28 Dec 2025 13:02:36
SY I disagree, Haaland is the reason why we won't win the league is so clear, he gets injured then it's us and Villa, of course he wouldn't score a hatful for us as we don't suit a CF style.
I also disagree about the lack of desire to win, of course the desire is there but we are lost, our captain doesn't help in certain situations, my granny could move the ball quicker and shes been dead 40 years bless her.
I agree Dec should be the captain and that's a must IMO
Transfers have been good as it's our strongest squad for years BUT, the choice of a CF suited for the Championship will let us down
I would also agree that Arteta and his tactics are questionable, he has gone into some games, Liverpool and Villa away and he just didn't want to lose, rather than trying to get a win .
As long as we avoid a PL side in the champions league we have a great chance of winning it.
,
The PL though, IMO we have the unthinkable possibility of finishing 1st 2nd or 3rd - Tuesday is without question the BIGGEST game of the season.
28 Dec 2025 14:01:14
Agree with a lot you said Banbury. I been saying to my son in laws for the last 2 seasons our tactics suit the Champions league better were the tempo is much slower. We allow teams to get all their players behind the ball and we struggle to break them down, which is an observation anybody who knows just slightest bit about football can make, theirs pundits on telly being paid silly wages saying the same thing.
But Arteta is the boss and he wants us to play the possession based football and where we are at this moment in the season, you have to say it's working.
Agree with you also Villa game Tuesday night is massive
COYG??.
28 Dec 2025 19:10:01
Hi Banbury - sorry I explained myself poorly. If we had Haaland it wouldn’t mean we would win as we don’t get the ball into the box quick enough. I also agree if we did thst, the Hadlsnd effect would be less as our defence is better and we would score more.
Not sure I helped clarify my opinion. I guess City have a star player, play to his strengths and get the rewards. I’m sure our attack would score enough goals if we got the ball forward that would see enough draws switch to wins.
Thanks for the reply ❤️.
28 Dec 2025 20:04:48
Yes fully understood SY, it's strange how Arteta maintains we will see a different Gyokeres in the second half of the season.
I started to believe Gyokeres is unlucky until I saw that very tame pass back to the Brighton keeper.
We might get one chance on Tuesday.
28 Dec 2025 20:10:15
Banbury mate, lots of good points, but the way you're describing us made me look at the PL table. Is it really we are that bad? Yes we are too damn slow at times but I don't thing our CF is championship ST, you show me where he keep missing chances. Saka and ode need to find him more, saka could find him on few occasions but he opt to shoot instead.
The problem we are not feeding our striker enough and we are slow to release the bloody ball.
With all that we still top of the league and in great form in the CL. So its not too bad really.
And I hate villa so much, I wish we can give them a real spank on Tuesday.
29 Dec 2025 11:42:47
Welcome back SY4 good to read from you, and hope you are well.
I don't think the plan for Gykores was never to have so many minutes from the start of this season. Especially signing him so late in the transfer window.
Unfortunatley the injuries we have had this season has forced our hand to play Gykores without having him embeded into the team or experimenting with the team setup to accomodate his style of play. Arteta has said in many interviews that the run up to christmas has been especially bad as players do not get the time to train due to the intense schedule.
Having said that we are still at the top of table in the premier league and the champions league still in both cups. Also compare our summer signing to the other summer signings of strikers and I think we are not doing to badly. We do need to seriously look at our medical team and phsio's and diet for the team there is something definetley wrong and we need to address this issue immediatley.
29 Dec 2025 17:50:29
Hi G4E - thanks for reply and love. All true just frustrating as we were screaming out for a decent striker to help us in tight games.
29 Dec 2025 21:11:17
SY how can you judge him if he's not getting the service the CF and goal scorer should get. We are too easy to judge and write off our players. We all questioned and slated Madueke and i'm one of them and he proved to have something in his locker.
In the summer we had 2 options and we all were divided on Gyokeres and sesko, now tell which one you wanted in the summer?
I say we either give him the service he need or we must give him time to adopt to our system.
29 Dec 2025 22:31:24
You never know. Word is we may be willing to dip in the market in January for reinforcements due to injuries. If berta could work his magic who would you go for.
29 Dec 2025 22:35:22
Moe, great question and I think I said some of the issue is how we play as well as how he plays.
I’d say - sharpen your game, lose some body mass, stay on your feet and get into the box with aggressive runs. The rest is on the team. He doesn’t take his chances well, pour touches making chances harder and not being aggressive in the box.
You are right but I can judge - speed, touch, level of engagement, staying on his feet, how he takes the chances he’s had and does he get into key positions. I wanted another striker to give him time to settle. However - it’s on him to get in position and moan he doesn’t get the ball.
Why are players getting in front of him when he’s in a better position. No shout, no aggression or determination to score. Would Wrighty let that happen?
I stated I wasn’t happy signing Noni as a LW and I stand by that. I was happy with his signing but annoyed we signed a RW before the much needed CF or LW. Once we got Eze, I was ok. Believe that’s consistent with my harsh posts.
Get your point though.
30 Dec 2025 00:15:40
Hi G4E - with Jesus, Kai and Viktor fit: I doubt a CF will be purchased. We will get defensive cover no doubt as Arteta loves a defender. I’d like to see a proper fast left winger with an eye for goal, pace and a desire to attack.
We aren’t far away - CF and LW for me. But I said that for last few years and we don’t address it. Who would you like? Or what position?
30 Dec 2025 15:11:57
Right now I think we need a versatile RB I think Timber and White are struggling with injuries and need proper time out. A different type of CF one that can create chances not rely on others to set it up for him. A Sanchez/Tevez kind of player a bull dog. We also need better distribution of the ball we heavily rely on the right side.