Big moments against big teams. Don’t knock ’em

by .

Ok, so I can write the post that I wouldn’t have dared if we’d have lost that 5-0.

That was a game I suspect neither manager really wanted to win. This season is jam-packed with games. Players need fresh legs, the League Cup is not a priority for anyone in the Premier League, particularly with the covid-fixture pile-up.

Arteta put out a starting 11 that was uninspired. Lots of players that are struggling for form, some that will be sold, and some that we haven’t seen this season. With that in mind, we weren’t that bad. We put in another fairly dogged defensive performance, we asked different questions of Liverpool tactically, and we eventually ground out a win via shootout.

The second half was more positive than the first. We found the front three a little more often, but they all seemed 0.5 seconds off the pace. Still, you can’t say we didn’t have a go and you also can’t deny that even the second team fights to the death… not something that was true of Wenger’s latter year League Cup sides. Dissenter in the comments made the point that we had a doubleheader against City a few years ago and we couldn’t muster a response in the second game. We found one today. Also worth contrasting that this same game last year was a 10 goal thriller. 0-0 is a sign of the times, it’s the vision of a backroom team that prioritizes defence over attack. I don’t hate that.

As Roy Keane said the other day, the most important statistic is the score. The hero keeping that respectable? Bernd Leno.

I AM SORRY FOR DOUBTING YOU.

He made a thrilling save in the first half from Jota that spilt into the danger area, the bar rattled hard with the Minamino follow-up. Palming the ball into danger seems like a new thing from him this season. I (you as well) was a bit worried about him going into half time.

WHO WERE WE TO SPEAK ILL OF THE GERMAN KING?

His second-half performance was fucking fabulous. His low save from a swept VVD shot was magic. He tipped over a looping header where he switched hands mid-air. He was first to everything. He was a HERO.

I’ll say this aloud: EMI WHO?

One for the records: I don’t think we’ll see a lot of Runar this season.

We also need to have a conversation about Nicolas Pepe. It’s really not working out, is it? There seems to be two things going on, firstly, he’s not at the level you’d expect for a winger in season two. He slows the play. His first instinct is to cut the ball back (remember Wiltord used to do that?). Forward locomotion feels like a rarity. He’s also very weak, which means any sort of tussle leaves him on the floor. Second, he doesn’t look like he really cares. He has the same body language issues as Mesut Ozil. That game yesterday was a disaster class the likes of which you don’t expect of someone with that level of finance behind him. Very worrying. Really, quite unbelievable we gave someone £72m for him, glad that person is no longer here.

Joe Willock had some bright moments, but overall, I’m not sure he moved the needle. Mo Elneny still looking like a starter above him.

Cedric looks quite efficient going forward, I think he likely has the best delivery on the right and he certainly still has pace.

Eddie was fairly quiet, but the service wasn’t really there. Saka had a good game, slotting in all over the pitch. I love that his instinct is always forward, he’s the opposite of Pepe. He really is going to be some player. Again, it’s the players that didn’t start that matter: No Reiss against a team he scored 2 against last season.

The penalties were really good. Mo Elneny missed his. But Bernd managed two super saves denying Wilson and Origi. AMN finished like an ice-cold killer, as per usual. Laca, Cedric and Pepe all finished well. Then Willock finished the game off with a shot that narrowly squeezed under the glove of Adrian.

So the most important stat of the night? A victory at Anfield. The second most important? A clean sheet because of a worldie performance from a keeper under pressure. Get this, Leno is the first Arsenal keeper since 2012 to keep a clean sheet at Anfield. That keeper? Vito Mannone.

So what have we learned?

Well, Arteta is very much aware that we’re in desperate need of a creative midfielder. First or second team, it doesn’t matter the configuration, we’re not creative unless we’re leaking goals. Folk peddling the idea that the club doesn’t know where the squad is weak are waaaay off base. Arsenal are gunning very hard at the problem, so hopefully, we’ll hear good news. My worry is that even if we do land Aouar, is that enough? 5 years ago we had too many creative technicians, now we don’t have a single suitable player that can do the job. What happens if the one signing tears their ACL? Bland. That’s what happens.

It’s worth remembering that we’re still massively hamstrung by the terrible way Arsenal managed transfers over the past decade, the rebuild given the situation and ongoing moment is probably going to be slower than we hoped. The challenge we’re having is that all the clubs in Europe; who also have financial issues, know we want to clear deadwood. They are lowballing us. All of them looking for cut-price deals. Again, this is a legacy issue, not an Edu problem (mostly). At least a chunk of that problem is out of contract next June.

Though our creativity wasn’t elite, there was a clear shift in tactics to give us more opportunity to get the ball in Liverpool’s half, Klopp acknowledged as much after the game. We explored the right as much as the left, our lack of shots on goal felt the result of a lack of killer instinct just as much as our limited ambition with final third passing. There needs to be serious solve though, otherwise, this season is going to be laborious and very imprecise when we attack.

We also learned that William Saliba is not going to be the starting hero everyone had hoped for. Again, I am glad we signed him, he’ll hopefully be a star, but looking back to last summer, our overspending on a player that won’t be ready until next season seems quite mad considering what our squad still lacks (£100m outlay on two players still not ready is so bad). Arteta says he’ll have a transitional year with us to get fit, mentally right, and to adapt to the power and pace of the beastliest league in the world. Also worth remembering that there are about zero 19-year-olds killing it at centre back at top clubs in Europe.

I found some of the bitching about the lack of sexy football a little hard to digest. We have a clear identity with the players we have at the moment, it’s version 1.0, but it’s necessary and it will evolve (switching formations in-game seemed like a new move last night). We don’t have the squad to play expansive football, so we don’t. Arteta wants to win more than he wants to entertain, so we are a side that has been remade to be able to defend and attack in a very structured way. Someone in the comments was reminiscing about the Wenger days mid-game. Incredible that anyone would want to go back to years of Glorious Failure with big teams lining up to spank us with ease. 8 years of being absolutely pathetic, so bad teams would give us the ball so they could bully us off it and score. This season will be about pragmatic football if we don’t land the players Arteta needs to play expansive football. Arteta wants to win games, he’s not here for the purists, he’s here for the Champions League places and he’s built a system that he thinks can nick wins and keep clean sheets. This is a 1-0 to the Arsenal kind of year I’m afraid.

Yesterday wasn’t winning any awards for aesthetics, but that was Liverpool, they are better than us on every level top to bottom, and we delivered the performance needed to beat them. The third time in four games to be precise, even better when you consider the brutality of the weekend. We did it with a team that was less than ideal in a competition that is the lowest on the Arsenal priority list. Majority of the coaching staff focus will have been on winning this Sunday. The club desperately wants to go into the international break in the top 4. That is the #1 focus of this season. Getting back into the Champions League so we can afford a summer richer than Leeds United next year.

Regardless of the focus, that was a GREAT night for the process.

Winning breeds winning. Beating great teams is good for momentum. Crushing penalty shootouts is excellent for team bonding. Last night was a good night. If you can’t enjoy beating the best in the game, why bother?

P.S. Huge LOLz that we drew City in the next round. We are cursed with cup draws at the moment. City, Chelsea, Leicester, Liverpool, now City again. Still, you have to beat the best if you want to bring home trophies. Might as well start early.

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DM

Mornin

DM

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DM

Tr4phy

Graham

Europe league place

Mr Serge

Saliba loan talk is surfacing the kid obviously needs game time to develop so he is not the messiah

Dream10

“Winning breeds winning. Beating great teams is good for momentum”

Don’t agree with this. A sequence of decent performances are often more valuable than a sequence of results in the long term. Eventually bad performances catch up to you.

100m for two players who are not first XI material isn’t ideal for a side who have holes in the holes in the starting lineup

Daniel Altos

I was happy to the win yesterday until I saw we have drawn fucking Man City ffs. Jeez,we have terrible luck on draws. I also saw our fixture list and after sheffield united it’s looking pretty tough for us this October fingers crossed we bring in some quality players. Big up to Leno, MoTm yesterday.Two things,I saw a while back people complaining that ceballos isn’t going forward enough and about Pepe probably being a flop. Honestly anyone watching the match yesterday saw that our frontline was feeding on scraps.I may be alone in this but I still think pepe ain’t… Read more »

Daniel Altos

Mr SergeOctober 2, 2020 09:14:22
Saliba loan talk is surfacing the kid obviously needs game time to develop so he is not the messiah

Apparently he lost his mom 5 months ago plus new country,culture and language might be a little tough for him I can understand

Emiratesstroller

Pedro The hard facts are that Arsenal are not going to play “sexy” football so long as our midfield is lacking the calibre of players to control the ball and produce the creativity required. Let’s face it Messrs Xhaka, Torreira, Guendouzi, Elneny and Willock are not players in that genre. The only first team midfielder with semblance of flair is Ozil and he is no longer considered for first team duty. Arsenal’s current team is now being moulded into a team with a work ethic and difficult to beat. Despite some of the criticisms that is precisely what is required… Read more »

Steveyg87

Pedro

I don’t know what game you were watching but I thought Pepe did ok for a guy that hardly plays. Seems you still have that price tag on your mind. There is a player in there. Regarding his attitude, again, I thought he showed heart and while it doesn’t always come off, he’s always trying to make something happen. 7/10 performance from him IMO. Cedric and Kola both did alright in their respective positions and Saka put in another solid performance, I think we got a gem on our hands there

Kay

Emery s 22 game unbeaten run was belittled here and RIGHTLY so.

Pragmatism is perfectly fine for EPL and I am personally on board with a classy looking simeone.
This was what we wanted Wenger to be after 2011 and he wasted all those years with the likes of Leicester catching up.

Kay

No way we improve in midfield until XHAka leaves

Ian Smart

Dream 10 loosing with style is better than winning ugly that’s must be how Liverpool won the title

Steveyg87

“No way we improve in midfield until XHAka leaves”

I disagree, look at Juventus the last season before Pogba left for United, they were crushing teams with Pirlo pulling the strings and Pogba/Vidal doing the donkey work. Xhaka is Pirlo 2.0 all day long. He needs protection to be able to thrive. Better make peace with the fact that Xhaka will be a mainstay in this team for a long time.

Daniel Altos

Trump’s October surprise will be the announcement of “his infection.” Fake, but quite dramatic. This twist will blow Biden off the screens, the “Trump COVID watch” dominating every minute of every day. Then, 14 days later, Trump will emerge, 100% cured by hydroxychloroquine.

This guy posted this on Twitter on September 18th,was he onto something?

azed

If there was an award for hypocrisy, we all who would be winning that award this year.

Kaz

It was me, I was the one who said he missed Wenger ball. I stand by that statement. If Wenger tried to marshal the team to defend as a unit then explosively expand when we attack in our transition we would have been incredible. The irony is in this current team Guen is the one with the talent needed to adopt the role of controller. Forward thinking, full of fight and had a decent dribble. I don’t have an issue with players knowing how to defend and am glad they had that, last season was about learning that. It’s the… Read more »

CG

Kas

“””””””Our players don’t know how to attack. That’s unforgivable.”””””

here here.

Captain Tierney

Saliba should not be going out on loan unless there is literally no way we can offload Mustafi (linked with Lazio), Sok (linked with a couple of teams) and Kola (Reportedly very close to Leverkusen). I think if Saliba is given a chance, he’ll usurp Holding for the RCB spot. The physical and technical ability of Saliba at 19 is extraordinary. The only thing we haven’t seen or know about is mentality. (Tho he did give an interview to the Arsenal.com speaking in broken English but you could that Saliba has elite level of confidence and fearlessness. Even Laca who… Read more »

Jay

Eddie nikita is so average, why is he so bang average

Kaz

Xhaka is Pirlo 2.0.

😂😂😂😂

Must be a friend of his.

azed

Someone wrote this a year ago… On the positive side of things, looking to the future, it’s clear that we have the raw ingredients for spectacular football. Emery tried to show the world that the way they see the squad is wrong last night. I genuinely believe he thought a Xhaka-less midfield with Ozil and Torreira was a throwaway game that’d show the fans what he’s persisting with in the league is correct. Woooah was he wrong. Moving forward, we looked spectacular at points. Saka and Gabriel is a partnership for the ages. Mesut pulled strings. Torreira looked great. Willock… Read more »

Receding Hairline

Speechless

The goal posts haven’t just been moved they have been removed completely. Now whatever Arteta stumbles unto is the goal and we should all praise him for it.

Daniel Altos

I think comparing xhaka to pirlo is a bit of a stretch….xhaka can’t even handle a press from kids like grujic and minamino

Kaz

@azed

I wonder who 🤭🤭

Receding Hairline

No great tactical game plan calls for your keeper being the man of the match. None. We could have lost 3-0 last night and no one would call it unfair.

Emiratesstroller

It is increasingly clear that Arteta does not consider Saliba ready to play first team football. If that is the case then rather than buy yet another Centre Back I would consider starting with Mustafi in the RCB position in preference to Holding. Whilst he would not be my cup of tea in long term he did show improvement before getting injured. Arsenal must buy at least one quality midfielder. That has to be the priority in this window. My personal preference would be Partey. He is a consistent performer in CMF and we know the price we need to… Read more »

bacaryisgod

Sounds like they are taking care of Saliba which can only be a good thing. It also clears up things a little bit in central defence. We’ll have Holding, Luiz and Gabriel as the first-choice back 3 with Mustafi, Chambers and Mari set to compete after recovering from injuries. Here’s our two for every position: GK: Leno, Runarsson CB (3 positions) Luiz, Gabriel, Holding, Mustafi, Chambers, Mari LWB: Tierney, AMN RWB: Bellerin, Cedric CM (2 positions) Xhaka, Ceballos, Aouar, Elneny RW: Willian, Pepe LW: Aubameyang, Saka CF: Lacazette, Nketiah Squad players: Martinell, Smith-Rowe, Nelson, Willock, Macey Out (sale or loan)/Outcasts:… Read more »

Kaz

RH

Ped’s been championing Arteta for about a year. His glasses are well and truly tinted.

I just hope Arteta starts to develop the attack side of our game coz yeaaash.

Playing scared against the Liverpool kids was not the way

CG

RH

“””””Speechless The goal posts haven’t just been moved they have been removed completely. Now whatever Arteta stumbles unto is the goal and we should all praise him for it.””””””

Well said,

you can’t even criticise him now.

I have got to the stage now watching Artetas turgid and bland excrement every week- I am actually pining for a bit of haphazard Emeryball.

What we going for Sunday.

3 attempts on the Sheffield goal? or 4?

Kaz

And again, I think most posters absolutely favour Partey to the team.

Boggles the mind that an unproven French League lightweight with a bad injury record is what we are throwing our small amount of cash at.

Leftside

‘I have got to the stage now watching Artetas turgid and bland excrement every week- I am actually pining for a bit of haphazard Emeryball.’

Yawn Yawn Yawn.

Leftside

Scenes when we miss out on our targets and end up with the lightweight Jorginho. This new transfer
team haven’t been impressive at all.

Karsa

Anyone who can’t take joy from an Arsenal victory needs to find something else to do with their time.

Yes, a grater emphasis on attack would be nice, but atm it’s the target not the reality.

Cultivate some patience ffs.

bacaryisgod

Kaz Pedro’s been championing Arteta for longer than a year. I wasn’t in favour of hiring him right after Wenger but I said after Emery we should give Arteta at least two years without getting on his back. There’s a monumental job to be done and he’s already showed huge promise. More than anything, this is his first meaningful transfer window. Before this summer we still had Raul running the show. However, I agree with Partey but maybe Atletico just won’t budge enough. Aouar may be the Cazorla-type we need to control possession better. Right now, I’ll be pleased with… Read more »

Buzzy

Saliba looked very slow in the friendly against MK Dons and his touch seemed way off..I pointed that out here and got battered for saying the truth by literally everyone including Pedro…There’s no sympathy in football for newcomers…sometimes it’s quite clear that the player is not of a high quality…Gabriel on the other hand is exactly what we needed!

Bertie Mee

Since the restart of football in June we have – Overcome Liverpool in three out of four games Beaten Manchester City at Wembley Won the FA Cup beating Chelsea Won at Leicester , Southampton and Wolves The league form since Arteta arrived would place us in fourth place in the League . If you can’t see that’s progress or are stupid enough to want another manager who achieves all this and wants bright, flowing football with the dysfunctional squad Emery left behind then I despair for you. Arteta has begun with the basics ( he hasn’t yet had a full… Read more »

CG

“”””Yawn Yawn Yawn””””” yes like watching an Arteta team Arsenal’s squad is absolutely chock-full of highly paid internationals. it does have talent , How comes promoted Leeds United can go to Anfield and score 3 there within an hour. And yet we play Liverpool twice this week and score X 1 Scrappy goal? How comes Brighton go to Newcastle score 3 and then the week after batter Man United , scoring twice and hitting their woodwork x 5 times? How comes Spurs can go to Saints and hit 5? or just the 7 last night? Or Everton start annihilating teams?… Read more »

Rich

The league cup semi finals are one legged this season. Hopefully we go for it, would love some more silverware. Pedro got the state of our squad wrong, and the expectations for Emery wrong with the hand he was dealt, he also got Pepe wrong. He’s right now though, Arteta needs time, and if you don’t have the players to produce high octane attacking football, then you need to be pragmatic. Arteta is making us tough to beat, with our current set of players, I’ll take that all day long. It’s easy to criticise our chance creation stats, but without… Read more »

Dark Hei

If some of you are still longing for your dose of Emery, he is over there in Spain. Go live your dream cheering for him in La Liga.

Vilarreal is doing decently well. You might even enjoy it.

Leftside

‘ How comes Brighton go to Newcastle score 3 and then the week after batter Man United , scoring twice and hitting their woodwork x 5 times?’

What was the final result of the Brighton and Utd game you dumb fuck!?!?

Just rewatch Wengers Arsenal because your not a fan of the club, merely the fan of a former manager who cannot accept reality and move on.

Your boring and inane.

Leftside

And talking about mediocrity whilst talking up the likes of Dyche, you genuinely have to be the dumbest person I’ll never meet. The quality of this comment section takes a nosedive whenever you log on.

Karsa

I saw plenty of scrappy 0-0 and 1-0 games during the 70’s and 80’s.

As a supporter I loved the Arsenal then just as much as I loved them during the early Wenger years.

Getting the best out of the players at your disposal is all you can ask.

CG

Leftside

“””””””””And talking about mediocrity whilst talking up the likes of Dyche, you genuinely have to be the dumbest person I’ll never meet.”””””””””

Dyche is the best FFP manager around,.bar none.

Daniel Altos

I am starting to have a very bad feeling about these jorginho links,I’m starting to think that we will actually sign him

Dark Hei

CG

But peak Wenger-ball has Santi Cazorla, Francis Coquelin, Aaron Ramsey, Sanchez, Ozil, Monreal and Bellerin.

You can’t expect this current batch to do that thing, they don’t have the pace and the fluidity.

jay

Arsenal buying anyone?

azed

Matteo G was an absolute monster. I’ve always been a fan of his, but I was unsure what his special sauce was. We’re starting to see that. He’s a leader. He drives games forward, he makes elite passes, he’s a beast when he wants to be, he’s a goal threat… he’s the player other players more senior than him look to for answers.

He is captain elect.

Someone was a fan of Guendozi until Sauce McSaucy said Matteo is ketchup and ketchup isn’t saucy enough.

Leftside

Altos, don’t rule it out. There are three days to go but that is not a comfort to anyone. So far, this window has been underwhelming and the links to Jorginho do not surprise me.

Edu so far, has been thoroughly unimpressive.

Receding Hairline

Rich we scored more goals than Tottenham and Chelsea in the league two seasons ago with a worse squad. We reached an EL final and should have finished fourth in the league..it was all scoffed at. We wrote off last season to give him the time to shape the team etc, we finished 8th and surprisingly won the FA cup, all metrics pointed to us being a very lucky team in that opponents created better chances against us yet we get bailed out by exceptional goal keeping performances. Someone thought that was enough for a promotion. Now we are going… Read more »

jay

£23 million for Rhian Brewster, I wish someone made a bid for Eddie nikita like that.

CG

DH

“”””””You can’t expect this current batch to do that thing, they don’t have the pace and the fluidity.”””””””””

Attacking soccer is a mindset,
Defensive soccer is a mindset

it actually does ‘nt matter who the players are
we have x 0 internationals ( minimum) in our squad.

Bringing Eleneny on last night at 0 0? What is that about.?
Wheres Nelson? Saliba?

he should be playing attacking soccer with our youngsters every week and attempting to build a tittle winning team for next season.

Like Monaco did a few season ago.

CG

x 20 internationals

azed

Telling that the manager had to be convinced by the stats guys at Arsenal that LT was a better choice than Nzonzi. Great to see that someone at the club was taming Emery’s inner Tony Pulis.

Imagine the scenes if Emery had signed Williams after the club had signed Pepe.

Pierre called it right that Nzonzi would have been better then Torriera.

TR7

‘Xhaka is Pirlo 2.0 all day long.’

Speechless, absolutely mind boggling sacrilegious stuff.

GunnerDNA

Pedro, Defend Arteta as much as you like but please don’t mention AW. Emery and Mikel couldn’t lace AW boots in any aspect of coaching. I’ve never seen AW team plays this poorly, he certainly had his flaws but AW is a State, Mikel and Emery are two street signs when it comes to coaching. I’ve seen AW rip teams apart with less players than Mikel is fumbling with right now. If AW was still at the Club Pepe and Saliba would be justifying thier price tags, Steve Round and Mikel is as impressive as a McDonalds meal. AW is… Read more »

Steveyg87

Obviously what Xhaka has achieved compared to Pirlo pales in comparison, but if utilized correctly, Xhaka can bring a lot to the table. He is our best passer and is constantly putting our forwards through on goal, he has nasty in him and is prepared to roll his sleeves up when the going gets tough, which is like every game these days. I don’t know what else is expected? He’s never going to be a midfielder destroyer, but neither was Pirlo? He had the right players around him that enabled him to thrive, Xhaka needs the same. Arteta hasn’t backed… Read more »

Kaz

I don’t want Emery back again thank you very much and I’ll continue to watch my Wenger highlights whilst commenting on ways we need to improve. It’s not my fault if you’re sensitivity towards the manager makes you unable to take fair criticism. Ozil doesn’t want to play against certain teams and tactics but he can still do magic stuff but he’s gone forever. Guendozi has so much talent we can mold him to nearly any midfield role but we freeze him out. Meanwhile Xhaka is still an Arsenal player and playing regularly and starting ahead of them both. But… Read more »

Ernest Reed

I guess today is bash Arteta and Pedro day? Geez this place can be toxic at times, but thats what makes Pedro’s LeGrove what it is, all are welcome.

azed

Additionally, the manager needs to start being more aggressive with his line-ups. That midfield was always going to be bland. We shouldn’t have to watch strikers drop deep to make up for a lack of creativity. It made little sense to have 3 similar midfielders sitting in a flat line yesterday, especially when Spurs were there for the taking. We gave them far too much defensive respect and it didn’t even pay off, we conceded 8 shots in the first half, with 7 of them on target. An abomination. The Masterful I think that Matteo G just announced himself on… Read more »

azed

Ernest

Have you seen anyone bash Arteta today cos I haven’t (CG doesn’t count).

Kaz

Watching people defend our Allardyce football is like watching people defend Trump for not paying his fair share of tax.
Like watching Arsenal link us to unsuitable French league players.

The mind boggles at the vapid stupidity on show.

Daniel Altos

Altos, don’t rule it out. There are three days to go but that is not a comfort to anyone. So far, this window has been underwhelming and the links to Jorginho do not surprise me.Edu so far, has been thoroughly unimpressive. @leftside I see people being always optimistic here that we will shift deadwood,oh it’s still 2 weeks ooh this week could be massive blah blah but let’s face it lads,we haven’t done anything significant in this Transfer window.Yes we signed Gabriel but we have like 7cbs now and we have made three midfielders redundant for no known reason,can we… Read more »

Dark Hei

CG

Ok, I get your point. He threw on safety first subs while in a draw.

Wasn’t looking to win.

I kind of can forgive that since it is against the mighty Liverpool and it is a Cup game.

If it was the league and against a lower club, I would be moody.

Bamford10

Pedro “We have a clear identity.” We do? Interesting. Could someone tell us what this “identity” is, because I am watching pretty carefully and I don’t think I could say? “Do what it takes to get a result” is what I see. In itself this isn’t a bad approach when you don’t have the players to play the kind of football you want to play. But it isn’t an identity. Not in my mind, at least. What kind of team are we? What kind of football do we play? What kind of football does Arteta see Arsenal playing going forward?… Read more »

Champagne charlie

“Have you seen anyone bash Arteta today cos I haven’t (CG doesn’t count).“

Hard to see much of anything with you feverishly pasting old content. Give it a rest ffs, post a link for a change and skip drafting in paragraph after paragraph.

Champagne charlie

Oh look, beat Liverpool yesterday and Banford was notably absent from any conversations. Here he is back in the morning to unpick any positivity Pedro has taken from another win against the bin dippers.

Pedro must be another old fashioned fan too, thank god you’re here to show the ways.

Dark Hei

“I guess today is bash Arteta and Pedro day? Geez this place can be toxic at times, but thats what makes Pedro’s LeGrove what it is, all are welcome.”

You were around during the Wenger years right?

It was just me, Pierre and Charlie (the AKBs) vs the entire Le Grove plus Peds.

We get skewered from all directions.

TR7

‘’I’ve seen some tasteless Arsenal fans comparing him to Gervinho.’

I was the tasteless fan who called Pepe Gervinho MKII and got some stick for it from Pedro and others. Amazes me how could our scouts not see what a useless player Pepe was. Always said he had no balance to his game and lookee like he would fall over.

As for Pedro, he flip flops on everything to keep the blog an interesting and buzzing place. He’s a marketing guy afterall.

Bamford10

That we’re looking to loan out Saliba means a few things: one, the dream of him coming into the XI this season is dead; two, we haven’t been able to shift enough deadwood (including Mustafi?) to make room for him in the squad; three, it is highly likely we will be playing with three CBs and two CMs all season.

Marc

” look at Juventus the last season before Pogba left for United, they were crushing teams with Pirlo pulling the strings and Pogba/Vidal doing the donkey work. Xhaka is Pirlo 2.0 all day long. He needs protection to be able to thrive. Better make peace with the fact that Xhaka will be a mainstay in this team for a long time.” Just a small point Serie A is a 70mph league the PL is a 150mph league. Xhaka would look good in Serie A but even though he had a good performance last night anyone who’s watched Arsenal and football… Read more »

redbro14

Martinelli would have been the best person to lead the line yesterday. We miss his energy and talent up front. Can’t wait for him to get fit again….
But, a win is a win. Loved it. Leno, Gabriel, AMN’s penalty….
Now I’m back on various web sites looking for a scrap of good news on transfers. PSG gazumping Aouar. Nothing on Partey. Arrgghhhhh…..

Bamford10

*gentlemen

CG

DH

“””””Ok, I get your point. He threw on safety first subs while in a draw.””””

So we have a manager that favors the likes of Elneny over all the other attacking talent at the club in the non important matches?

Over Ozil? Nelson?

Or how about bring Balogun on? ( DVD had been taken off too.)

Alan Curbishleys Charltons team had more ambition and oomph than ours

Leftside

Altos, Yes, I know we struggle to move players on due to their wage demands not being met elsewhere but we haven’t made one sale of note except for Emi and by most accounts, you’d presume most wanted him to stay. The scenes if we sold Martinez to have Jorginho rock up to the Emirates would be car crash stuff. Getting rid of Torreira also weakens us. I also think that Guendouzi and dare I say it Ozil should have been integrated back in fully in the event we may require them. On the other hand though, if we manage… Read more »

Marc

Can those posters who continually seem flummoxed by other teams selling fringe players for good money when we can’t get anything for ours please get it through their heads that A) most of the players we are looking to move on are rubbish B) they are on high wages. Brewster is reported to be on £10k per week Kolas is on between £100k and £120k per week.

Daniel Altos

think that Matteo G just announced himself on the world stage. That performance was nothing short of sensational. He was at the heart of everything. His passing was good, he ran with the ball well, he was ambitious and his attitude was absolutely exceptional all game long. That should be the standard for every game moving forward. Incredible that he’s only 20 years old. A megastar in waiting. Putting aside azed’s revision of pedro’s posts…It think we are wasting guen.The guy is the only midfielder in our entire squad who can give through balls consistently.Its time for the bullshit to… Read more »

GunnerDNA

If Arsenal bring AW back tomorrow and keep all the players we have at present, Arsenal would finished 4th. Steve Round finger prints are all over this team.

Daniel Altos

edbro14October 2, 2020 11:17:22 Martinelli would have been the best person to lead the line yesterday. We miss his energy and talent up front. Can’t wait for him to get fit again…. But, a win is a win. Loved it. Leno, Gabriel, AMN’s penalty…. Now I’m back on various web sites looking for a scrap of good news on transfers. PSG gazumping Aouar. Nothing on Partey. Arrgghhhhh….. I miss that guy,he was genuinely the only source of excitement for me last season. He has a bit of Sanchez in him with his energy and trying to make things happen,even if… Read more »

TR7

Arteta is a few notches above bland Emery in every aspect of management. You can crow about identity and style all day long but people with an eye for the game can see he has made great strides since he took over. Emery fan boys can take a back seat. Time to accept you were horribly wrong and the incessant campaign to smear Mikel makes you look even bigger fools.

Steveyg87

“We do? Interesting. Could someone tell us what this “identity” is, because I am watching pretty carefully and I don’t think I could say?” You are from the states if I remember correctly, with all the shit going on there its understandable why you don’t seem to know what’s going on around you. We defend, defend defend, regain possession, and either try and play out the back with teams that press high like Pool, go over the top or immediately release our wingers on the counter once possession is regained.. Our main tactic though is, trying to avoid playing through… Read more »

Pierre

Kaz
“Playing scared against the Liverpool kids was not the way”

I think you will find that liverpool had a higher average age and a hgher average cost than Arsenal for the players who started the game..

As for being scared , I’m not sure that accusation is true either as we were marginally the better team in the first half and but for a couple of linesman errors and the usual penalty that we were denied, we wouldn’t have had to go to penalties.

Leedsgunner

Arteta is doing just fine. I’m sick of attacking football if we have nothing to show for it. I rather have a team that is solid in defence and win the EPL in two years than a fine attack who just talk about winning without actually doing anything. Case in point? 2008. That year with RvP, Adebayor, Nasri, Hleb, Arshavin, Nasri and Cesc we had a fine attack and midfield (probably the best midfield in the league that year) but our shambles of a defence and goalkeeping let the team down — and we couldn’t go the distance. If we… Read more »

Rich

Receding hairline Emery’s first season was a slight overachievement, and not an underachievement. It was right we got rid of Emery, because he’d lost the players and fans, but that says more about our players and our knee jerk fans, than it did about Emery, last summers business was hailed, but it was clear it would take a while to bear fruit. Tierney injured with a hernia, no pre-season, and we lost Monreal. Luiz wasn’t an upgrade of Koscielny Saliba was 18 and a long term investment Pepe coming from ligue 1 was a left footed right sided player, when… Read more »

Leftside

Its amazing that Emery is even still discussed here, a negative footnote in our history that wasn’t here long enough to really move the needle that positively or that negatively.

Arteta has us organised and well prepared for each opposition, playing with fervent and we’re more competitive in the bigger games. We won’t see strides in our playing style until we do the obvious, lets hope he is backed.

azed

I was the tasteless fan who called Pepe Gervinho MKII and got some stick for it from Pedro and others

TR7

I doubt we will ever know the truth behind Pepe’s signing. All we know is Emery wanted a winger and rumors has it that Zaha was his choice.
How Pepe came into the picture is what we don’t know.

Daniel Altos

@leftside

The scenes if we sold Martinez to have Jorginho rock up to the Emirates would be car crash stuff. Getting rid of Torreira also weakens us. I also think that Guendouzi and dare I say it Ozil should have been integrated back in fully in the event we may require them

I swear if edu made us wait all this while for jorginho then I am afraid to say he will not be the man to take us forward. Don Raul might have been allegedly pushing envelopes but at least he got things done.

Emiratesstroller

CG

It is really time that you are binned.

Steveyg87

“Just a small point Serie A is a 70mph league the PL is a 150mph league. Xhaka would look good in Serie A but even though he had a good performance last night anyone who’s watched Arsenal and football for any length of time can tell he’s just not cut out for top of the PL.”

Like I said, he needs the correct personnel around him.

Marc

Yeah mostly Italian, players and fans.

Kaz

@pierre

I mean tactically we were. We play super mechanically and very predictable. We don’t look to control the game, we just look to clog the centre with bodies, when we got the ball we put it wide and cross into the box. Very Emery.

We were never the better team, Liverpool had numerous chances and had Leno not had his Weetabix that morning we would have been 2-0 down easily atleast.

Our starting line up of players all have significantly more experience than their starting line up, hence the use of the word ‘kids’.

Grant

Really think Pepe is a 70 million flop, definitely not suitable for the Premier league. To easily pushed of the ball, slows the play down to much and runs in to blind alleys. The money we paid for him was criminal, he’s barely a 30 million player! I think selling him next year would be the best thing, he’ll probably do well back in France or Spain.

Kaz

@gunnerDNA

Interesting point about Steve Round.

I need to do more research on him….

Leftside

ES tell me about it, horrible poster the worst ive seen on here in 8+ years

Captain Tierney

Things you love to see

Azed posting like a toxic ex.

Keep ’em coming 😂

TR7

‘We need right players around Ozil to get the best out of him’ was the usual refrain from Ozil fans and see how it turned out. Some Xhaka fans (lolz) are now using the same lame and hackneyed excuse for the Swiss.

Jamie

So much misery here after a win at Anfield.

Unreal carry-on.

Dissenter

I’ve watched that AMN penalty over and over again.
The best part of it was the dirty laughter after he did it.
AMN is a naughty boy for sure.

Emiratesstroller

Kaz

We know the limitations of the team, which are specifically lack of control and creativity in midfield.

Until we find solutions there we know that the best short term option is to operate in the fashion we are currently doing.

It may not be glamorous or produce a bucketful of goals but it is effective.

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