{"id":1726,"date":"2020-06-25T07:33:26","date_gmt":"2020-06-25T07:33:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/uncensoredarsenal.com\/?p=1726"},"modified":"2020-06-25T07:33:26","modified_gmt":"2020-06-25T07:33:26","slug":"sou-v-ars-gunners-in-need-of-quality","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/uncensoredarsenal.com\/index.php\/sou-v-ars-gunners-in-need-of-quality\/","title":{"rendered":"SOU v ARS: Gunners In Need Of Quality"},"content":{"rendered":"
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#SOUARS<\/p><\/div>\n

It\u2019s been a bizarre season and it doesn\u2019t seem to want to stop. Two matches after the restart, and two losses later, Arsenal are facing something of a crisis; of identity, of performances, and of points. For all of my life as an Arsenal fan, European football has been a given. It may no longer be the case come next season.<\/p>\n

But what makes this even more difficult is the lack of clarity to go with the lack of quality. After Brighton\u2019s Dr Frankenstein decided to resurrect the monster of Alex Ferguson\u2019s Game 50 blueprint, it\u2019s been Arsenal facing pitchforks from the angry villagers. From Guendouzi\u2019s petulance\/aggression, \u00a0Arsenal\u2019s transfer policy, to comparisons with a mythological past where you had to earn the right to play and were never kicked off the park.<\/p>\n

In the middle of all this we\u2019ve struck some deals. David Luiz\u2019s new contract has Arsenal fans howling louder than his howler. Arteta spoke about his leadership and frankly, I get it. It wasn\u2019t Mikel who created a row with or sold Koscielny.<\/p>\n

Ceballos will stay till the end of this season. Arsenal also made permanent the signings of two players already on loan. An injured Pablo Mari, to go with Cedric Soares who was injured when we took him on loan. Some horsing about between Edu, his agent, Raul, his agent buddy got these deals over the line.<\/p>\n

Sven Mislintat called us a mess, and I agree with him.<\/p>\n

But soon there may be some good news regarding Bukayo Saka\u2019s contract if Arteta is correct. Still no word on Auba though. He\u2019s still waiting for a different knock. Would carry more weight if we made Europe.<\/p>\n

Standing in mid-table<\/strong><\/p>\n

As things stand we\u2019re in 11th<\/sup>; 40 points from 30 games with a goal difference of zero. Our closest challengers are Burnley. Europe seems a long way off. Still, we can do nothing else but back the team. Even if this season is a wash, it\u2019s got to be used to lay the groundwork for the next season.<\/p>\n

Our opponents are something of a bogey team in recent years. Southampton will be riding high after a 3-0 win in their last game and are looking to draw level on points with us.<\/p>\n

Speaking of bogeys, Shane Long is back in contention. The danger man will be Danny Ings who\u2019s scored 3 goals in their last 2 games against us, and is actually in the hunt for the Golden Boot this season.<\/p>\n

You can also bet that having seen the Monster of Brighton, The Saints will come out vowing to be no saints in the tackle. We will have to stay on our game and not get distracted or bullied. Play them off the park and they don\u2019t get the chance to kick you off it. Of course we also need to stand up for ourselves.<\/p>\n

Granit Xhaka is key<\/strong><\/p>\n

One player who can help with both these aspects is Granit Xhaka. He is back in training along with Sokratis. Both are much maligned, but that seems about par for the course for Arsenal fans still reeling from life\u2019s punches ever since the Big Man left. Xhaka\u2019s passing will be a big boost for a side beleaguered by injuries to Chambers, Mari, and Torreira, plus Luiz suspended. Xhaka and Sokratis are also not shy when it comes to a physical battle. It\u2019s unlikely they\u2019ll both start but it\u2019s good to have them back in the fold.<\/p>\n

Martinelli is out with a knee injury which might keep him out of the side until next season. The other question mark is around Ozil. People will believe what they want to believe, but we play a lot better when he\u2019s on the field. His ability to find space and spot a pass will be important if we are to put an end to this run of defeats.<\/p>\n

Arteta has a lot on his plate, and there\u2019s so much he\u2019s dealt with already. But I believe in the guy who was instrumental in getting us out of the hole we found ourselves in when Cesc left, and who very quickly established himself as the leader. A win would go a long way to making it all seem just a little less daunting, and our goals just a little more achievable. That\u2019s what we need. More goals. Here\u2019s to desecrating the Saints\u2019 stadium. Or just getting out of there with 3 points and no injuries.<\/p>\n

Written by @ShardGooner<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

#SOUARS It\u2019s been a bizarre season and it doesn\u2019t seem to want to stop. Two matches after the restart, and two losses later, Arsenal are facing something of a crisis; of identity, of performances, and of points. For all of my life as an Arsenal fan, European football has been…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[43,25,26],"tags":[24,211,240,374],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/uncensoredarsenal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1726"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/uncensoredarsenal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/uncensoredarsenal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uncensoredarsenal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uncensoredarsenal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1726"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/uncensoredarsenal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1726\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1734,"href":"https:\/\/uncensoredarsenal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1726\/revisions\/1734"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/uncensoredarsenal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1726"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uncensoredarsenal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1726"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uncensoredarsenal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1726"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}