via Arsenal Insta
Two points dropped. Right?
The story was a familiar one. A Granit Xhaka mistake costing us a needless goal. Two if you’re being very harsh.
The first came when he and Sokratis made a total mess of a clearance inside 11 minutes. The whole team folded allowing Lamela to fizz a shot across Leno, he parried it into the path of Eriksen, and we went one down.
The second mistake was an inexplicable lunge in the penalty box. Careless, unprofessional, but oh so very Granit Xhaka. Kane buried the penalty like a robot was a two-step special.
I don’t even want to get into the needless fouling towards the end when we were trying to chase the game. He wasn’t even playing players and he was slowing down the play.
It’s all so avoidable. Just don’t pick him. Emery has watched him make mistake after mistake for an entire year… he knows that he can’t stand up to pressure… he knows that he does dim things very consistently… so what does he do? He picks him against Spurs and gives him the captains armband in some sort of weird masochistic show of authority.
The midfield he chose was quite odd. Basically 3 deep-lying midfielders. Very little creativity. It didn’t really give us much solidity, as we were all over the place in the first half, and it gave us real trouble transitioning the ball forward. Lacazette was constantly dropping deep to collect the ball, sometimes from our own penalty box.
Thankfully, the Frenchman came through to save our half. Pepe sliced a ball into his path, he took two very good touches and forced the ball past Lloris from close range. That goal gave us a much-needed boost heading into the second half.
We came out a much more forceful side. The halftime team talk must have focused on urgency, pressure and more adventure moving forward. The game suddenly clicked into a proper North London derby, there was next to no structure, the ball was travelling end to end at a ferocious pace, and defending went out the window for both sides (not like it was ever in the window for us).
The manager introduced Ceballos for LT, and that gave us a different sort of energy. It introduced a link between attack and midfield, and it gave us a bit more mobility in midfield. Still didn’t stop Harry Kane waltzing into the box and ripping a shot off the inside of Leno’s post.
Still, you’d be hard pushed to convince me Arsenal weren’t deserving of a goal, the winds blew heavily in our favour and we looked far more menacing than Spurs.
The goal that levelled it was a thing of beauty. Matteo G threaded an outrageous pass that levelled the whole Spurs team, Auba gliding it past with the lightest of touches. It was out of this world.
We still had time for a Harry Kane dive, he shifted his body inside Sokratis running path and threw himself to the ground. It wasn’t even clever. It was pure out and out cheating. It really, really, really needs to be dealt with. His cheating is out of control. If he weren’t English, he’d be getting lampooned by the media.
So what can we conclude?
The Xhaka thing
Emery has to stop relying on Xhaka. He’s slow, ponderous, bad under pressure and he makes massive errors more often than any Arsenal player I can remember. I can give a pass to him for last season, but now it’s starting to look like a real blindspot.
Bland Midfields
Additionally, the manager needs to start being more aggressive with his line-ups. That midfield was always going to be bland. We shouldn’t have to watch strikers drop deep to make up for a lack of creativity. It made little sense to have 3 similar midfielders sitting in a flat line yesterday, especially when Spurs were there for the taking. We gave them far too much defensive respect and it didn’t even pay off, we conceded 8 shots in the first half, with 7 of them on target. An abomination.
The Masterful
I think that Matteo G just announced himself on the world stage. That performance was nothing short of sensational. He was at the heart of everything. His passing was good, he ran with the ball well, he was ambitious and his attitude was absolutely exceptional all game long. That should be the standard for every game moving forward. Incredible that he’s only 20 years old. A megastar in waiting.
Pepe
I’ve seen some tasteless Arsenal fans comparing him to Gervinho. Utter drivel. The man hasn’t clicked yet, but you can see he’s going to be absolutely class. He has that air of unpredictability we need in that front line, he’s fast, he can pass, he reads the game well and I think he’s going to be capable of explosive moments of brilliance. He just needs a bit of luck, then he’s away.
Defence
Spurs had a lot of good chances yesterday. I think if I watched that game again, I’d be appalled at some of the defending. We are going to need to sharpen up, we are too easy to get at, and we gave key Spurs players far too much time to do their thing yesterday. Leno kept that scoreline acceptable yesterday, but he won’t save us like that all season. David Luiz also needs to be pulled to one side… that’s 4 errors in 3 games from him. Not good enough.
Top 4
I think we’re nailed on for the top 3 this season. Spurs don’t look the same, Chelsea will struggle, and United are utterly average. It’s basically ours to lose, I just hope that isn’t an invitation to coast. Emery needs to tighten the ship and he needs to find a way of unlocking the magic more consistently.
Right, that’s me done, see you in the comments. x
Mystic in fairness that Kane one two and strike was ridiculous
Thank god it didn’t come off.
Still though one less player means more likely opportunities for Nelson Martinelli and Saka.
I was about to throw something at the screen when laca was getting subbed off yesterday then realized he had a knock
Emery never gives him 90 minutes so it would’ve been true to form to hook him in the second half regardless
Unai na
Seems you have some players that tickle your fancy that should never be criticized.
Can we stop giving Tottenham pointless pens?
Is it possible Emery had to play the player to prove to Roma Mykhi was still capable of running?
I can’t think of a more ridiculous possibility to explain why you play a redundant midfielder on the wings, against an out of position right back on a yellow card.
That’s was some shocking decision making by Emery. Even Ozil would have been better suited.
“Can we stop giving Tottenham pointless pens?”
Yep, that pork face must have scored half a dozen pens against us
Only takes a super performance for memories to fade and battle lines to be drawn. Our midfield is an issue because of the makeup of it, not just because Xhaka is in it. Torreira hasn’t done much good since Jan, and both Willock and Guen are kids. It’ll rumble on as a Xhaka issue until he’s replaced, then Torreira won’t be doing much, then Guen will be back to being safe and average, then Willock will be another hyped English failure at the top level. One day it’ll dawn on some that actually the whole system, the unit, the instructions… Read more »
“That cameo appearence yesterday made even less sense now”
Marko are you serious ?? What if he had been injured ??
Is the Mkhitaryarian transfer a loan I presume?
Kenny Ken made a good point on AFTV yesterday. He noted that both Ceballos and Pepe are holding onto the ball a bit too long on a few too many occasions. You want to see players take on opposing players but it has to be done at the right time and with judgement in when to do it. As he noted getting dispossessed on the continent in other leagues in turnovers can be less dangerous than the EPL because the teams don’t break out with the same pace as the EPL sides. EPL is more gung ho end to end.… Read more »
At some point, historians will have a red asterisk by Harry Kane’s record.
I’ve never seen a striker that pads his numbers with penalties like Harry Kane. Scoring from soft penalties and stealing goals from his team mates.
Why didn’t the ref give him a yellow card for that last minute dive.
English referees are really despicable. They treat their own players differently.
@Marko : sorry, didn’t saw the “less”.😉
Emery has probably some Swiss blood running trough his veins…
“Can we stop giving Tottenham pointless pens?”
Easy to do : stop playing Xhaka.
And that should works against ALL the teams.
“Why didn’t the ref give him a yellow card for that last minute dive.
English referees are really despicable. They treat their own players differently”
I cannot understand why only Papa got a yellow card after that scuffle yesterday. No Tottenham player was booked….
CC
I’m glad you raised the point about Torriera flying below the radar of criticism.
Xhaka is Xhaka but there are too many bad parts in that midfield.
Hopefully, we get a chance to solve it as a system in subsequent windows
That still has to start with moving Xhaka on.
“One day it’ll dawn on some that actually the whole system, the unit, the instructions are every bit the issue as players with a mistake in them offer more and more bad in a clueless environment.”
Not enough Emery bashing going on i guess
People are actually calling out players who made errors, but no they made errors because they play in a clueless environment created by Emery.
“!I’m glad you raised the point about Torriera flying below the radar of criticism”
Bigger problem first. Tor is giving up needless goals.
Ashwin
‘I cannot understand why only Papa got a yellow card after that scuffle yesterday. No Tottenham player was booked….’
Erm……Harry Winks was already on a yellow card see…he would have had his marching orders.
PapSok deserved the YC for bad wrestling skills…so did Harry Winks.
What would we say Mikki’s biggest contribution to Arsenal was?
I’m going w/ sitting the final out.
“People are actually calling out players who made errors, but no they made errors because they play in a clueless environment created by Emery.“
I’ll have my pov if that’s ok with you?
The names of the players change, but the issues remain. We’re awful defensively, have been for years and also show no appetite for arresting it.
Sorry that causes offence to you and your Demi-god.
Torreira needs to stay south of the half way line, just play nice tidy football like he did when he arrived.
Receding
It was individual errors last season…when the manager didn’t have s many choices.
This season, those errors are on the manager because he keeps selecting these players . In Xhaka’s case, he even elevated him to captain.
Emery had to problems, calling out Mustafi and dropping Ozil, why is Xhaka any different.
His love of Xhaka will be his downfall.
“Why the fcuk was Kolasinac even offiside in the move that led to Sokratis’s goal. He could clearly see the line..lazy dude”
Nawa. That wasn’t his fault. Spuds immediately stepped up. It was a well worked corner.
‘What would we say Mikki’s biggest contribution to Arsenal was?’
He launched his campaign for chief dog catcher of Yerevan with his political posturing for the EL final in Baku.
“Nawa. That wasn’t his fault. Spuds immediately stepped up. It was a well worked corner.”
Wasn’t it a free kick??
Charles, honest question. What do you think our midfield 3 should be. If you were the coach. Forget about what you would instruct them now. Just choice
Rh, sorry. Freekick. For some reason it has been registered as a corner in my head since yesterday
“The names of the players change, but the issues remain.”
Name has been Xhaka for a few years now.
Sokratis was never the player we should have targeted nor Luiz mind you. If you replace flawed names with flawed names issues persist ..shocker
“The names of the players change, but the issues remain. We’re awful defensively, have been for years and also show no appetite for arresting it.”
This.
Hopefully this will change in the next few transfer windows… especially with Raul/Edu calling the shots.
Xhaka is not 100% bad.
He still has his strengths but his penchant for repeatedly making unexplainable dumb errors just makes him no different from Mustafi.
Never mind the inability to tackle, lack of mobility and problems reading the game.
For a brief period I thought the ref mistakenly misread his passport. How did he evade a yellow card for so long., he wasn’t booked till the injury period.
Have to disagree with you there Charlie. I think Torreira for all his limitations could still come good and Guendouzi is improving. You could easily replace Xhaka have them two play and see an improvement in that midfield with a Xhaka replacement alone. Fact is it’s going on 4 seasons now and he hasn’t improved and he’s as dumb as ever. Says alot that he’s the worst midfielder given the problems you’ve listed with the others.
Myki is a loan with option to purchase. Anybody know the price quoted?
Hope to see more of Nelson now. He gets the first berth off the bench as it is
Champagne charlieSeptember 2, 2019 12:28:59 “Arsenal took the game to Spurs from virtually the first whistle so I don’t see this massive problem with the midfield of course with the exception of Xhaka.“ Our midfield is porous, no matter how much blame you shovel the way of Xhaka there’s Torreira offering nothing, and Guen and Willock playing like the 20 year olds they are irrespective of the talent. If you can’t see an issue outside of Xhaka then the issue is with you. >>>>> Erm no. No it’s not. The issue is that Xhaka is shit and a massive liability… Read more »
Guns of HackneySeptember 2, 2019 12:55:14
Pepe Diawara
Pepvinho
What a way to splurge £72m.
>>>>>>
Dumbest comment of the day. Put the crack pipe down son. Actually, scratch that – get back on it and stay away from here.
I’m not sure Roma pays 100% of that bloated Mykhi salary .
This is pretty much a reduce-your-losses operation.
One of the poisoned apples from the rotten management of the Alexis-Ozil deals.
Thanks to Gazidis-W*n*er
I’m glad you raised the point about Torriera flying below the radar of criticism.
What are you talking about he’s gets a tonne of criticism. Torreira has been getting criticism since last January or February the only thing is that people are still willing to give him a chance because he’s still only here a little over a year and there have been signs of a brilliant player there. Whereas with Xhaka it’s going on 4 seasons now and I don’t think he’s improved one bit since his Gladbach days
Receding Amazing how Conte won a league at Chelsea with Luiz the standout defender, despite not even getting along with him. That’s management. Mystic Depends on the tactics, but before any of that I advocated continually for a PL ready CM to come in this past summer after ending up with Xhaka as the only stalwart. Torreira has a big question mark after going missing since Jan, and Guendouzi received dogs abuse for getting as many games, often folk critical of his ability too. Willock wasn’t even in the convo. I said he was someone for us to build around,… Read more »
The names of the players change, but the issues remain. We’re awful defensively, have been for years and also show no appetite for arresting it.
One name remains though. Unsurprisingly since that name was signed we have gotten worse defensively. I know you won’t agree Charles but we instantly become a better side if say Xhaka was replaced by a Partey or a Roca or a Doucoure. Instantly. Even with the others still there
BBC reporting that Mkhitaryan is a loan with no option or obligation to buy. Elneny however may be purchased by Besiktas for €16m.
“Amazing how Conte won a league at Chelsea with Luiz the standout defender, despite not even getting along with him. That’s management.”
Luiz has always been known to be comfortable in a back three, Conte favors a back three…not really as amazing as you think, but then again everything amazes you as long as you throw in an Emery jab.
Hopefully this will change in the next few transfer windows… especially with Raul/Edu calling the shots. This is true. It’s probably happening a lot slower than I’d like but we’re shifting on deadwood. Really some of the main contributors of our recent decline are being bipped. Elneny, Iwobi (not so much), Mhiki and hopefully Mustafi before the deadline along with Ozil playing significantly less is a good start. That just leaves Kolasinac, Sokratis and patient zero himself Xhaka to go before we’re finally rid of that really dumb cancer that infected the club the last few years. FYI Sven Mislintat… Read more »
Elneny will be back to us next summer after ‘recirculating’ the ball in Istanbul for one season.
Extending Elneny and Xhaka’s deals just shows how pathetic Gazidis was.
We don’t need to count down the days, Sokratis should be dropped for Chambers.
They was a particular play when he was 1 v 1 with Winks in the first half, rather than keep the player and the ball in front of him he tried to lean in and initiate another wrestling bout, pathetic
“Amazing how Conte won a league at Chelsea with Luiz the standout defender, despite not even getting along with him. That’s management.” Am not sure he was the stand out. Infact I am not sure they had a stand out defender that season. Their wing backs, Kante and Hazard won them games. Fact is Luiz is not a capable defender especially in 442. He can be managed in a 3 defender set up because he then becomes the auxiliary and can move the ball from the back. That’s exactly what he did for the Chelsea under Conte. He hasn’t been… Read more »
*there
before the grammar police get on the case
“Luiz has always been known to be comfortable in a back three, Conte favors a back three…not really as amazing as you think, but then again everything amazes you as long as you throw in an Emery jab.“ Could bury my head in the sand because you don’t like it? Or you know, not. Kolasinac isn’t good in a 4, Luiz is better in a 3. Remind me what shape we played yesterday and with who where? Should I have a go at Xhaka for that decision too, or can we agree the manager picks the side and sets them… Read more »
Luiz was pretty solid yesterday he’s not a problem. Sure you might get some brain farts during the two seasons he’s likely to be here but you’re likely to get more good than bad with him. Sokratis is the real problem in that he’s physically suspect and makes dumb decisions. His recovery ability is non existent therefore he has to wrestle people to the ground. I’d consider Chambers for a spell until Holding is fully fit. And I really don’t fancy Chambers
“Their wing backs, Kante and Hazard won them games. ”
Moses was immense for them that season, you can clearly see he was a winger playing wing back. Have never had that feeling with Maitland Niles
Sok would prefer a WWE grappling match than do his job. Chambers and Holding can fill that slot.
Remind me what shape we played yesterday and with who where? Back four with three central midfielders , i suppose the plan was one midfielder to always drop in while Kolasinac goes bombing forward and Auba gets to drop into the middle, was working well until 1. Sokratis decides to go for a header Xhaka had already gone for, both lost, Luiz decides to go confront Son. gets bypassed, Leno parries a weak shot …….all i see there is mistake after mistake by experienced Pro’s, not a kid in sight. 2. Xhaka loses his mind and dives in on a… Read more »
A bit disappointed with the result. Spurs are vulnerable right now and we couldn’t take advantage due to our own vulnerabilities aka Granit Xhaka. Dozi was great though, he’s got it, whatever it is, so lets hope its nurtured and allowed to grow. Despite that my ideal midfield three are Ceballos, Ozil and Torreira. Emery makes tactical decisions like a man under pressure. We won in spite of Emery not because of Emery and that is soo very worrying. Transfers – Mkhi had to go and I’m glad Roma will cover his wages but a bit disappointed Raul couldn’t get… Read more »
Sure Marko, some brain farts. As of yesterday, 4 errors in 3 matches resulting to goals from David FUCKING Luiz. I’d sooner drop the 2
Mystic Luiz received widespread praise following that title winning campaign, he was magnificent for them and even Comte waxed lyrical about his performance levels despite not liking the guy. I don’t feel it’s worth me commenting further, the fact Luiz won the league – conceding 33 goals – under Conte says it all. Now at Arsenal Luiz being heralded a mistake machine. For me it’s very simple, the team hasn’t a clue how to defend as a unit, there’s little/no idea of what the man next door is tasked with doing, so we’re all at sea numerous times a game… Read more »
RH, we need Bellerin back. AND ALSO Tierney back.
Kola was in a situation yesterday where he had 4 Arsenal players to pick out in the spuds box and all he did was take a tumble. He’s developing some lack of decision making in the final third these days
Ah! Where do I begin ? Anyone seen Groundhog’s day the film ? Seriously how many times have we seen yesterday’s game ? Team is very unbalanced and once again Emery is confused about who to play and how to play. We got a great front 3 but not enough about us to consistently get the ball to them and give them passing options. The midfield is the issue. Currently we have one complete midfielder in maybe Guendozi. Plus 3 half midfielders in Torreira, Xhaka, and Willock. One is too short, flatter to deceive and a Flamini lite, One is… Read more »
“I don’t feel it’s worth me commenting further, the fact Luiz won the league – conceding 33 goals – under Conte says it all. Now at Arsenal Luiz being heralded a mistake machine.”
Luiz has been known as a mistake machine through out his career, he didn’t become one after a month with Emery
Charlie I know you’re ignoring me and that’s fine. But I gotta say not wanting to get into a thing here but it’s amazing how your brain works. Individual mistakes it’s Emery’s fault. Players generally not good enough it’s Emery’s fault. Xhaka gives away a needless penalty and the only thing you want to talk about is the manager. And it’ll be that way for the next two weeks as well. I just don’t get it. FYI Granit Xhaka has been number one in errors leading to goals in every single season he’s been in the premier league and yet… Read more »
Was that the letterbox?
“Kola was in a situation yesterday where he had 4 Arsenal players to pick out in the spuds box and all he did was take a tumble.”
yea Mystic, wanted to slap him through the TV, clear goal scoring opportunity messed up because he could not sort his legs out. Guess he wasn’t coached to do that either
“I don’t feel it’s worth me commenting further, the fact Luiz won the league – conceding 33 goals – under Conte says it all. Now at Arsenal Luiz being heralded a mistake machine.” He’s wasn’t alone in that defence Charles and he didn’t win the League. He was not influential in it at all. Remove him and put another defender and they still would have won. Moses, Alonso, Kante and Hazard; without these people, Chelsea wouldn’t have won that league title. And David Luiz has long been heralded a mistake machine through out his career. As for Someone, organization will… Read more »
Simeone* obviously
“Luiz has been known as a mistake machine through out his career, he didn’t become one after a month with Emery“
More straw man stuff from Receding.
Wonder how Conte mitigated his tendencies enough to win a league and concede less than a goal a game along the way?
Given the player is the same let’s turn attention to Emery…..ding, ding, ding. Maybe the reason we have no defensive structure or nous is the total disregard he has for it?
Truth hurts Charles. Maybe debate better instead of being a man child?
CC I agree with a lot you say but I can’t on Luis. He’s always been erratic, he just had a better unit around him at Chelsea.
I must admit though for full disclosure I’m going off the few games I watched and zero stats. I may have just seen the worst of his stuff.
@Mysticleaves
I know it was Charlie you asked who he would pick in midfield, but poor CG must be frothing at the mouth not being able to post. So I’ll post for him.
Cahill – Cahill – Cahill
Tick tock!
Lol. N5 Howdy? Luiz is a calamity. He’s a good tackler but he doesn’t necessarily time his tackles well so he gets dribbled alot, Goes on walk abouts, has brain farts. What’s not to say about him. I can’t believe we bought him really. And at 32 years. To be first choice
“More straw man stuff from Receding.”
Doesn’t get more straw man than claiming David Luiz on Conte the league (a one man defense) or that Luiz just gained his reputation as a mistake machine in a month at Arsenal but do carry on Guvnor
Mystic You’re wrong about Luiz that season, he was fantastic https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/39660216 I can’t agree on your ‘individual errors’ summation either, errors occur more readily in a state of flux. If we were organised better and knew our roles then we’d see less mistakes. It’s not one or the other, they go hand in hand but the managers influence is being dismissed entirely because some want to defend him (and their own views of him) and forward players to be the fall guys. It was said after the summer that the player excuse was no longer viable for Emery. Game 4… Read more »
Lol Charlie your obsession with defending xhaka is odd
It doesn’t matter one percent what he does on the pitch, you’ve already decided it wasn’t his fault
It’s like reading Pierre and ozil
Biggles, Cahill? In midfield? Lol. That would take some doing even from CG
“It was said after the summer that the player excuse was no longer viable for Emery. Game 4 we’ve made before the same tired excuses are coming out about players making mistakes etc.”
probably because they made mistakes….clear and obvious mistakes in a big game we started on the front foot
Hey Mystic mate! I’ve just always disliked Luis, I promise this isn’t just because he’s now Arsenal . When we signed him I though “oh shit”.
China1 nothing to do with Xhaka..he is itching for some Emery bashing, has articles and all as back up.
I wonder why many needed convincing on Luiz when he joined us if he was such a top class cool headed defender
“CC I agree with a lot you say but I can’t on Luis. He’s always been erratic, he just had a better unit around him at Chelsea.“ Can’t agree on everything mate, be boring 😉 I’m not ignorant to his approach as a defender, and he walks such a fine line time and again which certainly frustrates. But he’s never overawed and his ability on the ball is enormous which mitigates the suspect moments he gives on the balance of play for me. He’s achieved at Chelsea, PSG, Brazil, just find the lazy leanings on him (and others) having a… Read more »
All teams can be under pressure.
Or flux at points in the match.
Are these players meant to be in some comfort zone where they are never put under stressful conditions during matches?
It’s how these players respond individually to these circumstances that can make or break any overall system.
Stressful, flux or whatever you wouldn’t expect a kid in an under 12 match to put that “tackle” in that Xhaka did yesterday.
Xhaka has been awful for all but 1/3 of a season (the first third of last season where he wasn’t anything special but was decent) He’s been here for 3 odd years. How many bad seasons does a player need to have before you just accept he isn’t a good footballer? I think you like the idea of this tall no nonsense player dictating play, spreading nice diagonal balls over the top like few others can, organizing the team with his great leadership and dragging the team forwards But that dream isn’t the player you watch every week. No matter… Read more »
Charles, if anything the article you posted proves me right. He had a good season along with the other defenders. Good not fantastic. He was been heralded for not being ‘calamity Luiz’ for that particular season. Also in direct comparison with his fellow Chelsea defenders he didn’t come out tops in any metric. Cahill came out tops twice, Azpi the other twice, Luiz none. He was totally dispensible in that team
Luiz is only three games in at a new club but yeah of course he should be putting up the same kind of numbers he did that time he won the league under Conte at Chelsea. We’ll just disregard the good group of Defenders he had around him or the two outstanding midfielders in front of him (Matic and Kante). No no Xhaka in front is practically the same thing. I mean if Emery can’t get Xhaka to play more like Kante or Kolasinac and AMN to play like Alonso and Azipili-whatever his name then really that’s on Emery
“Lol Charlie your obsession with defending xhaka is oddIt doesn’t matter one percent what he does on the pitch, you’ve already decided it wasn’t his fault“
Champagne charlie September 1, 2019 17:14:18
That’s the dumbest challenge you’ll see in 2019, what a twat.
Yep, totally.
That James kid at United sure can hit them
Pepe should learn to control his shots like that, would have scored yesterday if he did. Rose was terrified of him all game same as Sanchez
“I can’t agree on your ‘individual errors’ summation either, errors occur more readily in a state of flux. If we were organised better and knew our roles then we’d see less mistakes” Yes I agree with you that better organisation is needed. Emery is erring in that department. Sok – when we bought him, we had to use articles on articles to convince ourselves of his worth to us, didn’t take long for penny to drop. Holding – injured Luiz – calamity AMN – we don’t even know his best position but he’s definitely not a defender Kola – His… Read more »
“Charles, if anything the article you posted proves me right. He had a good season along with the other defenders. Good not fantastic. He was been heralded for not being ‘calamity Luiz’ for that particular season“ I’ll have to disagree there. He was excellent for the season under Conte and not ‘calamity Luiz’ as was expected. If that’s not a nod to proper management idk what is. He didn’t suddenly play different of his own accord. And you can keep saying he was dispensable but again, not having that for a second it’s pure conjecture. When you have to tip… Read more »
Mustafi the world cu winner has been told to do one for a while now and shocker he is still here. None of those defensively minded turning dust into gold coaches interested..shocker
Juventus are considering him as a backup they pry they will never have to use and even that scares them
errors occur more readily in a state of flux. If we were organised better and knew our roles then we’d see less mistakes…It was said after the summer that the player excuse was no longer viable for Emery. Game 4 we’ve made before the same tired excuses are coming out about players making mistakes etc. First off I think they meant that the excuse of players wouldn’t be taken seriously come the end of the season. Some absolutely shameful shit on your part Charles I can’t believe it (well I can). Blaming individual errors on someone else is pretty incredible… Read more »
Dixon, Adams, Bould (Keown) and Winterburn were not necessarily the best individual defenders in world football. But they worked superbly as a formidable unit and became the best team of their generation.
Why ? Endless coaching by George Graham. Improving our defence is not necessarily about the indivdidual players (Mustafi excluded). It is also about coaching, tactics and discipline – all the qualities were missing.
State of flux indeed
An player has possession in your box, Good Lord the coach never told me this was a possibility, quick dive in…damn you coach why didn’t you tell an opposition player will have possession in my box during the game, why or why was i not trained for this!!!
“And you can keep saying he was dispensable but again, not having that for a second it’s pure conjecture. When you have to tip your cap to Cahill, Moses, Matic being players to ‘Male Luiz look the part’ it falls a bit flat for me. None are quality players, just all well coached.” I never mentioned Chelsea defenders for praise. I believe they all had good seasons not fantastic ones. They won the league, mind. And conceded 33 goals. By all accounts that’s not fantastic. Moses and Alonso didn’t play as defenders, they supplied width for the team. Kante and… Read more »
Pretty basic, Emery chose that midfield. Two step forward with getting attack right then two step back going with a flat Mid, swear he’d play a 4th holding mid if he could its mental.
As for Xhaka, only explanation is Emery clearly rates him, enough to constantly start and throw the armband on him for the NLD.
If Poch is managing the Arsenal side yesterday, do we win?
I think so.
Receding Hairline
|”State of flux indeed”
lol
Lloris punts up a long goal kick = state of flux.
Son has the ball in the penalty area = state of flux.
How do these petals manage in this non-stop flux environment.
Well they don’t do they certain ones.
Others do and can by and large.
I suspect emery cares for defending he just isn’t good at it
You can’t say he doesn’t care about defending when he frequently sets up his team to stifle opponents rather than play to his own teams strengths (attack)
Thought I might have seen more comments (Pedro)
about the Special goal Laca scored and the fact as mentioned earlier
by a poster he needs to be our box man frig this lark with him having to track back and make tackles that’s how he got injured yesterday.?
No error by Xhaka happens in a “state of flux”. He is slow, it plays on his mind, he can see play happening in front of him but because he is slow and clumsy to boot he makes a mess of things while trying to help. No is anyone denying coaching as an option to rectify our defense, yes we can play a bit more compact and restrained but the play will be blander than it already is, you cannot play freely knowing there are players among you who will undo everything once placed under a little pressure. Football is… Read more »
Sal I’m not so sure. Poch’s Teams are all massive bottle jobs. Yesterday was no exception
Poch is now what wenger was circa 2010. Usually looks pretty. Can sometimes mix it with the big boys but doesn’t win anything and always always always bottles it when it matters most
Micheal, what?
Receding You’re flat earth. That’s where you live. You’re dismissing coaching because it’s suited to your backing of Emery, a guy who doesn’t have one DVD in his immense collection on the art of defending. Every place he’s coached the defence has been mediocre to poor. But here you are with all the straw man arguments you can manage because standing face to face with the realisation that Emery is mediocre is painful admittance to your embarrassing denial for the past 18 months. Let’s also not forget you outright mocked the idea Guendouzi was a talent. World can’t get any… Read more »
“If Poch is managing the Arsenal side yesterday, do we win?
I think so.”
He hasn’t managed to beat this new clueless manager with a team he has been managing for five years has he?
If Poch is managing the Arsenal side yesterday, do we win?
I think so.
With the same players? I dunno man. He had a by and large better defence and midfield that he’s been working with for years and they were getting overrun for large spells of the game. I wouldn’t assume that he would have done better with a work in progress midfield and a largely second string defence.