Arsenal frittered away another 3 points against a top 6 side when they were downed by two late Chelsea goals. The result is very disappointing, the way it went down was very us, but you’d be hard-pressed to find many fans in that ground that weren’t happy with the way things are moving.
When it came down to it, there were some very fair mitigating circumstances the new manager was dealing with. We were missing Granit Xhaka, say what you will about him, he starts in this midfield. We were missing 3 full backs, plus Holding, Ceballos and Gabriel. That’s 7 players, which is a crisis. Then when we lost Cal Chambers, who was having a great game, and had to replace him with the absolutely dreadful Mustafi, well, you’re always going to struggle.
Both goals we conceded were very poor. I think the context, outside our limited set of players, was the amount of effort we were putting in. The players simply haven’t worked at that sort of level for a very long time, after 45 minutes, the energy levels noticeably dropped. In the second half that meant the players started to defend a lot deeper, which gave space for Chelsea to roam. We gave up our first goal from a hideous Bernd Leno error, he came racing out of his goal for a one-handed swipe at a cross, he missed, Jorginho was in at the back post for a finish he didn’t know much about. He’s been our best player this season, you just don’t expect that.
I don’t like to complain about reffing standards, but there’s no way Jorginho should have been on the pitch. In general, the tactical fouling on the halfway line was ignored by the ref for most of the day… arguably, if we’d been street smart enough, we’d have engaged in some of it for the second goal. Matteo G went for a header he was never going to win, he should have been sitting far deeper in my opinion, which is something I have no doubt will be fixed. Chelsea were allowed to run at us, Luiz and Mustafi dropped, and dropped, and dropped, the ball switched wide, Abrahams didn’t have Mustafi tight, he turned and put it past Leno. A shoddy piece of defending, but look, we’re not going to shake that in 2 weeks.
If there was a criticism to be had, I think it was about making aggressive subs a little earlier. Lacazette and Nelson weren’t offering much, I think there was a limited case to made that we could have brought on Pepe or John-Jules to bring more energy to the frontline. That said, when Pepe did come on, to watch and £80m winger spurn a chance because he couldn’t shift it onto his correct foot was quite depressing. Jules, well, an unknown quantity for a big game.
If we go to the first half, there was a lot more to be happy about. Firstly, the atmosphere is directly linked to what the fans are seeing on the pitch. We are energised by the efforts of the players, it’s fair to say the fans were buzzing for a large part of the game. Even after the game, there weren’t any boos, everyone respected the fight on show.
Arsenal were very compact. It was very refreshing to see our defenders a lot further up the pitch, people knew their positions, everyone was putting in a shift. I thought this new attitude was typified by the selfless performance of Auba. He held a very wide position all game and he actually tracked runners. A lot of people constantly rattle off the ‘not that sort of player’ line… well, Mesut Ozil and our best fox in the box are doing yards and making tackles now.
There wasn’t a whole lot of creation in the first half, but I think the purpose was more about containing Chelsea and nicking a goal where possible. Building from a solid foundation is what we’ve asked for over the years, we know we don’t need a lot of chances because we have elite finishers, so it was an interesting game from that purview.
I also thought we were very good in possession, again, it didn’t lead to much, but the passing in general was unrecognizable at times. We were seeing a different team that could move the ball out of the back fluidly, and shift the ball between the lines with relative ease. Chelsea were mostly chasing shadows for that opening 45, but what I loved is that were starting to reap the rewards of good off the ball positioning… Chelsea players were ratttled into making unforced errors just by where our players were positioned. Not perfect by any means, but you could see that we were difficult to attack.
Our goal came from a George Graham inspired setpiece. Cal Chambers, who is a beast in the air, nodded on for Auba at who was hunting in the box. It really was a shame he limped off with what looked like a serious injury.
A lot of people lay the genius of Chelsea at Frank Lampard’s feet when he switched Chelsea to a back 4 and brought on Jorginho. I’m not sure that was the difference-maker, I think Arsenal running out of steam was. When you’re tired, your body defaults… as a team, we defaulted to habits that Arteta hasn’t fully dealt with yet.
The game finished, but there were no boos. That was a heartening performance from a depleted team that’s about 2 weeks into a journey. We felt robbed, a bad feeling, but I didn’t expect to feel like that considering the circumstances. That’s a good sign.
I’m positive, I know most will expect me to be, but I think I’ve seen enough to know we’re heading in the right direction.
Arteta has taken over Arsenal in a chaotic fixture pile-up, with a broken squad, and very little confidence.
We’re seeing a huge amount of effort already. I read some people pondering whether Arsenal are capable of playing with intensity… absolutely. We’ve been playing with the handbrake on for well over a year, Arteta isn’t pushing Arsenal players to unachievable levels of effort, he’s bringing them up to a normal standard. It’s going to take time. We have a World Cup winning S&C coach who will be frontline shaping our intensity, we will be fine. Key thing for me, I was unsure if Arteta would be able to motivate players to push themselves to breaking point, he can, that’s good news.
The players are responding well. I thought Luiz had an immense game, Torreira is playing like a proper DM, and Mesut Ozil has turned up for the second game in a row, Auba is defending, and AMN is looking very solid.
David Luiz had this to say.
“For me he will be one of the best coaches in the world,” Luiz said.
“I am lucky to have have had many good coaches in my career, he is intelligent, he is clever and I think he will be one of the best.
Sure, I can take that with a pinch of salt, but no one was saying this about Emery. My point here again is that the players are showing you they believe in Arteta with the effort, but they are saying they believe in his ideas, which is even more important. It takes time to learn a new way of playing. It took Klopp and Pep a while to bed in the way they wanted to play, it’ll take Mikel a while, but you’re seeing good signs.
I’m also positive that the manager can raise the level of the squad. We have good players, saying we don’t is lazy, it’s also usually peddled by people that liked Emery. We matched Chelsea fairly comfortably with 7 players missing, with a brand new manager… they’re 5 months into their project with a fully fit squad. We haven’t had proper fullbacks for two games, even the addition of Kola will help. Holding is going to be immensely welcome when he joins, a ball-playing centre back with athleticism. I’m sure Arteta will draw more from Ceballos and I’m pretty sure Martinelli is exactly the mould of player he wants in his side.
The second part of having fit players is being able to select from a bench. A lot of criticism was levelled for his subs yesterday, but really, how many game-changing options did he have? Pepe can’t get a start ahead of Nelson, we can keep hoping he’s the real deal, but all logical indicators point to him not being that player right now.
We’ve also lost our ‘ex-captain’ to Hertha Berlin. 1) This is his level 2) We will have to replace him. Hopefully we find someone with the power and pace he lacked. They also need to be able to pass. That signing needs to be a game-changer, there has to be a good plan there.
Results have to come, they will come, but there need to be a level of realism. We’re in the most intense part of the season with a new manager who is having to communicate most of his ideas in meetings and one on ones. Still, we’re seeing the beginnings of an identity, which is what we all wanted. The players are fighting for the club, something we’ve not seen for years. Fans in the stadium are backing the approach, lots of positive sentiment during and after the game. Good things will come, the next 6 weeks will be rough, but we are moving towards something very exciting.
Right, see you all in the comments. x
Arsenal now play with hARTETA.
He’s won over Arts and Minds.
Fans are having Art attacks!
“You like to go on about “control” a lot. How does “control” coincide with fast and flowing?“ I’m not the only one, Arteta wants control of the game and control of the football. How you can be so absurd to dissociate control and fast and free flowing football? You need control to implement that level of football. But I digress, this is merely another angle in a Xhaka dismissal from yourself. That’s the range of your scope and it’s tedious as ever. Now Banford is back to claim player poverty for the millionth time, so all the broken records are… Read more »
Shad Forsythe
Lego Hair…. Lol to that pseudo!!
Pedro
Yes, well you’d hope we can finish above Newcastle.
If next season you think we’ve got enough in the tank to finish top four without some major changes this summer, you may be disappointed.
Paulinho
Amazing after just Arteta’s second game the cascade of fans now moving toward the idea this squad needs serious changes. What a shock.
It was an excuse for Emery for the longest time (even though it wasn’t, the squad being shit and Emery deserving to be sacked can coexist) and now suddenly it seems the majority opinion in the fan base. Even previously protected fan favourites like Lacazette should be for the chop.
Perhaps it’s seeing 3 managers in 1 season struggle to get much out of this lot including the he-who-drips-with-sauce Mr Sau…sorry, Senor Sauceface.
Amazing that people are looking at a squad 7 players short and saying it looks weak.
Has the cup-tied rule in European competitions been removed?
If so that could be huge for us if we have a good January.
Potentially an appalling EPL campaign but still ending up in the UCL.
G of H
“””””To suggest it can’t happen means you may need your brain testing.”””””
One win 15 Alert,
Off course we can get relegated,
PEA or Leno get seriously crock- we will go down. Plain and Simple
1/15??????
Who did he world cup with? Shad
Alex, we’ll reshape the squad in the summer, I’m under no illusions that we need new players for the new era… but if we’d had Arteta from the start of this season, we’d not be in the situation we are now. We’d be fighting for top 4.
Rich,
As I said last night, Arsenal was top in term of average distance run and number of sprints per 90 minutes during the first half of last season. We finished only 5th overall at the end of the season. In fact despite his injury lay-off Ramsey was our top rated player in that department finishing 9th overall in the league.
This season we are nowhere near the top of the leaderboard. That could be due to tactic, but as shown yesterday it looks more like a conditioning issue.
Wasi, why don’t you google from the device you are on
Exactly.
To start this season with Unai was like beginning the race without shoes. Disaster.
Still excited about Mikel. Statue and stand naming coming in 2020. You heard it here first.
At least, hard to blame Arteta for having shit musical tastes, as he’s a big Pink Floyd fan.
Favourite album : “The Dark Side of The Sauce”, obviously.
Just in Elephant & Castle… they gentrified that quick.
PedRo
“””””but if we’d had Arteta from the start of this season, we’d not be in the situation we are now. We’d be fighting for top 4.””””
Had we had Arteta to replace Wenger immediately we might now even be challenging for the title.
But The Spiv wanted his Clown
Indeed wanted to extend his contract…..
And taken us from 5th/6th to 12th and burned through a quarter of a billion in the process.
No wonder- he dont do interviews!
A Coward and a Cockroach!
Charlie Arsenal have had “control” of the football in midfield by and large for the past three seasons. What has it achieved for this side? Talking of control is all well and good but we have all seen that it has it downsides in Arsenal’s case. Slow transition to attack. Encouraging teams to press high up against us. All because it has been slow in many instances. By all means I’d love to see this “control” when Arsenal have their noses in front in matches but this control in Arsenal’s case hasn’t been so good when Arsenal are on level… Read more »
CG, at least we’re on the right path now. Players will come back by mid Jan, hopefully a signing or two, then an upgrade in the summer focused on athleticism and youth.
So did Arteta put out a message to Ole that we can only run for 60 minutes?
‘Gentlebris how did anyone here help arteta get this job?No disrespect to Pedro and his blog but we are a grant total of zero on the relevance scale for arsenal’s decision makingThey approached arteta 18 months ago as the higher ups thought he was an interesting gamble, tho didn’t give it to him and returned again this time to him for the same reasonDo you really think Raul and edu are logging on to Le Grove each night to help inform their decision making process based on a group of angry online warriors (and yes that’s us lot!)’ China, But… Read more »
Okay 😂
If we can’t beat a Chelsea who have lost loads of games then we are in doo-doo
With this squad we might take a different route with different managers but we will always arrive at the same destination.
If you miss 7 first team regulars, of course the team look weak.
However more importantly it is specific positions that need reinforcement in both quality and quantity: DM, left CB, GK, left FB.
Hopefully Arteta will have more influence on the type of players we recruit. At least Emery was right in wanting more athletic DM. N’Zonzi may not have been the long term solution to our problem, but he would have been more effective than Denis Suarez, Ceballos or Torreira.
Soumaré, Sangaré, Partey should be investigated. Sell Xhaka and Elneny/Mhkitaryan to fund that purchase.
When your not winning games and being a goal up for that time the ‘mentals’ kick in.
Partey is going to cost a fortune, but what a player for the Premier League
“Arsenal have had “control” of the football in midfield by and large for the past three seasons.What has it achieved for this side?“ You’re confusing control with meaningless possession. Arteta isn’t being that, he’s bringing possession of the ball with clear ideas and patterns of how to use it. Basically nothing we’ve seen in 3 years so idk what your objective is with your argument. Arsenal aren’t going to be a counter attack merchant under Arteta, just put your finger somewhere near the pulse to figure that out. He’s Barcelona raised, Pep studied, he’s not coming here to emulate Klopps… Read more »
Those 7 missing first team regulars are the reason we are in a mess and hiring a rookie will not solve the problem
..
Big improvements under Arteta however, this team is seriously not good enough for champions league football if we are to challenge for it next year. Seeing lads like Nelson getting in ahead of our £72m winger speaks volumes of what’s going on behind the scenes. To think we were a hissy fit away (Luiz at Chelsea) from starting the season with Sok and Mustafi – not that Luiz has improved us in the slightest shown how shambolic it is behind the scenes. I called for Emery’s head just as much as any one of you for his tactical shower of… Read more »
Common sense dictate that if you overtrain a team, the entire team will be be overtrained. Some will just get injured. Some will get tired.
Valentin
Stop embarrassing yourself.
Saka and Martinelli both trained under Emery this season, why is that Martinelli can run all game and Saka can’t?
Do you think Kolasinac and Ozil can be put under the same conditioning training?
Pedro
I appreciate your optimism but I think the squad needs a bit more work than you think. I hope your (our) dreams come true.
Regarding Elephant, yes it’s scary how quickly they turned that around.
Check out Walworth Rd especially if you remember what it used to be like.
We’re not really missing much in midfield and midfield is our biggest problem; and people who pronounced this squad the third best in the league and better than last year were well aware of our options. Difference is at the start of the season Guendouzi was supposedly a top talent, Willock was a top talent, Ceballos was/is an undoubted talent, but his suitability for English football and physical issues was always a question mark that meant caution was advised.
Azed, it’s not clear what you’re arguing there. That players have different fitness levels? Or that Ozil can’t be trained the same as Kola?
Also, on player poverty (my god that’s still a thing)… We heard chapter and verse about this or that player needed to bring Emeryball to life, so a massive fuck off to those same drips claiming folk are going back on what’s been said about the squad by suggesting Arteta the right to bring in players to realise his vision. Clubs “improve” every 6 months when the transfer windows open, Arsenal are no exception and it’s not a change of tact to call for more progression in yet another window. As has been stated, if we started this season with… Read more »
Paulinho, they were all coached badly. Let’s see how they get on with someone that has a philosophy and a more modern vision of the game.
Gentlebris, If Raul and Edu took the decision based on the opinion of some guy on Twitter or on some blog, then they are fools or coward. They should have their own opinion and the courage of their conviction. WestHam just rehires David Moyes. Their fans are up in arm. I disagree with their decision, but at least they made a courageous one, because clearly that will not be well received with the fans. I don’t know why we didn’t get Mourinho. Maybe it was because he failed at his PowerPoint presentation. Maybe it was because Raul dithered and let… Read more »
Pedro
Partey has a release clause apparently?
Might be we can offer Lacazette to them as they were interested in him before we bought him. Not sure they would be now but you never know. Lacazette and money for Partey.
Stories that Auba wants to leave in January.
Emery never actually got any of those players.
He wanted Zaha, he got Pepe.
He never had any proper full backs after December of his first seaso,for any length of time.
He wanted Perisic, he had to settle for Suarez.
Arteta arguably will place more stock on midfield subtlety than Emery yet that still remains to be seen.
PedRo “””””CG, at least we’re on the right path now. Players will come back by mid Jan, hopefully a signing or two, then an upgrade in the summer focused on athleticism and youth.””””” We are basically starting a football club from scratch. No experience professionals left – so who do the youngsters learn from? All AFC stalwarts ousted Inexperienced albeit bright coach taking the reins Absent owners Even Mid table clubs with better squads Charlatans behind the scenes. Indeed no money ( or a little) No one can do this job now: so I am not criticising Arteta. (There is… Read more »
“” because this group of players simply isn’t good enough. While some Arsenal fans are beginning to realize this, others are still operating under the illusion that we have a good squad. We don’t.”” I disagree- we were basically unplayable until we tired , which was way to early – we forced them into mistakes and they couldn’t handle us – and because we are not used to playing with that intensity we wilted – every single player stepped up in the first half – it was there for all to see , we showed that we are making steps… Read more »
Azed,
Clearly keep making a fool of yourself by arguing against points nobody made.
As I wrote if you undertrain a team, then the natural level of stamina and speed will be the players baseline.
Again nowhere did I say that the conditioning should not be adapted to a player and his position.
Unless you believes that every coaches who ever complained that the team they inherited is not fit for his demand are liars or idiots, you have to accept that difference coaches have different demands in term of fitness.
Pedro
I’d bin Auba and Ozil at the next available opportunity, both the wrong side of 30, both on stupid money.
Take the 75mil and plunge it back into a side missing some of the stuff Arteta is looking for to bring his football to life. Technical and tenacious footballers that can stomach the prem.
Volland and Zaha sorts
Oh so Charlie is dreaming of a reincarnation of tiki-taka. With this present Arsenal squad lol
So yesterday and hard to achieve to it’s really best level with this current squad.
Man City have a possession stat this season of just over 60%.
Liverpool have a possession stat this season of just under 58%
There is a 2% difference between the sides in terms of posssession.
The fact of the matter is we allowed Emery to continue for far too long. The Watford game was pivotal as far as I was concerned. That game epitomised everything that was wrong with the team. No belief, no leadership, no idea what to do. That’s when Emery should have been shown the door. That game was on 15th September. Hindsight though is a great thing. Here we are two days away from the New Year and we find ourselves in a situation that none of us would have anticipated and, even more significantly, at a major crossroads in the… Read more »
Ishola
The percentage figure is relatively arbitrary, it’s how and what is getting done with the ball and the intention of how to play. We’ll always feature highly in the league because we have superior players.
And I love how you’re dismissing what inevitably is peak Artetaball. Probably because you’re just the bellend that sees all things Arsenal with a negative spin.
And Charlie
If we have had meaningless possession for the past three years why have you kept on about the importance of a player that has been the main provider of this meaningless possession?
I just read Willocks public statements about the game.
I wish the kid will just tuck his head into his behind and do his work. He just evokes the same reaction I get when I listen to Greta lecturing the world about climate change, the same 17 year old now skipping school to fight for climate change.
He did nothing when he came on, just ran around a lot. He, like Guen need lots of coaching to be effective players.
Agree that Arteta could have managed the game better…when it was obvious that the team was too tired to continue to play the pressing game effectively there should have been a Plan B
The team will tire just as predictably against United and I hope Plan B is better than simply asking Leno not to err
Any rumours knocking about? I heard we apparently held talks with Rabiot personally Arteta but Juve seem pretty adamant that they don’t want him to leave. That might of course change if they were to get Vidal or Rakitic.
Recall Eddie this winter and use him as understudy for Aubameyang. In the summer transfer window if somebody makes a large bid for Lacazette, sell him and bring a more physical striker. Not necessarily a young one more a battle scarred one willing to work hard at his last opportunity. Send both U21 strikers on loan in France or in Germany. Unless somebody is willing to pay his full wage, keep Özil as a 70 minutes player against cannon fodder teams. Buy a dominant defensive central midfielder. There are lots of such “relayeurs” players in France and Germany who can… Read more »
Said on another site. I mid we should buy in Jan 18 month contract will show the kids how to play, both footed, is a magician and said himself still has unfinished business with The Arsenal.. Santi Carzola..would be a great new year gift
Graham
“The fact of the matter is we allowed Emery to continue for far too long. The Watford game was pivotal as far as I was concerned. That game epitomised everything that was wrong with the team. No belief, no leadership, no idea what to do. That’s when Emery should have been shown the door. That game was on 15th September.”
I agree
That’s the day that I turned
Love this from Saka — “He’s someone who understands the players, understands the club and all the ideas that he’s bringing in,” Saka told Arsenal. “He has a clear strategy of how he wants us to play and we’re just really excited to work with him “He’s teaching us little things that we didn’t know before and just bringing in his own strategies, his own ways of playing. We can see that it’s going to work, we’re just looking forward to doing it. Maybe one thing that I’ve picked up straight away is that when nobody’s pressing you, you don’t… Read more »
Would love to see us go in for Mikel’s good mate Fernandinho.. out of contract in the summer and would be great for a season to give us some leadership and direction!
“If we have had meaningless possession for the past three years why have you kept on about the importance of a player that has been the main provider of this meaningless possession?“ No way Ishola, you’re going to try and segway a conversation about football philosophies into another Xhaka dig? You’ve truly caught me cold there, never would’ve imagined it. The fact our possession of late has been meaningless is down to the intention set out from the coach. Why has Arteta been here 10 days and already we see organisation, structure, passing patterns, movement, pressing take a sharp shift… Read more »
Players will come back by mid Jan, hopefully a signing or two, then an upgrade in the summer focused on athleticism and youth.
I thought we were broke/spent next season’s budget last summer?
Hmmm
A professional footballer
“”””Maybe one thing that I’ve picked up straight away is that when nobody’s pressing you, you don’t need to pass the ball”””””
Gawd help us!
How would you guys like John Fleck to replace Xhaka. Would be unfashionable and cheap.
If Aubameyang does go this January he simply has to be replaced in January. Under no circumstances can Lacazette be trusted to either lead the line or replace his goals. No if or buts about it
“How would you guys like John Fleck to replace Xhaka. Would be unfashionable and cheap.“
Not good enough, and he’s 28 years of age. Let him have his limelight at Sheffield United. If we sell 27 year old Xhaka I’d much prefer we bought in a player under 25 with scope to grow further.
‘If Aubameyang does go this January he simply has to be replaced in January. Under no circumstances can Lacazette be trusted to either lead the line or replace his goals. No if or buts about it’
That’s the problem, having to sell the wrong ST.
If Lacazette is sold you can funnel the money into a different position.
If Aubameyang is sold you really need to buy another ST.
I really think for the money he’s on and the selection/balance issues he creates Lacazette should just be sold. He’s never cut it here.
Now that Dortmund have signed Erling Haaland it seems Atletico are looking at signing Alcacer. Looks like we’ll be stuck with Alexander
An 18 year old professional footballer learning his trade out of his natural position who’d been thrown in at the deep end
There you go CG I fixed it for you – think that’s the context you were looking for
Danny Ings is a name I’m not seeing.. maybe an unpopular opinion but I do feel we need to be looking at players overachieving at smaller clubs! It wasn’t long ago Ings was signed with big expectations at Liverpool and looks to have set his career back on track. Also Tyrone Mings would be on my shopping list to play with saliba next year and show him the English game.. N’didi should top the list but it’s quite literally a step down for him coming from Leicester.. other than him I’d be offering Fernandinho a deal as his city contract… Read more »
I think many will be disappointed this winter. Unless we move out players on outright transfers [not loans], the club will be seeking loans like they did for Suarez. The finances aren’t good, nothing has changed from last winter. We have to go a different way from all these fancy big money signings [ I’m with Valentin regarding this] Arteta is going to have to make champagne out of gruel [ no pun intended] . The squad that was considered good enough has to be coached into wholesomeness. It’s going to be cereal until the summer…and rightly so. We have… Read more »
“Azed, it’s not clear what you’re arguing there. That players have different fitness levels? Or that Ozil can’t be trained the same as Kola?”
Pedro
On the last post, Valentin blamed Emery for the fitness level of the players by stating that last season, Emery over trained the players and this season Emery under trained the players.
My point is when it comes to physical conditioning, clubs tailor it to individuals as no one in his right mind would put Ozil and Kolasinac under the same fitness regiment.
“If Lacazette is sold you can funnel the money into a different position.If Aubameyang is sold you really need to buy another ST.“
If Auba is sold you can buy a winger and have Laca/Martinelli the choice for #9.
Zaha – Laca/Martinelli – Pepe would be a much better attacking unit for me.
Equally the club could back the manager on getting UCL football through the Europa League and pull a couple of big signings off (relatively speaking) and just let it be known to Arteta if he doesn’t make it then there’s no money at all in the summer and potentially even a player like Aubameyang would need to be sold to balance the books and there will be no replacement. If it works we’ve got UCL football and money to kick start the club. If it doesn’t then Arteta will be stuck with no movement in the summer and will have… Read more »
Charlie “Why has Arteta been here 10 days and already we see organisation, structure, passing patterns, movement, pressing take a sharp shift towards productive and resolute? It’s because the instructions are clear, they’re innovative, they’re detail oriented, and they consider the strengths of the players on hand.” And you saw all this in the match against Bournemouth did you? As others have noted your puffing heavily on that Arteta bong. What was noted in the Bournemouth match was that certain players were adjusting and positioning differently when Arsenal were not on the ball. No mind blowing stuff on the ball… Read more »
Edu
“””””An 18 year old professional footballer learning his trade out of his natural position who’d been thrown in at the deep end””””””
Learning his trade?
What is he becoming a Locksmith or a Butcher?
He doesnt need to be told that, surely to goodness.?
If a soccer player cant think for himself- he will ultimately be useless.
People fight wars at his age- his dilemma is when I pass a bloody football….
Dont make excuses for these mamby pampy glove wearing babies!
They need Tough Love and a Clip around the ear- not a standing ovation.
“Maybe one thing that I’ve picked up straight away is that when nobody’s pressing you, you don’t need to pass the ball. What you can do is just get the ball, drive the ball forward a bit and wait for someone to come to you, commit a player, then pass it.” Our centre-backs have been guilty of doing this all season. Go back as far as Adams and Bould and they would consistently step into midfield and bypass the opposition’s strikers and initiate attacks. All season we’ve had space to move into, not done it, and passed to players surrounded… Read more »
“” Gawd help us!””
Or – Arteta help us – because it’s seems like no arsenal coach up until this point has helped saka to grasp this concept
And if that’s the only thing you can pick up on out of that whole article then you clearly have an agenda , not that you actually try to disguise it
Chambers was stepping up very well yesterday until his injury, he was taking the ball from Chelsea players before they even knew he was there. Initiated a few moves that way.
I think many will be disappointed this winter.
What’s new for Arsenal fans. You’ll notice though there’s no expectations it’s more what should happen or commenting on speculation. But trust you to put a dampener on things. Can I ask when were you officially given the title of party pooper/bore? Did you run unopposed or did you have to beat out Valentin, Red and Joe for the crown?
Cesc ‘Equally the club could back the manager on getting UCL football through the Europa League and pull a couple of big signings off (relatively speaking) and just let it be known to Arteta if he doesn’t make it then there’s no money at all in the summer and potentially even a player like Aubameyang would need to be sold to balance the books and there will be no replacement.” Don’t you think we’ve rolled the dice way too many a time. We have to avoid short-termism with Arteta. You’re advocating a high risk all-or-none approach by asking that we… Read more »
Ishola
That’s it mate “no mind blowing stuff” at all, which explains why it’s been totally absent how long now?
You’re boring, always shitting on aspects of the club because any idiot can criticise, takes someone with a brain to offer solutions.
The squad that was considered good enough has to be coached into wholesomeness
Righhhtttt
Marko
You never learn.
You did the same last winter, all we ended up with was Suarez. We threw the dice on Pepe…how’s that working out by the way.
I like to tether your type to reality. This ain’t city IP.
I’m advocating for a different approach like trying to get the likes of Todd Cantwell and Max Aarons from Norwich city should they go down.
Chambers was stepping up very well yesterday until his injury
Upamecano is especially good at stepping out from the back and playing out from the back. Just saying
Paulinho “Our centre-backs have been guilty of doing this all season. Go back as far as Adams and Bould and they would consistently step into midfield and bypass the opposition’s strikers and initiate attacks. All season we’ve had space to move into, not done it, and passed to players surrounded by opposition players.” Why would there be the space to do it when there is a DLP stepping on their toes? We all know why the Arsenal CBs have not come out with the ball and advanced like other conventional sides we see. It’s because Arsenal have been employing a… Read more »
‘Don’t you think we’ve rolled the dice way too many a time.’ No…do you even support Arsenal? Short termism would be paying through the nose for a near 30 player or something. Not putting the summer budget out there on players like Upamecano and Partey who, regardless of success this season, would offer a lot going forward for years to come. You’re proposing do nothing, make it to the end of the season and then work with a meager budget again at the whims of selling clubs to structure payment plans. The way back wouldn’t be long in that case,… Read more »
Valentin Physical conditioning is tailored to each player and that’s were things like speed and stamina are dealt with. When it comes to training(tactics, ball movement et al), some are intense were tackles are allowed why some are chilled and while this helps with stamina, it is not the major component of building stamina. When coaches complain of fitness, its usually two things 1) Players not fit for purpose e.g Ozil will never be fit for a klopp team 2) Lazy players, Arteta , Freddie and Emery complained about Pepe not training well. The idea that Emery under trained the… Read more »
I’m advocating for a different approach like trying to get the likes of Todd Cantwell and Max Aarons from Norwich city should they go down
That’s great and all but it doesn’t really help us out this January. And Cantwell? Nah
Marko
“Chambers was stepping up very well yesterday until his injury”
Yes he was. Impressed with him.
But of course would like to see a 90 minutes of that from him.
There were signs that the Chambers – Luiz CB partnership may work.
Chambers stepping up being the aggressor and Luiz falling in behind Chambers looking to do a more sweeper role.
Pedro The team/squad is in urgent need of overhaul, but not to extent that some would suggest. CENTRE BACKS The club needs to buy at least one World Class Centre Back who should also be a team leader. That will unfortunately cost serious money as so many other clubs in Europe are looking for same item including both Manchester Clubs. I would retain Messrs Holding and Chambers and we will also be bringing in next season Saliba. Messrs Mustafi, Sokratis, Luiz and Mavropanos should be offloaded. WING/FULL BACKS I would not discount either Bellerin or Tierney. Both have had serious… Read more »
Cesc
Staking so much on qualifying for the CL through that lone EL spot is reckless.
If this was an idea generating session, it would go into the bin immediately.
We have to clear out half the squad and carefully seek players who fit what Arteta has talked about. I wouldn’t care less if they don’t show up on the fantasy league scouting that the typical gooner generates. No one knew of Martinelli and yet here he is.
There’s no certainty big name signings will redeem the situation either.
“at least we’re on the right path now.”
We’re on the Sauce path.
Nothing can stop us!! (to become the new Liverpool)
“Why would there be the space to do it when there is a DLP stepping on their toes?”
We did it against Bournemouth and Xhaka slotted back into the left centre back position to cover and also dictate with the ball and feed balls into the forward players. It can work if the DLP and the centre back communicate.
We actually haven’t been rolling the dice on transfers at all that’s a really stupid thing to say. For years we’ve been going for cheaper/stupid alternatives as opposed to risk pay off type signings. It’s getting slightly better with the Martinelli and Saliba signings but you look at Haaland just going for pittance and I bet you everything that I have that we reason we didn’t go flat out for such an obvious and attainable talent was because we’re probably humming and hawing on the two that we currently have. Roll the dice. We literally overanalyze and overthink potential signings… Read more »
‘If this was an idea generating session, it would go into the bin immediately.’ What says you? Staking so much? As in not being able to spend in the summer? As opposed to what, taking Norwich cast offs and beginning our century long rebuild to 4th? Sorry, but you are without doubt the most pessimistic doom-monger of an Arsenal fan I’ve ever seen. You seem to want Arsenal to be an anomaly in world football and behave like no one else. To suggest Arsenal are a risk taking club as you did is beyond laughable. Conservatism, reactionary, safe, overly cautious,… Read more »
CC
Fleck has been quite good this season. And From what ive seen he is good on the ball and without it too. Also has the eye to pick a pass out.
Will be scouting him specifically in the next few Huddersfield games.
ES
CM is our biggest issue imo, there’s a real lack of a plan in there as far as what profiles we have available.
Would bin Xhaka and Ceballos this summer, personally would like to see us go the Rabiot route assuming he’s able to deliver the PSG levels I’ve seen of him. Grealish would be my pick for PL talent this summer.
Those two would add a great deal of ball retention, tenacity, and ability to move with the ball through midfield. Though I’m not sure what fees you’re talking do remains to be seen.
Wasi Fleck is decent, I’ve known him since he came through at Rangers. Just don’t think he’s the right profile/talent level we should aspire to. That’s not to suggest it’s world class or bust, I’m not a snob like that. I just feel at 28 he’s not the type of investment we should be making, Sheffield United will want 25 mil easy for him and that’s straight down the pan. If we are buying a 28 year old they need to come with a near guaranteed level of class, like an Umtiti sort, not Fleck. Different story if he was… Read more »
And also a club doing backhander deals with friends.. signing Denis Suarez the same day that Tielemans joined Leicester is something I will never get over!
Paulinho ”We did it against Bournemouth and Xhaka slotted back into the left centre back position to cover and also dictate with the ball and feed balls into the forward players. It can work if the DLP and the centre back communicate.” That’s true enough in that certain match but you understand the point that was made that previously this aspect has been handicapped by the team operating deep in first transition attack with Xhaka doing his DLP stuff. So it can be got around as you say. Wouldn’t you rather though just have a conventional set-up with midfielders actually… Read more »
there needs to be review of Lacazette and Pepe.
Given up on Pepe after mere months. People who do this are stupid btw. History is littered with players who started off slow and ended up being good players. Even this season Eden Hazard prior to injury was playing awfully but do you think there’s Madrid fans out there calling for him to get binned? As someone said a few days ago if timewise was different and Robert Pires was bought last summer you’d probably have Arsenal fans calling for him to be sold right about now.
Arteta sounds like he is taking the right line with Pepe.
Talent is obvious to be one of the best but the effort and tenacity needs to improve in training and on field.
Staking so much on qualifying for the CL through that lone EL spot is reckless.
If this was an idea generating session, it would go into the bin immediately.
Jesus you’re something. It’s likely our only option to save our season and not give up. Your idea of doing nothing and waiting to sign up relegated players next summer is about as pointless to us now as anything.