Arsenal earned a point in a fairly forgettable 0-0 draw at a passionate City Ground to underline all the positives and negatives that we already know about our side. I could have written this report twenty four hours earlier so predictable was the style and narrative of this game. Arsenal, now no longer able to score from set-pieces, denuded of all their most exciting and dangerous forwards and frustrated by a Forest side that must be one of the most tedious seen in the upper reaches of the Premier League for a very long time, toiled manfully but to no avail Arsenal were massively superior in terms of quality and possession but had no cutting edge. It would be difficult enough to score given the missing attacking talents but Ødegaard who has hitherto been the creative hub of the team, is so flat and seemingly lacking in spark although he is still fearfully committed to the cause. But Arsenal rarely looked like scoring. Who knew?
Arsenal picked a fairly predictable side with one change from Saturday with Jorginho replacing Partey. Calafiori was nominally left-back but played as a cross between an auxiliary striker or left 8. Merino was also pushed forward. Whatever the case, Calafiori was yellow carded very early on for a relatively innocuous foul on Hudson-Odoi although the referee Madley did also book Milenkovic early on as well.
Anyone who has watched Forest this season knows they play in a deep block even at home and get out through their wingers Hudson Odoi and Elanga with Chris Wood a conventional target man. Arsenal pushed up very high (Raya was often on the halfway line and Arsenal had most of the possession) but a quick break was always a worry and after 21 minutes Hudson Odoi tried to dupe the referee that Calafiori had tripped him. The Italian had pulled out of the challenge and the referee had seen this.
Calafiori came nearest to scoring in the first half with a terrific turn and right foot curler against the post. The Italian has his weaknesses, pace being one of them but he also has flair and the ability to do the unexpected. But his booking led to his being taken off at half time and replaced by Kieran Tierney.
Half – time – Forest 0 Arsenal 0
Arsenal dominated the first half without forcing the Forest goalkeeper to a save. They intensified the pressure at the start of the second half, forcing several corners. Merino tested Sels with a fierce header and Tierney went close at the near post. Forest retaliated by sending on two midfield substitutes, Yates and Danilo, pushing up ten yards and looking to get better service to Chris Wood. Wood forced one save from Raya and then a brilliantly timed tackle from Saliba denied him on a more convincing Forest break. Arsenal rang the changes bringing on Zinchenko for Jorginho and ultimately Sterling for Nwaneri. At the end, Partey and White entered the fray for Timber and Ødegaard and Partey dragged a shot disappointingly wide. Zinchenko had momentarily broken through a few minutes before but squared the ball to Ødegaard who had a shot blocked on the line only to see the flag raised for offside. It was the sort of situation that reflected the luck we have had this season and acted almost as a metaphor for this frustrating and luckless campaign.
Full Time – Forest 0 Arsenal 0
TNT were desperate to double down on Arteta asking the same obvious questions and expecting different answers. It has been established that our recruitment was deficient in the summer and those of us who felt even a warm attacking body in January might move the dial a bit realise that hopefully the lessons have been learnt and this season is now about confirming Champions League football for next season, giving ourselves a real tilt at that competition this season and then resetting in the summer with exciting attacking recruits and shifting on some of those who have seen better days.
It’s easy to be negative after our hopes, which were so high, have been frustrated, but there is so much that is good about Arteta’s Arsenal. We comfortably outplayed a team who scored seven in their last home game and (amazingly!) lie in third place. Raya, Saliba, Timber and Gabriel have been superb for most of the season, Rice is a special warrior and we have Saka, Havertz and Martinelli to return. And lest we forget, MLS and Nwaneri will be even better next season.
Sadly, until we get better forward resources this sort of attacking performance won’t be an outlier but things will improve. Mikel Arteta is hurt but he is also ambitious and intelligent and determined to learn. We are in a much better place than we were before he joined . Don’t give up hope – trust the process !
Spot on TTG. I agree with every word. Lots still to play for this season and we’ve gotta keep on going.
Absolutely the game I saw, TTG. Thank you.
The referee , I thought, gave the home side more help than was strictly necessary, but frankly the way they played, they needed all the help they could get. GHas there ever been a more basic, dull and predictable table team in 3rd position in the PL? It makes a bit of a mockery of the repeated media line that the PL is the best league in the world.
Our injuries have completely handicapped us. Even the compulsory Liverpool pundit on MOTD admitted as much. Almost as much as the collection of never-to-be -seen-again ‘idiosyncratic” refereeing decisions we have suffered. These are the major reasons behind our malaise. Although it is frankly ridiculous to describe being 2nd in the league anfter our season as a malaise.
Fair play to you, TTG. And props to the editors for their photo editing.
We have to plough on and secure second. Courage, mes braves.
Thanks TTG, a fair report of the game and wot GSD said @1
Cheers, TTG. A very factual report of a mostly dull game (yet still a big improvement on Saturday). Can’t argue with any word you wrote there.
And what Ned said.
We have a weekend off to regroup further before we restart with a CL tie I had completely forgotten about until reminded last night after the final whistle in another place.
A very fair summary of the state of things, TTG. The game was a better watch than Saturday’s was a listen.
Would Ollie Watkins have made a difference last night? I very much doubt it. Beating low blocks requires either; runs to the by-line with low hard crosses inside the six yard box (Nwaneri did this once, Trossard scored a duck and Tierney. on a very limited supply had one effort blocked); boomers from the edge of the box (Calafiori hit the post, Partey pulled wide left); or an intricate dribble through a forest of Forest legs (Nwaneri came close, no one else looked capable).
Speed of transition and complete absence of automatisms were our enemies last night despite an abundance of possessions.
Having groused over all of that, I wasn’t overly disappointed by the draw. Early in the season it wouldn’t have been viewed as a disaster even with the full first team playing. There’s very much to like about our Arsenal. In the circumstances of atrocious reds and woeful injuries, second place will be a trophy. Let’s push on and win it.
I mostly agree with you there, BtM, with a slight difference.
I wonder if your ‘early in the season’ might include a small bit of paradoxical ‘if we knew Forest’s rest of the season form’ caveat.
Thanks TTG. Your report describes the game I saw and the way I feel. It was a far better performance all round than that against West Ham and Lesta. Had Calafiori’s fine turn and shot bounced in rather than out from the far post I like to think the shackles would have fallen from our limbs and we might have won that game as handsomely as our efforts and intentions deserved. I totally agree that result would have been seen as no disaster earlier in the season with or without Olie’s prescient footnote but that scoreless monkey on our shoulder is going to grow progressively heavier until we kill it. Calafiori playing in the left ‘8’ position did cause more problems for this opposition. I would like to see more of that.
I’ve been a little under the weather recently, so have been a little quiet on here. Thanks for your concern Clive, a couple of drinks ago. We were off to Nottingham last night for one of our favourite away days. A 7.30 pm kick off gave the opportunity for supper before at one of our favourite Indian restaurants, the Bombay, Bridgeford, over the road from the Trent Bridge Inn. I feared the curry may be the highlight of the evening, and so it proved. The place was absolutely rammed, but the charming staff handled the 30 or so tables with aplomb.If you fancy going there on a match day, booking is essential.
A brief walk from the curry house to the City ground and into the away end, surrounded by smiley stewards. Our seats were three rows from the front, by the corner flag, an unusual view, which gave us an opportunity to have a close view of Declan Rice’s corner taking technique. In the same row, just a few seats away, for the third time this season, was Tim Stillman. I’m convinced he’s stalking me.
We had the usual banter with the Forest fans:
Champions of Europe, you’ll never sing that
Champions of Europe, you weren’t even born!
TTG, with his usual fluent and accurate reportage has described the game very well. Forest remind me of the John Beck Cambridge side I watched a bit in the early 80’s. Long ball up to either Chris Wood or their two pacy, skilful wingers Elanga and Hudson Odoi. They also defend very well. As with that Cambridge United side, it’s not pretty but it is effective.
I thought Ethan was our best player and that Gabriel and Saliba dealt very well with Wood. I don’t think Calafiori is a full back, but there is a player in there if we can use him correctly. Tross worked very hard and I thought Tierney did well when he came on. Merino spent too much time in midfield. The skipper had another poor game and the contrast between Sterling, late in the game, and Nwaneri, was shuddering. He is a busted flush.
The Forest crowd were delighted with their point. I wasn’t too upset. A poor game, but we worked hard. It was surpringly cold, despite the curry
A fifteen minute walk to the car and home by 11.30.
@9 C100
Thanks for the away day report and good to hear you are chipper enough
for a trip to the curry house 😀
Ode’s struggles have mirrored our own really but I think he will come
though as he is too good a player not to bounce back, hopefully with a
vengeance. Fair play to the Mugsmashers as well though, I honestly never thought
they’d maintain the consistency but Salah has really been much better than
the last couple of seasons.
Cheers for the front line report, C100. Great to have you back around and hope you’ll keep improving.
It’s good to see you back in the bar, C100 adding another piece with enjoyable local colour. You really should consider compiling a guide to fine dining at England’s football grounds!
Ollie @11. So sorry to hear about your torn Achilles tendon. Heal well and quickly mon brave!
C100@9: I hope you are over what ailed you. A great curry is always therapeutic.
The ‘you weren’t even born’ exchange came through loud and clear on the stream I was watching. The travelling faithful are doing us proud all season.
I was disappointed when Sterling came on instead of Kabia or Butler-Oyedeji. Would either of the youngsters really have been any worse?
Ned @14, I’m not convinced that any of the regular Holics would have made any worse a contribution than Sterling did last night.
One silver lining to Sterling’s barely existent contribution is that even if we had bought a skillful winger instead of loaned Sterling, i don’t think it would have been enough to overhaul a Liverpool side who, like OM, i expected to fall away. If we were closer to them and a winger who contributed 10 goals might have won us the league then i’d be more frustrated. But Pool are on target for an excellent final points tally and no one player would have got us close enough to them. I guess what i am saying is that i don’t think the poor outcome of the Sterling loan will affect us in the league – i think we’d have finished second either way, and it was the injuries and the fact that we probably needed another 3 players across the midfield and attack to fill out our squad that cost us, not just a last minute loan that has flopped.
Maybe in the CL we will rue not having just one more viable option from the bench, but if (big if) we could squeeze past PSV then we might get reinforcements when we need them. Now would be a good time rediscover our effectiveness from set plays too!
Rice takes excellent corners but I would prefer to have him contesting them in the box. In a team of professional footballers, they should ALL be able to consistently hit accurate dead balls, so train one of the smaller players to do it and get Declan in the box. Saliba is not aggressive enough in how he attacks them, neither is Partey. Timber makes a nuisance of himself but doesn’t score. White causes some mayhem and Calafiori may prove a good target but hasn’t yet threatened consistently. Merino is good and obviously Gabriel is the main man.
Trossard, Odegaard, Jorginho, Sterling, Nwaneri and MLS might as well not be there. The young two may improve but the older lot won’t. I hope Jover thinks about tweaking our approach in the final couple of months because despite all the talk about us being good at set pieces, right now it is only Merino and Gabriel i really fancy to get on the end of them, and we could really use the goals!
Bath@15: We’d better tell C100 to take his boots to the next game.
GSD@16: You make a fair point. It is also fair to recognise that Liverpool has been exceptional, and Salah is having an exceptional season. Even if we had had a season in which everything ran our way, I suspect we would still have been battling them at the top of the table.
It was indeed good to hear from C100. I’m very much looking to sharing a curry with him and Countryman Junior after the Trent Bridge Test this summer . GSD makes an interesting point about Sterling which I partly agree with. I was very keen to get Sterling in , partly because it was such a bad deal for Chelsea ( paying someone £200k a week to play for us ) . In reality I think they’ve paid him to unhinge our title challenge . He has been utterly useless . Unfortunately we had two domestic loans – Neto was a last minute emergency ( he was already cup-tied for the League Cup! ) and was a client of Edu’s
mate . Sterling was the other . Borrowing them meant we couldn’t enter into any more domestic loans which probably cost us in January , in that we couldn’t hire a Premier League striker or a winger .
But it would have been extraordinarily hard to overtake Liverpool this season,whatever . Their name has been engraved on it from the start . They’ve lost only once and are by far the best team in the league . I’m just amazed that nobody has portrayed our point yesterday as injury-hit Arsenal take a point at third-placed Forest having dominated them…… Actually I’m not at all.
Baff @ 15. I’d have agreed with you if the game was being played before midday Tuesday, but for Wednesday evening, I beg to differ.
And I agree with GSD @ 16.
Great to see you back in the bar, C100. Sorry to hear you’ve been under the weather.
Heh, or rather ouch, Ollie @20.
Very best wishes for a successful procedure tomorrow.
Good luck Ollie! 👍👍
Firstly thanks to TTG for a speedy and well constructed match review – it was spot on.
It’s going to be a struggle for the remaining matches of the season with such a depleted forward line – let’s hope we can conjure goals up from somewhere. As per Bath’s suggestion maybe Calafiori can play further forward as he appears to have a better instinct for a goal. What has impressed me is how much effort the players are making in every game despite the difficulties they are enduring – no complaints at all in this respect.
Hope your health remains positive C100 and all goes well with Ollie’s operation.
Here is something to change the subject. More allegations of financial irregularities at, well you’d never guess where…
https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/articles/c0rzzpnqywqo
Perhaps we should play Tebas up front, he has no trouble firing off shots
Sorry Ned 😄 I think it was a good change of subject but I circled it right round!
Anyway, Tebas is actually somewhat of a loose cannon although his basic point
that PSG and Cheaty are state owned cheats is exactly correct. I suppose he hasn’t got
around to Riyadh Rovers yet.
Blogs always had so much respect for Dave. I’m proud we’ve built this place to honour Goonerholic’s legacy, and I’m also very grateful for Arseblog, still a wonderful site and still going strong!
Nice piece on the academy as the Youth Cup comes to the Emirates
https://www.theguardian.com/football/2025/feb/28/arsenal-under-18s-fa-youth-cup-nwaneri-lewis-skelly-manchester-united?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other
The U-18 Cup game tonight is being streamed on the dot.com. 7pm in His Majesty’s time….
Thanks, TTG for a very fair and accurate report although I’m a bit late getting to it.
C100, hope you are, like the upholsterer I was treating last week, fully recovered. 😉
If we need to sub on a winger in our next game, could we please, please have a look at Kabia, rather than that weak, washed up waste of space, Sterling. I mean, could anyone possibly be more useless ?!
Up front, Merino makes some perfectly timed runs to get on the end of crosses but we are taking far too long to play the ball in. Calafiori is not a great defender but causes more chaos in the opposition area – might be interesting to give him a go – very unlucky with that shot against Forest.
Trev @30. Thanks for the sentiments. Unlikely though I fear. Caused by adult onset ataxia, neither reversible nor curable. Mitigation could be achieved by physio therapy (the Alexander technique?).
The latest GHF Predictathon leaderboard, for Match Week 27, has been posted. Just one word: yo-yos.
You know where to find it.
C100@31: That sounds serious. Best wishes.
OM@26: You mischievous boy!
What GSD said @27.
Trev@30: Spot on about Kabia (or Butler-Oyedeji) not possibly being any worse than Sterling.
Maybe we ought to play 4-4-2 with Calafiori and Merino up top. At the very least it would give the opposition something to think about. I also might have proposed Calafiori and Raya up top but Raya is really rather good in his original position.
Nearly ready to be released. All went very well. Thanks to all for the good wishes.
Oh shit C100 @ 31. Take care. Hope it’s manageable at least.
Good news, Ollie 🤞🏻
Glad to hear about Ollie’s good medical (achilles surgery) report, but very sad to hear about c100’s ataxia diagnosis. I Googled it and ataxia sounds like a complicated business so all the best to you c100 in your efforts to overcome or to live with it if overcoming it is not in the cards. I hope life still has many good things in store for you.
U-18;DA Cup fame in ,com at the moment. Some really good players on show. Porter, Clarke, Copley, Harriman-Annous, Dowman…..
In case yaH missed it (& am sure/CERTAIN yaH wouldn’t want to) : Blimey – much of the above is bubble-wrappped, revisionist BS; espesch from the usual sub-tabsian, tub-thumping, please-like-me, oh i’ve got it wrong AGAIN – oops, needy suspect.
‘Teta’s undeniably done great stuff – but there are some big fat fault lines perhaps emerging in “the process” too (Clive touched on some the other day, before being condescended to). & Shutting down debate with lame-assed truisms & faux semi-religious Arse righteousness does no-one any favours in the end. UTA!
Well wishes to C100 & Ollie
To whoever posted at 41: I appreciate it must be difficult if English isn’t your first language and/or your educational level is rudimentary, but it is so difficult to understand let alone respond to incoherent writing. Perhaps you would be happier, both in your writing and life in general, if you found somewhere better suited to the clear limitations you have.
Hope this helps.
Well said CER. That was the least that banality deserves
TABS has not posted on this blog ever to my recollection and Clive is held in the highest regard by many of us . We don’t have to agree all the time but we certainly won’t condescend to a most respected poster on here .
Come on and debate all you want here but to debate you need to state your opinions rather than criticise others in a meandering and wildly ungrammatical way. Please express them comprehensibly
Like Gary Lineker we are all ears .
Nice job, TTG. Pretty much the way I saw things.
From now to the end of May, I hope Arteta will just lean into chaos. No forwards? No problem! Play a back 5 front 5. Nah, he’s got way too much sense to listen to me…especially since I’ve been drinking, m’lud.
By the way, I’m just tipsy…not sure what excuse the poster in #41 has.
Anywho, come on you rip roarin’!
MCMBD
C100 – oh, so sorry to hear that.
I’m sure you know that there are many and varied causes of ataxia. Fingers crossed that yours is one of the recoverable types. The very best to you in the meantime.
What Trev said @45.
Interesting data point from the FT:
The number of minutes played per season and the distances travelled per game have barely budged for top flight men’s footballers over the past 20 years. Instead, it is the speed at which players move and the number of times they pass the ball in a single game that have soared. Matches are simply more intense rather than more frequent.
No wonder players are breaking down more often.
Hahaaaaha! Well done yous for the “respond” , & thanks for the larfs “ladz”! UTA!
Thanks for the predictathon update Ned @32, steady as she goes for me. Pity it is so steadily low in the table 🙂
And a good point @47.
I will roll it enticingly into the path of……
Diving header!
Bang !
All the best, Countryman.
Ned @47. There is an interview with Calafiori with .com where he talks about training at Arsenal being shorter than he was used to but more intense. I suppose if matches are more intense then training must adapt too. For sure, bigger squads are needed in general, and by us in particular.
I’ve spoken to Michael Oliver and pointed out that GSD clearly pushed me when about to score ! He has referred it to VAR
Anyway well in GSD
Biereth scored his third hat-trick since moving to Monaco . Interesting to know who felt he was worth shipping out at £4million . He’s just what we need atm .
Sadly my local ( very) club Sittingbourne were defeated in the FA Trophy by Aldershot. They had reached the quarter final stage having negotiated eight rounds and were playing a full-time side three levels above them and defeated Southend of the National League 1-0 en route to the QF. Seeing what excitement was generated in a small town by their exploits brought home some of the joy of football at a more basic level. All their players have to work for a living as well .
Well, in for the half-ton, GSD. Nicked off the boot of TTG, too. Predatory.
TTG @53 – today’s hattrick was against Reims I believe, currently 15th in Ligue Un, out of 18. His other hat tricks gave been against Auxerre (14th) and Nantes (11th). This from a small sample size, but I’m not convinced that it represents the signs of anything more than a very competent lower European league centre forward. I hope he has a great career. But I can understand why we have chosen to cash in. This season he would have been a warm body, no more, in our title push. I don’t think he’d have moved the needle at all.
I would remind the assembled company of the Gus Caesar effect.
My son got 7 goals at futsal last week.
Though most of the players were my age
to be honest, but he stands ready!
Well, he’s young so mostly he slouches
ready.
Wislon at The Grauniad is busy sticking
the boot into Sterling while he’s down I
noticed today.
Having read quite a bit of his stuff, I reckon Wilson’s star is now waning at the same rate as Sterling’s.
Liew(?) is usually ok, Ronay tries to be funny but isn’t really.
The best part of the Grauniads football pages is the cartoonist.
UTA.
@32 Ned, my Bump Chart reminds me of a mid-summer ride on the Intimidator* at Kings Dominion in Va. Thrills along the way but, fortunately then, it didn’t end with me on a high. Hopefully this current iteration will reverse that situation.
All of that analysis greatly appreciated.
* Recommended only to the more senior in our midst who, in Billy Connolly’s words “Don’t act your age, act some other bugger’s age”
BtM@59: A wise man the Big Yin.
CER
Good detective work but the boy scored several in the Champions League while at Sturm Graz and it is a sign of an emerging striker to get three goals in a game three times in a matter of weeks whatever the level .
My strong contention is that he would have been more than a warm body for a side who literally haven’t got a striker left or to be correct have one who they never bring on such is their lack of confidence in him .
My other point is that it was another lazy Edu sale. £4million even with a sell-on clause for a lad who is worth at least five times that a few months later doesn’t strike me as a brilliant deal. I shall follow his progress with interest
Btm / Ned
I’d love my bump chart to be a rollercoaster rather than flatlining
Get in Danny!
TTG, your point is well made, If repeatedly ;0). I don’t think any of us would defend Edu as a masterful salesman. Edu’s record may not be unrelated to his departure last summer.
There’s no doubt that Biereth has proved himself as an able striker at the levels at which he has played including in the SPL with Motherwell. He may earn your faith when he gets to the top level as, no doubt, he ultimately will – we appear to have no plans to buty him back and offer him the chance at Arsenal – for whatever reason.
Well done Danny. He would be a useful asset for us now, even at 34. Great professional. Very pleased for him and for Brighton – a well run club. Not so much for the Brighton coach, though.
Excellent chant from the Fulham fans
Bruno Fernandez
You look like a rat!
Indisputable really, C100 @65. Behaves like one to boot.
Lenooooooooooooo
The old boys did well. Danny and Leno winners both.
Come on Fulham!
“buty him back” bath @64; your cruel, apparently S&M fetishization (see also yaH threat re bull-whipping wee Sterling) of certain players with particular characteristics, is getting quite out of hand/revealing barely unconscious “bias”. StoppiT/desist etc. PLEASE!, for your own sake/sanity – if nuffink else. Also – Edu didn’t leave in the summer – but hey, you’ve got your finger on the wassername, obvs – ol’ boy. UTA!
(& CER – try harder, luv. Xx.)
TTG@61: I take Transfermarkt’s transfer values with a pinch of salt, but they record that Edu realised €9 million for Biereth, which would have been a 28.6% premium to his then-market value. It also puts Biereth’s current market value at €13 million, which is almost half what you suggest it is.
The Athletic appears to have been the first to report the deal with Sturm Graz, and said the deal was for £4 million (€4.7 million at then-exchange rates) with an unspecified sell-on. This has been subsequently widely reported as a flat £4 million sale. But if Transfermark’ts €9 million figure is correct, that works out, nicely roundly, at a sell-on fee of 33%, which isn’t too shabby work by Edu.
By way of comparison, Sturm Graz had Rasmus Højland for about the same amount of time as Biereth (12 games in 21 goals for the Norweigan vs 14 in 25 for the Dane). In that half season, they converted Højland from a €1.95 million buy to a €20 million sale, which might provide an alternative benchmark for where Beireth stands in the pecking order of European nines. To CER’s point @55, Højland hasn’t exactly set the Premiership alight, although, in mitigation, he had the misfortune of landing in the sodden kindling that is the Old Toilet.
None of which is to say that (i) it wouldn’t be useful to have Biereth around now (although realistically, if he had stayed, he wouldn’t have had the playing experience he has, and (ii) shouldn’t the club be looking to hire Sturm Graz’s deal maker?
>>>>>>>