Quick post from me, namely because I feel like Arsenal needed to get through the first two games pointless so the real season can kick off. Remember, Chelsea > Champions of 2 seasons ago, City > Champions of last season. Those were the two toughest games of the season (first half), now they’re done and we’ve learned a bit.
Unfair Advantage:
Nothing triggers wounded AKBs quite like me reminding them that the reason the job of Emery is so tough this season is because Wenger neglected the squad and its education so badly over the last ten years. Our boys are like 13-year-olds who’ve been homeschooled in the woods. There’s a lot of talent in our squad, but they’re not educated tactically and they’re a long way off mentally. You do not shake the Wenger out of that squad in two games. Those opening 20 minutes are a byproduct of yesteryear.
Chelsea, on the other hand, has far fewer challenges. I know Sarri inherited a club in chaos, but at the same time, he picked up players who’d been managed by Mourinho, then fine-tuned by Conte. They are winners who lost their way last season. The whole squad is slammed full of exceptional players. The whole club is built around success. It’s going to be far easier for Sarri to make things happen.
Now, that’s not to say Emery is going to get away with this for long. The defence is a mess, his starting 11 was a mistake, and the team looked like they were caught between systems. Nothing looked particularly cohesive. Bielsa at Leeds has been at the club the same amount of time as Emery and he has them playing an exceptional style of football already. You don’t need 3 months to make progress. Remember, Leeds finished 13th last season.
So how about some postive talk?
The response:
We failed hard conceding two goals in the opening 20 minutes. That would normally be the start of a humiliation, but to Emery’s credit the team found the spirit to fight back. By the end of the first half, we’d not only pulled two goals back courtesy of Iwobi and Mikhi, we’d also managed to spurn three open goals (and an easy chance). Ozil missed early on, Iwobi fired over and Auba had an uncharacteristic disaster in front of the target. We should have been 5-3 up.
Petr Cech:
Arsenal fans are crowing over the glorious failure of losing on the technicality of conceding more goals than the opposition, but having the better chances… but the reality is, Chelsea’s keeper wasn’t anywhere near the MoM (he was shite), but Cech was. The Czech had and OUTSTANDING game. Incredible what a bit of competition can do for the spirits. Time and time again, when he was called upon, he made the right decision.
The Subs:
Again, you have to temper your praise for the new manager sometimes because Wenger was just that bad, but fuck it, Emery made BOLD subs.
He took Xhaka off at halftime again for Torreira, my question was: Why did he make the same mistake twice? He also yanked Ozil off on 70minutes after his typical top 6 #DisasterClass. I know making logical changes shouldn’t be a big deal, but at least subs are now chess moves, rather than the click of a switch in an entirely predictable process.
Guendouzi:
He had a poor game against City. You can’t paint a game positive just because a professional doesn’t hide (I know I was guilty of this). However, yesterday he really came into his own. I love his aggression and quick passing. He’s showing up Xhaka and I love it. He’s a real player in the making.
The worry:
Emery has to shape up. It’s clear he’s struggling to get across his ideas and he looks like he’s making some very odd decisions that could add up to issues further down the line. He’s hitting players with double sessions, he’ll no doubt be pulling them in for a video analysis slamming tomorrow, and he’s making big moves on big players before he’s proved anything.
Benching Aaron Ramsey was a big move. Pulling Xhaka off early was embarrassing for the Swiss. Pulling Ozil off after a terrible game was brave. These things can start to add up when things go wrong. Expensive personalities have big opinions. Emery could quickly alienate himself at a club he doesn’t really understand or control at this moment.
Also, what a fucking scenario… our worst performers all have new deals.
Anyway, my point with this Emery shake up is that he doesn’t have the luxuries Wenger had.
1. Emotional Connection
He’s not the charismatic leader we’d hoped for. He struggles to communicate in press conferences and he doesn’t have the swagger of any of the managers in the top 7. That might seem like a minor observation, but remember, he’s dealing with footballers. He’s also dealing with a very aggressive press core. He was destroyed by the French, and they’re children compared to the monsters that run the rags here.
I know you think this point is weak, but look at how much Mourinho gets away because he’s a sound bite. Jurgen Klopp is a darling of the media because of his smile and charisma. Nearly all the modern managers in the game are good in front of the camera, and great for the soundbites. We don’t have that. Though Emery is more of a football student than Wenger, he’s certainly not the charmer the Frenchman was. That is costing him after one game, the press have already lined him up as the next David Moyes. Once the narrative about you is set, it’s hard to shake it.
2. Player power
This is not Sevilla. This is Arsenal. We are a major club. You have to treat the players a certain way, or you’ll have the players down tools. We’re a long way off that, but Arsenal players couldn’t get Wenger fired, they could easily get Emery moved on.
Remember, Emery tanked a one horse race in his first year at PSG because the players didn’t get him. He cannot afford the same mistakes again.
Also, remember what Ivan Gazidis passed on when making his decision.
He didn’t opt for prodigious talent
He didn’t opt for a manager who is the talk of the elite managers’ fraternity
He didn’t opt for wild charisma
He didn’t opt for ‘proven winner’
He went for safe because he’s weak.
The players know that, and if our next ten games don’t pan out well, the club is in big, big trouble… and where will Ivan be? Milan, working on a new project for a hedge fund.
There are 24 points to play for before the Liverpool game. The run is fairly easy. We need to bring home at least 21 points.
Emery needs to start making it happen, because the press, the pundits and the fans won’t tolerate Wenger 2.0 for long.
There are positives for sure, but don’t pretend glorious failure is something we haven’t seen before.
Bankz is here again for the tr4phy
2
BOOOOM
4
TR4PHY
Boomslang you sneaky SOB….you did a DM on me.
fokoff
Change the way how we defend quickly!
No man-to-man but zone!!!!
Bankz
Too easy..
Good, strong post Peter. One of your best.
A great summing up of what I’ve been trying to educate the posters on here about. Emery is beige and not the man to see in a new era.
If we wanted a caretaker…why not go for Ancelotti? The best middleman our there.
Arsenal and Gazidis have basically painted over Magnolia with Magnolia.
There is a world of difference between ‘talented’ and ‘exceptional’. Think Hazard in yesterday’s game. Emery didn’t have a single player who came anywhere near him. Just a reminder: Wenger inherited Dennis, Ian, Paul and the best defence in the country. It wouldn’t matter a great deal if Arsenal were, say, West Ham or Southampton. They know their rightful place is mid-table. A return to the elite demands exceptional players. Chelsea have them, Man City have them, Man U have them, Liverpool have them, Spurs have them. We don’t. It’s hard to see a better PL finish than sixth. Okay,… Read more »
I ask was it wenger that taught auba miki iwobi to miss glaring chances.was it wenger that changed tactics 2end half.iit was all emeery.his tinkering is too much.why sit deef 2nd half?xhaka leaving made us lose control of midfield.Torreira not yet ready besides his is a different formation to that of yesterday.he let alonso a free run to the winning goal.that’s not on wenger.so move on from wenger.bielsas system is crazier and maddest than what emery brrings yet leeds took no time to show it.bielsa is learning english as well
GK £70m
RB
LB
CB
CB £250m
MF
MF
MF
MF £350m
CF
CF £200m
£870m
I’d say that is a fair example of what it would cost to rebuild an entire side from scratch. Obviously on the very top end of recruitment.
I wonder how Stan would feel about that.
I said it before and I’ll say it again, this team needs a cazorla. someone who can take the ball from the defence in the middle of the park and not lose possession under pressure. Quick feet, quick turn and an eye for a pass. Cazorla, iniesta, busquets. every good team needs one….
Pedro
“. The Czech had and OUTSTANDING game”
Are you sure?
He made some decent saves admittedly but one has to ask why he fell (I won’t say dived) to the right for chelsea’s 2nd goal.
A very soft goal that was avoidable because if he had just stood up the ball Would have gently rolled into his arms… Poor decision making and goalkeeping is all about making the correct decisions..
England’s best arsenal have more than talented lads.hazard shows most against arsenal cos we let him.he struggles against oda big boys
as bad as xhaka was yesterday, his cross field balls to our fullbacks stretched chelsea and gave us an attacking outlet from the flanks, which we didn’t have in the second half…
After city “Emery won’t make the same mistake again picking Xhaka, Ozil and Cech”
After Chelsea “Emery won’t make the same mistake again picking Xhaka, Ozil and Cech”
Wenger MKII.
Spanish waiter…and ironically the original Spanish Waiter has won the CL. Something Emery will never do.
Good post Pedro. Emery needs to really step up in the next few games cos our team looks unbalanced. I think Iwobi played well yesterday and I think he should have a run of games. I know this might sound weird but I fancy Welbeck in that wide position as he’s strong, fast and tracks back. I know he can be a donkey up front but playing him in this system might actually work. As for the marcos dude that claims taking Xhaka out was a mistake, he’s either trolling or watching a totally different match. Xhaka and Ozil were… Read more »
Pierre & gunsWe were better than Chelsea
Had our forwards taken the sitters they were presented with then we would have won those points
Emery cannot rub onto the pitch and covert them but it’s obviously his game plan (with the amount of cutbacks we made) that created those openings and our supposedly top forwards couldn’t hit the target from 8 yards with open goals.Regarding signings. Tell me guns, who were we meant to sign? Realistically. Which centre half would have joined arsenal and made us better
England is best
Wenger inherited a side that finished 7th and 5th before his arrival with a defence all the wrong side of 30 and and Ian and Paul both north of 30
He sold both within a year or two of joining and brought in Anelka and Vieira as replacements for less than he got for Merson. Let’s keep some perspective.
guns
did you watch the game? I think we’ll have no problem winning the next few fixtures till we face liverpool.
cech did have a very good game. He dived the wrong way cause mustafi was supposed to have the left side of the post covered with his tackle, resulting in cech having to cover the right side and the ball unfortunately went through the middle…
Your Comment Here
Pedro
You talk about these players as though Wenger was the only coach who’d ever worked with them
Ozil worked with Mourinho and Lowe
Auba with Klopp and tuchel
Same as papa
Miki worked with Jose and Klopp
Many of these players have only been around Wenger for 3 years or less of their careers.
Bellerin, Xhaka and Ozil should never play for Arsenal again: three rotten apples that spoil the barrel. If Emery is the man I hope he is, the two opening games were last chance saloon for them. He should take Ramsey aside and tell him: “No more games until you sign a contract.” I believe we would all understand and respect him for that. Emery is limited in choice, the transfer money stretched to a couple of experienced defenders, a GK who plays the way he wants, an impressive DM, a promising youngster. We sympathise with him, he has a tough… Read more »
If you where a shit player you would love to have Ozil’s agent.?
Emery should better start making bold decisions because he is fast losing goodwill with the Arsenal fans. for the life of me I can’t pinpoint what Xhaka brings to the table in the midfield. To think that he was bought for £30m+ boggles the mind. It gets depressing when you remember that he just signed a new contract and he is a joint captain with the likes of Ozil and Ramsey. Ozil… how he manages to collect 350k a week is the 8th wonder of the world to me. Case closed. whisper it but I’m having an uneasy feeling about… Read more »
Massive lack of athleticism in our side.?
Just look at Mendy and Rudigger over the last two games
against us.
I dont think football is for guns of hackney.
Emery has a big conundrum here. The game settled down in the second half compared to the first because Arsenal sat deeper. Chelsea bossed the quieter second half and really they were the better team as well in the mad first half despite Arsenal missing great chances. The conundrum is regarding the press. Arsenal had a few players previously that were seen as defensive worries these being Bellerin, Xjaka and Mustafi. If Emery continues with the high press tactics then we can add another additional new recruit that will join the others already mentioned as defensive liabilities for the team… Read more »
DreyAugust 19, 2018 10:33:21
Emery should better start making bold decisions because he is fast losing goodwill with the Arsenal fans.
Drey
No he isn’t. Just the childish millennial arsenal fans. We were never going to win those games but we performed better than we would have last season.
The new man needs time
And you can’t compare him to Leeds where you’re up against players nowhere near the amount of quality we faced against city and Chelsea
The last two leave winners in the best league in this country.
I agree with Pedro as I wrote yesterday Cech was our MOM. However, I still don’t like the way that Emery is forcing Cech to play with the ball. There is still too much back and square passing. He is not naturally suited to that type of game. Our defence is shambolic. Watching this morning’s repeat on BBC you can see the problem with the CBs too far upfield and frequently too wide apart to support each other. That is primarily due to the fullbacks leaving them too exposed. Bellerin has had two shocking games at start of season. I… Read more »
gonsterous
August 18, 2018 16:30:12
1 more hour. I’m off work exactly when the game starts.. easy win 2-0 for the arse .
___
Lol
Again the glaring problem with this team is defensively.
Emery has lots of work and thoughts to do regarding the defence because it doesn’t look any better than a Wenger team in this department and even worse.
We were all told that Emery would tighten this team up. That this would be a benefit and he was the man to do it.
Well he has a long way to prove this is the case so far.
Interesting article. Way off the mark on issues of charm and ability of the manager. There’s a lot of assumptions made in the post about the manager failing to get his ideas across. Big players need to be dealt with. We need a coach who has concrete ideas on how he wants his players to play. A coach who understands the game at a very high level. I think we have one. Players know that things have changed. Ozil is struggling to last 90 minutes. He is being worked hard, and it seems the coaches have a plan for every… Read more »
Auba didn’t cover himself with glory yesterday with those two bad misses.
You would fancy Laca would have taken at least one of those chances.
Then we see Laca come in and he was culpable for the conceding of the third goal with his loose pass coupled with shit defending yet again in this match from Bellerin.
Two games in and our rather expensive frontline look a bit silly. Emery has to pick his best side. He also has to play the way that balances HIS vision and the talent he has available. Now that might mean compromising something. Holy fuck. I mean we had to watch Arsene stink up the place trying to play like Barcelona. He didn’t seem to understand you need Barcelona players to play like fucking Barca fucking lona. Now we have Emery trying to implement a style that the players simply can’t manage. Too shit. Too dumb or too lazy. Pick two.… Read more »
This from August 2016 from this site about the signing of xakha…..
MIDFIELD
Well, we have quite a lot of interesting options here. I think the two players we’ve lacked for years are Elneny and Xhaka. We’ve gone from quite weak defensively, to WOAH WE ARE STRONG. Elneny is a tireless work horse with some serious class. Xhaka is beast, a leader and pinpoint accurate with his passing. He also has far better technique than Coquelin.
Yeah. Take the assessments of players with a pinch of salt on le grove
Emery can’t handle big players. This much was proven at his short shift at PSG.
We could and should have won this game, if it was not for the shocking misses. Not one, not two, but four. This being said, our midfield still looks all over the place and there are still problems with the likes of Bellerin getting out of position way too often. That, and the defence leaving too much space for the strikers to have a pop.
I think we need to give Emery time and *cough* judge him in May. Barring some sort of a disaster like 9 points to our name in October.
Suga
We’ll be lucky to have 3 points come October.
Wonderful to see Xakha taken off at half time.
Fantastic to see Ozil hauled off.
Thought the manager played a blinder with all his substitutions.
If we had nicked a draw then the whole mood would have been different.
Looking forward to new era of accountability.
Agree with others on Bellerin…not up to it.
Silent reader I agree The problem with the petulant frequenters of or grove is that if arsenal do not bring in the people they want then they throw tantrums. They have zero patience and very little understanding of football They crow about every new signing like the new messiah then claim they knew they were shit all along when that player fails to deliver within the tactical frame work (or lack thereof) set out for them Xakaha was never going to succeed under Wenger. He should never have been signed but I still feel he will fare better under emery… Read more »
Seems crazy to fixate on Mustafi at this time when you have Sokratis in there as well.
Emery has told us he wants his team to press and press.
An effective press means a high back line.
Sokratis is going to be a huge problem in a high backline.
This never occurd to me but the squad is very short in centre backs, if Sukritis where to get injured we would have three centre true backs , so I feel no matter what more defenders will have to,brought in January
Ish
Exactly. So why did Emery recruit slower than sin players? The man has already made some bizarre decisions.
Arsenal is too much of a big project for him…he’s been set up to fail by Arsenal.
steve
you don’t make predictions before a game ? You don’t get it wrong ? What’s with all the hate on arsenal? Most fans are happiest when we lose…
Guns
You’ve already been told
Minislat recruits
It’s not like we area high attraction for the worlds fastest and best centre halves at the moment
We needed an experienced addition to our back line after losing mertersacker and Koscielny
Ishola agree that socratis a bigger issue. Maybe still lacking undstandin with mustafi.mavrofanos could come in.emerys tactics in 2nd half made us lose the game as well as missed sitters.why is no one commenting that Torreira ddnt track alonso for the 3rd goal.if it were xhaka it would be mentioned and he would be killed alive. Torreira isn’t a fit in a 2man mid.hes base in 352 or 442 diamond
GOH
“Exactly. So why did Emery recruit slower than sin players? The man has already made some bizarre decisions.”
Yep Sokratis is a poor purchase for a team that want to press because high back line is needed for proper team press.
He may go back on his word regarding the press or fudge it. Either way he is going to look silly.
If he continues with the notion of the press then he will have to drop Sokratis from the starting eleven sooner rather than later because Big Papa will die many deaths in a high back line.
guns
don’t worry if emery fails, I’ll tell the whole world you got it right first. That was what you wanted to achieve wasn’t it ?? if not, stop repeating the same thing you have been saying for the past 12 hours…
Marcos
Because the modern arsenal fan likes it’s shiny new toys rather than the idea of coaching and training and improving certain facets of a players game.
Funny how all these fans seem to think that every new signing is the answer to our prayers like they know these players inside out then decry them when their deficiencies shine through
A cursory glance through the comments sections of yesteryear exposes the utter hypocrisy of these people.
Did you all know that after the game carcedo screamed at Torreira for not tracking alonso.he’s defensive yet he let alonso go free on goal.he’s not ready yet.
In my opinion you don’t have to have pace if you know how to read the game and are not caught out of position and you have a good centre back pairing and you have good protection from midfield, however what I saw was the defence did not much protection and it’s not a good centre back partnership and is the real problem. If you look,back to the best defenders we have ever had in Bould Adams and Kweon none of these defenders where blessed with pace but they had great chemistry and they could read the game really well… Read more »
Guns of HackneyAugust 19, 2018 10:57:42 Emery can’t handle big players. This much was proven at his short shift at PSG. Haha. Guns. He handled them pretty well I’d say. Until their Saudi owners handed that little wanker Neymar the keys to the kingdom Look at the players they had and how well they fitted in to the system. In fact they revolted at first as they didn’t like his rigorous style and tactics and he pulled some into line. Won others over. And went onto win the tile. It was only Neymar who truly threw a spanner in the… Read more »
Leon
I whole heartedly agree with you but I just point out that with Adams Keown and Bould we didn’t play a high back line
Un
That’s very true but you need players in midfield with high energy levels and cover allot ground and Xhaka doesn’t help
marcos “Did you all know that after the game carcedo screamed at Torreira for not tracking alonso.he’s defensive yet he let alonso go free on goal.he’s not ready yet.” Looked to be a complete combo fuck up that goal. Laca giving the ball away cheaply. Then he compounds that by picking up the wrong man. Alonso started his run off Laca. Laca should have gone with him and followed his run. This is what Emery wants to see the whole team defend attackers as well as defenders. Laca didn’t follow Alonso. He made a wrong decision and closed on another… Read more »
Xhaka sitting with guen Ramsey Torreira ahead in midfield could be best in big games.
@gonsterous
If I were to predict a result it wouldn’t be an ‘easy 2-0 win’ away to Chelsea seeing the state the team is in.
We all know about the usual sudpects..
The real worry to me is Auba ..
He supposed to be our saviour..
He was big pony in the last 2 games..
https://www.google.co.uk/amp/www.skysports.com/amp/football/news/11670/11476274/unai-emery-has-work-to-do-as-arsenal-mistakes-just-keep-coming
Guns,
Quite honestly, I am expecting nothing less than a string of wins, until we play Everton, by which time the team should have more cohesion and understanding of the system we are expected to play.
Seems like they are sort of neither here nor there between Wenger’s ‘system’ of going out and expressing themselves and the more rigid wy Emery wants this team set up. Old habits die hard. We need to allow UE some time to get them players into the habit of analysing their own mistakes and working on these.
Ishola,
I can’t help but think that Bellerin is a bit dim. He was nowhere near the wide man for their first goal either.
This being said, Sokratis also left his man unchecked and free for an easy shot and goal.
Yep Sokratis is a poor purchase for a team that want to press because high back line is needed for proper team press. You really don’t need blazing fast center backs to implement a high press game/high line defence. As a matter of fact most CBs are slower than the forwards they face every game. What we needed yesterday was a player to sit on Jorginho to prevent him from spraying those passes over our defence. Sir Alex famously played Danny Welbeck against one these top European sides as a 10 to negate the deep lying mid of the other… Read more »
The worry is that you don’t need to be a clever or good team to play the ball over the top looking for the runner onto it. Any team can put this play in.
And the simple ball over the top is going to be a big problem for Arsenal with Sokratis in it and to a lesser extent Mustafi.
Also as that article said the pressing in midfield to try to stop the supply is still far off from being in any way effective.
There is too much negativity about Xhaka, Ramsey and Ozil and that does not help find solutions to our current midfield problems. We need to find the best solution and balance in midfield with the current resources that we have got on our books, because one thing is for sure Arsenal are unlikely to enter market in January and buy more new midfielders. My view is that we play with four in the middle and find the correct balance between attack and defence in that department of game. Emery is quite correct when he says that Ozil needs to defend… Read more »
steve
that prediction was more tongue in cheek being positive. what’s sad though is that you’ve seen that yesterday, remembered the comment, then gone back there today to copy that just so you can go “I told u so”. or are you going to try to persuade us that u stumbled upon it ? goes to show most fans are happiest when we lose, not cause they have any thing against the team but more so they can point to the other supporters and call them dicks for supporting the side….
Xhaka sitting with guen Ramsey Torreira ahead in midfield could be best in big games.
What can Xhaka do that Torreira can’t do? Other than being a card magnet. Xhaka shouldn’t be anywhere near the team
Play a high line like that against teams that are set up to defend and whose out ball is into the space behind the back four and the problems will stack up
Leon
Hmm. I’m not sure I agree fully there. I think at the very minimum you need at least one midfielder to sit if the other goes and you need to drill those players on positioning. I still think xakha could turn into a a very good player in the right system and with the right coaching. The issue with most modern players is that they need to be micro managed
They don’t seem to possess the ability to read a game any more like the leaders of old. No In game awareness. A sad indictment of the modern man
Country Boy Big Papa’s lack of pace was noticeable in the first goal conceded as well. Sure Bellerin was a huge culprit in going AWOL from his position but Pedro easily ran off Sokratis to score. Left him standing. Also it is unrealistic to think that over the top balls can be snuffed out. They can’t. You can stop some but plenty will be launched especially if the opposition are using it as a weapon in what they see as a weakness in Arsenal. Over the top balls can be launched from anywhere and plenty of players are capable to… Read more »
We should never ever have offered ozil that contract. Utter insanity. Why oh why we didn’t offer that money to Sanchez after we beat chavs in the cup final I’ll never know.
If we kept a hold of him we had a fighting chance going forward. He’d have flourished in this set up too as opposed to ozil who doesn’t seem to flourish in any set up
Terraloon
“Play a high line like that against teams that are set up to defend and whose out ball is into the space behind the back four and the problems will stack up”
Yep.
Sucker counter attacking goals and seen it all before under Wenger.
Scarily it could get worse under Emery though unless he thinks a few things through here,
Doesn’t matter how good you are, it’s very hard to defend against when the ball keeps coming back at you every other minute. Keep Iwobi on the left and bring in Welbeck on the right – that might help stem the tide. He may not be the best but he’ll put a shift in. Push Mkhitaryan into the middle – he’s lazy but at least the guy can strike a ball unlike Ozil who doesn’t have the energy to do anything. Agree that unless Ramsey signs he should be kept out of the squad, don’t even have him on the… Read more »
Realistically we have to write this season off . Metro was spot on about peps first season at city
Same with Klopp at Liverpool
Maybe if we somehow miraculously manage to get into the champions league come May then we may have the clout for better signings both financially and attractiveness wise
https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/www.express.co.uk/sport/football/1005285/Arsenal-News-Paul-Merson-Gunners-Transfer-Windows/amp
Patience is required. You dont overturn 10 years in two matches.
Barney75
Agree complete
Can’t we just start leaving a load of brochures for Los Angeles or China around Ozil’s house or in his locker? Playing Ozil purely because he earns £350 000 a week is something I feared would happen, he strikes me as a backroom bitch as well who will put more effort into crying and moaning to the board than he does anything on the pitch as well. Useless player going forward, all well and good him looking sublime against Huddersfield at home etc but we know he has a very low ceiling when it comes to tough games particularly away… Read more »
Barney75
Agree completely
Don’t want to see Ramsey or ozil anywhere near this arsenal team. We should have sold them both this summer or let ozil walk and kept JW.
Agreed about Ozil though country boy.
Jorginho was doing as he wished in that first half.
But as you said no-one is expecting Ozil to harry their regista in any consistent way so question marks in why Emery picked him to play there in that position because he must have known about the influence Jorginho would have if given time and space on the ball from deep.
Cesc Appeal
What are your thoughts on iwobi playing cm in place of Ramsey? How do you feel Wilshere would have faired in that position in this set up?
Ishola Over the top balls can be launched from anywhere and plenty of players are capable to put in an over the top ball for a player to run onto. True. My point is that based on Chelsea’s game plan, Jorginho was going to be doing that all game long. You need to snuff out the MAIN source of the balls. Secondly. If you prep your team not to conceed from a corner by marking out all the usual suspects, does it mean another player cannot come up with a goal from a corner? My point is no tactic is… Read more »
If anyone needs to be blamed for yesterdays mess then it has to be Auba.
Chelsea had 4 clear cut chances and scored 4.
We had 5 clear cut chances anf we scored 2.
Having said that we started playing long balls and were waiting for chances to counter which never came.
Ideally we should have picked up from where we left the 1st half.
Chelsea scored 3 i meant
Having said that we started playing long balls and were waiting for chances to counter which never came.
Ideally we should have picked up from where we left the 1st half.
I know this is going to be unpopular and I am by no means saying he is a bad player but that period of the game coincided with Torreira being on the pitch
Guns,
if you’re not careful nobody will be able to tell the difference between your posts and Redruth’s!
Just a thought, against top 6 sides would playing Bellerin in front of Lichtsteiner not provide a more solid set up? I know Bellerin is very disappointing right now but could he be ‘converted’ to being RM/winger in the Parlour mould?
SUGA3 “I can’t help but think that Bellerin is a bit dim. He was nowhere near the wide man for their first goal either. This being said, Sokratis also left his man unchecked and free for an easy shot and goal.” Woeful wasn’t he Bellerin defensively. Funny thing is I think Emery could make him better offensively than Wenger did more brave offensively and we saw little glimpses of that yesterday. But if it means he becomes even worse defensively as a consequence it kind of defeats the real objective. You picked up on Big Papa and letting Pedro run… Read more »
Country boy Not quite sure I agree that Jorginho would as matter of course look to play the long ball but the way Unai set the team up it is just far too attractive a proposition to ignore. Ironically I remember when AVB was at Chelsea and he tried to play high back line and RVP ripped Terry a new one. It doesn’t matter how good a defender is if they haven’t got pace then before a ball is kicked a high line gets turbo paced forwards licking their lips. Most teams that make up the top ten won’t allow… Read more »
CA I agree. I would love to have seen what emery would have done with Walcott and the ox had we kept hold of them Sanchez left Walcott right Ox player by number 8 alongside Torreira and JW. I do rate jack. I hope he proves everyone wrong at West Ham. If we talk about players conning a living why is our reserve (never fit) left back earning £110k a week? Why is our utterly useless number 10 coining £350k a week? That’s £460k a week wasted. That could be the wages of four very good players. I don’t think… Read more »
Yeah Jorginho was their man main but who launched the over the top ball for the Morata goal? It wasn’t Jorginho was it? Azicatapult?
Just goes to show these type of balls can be played any time by plenty of players.
btw Jorginho has three times plus the influence of Xjaka on the ball.
Maybe we would put up with Xjaka if he had so much influence on the ball.
Jorginho though will cost Chelsea goals conceding just like our Xjaka.
Bob N16
That’s a really good thought actually. Certainly worth a look.
Terra Any team with pretensions of always being on the front foot will almost always play with a high line. That’s because you don’t want to have spaces between your midfield and defence. The key IMO is to have a team of runners in attack and midfield which puts pressure on the ball always. Per AVB. I think his tactics were unjustiably highlighted because Chelsea had been steeped in a Park-The-Bus culture by Mourinho which the owner didn’t like. Unfortunately the players didn’t know how to play any other way. Why do top teams like Bayern have keeper-sweepers? Because they… Read more »
We need to re-think the tactic of trying – and failing badly – to play possession football and nothing else with defenders who are totally incapable of playing possession football. We spend far too much time playing ping-pong across the back four/keeper while the opposition gets into defensive positions. By then options are limited. Last night we were still playing ping-pong across the back four with a few minutes left on the clock and chasing an equaliser. A total waste of time. And Cech is a disaster waiting to happen as a sweeper-keeper – if you exclude the disaster against… Read more »
Country Boy
“Like I said in one of my posts, nothing wrong with the tactic, we just need to commit to it.”
Commit to it with Sokratis involved?
He’s not just slow he’s snail slow.
That is a problem.
19 – Alex Iwobi’s goal for @Arsenal yesterday ended a sequence of 19 passes and involved 10 of their players (all except Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang); the longest move for a goal so far in the 2018-19 Premier League. Encouraging. https://t.co/Z5q8UgyYd7
Michael the sweeper keeper system was not a real issue yesterday.
It was a big issue against Man City but not yesterday.
Commit to it with Sokratis involved?
In the long run, if it’s something he truly believes in and not just a fad like Wenger trying to play tiki-taka, committing to it might mean removing Sokratis from the lineup or if there is no one better, wait for the transfer window for a player with a better recovery rate
” Michael the sweeper keeper system was not a real issue yesterday.
It was a big issue against Man City but not yesterday.”
It is a problem if we continue to play ponderous, one-paced balls across the back four/keeper with players who do not have the basic football ability. Look back at how the Chavs closed down on our defenders at goal-kicks and how many times Cech was unable to get the ball out of the 18-yard box.
It is the basic tactic which is wrong.
Michael, agree with your concerns about Cech. Emery and his coaches need to work on that. Is he waiting for a Cech cock up to justify giving Leno a chance? If you expect your keeper to control and pass well with his feet then Cech is not your man. He’s made some excellent saves in our first two games but would Leno have faired better. I’ve never seen Leno play so I haven’t a clue. – I assume he’s a better footballer.