Dismal Arsenal drop out of Europa

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The less we say about that game the better. Arsenal put on their worst performance under Arteta. The team was fatigued, the energy was pedestrian, and we were god awful in the final third.

To make matters worse, we conceded a goal early in the second half from a set-piece. Just standard Arsenal, a total mess.

We absolutely controlled possession, but somehow, Olympiacos still looked like they were dictating the terms of the game. In the final third, we were a real mess. Bad decisions, heavy touches, and a real lack of a final ball. I didn’t ever feel like we knew how to win that game.

When the game rolled into extra time, you started to fear the deep block was going to win out. However, Arteta had a trump card, and it was Gabriel for the second 15 of extra time. He made the difference immediately. Olympiacos struggled with fitness and the live wire Brazilian made it difficult with his drive and energy.

The sub paid off. Mesut Ozil found Gabriel with a good cross from the right, his flicked header in the box sat up for Auba who scissor-kicked home. What an outrageous goal. We thought we had a winner.

We did not.

Leno gave away a stupid corner. We cleared at the front post, they picked up the ball, slipped a teasing high ball into the box, Luiz let it go to the back post, Sokratis was beaten to the ball and Leno was late off his line. They equalized.

It wasn’t over for chances though, 2 minutes into the added-on time and Auba was found in the box from 6 yards and somehow he fired wide. Absolutely horrendous.

Arsenal drop from the Europa League. Embarrassing, upsetting, but absolutely deserved. We didn’t show up, we lacked quality in all areas of the pitch, and we didn’t know how to make possession count. These days are hard to stomach, but they were always going to happen as we build to a brighter future. The key thing is that we learn from our mistakes.

Now it’s all about the league. Let’s hope the team has it in them to brush this off and pursue the Champions League the proper way, but winning the 5th place trophy.

I recorded a bonus podcast with Matt last night, we don’t talk about Europa and we do a nice section on Ian Wright.

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Redtruth

Arsrnsl under the guidance of Emery had the best record in the Premier league at defending set pieces, now look at us, we’re back to the bad old days of Wenger…

China1

I’m starting to wonder if the refs are abusing var on purpose to rile up hate for it and get it taken away. Before we had var refs could constantly fuck up and ruin games with impunity but now they get held to a higher standard which probably grates with them a lot. What better way to get rid of it than to run it into the ground and get the fans to turn on it? There’s no other logical explanation for what we’re seeing. 3 and a half minutes to check if a hand ball was a hand ball.… Read more »

gnarleygeorge9

Pedro

Invested Arsenal money or Walmart money?

Sid

352 has been the better option, you can play Torr willock Dozi their energy will cover other weaknesses, then we have wingbacks.

GunnerDNA

Bamford10,

There’s no logical reason to include Ozil in any starting 11 for Arsenal. The Club told Emery not to play him last season and wanted him gone because he’s useless. All the trolling about more effort is bs, 1 assist and 1 goal in his last 19 games. Joker should be struggling to make the 18. Arteta not substituting him yesterday was a big red flag.

gnarleygeorge9

I’m sure anyone who knows Stan will tell you he is a nice bloke, but the nice bloke’s Club just got the premature Arse from a 2nd string euro comp & I for one have absolutely no confidence in his stewardship.

Redtruth

gnarley

You are 10 years too late, you should of whipped up a fuss then…

Aussie Gooner

Gnarley

We all know that Stan has long pockets and short arms as far as his (or his wife’s) personal money is concerned. He will bleed Arsenal dry with the ‘self financing model’, leaving us mid-table, sell at a huge profit and move on to his next project. Arsenal only has to remain in the PL to grow the clubs financial profile.

He is a businessman, he has no emotional attachment to Arsenal. Forget big transfers into the club – get used to mid-table mediocrity until Stan feels it is time to jump ship.

Receding Hairline

Arteta didn’t take any responsibility for tonight

He talks about the effort the players put in being tremendous and how it’s his job to lift the players. He keeps talking about these players like they deserve to play for a top club..they don’t which is good because we are no longer a top club.

Receding Hairline

Pedro your exchange with China on fine margins was pretty funny .

Never change

Habesha Gooner

Pedro
It is being a hypocrite blaming it on Leno and Auba. If your performance is so bad that it depends on one of your best strikers missing one chance and Your keeper giving away a corner the whole team deserves to lose. Now comes the pattern recognition. Performances have been either poor or average in the last three weeks. This defeat was coming. Now It will be all about whether you want to call a spade a spade. Arteta fucked up. And It’s not just him some of these players are beyond redemption. We need to sell.

Pierre

Looking at last night from a balanced point of view instead of a knee jerk reaction, I would say that whilst watching the game I was quite happy with the first half though our passing was sloppy at times . We didn’t look in a lot of trouble defensively and we were controlling the game to a certain degree without looking too dangerous up front. Even when we conceded in the 2nd half I wasnt unduly worried , we had a few chances as did they but it felt that Arsenal were scared to make a mistake at this point… Read more »

SWG

Arteta having a swipe at Luiz in his interview “when you concede 2 goals from set pieces AGAIN…” surely he’s gonna fix this in the transfer window unlike previous managers. We’ve struggled defensively for over a decade yet do nothing about it. The attacking was piss poor mind, ozil is offering very little and Lacazette is done!

Wasi

‘@Wasi How do you expect Arteta’s in-game management to be top notch when you know this is his first job? That’s some kind of veiled criticism in my opinion.’

I dont expect top notch in game management from Arteta just yet. But taking off a stuttering Lacazette for Martinelli shouldn’t take 105 minutes imo.
He missed a sitter when Mustafi set him up by trying to head a ball bouncing at knee height.
Martinelli with his fresh legs and pace should of come on after 70-80 mins imo.

Valentin

Yesterday, when attacking the team was very static. Even the defensive pressing was half hearted. Maybe it is fatigue brought by playing 4 games in 12 games, but then we need to better rotate the players.

Hopefully against Portsmouth, Arteta will go with a more experimental line up.

I would like to see:

…………….Martinez
Bellerin Mustafi Holding Saka
……….AMN Torreira
Nelson Willock Martinelli
……………..Nkethia

Graham62

Tony Good morning. I agree. Team selection/ mindset/ physical defiences/ substitutions/ game management, all played a part.. The miss by Auba, although catastrophic, was not the reason we went out. It took us 76 minutes to get a shot on target, which is unacceptable by any stretch of the imagination. The passing lacked poise and fluidity. GX was pinging the ball around as if he was on drugs. Ten yard passes hit at 100mph! I mean what the fudge. As for Leno, well what can I say. For months now I have been pointing out he is just not good… Read more »

Wasi

Valentin
You want rotation and also Want to play Mustafi , Bellerin, Saka. 🤷 These 3 are fatigued out.

Wasi

Mari most definitely starte Alongside Maybe Holding with Sok at RB

Graham62

Nketiah and Martinelli should have started above Auba and Lacazette.

Dynamism and youth was needed.

Digz

@graham62 I agree with what you said. I just woke up and I’m furious. Two things went wrong last night 1) I hate to bang the same old drum but team selection: Lacazette. Arteta must have seen by now Lacazette is a hopeless player. He is never in the fight place and he is far too slow to move anywhere. I agree in the Europa was the best place to start him but a player so ineffective you take off on 60. 2) Game management: on 50 minutes I typed Arsenal injuries in google because I thought Martinelli must be… Read more »

Goobergooner

ES

“Midfield has been a problem all season, because apart from the diminishing talents of Ozil we have lack of creativity in that department but more importantly limited assists and goals scored.”

You forgot to mention a lack of a real engine and athleticism, someone to properly break up play and recycle. Our midfield is as shit in attack as in defence

Graham62

I’ve always said that having a top GK is a must if you want to taken seriously.

When was the last time we had a top GK?

Seaman? Definitely. No question.

Jens Lehmann? Not consistent enough imo.

We have to get Pope.

Actually feel sorry for Auba today.

Not his fault.

CG

So: The substandard coach OGS can rustle up a 5 zero win – with only Igalo up front against Bruges. Yet The superior coach MA can only muster a 1 goal and defeat despite PEA,Laca and Pepe playing together. OGS who has 2 wins at Maine Road and Chelsea too this season and sits comfortably above Arsenal. Looks to me its either: Some on here have UNDERESTIMATED OGS as a coach or OVERRATED MA. I suspect it’s a bit of both. Arteta biggest mistake so far( and I stated at the time, off course) was his inept decision to appoint… Read more »

Graham62

want to be

Digz

Another thing. It’s time to be honest, Is Pepe our 2nd worst ever signing after Lacazette? He slows down play, is incredibly lazy, I mean what does he actually do?

Graham62

As usual CG you blame others for our failings.

Round had nothing to do with what happened last night.

You are so frigging predictable.

Emiratesstroller

I think that there will be selection changes for the game against Portsmouth.
Some will be forced on Arteta e.g. Mustafi who went off injured.

I could see the following team selected on Monday:

MARTINEZ
SOARES
SOKRATIS
HOLDING or MARI
MAITLAND-NILES
TORREIRA
GUENDOUZI
WILLOCK
MARTINELLI
NKETIAH
NELSON

CG

Graham

“”We have to get Pope.””””

And if we are recruiting from Turf Moor.
Let’s go and get their manager too.

A real manager.
A real bloody leader.

Because that’s what we need to stop our rot.

No more Teck Decks.
No more Head Coaches.
No more Head of Football Operations.
No more loan managers.
Or contracts people.

Because it’s all cobblers. And dont work.
(Dont care what other clubs do.)

Arsenal need a manager.
A proven one.

Always remember:

Coaching is only 49% of the business
Managing is the other 51%

Seun

Arteta should take the blame. Should have rested some legs and played AMN , Martinelli , Torriera, Guendouzi etc after he himself confirm players were complaining of cramps few days ago. Plus a long travel to Dubai. Fresh legs would have won us the game. Inexperience from the coach

Pierre

CG
“Some on here have UNDERESTIMATED OGS as a coach or OVERRATED MA.I suspect it’s a bit of both.”

I think it helps if you can go out in January and buy one of the worlds best attacking midfielders as united have done, as he has transformed their season

Whereas we brought in 2 loan signings.

Grealish next for them.

Cesc's Pizzeria

As much as we expected the win, most of the mistakes were from Arteta’s limited experience (which will only sort itself out over time) as the players seemed very lost on the ball whilst also heavily fatigued.

This may be a blessing in disguise however, as early European knockouts give us more resources to focus on the league and FA Cup. Especially if City’s ban is upheld, 5th place and a FA Cup win can still make this season an overall success.

Sid

Arteta is likeable, his over the top fanboys rubbing it in the face of rational fans are making his job difficult since everytime theres a setback Arteta faces the backlash.

Im telling you this for free!

The backpass

And why the fuck is Mari not playing, bruno guimares gave a masterclass against Juve, after a month Mari is yet to play when we have bunch of clowns in defense who definitely can’t defend set pieces. Maybe, Mari is a little bit shit .. Back to Bruno guimares, he was bought for £22million, if Arteta actually lets xhaka leave, we might have bought him with all the brazilian connection here right now, he was also the best player at the qualifiers for olympics. Why did Arteta beg Xhaka to stay when we could have gotten a superior player in… Read more »

CG

Pierre

“”””I think it helps if you can go out in January and buy one of the worlds best attacking midfielders as united have done, as he has transformed their season””””

Undoubtedly he has -and a great point well made.

(And hasn’t he fitted in quickly to their team?)

Kudos to OGS there too,for his quick adaptation to the Prem.

Meanwhile our signings Cedric, Tierney, Mari and Pepe still need time to get fit and adapt.

OGS who has Mike Phelan as his no.2 (Fergies succesful lieutenant )

MA has Steve Round as his no.2 ( Moyes’ unsuccessful lieutenant)

Coincidence?

The backpass

“Personally I couldn’t give two shits about the Europa league. It’s Mickey Mouse and we stand less chance of gaining access to the champions league through it due to it being a cup and cups require luck. Something if which we had none of last night. The ref was awful Red card in the opening stages for the trip on Pepe Handball shortly after” Lol, how predictable. The same competition we have gotten to the semi-final and finals the past years. This was the best bet for us to get into champions league. Our next PL matches after westham includes;… Read more »

The backpass

“Arteta is likeable, his over the top fanboys rubbing it in the face of rational fans are making his job difficult since everytime theres a setback Arteta faces the backlash.”

Yep, pretty much the most useful free advice you have given. Accurate.

Daniel Altos

It is embarrassing that some posters here have suddenly lost all sense of objectivity…they run amok on the blog when we win football matches showing all the tactical genius of our coach yet when we lose any word of criticism is met with being called an ekb.Of course they won’t mention the late pre-planned subs planned by our manager.When we win I will praise arteta and when we lose I sure will criticize him

SUGA3

Arteta got it massively wrong with the squad selection and did not react when the things were obviously going south. No shot on target until what, 73rd minute? Laca was having a stinker, should have been hauled off in the 60th minute at the latest.

Auba was not having a great time out wide, put him in the middle, look what happens.

Poor, poor from the sauce coach. Also poor of you Pedro to just gloss it over. It was just Olympiakos at home, we should be waltzing these.

Daniel Altos

I see people suddenly don’t give a shit about the Europa league ehh…they only care about the League now.Talking about 5th place lol😂.I think by the time we play villa reality will set in on some of our fans that we have a hopeless squad.In fact I want you to mark this post and take it to the bank

Davey

For all our deficiencies going forward we are conceding all our goals from set pieces/crosses give Mari a run in the team we need a dominant force defending crosses it is plainly obvious

SUGA3

We can’t do set pieces for shit, neither defensively, nor can we score from them. Most of our corners are wank either way.

Arteta will be a good manager. But he’s not the man to fix the mess that is Arsenal. We are a Mickey mouse club. Thank you kroenke, you rug wearing cunt

Billyboy

@Chris I’m with you, Pepe is shit. He does slow down play and he’s lazy. Arteta is a mess. Emery would’ve not gone out to Olympiacos even if he’s head was hanging off. Setting a shape is nothing if your team selections and management during the gang is abysmal #artetaout

Daniel Altos

Pedro talking about fine margins yet when Auba bottled a pen against Spurs and we missed 4th by one point last season I wasn’t hearing the same excuse being wheeled out…how predictable.Can we please have some consistency?And we can frame it however we want to but we shouldn’t be needing a 122nd minute winner(by auba as usual)to deal with freakin olimpiakos at home.

R.S.P.C.Arsenal

I like Leno but wait a minute he made error couple of games back , an error last night should have booted up field like he done two minutes before.

Good shot stopper but not for us next season .

Art should have played Gabby earlier .
Rookie error from rookie manager .

Daniel Altos

China1February 28, 2020 03:48:33 Pedro how is 2 points behind 3rd place and one good performance in a uefa cup final not fine margins between having had an acceptable season and a frustrating failure of a season?We’d have still been a work in progress under emery but we would’ve been in the CL, had extra money and a EL trophy for our troubles. Plenty nicer than what we got. And that was one auba miss and one good game against Chelsea from happening.Fine marginsBut he was on the wrong side of those margins so has rightly paid the price in… Read more »

R.S.P.C.Arsenal

To me as previously said

No Europe is the best we can have for next season.
A time to consolidate.

R.S.P.C.Arsenal

Fully agree with that team stroller

Unathanthium

Two major events that this club has yet to recover from. Firstly, and most importantly, the buying of Ozil. This was a gesture made out of desperation by a manager who felt he had to make a point to a disgruntled fan base. We needed a marquee signing and Ozil was the only low hanging fruit of any quality to pluck at the time. Never mind that he was mot what we needed, an expensive DM would have been better. This was a player who functions at his best surrounded by world class players. He’s not a leader, he’s a… Read more »

DigitalBob

Brutal loss yesterday, the usual culprits at fault, Xhaka and Luiz. No matter how good a coach Arteta is or might be we have footballers who cannot cut it at the top level.

On Arteta, I still have faith but he has a lot to learn in terms of in game adjustments, 60 minutes should have seen the end of Ozil and Laca with Martinelli and Willock(Eddie should have been on the bench) brought on.

Ishola70

The backpass

“Why did Arteta beg Xhaka to stay when we could have gotten a superior player in bruno?.”

Answers on a postcard.

Poor from Arteta that decision but him having been at the club for such a short time I presume that he had this notion of giving every existing player a chance under him when he first enters the club so as to give the squad good morale and a boost.

But if he carries on with this going into next season he will hang himself.

Just Another Customer

Leno is not learning from past mistakes at all this is the frustration I have with footballers these days. Watched the post-match interview involving Leno and Auba and our goalkeeper just put his mistakes as misfortune or being unlucky. WHEN YOU HAVE THAT KIND OF MINDSET HOW CAN YOU IMPROVE!!!!????? Thus making the same indecisions and errors match after match. If only he’s being coached properly to go out when need to be and when to stay on the line. This is maybe due the lack of trust between defenders. We need a solid organised but for now Leno is… Read more »

Doesn’t matter who we have as a manager, under kroenke’s stewardship we have gone from a top 3 team to a midtable team at best. We are a joke of a club, a retirement home for past it footballers. From top to bottom the club is a fucking mess

Daniel Altos

I am going to apologise to Wenger.I now see why he was removing lacazette by the 60/70min mark

Unathanthium

Also I’m not sure why Pedro has such faith in Arteta. He may have worked under Guardiola but he’s never been a manager. Yes the team seem more cohesive but frankly virtually any manager in the PL could have improved on the disaster that was Emery. Fact is we’ve no idea whether Arteta is manager material and it seems foolhardy to test his abilities on a team that needs a major overhaul. Pedro’s smug comments about people regretting their negative attitude towards Arteta this time next season seem more based on wishful thinking than solid evidence. I hope Pedro’s faith… Read more »

Floomboom

I’m sure Arteta will one day be a decent coach at some club, but he’s not ready yet. You can’t constantly pick a striker that rarely scores goals and is too slow and limited to cause problems up front. He should’ve gone off on60. You can’t bring on a defensive midfielder when you’re chasing the game when you’ve got an elite up and coming winger/fw on the bench. Where was Nketiah? This is not just bad, it’s horrendous coaching. Emery would never have done that. We have no athleticism in midfield and the less said about our 72 mil signing… Read more »

Danny S

Anyone thinking Xhaka is leaving I think may be disappointed.

Ateta seems to put a lot of faith in him. I’m pretty sure he will still be a mainstay if the starting 11 next season.

TitsMcGee

Way too early to know either way on Arteta but this result should slow down the “he’s definitely the answer” kind of talk.

We’ll know a lot more next season at this same point.

@Unathanium

Totally agree with you. Their have been for more no2 ‘s to a manager failing, than actually being a success. A good No2 doesn’t make you a good manager. I think this time next year , we’ll be looking at our 3rd new manager since Wenger

Daniel Altos

Danny SFebruary 28, 2020 08:57:49
Anyone thinking Xhaka is leaving I think may be disappointed.Ateta seems to put a lot of faith in him. I’m pretty sure he will still be a mainstay if the starting 11 next season.

I said this a while back too.Xhaka will be in the starting 11 next season, everything points to that.I wouldn’t be surprised to see ozil too

Ishola70

Don’t indulge them Arteta.

Cut the ones that need to be cut.

He doesn’t do this then he will fail in the long term.

Ishola70

Danny S

“Anyone thinking Xhaka is leaving I think may be disappointed.Ateta seems to put a lot of faith in him. I’m pretty sure he will still be a mainstay if the starting 11 next season.”

If that is the case then we can forget Arsenal really improving in the next few seasons.

It’s simple.

You cannot have such a flawed player at the core of your midfield.

GillespieRoadNoMore

Poor game management was our problem last night, what was Leno thinking hoofing ouf the ball for a corner. Having taken the lead all we needed to do was keep posession. Our attack was also notably absent, plenty of posession but no clue what to do with it, total lack of decisive and incisive play. Pepe drives me nuts, his decision making and vision make a toddler look focused by comparison. He might keep hold of the ball but during that time the opposition are given plenty of time to take up good defensive positions. Beat a player once and… Read more »

Pierre

I think Arteta will be quite ruthless this summer. He will not hesitate to offload players who he (not the fans) thinks are not up to scratch. It’s important he remains calm, the players who have just gone ten games undefeated are more than capable of putting another run of games together. We went out in the last minute on away goals. I still think Leno should have come for the cross for the deciding goal. Looking back at it , his starting position was quite good, around the 5 yards out , but from there he didn’t move .… Read more »

PieAFC

What’s to say Arteta hasn’t learnt from yesterday. Some subs were later as planned. Because look what happened to Mustafi. Had he made any more quick related, gun ho subs. Could have been down to 10 men if someone else went down with a muscle injury. To be taken of as a RB, that was telling. I worry bellerin knows he isnt the same player he once was. So sad to see. Either it’s a recovery issue, or this is bellerin now. Looks a shadow of a player. Severe changes against Pompey. Not an easy place to go. We will… Read more »

Wasi

CG

How can a Hardcore Wenger fanboy fathom the thought of Sean Dyche managing Arsenal who is the literal opposite of Arsene.

Pierre

“Why did Arteta beg Xhaka to stay when we could have gotten a superior player in bruno?.”

Money?

I’m sure Arteta would love to go out and buy grealish , Bruno Fernandes, upacaemo, sancho, a keeper and a world class full back .

But that won’t happen will it , so to ask as to why we didn’t buy Bruno ,is slightly niave.

Danny

I think we have to be realistic: Chelsea and Spurs are probably going out of Europe this round and with only 11 league games left, all 3 of us without European distraction will have to go for it, try to win as many as possible etc. Auba’s miss might have been the most expensive in Arsenal’s history but none of us here really believed we were going to win that Thursday night crap anyway. Of course by not getting to the semis or even the final means the club lost out on millions but sadly the players didn’t know how… Read more »

Ishola70

Why would it be money Pierre?

The price quoted for Xhaka to be sold to Hertha Berlin was 30m and I read on here this Guimaires guy went to Lyon for around 20m.

Plus his wages would have been lower than Xhaka’s coming in.

Arteta didn’t want to rock the boat so early.

Jim Lahey

Genuinely starting to worry about Arteta’s team selections and in-game management. Once again both were awful last night.

Wasi

Pierre ‘I still think Leno should have come for the cross for the deciding goal. Looking back at it , his starting position was quite good, around the 5 yards out , but from there he didn’t move . The striker scored from 7 yards out so Leno only had to move 2 Yards from when the crosd was struck. He should have been on the front foot and it would have been a straightforward catch.’ Good Analysis Pierre. There could be 2 reasons as to why he didn’t come for the cross 1) The most Obvious one. Leno is… Read more »

raptora

Pierre,
Give us the home statistic you posted yesterday again.

I’ll post a stat as well.

2018/19 home games in the KO phase in Europa League:
Arsenal 3 – 0 BATE Borisov
Arsenal 3 – 0 Rennes
Arsenal 2 – 0 Napoli
Arsenal 3 – 1 Valencia

2019/20 home games in the KO phase in Europa League:
Arsenal 1 – 2 Olympiacos

Viera81

Arteta needs to rip this team apart.

Emiratesstroller

Earlier this season I suggested that if Arsenal failed to qualify for Champions League then I would prefer that the club did not qualify for Europe at all and we concentrated next season on EPL. Let’s be honest Leicester did not qualify for Europe this season and that has done them no harm. On the contrary they can prepare properly for their matches in EPL. The Europa League is a distraction and the situation is often not helped by television programming. More often than not we have landed up this season with games on Monday, Thursday and Sunday. If we… Read more »

raptora

First stat with a garbage manager.
Second what with sauce!

Floomboom

I’ll tell you exactly what we should do sack Arteta now instead of waiting 18 months like last time, go and get Ralph Hasenhüttl before the end of the season

Pierre

Ishola I presumed he meant bruno Fernandes who I think went for 65 mil but looking back I see he meant guimaires. I agree , that would look an option but there are a lot of variables that have to be taken into consideration. Like..was there a concrete offer on the table for xhaka that suited both parties. Is Guimaires the type of player that Arteta is looking to bring in. Did guimaires want to move to London/Arsenal. The time to judge on transfers will be the summer.not January He needed to assess the playing staff first and of course… Read more »

The backpass

Pierre

You do know that Bruno went for less than £20million, and Xhaka was been priced at €25-30 million. In what capacity was no money coming to play here?

I was saying this since beginning of January, sell xhaka and buy bruno. Also, salary? He cant surely be given more than what Xhaka is presently on. I say ahain, what Money?

The backpass

Pierre

Okay noted, meant Bruno gumaires, easy mistake. Too many bruno’s.

James wood

I ask anyone on here would you have started with
Ozil -Cellabos -Xhaka in midfield.
That’s a weak midfield protecting a 1 goal lead.with
Pepe wide not known for doing to much working back
and a blue badge Sulky faced Laca we where always going
to be more fragile than usual.
Desperate times when players don’t look interested.

Ishola70

Pierre

I see your variables but this is not one:

“Is Guimaires the type of player that Arteta is looking to bring in.”

Guimaires is seen as a very promising CM.

These type of players are what Arteta should be looking to bring in.

And we are talking about a replacement for Xhaka here who is not a quality player.

What is Arteta looking for ? A clone of Xhaka to come in? God forbid.

Left testicle

At the moment I’d take Bruno Tonioli darling.*

In midfield, not up the arse.

The backpass

“Is Guimaires the type of player that Arteta is looking to bring in.
Did guimaires want to move to London/Arsenal.”

If Arteta isnt trying to bring a midfielder like guimares come summer, then we are fucked.

We definitely need a CM and a DM for next season, also this may come as a shock to you, but Ozil must not be in whatever set up Arteta plans for next season, or else, we are doomed.

Left testicle

Ozil, Cellabos and Xhaka is a weak midfield.
Mustafi, Xhaka, Ozil and Lacazette is a weak spine.

The backpass

Ishola

“These type of players are what Arteta should be looking to bring in.”

Yep, pretty much.

peanuts&monkeys

to make matters worse, Manure is peaking

Graham62

Now that the dust has settled, what do we all feel. Can we move up the league and compete for a European place? What about the FA Cup, should we look at this as a better option at European progression? Do we stick or twist with the likes of Ozil and GX? Food for thought. If we had had the Norwich City midfield playing for us last night, we probably would have won the game. Infact I’m sure we’d have won. That’s how poor our midfield unit is. Granit Xhaka and Ozil are not good enough, we all know that.… Read more »

peanuts&monkeys

Bellerin, Xhaka, Laca, Ozil: All four crossed sell-by date. Hope we get a WC RB.

Graham62

can use

peanuts&monkeys

What will Pablo Mari do now? Does he have anything to do at Arsenal? Will he play even 3 games for Arsenal this season?

Nelson

It was a bridge too far. 4 games in 12 days! The players didn’t look the same. From kickoff they looked tired and nervous. They misplaced so many easy passes at home. Just imagine, Torr and Martinelli were our two best players. They should have started the game. Anyway, no more Thursday night football.

PieAFC

I do believe against Pompey. Saka will either be left wing or rested. Tierney will be back.

That will be a huge difference moving forward having Saka available for the left.

Lacazette has to he dropped for the next foreseeable games.

I just want Monday to hurry up now and get a reaction from the players and club, albeit against lower level opposition.

peanuts&monkeys

Auba shd be rested for 10 days. He has had too much. He needs cooled nerves by the WestHam game.

PieAFC

I know the variation of the formation change, forming hybrids.

Surprised with many clubs in Europe reverting back to a 4-4-2, wonder why Arteta hasn’t given it a go more regularly.

Then that’s down to inept, lack of athleticism in the middle of park. Box to box types. Would at least put laca and auba up top from the start and two natural wingers either side.

Samir

What a stupid error by Leno in the last minutes of the game.
However, he’s saved us so many times this season we can’t blame him.

Terrible team selection from Arteta. Auba should only be played down the centre.
Bellerin is not good enough anymore.
Ozil never assists nor scores. Should not play.
Xhaka looked very tired and in need of a rest.
Laca should be second choice behind Auba for ST.

…………..Leno………….
Niles–Mustafi–Luiz–Saka
…………Torr–Willock………
……………Ceballos………….
Pepe/Nelson–Auba–Martinelli

Why doesn’t Arteta rotate?

Ishola70

Another thing that was mentioned here a few weeks ago was that Arsenal were near the top of the table in regards “tactical” fouling and it seemed to be celebrated on here. I would hazard a guess that Granit boy is a big provider of this near the top of the table particular stat. But it’s nothing to be celebrated or to think it’s cute and clever it really isn’t. Xhaka even under this so-called renaissance under Arteta has still been committing cringe worthy challenges on opposing players because of his off the ball weakness. That these cringe worthy challenges… Read more »

Receding Hairline

All this talk about Leno and commanding the box

The corner was horrible from Olympiakos, it was dealt with easily, what followed was just classic Arsenal, the attempt to stop the cross from coming in by two of our players was disgraceful, the marking from two experienced center backs atrocious. The cross was on a downward trajectory hence the finish applied by feet, what exactly was Leno meant to do, mark the striker?

Daniel Altos

I know this sounds crazy but we should be looking at Giroud at a 1 year contract.As it stands,auba and Laca look to be off and we will enter next season having rookie strikers.Olly’s experience might help them

Daniel Altos

Jim LaheyFebruary 28, 2020 09:35:40
Genuinely starting to worry about Arteta’s team selections and in-game management. Once again both were awful last night.

‘starting’?.no shit

Graham62

Samir

Don’t agree.

He was culpable for both goals because he can’t take command of the situation.

Being a flashy “shot stopper” doesn’t do it for me.

Not strong enough mentally. Hates the physical aspects of his role. Tentative on crosses/ free kicks etc.

If I was a defender infront of him, I’d have lots of doubts.