It’s FA Cup time for us. We’ve watched Jose Mourinho and OGS lead their teams to magnificent replays after embarrassing stalemates, we have to avoid that sort of indignity at all costs.
Mikel Arteta might look to Jose Mourinho for a little inspiration. When the ‘Special One’ first landed at Chelsea, he went all guns blazing in the cups, making the league cup the first win of historic tenure.
We don’t have the luxury of a league cup run, but we do have a great opportunity to progress today against a Leeds side that has promotion on their mind.
I don’t know how the manager will line up for this one, but he’s making big noises about winning something.
“I think winning brings togetherness and when you have beautiful experiences together and you win trophies, those experiences stay within that group,” Arteta said.
“You like more the people you work with and you believe more in them and share some fantastic moments and that stays.
“That habit of winning, winning and winning. After you win, you don’t want to stop winning and you become addicted to that and that is what we have to try and implement at this club.”
There’s no lack of clarity there, he’s not a top 4 merchant, he wants to build a winning machine.
I suspect the pumped-up rhetoric is part for the fans, but more for the second string players he’s going to likely have to pick this evening. We’ve had problems the last few seasons raising our levels with players who sit on the bench. Rotation of the squad hasn’t always been fair and to be honest, the depth of our bench has been fairly poor. This season, the main difference is we have a lot of kids who intro’d last season who are year older, and all should be desperate to impress the new management team.
Matteo G and Dani Ceballos are probably the two closest to the first team with the most to prove. Matteo has been all over the place this season, far too much responsibility was put on his shoulders and he’s struggling for form… worse, his attitude has been less than spotless. He has the chance to show he can play with discipline and listen to a manager that will be good for him. I’d really love him to blow up under Arteta.
Dani is very different, there’s been no lack of enthusiasm, more a struggle to keep pace with the relentless physicality of the Premier League. I think his attitude is there, the talent is not in doubt, he just needs to be given a clear role and deliver against it. No way his energy isn’t going to be useful over the next 5 months.
Nicolas Pepe could start again, if he does, this is a huge test of attitude. It’s all well and good putting on a show against United, but can you motivate yourself against a Championship side? I hope so.
As for the kids, I’d love to see Saka have a chance further up the pitch. I think this could be a good game for ESR to show what he’s made of. I’d also love Willock to deliver to productivity in the final third, the club are clearly excited about him, hopefully he can show the fans why.
… could also be a bit tasty to see Eddie land some minutes.
No idea who else is going to play, but I do think it’d be wise to put some heavy rotation into the starting 11 so we don’t suffer any more injuries to key players.
It’s a home game, Arteta is clearly looking for a performance from the fans after seeing a lot of empty seats this weekend (shame on you, Stoke City fans).
“It is too powerful, with the fanbase we have, our history and the great players they have seen and the great teams they have seen, if we get that connected it is so powerful. Without that, I think it is impossible to do it.”
You heard the man, take your vuvuzelas and makes some noise.
Enjoy the evening, I’m very sad not to be there… also listen to my podcast with Matt.
bring on Ceballos he might bring stability on the midfield
with his quick turns and pass might release our forwards too
We don’t have one midfielder who wants the ball to set the tone of the game.
It’s all hurried and frantic.
Our collective footballing IQ in the midfield is in the retardation range.
Definitely a learning experience for Arteta so far. … Do hope he switches the formation though.. and settles the midfield.. Ozil has touched the ball twice maybe.. no link up play.
Wtf.
This Leeds have turnt up. We looked confused and not at the races.
Changes have to be made.
Biesla is a great coach and this leeds side know how to play!
Oh well. We look sluggish.
Corner… maybe a set piece.. goal… ah nope. Luiz was free though.
yeah our hope is set piece then
should’ve direct that better there Luiz
For Gawd sake, we don’t need better players to beat a championship team.
Save the better players argument for another day.
Dave agree
Nelson in Trafalgar Square got a better brain..
Lolz! Back to type
Oh brother Guendouzi is having a nightmare. Worse of out of a bad bunch so far. Lacazette’s lack of athleticism is a big issue. No out ball over the top into thechannels
just need to survive the first half hook Guen then go on roaring again
overrun everywhere my heart can’t take this
Nelson will never make it at Arsenal…There’s no coaching a player who’s gash
Our players are not pressing.. they are just running around.
Thanks Martinez, man of this hilarious first half.
Oh man… living on the edge. Martinez is a good keeper though.
Good save!!!
This is so poor.
Marty callebos on
Leeds have had like 13 shorts in half an hour.
great one from Martinez!!
good job at least we have a good backup too how long ago now we can say that our goalkeeper situation settled that nicely?
It’s basically 11 against 8 with Nelson and Ozil on the pitch at the moment.
Almost own goal!
Fuckin’ he’ll! What a save by Martinez. Thought that was in.
fucking underpowered hospital pass right
this is not the backward pass you cunt hate this sideshow bob already
My God Leeds could have scored 4 times by now. There is a reason a team with so much confidence coming in to this game looks so poor now. It is because Some of our players are really POOR.
Even street footballers have world class games but sustaining it is a whole different animal.
Marko
I pipe up when I see dickheads chat shit and go OTT to serve their own views. You wait desperately to stick the boot into the same names and it’s boring to read.
Lacazette to get his share tonight from you too, Ozil (oh, he’s been touched already), Nelson too I’m sure. Like I say, good thing AMN isn’t on.
194 passes to our 91…That’s bad
This is so embarrassing. We are being completely outplayed. Have we strung 3 passes together ?. Ozil looks so lethargic. he is just jogging about the field. I wish this wasn’t being televised for the watching millions to see how truly dreadful we are.
Guen’s forward passes suck!!!!
Easily the worst performance under Arteta so far. I have always been an advocate of Guendouzi but he has been our worst player so far, closely followed by Xhaka.
Leeds are schooling us in possession football and we are only surviving by luck and last ditch defending.
If we don’t change things dramatically and soon, goodbye to Round4
Guendouzi and xhaka together just doesn’t work
Bielsa defo has hemorrhoids. He never sits. Ever.
Its all Emery’s fault of course!
Poor Arteta. He really has his work cut out with no money. He needs at least 7 new players. Then again he should be alright as not everyone in the championship are as good as Leeds. Plus we probably won’t have to play them next year as they’ll get promoted 😁
How many times do we hear Guendouzi having a mare?
Martinez is the only gunner with Sauce tonight.
Lava needs bench time…badly out of form
Where is ozil!?
Laca is clumsy , sluggish; lacks pace too. Hold onto ball too long doesn’t help either
With that performance and colour of jersey thought we were up against City!!
We’ve been outplayed in every position in this half, they could of had 3 or 4
And yet not once was Beilsa (or however you spell it), linked with us.
They are showing us how to play as a team.
Good thing its Bamford up front because we would be getting battered by another side.
so Marko you just want to let the 20 year old be a passenger instead and we being let down just due to that?
I’m getting PTSD right now reminding me of Denilsong
Its all Emery’s fault of course!
G8
Emery under trained the players so yes his to blame.
That said, we should expect this under Arteta. There would be ups and downs with some brilliant games and some absolute sh*t showers such as this.
There would be no consistency till next season.
Charles I’m not interested with your usual routine tonight pal. I made my Xhaka comment after he gave the ball away 3 or 4 times and made 3/4 fouls inside the first 20 mins. Nearly 40 mins and we’re getting absolutely battered by a championship side and you want to argue with someone for making an OTT comment. You’re surprising no one by the way
Useroz
Lolz yea…You’d think we’re up against City cuz of the jersey
Holding is having a horrendous game, so is Guendouzi and Nelson
The rest are having typically bad days.
Besides Martinez, every player has been subpar.
***he’s to blame.
How Holding calmly passed the ball to an opposing play. SMH!
Ozil, a midfielder, has touched the ball 9 times in 43 mins…wtf!
Our whole right side is struggling and Leeds play through it every time.
Holding, Sokratis, Guendouzi triangle don’t look confident in what they’re doing and there seems loads of space.
Leeds have been excellent, big credit to them. Fancy Arteta will change shape at half.
What’s funny is Some posters on here were pulling the I told you so card on marko the other night. you could coach some players to be good but you can’t instill something that they don’t have. But I am really hoping This is a Blip from arteta. This game is EMERY levels of poor.
Leeds will be hugely disappointed with 0 goals scored so far. A miracle for us.
Papa, Nelson, Ozil, Xhaka, Kolasinac, …are minuses so far, Guendouzi seems to understand his defensive duties as the game goes on
I don’t remember seeing Pepe completing a single pass.
Mesut Özil with the fewest touches in the game so far. Shouldn’t mention it though it offends Charles. Keep it to Guendouzi all night I suppose.
Holding is having a horrendous game
I can understand that he has
been out for a long time.
Saucy Half Time to come!!
They are making us look like a pub team. Xhaka has been his usual self, haven’t seen Ozil on the ball at all, typical return for lack of sub-par performance.
Holding has been pretty shit too, Luiz gave the ball away stupidly, looks like regular arsenal 🤪
Papa Sok and Laca have perfected the dark art… of falling to the ground to break their momentum. has worked several times. Doesn’t help much in the attack though.
fucking hell Guen has no positional sense whatsoever
always second to the ball
really really weak in everything
Arteta has got to cute with selection here. Sok isn’t a right back, don’t know why we are beasting ozil.
Another game where we struggle with guen. I need to stop raising this issue at some point
Marko
Made up stats are the best kind, stick to hating on your faves you absolute fanny I know it’s been a struggle for you the last few games. Love nothing more than to moan and cry for new players, who can we sign at half time tell us?
If that story about Leeds being bought by the PSG group is true, they could be good team in the premier league next season.
They look well coached and with better players, it should be interesting to watch.
We’re playing with fire… allowing so many chances on our goal. Why do we give our ball away so easily?
“They are making us look like a pub team”
A pub team with sauce, please.
Xhaka and Guendouzi both prefer playing of the left side of CM. Doesn’t work
If we were allowed 5 subs at half time, it wouldnt be enough….fuckin awfull
How they play through our midfield time and time again.
Sokratis at RB or is that RWB was a bad bad call by the way
phew lads how many times I almost pissed my pants in that half
Leeds doing everything right except scoring!
Problem with playing from the back is not just the midfield, its also our full backs don’t offer any oulet for play!
Socratis is obviously not a right back!
Xhaka and Guen making terrible mistakes but at least they’re showing up for play! Can’t say the same for our no 10 maestro!
Some of our players go back to ass shielding the ball and couldn’t make meaningful passes forward at all. Very evident with Laca.
Leeds get brutal in pressing.
Ozil needs a month off after the Man Utd game.
We are not up to par this half, but my goodness, the commentary is so biased, it’s like they are not hiding the fact they want us to lose
Guen is a headless chicken, I swear he needs to go back to junior levels. 60m player lol
Well see what changes get made if any… best thing about it is score is Nil.. nil… Leeds dominated that half but couldn’t score.
Whenever I see stats of Leeds games they always seem to have dominated possession and had countless shots, even if it was a close game or they didn’t win.
Bielsa has indoctrinated his methods into the group, but looks like the reason they don’t batter the opposition every game like City is that their Championship players lack top level quality in the final third. Lucky for us tonight.
We need new players to control possession.
The to ozil he needs to be in a team that can hold possession for more than 5 seconds. Arteta has made some odd selections here, let’s get sok and guen off
Dale
Haven’t seen anyone say they want us to lose? Where you getting that from
@dale, it’s not bias, what can they say about our performance? We did fuck all!
Tbf
I’m telling you now Guen will not work out at Arsenal. Maybe another team.
It worries me that Arteta has faith in Xhaka and Ozil. Lacazette always looks heavy legged lately.
Saying that, rather the match was decided today instead of a replay… Squad already stretched as it is
That was as bad as anything served up under Emery. If United was Sauce War Episode IV A New Hope this was Episode V The Midfield Strikes Back. I cannot decide who had a worse first half, Xhaka or Ozil. Xhaka was his usual self, just abysmal, Ozil wasn’t abysmal but that;s purely because he did nothing. That’s 2/3 of your midfield playing like shit and then Guendouzi who is really offering nothing this season it seems. Some poor selection choices from Arteta. If he persists with Sokratis at RB this game could easily end up with Leeds winning comfortably.… Read more »
Phew, we made it through to half time without conceding, we are the greatest!
Leeds could well be sheff utd of next season in EPL. My word they can play, top class team play, should have scored atleast 2 in the 1st half
That was an awful half against a Championship side.
Need a much better showing after the break because a replay away is the last thing we need with such a thin squad.
Guendouzi seems woefully out of his depth. The talk of doubling his wages and him being a £70m player looking more and more foolish as the season progresses. Arteta needs to drizzle some of his sauce on him 2nd half of the season, teach the kid to stop grabbing the arms of the opposing team’s players.
Who’s the Leeds Keeper?
Liverpool at home playing against a carlo Everton with kids had a better game at the back than this.
Nothing has changed on the clear out list
Ozil
Sokratis
Luiz
Mustafi
Xhaka
Kolasinac
AMN ( willing to give him another chance till summer)
Needless to say laca can’t lead thee line on his own. He needs bodies around him, why is pepe playing or ozil. It’s like he’s beasting them
Made up stats are the best kind
It’s from the BBC dickhead. You’re really not watching the game are you. Just perking up when your favourites are getting criticized. Standard
Keeper knows how to distribute the ball.
Lol at least Pedro’s uncle is happy.
They lack the final ball. Their build up is very good. Our midfield and defense are all over the place.
fucking hell Özil always need good players around him to flourish thus with Guen not supporting him at all of course he’s frustrated
this is all too familiar scene during Project Youth 1.0 as some kids having a mare bringing the whole team down
but this is Arteta so hopefully he won’t make the same mistake as Wenger that is unwarranted faith on these young players
Smith the Leeds CB and then Phillips in midfield are very good players. Better than the counterparts in the Arsenal side.
Habesh let’s not get silly and reactionary. Arteta hasn’t helped them with team selection. Holding sok is a filthy right side of defence. Guen is a liability, Nelson is fairly weak.
It does not leave much to play with. He needs to use this bench now
Bielsa is top class. His teams run out of steam in the last third of the season. But, he’s a terrific coach
I would be upset if I bought a ticket to watch this game.