Expectations - 2023/2024 Season: Page 30 - The Arsenal discussion community: One More in the Tolly

Expectations - 2023/2024 Season

JazzG

Clrnc At the time even us fans heads were in the clouds but one thing that is very clear was after the World cup our defensive record was not good enough. That was even with Saliba in the team we were letting in too many games. When we lose Saliba and Tomi in one game that was it for us.

I think the addition of Rice and Raya has helped us look more secure defensively. Rice is an absolute demon in front of our defence, he's mobility and defensive instincts are on another level to Partey/Xhaka of last season and that has really been one of the key factors.

Don Pacifico

To think that Partey's defensive contribution was considered equivalent to Rice's before we signed him...

We can now also see that Rice is very capable offensively too. What a player.

flobaba

Don Pacifico it actually is. At least based upon last season's Partey vs this season's Rice according to the squawka comparison matrix. Partey is (was) slightly superior when it comes to duel winning. Again, the dream would have been to have had them both working together all season. Shame injuries robbed us of this.

I think we might also pull the trigger on letting Partey go this summer based on Rice's robustness, improvement and versatility, and to make some money so we can address other areas where we are not so deep/robust.

Claudius

Clearly Rice can’t do the most creative things that Partey and especially Jorginho can do. But as a box-to-box, he’s the best thing we’ve had in 2 decades. The man is tackling and launching attacks, passing, driving, shooting, heading. It’s real Roy of the Rovers stuff.

Clrnc

19% chance seems absurdly low. Let's put these analysts in their place after Etihad

Mirth

Clrnc it seems low but that’s probably because of the weightage given to the City game. If we win, I expect we’ll be given a substantial boost at City’s expense

Sicario2 - Tier 1

Clrnc

We haven’t won the title in 20 years mate, 19 percent is about right. City won 4 out of the last 5 titles as well hence they are clear favourites.

MistaT

flobaba -- I think we'll definitely let Partey go if we win the title. However, if we end up 2nd/3rd, I could see us retaining Partey to see if a Partey - Rice - Odegaard midfield could win us the title.

Better the devil you know, than some new bloke at DM....

goon

There's only 3 points between us and City in their prediction, which basically means Mirth is correct. Given that the super computer would have almost certainly given City the win at the Etihad, it basically means if we win that game our odds will increase substantially.

Their points projection is only 86 points, which would mean we'd only have to win 7 and draw 1 of our last 10. That's a lot lower than what's being assumed on here.

awooga83

Yep it'll be down to what we have previously done with date for our results and for a long time we haven't got the results in these games that get you titles. But best city away and it'll change for sure.

Clrnc

Sicario2 - Tier 1 Yeah due to our past record of losing during the period that matters.

Any other clubs top of 28 games won't have a 19% chance by opta

TambourineMan

To win the title, I think we'll need to:

win at the Etihad
win at least 8 (possibly 9) of the last 10

If we pull it off, it'll be one of our greatest triumphs.

Coombs

goon Their points projection is only 86 points, which would mean we'd only have to win 7 and draw 1 of our last 10. That's a lot lower than what's being assumed on here.

This seems a very, very likely scenario to me.

SimplyThePest

goon I'm so used to Man City and Liverpool reeling off such ridiculous points totals that it's hard not to think we'll need an almost 100% record from here on in!

Qwiss

Claudius We lost Jesus, which was a big impact.

we dealt with that loss pretty well. It was when he came back and wasn't the same we had issues. In hindsight we should have stuck with Trossard. Hopefully Arteta has learnt from that and will now stick with Kai.

Claudius

Qwiss said somewhere that Arteta was less flexible last year which is understandable. Once you have the foundations in place and greater quality, you have greater ability to experiment.
Jesus has never recovered the explosiveness and robustness he had in fall 2022. I would just shut him down til he’s fit.

Qwiss

Claudius having Jesus off the bench is big bonus and if things go well tonight we'll have a lot more fixture congestion so we'll need him. The presence Havertz gives us up front is exactly what Jesus doesn't though. It gives us another dimension. We probably need Jesus to play a bit on the wings too. TBH I think its the role he should fill going forward.

Claudius

Qwiss I’m fine with him being an option at forward. When the guy is at his peak he is unplayable. My worry is we keep playing him and he stays in a cycle of breaking down. There’s been talk that he has come back today early a couple of times since that big World Cup injury.

Qwiss

Claudius did feel a bit rushed that first time.

Sicario2 - Tier 1

Wolves losing and City most likely winning (HT and they lead 2-0) is very interesting.

It means we play Wolves GW34 3 days after Bayern away but it saves us from playing mid-week GW37 which is worse. It means City play FA cup GW34 (when they would have faced Spurs away).

It looks like we may have to support Spurs GW37 midweek as that is when their game with City is going to be rescheduled.

« Previous Page Next Page »