Sunday 2 May 2021 St. James Park USA TV: NBCSN 9:00am ET The league is gone so I vote for massive rotation. Give the young guns some real minutes and a chance to prove their future worth. And anyone who has a decent chance of starting Thursday in the 2nd leg of Europa, give them some rest! One little plus is that Joe Willock can’t score yet another late game-winner, because he’s ineligible to play against his parent. Team news: Laca (hammie) & Tierney (knee) are very questionable for this one. Auba might see a few more minutes as he tries to regain match fitness after malaria, which I’m assuming ain’t easy. This could be one-and-done thread-starting duty for me, but I’d obviously be more than happy for us to actually get a result (could even be 4-4 I suppose) and then take us on to the truly vital semifinal rematch that follows it.
Do the rules allow Willock to suit up for Arsenal instead? Because I'd rather see him out there than Ceballos.
Surely you just play the kids now. We can't get relegated, so play guys like Azeez and Balogun and see if we can find a hidden gem that maybe helps us in the EL.
This match needs to be all about Thursday. If someone needs a rest, they don't play. If someone who is coming back from injury needs to get some minutes, give them some minutes. West Brom the following Sunday should be all kids.
Or Arteta could just start Willian and Ceballos. At least Martinelli gets a chance. No Tierney or Lacazette. And no kids on the bench. Ryan Bellerin Luiz Gabriel Xhaka Elneny Ceballos Willian Odegaard Martinelli Aubameyang Bench: Leno, Mari, Chambers, Cedric, Partey, ESR, Saka, Pepe, Nketiah
That's a fairly sensible lineup with lots of rotation, EXCEPT Xhaka should have been rested. Auba & Odegaard need some more minutes in their legs, if their going to be of help on Thurs. Here's to Martinelli having a breakout game today.
Elneny! Was about to say something about us playing Elneny, Ceballos and Willian, which was the axis of doom, and then he does that.
Decent hold up play from Auba so far. Don't think I've ever seen good back to goal play from him before.
Martinelli is so direct. When he gets the ball, the only thought in his mind is how to get the ball closer to the goal as quickly as possible.
Really needs to be playing ST. Would mind seeing him get a loan to a club that will exclusively play him there.
Well well well. MUFC don’t seem to be able to protect their stadium too well. Shame that some stupid thugs are part of the perps.
Hmm, if Arteta is going to refuse to play him as much as he deserves, I can see the value in a loan. But that would probably mean more Willian in 2021-22 which would really, really annoy me.