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The Carabou Cup – what is it good for? Absolutely nothing?
Augustine Worth posted an article in London Calling
The Carabou Cup – what is it good for? Absolutely nothing? The top nine league cup winners Team Wins R/up Years Years R/up Liverpool 10 4 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1995, 2001, 2003, 2012, 2022, 2024 1978, 1987, 2005, 2016 Manchester City 8 1 1970, 1976, 2014, 2016, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021 1974 Manchester United 6 4 1992, 2006, 2009, 2010, 2017, 2023 1983, 1991, 1994, 2003 Chelsea 5 5 1965, 1998, 2005, 2007, 2015 1972, 2008, 2019, 2022, 2024 Aston Villa 5 4 1961, 1975, 1977, 1994, 1996 1963, 1971, 2010, 2020 Tottenham Hotspur 4 5 1971, 1973, 1999, 2008 1982, 2002, 2009, 2015, 2021 Nottingham Forest 4 2 1978, 1979, 1989, 1990 1980, 1992 Leicester City 3 2 1964, 1997, 2000 1965, 1999 Arsenal 2 6 1987, 1993 1968, 1969, 1988, 2007, 2011, 2018 All hail King George If it wasn’t for George Graham we wouldn’t even have the two miserable League Cups we have in 1987 and 1993. And if it wasn’t for the Heysel stadium tragedy which meant English clubs were barred from European competition maybe George would have had his priorities elsewhere. It might be just the one. Coca Cola Cup? Why not, George? Do you know we are ninth in the table of league cup winners? Tottenham are above us on four. And everyone knows what Tottenham are. They won it twice before us and twice after that. What does that make us? Shitter than shit? City win it as a warm up Pep, the standard to which Mikel is compared gets a win there most seasons. City have picked up six since 2014 and Pep has five since then. City have eight in total. They can win the league and league cup, why can’t we? Pep likes a League Cup Liverpool won it twice under Klopp so he cared about it. And Liverpool won it four times in their glory years in the 80’s. Chelsea won it three times under Abramovich so he also saw value in it. Ferguson won it four times in his glory years. Arsene could never win it and maybe Mikel will be the same. It is good to be beaten so we concentrate on the League and CL? I have shown that teams can win the league cup and the title even if not necessarily in the same year but in the same time frame. It is no barrier to success. Yet I have heard every year that we go out since Arsene’s time that it is best we were beaten so we can concentrate on the league or the Champions League. How come the other big teams don’t think the same? Alex Ferguson also liked the League Cup Because the league cup gives the squad games so they can come on and do a job if necessary and that has certainly been a weakness in the latter Wenger years and the recent Arteta ones. The squad gets beaten. Which means it is not good enough. Guardiola set his stall out for 2 strong teams right from the start and City had the financial nous to get it for him ( I wonder legally?) Pep brings on players and you wonder are they better than the guys he takes off. The squad players shine in the cups? We have not really been able to do that under Arteta. Eleven players get flogged unmercifully every week because he needs to win. But now? We have gone to a team in North London and won without Martin Odegaard and Declan Rice, two of our very best. I feel we have two teams now although our second choice goalkeeper is now unproven without Ramsdale. Still a keeper’s job in a Carabou cup may not be too strenuous. Raya could stay to give them maturity. Jorginho, Zinchenko, Jesus, and others need full games badly. We could probably put out a second string that a midtable team would like to have. Martin Odegaard - we do need a back-up playmaker I still feel that we are vulnerable to injuries as we cannot really do without key players too long. If the squad players step up in the league and FA cups it will give us all far more confidence. I would love to see them destroying teams so that we say let’s play them instead. Where are we at this season? So what have we learned so far this season? I think one thing is that Martinelli should start as he wears out the full back and Trossard can come in and score whereas Trossard doesn’t leave the full back almost dead on his feet if he starts. He plays a different game but he can be bundled off the ball a bit too easily. Trossard sub for me but a starter in the cups. He has an eye for goal and the ability to do the unpredicted. A good player to have. Could Bolton be our first step towards a long-awaited Carabou Cup? Timber looks class. He seems the right mix of pure talent and competitiveness to be a winner. Calafiori also will improve the team. I feel he will get many chances although defenders don’t get subbed so often. Merino seems to be one that has improved with age. Partey has done well but he doesn’t seem to have the legs for 90 minutes. If Merino takes over I feel that will be a step up. Danger with Odegaard? Odegaard may be the problem unless, say, Nwaneri steps up. Smith Rowe could come in and do a job in the past but he is now performing great for Fulham so we hope Nwaneri could be the guy. Heaven and Skelly will surely get their chance against Bolton and we need them to shine. They must be on the bench for a reason. I would like to see Arteta have a definite team for the Carabou Cup and to go on and win it with them. Yes, play them in the final. All the top teams except Wenger’s have got plenty of titles alongside it. We need this boy to be a teenage sensation Go on, Mikel, show us what the youngsters and a few veterans are made of and win it for us. And follow it up with the title or the Champions League as well for good measure. We won’t complain.-
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Арсенал гостува на Тотнъм Хотспър в дербито от 4-ти кръг на Висшата лига. В момента "артилеристите" заемат 6-то място със 7 точки на сметката си, докато "шпорите" се намират на 13-та позиция с 4-точков актив. Арсенал е в търсене на трета поредна победа като гост на вечния си враг след 0:2 и 2:3. При всички положения първото за сезона дерби на Северен Лондон, който винаги е бил червен, вещае минути на неспирна битка на терена. Ето и по-важното преди мача: Кога: 16:00ч. българско време; Стадион: Тотнъм Хотспър, Лондон; Телевизия: Диема Спорт 2; Рефер на двубоя: Джаред Джилет; Новините в Арсенал: Дербито пропускат Такехиро Томиясу, Кийрън Тиърни, Микел Мерино, Деклан Райс и капитана Мартин Йодегор. Английския национал няма да бъде на разположение поради червен картон, докато останалите изброени са с травми. Най-близо до своето завръщане от контузените е Мартин Йодегор. Очакванията са Габриел Жезус да се завърне в отбора този следобед, а под въпрос до последно е Рикардо Калафиори. Всички останали състезатели в отбора са на разположение за селекция. Микел Артета преди мача: "Чувствам се наистина щастлив за новия ми договор. Това просто показва хармонията между мен и всички в треньорския щаб. Това е едно страхотно пътуване за всички нас в търсене на нови цели. Амбициите ни са големи и желаем да ги превърнем в реалност. Да работим заедно в този клуб е просто върховно усещане. Сами по себе си мачовете с Тотнъм винаги са били неразделна част от фолклора на привържениците. Желанието ни за този мач бе да играем в нашите цветове, но за съжаление някои решения не зависят от нас. В крайна сметка, без значение кой екип носим, ние трябва да бъдем съсредоточени във всяко действие. Нужно е да сме хладнокръвни и безапелационни. Тотнъм е опасен противник, така че сме напълно наясно на какво са способни техните играчи. Ние обаче също разполагаме с извънредно много качество в редиците си. Чакат ни вълнуващи минути и битка до края. Отиваме за победа." Игра с прогнози във форума на ASCB:
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- дерби северен лондон
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Do we have two teams and do we now have strength in depth like Manchester City or not? Team who started against Wolves David Raya O. Zinchenko Gabriel Magalhães W. Saliba B. White D. Rice T. Partey M. Ødegaard (c), Gabriel Martinelli K. Havertz Bukayo Saka The alternatives A. Ramsdale K.Tierney R. Calafiori J. Timber T. Tomiyasu J. Kiwior Jorginho M. Merino F. Vieira E. Nwaneri L. Trossard E. Nketiah R. Nelson Gabriel Jesus Raya Raya has cemented his place Above I have listed the team chosen against Wolves as a possible first team, although with obvious question marks over some positions. I will go through these against the best of the rest. Raya is Arteta’s man and I feel most fans are happy with that. But Ramsdale (if he stays)is a good substitute and I do not believe, with a good run in the side, that we would be weakened if he was playing. Strong at goalkeeping. White, Saliba, Gabriel, Zinchenko Calafiori has to come in? The defence is where there is now serious competition. Calafiori was surely not bought to be on the bench so that means Zinchenko to swap places? Can he take Gabriel’s place instead? I feel that the Saliba/Gabriel partnership is written in stone now so it would take an injury for it to be shaken up. White, Calafiori, Timber, Kiwior and Tomiyasu can all play central and full back so that leaves Zinchenko and Tierney as full back options. 9 for 4 positions seem to be strong and only Tierney has big question marks over whether he can complete a season. I suspect that Timber and Calafiori are the biggest contenders for a first choice position but Ben White’s understanding with Saka makes him hard to shift. Calafiori to replace Zinchenko then is my belief. Strong at defence. Partey, Rice and Odegaard next. Declan Rice will be hard to replace Rice and Odegaard are nailed on but Partey’s position seems open. Merino, if he comes, surely will take that spot. Jorginho always does well and would be first choice at most teams. Nwaneri seems to have pushed himself into the first team squad at 17 but he would need Rice to go back as he is an attacking midfielder. I suspect he is there for a reason and may well be the first academy player in a while to nail down a place. Still very young, though. Fabio Vieira and Zinchenko could do a job but neither are as good as the first choice. Havertz also does a good job in midfield. I feel we have reasonable strength in midfield but Rice and Odegaard are better than the rest and either or both getting injured could derail our title chances. Midfield not quite so strong in depth. Martinellli, Havertz, Saka Kai Havertz - is he the striker that we have needed? Attack is the area where we have the most concerns. Havertz up top seems to be working despite the 60 million being down the drain :). Jesus probably is not quite superstar level. Saka and Martinelli (if he has rediscovered his mojo) are possibly the 2 best wingers in world football. Trossard is an excellent backup. Nelson also puts in a reliable shift when called upon but that seems rare nowadays. For Nketiah it is the same. Attack seems vulnerable to something going wrong. Six are certain I think we can say that we have 6 players written down from the start: Raya, Saliba, Gabriel, Rice, Odegaard and Saka. Calafiori and Timber may well prove to be the equal of Saliba/ Gabriel. But Rice, Odegaard and Saka do not have alternatives in my opinion. Three subs were used against Wolves, Timber for Zinchenko who was struggling a bit, Trossard for Saka who had got a yellow card, and Jesus for Rice who wasn’t as good as normal. The final two came on late when we were 2-0 up. Arteta doesn’t seem to like subs whereas Guardiola often uses all five. I feel that is a weakness, that Arteta doesn’t really trust certain players. Players come on after 80 minutes which makes it very difficult to have an impact. Jurrien Timber looks like a player you cannot leave out We were lucky with injuries last season. The previous year we were unlucky. I reckon that what is above raises question marks about our depth if something goes wrong. A top notch striker, winger and midfielder would be useful. But they would have to get game time. The fringe players last year got very little. For example, Reiss Nelson had 14 sub appearances in the league but I doubt if he got 90 minutes in total. Nketiah similar. Emile Smith Rowe also. Without game time players cannot improve and feel comfortable in the team. More players need starts and games I have listed 25 players and obviously some of the academy guys from pre-season are trying to push for a spot but I reckon no more than 15 players will get regular starts. Last year only 15 got 10 or more. If Arteta continues with late or little subbing then how will the fringe players get match-wise? You may hardly get the ball in a few minutes. Saka is irreplaceable I feel I firmly believe that we can only have a strong squad by rotation, by longer subbing, and by players feeling trusted. We will get punished this season if Arteta follows the same pattern as last year. Unless we get lucky with injuries again and the 6 critical players listed above start almost every game. My conclusion is that our strength in depth is open to question. We certainly do not have a like-for-like reserve in many positions. We will also probably have many players with limited game time when we do need a game-changer. I believe that Arteta needs to change his ways. I doubt if he will. We might pay for that.
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The real top six? In every full decade since I became an Arsenal supporter Arsenal have won the league except 2010 to 2019. I came onboard in 1969 and in 1971 we won the famous double. In 1989 we won at Anfield on the last day. In the 90’s we had 1991 and 1998 and in the new millennium we had 2002 and 2004. Since then nothing. But I am very hopeful for this decade to correct this blight. Surely this is the best set of players since Arsene Wenger’s heyday? Martin Odegaard: Our Captain Supreme However, If we don’t start winning trophies again we could go out of the top three English teams as Man City and Chelsea are coming up behind us. In this table of most successful English teams here 15 most successful English clubs in football history by major trophies won (givemesport.com). They exclude certain trophies because of their limited reach such as the Charity Shield and World Championships. Arsenal are 3rd with 30 trophies. Man City, if as expected, win the league and the FA cup will have 28. Chelsea are on 25. Surprisingly, Aston Villa are next on 20, but they will surely not catch us in my lifetime even if Unai Emery performs miracles. But, if we don’t start winning trophies soon, City will surely overhaul us, possibly by next year. Ian Wright right again Of course, City are facing charges going back to 2009 so they could lose all their modern trophies which means they go out of the top six and the Spuds come in. Arsenal drop down the top six? I will diverge for a moment to talk about the top two, Liverpool on 46 and Man Utd on 43. I cannot see them being caught possibly ever, although that top two could change positions quite easily. But we are the vulnerable ones. If Chelsea can get back to the Abramovich glory days they could also catch us in a few years. 18 of their major trophies have been won since 2000, an astonishing haul. We could go down to 5th place if we don’t start winning. Are there really more trophies in this team? And that is the real top six: Liverpool, Manchester United, Arsenal, Manchester City, Chelsea and Aston Villa. They include the final top four of this season 2023/24. Chelsea scrambled into 6th so 5 of the real top six are in the top six. City and Chelsea are the cuckoos, though. Incredible wealth and clever football policies have brought them a majority of the 21st century trophies. City, I should point out, have won 18 trophies over this time and possibly this month that will go up to 19. At least we can’t fall further What does it all mean for Arsenal and its support base if we go down to 5th? I should point out that 5th is our bottom position for a long time as Spurs are 7th on 17 trophies and Everton 8th on 15. They and Villa are not coming near us anytime soon. So we will remain 5th, if that happens and not lower. Still, it will have an impact on our standing in world football. And on our support. Can Emery hold Villa together? Chelsea and City fans are mostly new, young people attracted by the success and claiming bragging rights over the still current top three of Liverpool, Man Utd and Arsenal. Existing fans rarely change so the demographic changes over time if you don’t win. The current top three have probably lost some new support to the upstarts and if Liverpool go backwards after Klopp that will get worse. Who will make the top four next season? It is becoming hard to see where the contenders are going to come from next season. City and Arsenal look solid but the rest? Villa have imploded at the end but I guess Unai Emery will have them ready. There is no better expert at juggling European football so I would expect them to handle the Champions League well. But can they be contenders or even retain their Champions League spot? Man Utd look a shambles at the moment and they must move quickly to get back to the top to retain their position. To me, looking at their squad, they need too many new players to quickly turn things around. A new Slot machine or Poch marked Pensioners? With Liverpool it is almost impossible to say. It is rare for a new manager to take over from an iconic one and do well but Liverpool have form in this regard. Bill Shankly resigned and Bob Paisley took over to make Liverpool possibly the greatest English team of all time. But Arne Slot? Can he take the jump up in class and the huge pressure that comes with managing European royalty? We shall see but I would not be optimistic. I have a feeling that big personalities, which even Klopp struggled to keep in line, will prove too much for Slot. He will need a clearout like Arteta did but will he be given the chance? I doubt it. Somehow I see a short run for him. Howe can Eddie do it? Chelsea may improve but I am not convinced that Pochettino has really got the mojo he had at Spurs. They had a pretty good end to the season and without Champions League may be able to capitalise on the teams that have. Such a big squad means that handling the lesser European trophies is easier for him. Newcastle sell up and Spurs have Ange’st? Newcastle have also run into financial problems and may have to sell some players. Eddie Howe is good but his team have been very inconsistent. They need to improve a lot to contend and if Isak and Guimaraes goes it is hard to see how (forgive the pun). Spurs fans think Postecoglou is the crazy one Tottenham walked themselves into a lot of bother at the end. The supporters threw away a chance of Champions League just to do over the Arsenal causing Ange Postecoglou to have a meltdown. I cannot say this any stronger, every team is trying to get any little margin in their favour, from dark arts, improved training and diet, set piece setups, statistical analysis, mindgames, but crucially, getting the fans behind them to give that little extra push when they need a hard fought win. Is it possible that Son, normally so clinical in one on ones, as I understand it the best in the Premiership, was subconsciously thrown off by the vibe from the crowd to lose? It was certainly not consciously as Son is an excellent professional. There is now a rift and if such a superb manager as Postecoglou goes, whither Spurs? I think he will have offers. Can they get rid of Daniel Levy and get a chairman who wants to win? Doesn’t seem likely. And the winner is? Last year I tipped Villa to make the top four along with Arsenal, City and Man Utd. Utd fell apart but I didn’t do badly. Arsenal could have struggled with Champions League as Newcastle and Man Utd did. And so next season? It is hard to see beyond City and Arsenal again. I cannot see a team beyond the eight I have mentioned making top four and I feel that the next six will battle it out for the bottom two spots. I have absolutely no confidence in any choice but I am going to plump for Chelsea and Villa. We always are So, Arsenal, finally, then City, Chelsea and Villa. Regular readers know that my predictions have been good so far, getting many things right or at least close to right. However, this next season is very hard to call. So many teams have problems that anything can happen. But maybe we can capitalise on that. Good old Arsenal, we’re proud to say that name.
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Please please us with goals What do Bukayo Saka, Martin Odegaard, Gabriel Jesus, Gabriel Martinelli, Granit Xhaka, and Eddie Nketiah have in common? These 6 players were our main goal-scorers last season. The first four with 15 and the next 2 with 9. 78 goals across all competitions with Xhaka’s arguably the most impressive as he is a defensive midfielder. He did start most matches though. Eddie Nketiah started the least at only 18 so his nine could be argued as the most impressive and they did include some very crucial ones which kept us believing. I was there for the Man Utd one and we celebrated like crazy. 20 plus this year, Gabi Jesus started 27 plus 6 as sub for his 15 and again these are good figures so our two strikers did well considering they had limited playing time and both had long term injuries. I feel that if either one had been first choice and injury free we would have won the league as the more you play with your assistants the more of the telepathy you share. They are 2 different players and you have to find them differently. Jesus is everywhere and Nketiah is more of a traditional striker. So the midfielders and wingers had to adjust each time as to when and where to pass. I would imagine that Nketiah’s positions are easier as he would be in and around the box. We can work it out both ways It meant that Arteta had to train the players both ways. You have to know where a player is likely to be and also how they like the ball. To the left foot, the right, the head, can they handle the ball at mid height, have they good control of a fast moving ball, how are they for receiving the ball under pressure, behind or in front, do they have the pace to get to a ball in a sprint with a defender? It is fair to say that those 2 players are quite different as we all can see. It has to be a challenge for the players to adjust mid-match or even from one match to the next. And 20 plus from you, Eddie If anyone watches Match of the day, they have a predominance of strikers as their main commentators, Gary Lineker, Alan Shearer and our own Ian Wright. They all agree that they want the midfielders and wingers to find them as quickly as possible when they run into a good position and get angry if they are not found. Jesus is not really such a player as he gets more involved in the build-up and is often found on the wings or receiving the ball in the middle. It does mean, however, that he is quite often not in the strikers position. He is no goal poacher whereas Nketiah is. Alan Shearer got angry if he didn't get the ball One can guess, judging by the start of the season, that Arteta has decided to play both ways, possibly depending on the opposition, to give an unpredictability to how we play. It will probably mean that If Jesus starts, Nketiah will come on with some time left and vice versa to disrupt the opposition. We need goals here, there and everywhere I feel that Saka, Martinelli and Odegaard will be required to have strong figures like last season and Trossard, Havertz and Viera will be required to step up and score. 8 solid scorers gives us a great chance. How about 15, Guy Havertz? Judging by Nketiah’s positioning and runs, Arteta wants Nketiah to be more like Jesus and yet not abandon the striker role. And judging by Jesus’s goal, perhaps Jesus to be more like a striker. He put the goal away superbly just like Henry. A total of 24 goals last season for our 2 main strikers is not a good return but as I have said above, not too bad considering their limited game time. We have to hope for a better return this season. Norwegian’s good Arteta’s vision seems to be moving away from Pep’s to a more total football style. All players to defend, win balls and participate in attacks. Pep has a generational player in Haaland, and he is as close to a pure striker as I have ever seen. The trend has been to move away from such players in favour of more all round players but Haaland’s numbers mean you can rely on him to score the goals and the other players can just give assists. They will be enough to keep the City machine winning. I suspect every team would love to have him. And we do have our own Norwegian genius in Odegaard. No less than 15, Leandro But we have to play with what we have, 2 flying wingers who can score, move inside, win balls and defend if necessary. Midfielders like Odegaard and Xhaka (read the guys mentioned above) who thunder forward and bag plenty of scores. And of course, Jesus and Nketiah. Nketiah is closer to Haaland in style but I feel that Arteta is right. We need variety, scores from everywhere, changes in style, a mix-em up approach to give final results better than City. Nketiah is not Haaland. Don’t let me down Despite Haaland’s astonishing numbers, we only finished 6 goals behind City last season and we were well ahead of all the rest. Arteta got a lot right. And the team looks better balanced all round with players ready to come in that won’t weaken the team. I am not happy with moving Tierney on but I have to assume that he does not work as Arteta wants him. Kyle Walker had such spells at City where Pep said he does not do what he wants but Walker kept coming back. I hope Tierney can do the same. To me he brings a better goal threat and is a better defender than Zinchenko. Arteta does not agree with me at the moment, but I hope that is why he is the manager, not me. Be the first Portuguese to score 15 for us, Fabio My conclusion is simple, we will not have a super scorer this season. We will need lots of guys to hit double figures or close, which should be a benefit of the total football approach that Arteta seems to be tweaking this season. I am pretty certain of one thing, though. Jesus and Nketiah will have to hit better numbers, and we could do with a mostly injury free time this year for those two guys. I have a feeling if that is so, that they will both have a similar number of total games as both get a run out most times. Strikers always get subbed. The different qualities both bring could be the key to a big season for us. The opposition will have to change tack every match as one or the other comes on. C’mon the Arsenal!