- Arsenal is forecasted to be out of breath after Christmas , Carlo Ancelotti joked about the fear of tearing up the manager
Today 20/10, Arsenal take on PSV in the second leg of Group A Europa League. The match was scheduled for 9/15, but was postponed due to insufficient police forces for security due to the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II.
Arsenal currently lead by nine points, two points ahead of PSV. If he wins, Arteta’s teachers and students will pass the group stage two legs early, but not necessarily the top of the group.
Pennant
Pennant is a former English winger who played for Arsenal from 1999 to 2005 and was part of the squad that won the English Super Cup in 2004.
Due to his inability to compete for the official position, scoring only three goals in 26 appearances, he had to travel through many other teams.
During his professional career from 1998 to 2017, Pennant played for a total of 15 clubs and scored 27 goals through 448 matches.
At international level, Pennant made 24 appearances with England Under-21s between 2001 and 2004, but never played for England.
According to former Arsenal midfielder Jermaine Pennant, the team under manager Mikel Arteta will collapse after Christmas and cannot win the Premier League this season.
“I think Arsenal, after Christmas, will collapse like they did last year, when they crashed out of the Champions League group,” Pennant noted on October 19, admitting he could be criticised by his former club’s fans.
Last season, Arsenal held the advantage in the top 4 race, even sometimes competing for third place with Chelsea.
However, after missing out on an early top-4 finish by losing 0-3 at Tottenham on May 13, they fell to Newcastle 0-2 and lost fourth place to Tottenham.
In the final round, Tottenham beat Norwich 5-0 to qualify for the Champions League, while Arsenal finished fifth, only qualifying for the Europa League.
The last time Arsenal participated in the Champions League was the 2017-2018 season, under legendary coach Arsene Wenger.
At that time, the “Gunners” passed the group stage, but lost to Bayern with an aggregate score of 2-10 in the round of 1/8.
This season, Arsenal are off to an impressive start. A 1-0 win over hosts Leeds last weekend lifted their Premier League winning streak to four since their only defeat to Man Utd on September 4.
Mikel Arteta’s men thus secured the top of the table and widened the gap with City to four points.
It was the first time in history that Arsenal won nine of their first 10 Premier League games. In the unbeaten 2003-2004 championship season, Arsenal – still led by Wenger – won just seven and drew three in the first 10 rounds.
Still, Pennant doubts the stability of his former club. He added: “It’s all giving Arsenal a lot of praise for the way they played in the first 10 games.
But the question is, can they maintain that after Christmas?
We’ve seen a lot of teams start off spectacularly, like rolling blocks on the road, but fall short in the face of a packed schedule at the end of the year.”
- Carlo Ancelotti joked about the fear of tearing up the manager as promised to Federico Valverde as the Real midfielder approaches the 10-goal mark this season.
“I took the risk of saying Valverde would score 10 goals this season and hoped he would do it so I wouldn’t lose face.
But if Valverde scores 4 more goals, I will have to tear the coach as promised, and that promise remains intact,” Ancelotti said after Real’s 3-0 win over hosts Elche on October 19.
The Real boss has twice said he will tear up his manager and retire early, if Valverde does not score 10 goals this season, once after a 2-0 win over RB Leipzig in the Champions League on September 14, once after a 3-1 win over Barca on October 16.
At Manuel Martinez Valero yesterday, Valverde continued to shine with a right-footed strike and then finished left-footed from outside the penalty area, sending the ball into the far corner, opening the scoring for Real in the 11th minute.
It was the 24-year-old Uruguayan midfielder’s sixth goal in 15 appearances for Real this season in all competitions, equalling his first 148 appearances for the club. Valverde is just 4 goals away from Ancelotti.
“Valverde surprised me by doing well both defensively and offensively. He embodies the midfield of modern football,” Ancelotti said.
After the match, when asked about Ancelotti’s request, Valverde replied jokingly:
“Let’s see if I can do it. He made it clear that I had to cross the 10-goal mark, and I was focused on doing that.
It’s good pressure, but I don’t want to be blamed for Ancelotti’s early retirement.”
Meanwhile, Rodrygo – who contributed two assists – said: “I don’t like betting like that. For me, the more goals and assists, the better.”
Yesterday, Real dominated by holding the ball 62%, finishing 10 times with 7 hits, and scoring two more goals thanks to Karim Benzema and Marco Asensio.
In addition, the Royals had three VAR denied goals, with two by Benzema and one by David Alaba.
Valverde thinks VAR damages the emotional circuit, but Real have to get used to it. He added: “It’s weird, you celebrate the goal and think it’s a valid goal.
Then VAR came in and repeatedly denied the goal. That’s football these days.”
Andriy Lunin insists he is happy at Real. The Ukrainian goalkeeper took advantage of the opportunity when he started the last six matches, including four in La Liga and two in the Champions League, when Thibaut Courtois was injured.
He added: “Upstairs, the strikers always shine. So keeping a clean sheet is very important, giving me more confidence and the whole team plays firmly. Real had a very good game.”
The victory over Elche helps Real to firmly build the top spot with 28 points, six points ahead of Barca – the club that will meet Villarreal today.
On October 22, Ancelotti’s army returned to the Bernabeu to receive Sevilla, then as a guest of RB Leipzig in the fifth round of Group F of the Champions League on October 25.
Real will definitely enter the knockout round with the first place if they win at least one point.
