via @Arsenal insta
Good gosh we have many items to cover today. Arsenal didn’t exactly cruise to a victory away from home against Cardiff, but we did rack up 3 delightful points on a day where Spurs lost to Watford. That was a huge positive, in a year where we’d only managed a solitary away win against Huddersfield.
Outside that, there were a lot of problems for Unai Emery when there shouldn’t have been. His starting 11 brought Mesut Ozil back into the fold out on the right, he persisted with Ramsey as a clunky #10 and he gave the fans the dream duo of Lacazette and Aubameyang up front with the Gabonese taking up duties wide left. Unfortunately, the addiction of starting Xhaka in midfield took hold again, with the Swiss taking up the double pivot with Guendouzi.
We started off strongly, our transitions through defence and midfield looked a little better than usual, but once again, we put far too much pressure on Petr Cech early on and he couldn’t cope. He made some erratic passes, capped with an awful moment when he tried to play the ball centrally through Harry Arter, forgetting to give his pass lift. The Irish international pounced on the blunder but blazed over.
Our possession gave us two early corners, the first was a smart front post move where Lacazette laid off to Ramsey who was coming in on the edge of the box, the shot was snuffed out well and the rebound was turned over by Mustafi. The German landed his second chance 11 minutes in, Xhaka finding his surging run, the header bulleted into the top corner. A really well-worked goal, Emery true to his word that he’d work on set-pieces.
Cardiff, a team that scored 69 goals last season were seriously lacking in confidence. Arsenal conceded 5 or so chances in the first half that were by no means a result of good defending. We were all over the place. The defence is painfully susceptible to almost anything. Long balls over the top, clever balls in behind, random crosses that somehow turn into chances. I don’t know how to calculate xG, but Cardiff were worth a lot more than they produced. I’d go as far to say they created better chances than us, outside the rasping shot that Lacazette hit the post with.
Our luck couldn’t ride out the first half, Xhaka, under no pressure at all, tried to spray a left footed cross-field ball 25 yards, when the simpler options was Guendouzi 10 yards away. The calamitous pass was intercepted. Our midfield pivot put next to no pressure on the attack, the ball was moved out wide left, Bellerin was slow to react, the cross made it into the box, our centre backs all missed it, Camarasa took his chance and fizzed his strike past Cech.
Real shoddy in-game management. I was watching a video doing the rounds from Pep G, he was explaining that he liked his full-backs to tuck inside because it shortens the length of pass. He believes that allows the ball to travel up the pitch quicker, and it reduces the risks associated with long passes. That sort of pass shouldn’t be happening when a player is under no pressure.
The second half brought a little bit more joy to our play. Mesut Ozil found his way into the game a little more, floating inside more often, with the hope of dictating play, whilst offering up our strikers more in the way of creativity. The German started the move for our second, finding Lacazette through the middle, the ball was played off deftly to Auba who was given all the space in the world to curl a 23-yard strike into the far corner. Thierry-esque.
Cardiff fought back again. Lacazette harshly adjudged to have fouled Arter about 30 yards from our box, I mean, the guy outright took a dive, it was embarrassing, I thought salt of the earth players didn’t play that game? The resultant setpiece was flighted into the back post, Rambo was swamped by Morrison who nodded the ball into the danger area where Ward was on hand to finish up.
A really sloppy goal to concede. The absolute basics of Sunday league are that if you’re marking a man way bigger than you, you fucking scream until someone of a similar size takes over. As a keeper myself, if you see that a small person is marking a big person, you shout at your defence until it’s rectified. It’s not like Morrison hadn’t been causing us major headaches before then. Monreal was in noman’s land when he should have been tracking Ward for his uncontested header. Really, really, soft. Our in game intelligence is still sub-par.
The manager decided to shake up midfield and bring on Lucas Torriera for Guendouzi. The decision was a masterstroke, because sad to say, a midfielder doing his actual job for 20 minutes earned him man of the match in my eyes. He can move the ball through the lines with ease, he clears danger and he gets stuck in. He was instrumental for our final goal, finding Lacazette with an incisive 10-yard pass through the right, Lacazette didn’t waste it, detonating his shot like an ICBM rocket at the keepers inside post. Woooah. What a strike.
There was still time for high jinx, Granit Xhaka had a moment that looked akin to an epiletic fit on the edge of the box, giving Cardiff another dangerous freekick. Lucky for us, we saw the game out and protected those 3 very important points.
Concluding thoughts:
I don’t know what’s going on at StatDNA, I don’t understand what mysterious data points they’re looking at and I don’t understand how the insights they’re drawing can be so powerful that the coach can justify starting a player who gives away more major chances per game than any midfeilder I’ve ever watched at Arsenal.
The man is utterly awful. He has no in-game management, he’s slow, he switches off and he has consistently gifted goals to the opposition since he joined us. What does he have to do to be dropped? What will we miss without him? Not like he’s ever not playing, so we don’t really have a reference point to highlight over here. It’s quite unbelieveable.
Also, it’s hard to see how Mesut Ozil and Aaron Ramsey can co-exist in the same setup. The manager either moves Aaron into the double pivot with Lucas Torriera, with Mesut in the #10 role, or, he drops one of them. Ramsey does not look comfortbale as our lead creator, he doesn’t have the refined passing repertoire of Ozil. However, the German doesn’t have the industry or the desire to do the role that is needed of him. Also, I hate to say it, but I missed having Mikhi out wide. He offers us a lot down that right, without him, Bellerin was utterly impotent today. Emery really does have a conundrum, the system he’s playing at the moment needs him to make costly decisions for the good of the play.
Maybe we need to move to a 4-2-2-2 type approach? I mean, it kind of looked like we were playing that way at certain points in the second half yesterday. The only way Ozil could be effective was when he floated inside to dictate play.
I really don’t know how the manager rectifies the problems he has in defence. I think Sokratis is starting to look like a good defender, but his leadership skills aren’t shining at the moment. I genuinely think there’s a psychological issue at hand with the way Emery wants them to play. None of the players are comfortable playing out of the back. Cech immediately puts frazzled nerves into the danger zone because he’s not built to play like Cesc Fabregas.
On top of that, the way Emery has decided to start the ball moving is a lot less intense than I’d have hoped. We give teams the time they need to regroup and gun for us. That’s fine when you’re rocking £200m worth of defensive talent, but when you have our players trying to deal with the pressure, it doesn’t work. We don’t transition the ball fast enough, and quite often, even when we do break through midfield, we lose the ball because our midfield is being tightly pressed. I think the manager is going to have to give the defence a stronger foundation, and that might mean dropping Cech for a keeper who is comfortable with the ball at his feet. Alternatively, maybe the manager has to be more flexible about the way the defence plays.
They’re the golfing equivalent of someone who has come out of a lesson with 56 things to think about… their whole game totally collapses because they forget the basics in pursuit of the next level. Trouble for Emery is our defence didn’t have the basics right last season. So it’s a lot of learning to do on the job.
Overall, I’m happy with the three points, hopefully, the players can download what did work and continue to refine the bits that didn’t in training this week.
Next up, Newcastle away from home. I can’t fucking stand the Geordies. Let’s hope next Saturday is a good one for the greatest fans on earth.
See you in the comments.
Yo
2
Yay
Tr4phy
Boooooo
Morning Gents
Continuation from previous post.
“Mertesacker was a great leader”.
Discuss.
Michael
what’s the round thing they throw at the Olympics ?
discus
Top ten
Yooo
Genuinely can’t see what these managers blind spot is to Xhaka, it’s one of the most baffling things of modern day footy. Have him in your team, and he’s almost guaranteed to offer up a mistake resulting in an opposition goal. I would pretty much prefer every other midfielder we have over having him in the starting XL.
Pedro What is crystal clear as the report in today’s Telegraph highlights is that there is not a single club in the EPL who on the evidence of our first four games and the way we defend do not believe that they cannot beat us. We make constantly schoolboy errors and buckle under pressure even against a mediocre team like Cardiff. As I said Arsenal have the potential to score a bucket full of goals in almost any game we play. However, we need three or four to secure wins even against modest opposition, because of the frailty of our… Read more »
I don’t think that the 4-2-3-1 will work with our current crop. At least not without Torreira as a starter. Can’t understand how Xhaka starts ahead of him! I would like to see us drilled in a 3-5-2, or a sort of 3-4-3 formation. In all setups, Torreira needs to be starting. He provides the defensive cover needed when fullbacks are advanced. Also, compared to both Ramsey and Xhaka he makes play tick nicely with quick, crisp passing. Cech also needs to be benched if we are going to persist with playing out from the back the way we do.… Read more »
Good shout for the 4-2-2-2 lineup. Been saying for weeks that this formation makes the most sense with the squad we currently have. Auba and Lacazette both need to be upfront.
You can take Wenger away from Arsenal, but it’s going to take a whole new team to take him out of Arsenal, and that will take time on a 50m pa budget
You will continue to see Cech in goal. It’s dressing room politics gone wrong. The smart thing to have done was to start the season with Leno and then play Cech in-between games. Cech would have been fine with that and so is Leno. But to drop Cech now that everyone questions his abilty would be an agreement from Emery that Cech is shit. How do you think Cech would feel if he reasoned that he was made to work with foot by Emery, the gig failed and Emery turned on him? Cech is the main leader in that dressing… Read more »
Emery trying to force Cech to play out from goal also is a silly decision. If we absolutely have to play Cech why not play to his strengths and in a system he’s more comfortable with. I also think his shot stopping is rapidly on the wane.
I’d love to see Leno and Torreira put into the side after the break but I just feel that even this early on his his tenure, Emery is building favouritism to certain players and will persist with them.
Norwegian
I’d go along with that but swap Ramsey out for Guendouzi who is starting to look our best midfielder with the ball at his feet. Maybe time to bench xakha for a while.
VicVic
In that case Emery shows weak leadership. A manager needs to make difficult decisions. Cech isn’t the leader, Emery is.
As I see it, he needs to bench Cech and Xhaka. I think everyone would understand, because they’ve been shit for four games in a row and will end up costing us many points during the course of this season.
I think 4-2-2-2 is just to narrow . We already have far too much vulnerability on the full backs. I really think we need a 3-5-2 or 3-4-3 – Bellerin should be pushed further forward, knowing there’s someone behind and three at the back will give more options for passing out from the back. The extra body in midfield provides more flexibility from either an offensive or defensive position. You can prob accommodate Ozil and Ramsey. It allows a press on both flanks and inside as players can hunt int packs of three (like Sarri encourages) We tried it a… Read more »
Un na
Picking between Ramsey and Guendouzi is hard at the moment, but I think Ramsey offers more in terms of being able to press and make those runs untracked into the opposition box.
A bit harsh on the kid, but he will get plenty of playing time this season regardless.
Next two weeks define Emery’s future for me.
Cech did more than enough to justify giving Leno a start, TBF he has tried to adapt but just can’t
Lacca and Auba have to start
Ozil and Ramsey are not compatible – only see Ozil playing as a 10 at best, nowhere else
Give Torreira/Guendouzi a chance.
Bellerin is not having a great start but TBF has no help from midfield.
Am very worried that Sokratis will be benched once Kos is fit which basically means we have same back four as last year.
I know some on here will find this difficult to comprehend but we are actually worse defensively than last year, our midfield discipline is no better (possibly worse), asking cech to play sweeper keeper is ridiculous and Ramsey is doing exactly the same as he has done under Wenger, which I have to say, I find very strange. Is there anyone on here who believes that it is in the teams best interest for ramsey to be playing as a striker in the last ten minutes when we are defending a slender lead whilst we already had welbeck, aubamayang and… Read more »
I always said that one of wenger’s biggest failings was refusing to install discipline into ramsey’s play and it made up my mind that his time was up at Arsenal….
Pierre
I can see the logic.
We need to attack since the chances of Mustafi screwing up is so high we need as much of a cushion we can get.
But the probable reason might be to slow down the build up from the back.
Pierre
Perhaps, Ramsey is the only one taking the lessons to heart? Press high all the time?
Thankfully we have 2 quality strikers and 2 quality playmakers who will get us out of trouble in the respect that we may be able to outscore the opposition.
If we still had only giroud, welbeck, walcott and perez then we would be in deep shit.
Black hei
“Perhaps, Ramsey is the only one taking the lessons to heart? Press high all the time?”
Come on.. Do me a favour..
Cardiff were playing the long ball in the latter stages, we needed all our midfielders and all our defenders in defensive positions.
Aubamayang, lacazette and welbeck were more than capable of pressing (if needed) and creating a counter attack…
Someone hasn’t got a clue what they are doing..
I was raging when Xhaka made that idiotic pass with only 50 seconds left to half time.
I’ve had it with that lumbering oaf of a player. How many of his mistakes since we signed hi have led to direct goals now? He NEEDS to be re-acquainted with the bench at all costs.
Otherwise happy to get the three points. Attack looks good and once Torreira replaces the hapless Xhaka hopefully we will be a more solid outfit.
Black hei
“I can see the logic”
I can’t
To state the obvious Xhaka is a very lucky boy as he only want to play him with Torreira OR Matty, I was not blessed with pace as a c/m but am sure I got round the pitch better than Xhaka. He can not tackle, run, has no right foot or head the ball. has no positioning sense. Everything else he is ok at!!!!!!!!!!!
Ole,
We won’t have to wait too long. That idiot Xhaka picked up his 4th booking in as many matches I remember so when he inevitably picks one up in the next couple of games he has to sit one out. Hopefully then, he’s not shoved back into the side.
Xjaka wasn’t that bad in the match overall. The thing is now though virtually everyone is on the Xjaka hate train. He made that big error for the goal against and it’s poor decision making. Before that error he was finding space well higher up and he even won two 50/50 challenges high up the pitch as well. But then came his brain seizure and he just has too many of them. He did alright in the second half as well. He got caught on the ball once deep and the handball incident at the end too much is being… Read more »
That wasn’t a very competitive Cardiff midfield.
They gave up the midfield to Arsenal for the vast majority of the match.
Will be interesting to see Xjaka higher up against a competitive midfield in matches where Arsenal don’t have 90% possession in that area of the field.
Some of the tactical decisions are getting more and more odd. I think Emery is trying to give Ozil, Ramsey and Xhaka as much opportunity as possible to come correct. For me, I think it’s pretty much fair to say that the boat has now sailed for them 3. They’re now a hinderance.
Cech has had a great career, but he is no longer in his prime. And the idea that he’s going to morph into Ederson 2.0 is laughable and worrying.
‘Emery really does have a conundrum, the system he’s playing at the moment needs him to make costly decisions for the good of the play’ This is it really. Emery has made mistakes with every selection so far, playing it far too safe and being far too respectful of players already here. You can see from what he wants to do that Xhaka, Ozil and Ramsey look as if they don’t have a future, neither does Cech aside from being a back up. Then you have the Aubameyang and Lacazette issue, they only looked good for a spell in the… Read more »
Xjaka is not going to be dropped for a Torreira-Guendouzi combo. Xjaka showed some decent signs in that match operating higher up before his fuck up. Emery will just hope that Xjaka gets rid of the errors in his game and we know this can be a forlorn hope. Also that Cardiff midfield was shit. If Xjaka can fuck up badly against such a midfield even on the one occasion you have to fear the worst when he actually comes up against midfield’s that are competitive. Cardiff were not competitive in midfield yesterday. This is all in relation to Xjaka… Read more »
The whole point of sacking Wenger and recruiting Emery was to remove the “politics” in the club and dressing room. Apart from Steve Bould and Ivan Gazidis there is not a lot left of the old regime below Boardroom Level. Spending almost £50 million on Torreira and Leno and then benching them is plain daft. I could understand the logic if Xhaka and Cech were playing well, but the hard facts are that they are not and both have been responsible for at least 50% of the goals which we have conceded so far in the four games played. The… Read more »
We need to establish a solid midfield. With a wayward Xhaka and an inconsistent Ramsey, we’ll continue to look fragmented
Yeah that’s another good point, Cardiff were absolutely shit.
Their defence was every inch as pitiful as ours.
We will not play teams like that every week and that is now two weeks running to say we’ve rode our luck is an understatement.
ES
So are you saying that Ozil is pointless for us then? Because we haven’t even started making the cake mix yet.
We need to build a team not excuse and try to work towards an individual’s need.
I’d cash in on Ramsey in January. Unfortunately, based on Ramsey’s performance over the last how many seasons, I don’t think he’s even nearly good enough to get a move to a better team than Arsenal, as a starter.
I’d move on Ozil next summer. Another 2 season of Ozil @ £300k p/w is banter. We’d have to accept a low fee for him.
I think I’d also cash in on Xhaka, cos I’m struggling to see what he does.
No Licht again.
Where art thou Licht? lol
Not to worry.
We might see him for 45 minutes again in the Europa League matches.
CA
Are you feeling ok
You made a Comment about ozil without mentioning his ten billion pound a week wages (or whatever it is)
Xhaka’s brain dead pass meant the rest of his performance was under insane scrutiny that no other player received. He was a meh 6/10 over the 90 mins. That being said I’ll continue to stand firm on the idea that having 4 strictly offensive players ahead of a duo of Guendouzi/Xhaka/Torreira is too porous to dominate games. Especially when you consider the role our FBs have in supporting the attack. Ozil and Ramsey is a shoehorn effort, it last either or for me (arguably none and put Mkhi CAM). But centrally we’ve got to have the numbers who play the… Read more »
Emiratesstroller
“The whole point of sacking Wenger and recruiting Emery was to remove the
“politics” in the club and dressing room.”
I thought it an impossibility that Emery could fail to improve upon Wenger’s poor goals against record last season.
From the matches seen so far not so sure now.
Has anything really changed here?
Expecting plenty of goals in Arsenal matches just like under Wenger and more than enough in the Arsenal net.
Cech is in the final year of his contract and ive heard no talk of renewing it. He maybe useable for another season but i think this season is his wind down season. That being said he should be supporting Leno who is the future and should have been made aware of that as soon as Leno had signed. Hes been around long enough to know how it goes. How quickly is a player going to admit hes not up to it? Its like a boxer who doesnt know hes being thrashed. Its the managers job to throw the towel… Read more »
Ishola Emery’s problem seems to be he is pussying out on selection. I mean the City game was just missing Lacazette and then he had managed to cram literally every attacker on there and flipped the bird to balance. I thought when Xhaka was further up the pitch yesterday he was okay and his sloppiness and lack of mobility does not cost us so much up there. He certainly has more a controlling ability or ability to grip the flow of a much than our other attacking midfielders. I think the only way forward for balance and control is Guendouzi… Read more »
Okay, look… Cech Xhaka Ozil Ramsay Torreira Leno These are probably the most talked about for various reasons, whether it’s football or personal. But…it’s not their fault! They don’t pick themselves…that’s on the manager. Wenger did it and was rightly blasted for it but alas, Emery is doing exactly the same thing. So why can’t he be blasted? Arsenal will win games against Cardiff, West Ham and palace but that’s it. This is fine if your trying to stay up but not exactly top four form. Maybe not even top six. We aren’t winning the Europa. The da cup…maybe because… Read more »
You have to wonder how well Xhaka must train. He’s probably played more minutes than any other Arsenal player over the last 1.5 seasons. The fact that he starts almost every game leads me to believe he trains like an absolute pro, and his commitment in training earns him his place in the starting 11. It’s a shame he’s fucking pony over 90 minutes. Extremely limited footballer who suffers from worse lapses in concentration than Koscielny, one of which per game usually results in us conceding a goal. Of all the players we need to replace, he should be the… Read more »
Yesterday’s win just reminded me of a Wenger match in his later years at the club.
No difference in the manner of victory.
GoH
Depends what your expectations are mjne are certainly not top 4 this season. I think we need some realism and apprexiation for the dung heap that was steaming when Emery arrived.
When you say tools do you mean is he doesnt habe the management skills or he doesnt have the players or both Lol
Torreira
Leno
One comes on as a sub and the other one hasn’t been picked at all yet
Guner2301
I don’t think top 4 is a foregone conclusion. Taking a broad view of the league tells me that the top 3 is set City, Liverpool and Chelsea. 4th place is up for grabs (Spurs, Utd and Arsenal). I would be pissed if we missed out on top 4 cos Emery didn’t have the balls to make the necessary changes from NOW.
I think some here need to check what the term sweeper keeper means.
Sweeper Keeper is a goalie who is quick and brave enough to dash off his line to clear through balls if the situation arises.
That is not what Cech has been asked to do, he has simply been asked to play from the back rather than going long. The fact that his outfield players are not giving him options and he is not a particularly good passer of the ball is why this is failing.
He has not been asked to be a sweeper keeper though
I don’t think xakha played badly yesterday. The misplaced pass that led to the goal should never have led to a goal. We had 8 players behind the ball at that stage with 6-7 in the box and only 3 of theirs in the box Midfielders will give tha ball away and the pass he made was probably the right one he just executed it poorly He blocked a shot destined for goal in first half Set up our first Created some good openings for no real to get wide I think it’s well over the top Our entire back… Read more »
http://www.skysports.com/football/news/29328/11489109/graeme-souness-tottenham-need-leaders-to-respond-to-watford-loss
This tickled me… Spurs living the Arsenal years but in total denial about it. This was a monthly feature for us.
Goh
“Emery doesn’t have the tools to sort this out. Sorry he just doesn’t.”
me and you said that directly after the city game and I have seen nothing since to make me change my opinion……I don’t think he is up to the job …we have hired a dud..
And by the way ,I hope Emery proves me wrong ,I really doubt it’s just a gut feeling .
I don’t think xakha played badly yesterday. The misplaced pass that led to the goal should never have led to a goal. No it should never have led to a goal. But Bellerin already made a silly run forward with a minute to go, Xhaka spotted that run and tried to be clever, possession was turned off, our two center backs were caught under the cross, Monreal has never been good at defending crosses so he was just a spectator, Cech went to ground without bothering to see what the player had in mind….our defenders are clowns is the summary… Read more »
Receding
I agree regarding Cech
On top of the fact that our defenders aren’t showing for the ball they are also very poor with it at their feet when it’s received. Nacho and Bellerin are never at full back to receive it either. It’s just not a style suited to the players we have. It needs to be redressed
Maybe that why he persists with xakha. If he sits deep enough to collect maybe he is the primary distributor from the keeper.
Un na Nah mate Xhaka can take a heal5hy dose of the blame there, but I take your point at the same time. A good defensive side doesn’t concede there, and Xhaka gets a rocket up his arse by half of them for such a terrible ball. It’s Arsenal though, so Bellerin was doing his hair before he spotted the mirror in the changing room, the CBs were thinking about those sweet sweet orange halves after being starved of the juice lately, and Monreal was waving to his mate Paco who’s come to watch him for the first time and… Read more »
me and you said that directly after the city game and I have seen nothing since to make me change my opinion……I don’t think he is up to the job …we have hired a dud..
Who would you have liked Pierre, who was available that you are totally convinced would have gotten this players playing better in four matches. No one is saying mistakes have not been made especially in certain players getting picked on and on but this dud comment is OTT
‘Torreira
Leno
One comes on as a sub and the other one hasn’t been picked at all yet’
I think this just says Emery is playing it far too safe and is indulging players who are part of the furniture for fear of upsetting everyone.
It is baffling because his selection approach is so different from his ruthless substitutions.
This team is going to need a good £250 Million spent on it over the next couple of summers though.
Pierre it’s seriously daft to even suggest Emery doesn’t have the tools at this point, it’s been underwhelming but gimme a break. By Jan the signs will be ther, and we will see if he’s capable of identifying his needs. Until then it’s a waiting game
Emery has many problems to deal with, but one thing he can do right away to improve our play is to switch to two up top. Auba & Laca are both central strikers, they like playing together, and Auba’s goal yesterday shows you what they can do when played together centrally.
Maybe that why he persists with xakha. If he sits deep enough to collect maybe he is the primary distributor from the keeper.
Nah Un nai na i
Xhaka has little interest in receiving passes from our defenders or goal keeper, the only one who identified the struggle and kept dropping back to help was Guendouzi, the two senior midfielders Ramsey and Xhaka had no interest in helping out. The two fullbacks too have been having very poor games since game 1.
TH
Sweeper keeper is just an easier term to use instead of keep repeating cech is being told to play out from the back,or pissing about with the back.
Is there a term for it, if it’s not sweeper keeper …… How about
“How to make Arsenal fans shi t their pants within 30 seconds.of the match starting”……that’ll cover it.
Remember when certain posters were adamant Lacazette should be sold because of the vastly superior Aubameyang?
Yea me too. Oh how tunes change…
Sweeper keeper is just an easier term to use instead of keep repeating cech is being told to play out from the back,or pissing about with the back. It’s a misleading term, because he has not been asked to be a sweeper keeper. the ball he passed directly to Arter is inexcusable no matter what his instructions were. I am waiting to see how Leno performs with the ball at his feet in the Europa league, which i reckon will be his first appearance, if he is comfortable then Emery will only have himself to blame if he persists with… Read more »
Remember when certain posters were adamant Lacazette should be sold because of the vastly superior Aubameyang?
LOL
How can i forget, anyone who said otherwise was called a Wenger lover
Carts Personally i think we are likely to struggle more trying to play a Emery system with the players we have as opposed to carrying on the Wenger way with these players but should Emery commit to his philosophy? I think he should but maybe hes persisting with too many that are making the philosophy break down. He needs to work out quickly who can best play his system and i dont think hes there yet. Maybe players like Welbeck who i personally wanted sold could do a better job pressing from the front but he needs to figure it… Read more »
Once again : “No manager would be able to get Arsenal into the top four with the squad Unai Emery has at his disposal, says Jamie Redknapp.”
Some of you guys must realize that most of this squad has worked under wenger for almost a decade…
In other terms, they were brainwashed, they were “wengerized”, and Emery is not david copperfield ffs.
There is just too much that is obviously wrong.
Starting with cech doing his thing at the back ..
The 2 full backs.bombing forward at the same.time.
Ramsey playing as a striker in the last ten minutes.
Ozil looking a shadow of himself as he hasn’t got a clue what’s going on around him.
Lacazette on the bench
Torriera on the bench
Leno on the bench.
And I haven’t even mentioned centre midfield and central defence….Pedro is right ,it’s a shambles.
Good analytics from Cesc A and Emiratesstroller. And looking at glaring mistakes Emery makes in his selection to the point of being a stick-in-the- mud Unai earns the sobriquet of Prick Emery.
Looking back at both Xhaka has a much appealing backside….then you have Prick Emery !!
CA
Xhaka as a CAM?? Strangest comment from you I’ve seen.
Charlie
Xhaka as 6/10 bc you were defending him before kickoff and having a laugh with Wallace about your favorite midfielder always getting picked. He didn’t have a 6/10 performance. Maybe a 3.5. You have a cat brain if you think he had a better than 5/10 performance where he didn’t bring anything of note to a game, and idiotically put us under pressure before the end of each half.
He’s finished. Quite soon we, as arsenal fans, can only hope.
Once again : “No manager would be able to get Arsenal into the top four with the squad Unai Emery has at his disposal, says Jamie Redknapp.” I used to doubt this but i am not so sure anymore. Our center back pairing is a joke for a top club Our full backs, one is in decline, the other is an aspiring model Our midfield should be Matteo (who isn’t even that good) and Torriera but Emery persists with Xhaka due to how good he can be in dictating play. There is no reason for us to extend Ramsey’s contract,… Read more »
Ozil looking a shadow of himself as he hasn’t got a clue what’s going on around him. (this isn’t exclusive to Emery, he’s looked this way for a long while)
Starting Cech might have to do with his dressing room Leadership Role. As it is Emery might not be able to commmunicate effectively yet , so having Cech helps. But damn it , play to his strengths . Now is not the time to teach such an old dog new tricks .
Rightly it is said that between Cech and Xhaka both responsible to 50% of the goals yielded
Pierre So Pierre, you think we’re actually worse than last year. Apart from golf, have you ever played in a team environment, or, come to think of it, worked in a team environment, where new ideas and systems are being implemented that have a negative affect( initially) on the members of that team? Forgive me if I’m wrong here, but didn’t you highlight in the past that your professional career centred around being an Accountant/ Financial controller? or something to do with statistical analysis? Based on my experiences, most people in this field of work tend to have blinkered vision… Read more »
Zfree
No he had a 6/10 performance imo, did a few nice things but was pretty lethargic throughout. Then again your “favourite midfielder” comment seems to out you as just another numpty looking for a way to score imaginary points. All the best with that.
Zfree I’m not saying a long term solution, I actually think the majority of this side should not have long term futures as starters or even players at Arsenal. But when he was able to get the ball high up the pitch he moves it well around the box and does have a threat from range, sometimes. He exerts more control than anyone else in the attacking positions as well. Ramsey has limited on ball skill and no control skills in terms of possession, Ozil is a napkin floating in a breeze and arguably only Mkhitaryan has the potential to… Read more »
HL
if we play Leno make the defence more solid through drilling and im not sure what Emerys people and Steve Bould are doing there but maybe they need to offer Keown a job because its obviously not working. The team could look a whole lot better. Top 4 better probably not but at the moment were struggling against teams that will be in the relegation fight at the end of the season.
Xhaka really is embarassing to watch.
I sincirely hope he gets dropped sooner than later and sold at first opportunity.
Torreira and guendZ seem to be the only capable centremidds worthy of the shirt at the moment
Too bad it is pretty obvious that neither are yet ready to carry the team.
The other is still too young despite being a worldclass talent. Torreira clearly lacking physically still not having enough acceleration and stamina.
Then again it tells awfully lot about the more senior midfielders and their apparent lack of quality 🙁
G2301
I think Carcedo, Emery’s assistant, was meant to be the defensive specialist, we’re not seeing much improvement though.
Maybe someone like Keown does need to be brought in, great defender, smarts about defence when you listen to him and has a passion for Arsenal.
I would be looking to get someone like Lascelles in January as well who has fallen out with Benitez. Might not be the star people want at CB but a good, strong, young, English CB with real leadership ability.
Once you make the obvious switch to two up top, the question becomes 4-4-2 or 3-5-2. For me 4-4-2 is the better choice because, one, it’s a simpler system to implement, and two, it better suits our current personnel. As for the midfield four, different people are going to see this very differently, but the one universal is that Torreira has to start. He is a player, though, and he can do many things, so I wouldn’t want him playing at the base of the diamond. I’d give that role to Guend or Xhaka. I’d make Torreira and Ramsey the… Read more »
CA Look the debate about Ozil is completely pointless. He signed a new contract in January and we are paying him £350K pw, which renders him not only unsaleable but almost certainly unloanable as well unless you and others are advocating that we are paying for him to play for another team. Arsenal got themselves into a mess by allowing four players to run down their contracts at the same time. Sanchez was going to leave anyway and Ox wanted out as well. The club allowed Wilshire to leave on Bosman. We are now faced with similar dilemma with Ramsey.… Read more »
Nah mate Xhaka can take a heal5hy dose of the blame there, but I take your point at the same time. A good defensive side doesn’t concede there, and Xhaka gets a rocket up his arse by half of them for such a terrible ball.
Charlie
I don’t deny that. He’s culpable for a a really sloppy pass but the goal is not his fault. Watch it back. Was a deep cross and our entire defence missed it
CA
Good shout with Lascelles think hed be expensive though as he signed a contract not long ago and Newcastle arent going to sell cheap. I couldnt see Sven going for him either with his Bundesliga blindspot Lol.
Pierre is a troll & he generally gets everything wrong, but I think he’s right that at the moment we actually look worse than we did last season. There are a number of reasons for this, but the most basic reason is that Emery is trying to do any number of new things — all to varying degrees of un-success at this point — whereas Wenger’s “system” was one that the players had played in for years and years and were quite comfortable in. Whatever its demerits, everyone at least knew where he was supposed to be and was comfortable… Read more »
Un na
You’re right mate, I did nod in agreement there. But you trace it to Xhaka so he can take the largest share of blame for me. Irrespective of that it was an embarrassing goal to concede as a good side. The whole back five were in the changing rooms mentally and that’s not close to good enough.
Bamford
Torriera all day long at the base of the diamond in your system.
His game is made for that role .
gonsterous Over the past twelve years there have only been a few Arsenal players who I have openly criticised. Denilson/Eboue/Bendtner/Sanogo/Almunia and to a degree, Abebayor or,as I liked to call him, Adenoughchances; all come to mind. To be openly critical of any player during this period was not easy, based on the fact they were under the expert tutelage of a certain Monsieur Wenger. However, if there is one player I criticised consistently and rigourously during this period it was, without doubt, Per Mertesacker. Undoubtedly one of the worst decisions made by Wenger during his tenureship and probably one of… Read more »
Maybe some people ought to realise le grove isn’t a hotline to Arsenal management….
Unai isn’t reading this for tips 😀
some posters are deluded in here. Just because we got rid of wenger doesn’t automatically make us a title challenging team. Why do you think managers get 3 or 4 year contracts ? why not give them a year, see if they are champions and then not renew the contract if they fail ? As I keep saying, let’s see where we are at the end of the season. My aim for emery is top 4. Now whether he claws his way there or draws all his games there I don’t care. I swear if we had diego simeone people… Read more »
I will not add the likes of Xhaka/Bellerin or Ozil to my list just yet, as Emery needs to given time to try and sort them out.
Only time will tell.
I think there’s a real culling ahead, and many players are going to be caught out by it. They need to appreciate they’re all on audition here under Emery and when Jan 1st comes some will be told to walk.
Not seeing that level of understanding from some so far, and they should wake up.
Pierre I remember the post city game. No one thinks we’ll make top four. No one. However, what we would like to see is progress…even in micrometer increments. After four games against polar opposites of the league: Chelsea and City (top) West Ham and Cardiff (bottom) we’ve seen Arsenal as they will be this season and subsequent seasons. Lose against better teams, struggle against poor teams. The latter we should mostly have enough to beat them…mostly. No progress has been made on the field. None. The system Emery is playing doesn’t work with this set of players. So, he has… Read more »
gonsterous
On that point, I agree wholeheartedly.
Emery needs time.
gonsterous
Let’s call it deuce.
CC
I also agree with you on this.
Players are playing for their futures at AFC.
The camera is on them.