My first return to Arsenal this season, and what did I bring back? A first-half lead. That was all me.
The Burnley game really wasn’t much to write home about. There was a distinct lack of intensity from both teams. They really are a rough outfit to watch. They have nothing about them. They move the ball around like they hate it and they have thuggish similarities to Bolton when they were a thing.
Emery didn’t exactly make things interesting, fielding three defensive midfielders. Lucky for us, Xhaka was NOT in central defence, that role falling to Nacho Monreal who left the pitch after 37 minutes with another injury.
Mesut Ozil dropped a world class pass for the opener, finding Kolasinac from a crazy tight angle, the ball was clipped back into the box where Auba was foxing in the box to put us 1 up. When you see that sort of pass from Mesut, you kind of understand why a generation of casual football fans love him so much. He can deliver the perfect 6-second clip for a shareable video on Twitter… but explore his offering a little deeper and you can see why he’s struggled to make an impact this season. He always seems to have one foot in the game. Capable of flashes, but he very rarely grips a game these days from start to finish.
We actually carried the lead into halftime for the first time this season, then grew out our advantage after the break with a stunning goal from Auba again. The way Arsenal moved the ball up the pitch was a sight to behold. The finish was electric as well, a real near post lashing. That had Auba as the top scorer heading into Christmas. Wonderful.
We did let Burnley back in with a sloppy goal, but Iwobi stepped up and actually found the net late on to seal the game.
The afternoon was pretty bland from a football spectacle. Emery had to drop a heavy rotation, and thankfully it paid off. I had big reservations about our ability to turn in a result yesterday. The key message for me was that we had an instant response in the Premier League after losing a great run. Under Wenger, the walls would cave in and we’d sputter for a month or so. After United bullied us out of our invincible run in 2004-05, we drew 3 games, won 1 and lost the other. It took us a month to find our feet again. That didn’t happen this time.
The worry for me, as I’d highlighted before this patch of games, was that we’d start to pick up injuries if the manager had gone too hard on the players in a bid to get them Emery sharp. We’ve had a rough run of late, picking niggles and strains all over the place. Our defence is particularly creaky, and age I’d imagine is a factor here. It’s not good that we’re having to rely on Lichtsteiner, who really does look off the pace of the league. There’s going to need to be an intervention in January if we’re to survive the season.
One of the most heartening advances under Emery is the bite the side has. We don’t get pushed around. We have nasty actors, Sokratis being a key figure here. He won’t be bullied and he doesn’t let our team get pushed around. It was quite unbelievable to watch the aggression thrown at Guendouzi yesterday (Barnes stamping on him).
He was being kicked pillar to post. What I loved is he’d just get up and carry-on. He’s a little rough around the edges, but my oh my, there’s a lot of talent brewing inside of him.
Final point, I couldn’t believe how few people showed up to the game yesterday. It was so empty there, I went and sat downstairs for the second half. I don’t want to be draconian here, but if you don’t show for your ticket, there should be some sort of cost. I was hearing from so many people yesterday that they sit next to seats that are never filled. The casual nature of some fans is f*cking embarrassing. It was also frustrating to watch hoards of tourists rolling into the ground 15 minutes late. It’s so disrespectful to the game and the people you’re sitting next to.
Next up is Brighton on Boxing Day and they have Lewis Dunk suspended, which is going to be very helpful.
Also… how bloody marvelous was it to see City and Chelsea lose?! I love it when the world of football bemoans a teams invincibility and the death of the game as we know it… I think people forget how incredibly tough it is to keep a winning machine running on track in the Premier League. City has the pick of players, but every coach in the top 6 is capable and every club has players capable of causing an upset. Sad to say it, but I think it’d be good for the league for Liverpool to win this season.
Unlucky for Everton, good goal ruled out and now Son nets
Merry Christmas, Pedro.
Did Pickford need to come out?
Pickford is way too error prone.
He’s always gifting the opposition cheap goals.
Merry Xmas Pedro!
Have fun in merry old England
CB targets this January is anyone’s guess. It’s going to be so hard to bring any summer targets forward because it’s obviously easier in the summer. I personally would try to get Skriniar from inter in some sort of swap. They want Ramsey or we could include Ozil. Other than that it’s anyone’s guess
Jordan Pickford is shite. The most overhyped pile of shite in the league. If Leno made some of the mistakes he made I swear
Pickford was and is, overrated.
The last great England GK was Seaman.
raptora
Sorry to disappoint you but I’m not Victorious. Is it impossible for two or more people to have a similar opinion?
P.S. Pickford is the most overrated keeper ever.
I hate that player called son
The Sczezny that we had was far better than Pickford will ever be. They both share that pennant for dramatic errors.
Sorry but you are wrong Pickford is not the most over rated goal keeper ever. The current England (whomever at whatever moment in time) is.
It just happens to be Pickford at the moment. Personally I hope ManU follow through and buy him as a replacement for De Gea. It’ll guarantee his position as England No 1 for years and fuck ManU royally.
Spud Cunts.
Should be 2-0 up and it would be a different game now it’s all over for Everton. Good for the fantasy team though.
Pickford didn’t organize his wall there.
Unless keeper
*useless keeper
Everton suck ass
Never want Spurs, Utd or Pool to win anything-ever! If Pool were to win it, the press would never let anyone forget it. Similarly, the Totts lovers in the media would be sticking it to us for years.
The referee isn as bit daft to be honest
He messed up the game with that phantom foul on Dominic Calvert-Lewis’ goal.
Everton is utter trash
Seaman was a terrible keeper.
From Koeman to Ronaldinho he was shit..
Are Spurs one of the title contenders as well or do people see the league as a two horse race between Pool and City ?
Most saves by a keeper is a ridiculous stat. That just means that your defense stinks. I’m talking about Sunderland, of course, and Pickford. Joe Hart is the current holder of that record this season.
TR7
It’s between Pool and City. Spurs won’t win squat yet again.
This Pickford guy is just like a kid put in goal..Rush out like a fool when not needed.Could have positioned better to reduce Son’s angle and left too much space to the covered side for the free kick.A normal keeper keeps it out for a corner.
I saw their line up and had hope but he messed their confidence up causing a goal that was preventable.
Spuds are a well coached and drilled team.
It’s easy to see why Pochettino is so highly regarded.
Kyle Martino says it was a push and the goal was rightfully disallowed. I disagree. Very light contract, and Sanchez made the most of it.
Spurs are up there but its a two horse race for me
United are going to go back to being a real force under Pochettino
Toffees have completely fallen apart
I’m not so sure that I would rule Spuds out easily.
They know how to beat the smaller teams and are capable of beating anyone on their day.
They only have to stay within 4- points until the spring, at that point anything is possible.
It makes our win against Spurs, or more so the way we did it, all the more impressive, they are a very good side.
Only tribalism would stop you admitting that.
Gawd I detest Pickford.
Good little finish
Two overrated keepers at both ends
Everton midfield is shocking!
Relegation level shocking!
For anyone even slightly worried about Spurs winning the league, don’t be.
Just a blip for City yesterday. They will be back.
All in all fortunate that Spurs have their best team in decades and there are two formidable sides still in front of them.
I agree.
Lloris is a bit overrated, good GK, but not the level some suggest.
During the NLD combine team I said I’d sooner have Leno, dodgy at crosses, but that can be coached into him and we’ve got a potentially great GK there.
Just something about Lloris, very small for a GK, error prone. Pulls off a top save one minute and gaffs the next.
With Lloris just look at the goal he gave away in the World Cup final.
He should have been embarrassed to lift the trophy to be honest.
Iwobi stepped up and actually found the net late on to seal the game.
——————————-
Pedro – you could’ve mentioned that Ozil made that one as well.
Sissoko has been massive for Spuds all season.
Son was offside…that was not a hint.
Spurs on course for 3rd on 89 points.
Fucking ridiculous level in the PL at the moment.
Through Pickfords legs there, woeful at the back Everton are
This is the wanker ref who couldn’t keep his cards in his ass and cost us suspension.
Ofcourse he was going to disallow Evertons ligitimate goal
Danny
Apparently it’s prohibited to mention anything good that Ozil does on here
gambon,
“Spurs on course for 3rd on 89 points.Fucking ridiculous level in the PL at the moment.”
Nah
That’s indicative of a shit poor league with 6 real competitive sides.
Spurs generally start slowly and pick up good number of points as the season goes on. This season they have started strongly, eclipsed by terrific start from Pool and City though. They have been very strong away from home as well. Perhaps it will boil down to squad depth in the end where City and Pool have an edge. Can’t be ruled out as a contender though.
Dissenter
5
What stands out to me about this Tottenham team is how serene and calm they always seem. From the manager to the players, they’re all zen-like and even when they lose it doesn’t seem to affect them at all. They just brush it off and carry on. We expended a ridiculous amount of energy to beat them, and it was enough on the day, but you can see why they are so hard to keep up with over the course of the season. Their base level is just higher and it means they need to expend less energy to win… Read more »
Liverpool have conceded 7 goals this season.
Arsenal have conceded 24 goals this season.
Flipping Jackie do dah do.
That is an embarrassing.😖
But not surprising tho 🤨
Spurs 4 losses this season: Watford, Pool, City, Arsenal. They are not title contenders. It’s not enough to beat shite teams, you also have to take some points of the big boys.
Is Marco Silva really all that as a manager?
If Silva doesn’t do the business as Everton manager then his reputation will struggle to recover in England.
Think his team have just been battered by a far better one today though, unfortunately.
Guns
And that is why we are not a top 4 side, and won’t be until the defense gets sorted out
gsmbon
“Spurs on course for 3rd on 89 points.”
Spurs wouldn’t reach 89 points in a million years..you silly cunt.
Think Silva is making a mistake playing Gomes in a midfield two.
It might work better for them having him as the free license midfielder in a three.
Lawd, this is getting bowling shoe ugly
100% Upstate
Need brand new AMs too.
Ours not cutting it atm
Paulinho
Spuds are really well drilled.
There’s nothing panicky about them, especially when they face smaller teams.
They are controlled on and off the ball which its why Pochettino isn so highly regarded.
People like Pierre will be quick to remind us that he hasn’t won anything which is true but he has set them up properly.
Marko Silva should be sacked!
Shocking stuff really
It’s kind of silly yo except Silva to overturn two decades of mediocrity at Everton when you’re willing to give Emery time to get it right at Arsenal.
Pickford was atrocious and rubbish today. He certainly has had a hand in at least four goal today.
Plenty on here were writing off Spurs for even a top 4 slot and were bigging up Sarri’s Chelsea not too long ago, unfortunately for us they are very strong and they just find a way to win the vast majority of games.
We don’t have a Son or a Lucas Moura, they aren’t even guaranteed starters and both piss all over Iwobi/Miki.
And for Bamford and all of the others that don’t rate Kane for some bizarre reason, that’s 40 goals for 2018 now. Only Messi, Ronaldo, Lewandowski have scored more.
Wenger used to complain about the Sunday games that followed wins for our title “rivals”.
Yes no getting away from it, a firm top
3 side over the last three years with a 2nd and 2 third place finishes. Spurs are a good side.
They should take Sissoko to the drug testing room after the game.
The dude has been on fire all season. He’s got to be on something, maybe he has a new GF.
Silva has gotten Everton playing decent football once again but he’s a bit too Bobby Martinez esque to sustain anything more than 6th at best over the course of a season.
Way too open and defensively naive.
They have Son. We had Park. Says it all
Mr Palmer will be gloating on Arsenal News Review
WengerEagle
Moura is shit, he must be, he plays for Spurs.
You rated him Marble you numpty.
He was one of approx 3 players along with Sanchez and Ospina that you actually put out there that you like that were born after the 1960’s.
I’m actually starting to come round to Kane being a worldie now….
Tom Davies should serve as a lesson for those wetting themselves over AMN’s performance against United at Old Trafford last season or even Willock’s exploits in the under 23′. Davies ran the show against Guardiola’s City in one of his first matches, scoring a late goal, and since then has levelled out to nothing more than a decent talent. Literally not worth paying any attention to youngsters unless they sustain a certain level for more than ten games. Someone like Bellerin has achieved that, but even then he has never looked like repeating the type of goal he scored against… Read more »
Pickford man of the match
Moura can’t be that good if he ended up at Spurs.
Dissenter wonder if you will make excuses for Emery If he is beaten 2-6 at home.
Son shits all over even the good Park when it comes to ability.
United’s Park was the definition of a big game player though and along with Fletcher always seemed to get the better of our late 2000’s midfield even though they had a fraction of the talent.
Mental how Fergie turned average players like Park, Fletcher, Cleverley, Young, Welbeck into world beaters when playing Arsenal.
Even Rooney kicked it up a gear whenever he played us, prick seemed to score in every game.
Wenger Eagle
I’ve been saying all season that spurs are a seriously quality outfit. One of the most well balanced consistent teams and better than Chelsea and us.
Think about their team where is the weakness. Quality gk, defence, cms, attacking mids/wingers and of course striker.
Samesong
He’s easily going to break big Al’s PL record of 260 unless he decides to move abroad.
Think he’s already scored 120 PL goals at age 25.
Kane is a worldie. He isn’t graceful, but his numbers over the last few seasons have been incredible. You don’t fluke 30 league goals in back-to-back seasons in the EPL either. He scores goals. Lots and lots of them, season after season.
‘Literally not worth paying any attention to youngsters unless they sustain a certain level for more than ten games. ‘
True. I had lofty expectations from Jeff Adelaide, turned out he had no substance in him. Now I restrain from going gaga over youngsters 🙂
“And for Bamford and all of the others that don’t rate Kane for some bizarre reason, that’s 40 goals for 2018 now. Only Messi, Ronaldo, Lewandowski have scored more.“
Nothing more than a decent goal scorer I hear. Needs to score a 20 yard rabona in a World Cup semi-final or he’s not elite.
Fair enough I guess.
“United’s Park was the definition of a big game player though”
Quality off-the-ball player. Any player of that type was always going to love playing against Wenger’s Arsenal. Worst tracking team in history. Any sort of half-decent movement and you were in against Wenger’s zombies.
Wenger eagle
Park was an average footballer with world class mentality. The reason why players like that excel in big games is they keep their heads while others lose theirs, meaning they can influence the game more and carve out an impact.
Milner is similar accept his got world class mentality with pretty decent footballing technique(his on the ball skills have increased year on year)
TR7 – I had similar with Adelaide and I was gushing over Guendouzi in pre-season, so it’s still hard to actually apply it.
Paulinho
Sometimes youngsters just look different though even over a short period.
Jadon Sancho being an example, it’s not even the end product that’s blowing people away it’s his all around involvement and how he elevates the level of Dortmund’s attack.
Was clear for people to see even with M’Bappe pretty early into 16/17 that he was a generational talent.
CC
Still laugh about that.
El Clasico heroics are null and void apparently.
Dissenter, that midfield Silva picked is suicidal, even Wenger would recognise it..
Kane, Ali, son are all top top quality .
The can strike the ball quite well with both feet and almost always hit the target.
WE – Yeah agree. Same with Fabregas in the charity shield. Just knew he was special.
Pretty rare cases though.
Thinking about the youngsters that play in game that for whatever reason suits their skillset and style and makes them look better than they are, which is often the case with the vast majority.
Paulinho
Nou Camp away 2010 was the prime example of that. Messi’s had an absolute field day.
Paulinho
Guendouzi looks a good player when we have the ball or for that matter when he has ball on his feet. He looks lost when opposition has the ball, his lack of positional awareness comes to.fore. I would put it down more to lack of experience than talent.
LG
Yep dead right, Milner was the player I was going to mention before I read on.
Mourinho loves these players too, difference is he converts talented players into off the ball grafters to the detriment of their attacking game whereas Fergie always gave license to the gifted attacking talent to do their hard running in the opponents half like Ronaldo, Rooney earlier on when he was explosive, Giggs, etc.
G8 ‘Kane, Ali, son are all top top quality . The can strike the ball quite well with both feet and almost always hit the target.’ You forgot eriksen. The thing is about spurs and their attacking players not only are they technically superb but they marriage that with athleticism that’s the big difference and why they are such a quality outfit and on top of that they are all good shooters of the ball and have the instinct to do so. They aren’t the most flashy team like city or Liverpool, but they play technically superb minimalistic fast paced… Read more »
Kane’s goal stats tell you only half the story.
Top scorer in the World Cup and all 6 goals were shit and meaningless.just like the player.
Paulinho
True, it’s usually only with very precocious players mentally as Cesc was, had a 30 year olds head on a 17 year olds shoulders.
Elite talent nearly always are world class in their mentality and how they think about the game no matter their position, the physical improvement and getting to grips with the league comes later on.
TR7 – I would argue he looks pretty lost when he has to impact the game in the final third. He doesn’t seem to have much offensive potential at all. Think he needs to try and master that deep-lying role and improve his defensive awareness.
Wenger eagle
Did Ronaldinho have elite mentality?
Hate to admit it but terrific from Spuds.
Serious challengers to Liverpool and MC? Looks likely.
What more can you say about Kane?
Son is my player of the season to date.
Wish we had someone like him.
LG
They are very good on and off the ball as Paulinho referred to, under AW we were always one step behind off the ball.
The obscene quality of our noughties teams on the ball offset that for a large part, still wasn’t enough to win more than 2 PL titles in that decade when we were arguably the best side for half of it.
London yes,Ericsson is also up there..
Atheltisim is also strong factor
They all cost peanuts, really top notch scouting and ofcourse management
Ours were selling us sanogos and gervinios
Redtruth
Garbage.
Kane is top class.