vis @Arsenal Insta
My oh my did I drink some booze last night, so much apologizing to do today.
But, the show goes one, and if getting blind drunk in the name of an away win for Arsenal in the Premier League is what happened, then so be it.
Arsenal beat Wolves away from home (YES). I think it’d be fair to say that the game represented one of the best performances under Mikel Arteta thus far. Not because Wolves are some sort of iconic team that are impossible to beat, more that they are exactly the sort that causes us problems time and time again. Well disciplined, structured, and extremely powerful. They are a team that plays to your weaknesses and they are very good at it.
The show Mikel Arteta put on was perfectly boring for the most part and I absolutely loved it. We largely controlled possession in the first half, we didn’t do anything risky, almost to a fault. Dani Ceballos spent most of the half recycling the ball through his defense. Mustafi, who made a horrendous error inside the first 12 seconds of the game had zero ambition in his passing. We didn’t want to make mistakes and we didn’t want to give away possession. Wolves seemed to play along, I think their game plan was focused on letting us have the ball and capitalizing on mistakes with a vicious counter.
It didn’t really happen all half, if anything, we had the better chances. Auba nearly turned a ball in from a corner, then Eddie ripped a brilliant low shot Patricio pushed onto his post. We took the lead from a slightly deflected Tierney cross, Bukayo Saka hung on the edge of the box and turned his lopping shot over the keeper. It was a beautiful piece of skill from the newly contracted teenager.
We came out for the second like we normally do. Very nervous. Wolves realized they had to play us and they turned up the heat. We didn’t collapse, but we certainly struggled to keep possession. We made a lot of unforced errors, fluffing 6-yard passes, making sloppy tackles, just generally making poor decisions.
This time, the manager made some bold decisions that paid off. He took off Kieran Tierney, who was having a tough time against Traore, and bought on AMN. I think the move threw a lot of people, but it looked like the reasoning was the blistering acceleration he has against a player who was starting to control the game a little. It proved to be a great decision, AMN threw himself into the challenge and stood up to the test, it really softened the threat of Traore.
He also took off Saka and Soares for Bellerin and Willock. The additional fitness at right-back served its purpose and Willock’s engine kept the ball moving with a little more purpose in the from three. The final roll of the dice saw Torreira make his long-awaited return, with Lacazette making an arrival. The Urgauaguan looked very fit and ready to offer the team something. Lacazette also showed up. Within 3 minutes, he picked up a Willock cross, took a tough into space and finished across goal. It was a super way to finish the game.
So Arsenal took another 3 points away from home and scored two goals against a team that hasn’t conceded at home since January. Arsenal now sit 7th in the Premier League, 3 points from 6th, and 6 from 5th.
So what are the important takeaways?
Well, we have a good structure at Arsenal. We are no longer reliant on our individuals, we are a team, and there’s a solid base to work from with an actual vision for how we should play the game. It is not perfect by a long way, but as it stands, it’s allowing the coach to extract bruising defensive performances from a squad of players people said were uncoachable. Now, that doesn’t mean we’re going to be winning every game for the rest of the season, but it does mean if things go our way (sendings off/injuries), we have a chance against anyone on our day. We’ve beaten Wolves and United, we gave Chelsea a great game which we were very unlucky in, hopefully, we can show our teeth against Leicester and Spurs.
Arteta’s job in the back half of the season was the make us defensively strong and difficult to beat. I think he’s achieved that. The goal difference under Arteta for his 16 games is +12 versus Emery’s -4 (17 games). We’ve gone from conceding 1.64 goals a game to 0.81 with the basically the same group of players. There’s still a lot of work to do, we need to be able to control a game for the full 90minutes, we need to be more productive in the final 3rd and I think we’re still a little shaky defending set-pieces. But what isn’t in doubt is the manager had an idea and he’s implementing it very well. Every one of those players on the pitch yesterday bought into the vision, you can see how they pay attention to his instructions. They are seeing the fruits of their labour, which is so incredibly important. Player buy-in, especially with the kids, is essential to the rebirth of Arsenal football club.
The individual performances have been great as well. Emi Martinez has been nothing short of excellent. He’s a catcher, which makes him very handy from set-pieces. He controls his box, he’s quick off his line and his giant frame makes him tough to score against. He was brilliant yesterday.
I thought David Luiz put in a massive shift yesterday, his calmness on the ball and leadership helped us through some very sticky moments. Even Mustafi had a very good game outside the brain fart in the first minutes.
Saka, Ainsley, Eddie, Soares, Auba… they all showed up when it mattered. We actually put in a battling performance. Something I wasn’t sure we were capable of under this iteration of players.
There are still some problems. Our midfield just isn’t where it needs to be. We struggle to dominate physically, we still lack a good connection to attack, and the passing often crumbles under pressure. But considering what we achieved yesterday, it’s hard to be too brutal. There are also individuals that are always going to be problematic. I don’t want to pick on people, but Kola really was poor yesterday. He looked scared, there was a moment with KT complained he was left with two players to deal with. I also thought there were a few occasions when it looked like he wasn’t putting his all into sprinting back. Still, what can you do? The squad is the squad.
The real shame of the restart is that we didn’t get to see what the plan against City could have looked like, it was a similarly boring game until the bad things happened. Also, if we’d been had a better start, maybe we hold onto the leader at Brighton. Those three points, 6 if you look at the whole season, are the difference between 7th and a Champions League place.
Anyway, a huge win for Arsenal. The decision to hire Arteta was a good one, I’ve banged that drum for 6 months. We don’t matter though, the players do, they are the one’s making statements about their belief in their new head coach. That’s what is most important. They are going to war for him. They are now a team. They are all getting smarter and better as players.
Mikel outshithoused a pro that many wanted at Arsenal. Under Emery, we played Wolves at home and they had 24 attempts at our goal, and we squeaked out a 1-1 draw. Arteta fixed Arsenal’s defensive structure in 16 games, something the experience of Emery couldn’t manage in 18 months. He is starting to cast doubt on the idea that this squad could not have made top 4 if he’d been in at the start of the season.
Still plenty of work to do, there are still shock losses on the horizon, but what you saw yesterday is the start of things to come. Put a new set of players in there and there’s no reason we can’t start aiming higher next season. Also, does anyone still wish we’d hired Jose Mourinho?
Right, see you in the comments. x
Boom
2
3
Trofee
top 10
I hope the Brighton loss does not come back to haunt us….
Those lost points were valuable
Two good Takeaways Pedro as ever.
But might I suggest a third.
The Great interaction Arteta has with his
bench team constantly giving opinions.?
Long have the day’s gone of Rice and Bould
sitting there like the now popular card board
cut outs.
Declaring Arsenals defensive structure fixed is the most over the top take I have read from a game of football.
Great post Pedro, things are looking good. We can see the improvements and Arteta has an air of authority and intelligence about him that Emery definitely didn’t have and you can see the difference that has on the players.
#PedroKnows
“Put a new set of players in there and there’s no reason we can’t start aiming higher next season“
PeDro AdMiTTiNg PlAyEr PoVeRtY
Was a really encouraging thing to witness, the longer the game wore on the more you could appreciate the comfort the players had in their roles for the game.
Feel the result will galvanise the players more in their belief in Arteta and his methods. Also thought the interactions post-game were encouraging between him and the players and spoke of the cohesion being cultivated.
RH,
Give over. Pedro never said it was fixed, he said it’s improving.
What is it with some of you? We’re supposed to be Arsenal fans and we should be coming on here after a game like that being positive, not looking to find fault for fault sake because we don’t like the coach and would rather him fail than admit we were wrong.
I was wrong. Long live Arteta.
Excellent victory. I would say that the connection to attack wasn’t there because of 2 things. 1) lack of a creative passing winger 2) Pepe’s absence. 1)Saka had to take up good positions in the final 3rd to offer himself as a passing option. His positioning was poor. . But that’s not his game,so can’t complain about that. We need a creative passing winger 2) Pepe is very good at receiving the ball under pressure and then carrying it forward into attack. He was missed. Arteta has not just improved us defensively but also in attack. There are clear strategies… Read more »
Benny, RH isn’t a fan of Arteta and it seems to pain him to see clear improvements.
1.64 goals per game to 0.8.
Not perfect, but it’d be a hot take and a half to say that’s not improvement.
CC, I think what is clear is Arteta makes coaching interesting, the players are tuned in. It is very Pep light to watch.
Benny maybe you should comprehend what you read…”Arteta fixed Arsenals defensive structure in 16 games “…that’s literally up there in the post you just read
I get so tired of the “glass completely empty” brigade.
No one is daft enough to think “Oh, well, that’s OK then. Everything in the garden is rosy”. BUT we have won four matches in a row, two away from home against tough competition
BE HAPPY FFS, you miserable wankers!
Arsenal’s defence structure was fixed long ago.
Arsenal concede mainly due to individual mistakes, fatigue in 2nd half and crosses/set pieces.
RH,
‘ It is not perfect by a long way, but as it stands, it’s allowing the coach to extract bruising defensive performances from a squad of players people said were uncoachable. Now, that doesn’t mean we’re going to be winning every game for the rest of the season, but it does mean if things go our way (sendings off/injuries), we have a chance against anyone on our day.’
Absolutist interpretation of lines makes you look very petty.
Still, at least you are here. Where is Marc?
Pep won’t be caught dead with five defenders on the pitch against anyone. Its the Pep lite thing that puzzles me, we don’t need him to be Pep lite, we need him to be a man on his own making decisions based on the tools available to him which is exactly what he is doing. We don’t need a Pep imitation, saying that evokes visions of fluid champagne football, and I don’t think we will see much of that at least not yet, this set of players have proved they aren’t capable of it, for starters they suck in possession.… Read more »
In sauce we trust.
May the best sauce win.
All for sauce, sauce for all.
Where there is sauce there is a way.
I have nothing to give but sauce and more sauce.
——————Mikel ‘the sauce’ Arteta
Nicely put
JK😳
Just watching Liverpool.
Grealish is a bit like Wiltshire.
Spends a good amount of time on his arse holding his ankles..?
“Even Mustafi had a very good game outside the brain fart in the first minutes.” And that’s not a concern? Traore scores inside the first minute and the whole game plan goes to shit. Mustafi got lucky on that occasion but how many times was he not and how many more times will he be punished for his silly mistakes? Same goes for Xhaka. Two bang average players that no amount of coaching will improve. For every decent game/performance they have, there’s 5 average or below average ones. For every several good passes or tackles there’s a dumb mistake that… Read more »
Upstate, I know it is stinging that your angle on Arteta was so wrong, but the traits of a good manager are delivering on the pitch.
He’s working with someone else’s squad that was broken on arrival. The table for the games his been here has us in 3rd. He’s improved the structure of the team, massively impacted our defence, and he has us winning away.
Whining that a mistake could have been a goal isn’t really a sound way to assess managerial competence.
Lol
Reading your post Don one would be forgiven to conclude we narrowly avoided relegation last season.
One wouldn’t know we beat both United and Chelsea at home to nil or that we got to an European final dispatching of teams like Napoli ( they didn’t score either) and Valencia. In fact one wouldn’t know we outscored both Spurs and Chelsea in the league.
Yea by all means those four games you mentioned above are the cream of the crop from the past 18 months performance wise
..lol
Upstate
Do you hold every player to that sort of standard? You know, where the ‘could’ve been a mistake’ are included with the actual ones?
You look long enough and you’ll get mistakes from any player you like, but you’re arguing reality if you can’t nod your cap to the upturn in performances from several players that have been whipping boys on here.
Great win to cap off a great week. Long may it continue. Still some negatives to eek out but wont focus on them since I am in such a good mood. It was all in all an Arteta-Masterclass. Playing a deeper defensive line to negate the Wolves counter threat from the start was a good tactical decision. Especially the decision to bring on Amn for KT. Even tho Tierney wasn’t doing as bad against Traore , Amn removed him from the game. Ofc he was getting a bit tired but it was mostly due to Amn being right footed and… Read more »
Btw did anyone see that Thiago Alcantara wants a new challenge and Bayern are selling because he’s into his last year?
He’s a pipedream, but what a fucking player, one of my very faves.
The performance against Norwich wasn’t even all that, again we were jittery in possession and relied on two absolute gifts.
Nothing wrong celebrating a win but this is beyond ridiculous. We beat Wolverhampton, Norwich and Sheffield… Look at those names and have a quiet word. Regardless of whatever two of those teams are doing this season they are operating at their level…unless our level is now throwing bonfires everytime we win a football game or declaring national holidays for clean sheets.
The state of some of you
Pedro finally put the tissues away and wrote us a post. Cheers bro!
“The performance against Norwich wasn’t even all that, again we were jittery in possession and relied on two absolute gifts.“
Lol he’s cracking.
Relied on them for……?
Don no one out performs Emery or Wenger for that matter till you get this club back into the top four.
Whatever form table you console yourself with bottom line at the end of next season is “are Arsenal back into the champions league”… If the answer to that is no then we are still where we are. That was Emery’s and Wenger’s KPI and that’s Arteta’s too.
Rest of the season he can use to plot on how to get there. Heck if you want something truly astounding we can still make the top four this year mathematically…..
In sauce we trust indeed, long live SAUCE.
CC
Read Thiago has agreed terms with Liverpool, guess that means Keita gets the ax.
I’ve a lot of time for Alcantara, if he stays fit in the prem it’ll be a very good signing. Surprised Pep’s not punching in considering he’s signed him twice.
Sal
I saw something about Liverpool, was kind of hoping if I didn’t believe it then it wouldn’t be true lol. That makes me sick, he’s probably the very best pure technician for me in the heart of things. Big fan……or was….naturally.
Be interesting to see the fees floating about for Mings and Grealish (watching them now), they’re good players, Grealish particularly so.
“Forget Norwich, the true test will be Wolves.”
“Forget Wolves, they were a Championship team two seasons ago.”
Obviously, it’s pretty useless ascribing any specific game as our “true test”, especially as we all know we’ve still got some way to go with the project.
So quit bitching and trust the process. Arteta knows best!
RH, so now we assess how well we’re doing by the brand name, not the actual talent of the team?
You really are stretching today.
Don wolves have a few players that walk into our midfield… Beating them doesn’t change that. Sheffield not so much. Brighton beat us are their players better too…no they are not. Player poverty simply asks the question do we have the right players with the right attributes to be the football club we want to be competing for major honors while playing good football…NO. You keep making mention of Emery like he didn’t compete on two fronts last season with an arguably worse squad. That you write everything good last season off to Wenger’s spirit doesn’t mean that nonsense is… Read more »
Hello everybody, I’m back to commenting after falling out of love with football, Arsenal and (very nearly) life itself. Pedro I’m absolutely impressed, overwhelmed really, by how you managed to keep blogging in the dark days of New York Covid and No Football and No Real Content. Reassuringly, nothing changes over here! It pains me a little to say it (given my on the record admiration for Nuno and what he’s done at Wolves) but it’s Arteta 2 – Nuno 0! The players executed a good Arteta plan effectively against a well-oiled Wolves team (who’ve beaten Man C twice this… Read more »
With all due respect making comparisons which include covid induced empty stadiums to playing games against teams buoyed by a raucous home crowd is grossly unfair.
Just Saying, but hey why spoil the narrative
We know Xhaka has certain limitations, but if you don’t understand why our best CM gets some deserved credit then your case is simply helpless.
It was quite hilarious reading someone describe Xhaka as lazy. How can anyone in their right mind label Xhaka lazy.
I think the 352 is working defensively for us. When pegged back in the second half yesterday, its effectively allowed us to play with 5 defenders. As the Wolves tired, we made some subs and came out to play and we scored… AMN was good yesterday. Also Dani, who is quite divided on this forum, ran his socks off all game. Yes he is thin but he not afraid of the challenges. Traore bounced him off with ease, but at least he tried. its like stopping a train. I would like to see more Willock. He always gets one good… Read more »
Don I do hope it does. Some of you here create a divide for reasons best known to you. If Arteta qualifies us for the champions league I will be as happy as any Arsenal fan. I don’t need nor want him to fail. He is coach of Arsenal fc and has my 110% support. What I don’t subscribe to is the absolutes, oh we have never seen this determination as seem yesterday from Arsenal players, that’s a false narrative, we have had better games and performances than seen yesterday. Or that a man 16 games into his tenure has… Read more »
I don’t always agree with RH but he’s right. We’re praising our squad and the manager for beating Norwich, Sheffield United, and Wolves. Yes, you can only beat who’s put in front of you but only two weeks ago we lost to Brighton. Fucking Brighton! Our next four games are against Leicester, Spurs, Pool, and City in the FA Cup. Any takers on winning all 4? 3? Even 2 games out of these? Fucking hell, we’ll be lucky to get a single win. If I were a betting man, I’d say a draw and three losses. Let’s see how good… Read more »
CC
“You look long enough and you’ll get mistakes from any player you like”
But not on consistent levels as those two (Mustafi and Xhaka)
Upstate
So you’re literally just another one of those that shits on any positive view with a ‘wait and see’ for something shite?
Must be a thrill for you being a fan.
RH, did you spend the first few games of Arteta’s tenure asking people to explain what was improving?
Now we can’t compare the first 17 games of the season to the last 16?
The 22 game unbeaten run was very lucky. Which everyone called out. Then the luck ran out and we tanked. Reckon that’s why no one is talking about that.
THE SHOW MUST GO ONE
Lol @ debate…with who.. You Don? I get better debates from my daughter and she is 3 months old no offense.
Elite coaching…. What exactly did u see that suggested elite coaching? One would think yesterday’s performances was some sought of flawless one.
Done with this now, still a lot of work to do on this team, any team can go on a run of good results, it’s only at Arsenal it must mean something. Sometimes it just means the team is on a good run as has happened countless times over the past decade.
Elite coaching… Lol
Upstate
I’d put money down for the leicester and spurs results and i could see a surprise FA result but not confident on it. The epl games shouldn’t be on the brighton level unless we lose 2-3 more players to injury
Wow they must be cleaning out the trailer parks?
Even Undie got let out !
Pedro,
I think it’s pretty clear, based on the stats and the “expected stats” for goals and goals against, res been a significant improvement in defence since Arteta took over. What hasn’t really changed much is in Arsenal going forward, where we still lack flair and the ability to put teams under pressure for sustained periods of time.
So Arteta has done a decent job of structuring play with the players he has; he now needs his “ideal players” for next season, principally in midfield to bring some control and flair into the attack.
To get into the champions league,we have to thrash the bottom 14 teams.
It depends on how much we have to spend and do we spend it well.
Can get top 4 in this system IF
Pepe improves his off the ball movement,Auba doesn’t decline and we sign a creative passing LW like Coutinho for example.
Partey also needed to partner xhaka.
Coutinho-Auba-Pepe
Xhaka-partey
Saka-Tierney-Luiz-Mustafi- Cedric
Martinez
Can get top 4.
Didn’t include Saliba here because I have never seen him play.
I have assumed the cut off for top 4 would be 75 points next season.
Pedro still nothing improving, that’s not the football he wants to play, that’s the football he is made to play by the tools he had. Anyone can see luck in wins when he looks for it, and boy were you looking last season. We tanked you say? No we didn’t, right until the penultimate game of the league we had a chance at third, we also comfortably sailed to the EL final. This back and forth is pretty pointless, I will admit to significant changes in the way we play and our consistency when I see them not to please… Read more »
Leftfootcurler
Tierney isn’t a CB. No chance he’ll play there when he’s so good at LB.
Mustafi cannot start next season either. Saliba and Mari will along with Luiz.
Upstate,
Here’s a sign of good coaching: under Emery, seeing Xhaka and Mustafi’s names on the team sheet would have filled my heart with feeling of dread and foreboding.
Now, not so much.
RH, we won our first game against a team above us in 5 years, I think we are improving.
You are going out of your way to shit on the efforts. So off considering how blinkered you were to Emery for 18 months.
CC I think some of you got me completely wrong. I’m just as ecstatic of winning yesterday as you are as well as all the other Gooners. However…. I’m also a realist. I didn’t see anything to warrant a match of the day performance by Mustafi or anyone else for that matter. Maybe Martinez who’s becoming a favorite of many slowly but surely. Saka got lucky on that goal. Traore missed an absolute sitter later in the game. 1-1 draw, and all of a sudden we’re talking how poor we were and how Arteta is nowhere near the world class… Read more »
Nice to see Don back here after his latest dramatic scorched earth exit where he called everyone shitcunts and stormed off in a huff after another loss. Paraphrasing slightly but I think that was the gist of it.
You’re not a teenage girl by any chance Don?
Did I say nice? I meant absolutely terrible.
Godfather had a very good point of not playing in front of their fans yesterday. Completely different atmosphere which helped us enormously. “Little” things like that make difference between winning and losing.
The 3-4-3 that we’re employing now is forced by player poverty but it does improve us defensively since it covers for the weakness of our CBs and CMs.
Not getting much joy creativity wise though but that’s to be expected right now without a Cam in the team. Next season could be fun if we get the right players in.
Pedro
Come on man. You can’t go 22 unbeaten simply on luck. Come on.
Emery was rightly sacked when he was. But like Receding has been rightly pointing out he did improve the side beforehand.
Arteta is doing well at the moment. I hope this continues. If he had lost yesterday I would have said he needed more time, as long as his appointment fitted into a supportable vision. That hasn’t changed, he still needs more time to prove if he is any good.
In sauce we trust
Upstate
How did Saka get lucky with the goal?
Also, your analysis is that Arteta isn’t world class because of what COULD have occurred that otherwise didn’t? Surely you see how ridiculous that comes across..
Im all for realist pov, but that’s not realism it’s sheer bias.
Sweet jesus why the fuck is anyone talking about emery OR WENGER
Just looked back at when Arteta took over and the results under him. Honestly, not much to celebrate here. 2-0 win over lethargic Manchester United side, and 3-2 win against Everton are two of the standout performances for me. Brighton loss, Olympiakos loss, draws against the likes of Sheffield United and Crystal Palace are there as well. So yeah, as I said the next four games for me will be a big tell. Win 3 or 2, and my opinion of Arteta will certainly change. However, I have doubts we’re capable of a good result against any of these sides.… Read more »
Un
It’s not Emery or Arteta who were/are benefiting from the empty stands. It’s guys like Mustafi and Xhaka who fold under the minimum of noise and pressure.
CC
“How did Saka get lucky with the goal?Also, your analysis is that Arteta isn’t world class because of what COULD have occurred that otherwise didn’t?”
Deflection and a lucky finish. If you tell me he can do this 9 times out of 10, you’re a liar. That was one out of a hundred kind of luck. As for Arteta, don’t you think he needs to accomplish a bit more before he gets branded Messiah of football which is what Pedro is portraying him as?
Xhaka is not a great player. However he is probably the best midfielder we have at the moment and he will no doubt be here next season and possibly the one after that until we can begin to attract real WC players again.
He’s not ideal by a long shot, but he’s the best we have and is serviceable for the foreseeable future.
Un
“Bournemouth win?
West Ham win?”
You do realize that both sides are in a relegation battle yet we barely scraped by? Chelsea’s result was a good one, I’ll give you that.
Don “I didn’t call you all cunts (even though you are)” Yeah, I toned it down a bit, there’s some sensitive people on here. I think it’s good that Willock is doing well, if he can start doing just as well when he starts games against top opposition it will be even better. Hopefully he gets there. Coming on against tired players is always a good start for any youngster before they can fully impose themselves on a game. Our midfield overall has been terrible for goal contributions though, absolutely horrific. And that’s down to the quality of the players… Read more »
Sure it was a bit lucky that Tierney’s cross was deflected into the path of Saka but there was nothing lucky about that finish. Pure class and technique.
Excellent post, Pedro, an acknowledgement of progress made under Mikel. For me it’s affirmation that man-management is the key. The players BELIEVE in Mikel. His message is that if they work together as a team they will beat teams with better players. And furthermore they will IMPROVE as players. He could choose any type of tactics, it doesn’t matter. There is nothing new in football, everything has been done before. Every move is known, and every counter-move. Belief can win a trophy or two (Leicester City, for example), but to win consistently, the team needs quality, too. Right now there… Read more »
Some “fans” are really miserable bastards who are only happy when they can moan about a defeat and blame it on Wenger.
Do we defend better than before? YES.
Should we expect more from Arsenal? YES.
Do we suddenly have the perfect team? NO.
Are the players we have the best players in the world? NO.
However Arteta is improving us with the tools at his disposal. So enjoy a victory and stop bitching about the quality of the opposition!
Sorry, Un… I’d say Pool were lucky it wasn’t 7 or 8-0 against City a couple of days ago. We were lucky it was 2-0 yesterday, and not 1-1 draw or worse. Everybody needs a bit of luck every now and then though so I’m glad it went our way. Next four games… we’ll need a lot more than just dumb or pure luck, however you wanna call it. We’ll need a competent manager and a squad that’s properly prepared for the fight.
I can see why some are cautiously optimistic and why some are delighted. I am somewhere in between those two.
However I can’t understand anyone being overly negative about our first win away at a team above us in the table for some years.
Quite confident about the Leicester game now, aside from a comeback win yesterday they have been far from convincing not just since the restart but since the turn of the year as a whole. They are also missing key players.
There were some fine margins yesterday
I wonder how we would have fared had Adama Traore scored that lobbed chance to even scores.
We beat a good middle table team that are confined to 7th-10th when the big teams sort out their shites.
Good win but rein in the exuberant gloating and stop using it as a whip to go over folks who are more measured about Arteta.
Hallelujah, Dissenter. The voice of reason.
Un
How on earth can you conclude that the fair result would be 1-1?
Did I say that a 1-1 draw would be a fair result? I said we were lucky, and I stand by that statement. Traore scores in the first minute and it’s a different ball game. Traore scores an absolute sitter in the second half, and it’s a different ball game. We were lucky that he didn’t. The rest is history.
Arteta is doing a massive job with the same set of players Emery couldn’t get anything good from, just hope the board will back him with the players he need for next season.
Amen Valentin. “Some “fans” are really miserable bastards…” 4 Wins in a row, three of which were away from home, three of which were clean sheets. Instead of just glossing over fact Arteta took over a failing side peak christmas run, on a historical low that couldn’t keep a clean sheet or produce an away win. It feels nice, don’t think anyone would deny much work to do. But to argue theres been no improvement is so blinkered with agenda its not really worth debating. This season’s a wash if were able to get anything out of its thats a… Read more »
Dissenter
“we beat a good middle table team”
Wrong on so many levels.
Wolves are a very good team and have some excellent players. They are well drilled and imo, are one of the teams capable of winning the EL.
Wolves are not the Wolves of yesteryear.
We all see that, except you it seems.
LOL… Remove luck, and you get fair. You’re reaching, Un. All I was saying is that we weren’t all that much better than Wolves yesterday. Lady luck was on our side, is all. Long may it continue but as I said earlier we’re gonna need a lot more than just luck in the next four games.
UG
“Did I say that a 1-1 draw would be a fair result? I said we were lucky, and I stand by that statement. Traore scores in the first minute and it’s a different ball game. Traore scores an absolute sitter in the second half, and it’s a different ball game. We were lucky that he didn’t. The rest is history.”
Eddie hit the post.
Willock had one off the line.
Football reporters,one Sunday paper gave Kola man of the match,what the hell do they watch!
Fine result against Wolves. Usually go into such games with tremendous trepidation but the tactics were solid. However, despite his goal, Saka appeared out of his depth on the right. Maybe let him get accustomed to the role away from such crucial games?
Graham
Wolves are a club that’s a tier beneath the top-6 teams even when they are having a fantastic season.
They are a good team no doubt but not contenders for the top-4. If there’s such a thing as an upper mid-table team; it will be Wolves.
“Sweet jesus why the fuck is anyone talking about emery OR WENGER”
THIS.
Pierre
Eddie didn’t hit the post, Patricia made an outstanding save. And please, don’t even get me started on Willock. He got an assist yesterday only because of a moment of sheer brilliance from Lacazette. He should’ve scored himself but you just always know things go astray when he’s on the ball. In fact, I’m still not sure what it is exactly that he brings to the table.
Results aside what is absolutely uncontestable is Arteta has made us compact and resolute in defense. We don’t look porous at the back like we did under Emery. Still work to do on defending crosses and aerial balls but improvement is there for everyone to see. It will be interesting to see whether we can attack better next season looking equally compact.
I do understand the basis for reasonable optimism though
Yesterday’s performance can be a template for playing tough mid-table teams away. These types of performances can be great for the confidence of the younger players.
Diss, Wolves are certainly contending the top 4.
Geoff
“Football reporters,one Sunday paper gave Kola man of the match,what the hell do they watch!”
Low and behold, Geoff, some people gave man of the match performance to Mustafi!
Alright, you bunch of bums, I’m outta here to a pool party, and drinking beers and tequila. Happy belated 4th of July to my fellow Yanks!
I don’t know why there is any negativity at the moment.
Things arnt perfect but we are 100% moving in the right direction and I think this TW is going to be epic.
Thanks to Arteta I dont dread every game thinking we are beaten. He’s addressed the scoring issue and found a formation that’s working, which surprisingly is a 3 at the back which I always thought was a dead formation these days.
Looking forward to games again finally.
Unai na
Aren’t you ashamed that you’re using Wolverhampton wanderers as the metric for Arsenal football club?
Wolves have a wage bill of about £50 million and are two years back in the premier league.
Should we be happy to beat a defensively well organized team away ?——YES
Should we be happy that the players applied themselves till the 95th minute? —-YES
Great result.
May i ask, what is an Urgauaguan?
Pedro
I disagree, they can’t go the distance.
Wolves are a notch below top-6, their best bet is the EL every season. They may breach that glass ceiling if they manage to win the EL. I actually think they or United will win the EL this season.
Chukwudi Emery got 70 league points and an EL final with a group arguably worse than this. Some of you write like they had their memory wiped or something.
Diss, but they are contenders by proxy of contending right now. They’re also not a midtable team. They are top 6
Any blues fans out there?
Gary Clarke Jnr Catfish blues YouTube .
Something else
Wolves going to win the EL? Wow. Back in Europe for the first time in like 30 years and they’re genuine title contenders.
Sort of like saying back in December that Conte’s Inter are going to take the Serie A title from Sarri’s Juve.
Southampton heroic defending so far. I’ve probably just jinxed it.
Traore’s open goal miss cost a below par Wolves dear and moved Arsenal above Wolves in the table.
That’s objective analysis of yesterday’s game…