Morning all.
We’re in Champions League motion this night, taking over Girona away within the closing fixture of this new, elongated group marketing campaign. Our qualification for the knock-out phases, with out having to play one other spherical, is kind of assured, so I half count on the supervisor to rotate his squad a bit for this one. Not wholesale modifications, however with Man Metropolis on Sunday it’s an opportunity to take the stress off some people.
In the end although, the scope for rotation is pretty restricted, however maybe we’ll see begins for Neto, Jakub Kiwior, Jorginho, Mikel Merino, Raheem Sterling and maybe Kieran Tierney. Not essentially ones which get the blood pumping, however which could simply defend some legs which have given loads in the course of the month of January. That is our ninth recreation in 28 days, an absurd schedule actually, so let’s see who he picks afterward.
Nonetheless, if we noticed a stronger facet with out a few of these, I wouldn’t be that shocked, with the supervisor outlining his strategy:
We’re right here to win the sport and with the intention to do this we’re going to should be higher than them. They’re a very good facet, for those who take a look at the video games they’ve performed within the Champions League in opposition to high opposition, they’ve made life very tough for them. So tomorrow it is going to be a really robust workforce with the intention to obtain what we need to do as a result of mathematically the qualifying in the intervening time is unsure.
I do know Arteta likes to provide full respect to any opposition he faces, and I perceive why, however Girona have gained simply one among their seven video games up to now, and misplaced six alongside the way in which. They’ll need to exit with a flourish, I’m positive, however little about their Champions League type up to now this season suggests we now have to go full power. So, a combination and match strategy to rotation later, and hopefully we are able to get the job accomplished with no fuss, no drama, no extra accidents, after which we are able to flip our consideration to the weekend.
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In the meantime, Arsenal yesterday appealed the crimson card issued to Myles Lewis-Skelly in the course of the Wolves recreation on Saturday. Information of that emerged simply earlier than lunchtime. Earlier than 6pm, the FA’s impartial panel returned with their verdict:
An impartial Regulatory Fee has upheld a declare of wrongful dismissal in relation to Myles Lewis-Skelly and eliminated his three-match suspension.
The Arsenal participant was despatched off for severe foul play throughout their Premier League fixture in opposition to Wolverhampton Wanderers on Saturday, January 25, 2025.
Frequent sense utilized, fortunately, and the velocity at which they got here to their conclusion tells you a lot. As some journalists over the earlier 48 hours bent over backwards to try to gaslight us into pondering the choice and the PGMOL backing of it was totally justified, the panel wanted no time in any respect to make a mockery of these makes an attempt – and the preliminary choice from the referee and in addition VAR.
As I stated afterwards, everybody understands if a referee makes a mistake, however when VAR doesn’t do its job, after which PGMOL doubles-down on it very publicly and makes use of their buddies within the media to muddy the waters, it simply makes all of them look very, very silly. I’ve seen it argued that this demonstrates the processes in place work, and that is finest follow, however to me it simply additional illustrates that the physique that runs officiating for the Premier League and past is extra concerned about defending itself and its referees than getting issues proper.
Fortunately this can be a recreation that Arsenal gained, so we don’t have the added frustration (as we did in opposition to Brighton, Man Metropolis and Bournemouth) of getting a nasty choice value us factors. It additionally means Lewis-Skelly doesn’t should serve a completely unjustified three match ban, and with a great deal of video games arising, that’s an excellent factor.
I’ll say this despite the fact that I don’t actually consider it: however I hope this example leads to just a little introspection from Howard Webb and PGMOL. They handled this within the worst means doable, relatively than admitting a mistake and exhibiting a capability for studying from it, they made it much more contentious than it already was. They should personal that. And I believe it justifies the unhappiness that Arsenal followers felt about it on the time and subsequently.
And by Arsenal followers I imply the bulk who merely felt it unfair and unjust, not the tiny minority who went too far with abuse that’s unacceptable and can’t be condoned. An excessive faction should not who you maintain as much as symbolize the bulk. So, let’s hope that processes and requirements enhance for each workforce within the Premier League, and perhaps this as a studying second for PGMOL may develop into a constructive. I don’t actually have a whole lot of religion that that would be the case, however it might be good if it was.
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Proper, that’s it for now. You may be a part of us later for some Champions League stay weblog motion, and we’ll have all of the post-game stuff on Arseblog Information.
Catch you later.