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Unai Emery is now well and truly out of the Christmas crush. Arsenal have problems, they’ve been well documented this week, the only way out is world class thinking and a new approach to issues that have haunted us all season.
We go up against Chelsea, a team also in transition, a team that boasts a batch of issues not to disimilar to some of ours in the past.
They are creating chances, but they can’t finish. Midfield isn’t offering many goals and worryingly for them, it’s not offering up much in the way of fight. Jorginho is a passing machine, but his style isn’t producing enough on the pitch. Morata has been a total flop, Giroud is working hard to make shooting seem like a mainstream idea he’d like to eradicate. You’d imagine if we combined the two squads, there’d be something special there.
They need an away win, but it’s far from a cut and shut case like it has felt in the past (even though we had a good record against Conte).
The question for Emery is how does he want to play? Chelsea are good in posession and if we go toe-to-toe we could find ourselves on the back of a spanking. Chelsea have struggled against teams that pack the midfield and defence. They don’t have a striker, so finding openings is tough for them.
Our issues are the opposite of Sarri’s. We’re creating fuck all, but we have two electric strikers who can finish from anywhere. We lack width, Chelsea have great wide players.
My worry tomorrow is Hazard is always a disaster for us. One of the best in the business against an appalling defensive unit. The other player we might have to watch out for his Hudson-Odoi, who had a good preseason against us. The wantaway English wideman has a point to prove, he’s fast, direct and he will be licking his lips at the though of terrorising us today.
We have some secret weapons that could spice things up. We can call upon Mesut Ozil, who is always good after an extended holiday (Leicester springs to mind) and he had a fucking blinder against Chelsea in the league cup last season. We can also use Aaron Ramsey if we fancy. The great thing about these two players is they are both incredibly fresh. Which other teams in the top 4 have two of their best players August ready? None. We need to make something work.
The defence needs to be tight tomorrow, we need to play with discipline and the manager needs to pick a team that can stand the test of 60 minutes without a change.
I’d really like to see a plan tomorrow. This cannot be a rerun of the Liverpool game. The players didn’t believe they’d come out of that game alive, it’ll be very interesting to see how they’re feeling about tomorrow. This game will be a good indication of how the rest of this season plays out.
If we lose, we’re doomed to 6th. I’d suggest that Emery takes a new approach. Test out the kids, see how good they are, allow us to make better bets in the summer.
Right, that’s me done. See you in the comments you bastards x
But it’s on him now if we can’t get champions league. No more hiding behind shit players. Which by the way, we have better squads than spurs United and Chavs bar one key player each De Gea, hazard and Kane You are stupid and I mean really fooking stupid if you think we have a better squad than any of them one key player or no. We have a squad right now in need of a couple of CB’s one of significant quality we’re in dire need of an upgrade at both full back positions and we have zero wingers… Read more »
Actually Pedro,
I apologise. There is no need for my posts to descend to silliness. It pisses me off how quickly people have turned on Emery( and now it seems we are ready to get rid of a manager 6,7 months after our last one), but there was nothing mature about my last two posts.
Negation
Some People might have not TURNED( me)- they just don’t think he is the right man at the beginning.
I just hope that the defensive performance we saw, the control and getting a clean sheet against Chelsea maybe encourages this defence.
Just a massive loss that Bellerin now be gone which once again upsets everything.
True Sancho. Liverpool away and the opening game of the season against City aside we’ve been competitive against the other top 6 sides.
It still amazes me when you watch Arsenal fans interviewed and even Ozil fans saying ‘it wasn’t game for him’ for yet another game.
F**k me, a game that suits him is rarer than unicorn shit.
That’s the best performance i’ve seen for many a year.
We actually looked like we knew what we were doing.
Cesc appeal
I could have kept a clean sheet against Chelsea tonight (i am 77)
Sarri DONT LIKE GOALS!
They did nt score AT HOME against Leicester or Soton!
Kos was his usual heroic self, tonight
Next week against Rashord, Pogba, martial , Lukaka… might be different.
Cesc
I hope Sokratis’s exuberant celebrations will galvanize the squad into pride about defending.
It’s all about attaining consistency which is what separates the championship teams from the pretenders.
Dissenter
I really liked when he won that sliding tackle and won a goal kick off of it and he fist pumped as he got up.
That is what we want.
CA as fantastic as Koscielny was today I’m not expecting him to maintain those types of performances until the end of the season I mean he hasn’t been able to over the years. In saying that I hope he doesn’t go back to being god awful somewhere in the middle will be a plus until the end of the season
Psg hit the 9 tonight…!!
Marko
I agree.
What a performance though.
Maybe a back 4 suits him more? Be great if we can just get a decent level out of him but he’s looked finished since returning. This was a performance of a different player tonight which is positive but also worrying.
I still want to see what Mavropanos can do.
You see the two tackles Aubameyang made today? That was great to see
Charlie charlie
You’d love Arsenal to ditch the Europa league as it would stick in your craw should we win it.
CA /Dissenter, which year was it where we defended a freekick from a pass back freekick and Keown led the line from the wall? 98?
Interesting that Sarri has come out and thrown his team under the bus in a way Emery has not despite the fact Emery is facing the same problems ‘motivating’ a group of players and getting them to do what he wants.
Also thought Leno did a much better job of commanding his box today
This was a performance of a different player tonight which is positive but also worrying.
I would say that he had a proper look at his recent performances and knew he had to get better and improve and try better himself. I would say the word you saw from the midfield and attack today you’d have to give Emery credit for that but Koscielny’s performance was all Koscielny
Rt
No interest in it.
Wretched tournament.
It’s not real football ( certainly as I think of it)
Younger fans like it.. that’s ok.
I feel all European football should be A knock out format ( no seedings , no away goals, NO GROUPS)
Also plaudits for the set play routines today it mostly worked and we looked very dangerous on corners
Psg hit the 9 tonight…
Revenge for Guingamp knocking them out of the cup a couple weeks back
They would not have hot the 9 under Emery
He would have hooked all his forwards off after goal 3….
“I’m more open to Emery criticism that you are of Wenger’s failings.“ More garbage nothings from you, zero to quantify that it’s just hot air from a poster that gets precious when his POV is challenged. You continue championing Emery and his poor old task of dealing with Wengers shit squad. I don’t care what state you think the squad was in when he inherited it, my mind is blown that folk like you don’t understand that a ‘better’ manager should yield improvement with the same tools. Let alone 4 new players that are essentially the crux of our starting… Read more »
Thierry Henry caught on camera again tonight, this time directing language at Strasbourg full-back Kenny Lala for apparently being slow to give the ball back: “We are in the 43rd minute… you grand-son of a b**ch!” (BeIN)
Also first time this season Chelsea have failed to score away from home. And 13 clearances for Koscielny
“Laca is 25 years old. He is popular He scores goals. He has a knack of scoring important goals against the bigger teams. He acts in a classy way ( on and off the pitch) If we are not trying to keep this type of player. It makes you wonder… where and what our aspirations are?Why does Emery not give him more minutes to boost his already impressive goal tally?I would imagine he is very very frustrated too with Emery. Good coaches keep their best players on side.‘This friction argument ” will backfire.” Absolutely agree. and Aube is also a… Read more »
The amount of flip flopping by some is seriously bad. Clearly agenda driven.
Our squad is defo shit compared to the teams above us. There is no 2 ways about it.
Chelsea were beaten by wolves and Leicester. Are their squads good enough for top 4?
I suppose we can just blame Kroenke for all of Emery’s deficiencies, extending famous projection defense for Wenger.
I see what the problem is. You think this squad isn’t shit and is good enough. It’s not. 5th place one season could be considered an unfortunate fluke but then 6th place? At that stage you should come to the realization that they’re not good enough. Time money and a wrecking ball to the squad will see improvement.
Lacazette tweet info:
The tweet, in French, reads “Est ce que c’est le remplacement de trop ? Next Stage …..” Which translates roughly to “Is he replaced too much? Next stage…” Or “Is this substitution the last straw? Next stage…” Followed by the hashtags
#Lacazette #Gunners #ByeBye #ARSCHE.
Dissenter
There you go again.
I dunno, maybe there is some hope for Kos yet. He looked hopeless his first few back, today thought was he was very good positionally. If he can play smart he can still be a serviceable CB. There’s been plenty slow and old CBs that have been good in the EPL.
Someone at the club should have a word with Lacazette about that, nip that in the bud right now and tell him he can be transfer listed if he wants and be a player manager somewhere else.
We are also under-estimating Emery’s deep distrust and possible distaste of Ozil.
He won’t play him when his job is on the line, that tells you everything about the inflexible position he is in.
People will say he knew before he got his job but truth be told, you don’t know a smelly cunt until you really do.
CA
That tweet about Lacazette was by his agency for the record. But certainly seems there’s a bit of discontent to deal with.
Love Laca, so much sauce… however, we have to sell him this summer… surely an £80m player now?
Pedro
Begrudgingly yes if he can be whored properly and bring in mega money.
Would rather flog Auba to China if that was a possibility, he’s 2 years older and on more money as is.
But needs must, can’t be attached to anyone in our current state. Just needs to be proper investment and not 2 powder puff types.
According to the express Chelsea are after Coutinho from Barca for £100m and James Rodriguez is staying at Bayern until at least the end of the season.
Corresponding fixtures last season two defeats to City, two draws against Chelsea, 4-0 at anfield and 3-3 at home against Liverpool, a 2-0 win at home and a defeat away to Spurs with two defeats to United. So 6 from 30.
So far this season we’ve got 8 points against teams in the top 6 with 9 points still to play for.
And yet “you don’t understand that a ‘better’ manager should yield improvement with the same tools.”. Also better away record already compared to the whole of last season. Still much work to do though
Hopefully my math doesn’t let down a “good” point I’m trying to make
After having seen both play for Arsenal over a year now I think I’ve changed my mind and I consider Lacazette to be the better player. It could be that PEA’s skills have eroded a bit as well. Still I’d rather keep Laca now, shame we will have to sell him for funds.
This all goes with the narrative that Lacazette is going. It works for all parties I guess.
you don’t know a smelly cunt until you really do.
Ironic then that Pierre can’t seem to recognize his own scent on Ozil.
Yeah he needs to have a word with someone I mean it’s not like he’s the only one who gets substituted ffs. If you’re wondering why he gets substituted more than Auba it’s because he’s got more goals in less games. That’s just it nothing to tweet home about. If he had scored 6 more goals in two less games it’d be Auba getting subbed more
80 million for Lacazette???
No chance, he’s averaged a goal every 2.5 apps for us. Respectable numbers but hardly adds 30 million onto his price tag given he’ll be 2 years older and 28 instead of 26.
If we recoup the 50 million for him we would be doing well tbh.
Tottenham 4-2 was the last time we had a result and performance as good as this and previously it was the 1-1 draw at home to Liverpool. This tells me that the players feed off a great atmosphere and find it difficult to raise their game when the crowd is flat . The aggression in our game for the Liverpool, Tottenham and Chelsea matches was much higher than in any of our other games so maybe the manager needs to find the reason why this should be. We should be able to play with that intensity every week instead of… Read more »
We were actually poorer the season we came 2nd compared to the 6th position we finished last season.
All the top teams had shockers (Man City, Man Utd, Chelsea) when we finished 2nd.
Wenger eagle
“No chance, he’s averaged a goal every 2.5 apps for us. Respectable numbers but hardly adds 30 million onto his price tag given he’ll be 2 years older and 28 instead of 26. If we recoup the 50 million for him we would be doing well tbh.”
That’s what happens when you let him settle into the role of second striker , a £55 million player shouldn’t be a second striker.
Pierre wins against Chelsea and Spurs and the draw against United…no Ozil… incredible how
I will hold my hands up and say, I did not see that result coming.
Either Chelsea are THAT poor or Arsenal turned it on?
Great result but we know what happened after the spurs game. Emery must keep the motivation high. Well done him.
Peter
Lacazette at £80m? Lira stopped being a currency years ago!
If someone wanted to pay that much for him, I’d have their hands off. A very limited player in this Arsenal team.
“A very limited player in this Arsenal team.”
So much so, that he has now scored against all the top 6 sides.
Who is this Sarri guy that everyone and the English media were jacking off to. 29 years of managing, 18 teams before going to Chelsea, and never won a single title, a cup, a plate, nothing. His claim to fame is finishing 2nd in a 2 horse race with Napoli. Overrated.
Sarri was so upset after the game that he spoke Italian during the post game interview. He attacked his player’s mental strength.
Un Na
“we have a better squad than Spurs, United and Chavs, bar one key player each (De Gea, hazard and Kane)”
Another really dumb take from Un Na.
The game was too late for me – but great result Give emery credit when he gets it right and criticism when he gets it wrong – but in both cases be balanced. Is it that hard? Why must people nail their flags to extreme either-or positions Emery has dropped the ball a bit a few times this month. That’s correct. He also has a really poor squad which would be hard to work with. Meanwhile he has improved us a bit since last year and brought us some observable benefits including becoming combative, that unbeaten run, great results v… Read more »
Cesc
“We actually didn’t play that well aside from spells in the first half, but we were highly organised and workmen like.”
Exactly. We won not because of our quality but because of (i) our pressing and work-rate in the first half, (ii) our desire to win and solid defending in the second and (iii) Chelsea’s toothlessness.
Today’s win is down to Emery’s decision to press from the outset and our players’ work-rate and desire to win.
And by the way, if any game demonstrated just how expendable Ozil is — and how much more sense it would’ve made to re-sign Ramsey at a reasonable wage instead — today’s game did.
You have to also respect Emery for standing by his convictions, some may see this as being inflexible.
When push came to shove, he still left out Ozil and removed Lacazette in the 70th minute.
My fear is that laca is being mishandled Sometimes you have to leave your player on the pitch and give him 90 minutes just for dressing room peace. Not every week, but sometimes. People can’t wait to sell him for huge money so we can buy a winger but I also doubt it’s that simple. There’s no guarantee that anyone will come in for him (from another league at that) with the money we’re asking for and like I always say, signing players is just a means to an end. If we sell laca and bought a winger, the dream… Read more »
“It’s a genuine possibility that we struggle to sell him and that if we do his replacement winger contributes fewer overall goals and assists. In that scenario what would’ve been the point?” We need a winger When we get a winger, Auba or Laca [depending on who’s sold] will get fewer minutes. I’m sorry I don’t get all these hullabaloo about sacrificing one player for the benefit of the team. I’m one of those that was against even getting Auba. I would have kept Giroud as option B and gotten a winger with the Auba transfer fee. If we qualify… Read more »
Emery should play Özil at RB so he won’t have to track back.
Just to be contrarian A certain Mr Wenger beat spurs by a 2 goal margin last season in the home game. Drew with Liverpool (3-3) Did not lose to Chelsea home and away. And beat them in the league cup. Not making any particular point Except not to focus to much Emerys record against the same teams . He has not all of a sudden got the MAGIC BULLET either. (He is still getting thrashed at Anfield too.) Must stop selling Laca narrative… What with Ramsey departure and long term injuries.( holding/bellerin etc) We will have No one left! Except… Read more »
Mustafi didn’t play and it showed , no foot in the mouth moments. No panic at the back scenes. We need Kos and Sokratis at the back at all times . Holding will be my second choice after those two. Please Sell Mustafi . That guy is an most error prone player I have ever seen.
Great win yesterday but worth nothing if the executive level can’t do the collective job necessary to bring the club forward to challenging for top honours.
Something different for a Sunday morning:
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-6409825/How-build-perfect-football-stadium.html
But dissenter you haven’t responded to my particular point because laca/auba only need to get reduced minutes if we play a lone central striker. That is not a hard requirement. It’s a choice like any other. Like I always say, the idea that every good team must play either a 4-3-3 or lack the midfield and play with a single striker is a false dichotomy. Even Barca have had plenty enough success running a 4-4-2 for periods of last season. Whether or not we should be playing a 4-4-2 or another formation is another story, but the point is that… Read more »
woke up to a great result. The team needs reinforcements but at least we got a win against the big boys. Top 4 still up for grabs, just have to make sure we don’t drop points against the likes of west ham again.
At least the results will keep gambon and co off emerys back for at least 10 hours (optimistic considering how bad their memory is )
I caught the game on my iphone with the rip off NBC live extra app
It gives you about a third of your screen size for the video.
Its such horse shit.
Anyhow, I called it! We won- I did see the microscopic view of the first goal and then Bell getting hurt. I sure hope he is ok. He looked like he was crying being stretchered off
as I keep saying, we shouldn’t be selling either Auba or Laca. Both offer some thing different and one always fires when the other one misses.
Just need to get a few good bodies in.
And for the record I completely agree that giroud was the ideal backup to a more lethal striker for us
I entirely agree with that point. I don’t know why we sold giroud and bought auba because it was an odd decision from a practical view point even if both laca and auba have both done well for goals
But we’re here now so not much we can change about that
Rick
January 20, 2019
01:42:42
Emery should play Özil at RB so he won’t have to track back.
Lmao, somehow I can see the logic in that
I am of the view right now, that we keep Laca. He offers a different game than PEA. in fact, Laca is a better dribbler, fighter, and can give assists and generally speaking is a scrapper. Defenses must keep and eye on his movement at all times. With PEA out there with him, it gives us a better attacking dimension If we go 4 in the back, we can really use a great winger. The team needs it. A pepe or lozano would be an upgrade on Iwobi, Mikki and offer more in attack Essentially we need a midfield, with… Read more »
Danny W was the back up striker in Wengers mind when he sold Olly
Funny hearing how Sarri is ripping into his players are hard to motivate.
Well Emery got our boys going today.
Interesting to see how Chelsea respond to this loss.
We can hope they slip up somewhere.. and we catch them. that west ham loss really stings
Surely , now with the bellerin injury
Raul and co. Should get Chambers back from Fulham. Pay the penalty clause, etc
Centre half/ auxiliary right back…
Knows the club
Up to the speed of the prem etc
Fit and firing
And can slot in immediately..
We have a Surfeit of pretty midfielders
The expected signing of Suarez now just looks indulgent.
Funny Mourinho comments on Ozil…. Really doesnt explain much aside from the fact that he is weak ‘I just feel that Ozil is the kind of player that needs the both sides of it. By one side, if you are just sweet with him, you lose his natural aggression because he’s not naturally a very strong, physical player in terms of aggression. ‘If you are too strong with him and forget that he also needs a bit of care, a little bit of love, you don’t find the right balance. So I think it’s about finding the right balance with… Read more »
Guns yeah but Danny doesn’t really score and he doesn’t have the battering ram and aerial threat that oli brought late on against tired defenses.
Don’t get me wrong, oli was far from world class. But he was good and had really useful qualities which made him an ideal backup to a clinical first choice striker like auba/laca
CG
All I know is that Bellerin will be out for a long time…
We CANNNOT have Licht playing again.
AMN as the RB or Chambers or someone else…. just no LICHT!!!!!
Yea I really liked Olly. Dude always played to the best of his limited abilities.
Aerial threat and great at link up and back to goal play.
Laca is good at back to goal play IMO
Oli and Walcott were extremely frustrating players but they were ideal as 70th minute subs (lol) against tired legs in a tight game
Neither was ever top class tho and both had a lot of embarrassing moments (well wally walnuts had several hundred for sure)
Im excited about Suarez joining up. one can read into this, as the end of Ozil
Ozil made the bench but didnt play again.
At this point I feel Emery is winning this power struggle. The Ozilolgists seem to have capitulated
Ozil becoming the forgotten man.
Why can’t they always play like last night consistently?
With that aggresive intensity like there’s no tomorrow ?
J hope Emery’s overtinkering is over and play last night formation.
I’d be tempted to give AMN the rb slot and tell him make it your own. We need pace in the team and he has that and by all accounts we’re going to need to give some of our best youth players a genuine chance We don’t have any top quality back ups and licht is unfortunately not up to it, so I’d say we won’t be any worse off with AMN but he might turn out good. As for chambers. He is an option, but I heard he struggled even at Fulham. I won’t complain if he’s brought back… Read more »
None of the players we sold in the last couple of years have panned out for their teams, bar RVP
None have made a huge impact.
makes you kinda wonder…. why we simply have such a shit team.
Our players are simply not that good. Even other teams cant get them to play better!
Gibbs
Ox
Wally
Giroud
Vermalen
Perez
Alexis
Sagna did ok, Song ok, Nasri ok, Cesc and Ade ok,
But it just seems interesting …
I’m just excited about seeing the news that ozil finally gets sold
Whether people like him as a player or not, he is a toxic issue at the club both in terms of his cost and his relationship with the manager
It can’t be doing anyone any good like this. The sooner he gets sold the sooner we can start thinking more about our future rather than just the problems of the past
AMN I have issues with. The chap is not strong- gets bossed around like a rag doll, is not very tall, and has medium pace. I have yet to see a game where he has impressed. Of our youth, I rank him on the lower end. We have better players. Just seems he has been around the first team enough to somehow warrant playing time He needs to get stronger- and need to wipe that stupid expression of his face. Well, the NO expression face. Just blank look most of the time Makes you wonder whats going on in his… Read more »
Ws there anything, anything vital Xhaka did all throughout the 90 mins he played yesterday?
Ozil is the albatross around the neck of Emery
i agree this drama is exhausting
Ozil has to see the writing on the wall. A win like today, he must be thinking “shit”
They won again without me, Emery is getting back into the good graces of the fans, etc.
LOL
Guns of SF
We got the best out of most of those players and discarded them. Alexis and Walcott are physically past their best. Sagna went to City in his 30s. He was excellent in his mid 20s.
Giroud could probably score 15 goals if he went to West Ham or Palace and started every game. Good but limited ppayer
Haha guns, well…
Against west ham I think it was he was absolutely terrible for sure
In some of the other games he’s been reasonable tho
The thing that pissed me off in the west ham game was seeing him fuck up way up field and make minimal effort to get back during their attack
Like you’re a teenager at your boyhood club in front of 60,000 fans in your breakout season. Do you not feel any urgency to make amends when you fuck up…?
‘Makes you wonder whats going on in his melon’
The boy is calm and composed. That’s his strength. Sadly too c and c to pass as a complacent young man. Too c and c for a winger or a defensive player. Unless of course he gets a CF role, he is unlikely to shine.
He has a huge body language issue.
Lauren and Sagna
True Right Backs who knew how to defend and were smart players
Now I dont know…. SMH
There are some real daft suggestions about selling Lacazette. He was in the first half of yesterday’s game the hardest working and most productive player on the pitch and by a country mile our best player.
Lacazette demonstrated also that he can if required play in wide positions.
At the moment Arsenal’s major asset is having two lethal goalscorers on the
books.
It is high time that some posters stop trying to sell off the players we need to keep and focus on the positions in the team which need addressing.
Peanuts
I agree… he better look a little bit more aggressive and with some passion or he will wind up as Ozil lite when coming to body language
I mean Alonso made him look like a little runt. Knocked him in the head…. what did AMN do? Nothing… nada… no fire- no confrontation
Being Calm and Composed is not a good thing.
I prefer, Excited and Gung Ho
Just take a look at man machine Kolasinac
AMN are polar opposites!
Wenger or whoever, is so hugely resp for the yourh fuck-ups at arsenal. So much so, Emery can’t afford to kick a complacent AMN’s ass and send him to oblivion. Isn’t there another player who can put in a shift and give the forwards some scoring chances through long lobs. Sad sad sad.
amn has worse body language, lemme admit that.. however much i pray he changes his style. His BL is worse than Ozil.
Send AMN on a desolate island wiyh Lichtsteiner – the only full-throttle passionate animal in this Arsenal squad
Think everybody will be pleasantly surprised ( eventually) by AMN problem for him- is he is not being played in his natural position.( Centre midfield) Precocious talent. ( my prediction. City will want him in 18 months) If Emery thinks he will be the answer to our right back situation until the end of the season – it will be a dereliction of his duty. He is not a right back. You increase the lads chance of injury playing him there( had a bad one- when Emery had at left back -1st game of the season). And damage his confidence.… Read more »
Guendouzi played well yesterday, but he does have a major weakness, when he plays 90 minutes. He starts giving the ball away too easily towards end of games.
He is a young lad who can play well for 60-70 minutes but then starts to tire and
the brain does not function as well as it should thereafter.
He is an excellent acquisition, but he needs time to develop.