Merino at the base. If i have to shake things up, Norgard can come into the midfield with Josh or Marley going to right back. I dont want to see Timber ot Benny Blanco anywhere near this game.
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| InterMilan Vs Arsenal |
