Via @Arsenal Instagram (amazing pic)
Unai Emery went balls to the wall with an outrageous line-up. He played all his best players, his two best strikers, he opted to play with one defensive midfielder (Xhaka oh my), he left Mustafi on the bench, he punished Matteo, and he took the game to OGS.
He made so many good decisions that were incredibly bold considering how bad the team was against Rennes. Playing Ozil was a masterstroke. If he played well, Emery looked the healer, if he’d tanked, he had a big fat ‘I told you so’ up his sleeve. Ramsey was inspired after being rested last week, he kept Paul Pogba under lock and key all night with a highly impactful performance. Starting Xhaka at the base of midfield on his own looked like the move of a mentalist, but boy did he have an excellent game.
Everywhere you looked, there were things to smile about.
The first half was all about catching United off guard. They surely weren’t expecting us to go so hard at them. We blitzed the first 35 minutes with free-flowing attacking football. Ozil had United off balance out right or wherever he decided to drift. We didn’t give De Gea much to worry about, hitting the target once, but the chances we created were good. The opener was interesting to say the least, Xhaka ripped a shot from 25 yards out and somehow managed to send the keeper the wrong way. My view was it was shite keeping, most seem to think it was a knuckleball like strike out the Mesut Ozil stubbed-strike-into-the-ground drawer. Either way, it gave us an edge.
We rode our luck, no doubt. Lukaku hit the bar from 4 yards, one of two times United pounded the woodwork. There were some scares, but Leno stood up to every challenge sent his way. He made an incredible save when he was one vs one with Lukaku, his German engineered wrists up to the challenge.
We are back! Amazing party at the Emirates today!💪🏽🔴😃 @Arsenal pic.twitter.com/x7FeRLATXl
— Bernd Leno (@Bernd_Leno) March 10, 2019
The second half narrative looked like Arsenal had swapped tactics with OGS. We let United have the ball and watched them do next to nothing in possession. They played double the passes we did in the second half, and only managed two shots on target. Arsenal waited patiently to strike. Our moment came when Lacazette was shoved over by Fred in the box.
Moment of the game for me. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang with Alex Lacazette before taking Arsenal’s penalty for the 2nd goal. #afc #arsenal #Laca #Auba pic.twitter.com/OltQhYXo92
— Stuart MacFarlane (@Stuart_PhotoAFC) March 10, 2019
Auba, a man who has come under outrageous criticism this week, boldly stepped up and sent De Gea to the left as he stroked the ball down the middle. Good fucking job son. I despise the critique Auba receives. This tweet from YankeeGunner and the article sums up what he does perfectly.
Auba still humming along at .75xG/90 this season. He’s a chance-getting machine. Second in the PL behind only Aguero and way ahead of Laca at 0.48. Still a very underrated quality & overshadowed by some bad finishing this season. This article is relevanthttps://t.co/JgUDC4eWig
— YankeeGunner (@YankeeGunner) March 9, 2019
He’s an outrageous striker and I love that The Ringer calls out his next level ability to position himself better than almost anyone to score. Being in the right place is the real sixth sense. He has it. People need to lay off him.
After the second goal went in, Arsenal set out to frustrate. OGS had no answer. No one could get a foot on the game, United started to play dirty, Ashley Young putting in a standard ankle breaker on Kos, but we were more than a match for them.
OGS lost his first Premier League game after an inspired run.
Unai Emery showed his big game teeth in the race for top 4.
Conclusion
It was a masterclass from Emery. Everything rolled his way. He picked a brave 11, he focused the team after an awful loss midweek and he delivered the most important 3 points of 2019. On another day, we might have lost, but I’ve spent too many hours complaining about big games we’ve dominated but lost to shit-housery to get nitty gritty about how things might have been. Reality is, you beat who is put in front of you, we did that, so fu*k the details for today.
Bernd Leno was immense. He dropped another low-key (yep, I say that sometimes) MoM performance. He’s really come into his own of late. He was focused, brave and sharp all game. That leg he threw out for the Lukaku chance was unbelievable. He’s found his hands and his feet. We look to have finally solved our keeping issues. We have someone who can win us points. Finally. #ThanksSven
Aaron Ramsey showed why Juventus want him over there. He made EIGHT tackles yesterday. He covered so much ground, he kept Pogba in frustrated mode all day and he was absolutely committed to the cause. A brilliant run out. You do wonder if Emery misjudged the talents of the Welshman a little early. It stings to see him leaving, but at least Suarez looks a little like him and had some nice touches and a cute run.
Sokratis looked like he was heading into trouble again after a 37th minute yellow card, but he held it together and put in a monster performance. I love him. I am part of his cult. Pass me the Koolaid, I don’t care about the consequences (P.S. I’d LOVE to know what he lent over and said to Pogba when he was whining on the floor).
Also, another worthy call out is for AMN. He had a great game on the right. He stretched United when he needed to, and he defended far better than I’ve seen him do in the past. He made 4 tackles and 5 interceptions. A much sharper game from him, even more impressive when you remember he’s a centre mid. Out on the left, Kola was a pure man beast again, he even rolled over and did a vomit just because that’s a REAL MAN for you. He made 11 ball recoveries, he worked up and down that wing all day, and he whipped in some really dangerous balls.
Lacazette was a machine. His twinkle toes confused United all day. He should have done better in front of goal to make it 3, but his threat was pervasive all day. I really love him. Such a brilliant character to have at the club.
Granit Xhaka had an inspired evening sitting at the base. He sprayed balls around all afternoon like a human pitch sprinkler, he stayed focused and interjected fearlessly in defence when needed. Koscielny played on with a gashed leg to stop Mustafi entering the field of play, bravo, bravo. Mesut Ozil created a whopping 4 chances in a big game. Monreal was excellent as always. So much goodness everywhere.
The notion that these players are not good enough to make the top 4 has been well and truly obliterated. The only real question Emery has to answer is one of focus. He seems more than capable of motivating his players for the big games, but can he rally the players against Watford, Leicester and Wolves when we play them away from home? If he can’t, days like today mean very little.
Year-on-year performance changes in the Premier League pic.twitter.com/mCZdaMWXGM
— Nick Harris (@sportingintel) March 10, 2019
I’ve seen a lot of fans citing the above as a de facto sign that Emery is doing a great job. Out of the 16 teams viably listed, 11 are either mapping to what they did last year or doing better. That’s 69% of the league tracking to last season or making progress, even Sarri who we all think should be sacked, is 7.5% better off. Numbers need context and you need more than one data point to make a case. For me, the height of our ambitions this year can’t be whether Emery did better than Wenger in a nose-dive season where the players downed tools in February and did even worse when he quit in April.
I think the step forward we’ll be celebrating is the big game mentality. We’re competitive in an area we failed for the whole of the banter years. There’s now a belief system in place. Emery creates excitement on the days the fans really care about. He even tried to say as much in the pregame interview when he said, ‘attack… the fans… big balance… performance… yes and thank you.’ This big game platform will give him breathing space to build on the defence and the other aspects that have been lacking this season.
Additionally, if he makes third and puts Spurs in the Europa League, I will put my disdain for face tattoos to one side and have Emery Ultra artfully etched under my eye… for I will be one. Again, a true progress point is the final league position. 3rd would be immense, a true reason to celebrate. Let’s not lower ourselves to Spursy fist bumps for a high points 5th.
Right now, the momentum is with Arsenal. Spurs choked this weekend to Southampton and they go away to Liverpool and City. OGS is hopefully about to deal with a big xG correction. Chelsea scrambled a poor point against Wolves late on at home. 3rd is within reach. We just need to see more of today’s focus, vs the mess that was Rennes. We need today’s mindset in every single game until the end of the season.
Advantage Unai, let’s see if he can push it through. x
P.S. I think I speak for anyone that reads the blog when I say the scenes in the Midlands derby were beyond despicable. Watching a grown man run onto the pitch and hit a kid for no other reason outside football rivalry was beyond disgusting. Not just that, how embarrassing must it be to have a run up on someone who isn’t looking and still not land your punch. He’s lucky the Villa players didn’t give him a deserved beating. A cowardly move that thankfully saw Jack get up unharmed and bang in the winner. What a top lad. Fuck the thugs.
After seeing that, it was especially disappointing to see an Arsenal fan run onto the pitch. It’s not appropriate. Especially with knife crime as it is in the city at the minute. Unless you’re going pitch invade naked, do everyone a favour and stay in your seat. Eat your foie gras on Poilâne-style sourdough bread like everyone else and leave the party drugs to the kids you absolute melts.
That’s me done, see you in hell (the comments). xxx
Fucking hell who would of guessed GoH would still be all negative after a performance and result like yesterday’s.
Everyone, when you got a role to play it doesn’t matter what happens, you can’t shake the character/persona.
Except for the 3 goals we conceded when we were down to ten men v Rennes , our defence has started to look more compact . Bate 3-0, Southampton 2-0, Bournemouth 5-1, Tottenham 1-1 and United 2-0 . 2 goals conceded in those 5 games, scoring 13 is a noticeable improvement at the back. Changing back to the 4-2-3-1 system during this period has had its obvious benefits though Emery changed back to wing backs for the United game and it worked well. I am hoping that the manager predominately plays the 4-2-3-1 system until the end of the season… Read more »
JDavey
It’s not negative. It’s fact.
Beating united means nothing unless it actually means something at the end of the season. If this result means arsenal get their coveted fourth spot, great. If we fall short…who gives a flying one?
Anyway, if beating united means it keeps emery in a job…I’d rather united walloped us.
GoH is miserable because he’s now forced to vote Labour after we beat Man U!
Lol no i’m not. He’s a loser. Doesn’t mean Emery is the right man for the job.
He probably isn’t in the long term but what does it matter to you, aren’t you on record as not being a Arsenal fan?
As I said after the Rennes game, the hysterics have to stop after every freakish game in Europe. Anyone with any objectivity at all can see Emery is doing a good job, and the United game is another we can add onto the others as matches Emery has managed better than Wenger. The squad rotation is another thing he has managed very well. He was doing an even more superb job of it when Welbeck and Holding were fit, and I actually fancied us for a title tilt as a result, but the injuries put paid to that. One of… Read more »
Going forward , I think replacing Ramsey will be key this summer. We need someone who can be a no.10 or no.8 . Ramsey was immense last night .
Words on a blog.
I always vote for manual Labour.
GoH
Did you honestly our new manager whoever it may of been, to take us to challenging from the league from where Wenger left us.
If you did then you’re delusional, he is doing a decent job in only his first year, no?
Which one you was that arsenal fan who ran on the field? Come on, own up.
JDavey
He made a shite defence worse, mate. And it was pretty shit before. That takes skill.
If he fails to get fourth…he’s failed. Just like Wenger.
Fact.
Having been without Kosc, Bellerin and holding for long spells we were never going to be the strongest at the back this season. Plus as we all know we’re better on the front foot anyway.
As for failing if we don’t get fourth, maybe. But we haven’t failed as of yet, we’re on track to do it with the most favourable fixtures.
If only Auba scored that penalty
we could be 3rd LOL
Did OGS leave his “special sauce” at home? Maybe Arteta stole it to do his hair?
Congrats DM.
Sherlock “Going forward , I think replacing Ramsey will be key this summer. We need someone who can be a no.10 or no.8 . Ramsey was immense last night .” Ramsey didn’t really play as a ten or eight yesterday , his principle job was to sit alongside xhaka and protect the defence with occasionally supporting the attack from deep. I don’t believe we need to sign a replacement ,Smith rowe or Willock should be given a chance to prove themselves. Good to see that Ramsey managed to restrain himself from continually making runs into the opposition box and remained… Read more »
Guns
Which one you was that arsenal fan who ran on the field? Come on, own up.
Charlie George
How we have missed Welbz and Holding …two players who were playing very well before going down, add Bellerin to the list and it becomes clear we have had to make do and yet here we are still with our objectives in sight and some are going to extreme lengths to avoid giving the manager credit
“Not the man for the long term” who cares, lets face the short term first and restore respectability back to this football club, in case you haven’t noticed we have been a joke
I am hoping now with man u loss they may start to come down a peg or two but I do think we need to really improve that away record, maybe the players think they can turn up and do them over I think arsenal scored too early against rennes and they thought “this will be a breeze” we really need to come out of the blocks on Thursday, similar to BATE get those two goals before half time and they will be all over the place hopefully we can play a similar side against them like the man u… Read more »
“eight yesterday , his principle job was to sit alongside xhaka and protect the defence with occasionally supporting the attack from deep”
So number eight then.
We need to replace Ramsey. enough with all this clamor for youth based on nothing, go out there and get an established midfielder to come in and do a job.
Send the kids to Germany if need be, thought we learnt something from the OTT Nelson hype earlier in the season
I have not given a flying fcuk about Arsenal results for at least five years, win lose or draw we all knew with Wenger it would all go tits up at some point in season, but this year is different. Draw against Spuds last week really affected my mood for first time in I don’t remember how long and win this weekend against manure was awesome. I know Emery not everyone’s cup of tea but he doing everything we wanted of a manager. A bunch of players have improved under his guidance, young players are being given a chance and… Read more »
Sad that fourth is the ultimate goal for a club of this stature and scale.
Basically the equivalent of a promoted team hoping they don’t get relegated.
Ambitions.
Emery will have to have a long think about Guendouzi. Simply not physically up to it at the moment.
Receding Hairline “How we have missed Welbz and Holding …two players who were playing very well before going down, add Bellerin to the list and it becomes clear we have had to make do and yet here we are still with our objectives in sight and some are going to extreme lengths to avoid giving the manager credit “Not the man for the long term” who cares, lets face the short term first and restore respectability back to this football club, in case you haven’t noticed we have been a joke” I do think welbeck is a good squad player… Read more »
Guns of Hackney
March 11, 2019 12:58:22
Sad that fourth is the ultimate goal for a club of this stature and scale.
Basically the equivalent of a promoted team hoping they don’t get relegated.
Ambitions.
You really are a miserable man GOH
Paulinho, he was doing a bad job when he played Holding 3 times in a week and he blew up, he was also running the freshness game poorly as he had to amend his training schedule.
It also wasn’t hysterics midweek. He’d lost to BATE and Rennes.
Who didn’t know he’d turn it on against United? The win was great. I’m more worried about Watford, everton, Leicester and Wolves away. That’s the real test. Motivation against the ok teams.
Paulinho
I think with Matteo G, he may need some time out of the team. maybe he can come back from the international break fresh and ready again
Lucas T will start on Thursday
Congratulations DM.
“Send the kids to Germany if need be, thought we learnt something from the OTT Nelson hype earlier in the season”
Yep, what a shocker that he has done the square sum of nothing since September.
Send him to the Championship and see if he gets a game there for one of the lower placed sides.
Motivation, motivation, motivation.
Alan Latchley.
“It also wasn’t hysterics midweek. He’d lost to BATE and Rennes.”
We won the BATE tie 3-1 on aggregate, there really was zero need for hysterics with regards to that tie, that result was celebrated on here by the Emery out crew like 1-0 away to BATE was the most shameful result this club has ever had.
The Rennes game yes he made baffling calls and very poor subs and has left us with a mountain to climb.
Pedro – But you can’t see how stupid it is swaying wildly from one side to another off the back of individual results, and wilfully ignoring the circumstances in those games?
It’s much better to judge in batches or blocks of games. When you do that you see Emery is doing a very good job.
Ebbs and flows happen. There seems to be this obsession with literal linear improvement to the point where I can’t tell if half the fan base is on wind-up.
Agree about Holding. Slightly Wengerish playing one time too many.
Bu he was rotating Monreal and Kolasinac well as wing-backs. Unfortunately Holding’s injury and Monreal being injured screwed that up.
Welbeck and Iwobi were being rotated very effectively as well. Ditto Auba and Laca.
We have got five away games left, and this will be a big challenge for the team to achieve top 4.
If Rennes score a goal we have to score 4 to win the tie, so we have some big asks to get into Europe next year.
Can Emery do it?
Valentin “slow build from the back does not work in the premiership.”
MC is doing exactly that. They have a group of players, including the GK, who can pass the ball among themselves from the back to the front.
Congrats, DM. The Arsenal superstore awaits you and your credit card
GOH
Sitting having my lunch and nearly chocked on my chip butty.
“Emery is so like Wenger it’s unbelievable actually”
Really?
Your perceptions are so negative and miserable.
You do realise that even the urinals were malfunctioning at the AFC. That’s right, every single facet of our club was in need of attention.
G62
They are very similar but that’s a detriment to Emery. Wenger was brilliant and then went bad…Emery hasn’t been good yet.
Look closely and the similarities are unusual. Poor results where there shouldn’t be any. Check. Motivation problems. Yes. Inconsistent. Oh yes. Odd tactical choices. Ummm…yes.
Shambolic defeats. Yes.
Have you ever seen emery and Arsene is the same room?
Whether Emery is the solution or not doesn’t really concern me.
The fact that the virus has finally been eradicated is far more important.
G62
The virus as you call it may have gone but it’s been replaced by Spanish Flu.
More than happy to translate Sokratis for you guys he is hilarious the other day when I think it was Xhaka got a bit annoyed over something and Soks was trying to calm him he put his fingers together and said child let me deal with him leave him to me lol
He seems to tell his team mates off as much as the opposition
Congrats DM
Paulinho, I don’t really want to argue the merits of Emery today, because that win was so fucking immense I’m still buzzing right now.
He has a tremendously tough run in, if he can meander that and take top 4, he’ll get no lip from me this summer… unless we replace Ramsey with a Banega and Nzonzi double swoop.
GOH is either a Spud / Chelsea troll or just a plain old wind up merchant.
Either way he’s full of shit and should be ignored.
I get it, you don’t rate Emery but surely you must be happy that change is afoot.
Valentin, “Exactly, Emery has finally learned that the high pressing game, slow build from the back does not work in the premiership.” You assuming that Emery has abandoned this approach…and you’re dead wrong. The manager was taking over a tactically naive team that was bereft of nuance. He has to teach the squad how to play ion different ways When Poch and Klopp took over their respective clubs, they too had their teams pressing because they wanted to imbibe the culture of commitment on and off the ball. Both sides still play a pressing game albeit in a more sophisticated… Read more »
Congrats on the birth of your baby girl DM
Marc
Pack it in. Do you honestly think I would post on an Arsenal site if I wasn’t a fan?
It was a win. Period. Move on.
It’s all about what the next and the one after brings.
I look at the big picture, not the fast rewards.
Paulinho
Think the club will avoid loaning youngsters (particularly attackers) to lower PL sides/Championship teams. Nketiah, Smith Rowe, Nelson. The three had multiple offers from English sides all season.
Interesting that two players on loan at English sides have done well. Martinez a mid 20s GK and Bielik, a young CB at Reading and Charlton respectively
Dissenter, he did have a miracle moment. He’s played 80% of the season one way and now he’s switched things up. Brought back his best players into the fold, switched up how he presses and given more variety to how he attacks. You think that was part of the plan? ‘Game 29 boys, that’s when you’ll be ready for phase two’ No way. He knew he was getting predictable and he made amendments. Our players come from all over the world. They aren’t tactically naive. Emery certainly didn’t have any issues his first 22 games. You just have to let… Read more »
Here are the run in fixtures compared to the others.
https://twitter.com/LeGrove/status/1105086645806743552
Pedro. Are you going to pick a lane and stick with it though. It’s an incredibly hard fixture, he has an injury ravaged squad that wasn’t that good to begin with – if he gets top 4 then will you admit you are wrong? If we sign Banega/Nzonzi it’s all on Emery? Fine. Does that mean if we sign a bunch of exciting players that we are all over the moon with you will admit you are wrong? You are just cherry picking your arguments to suit a narrative. We can all see from a mile away which way you… Read more »
Pedro ease off with the positivity your going to alienate some of your posters on here, who I suspect could argue in a room with a chair in it solely.
@Nelson, Partially correct. ManCity plays from the back, but there is nothing slow in their scoring goal play. ManCity scores via a change of pace. They probe and probe. Lure the opposition into a false sense of security and suddenly up the pace and quickly pounce on mistakes. One they have found an opening, they will be ruthless in exploiting it again and again until the opposition plugs it. That is why they score by burst. Like a boxer on the rope, the opposition can’t adjust their stance and ManCity scores again. Nothing slow there. The slow build-up, I am… Read more »
“who I suspect could argue in a room with a chair in it solely”
Or with GoH… on the chair ??
Pedro “He has a tremendously tough run in, if he can meander that and take top 4” I’m not suggesting that it’s going to be easy but the other 3 teams have run in’s that are equally tough or worse than ours. Remaining fixtures: Chelsea Everton A Cardiff A West Ham H Liverpool A Burnley H ManU A Watford H Leicester A ManU Watford H Wolves A West Ham H Everton A City H Chelsea H Huddersfield A Cardiff H Spud’s Liverpool A Brighton H Huddersfield H City A West Ham H Bournemouth A Everton H Looking at all of… Read more »
@qna, Can we stop with the narrative that our squad is poor. We have the 4th best squad behind ManUtd, ManCity and Liverpool. Trying to pretend otherwise does not fit the reality. We have under-achieved under Wenger. We are now just performing in line with our squad. ManUtd were under-achieving under Mourinho and have now restored order. The big question is whether they have left too late for a late surge to 3rd place. Spurs was the team that kept over-achieving and is now been found running without gas. They have exactly the same number of points than year at… Read more »
“Can we stop with the narrative that our squad is poor. We have the 4th best squad behind ManUtd, ManCity and Liverpool”
FALSE
There seems to be this obsession with literal linear improvement to the point where I can’t tell if half the fan base is on wind-up. _____________ Half the fanbase is on a windup… because they used to come in here daily for the last ten years and say stuff like … Why don’t you all support the team ?.. your too critical of the manager, your not a true fan. and your causing the team to lose confidence in itself.. And when Wenger goes I will be 100% behind the new manager because I’m a real fan.. Except now we… Read more »
Valentin. Not a chance. We have a truly ordinary squad of players. Our best 11 is comfortably 6th and I actually believe our squad is also 6th best.
But that is not through lack of spending on the wage bill. We have just mismanaged the wage bill, overpaying players at every opportunity.
The squad needs to be gutted and we need to start over.
So now we are to believe we have a better squad than Spurs and a better squad than Chelsea …..yea right.
Midwest,
Bravo.
I’ll be back in a few hours to watch the usual cretins, excuse me..suspects wage a phony war and argument with you.
Sitting on a chair like Craig did whole getting roped. I paid for that once in soho back in 2002.
@Marc,
I agree with you.
I believe that ManUtd will finish 3rd.
We will finish 4th
Chelsea 5th below is on goal difference
Spurs 6th.
I don’t see us having the consistency away from home to win most of our remaining fixtures.
However I don’t see Chelsea breaking down compact teams such as Burnley, Leicester, Watford and Cardiff.
That Spurs are suffering from fatigue does not translate into having a better squad than them.,just days ago they were talked up as title challengers.
Nobody in their right minds had Arsenal finishing in the top four when the season started…you can go on deceiving yourself otherwise in a bid to discredit the work done so far by the manager.
What a win, vital. Biggest difference for me w/ Emery compared to Wenger is looseness in tailoring squad to opponent. What a lineup he pulled yesterday, at home on front foot with only option to go for victory. Happy it paid off. Replacing Ramsay’s engine this summer is going to be critical, without him on pitch yesterday that is a very different game. Moment of Lacazette and PEA pre pk was gold, amount of stick this comments section gives Aubameyung is dire. Definitely has a target on his back. Hope Emery is able to find some consistency, huge opportunity with… Read more »
I’m not sure if anyone else has mentioned it but I’m inclined to believe that had Arsenal beaten Spurs, they would’ve lost to United.
The players, like many fans, must have viewed that draw as a loss. That plus the loss to Rennes would’ve put them in killer-mode. Here’s hoping they keep the same sort of focus till the end of the season.
#AuballsOfSteel
DM
Game changer, congrats sir the ride has begun.
Its the best.
Neutral pundits like Caraggher and Gary Neville who have openly mocked Arsenal for years agree that out squad is the weakest of the top-6 teams.
Pedro has set up this win-win argument that our squad is top-4 quality.
The argument is set up as
Heads, I win- If we get CL qualification…Emery isn’t doing anything special because our squad was always good enough
Tails, you lose-If we don’t get CL qualification… He missed out of the CL because he’s lacking in special sauce
Midwest – Yep, spot on. We knew it was bullshit at the time as well, and we never bought the holier than thou supporter spiel,which was nothing more than cognitive dissonance-driven deflection as Wenger continued to balls things up despite spending money.
@qna,
Man for man, Who in Spurs would make a combine squad ahead of their Arsenal corresponding player?
Ericksen, Kane, maybe Alli and that’s it.
Leno > Lloris
Lloris has been poor this season and has committed more howlers leading to goals than Leno did.
CB:
Koscielny > Vertonghen
Sokratis > Aldeweireld
Holding > Sanchez
Mustafi > Foy
RWB: Bellerin > Trippier
AMN > Airier
LWB: Kolasinac > Rose
CDM: Xhaka > Eric Dier
Torreira > Moussa Sissoko
CAM: Ramsey > Alli
…
What Spurs has had on us was better organisation. They were better collectively.
Yesterday’s loss has made Ole Gunnar Solskjær’s fate a little bit uncertain
Will the United hierarchy still make his position permanent should United fail to qualify in the top-4?
I suppose they can go on and still win the CL to qualify, stranger things have happened in world footie.
All six teams competing for the CL spots are still in Europe.
Congrats DM! If you’re still undecided about the name, Upstate Gooner has a nice ring to it 🙂 . Kidding. All the best!
Hahaha I think Henrietta Rosicky DM has a nice ring to it… myself. But I’m guessing that’s not the name. Mothers have a way of getting their name.. picked out. Although, I think my brother got to name his 5th kid… by then my sister in law had just given up..
“Leno > Lloris
Lloris has been poor this season and has committed more howlers leading to goals than Leno did.
CB:
Koscielny > Vertonghen
Sokratis > Aldeweireld
Holding > Sanchez
Mustafi > Foy
RWB: Bellerin > Trippier
AMN > Airier
LWB: Kolasinac > RoseCDM: Xhaka > Eric Dier
Torreira > Moussa Sissoko
CAM: Ramsey > Alli”
If you typed all that with a smile on your face then fair play to you but if you honestly believe it then i think we are done here on that subject.
I see Guns of Hackney in competition with Champagne Charlie for most miserable troll on LeGrove after an Arsenal victory. Fucking hell. These two would rather Arsenal lose so they can stick the boot into Emery rather than than see Arsenal improve from last season, it’s really weird. Are you not Arsenal fans? What does Emery have to do with whether you want Arsenal to progress from last season or not? I couldn’t care less who the manager is as long as there’s improvement which after the last few years of Wenger there has been. So what did you two… Read more »
“Heads, I win- If we get CL qualification…Emery isn’t doing anything special because our squad was always good enough
Tails, you lose-If we don’t get CL qualification… He missed out of the CL because he’s lacking in special sauce”
Yep that’s pretty much it
Amazing how our squad has become super qualidee over night
@Dissenter, You can’t have it both ways. Either Wenger was under achieving and deserved to be sacked for under performing. If the squad is at most the 6th best squad, then we were on par with our final ranking. If like me, you thought that we were massively under achieving, then that means that the squad was a top 4 squad and in which case we are now performing at the level of expectations. Knowing that we make additions that improved the squad: Leno, Sokratis, Torreira, Guendouzi. So our team is now better than the previous season, so we should… Read more »
@Receding,
You have no argument so you resort to put down.
Tell me exactly which players do you believe is better than their Arsenal corresponding player.
This season, lloris has admitted to have a poor season as a consequence of winning the World Cup. Stated a lack of motivation for his dropped level. He committed more mistakes that lead to direct goals than Leno, yet you still think that he is better than Leno.
Do you genuinely believe that Eric Dier is better than Xhaka?
DM had a baby girl? Congrats. Knowing him there’s a baby girl now called T4ophy in the world. Or Fourth Place
Valentin Arsenal do not presently have a better squad than Tottenham or Chelsea.
Valentin you are seriously deluded if you think any of that. I mean that’s seriously stupid stuff.
In light of the performance by AMN yesterday, can we just agree not to play Stephen Lichtsteiner unless the world is coming to an end?
Well done Ainsley!
Well done also to Eddie Nketiah who finally made an appearance under Emery… and what a game to do it too!
I hope we see him against play in the Europa League too… goals from another striker would very handy for this competition especially with Lacazette suspended.
“You can’t have it both ways.”
Yet you are certainly having it both ways, you have setup this so perfectly haven’t you, he makes top four meh it’s the least he can do, he doesn’t make top four we get more articles from PSG telling us how useless he is
Sounds like Madrid may get ZZ back.
Imagine that contract, in a word leverage.
Going to have to rebuild and put that untarnished rep on line.
1) that prick who hit jack grealish should have got a boot into the jaw. Disgusting little coward blind siding a kid like that. I’m sure he will get what’s coming to him though 2) sokratis puking on the pitch? So what?? I used to do that every Saturday. 3) Ozil created 4 chances??? Bloody hell. 4) Pedro, come on. Giving Aubameyang credit for bing in the right place to receive a cut back but missing is a bit much. He’s been a big big disappointment for me. He goes missing far too often and when he does show up… Read more »
“Either Wenger was under achieving and deserved to be sacked for under performing. If the squad is at most the 6th best squad, then we were on par with our final ranking.“
“You have no argument so you resort to put down.”
Valentin with a couple of truth bombs 😀
Are you watching maaaaaarkooooo?
Are you watching maaaaarkoooo
Why you calling people stupid letter box merchant? Hardly high IQ stuff your job is it? Did you drop out of your masters in quantum physics to pursue your life long dream of putting envelopes through holes in doors?
Valentin
“Koscielny > Vertonghen
Sokratis > Aldeweireld
Holding > Sanchez
Mustafi > Foy
RWB: Bellerin > Trippier
AMN > Airier
LWB: Kolasinac > Rose”
Whoa! It’s only Monday, Valentin. Whatever it is you’re smoking, leave it for later in a week.
Mako never has an argument but he still argues constantly. Like a whiny little girl. Grow a pair marko
All your bull shit predictions and lack of footballing insight is being mightily expanded.
Nostradamus you are not letter box merchant
bennydevito
GOH and CC are resistant to change.
It’s all very simple.
Mustafi was benched. We didn’t give away a silly penalty, stupid free kick especially in the dying minutes of the first half and in the second half.
Coincidence?
I think not.
Koscelny, what a fantastic warrior… stapling shut your leg so that you could finish the game… now that is a captain’s example. Hats off to Laurent.
Valentin
“Do you genuinely believe that Eric Dier is better than Xhaka?”
A cardboard cutout of Eric Dier is better than Xhaka (and for the record, I don’t rate Dier at all). Yes, he had a good game yesterday but he’s still one of the worst DM’s in Europe. For every one of his Hollywood’esque diagonal passes he makes 5-6 ridiculous challenges/mistakes.
Receding is another one
Doesn’t like it back at him though.
Charlie dog piling on a poster he doesn’t like? Nah no way. Not my Charles
Congrats to you and the family DM
City and Liverpool have the best sides in the league. I’m sure there’s no debate there. Beyond that you’re splitting hairs to pick your best squad amongst the top 6, and they all have their quirks. SPURS: my pick for best outside the two because their first XI is (typically) excellent. It’s wank after that though and they rely heavy on dribbly. CHELSEA: haven’t got a striker, Jorginho is their middle, and Kepa is their GK. miss me with them having some elite squad, they absolutely don’t and are full of busy players with little/no end product. UNITED: the most… Read more »
“Receding is another one Doesn’t like it back at him though.”
What are you whinging about battle angel ?