courtesy @allthatchas
Unai Emery has started taking press conferences to the same levels Arsene Wenger did towards the end, they’re almost not worth paying attention to.
We want to find balance.
We want to control games.
We want to defend.
It’s a little harder to fathom the true message due to the language issues, but the manager to his credit seems mostly uninterested in what outsiders think of him.
The most interesting part was his messaging was around the captains’ armband.
The vote gives me this information and the teammates decided that vote gives him confidence. Now the big thing is that we are going to work individually and collectively to be strong, and to show our supporters our way and how we can be strong with every player and our captains. I have big confidence and trust in every player, the captain and not the captain, because I think now in the dressing room we have a very big spirit.
Translation: The players voted for it so stfu.
Fair play, he made democracy work to give him a cover, if the players say so, who are we to argue?
The manager alluded to the slow start this season being down to messy transfer window. In fairness to him, that is an acceptable excuse. In the post WE BOUGHT PLAYERS hedonism, we quickly forgot that two weeks before fans were posting videos of themselves lambasting the club for inaction and selfishness. Playing devils EKB here, Raul didn’t bring the milkshake to the yard early enough. Emery could also say that some of the player exits were late and out of his hands. Monreal would have made a difference to the leadership struggles and the lack of a leftback. Mikhi might… I mean… he… Emery didn’t want him axed.
The allusions would hold more weight if our grim performances didn’t closely ape what we saw in the backend of last season, but hey, let’s roll with what the manager thinks and look for the positives.
We’re heading into a much simpler set of games. They’re not easy, but they are a lot more do-able than some of the challenges we’ve faced up to over the last 10 games.
What we are all hoping for today is this: Emery has realised he has good enough players to offer up a more protagonistic approach to the game.
> Attack with vigour.
Bournemouth sit 1 point behind us in 11th place. Statistically, they are having a poor season in the same way we are. They’ve been extremely open, racking up an average of 16.9 shots per game… not as bad as us, with 18. On the attacking front, they average 10.7 shots a game, with a very low 4.3 on target. They’ve actually managed 1 more goal than us, but boast the same goal difference as us with +1.
In short, they’re playing like a team that’s going to find themselves in a relegation battle this season. I mean, from an xG standpoint, so are we. We’re 15th for xPts so far this season, they’re 19th. The main difference for Arsenal is we have great players, we’ve played some tough teams on paper, we’re about to hit an easy run. Bournemouth’s correction could spell trouble.
Based on the above and the 2.5 good performances we’ve seen over the last week, it would be nice to expect a walk in the park, but we know the manager will level in with some changes that’ll make things difficult for himself. Xhaka is the captain so he’ll start, Matteo is a leader amongst men, and the coach has shown a reticence to play Ceballos or Willock, so we could see LT back in. 3 holding midfielders starting in slightly incorrect positions has been the story of our bad games this season, I truly hope someone has pointed that out in the video analysis room.
That said, even with our blandest midfield on show, I have my doubts a team that doesn’t press will give us too many problems. Xhaka with space is a different beast, so are most of our players, could even be a good chance for Ceballos to find his sea-legs.
I think most of the joy we’ll be having tomorrow is in the final third – if Emery can find the right balance to release his speed demons. This should be a day for Pepe to shine. I’d love to see Saka back out on the right starting again, he’s been electric in every game, I see no reason to rest him.
There’s also the added the deliciousness of Martinelli. The manager had mixed feelings on his true position (of course he would).
‘In pre-season he played in different positions, above all he preferred to play as a left-winger but he can also play as a right-winger.’
‘I’m using him as a striker because he played there in Brazil. It’s not the best position for him but the first thing in his mind is to help us.’
Emery has finally stumbled into a happy mistake if he thinks striker isn’t the lads best position, but either way, it’s great to know the player is so versatile. Dividing up the season on the left between him and Saka/Reiss is exciting… being the back-up to Pepe also makes sense. In the meantime, if Arsenal go 3-0 up at halftime, take Auba off and put him through the middle.
I’m trying to work out who Martinellis is like as a player. He has elements on Robin Van Persie about him. The Dutchman was so arrogant at Feyenoord in his early days that he’d pinch freekicks from senior players. They have similar no-nonsense attitudes on the pitch and there seems a definite desire to strike from distance and dance with the ball. Robin also had a stint out wide in his early days for Holland. Dare I say… I think some of his footwork has a touch of Bobby P about it. He’s obviously not flatfooted, but he’s light on his feet and can deliver a ball.
Cannot wait for him to discover Nando’s, dial-in hookers and Celta Vigo on loan…
Just kidding, this kid looks the real deal. Let’s hope Emery trusts him in the big games.
Right, that’s me done.
Tell me who you think Gabriel is like and I’ll tell you that you are a LIAR.
See you in the comments. x
Streams – https://www.soccerstreams100.com/
I absolutely love guendouzi
If he can be 20% more consistent, 20% better defensively and 10% better offensively we’re going to have a monstrously good player on our hands.
Considering his age that’s totally doable. It’s all up to him and the coaches
Game is loaded “paused” on that one btw, hover bottom left and hit play to fire it up
Hi Ladies.. little late to the party today… but apparently David Luiz isn’t completely useless … see if we can hold a lead today.
Game is on CNBC in the states.
Pepe is still too rush to take the shot.
Pepe needs to score one of these chances.. still maintain if he scores a couple he will get on a roll.
Cheers Charlie. Good stream that.
Tammy Abraham ffs… He is looking like a legit #9. Hudson Odoi with the assist. Best youngster in the PL for me. Comfortable on both wings. Only Foden comes close.
That’s a penalty.. tripped the shit out of Pepe. come on.
Tierney’s cross and Kola’s cross are of different class.
meh no point of VAR if the officials are like this
Pépé scored a few curlers last year for Lille.
Need someone to constantly pass him the ball though.
Abraham and Mount score for Chavs, 2-0.
You have to hand it to Frank, he’d doing a hell of a job blooding them young lads over there.
That’s a pen man, an inconsequential touch of the ball doesnt absolve the rugby tackle
Bollocks definite contact there. VAR supports Man united
Dream
Fully agree
V good coaching
Sometimes you need to throw in yoot.
Ceballos has been excellent. Our pressing is much better these days as well. Decent stuff so far in general, though Pepe is still not looking quite up to it, for me.
Chambers’s cross is even worse.
This is a must win game. Can’t be drawing this, or losing.
Xhaka …. just learn how to tackle… ffs.
Xhaka is a yellow card waiting to happen
I’ve called it before and still calling it, lampard is a coach to watch out for. How long does it take to bed in your pattern???
Win 3-0 and emery is still shit….
I just pre-empted the comments after the match.
can always rely on Xhaka to give away a needless foul in our own half to bring pressure on ourselves
Might be a blessing in disguise I suppose if Xhaka gets yellow card suspension.
Well Lampard just conceded calm down on the knee jerking.
Another poor, lazy challenge from Xhaka. Should’ve been a yellow. Terrible player.
Pepe is good at holding the ball up on the flank though will be useful when interchanging with Bellerin
Hi Mid! Get up early today?
Another Clear fucking penalty for us not given !!! Why the fuck wasn’t it overturned by var !!
No but win 3-0 and Xhaka is still shit! I think we have a very good squad. certainly top 3 or 4 material.
As good as Chelsea are up front their shite at the back.
who’s the cute bird beside Bellerin though, the one he was explaining the play to?
HI Nelson… Well I tried to get up early.. hahaha about 15 mins late..
30 minutes in and Arsenal have been an absolute bore. Not one noteworthy passage of play.
Its so sad to see what Unai has reduced us to
Bellerin.. getting his “game” on. hahaha Looks like he might get lucky later tonight,
Sub Xaka for willock. He’s just shit! Can’t tackle then waves his hands about ” shouting the key allows me to do zat! “
Guen should’ve release that sooner to Auba tbh
dunno but I thought she looked about 14 so probably illegal!
What do people see in Howe that he is touted for Arsenal job ?
VAR strange awards Sane theatrics yesterday blind to Pepe’s takedown today.
I’ll put down Kolasinac’s half decent showing to Tierney. Nothing else.
The formation looks different. Instead of Xhaka as the lone DM with Torr and Guen playing in front of him, we have Xhake and Guen playing double pivot and Ceballos playing in front of both.
http://cricfree.top/soccer/arsenal-bournemouth-cfrbbfc9?l=1596771494
Decent stream for anyone still lagging. Like Charlie before have to put a disclaimer on it and say that you’ll encounter some computer aids with it but if you’ve got a good anti-virus crack on.
Yep Sal.. Var is still subjective to what is “clear and obvious”… so kind of useless.
Yeah because there was some debate over whether it was a pen or not they stick with the original decision. If ref had given it they wouldn’t have overruled it. It does not mean the VAR people didn’t on balance think it was a pen.
Howe is just another Moyes. If even, Moyes at Everton was actually better.
gazzap of course lol maybe his little niece or lil sis or sumthin the joke is he still looks like a teenager and dress like one too haha
Bournemouth is getting stronger. They are making a game out of this.
Kola crosses leave a lot to be desired… like accuracy for one thing.
The five minutes before halftime is a difficult time for us. We’ve conceded the most goals from 40-45 in the PL since the beginning of last season.
Fuck Kola!
Arsenal throw-ins are meh. Been losing possession by throwing towards covered players
Feels similar to the Watford match so far. We’re on easy street.
time is ripe for Tierney PL debut
let him rip in the second half
Xhaka… just pushes dudes over,, at this point .. doesn’t even try to proper tackle anymore.. just give him a yellow and put him out of his misery already.
Fuck Kola! Blind crosses
Citeh not finding it easy to break down Wolves either it seems.
7 point gap at this stage would be pretty significant, Anfield trip is just a month away.
Pretty passive game.. well time to get some food in me to soak up last nights festivities before the second half.
We are so clueless when moving forward. This is turning into a typical one. Arsenal will continue their slow build up and Bournemouth will Nick a goal from no where.
clearly due to lack of quality of both fullbacks
that’s why people say Emery is one dimensional
the main element of great exploitation and use of flanks are sorely missing right now so the so called Emeryball doesn’t work
We’re so dull to watch.
TR7 I still don’t have an opinion on the matter, but I would just like to note that your claim that we have the third best squad in the PL — which you asserted like it has been written in stone somewhere — has met with the following reception so far: Paulinho “Not a single impartial observer – pundit, writer etc – thinks we have the third best squad in the league.” Kay “Ours is the 5th best squad really.” So it doesn’t look like everyone agrees with you on that front. I just wanted to note this before “we… Read more »
The thing is we can probably take Xhaka off and bring Willock on.
Have to see if Bournemouth add a man to the midfield because right now the 2 vs 3 in our favour makes life easy.
But if they continue this way we really can look to be more attacking. Basically all Xhaka has done is give away two stupid fouls.
Chambers 2nd game his crossing has been poor, predictable and too slow to execute.
Much better pressing from us on the whole. Decent from the fullbacks and Guendouzi is class sometimes doing the pressing of three men. Xhaka well it’s the classic Xhaka performance slow and cumbersome mixed in with the pointless fouls you expect from a clinically diagnosed idiot. Maybe a nice little ban will save us from having to witness his shite
Ceballos at least gave us a couple of nice passes and a clever little nutmeg. Good player.
Now we need to get Xhaka off the field, and Martinelli on for Pepe.
HT takeaways:
Clear fucking penalty – the ref and the twats on the VAR team are blind or retarded.
Kolasinac is a donkey.
Pepe is showing a bit more today but nothing special.
We need far more urgency in the second half – far too casual at the moment.
‘Pepe is showing a bit more today but nothing special.’
Agreed.
Bit more effort and pressing but nothing special. Lost his confidence to take a man on which was the whole point of buying him.
Crossing from the fullbacks have been poor…
How much do folk reckon Ceballos would cost on a permanent? I don’t think he’s got what we need to dig out a fee for. Tidy player, moments of quality, but he’s diet Cazorla to be incredibly kind. Him, Torreira, Xhaka all have suitability issues if we want an all action CM. I struggle seeing how Fekir was a worse option (I understand he’s a different sort) than Ceballos in the summer. Game threatened to get into a bit of a stride, then stuttered, then it’s just been about how wank Bournemouth are at playing out. We’re a bit blunt… Read more »
Howe so over rated, they look really poor, we’ll see what he alters as it’s stands we’re walking this.
I think both were penalties on Pepe. The first he got pulled to the ground and the 2nd he got blatantly shoved in the back.
I don’t like how overly left footed he is and so easy to read and defend against. He leans to the right dangling his left foot out every time, he almost hops on his right foot waiting to play it on his left. It’s so predictable.
Ceballos is a joke. He definitely won’t be playing for Madrid.
What do people see in Howe that he is touted for Arsenal job ?
Not a fucking thing. I think if he’s been touted around here it’s by the usual chest thumpers cause he’s English and nothing else
If our squad is 4th or 5th best, then EMery should finish there. So why the big criticism when he maybe in3rd place today?… surely he’s already punching above his weight?
We have to get used to Emeryball, attack through the wings and no #10.
The problem now is that both Kola and Chambers couldn’t cross.
CC-
I actually agree .. Think we could probably do better then Ceballos this summer.. but it depends on what we can get him for.. if they try and hold us to ransom then move on. Tidy player but not as dynamic as some of the top players, imo.
Need to up the tempo second half and kill this off.
First foul on pepe definitely a pen, how does var not give that. Second was more fifty fifty, could have gone either way.
Xhaka off, has done nothing as usual.
Bamford
Of course there can never be unanimity on anything on Le Grove. Most people had written off Chelsea’s chances even before the season began on account of Hazard’s departure and transfer ban but now it is being argued their squad is better. Lamps has extracted more from his team than Emery has but ours squad is better.
I personally think that we should and ultimately would be lucky to have Ceballos next summer on a permanent. He’s clearly an excellent player and at 23 he’s only going to get better. But it’s a bit pointless to think about that now because we could have a different manager next summer who prefers others and we could end up being priced out of a move for him. But I’d certainly take him permanently and build the midfield around him.
http://zoneland90.blogspot.com/p/liability-insurance_39.html?m=1
This stream is great, no ads just scroll down and hit play. Sound’s a bit tinny though.
fucking hell opinions are opinions why are some people getting too invested and concerned about being right on the comment section of a sports blog no less? is this the way to gain clout or something? soz blud fam dis is part of the interwebz don’t have blue checkmark so all comments are treated by the comments themselves not by the posters so if you butthurt you better get out and just move on haha no one’s playing sage here people just want to see different kind of perspectives from each of the DIVERSE legrovers not pointing this one to… Read more »
Bournemouth played good football for about three games in their first season and it’s been prison slop since then.He’s gone more physical with Biling and Lerma centrally and they are playing the style the type of football that midfield duo are known to serve up.
the irony is not missing by the way I’m self-aware enough ahaha
Same count who awarded that soft penalty to Pool yesterday, just denied a stone cold penalty. Don’t blame Taylor, blame the heartless referee for not giving it. He knows Taylor isn’t gonna make him look bad.
Everyone is getting more out of their team than Emery. Maybe just agree on that and move on. This Bournemouth team u are watching beat Southampton at home 3-1 so nothing special is actually happening.
Bournemouth have come out of halftime.. pretty triggered.. must have got the hairdryer treatment.
One problem with Auba. He doesn’t fight for any long ball. He can’t hold up play.
72 million to see the chump get the ball stuck under his feet
Lamps has extracted more from his team than Emery has but ours squad is better. It’s such a dishonest comparison it really is. Literally all season we’ve been dealing with injuries and getting players back in a specific key area meanwhile Chelsea have had their competent full backs and starters playing for them. I dunno if I’d necessarily say their squad is better but arguably the two most important areas of the pitch defence and midfield they’re absolutely stronger than us. Defence because some of ours are just bad and midfield because they actually have a much better balance in… Read more »
Betis was an odd move for Fekir. He’s been absolutely brilliant for them.
Must be purely down to Lyon wanting a fee for him rather than to lose him for nothing, combined with the rest of Europe being apprehensive on him hearing the knee stories.
And Betis having the Lo Celso money burning a hole in their pocket.
And they should have scored.. keystone cops defending effort.
Wilson missed an empty net.
Horrible defending or defecation as Auto correct suggested. Wtf Sokratis
Pepe ruining another promising break with a shit sliced long pass.
Fucking idiot Xhaka
Massive let off. Bournemouth should have scored there. Actually they are playing better than us right now.
P.S How do we format text in comment ?
Bring on Patonelli.
What exactly does Xhaka do? Anyone?