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
I don’t even think xhaka is necessarily clumsy, I think he’s a bit hot headed
He had one of the worst disciplinary records in Europe before even joining us.
The guy likes to have a good shirt pull or leave a trailing leg. He’s a throw back to a simpler time when kicking better players than you was considered decent defending
He belongs in the 80s or something
For me Sal he doesn’t! Poch is a pretender!!
No one has denied coaching is essential, a Benitez team will defend better but the attack suffers, Emery has tried every trick in the book to mitigate for errors but it still happens doesn’t it. He isn’t a defensive coach, that has been said on here countless times This flat earther line has become stale hasn’t it? Emery is not mediocre, not by any stretch of the imagination. Not elite but definitely not mediocre Yes Guendouzi wasn’t very good towards the end of last season, the talent was there all round but he did nit stand out for being good… Read more »
Charlie you’re in no position to judge others inability to own up to poor judgment when you spend forever and a day defending wenger and xhaka
Now wengers gone you don’t rate him and I wonder if when xhaka’s Gone you’ll be reminding us how cumbersome and error prone he was too
You spent forever defending wenger*
If Emery goes with a more creative MF three of Ceballos, Guendouzi and Torreira I think we win it taking the game to them.
I’ve a feeling will see just that in the not so distant future so well have something to gauge it with. Frustrating to have that attack at home with little service. Christ I’d of even fielded a diminished Mesut over Xhaka for the first 45, why not.
A poster who is never wrong…Champagne Charlie.
“Emery has tried every trick in the book to mitigate for errors but it still happens doesn’t it”
I feel like he’s ignored it rather than addressed it.
“If Emery goes with a more creative MF three of Ceballos, Guendouzi and Torreira I think we win it taking the game to them.” We did take the game to them with the players we started with, i was on here bemoaning the line up before kick off but to pretend we didn’t start brightly because of the line up is dishonest, or to somehow belief Ceballos mere presence on the pitch means he holds the ball so well our babies are spared pressure at the back, he gave it away three times to start a Spurs counter when he… Read more »
Mystic I’m not expectant of a fantastic defence, and I don’t cite Chelsea’s 33 goals conceded under Conte with any wow factor. I’m saying that level of return should absolutely be possible for us with the players at our disposal. 33 isn’t amazing, but in the context of 51 it bloody seems that way. What’s tired to me is the continual fallback to players not being good enough or making out it’s simply individual errors that cost us. It isn’t, it’s an awful approach to defending that makes those instances more and more likely. That cedes good chances to Burnley… Read more »
I think spuds even have a more balanced attack than us. Are better in defence, are more or less the same in midfield. Poch should beat us with his squad first…
N5
Nice to see you on here mate!
Pretenders don’t make the champions league final getting past Dortmund, City and that gorgoeus Ajax side, signing nobody for two windows. He’s done very well with Spurs, gone as high as he can. We’ll see how smart he is by leaving sharpish. If he stays, he’s clearly dim.
“I feel like he’s ignored it rather than addressed it.”
No N5, we have paid far too much respect to certain teams because he knows we will let ourselves down defensively. He should not pick Xhaka though so consistently and going forward all Xhaka errors are on him. And a more discerning mind will see that Sokratis and Luiz is not a partnership. He continues down this part and it’s all on him.
Interesting point on the Arseblog podcast that Emery preferred Nzonzi over Torreira due to his physical presence. He needed convincing by Sven/Raul and co that his ball winning ability and age were a better fit. The lack of physicality of our CM options is why Xhaka is an ever present in the XI for Emery.
“Charlie you’re in no position to judge others inability to own up to poor judgment when you spend forever and a day defending wenger and xhaka“ I’ve criticised both numerous times, I’ve also defended against what I consider over the top views. It’s the latter you chalk up as some “defence”. I criticised Xhaka yesterday and here you are telling all I’m defending him. Work that one out. Then again it’s symptomatic of dialogue on here, if you say X is shit and I say nah they’re just average, then that’s me defending and in favour of X. Just isn’t… Read more »
I hate labour day, it is by far the worst day of the year and Xhaka performance yesterday is not helping anything.
Sal I’m just trolling mate!! Good to see you too buddy hope you’re well.
Tor, Charles if you believe our defenders can do 33 goals I wouldn’t blame you for that. It would be your opinion, however unrealistic it is. I believe we can do 40-43. But 33? Not sure it’s possible with any coach, without mitigating our attacking game or philosophy, if you like. But we never know. I actually wish they can do it. Cheers
Poch in charge of the same unit, wins the match. I’d go as far as to say Poch in charge of us last season gets us Champions League footie. He has that bit more tactical nous that makes all the difference at the top end of the table.
Is Labour Day a big deal jwl? We don’t have it in the UK.
Guendouzi gets a first senior call up for France
“A poster who is never wrong…Champagne Charlie.“
I’m wrong plenty thanks. Certainly beats being a poster that’s never right….
Enter Receding Hairline.
“Guendouzi gets his first senior call up for France.”
Good. He deserves it.
I’ve seen CC criticise Wenger he just did it without vitriol. I think people are misremembering or misrepresenting his comments here.
Dream10
“The lack of physicality of our CM options is why Xhaka is an ever present in the XI for Emery”
Don’t agree with this for one minute.
He’s not good in the air for his size, he’s not good in physical challenges either for his size. Remember an early match of his in his first season where he actually shuts his eyes when going in for a tackle.
Xhaka fancies himself as a bit of a ball player and how tall or bulky he is hasn’t any significance.
“If Emery goes with a more creative MF three of Ceballos, Guendouzi and Torreira I think we win it taking the game to them.” Mourinho made a comment yesterday about our copying Liverpool’s 4-3-3 and the problem with it. Lacazette drops deep but he’s not as good as Firmino so he doesn’t necessarily have the Firmino effect. Also for now, we don’t have the full backs to occupy the wings when Aubameyang and Pepe move towards the center. Mourinho gave two options which I agree with. 1) Move Pepe to the center because he would have a greater effect (similar… Read more »
“Poch in charge of the same unit, wins the match. I’d go as far as to say Poch in charge of us last season gets us Champions League footie. He has that bit more tactical nous that makes all the difference at the top end of the table.” Poch in charge of his unit, a unit he assembled and coached for five years finished one point ahead, and no it was not all his doing, it was because Xhaka (surprise surprise) pulled back a Brighton player who happened to go past him in the box, state of flux and all.… Read more »
Well done Guendouzi. He’s got a lot going for his game and he’s still very young so can mould nicely.
“I’m wrong plenty thanks. Certainly beats being a poster that’s never right….Enter Receding Hairline.”
I am right plenty thanks
You do not determine what views are right and wrong.
Mystic
It would be a quality season, I’m not being aloof to suggest it should be par for the course. Just possible if well orchestrated.
Not convinced of how taking a more serious approach would damage our current game, think that’s forgetting our current game is sporadic at best.
Just what do you see being negatively effected by a pragmatic version of this Arsenal? I don’t just mean ‘less attacking’, I’m talking in what regard.
Guys, no system is perfect. For most of the game, we played 433 yesterday with a ‘flat’ middle three. Thats the reason for the 3 ‘DMs’. You use that system if you want midfielders close enough to the FBs to cover for them. And when you consider the weakness of our FBs, its somewhat justified. The downside is that you lose a MF who runs in to the box and gets on second balls. That’s why we saw Laca tracking back a lot chasing these balls because they structure of the midfield was wide, not deep. You can also be… Read more »
“I’ve seen CC criticise Wenger he just did it without vitriol. I think people are misremembering or misrepresenting his comments here.“
That’s invariably the difference. I was always a huge admirer of Wenger and pushed back against the “senile cunt” talk that would emanate.
But I criticised numerous aspects of his coaching, his outlook, his philosophy, his transfer strategy. I also defended what I considered unfair criticism, and that landed me the AKB tag from the guys that like their posters in neat boxes.
Guendouzi in the senior France Squad. Zidane mkII ?
Receding is snowing over fact Pock has taken a perennial losing side on Spurnight footie to featuring in the champions league for its 4th seasons on the trot, having made the final last season.
Heres a question Receding, how many times did Tottenham make the champions league before Poch took over?
How’s Saliba getting on this season speaking of defenders?
Ishola
“He noted that both Ceballos and Pepe are holding onto the ball a bit too long on a few too many occasions.”
Both are new to the team. Their teammates also need to know them.
“the teams don’t break out with the same pace as the EPL sides. EPL is more gung ho end to end.”
That is exactly why Xhaka is a defensive liability. He is slow and lack defensive awareness.
CC
He just had an operation/surgery.Is in the rehabilitation process. Might return to training maybe next month i think.
Anyways what do yall think about the Sven Player we supposedly had under the bag . Caglar Soyuncu. Has quietly replaced the powerhouse Maguire in the squad with Ease. Seems to be a good defender who can also play out.
“Heres a question Receding, how many times did Tottenham make the champions league before Poch took over?”
The finished fourth twice under Harry Redknapp, played in a champions league quarter final under him too. Harry had no where near the quality Pochettino has had at his disposal.
You are making outlandish statements on what Pochettino would have achieved after one year at Arsenal, that is what you are being pulled up on not his quality as a coach
N5 – it marks the end of summer, students go back to school tomorrow and work starts to pick up again. I’m almost 50 yrs old, finished school more than 25 yrs ago and Labour day still makes me sad, I can remember crying a lot on many labour days when I was young, I hated school and totalitarian teachers.
Wasi
Cheers. Was that a long standing problem? Hoping he has a good season when all is said and done and can come here with a view to nailing a spot in the XI. Tall order though so green.
“The finished fourth twice under Harry Redknapp, played in a champions league quarter final under him too. Harry had no where near the quality Pochettino has had at his disposal.“
He had prime Bale, and no teams near the class of City or Liverpool. Twitchy face did well, but anyone with half an eye notes the level/s above Poch has taken Spurs.
Good thing is it seems to be an end of a cycle for him which works out nicely for us, alongside Ole’s comical United and fat Frank’s backs to the wall job he has at the Chavs.
Said yesterday that we’d either draw 1-1 or 2-2. The same players let us down, Xhaka and Sokritis. Going forward we need to play Willock instead of Xhaka. The Swiss should only play when we come up against lower teams, or when we play in the Europa League early stages, or FA Cup games. Providing that it’s not against any of the big 6-8 teams. By next season he needs to be shipped out along with Myki and Sokritis. Yesterday Emery should of played Ceballos instead of Xhaka. Can’t wait for Holding, Tierney and Bellerin to come back. Overall 2-2… Read more »
CC
Dont know if it was a long standing problem. Hopefully a one off.
Receding the answer is once, Redknapp had them in the champions league competition once. Chelsea in what is likely one of of the best banter moments ever snubbed them by winning the competition relegating them back to Spursnight.
Not taking into account the league has added another side in City making it a 6 team race now.
Then Old Harry got shitcanned the following summer.
Hardly measures up to what Poch has done.
Ha ha it’s conditioned you to fear labour day!! Thanks for the info buddy.
It seems like there are two concurrent questions being asked/answered here: 1. Is Emery good enough to carry us forward (‘forward’ is in itself debatable)? 2. Is the current [fit] squad good enough to have us challenging for honours? For me, the answer to both is no. At best, we’ll stumble across the line to 4th and replace the head coach and the remaining dross in the summer with higher calibre professionals. Emery isn’t the guy, but we can’t ignore some of our substandard players still making the match day squad. Emery isn’t good enough. But also, Kola isn’t good… Read more »
Redknapp was sacked for openly flirting with the English job then failing to get it, he was not sacked because Spurs suddenly thought they could do better.
Sal this is not about Pochettino’s quality, it’s your belief he would have done wonders with us in a year that is being challenged
For me, Emery should only get another year IF he gets us back into the CL.
If not, then he must go.
I wouldn’t give he more than 1 more year after that though.
I’d like to see Vieira or someone such as Naglesmann get the job after all this.
I feel that we would fair better with a young and dynamic manager with plenty ambition to take us forward.
Just my opinion.
Pedro, no mention of Suckcratis? Yes toughness….but matched with using tactics and his brain, never seems to click to my eyes. In fairness, Xhaka didcwaive him back on the first blunder. For some reason Socrates came back for a useless header and missed. This should be gone over countless times in training. It’s called discipline. The first ten minutes we had three excellent chances. Optimism should prevail, if the manager keeps the enthusiasm high for ALL matches. A good derby to me, but yes it was ours for the taking.
Redknapp was sacked because he tanked Spurs out the Champions League, a mitigating factor in that was the England job chase.
Receding why the drama? I NEVER said Poch would of done wonders w/ us this year, just simply stated I think he wins on Sunday if the tables are turned and he’s managing our outfit.
Sal, agree, have my doubts Poch would have persisted with Xhaka and given the captiancy. Also doubt we’d have seen a midfield lacking creativity with Ceballos and Ozil available. Not sure we’d have seen Mikhi on, regardless of the Roma move, just because he’s shite.
My worry is that we’re going to fix the Emery issue with Jose. Guy will not stop flirting with us. He must have an inkling.
Sal
Because Receding is forever putting down any acknowledgement that Poch has done well at Spurs. It’s an indirect Emery thing with him, both 47 years of age and he’s livid Poch is spoken of with scope to achieve whilst Emery is derided for being bland.
Its really quite simple ; Xhaka is shit and unai is a dipshit for continuously picking him.
Just read that Willock was injured yesterday.
Jose would be an absolute disaster. Just wait for Vierra/Nagelsmann/unidentified sauce.
Poch has the better squad right now and couldn’t beat us, no way he doing better than Emery with our squad. I reckon Emery would have won some trophies by now if he were coaching Spuds past five years instead of Poch. I honestly don’t understand infatuation with Poch, he done sweet fa for all plaudits he gets.
“My worry is that we’re going to fix the Emery issue with Jose. Guy will not stop flirting with us. He must have an inkling.“
Did he say something post-game? Personally find Mourinho as a desperate hire and would not be in favour of him over others out there.
Allegri still gets my vote, balances our defence better imo and I can’t handle more apathy towards that area. Beyond him I’d go young and promising.
“Ha ha it’s conditioned you to fear labour day!! ”
N5 – yes, yes it has. I will go to my grave loathing labour day.
Roma will pay Arsenal a loan fee of €3m (£2.7m) with the deal not expected to include an option to buy, according to Sky in Italy.
That said re:Mourinho….
It would be a fucking spectacle and a half, and maybe (in the most insane way) we would stand to benefit long term from a guy that will literally point fingers at everyone in the place before himself.
It would be a crash course in anti-values, I’ll say that much.
Fuck it, Mourinho IN, I’ll get the Jerry can.
“I think he wins on Sunday if the tables are turned and he’s managing our outfit.” Sal This is turning logic on its head. Poch has been building a team for 6 years Alderweireld and Vertonghen are a better partnership than Sokratis and Luiz Rose is better than Kolasinac Sanchez and AMN cancel each other out. Son has been in the league longer then Pepe so Son has the advantage. Aubameyang is way better than Lamela Harry Kane == Lacazette. Why do you think Poch would have won with our squad? Last year he lost 4-2 at the Emirates….. You… Read more »
So Mikhi is off to Roma yet Emery decided to play him yesterday. Not only that was a dumb choice but I want to know why Monreal’s deal couldn’t wait to be finalized until today so he could start ahead of the useless Kolasinac and receive the recognition and standing ovation for the years of great service. Baffling starting XI, head scratching formation/tactics/substitutions… definitely feels like 2 points dropped vs 1 point gained.
I have to say the first goal was schoolboy defending in the first instance…literally I coach my u13 centre backs not to commit to a ball in or around the halfway line unless you are going to win it.Call it and make it yours. If not keep your shape. Xhaka was weak and always going to lose the challenge; PapaSok got caught in two minds. He needed to take accountability there and make a decision. He did neither and that killed us. Same on every Sunday league pitch in the country. On Xhaka, he can pass and………well that’s it. His… Read more »
Just read that Willock was injured yesterday
Pedro any link to this?
“You don’t have to like Emery but saying Poch is better than Emery defies all logic.
For the record, Poch has one of the worst records in the EPL this year.“
Who wants to tell Azed that Emery finished below Poch and his terrible record?
Azed
Its basic, don’t think Poch clogs the MF and goes with something more creative to service what could be a very dangerous attack.
“Receding why the drama? I NEVER said Poch would of done wonders w/ us this year, just simply stated I think he wins on Sunday if the tables are turned and he’s managing our outfit.” Why? He didn’t win a league game against Emery last season Why would he suddenly win against Spurs if he was Arsenal manager? We were supposed to be light years behind Spurs due to the work he has done now all of a sudden we are being talked up as favorites for third, what happened to the great work done at Spurs? We don’t even… Read more »
“Who wants to tell Azed that Emery finished below Poch and his terrible record?”
Who wants to tell Charles it was Emery’s first year and Pochettino’s fifth? Who wants to tell him Emery did not lose a league game to Spurs despite being garbage and out of his depth while Spurs had a formidable team and world class gaffer.
I am Mourinho fan but don’t want him as our next manager, he had 8-10 years as best coach in world but now he regressed to mean and just average who alienates players.
I don’t watch enough football to know who it is, but our next coach should be around 40 yrs of age, has experience managing division one clubs and is now ready to make his entrance to top tier football.
About 4 or 5 years ago I would of said yes to Jose taking over.
Not now though.
I still think he probably has 1 big job left in him; AC Milan? PSG? I’m not sure.
As I said before we need someone younger — Naglesmann or Vieira.
However on the contrary, if we go down the more experienced manager road, I wouldn’t mind Conte. PL experience plus has won it as well and knows how to motivate players.
“Its basic, don’t think Poch clogs the MF and goes with something more creative to service what could be a very dangerous attack”.
Spurs actually had an equally dangerous attack yesterday, one that has played together longer than one month. Find it funny all of a sudden Pochettino is having excuses made for him with regards to his squad.
Keeping an eye on Tottenham’s xG against the top 6 this season.
So far against City and us, Poch is 0 for 2 in xG head-to-head, and managed to draw both games. His xG trend isn’t looking great, so if it carries on, the draws will dry up and turn into losses hopefully.
“Just what do you see being negatively effected by a pragmatic version of this Arsenal? I don’t just mean ‘less attacking’, I’m talking in what regard.”
We will probably cede wing play and urgency we are trying to properly implement (if we weren’t trying this we won’t have bought Pepe and Ceballos and Tierney). We would see more of Liverpool away than Spurs at home. I can’t take that.
The season ATL won the league, Simeone would pack the bus against teams placed 14th and nick the 1 nil he needed. Very very boring and I can’t stand that.
Yea, I also think Emery would have won a cup with spuds if he were there for 5 years and had this squad. Emery is no way inferior to Poch. Infact Emery is by far better than Poch.
Whatever we do we need to keep Willock
and ESR at the club.
Going forward our midfielders should be Guendouzi, Willock, Torriera, Ceballos, ESR and maybe sometimes Luiz and Chambers, if we are stretched.
Ozil only plays in our easier home games.
Cc,
Nooooh, don’t do it!
Don’t fall into the Mourinho trap.
The pattern used to be: ugly football, but a short term trophy panacea, followed by mayhem dissonance and disaster.
Now his pattern is more direct: ugly football (yes, even uglier than Emery) and a trophy less highway to discord.
No no no
Guendouzi with a call-up to France:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/49556733
“Alderweireld and Vertonghen are a better partnership than Sokratis and Luiz”
And to think that we could of signed both of them before they went up the road.
Receding
If you think Unai fielded the right mix in the MF thats you’re opinion.
I think we’d of been much better served by adding someone more dynamic, able to create changes opposed to say Xhaka. Unai gave them too much respect and we ended up chasing the game instead of taking it to them at home.
“No no no”
Are you listening to Amy Winehouse’s Rehab at the moment, Words on a Blog?
Guendouzi, from ligue 2 to National team in a year. Gosh what a rubbish coaching set-up Emery oversees at Arsenal.
Who wants to tell Azed that Emery finished below Poch and his terrible record?
CC
If Emery finishes above Poch this season, would you agree Emery is better than Poch?
To be fair Spuds’ first goal was against the run of play. We were dominating before they scored.
With the benefit of hindsight I’d have had Ceballos start instead of Torreira or Xhaka.
Quite clearly Pedro’s tasteless jibe was aimed at me. Firstly I didn’t call Pepe Gervinho MK II , I said so far he has played more like Gervinho.
As for some other posters taking a cheap barb at me, well all I want to say is I usually get my assessment of players correct. (Not a humble thing to say but needs to be said)
jwl,
Not listening to Amy Winehouse at the moment but if Mourinho ever arrives at Arsenal it would only take a week or two before I’d need to go to rehab!
“I think we’d of been much better served by adding someone more dynamic, able to create changes opposed to say Xhaka. Unai gave them too much respect and we ended up chasing the game instead of taking it to them at home.”
City took it took it to them and still ended up drawing 2-2. At least we know Emery wasn’t in charge of City.
And a training cone instead of Kolasinac.
Also Sal with Xhaka in the side, we still beat them 4-2.
Mkhi, on his way out, is a preferred sub to Özil. Seriously, how does that bug-eyed prick live with himself?
“Also Sal with Xhaka in the side, we still beat them 4-2.”
Dunno why this is being ignored, Xhaka played the day they were thrashed at the Emirates.
So it seems that everyone is in agreement that Xhaka is complete and utter shite. Who would you play instead of him? I don’t think 4-3-3 suits our personnel. Torreira/Guendo midfield combo lacks physicality for me. Personally, I’d be very curious to see what Guendo and Chambers can do together. With Ceballos (or Ozil) in front of them.
So far against City and us, Poch is 0 for 2 in xG head-to-head, and managed to draw both games. His xG trend isn’t looking great, so if it carries on, the draws will dry up and turn into losses hopefully.
Jamie
If you go by xG, then Poch would be a very terrible manager as he has always out performed his xG
It’s why I’m always amused when Pedro brings out xG against Emery while still retaining the believe that Poch is a brilliant manager.
As error prone as Xhaka can be you’ve got to acknowledge his mental strength. He never hides. I think it explains why he has been made captain.
As a team, this Premier League season, we’ve racked up an Expected Goals (or xG) total of 63.5 and we’ve managed to score a whopping 86 – of which 7 were penalties. So we’ve ‘over-performed xG’ by a margin of 15.5 goals. We’ve scored quite a few more goals from the shots that we’ve taken than you would typically expect a Premier League team to do so. Over-performing xG can be put down to a mixture of variance (luck) and skill. Well, skill makes sense, we’re an above average team with above average finishers. How about luck? If we look… Read more »
Raheem
“Mkhi, on his way out, is a preferred sub to Özil. Seriously, how does that bug-eyed prick live with himself?”
Didn’t know Ozil was in charge of picking substitutions.
Would be mental if we bring in Jose in the summer
Can’t see edu and Raul on that though. Too many feathers to be ruffled
My preferred midfield 3 at the moment will be Torreira Ceballos deep with Ozil in front. If Torr isn’t up for it then partner Ceballos with Guendouzi.
Adding Willock to the first team sqaud also seems to have woken Guendouzi this season. Emery has taken Guen under his wings, Freddie has taken Willock under his wings. Arsenal wins. Added with ESR who is just class (reminds me so much of KDB) The Arsenal midfield is in good hands for a good decade.