Saka time.

by .

Absolutely huge game today. Two fallen giants of the game trying desperately to claw back some sort of relevance for their fans.

United struggle for goals, the football is dull, and their expensive defensive unit is still flawed.

Arsenal has a great squad of players, but they’ve struggled to establish an identity, the defence has been equally poor, and our attacking play has generally been reliant on the brilliance of one man.

Today sadly isn’t a battle for the league title, it’s a battle to establish an advantage in the race for top 6. Emery saw some light in the last two games, notably both when Xhaka wasn’t on the pitch. The come back against Villa was valiant and the Forest destruction pointed to an attacking style that would look sexy if we could rock it against better teams.

The game for us tonight is all about midfield. If Emery can’t suss optimum working conditions for his precious new general, it’s going to be difficult. United will attempt to pressure our midfield and hope it crumbles. I hope Emery has given them some help, we need to see a structure, I can’t watch another game where everyone goes missing up the other end, or worse, watch everyone drops into the defence leaving us exposed for shots and whatever else comes our way. United might be shit, but they have good pressing numbers this season. We need to be on high alert. We need to see real leadership, not this soft kind the media keep talking about.

’Xhaka always remembers the boys birthdays, he’s religious about getting a card signed’

The Swiss master of the spare key will sit at the base of midfield, no point in arguing that, the question is who with? If it’s on his own with a combination of Matteo and Ceballos, we could be in trouble. The Spaniard is an exciting talent, but let’s be honest, he hasn’t bypassed the bedding in stage most players deal with. We need athleticism on the pitch though, and I think the manager might have to go against his intuition and reinstate LT in his natural position as the lead DM (laughable I have to write that), or gun for something inexperienced but industrious like opt for Willock and Matteo.

Tactically, we have been greatly hampered by the captain’s armband, there’s no doubt about that.

I’d also not be surprised to see Emery play 3 at the back, fear is his default perspective, and I see no reason for him to change that approach in a big game. What I will say is that Emery does get the players up for the big games. Even when we lose, it’s not often insipid. Though the Chelsea final really did do a lot of damage to that perception.

Key to our day is usually centered around how well we bring Auba into the game. He’ll have the chance to get in behind Maguire who hasn’t looked great. I think we’ll be able to spring chances all day. West Ham created with relative ease when I watched them the other day, the game would probably be ripe for some Ozil deadliness around the box if we get pushed into possession play in their 3rd. I would also be very happy to see Saka given a go. He’s a surprise package, he’s annoying to defend against and he’s basically the new Dembele. We need some of his fearless decision making, it could be vital today. I ALSO HEAR HE STARTS!

I’d also like to see an open play goal from Pepe, it’s time.

There are other delightful elements, Pogba, Martial and Rashford are all likely to miss the game. Say what you will about them over a season, Arsenal normally make them look world-class and United are weaker without them. That said, we’re all expecting a worldie from De Gea and a blistering first big game start from Greenwood.

Huge day for both sides, let’s hope the game achieves something that looks like the years gone by.

See you in the comments.

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HighburyLegend

SAUCE!!

Champagne charlie

Banford You don’t adhere to evidence, you dismiss performance markers left and right. It was detailed in Pedro’s piece: https://le-grove.co.uk/2019/09/19/head-to-head-wenger-vs-emery-ouch/ We concede more shots, take less shots, have less of the ball, concede more, score less, and win less tackles. This with money spent. I just referenced in the 45 game sample to date that Emery has 9 clean sheets to Wenger’s 17 in his last 45. Could go into chapter and verse game to game and talk about moments but it’s a redundant conversation because the macro is so patently obvious and it’s being argued by a you, a… Read more »

Words on a Blog

Leedsgunner,

Emery is like a cautious middle manager at a large corporation: experienced, knows the business, but unimaginative and unwilling to take too many risks. In the end though, he’s reasonably effective: we are top 4 after 7 matches having played three “top 6” sides in Liverpool, Tottenham and ManU

I think he’ll (just) scrape through and achieve his top4 KPI at the end of the season.

Then Raul and Edu can say thank you adios to him on our behalf.

Pierre

Paulinho
Of course , Emery has been teaching Aubameyang the art of finishing and good movement in the box ..

Champagne charlie

Paulinho

Auba getting better? He’s doing what he’s always done which is score goals at a fantastic rate. What evolution are we seeing in his game under Emery that’s never before been present?

Bamford10

Champagne

“Nobody watching that game will take away from it our stellar tactics …”

Right, except that I never said Emery had “stellar tactics” — not last night, and not any other time. So this is just another bogus straw-man of yours.

Dream10

Xhaka wasn’t responsible for McTominays
goal. He has his faults and it’s convenient to blame for malfunctions in the defensive phase of play, but this wasn’t on him. Not convinced by Ceballos. Wonder if we can cancel the loan and return him to Real Madrid? He’s better of going back to La Liga and going on loan to another Spanish club.

Don’t expect Héctor, Tierney and Holding to start on Sunday against Bournemouth. We may need to revert to a three at the back. Bournemouth play a 4-4-2 with three goal threats on the pitch.

Bamford10

Leeds

Nearly everyone here agrees that Emery is not “the answer” long-term. The difference in opinions is over the details — i.e., what he is getting wrong, what is on him, what is on certain players, etc.

Words on a Blog

One thing people better get used to this season (as long as Emery is still there) are tight and bland/gritty (take your pick) away matches where we play on the counter with a pretty defensive formation and score line is a draw or a narrow win/loss either way.

Leedsgunner

7 corners and not even one shot on goal… do we not practice set pieces?

Champagne charlie

Banford

Oh is that so? Like when someone references our organisation and tactics following a goal and you take aim wanting a minute by minute account of all the examples of such despite that not being the initial claim?

Practice what you preach and all that.

Paulinho

Charlie – He’s stepping up more often, being more of a leader in general. He’s still a bang average footballer in a general sense, but Emery’s management certainly doesn’t seem to be causing him to shrink or diminish, like it is supposedly doing to Pepe.

Words on a Blog

Pepe may or may not come good. His problem at the moment is a lack of confidence due to his inability to adjust to the greater speed and physicality of EPL football.

Leedsgunner

It would be interesting to speculate if Emery went tomorrow, whether we would get a bounce and a response from the boys.

They all look too comfortable at the moment imo.

raptora

Dream,
Apparently Emery decided that we will go to other top 6 rivals and play counterattacking football. That’s alright even though we haven’t really done well in our counterattacks.

We will have our answer on if Ceballos is going to do a good job or not for us, in January. Not earlier. Mostly because Emery doesn’t seem to fancy him. You can say that with absolute certainty.

raptora

In the Winter when matches are a lot is the time when Ceballos can make a claim to be a starter. Until then Emery will consider him just a squad player.

Nelson

No more tinkering now. The players need to be familiar with the formation. I hope that Pepe and Bellerin will establish some chemistry so is Saka with Tierney. We are already on the Emery train. Hope it leads us to the promise land.

Bamford10

If Pepe continues to struggle, what would you do? Would you sit him, play him only in EL or CC matches or as a sub? If so, who would you play wide right?

Pierre

I thought Emery promised a Ceballos a starting place in the team to get him to come to the club …

Dream10

raptors

For me, Ceballos skill set is more suited to evading the press deeper as #8. However, Emery won’t play him there as he’s not switched on defensively. Not a convincing final third player. He’ll get a chance to play in the winter as both Guendouzi and Willock, unlike Xhaka, aren’t not yet physically used to playing stretches of games regularly.

Valentin

Zimmer,

The new laws also state that if the ball is deflected or rebound before hitting a player’s hand then it is not a handball. The ball clearly rebounded from Aubameyang onto Kolasinac, so no handball according to the laws.

Valentin

Raptora, Emery went out of his way to bring Ceballos. He promised him a starting place during a phone call to convince him to join us. Ceballos wanted a guaranteed or near guaranteed place because he is hoping to make the Spanish Euro 2020 squad. Maybe having seen him at close quarters Emery has changed his mind and decided that he is not to be trusted as a CAM. I believe that Emery vision of a No10 does not correspond to Ceballos No10. He seems to prefer a Jordan Henderson type as a CAM. A high energy player who can… Read more »

PK

Said it before and repeat.

Xakha being made captain ( and therefore going to get lots of game time ) will cost Emery his job.
His persistent ( needless ) fouling last night once again earned him a yellow card and probably cost us the game.

Will Emery drop him ?
Nope

PK

Feel sorry for Torreira ….played out of position to accommodate the hapless Xakha.

raptora

Maybe Ceballos had the upperhand in the beginning of the season to be considered as a guaranteed starting 11 player. But 1. Willock has impressed so much, that even I consider him ahead of Ceballos especially after seeing how influential Willock was even last night in a limited amount of minutes. 2. Our midfield is so disfunctional and unbalanced, we concede so many goals and we are literally never in control of the midfield that Emery decided to just throw in all of our so-called DMs and hope we naturally stop conceding. Well it hasn’t worked all that well for… Read more »

Pierre

It’s a little concerning that how under Emery our creative players regress. Our 2 new creative players are regressing at an alarming rate . What’s happened to the Ceballos that was man of the match in his full debut. What’s happened to the Pepe who gave Liverpool such a torrid time in his full debut. They both look a shadow of themselves compared to when they first arrived . Soon they will be bit part players( Ceballos already is) and fans will be getting on their backs as they have Ozil, who has gone from a player who created the… Read more »

Receding Hairline

And the conversation leads to yet another Ode to Ozil from the gentleman. Never change old sport

raptora

Except that Ozil in the last 3 to 4 years has been shit under Wenger, Low and Emery. But good try Pierre.

Pierre

RH
One or 2 on here are already starting to see what we are missing ….

Receding Hairline

Wonder what he is suggesting. That Emery water boards and tortures creative players? That he threatens them to stop creating? Also shameful using a world cup Ozil had to retire from international football immediately after as proof of his playmaking abilities.

Hazard is struggling at Madrid, maybe Emery coaches there in his spare time.

Receding Hairline

Yea,Ozil is what we are missing. He will bring control and defensive solidity while creating chances every 3 minutes. Hope you have your Kleenex at hand Pierre.

Danialtos

I know Legrove loves a moan but come the f*ck on…xhaka didn’t duck that shot….I can’t even believe am standing up for the guy lol but let’s be real if that ball didn’t catch sok xhaka heads it away very cormfotably no pressure

Danialtos

Comfortably ffs*

Danialtos

PierreWhat’s not debatable is the laughable nature of some on here to try and assign that goal to Xhaka, completely ignoring the fact it came from our own corner up the other end of the pitch. That’s what happens when folk are hell bent on making every situation an individual error to absolve shocking organisation and tactics. Watch the goal again, Kolasinac gets out of the way of a loose aerial ball and they counter, first ones back are Chambers and Xhaka. Last one back? Sokratis, who only made an appearance when the lad was about to strike. And I… Read more »

Jamie

Chambers, in one appearance this, has equalled Ozil’s total number of assists since August 2018.

For over a year Ozil has been billing Arsenal at a rate of £8m per assist he provides.

What a cunt.

Champagne charlie

Dani

I’m not interested in playing that game. If we can be so exposed by a player shirking a challenge 80 yards from goal is says a lot about the way we’re setup.

Danialtos

Okay champagne…as always you are right

Pierre

Danialtos
As soon as I saw replays of the goal I said to my son and friends that Xhaka is going to be blamed(unfairly) for the goal .

I will take up the point what CC alluded to regarding our set up at corners when we are attacking.

Previously it used to be just Torreira left on the halfway line at corners and I voiced my concerns about it at the time.

Now its Guendouzi and I think it leaves us open to the counter.

Champagne charlie

Dani

No that’s my view on what occurred. Your always right patter is a classic ‘nothing to say about that’ offering.

China1

I’m relatively tolerant of shortcomings with arsenal provided they exist as part of a bigger picture of progress But the problem with emery is I’m not seeing any meaningful progress even after spending a lot of money and moving on a major bulk of the dead wood We have an improved squad but we seem to face some of the same challenges.it would be very foolish to ignore what our eyes are seeing just on the grounds of what the table says. Because if we implode like we did at the end of last season and lose CL football again… Read more »

Fact of the matter is Emery is piss average. In almost 1 5 months under Emery please can someone tell me where we’ve improved. Defensively we’re worse. Midfielders haven’t got a clue. Up front we Def have the players but not the manager or style to get the best out of them. Can anyone see an identity a style he’s trying to bring to the club. I know, we’ll kick it to Luiz or Sok, someone will come short in the middle then play it out wide to the full backs,then back…..zzzzzzzzzzzzz.. Sorry but the man hasn’t a clue. Not… Read more »

And apart from Saka who seems the only player to be able to cross a ball , why fucking have full backs overlapping when none of them are any good at crossing the ball. They’re way out of position, can’t seem to beat the first man with the cross, and then bang we’re being counter attacked time and time again. If a twat like me can see it doesn’t pay dividends, and Emery insists on playing that way, then bloody hell I’ll have a go as manager. Sure I couldn’t be as bad as Emery.

Bob N16

I always thought by middle of October we would see the true strength of our team. Bellerin, Tiernay, Holding to massively improve our defence.

However until Xhaka is binned, Torreira gets to play DM and Guendozi + Willock/Ceballos form our midfield three, then Emery will be playing with the handbrake on.

Receding Hairline

Torriera at DM, the myth grows.

He is a wall you see,shielding our defense from attacks through his reading of the game. This reading only happens if he sits right in front of the back two.

No one has yet drawn a circumference around the exact area he loses his powers so he doesn’t stray past this area.

I mean a guy who reads the game so well can do it all over the pitch can’t he?

@Bob N16

They might improve us slightly, but not by much. Fact is it’s obvious neither Wenger or Emery do defending. Even Ray Parlour alluded to that fact. What I can’t understand is how a club that had so many great defenders, can’t use any of them in a defensive coaching role. Surely they’d improve the defence.

Pierre

RH on Torreira
“I mean a guy who reads the game so well can do it all over the pitch can’t he?”

Obviously you need a little education on the game …

Words on a Blog

Receding,

No need to subscribe to mythmaking and storytelling as far as Torreira at DM goes. On the basis of the number of times when he’s actually played there last season, he just happens to be much more defensively switched on and accurately aggressive in his tackling and interceptions than Xhaka is. Further forward he is more like a fish out of water.

If Xhaka has to play, what’s wrong with playing Torreira at DM and moving Xhaka further forward?

bennydevito

Here’s some fun stats:

In Wenger’s last 38 league games Arsenal finished 6th on 63pts.

In Emery’s first 38 games Arsenal finished 5th on 70pts.

In Emery’s first 50 games he won more than any Arsenal manager in history.

Fancy that.

Doesn’t mean he’s the right man to take us forward but a definite upgrade on Wenger’s last years.

Champagne charlie

Windolene

‘Definite upgrade’ to a tune of no CL football despite investment in the squad and having Aubameyang for a whole season vs half of one.

What a guy.

China1

Our best run last year came with torreira sitting deep covering for Xhaka. It showed the best of torreira and a defensive terrier, ball winner and ability to win the scrappy defensive duels. It also took some of the defensive heat off Xhaka who can’t do it or handle the pressure so shouldn’t be put in that situation in the first place. Xhaka even looked passable at the start of last season until torreira got injured and he looked wank again ever since. Not a coincidence. Torreira is a DM. Not a b2b, AM or creative outlet. His strength lies… Read more »

@words on a blog

“If Xhaka has to play, what’s wrong with playing Torreira at DM and moving Xhaka further forward?”

I agree, as far forward away from the team as possible. 😁

Bob N16

Words, let’s go with Xhaka further forward, who does he play instead of.

Any way you look at it Xhaka does not compliment any other midfielder as his skill set is so limited. He is a square peg in a round hole in this league.

Receding, Pierre got in there first. If you are genuinely that unclear it’s hard to converse with you.

China1

Emery looked like okay choice on paper when we got him and deserved a full chance, but he’s had it now and he’s not a serious upgrade on arsene. With the improvements to the squad he’s had we need to be seeing better. If we started the season defensively suspect because of injuries but were flying offensively then I’d still be here defending him, but he’s no excelling or delivering anywhere on the pitch. Emery’s job is entirely dependent on auba’s form and fitness. If this guy breaks tomorrow emery will be sacked within a month because the results will… Read more »

Bob N16

True China

Graham62

China1

I know. So why the fudge does Emery persist with this mindblowingly stupid plan of playing Torreira in a role that he is never going to be suited for?

There is absolutely no justification for doing this. None!!

Not only that but why does he not see the strengths and limitations to Torreira’s game? He is as you highlight “a defensive terrier” and “not a b2b player”. Emery should be held to account on this.

No wonder Torreira looks so demotivated.

If all this crap continues, the noose will start to tighten.

bennydevito

I don’t think Xhaka had that bad of a game last night and I’ve watched the duck over and over again and to be fair when taking the Sokratis deflection into account he has to be given the benefit of the doubt. The usual reaction when ducking a ball to the face is to turn your head to the side and lean back. Xhaka put his head down and forward and if not for the deflection he probably would have headed it clear. It’s hard to say for definite because slow motion can tend to make things look worse and… Read more »

Micheal

All the discussion about where to play Xhaka misses the obvious point – he is not good enough to get in the team in any position. Building a team with Xhaka at its heart is built to fail.

Defensive midfielder ? Too slow, lacks positional awareness and cannot tackle a rice pudding

Centre back/left back ? Too slow, poor at marking, cannot head and cannot tackle a rice pudding

Central midfield ? Not mobile enough, needs too much time on the ball

Attacking midfield – Immobile, lacks basic attacking instinct, does not create space, unlikely to score enough goals

bennydevito

New post!

Marko

That Emmanuel Dennis fella just seems like a luckier version of Welbeck. Both goals scuffed into the back of the net

Cezan Patel

I don’t get some of the hate on here for years all i read here was we always go to old trafford and get spanked. Big teams raise themselves for big games, believe it or not this was a big game for us both and we went there conservative got a point where we used to always fall short attack and get hit on the break. Even when utd were on the decline they’d beat us comfortably. These were the performances most of us cried out for away at a big 6 team and draw. Now i know i hate… Read more »

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