Today, we go to war for 3 points that’ll keep us #Top4 over the international break. Before the season started, I wrote that 9 points would be absolutely ideal from this session of games, and I still believe that. The post-break games are pretty grim, we have City, Leicester, United, and Villa in the league, as well as 3 Europa League games. Going into those games with momentum and positivity is absolutely vital.
We need a performance from the squad today. We’ve been inconsistent this season. Fulham was great, but then we realised they were shite. We didn’t show up against West Ham and scraped a win. Then we were soundly beaten by Liverpool. Our xG is looking a bit Emery like at the moment. 3 games is not a big sample, but we need to be correcting that before it corrects our points tally.
The main problem we’re having is chance creation. We’re fairly comfortable defending these days. We’re solid and tough to break down. Going forward is a different issue. There’s no clean connection from midfield to attack and our offensive playbook routines are getting a little predictable. The thing I worry about is it doesn’t look like we’re trying to solve it, it seems we’re banking on low chance high conversion approach. That’s rarely sustainable.
Sheffield United will be an interesting side to come up against. They’ve been abject so far this season, but we know they are a force on their day. They’ll not play a deep block, but they will aggressively counter us. It’ll be a game that will require creativity, they can defend really well and they will not let up with the pressure.
Our transfer business, on the face of it, looks underwhelming in the extreme. We’ve signed a lesser second keeper, Willian looks good but he’s certainly not the force to unlock our forward play, and Gabriel is 6 months away from being the man.
We basically have the same problem from last year carried over. That can’t be an excuse. We need to find ways of creating more good opportunities in attack, because it’ll be games like this that undo us this season.
If we don’t bring in suitable solves, the fans will look to Guendouzi and Mesut Ozil. It’s obvious. Especially as both are training with the first team. I hope that’s not the cloud of PR noise that a shoddy window brings, but you know it will be. From what I’ve been told, the big issue for Arsenal is that the squad is too bloated. Our wage bill hasn’t really been attacked this summer and we’ve done a very poor job moving on players. As I said yesterday, I don’t think anyone thought we’d struggle to move on players like MG and Lacazette, but here we are.
That is still no excuse for not having an 8 or a 6 at this stage of the summer.
I understand Arteta just wants Champions League level players for the now, but as I’ve whined about for the last 5 years, sometimes you need to build out talent and take a little longer to get back to the top. If our shopping list is Aouar, Jorginho, and Partey… or bust. Then that starts to look like negligence. We finished 8th, improving on our squad is not a precise science or balancing act like it would be a Liverpool or Bayern. We should be able to find an 8 for less than £40m that can do a job. We should be able to find a #6 that has the athletic profile we so desperately need.
I know I am not a scout, but Dominik Szoboszlai plays on the left, he can box to box, and he’s at a franchise that supplied the world with Mane and Werner. He’s 19 years old, he scored 12 goals last season and landed 18 assists. His buy-out is rumoured to be 25m euros. Is he blowing up the league this year? Maybe not. Would he be a better bet than nothing? Yes.
The same with the #6 position. We have no one with athleticism in our midfield. Don’t tell me there isn’t someone in Ligue 1 that we could pick up at less than £45m. Sangare/Sourmare look like talented player, clearly both need coaching, but that’s what clubs with fucked finances have to do.
There has been a real lack of creativity around our transfer business. I really, really hope this isn’t like seasons past where we break a season because our perfect choice wasn’t available. There are always options that can improve the squad, we cannot let the biggest problem of last season go unaddressed again.
That said, I think fans are forgetting that spending a shit tonne of money doesn’t always translate into points. Spurs blowing a load of cash doesn’t mean they’ll be electric. OGS dropping pound notes on Cavani doesn’t mean they’ll close the gap. Leicester are just as capable of bottling the season. What new players does is create excitement for the players, the staff and the fans. It signals progress and it creates good vibes. If we fail this summer, you’ll get the covid-lockdown histrionics and it’ll be a slog.
We will be better this season regardless of where we land with the squad. We have 20 wins out of 34 games under the new regime. The longer the process goes on, the better we’ll get. We are very well-coached, we’ll be tough to beat this season, and hopefully, we’ll find a solve externally before the window shuts, and if not, maybe we’ll have to reach for a ‘like a new signing’ type of pivot.
Let’s enjoy today and pray that we can make some magic happen by Monday.
Welcome three points
Eddie nikita better be gone by tomorrow
Hey karima, your pal Aouar still looking for a house around London ?
How did mitland niles get picked for England?
That goal flattered Sheffield United.
Think some are expecting too much if you are want free flowing attacking football at this stage of the process. That’ll be for next season.
Arteta knows what he needs to do.
Dump Xhaka as first team regular.
The midfield will still have problems in some factors but it will make the midfield and team overall better when on the ball.
If he doesn’t do this he is an idiot.
Top 4 going into the international break 😳😄
Arteta won his team the game.
Hard to pull a rabbit out of your hat every game though.
A bit of a stuttering end to the game but the positive change in formation for me should be the focus of that game and what we take away from the game. It was so nice to see some quality forward play and control for 20 minutes with two great goals. Still played with a bit of a handbrake on when we should have looked at a third but Mikel’s going to have to learn that we don’t need to be so cautious in games all the time. Yeah we need creative reinforcements that is obvious but what is also… Read more »
3 points at end of the day.
But it’s poor. Where’s the MF?
Vinai and Edu witnessed this shit and should go find some money now. It’s a reported meagre £10m shortfall.
Elneny had a very good game.
Ceballos grew into the game and showed his class.
Gabriel looks like a proper defender, not frills ….just substance
Auba was missing, he wasn’t better than Nkettiah
William should play more in the middle so Pepe can get more chances.
Than you and goodnight
Twat
Glad that we got our 3 points after what can be referred to as a tale of two halves. Very insipid 1st half performance followed by a far more motivated 2nd half.
Arteta’s changes of Auba as CF (finally) and putting Willian in MF massively helped with this turnaround.
Arteta should definitively work with that set up and see where this can go.
I really like Gabriel
He’s looking like a real quality player
That was a very good second half. Very professional and tidy. The goal was a great finish from them and not reflective of what they brought to the match which was basically just a defense lol
And regarding possession and those few who have said in the past that Xhaka is integral to possession in this Arsenal side what they have to realise is there are different styles and ways of possession.
You can have flowing possession where the ball is actually progressing and the team is fluid or you can have slow staid possession where the ball doesn’t advance.
Come on Teets make the decision. It’s not a difficult one.
LeftfootcurlerOctober 4, 2020 15:55:33
Arteta won his team the game.
Hard to pull a rabbit out of your hat every game though.
LOL?
Just because he’s been consistently fking the starting lineup then today for a change he made the right subs that had to start the game and you call that him winning the game? Nketiah is an average player and Arteta decides he deserves to play CF ahead of Auba and bench our most expensive player ever. Unreal some of you.
Arteta still learning on the job.
Still over thinking with his lineup
THe failure to address the midfield
Will eventually ruin this season
@Rafio Raheem
Everton seem to be playing free flowing football with only a couple of additions to their squad. We bought a couple players in and are still playing shite football. And Everton have a worse keeper than ours
Marko
Fully agree, think Arteta will revert to 3 in the back though especially for matches that he feels we will be overpowered. Not sure if that’s that best tactic seeing how Leeds have played both Pool and City, but not sure if he’ll be convinced.
@Raptora
Well said
Arsenal haven’t won without Xhaka in the team for how long again?
Joke of a stat.
Artetas makes Mourinho look like an attacking manager.
Arteta shouldn’t have started Nketiah and he wouldn’t have had to make the sub in the first place.
Nketiah was poor from about 5 minutes into the match.
Very bland first half, but glad the changes had such a positive effect. Pepe looked very hungry. Two lovely goals.
If we can’t play expansive football against a team with zero points and zero goals, we are not going to play expansive football against anybody else. Surely we have better players than SHU, We can’t use the poverty player excuse against them.
Fulham, West Ham and Sheffield are definitely going down according to my algorithm ( teams Arsenal beat).
If Arsenal win next round too I might have to revise my algorithms, unless 4 teams can be relegated of course.
We seriously need an upgrade on Bellerin. He was stuck upfield and was treading water in an effort to get back. All he ever had was pace and if thats going we he needs to go. Arteta celebrating the win as if we’ve just won the league. This was painful to watch and so unconvincing. On the plus side we do look a bit more secure at the back and Gabriel continues to impress. Now if we could only get rid of David Luis.
Hope everyone is done with Eddie nikita, all this crap about hes still young,needs to end. he’s just not good enough
Eddie ain’t good enough to head the line at Arsenal…….there isn’t a starting striker in the league not better than him. And please no need to play this dead 343 at home to lowly teams. Finally, bring back Guen into the team please. That last 20 mins was screaming for him….clearly Saka and Willian were too exhausted.
We can still do something with this squad even if we don’t bring anyone in.
I just don’t want any silly ‘plan B‘ players that don’t; add quality to the squad. We have a lot of bodies to rotate. I just wish we still had the 5-sub rule still in place.
Is that 10 wins in our last 11 competitive games or 11 in 12, I forget
Whatever the stat is it’s a very pleasant one…
Look at the great football Leeds play under Marco Bielsa. We might not have a world class squad, but it’s slightly better (on paper) better than Leeds . I love Arteta but he’s not the man for the job and neither are the owners
CC.
Arsenal haven’t won a Premier League game without Granit Xhaka in the starting XI since August 17 2019.Since then:
Wolves (h) – D
Leicester (a) – L
Soton (h) – D
Man City (h) – L
Chelsea (h) – L
Brighton (a) – L
Aston Villa – (a) – L “Grim stat.
Facepalm. No wonder we were so comfortable until Xhaka came on and nearly lost us the match.
I bet you guys will still count this as a match Arsenal won because Xhaka was playing?
grinding them out now, good job lads, quality showed in the end.
Elneny can play even better in my opinion. He is capable of playing forward passess but I don’t know why he holds himself back. He can run up and down the pitch for the whole 90 mins and he has a good understanding of his own positioning and of the players around him. Just needs to be more proactive in his passing game.
Can’t slander Bellerin after 2 assists today. He did his part.
Progression found in the second 45, pleased for Pepe desperately needed that.
Let’s see what tomorrow brings have to think at minimum a mid comes thru, rumors Douzi is off to Hertha Berlin.
Like he did the other day too.
I would like auba to stay CF and either have saka Willian and Pepe as the two wingers and 10. I’d have saka and Willian interchange for added dynamism as well
Just watched replay of Saka goal.. he really needs to work on his goal celebrations… hahahaa
Nketiah is shit. Alidaire was ten times the striker nketiah is and yet he never made it as a top player. Nketiah is league 1 league 2 player. Shockingly average
Some of the football was good in the second half.
It was actually fluid and flowing.
We know why don’t we.
Technically xhaka was in the team when we won so the stat remains 😂
Is leno not at fault for that goal? He had 2 players covering his left angle, no way the player was gonna play left, he only needed to position himself better knowing there’s only the right angle to cover, yet he messed it up. Leno is a suspect, always a suspect
Stat is for Xhaka in the starting XI, god bless the horror is over.
The last few minutes tells you why we play the way we do, this just isn’t a very good squad of players. All it needs is the opponent stringing three passes together and it’s panic stations.
That said the starting eleven was wrong, Eddie needs a loan at a lower club, if Saliba isn’t ready nor is he. He couldn’t get into the Leeds team, shouldn’t be starting league games for us. We have an easy EL group where he can play if need be.
If arteta against all odds drops xhaka permanently from the starting 11 you know Granit will sub himself on for the final 20 mins of every game we’re winning and stay on the bench when we’re not
The stat must remain!!
What did AMN do wrong?
Did I miss something?
“
Eddie nikita better be gone by tomorrow“
Other than U23, who wants Eddie?
Well, may be a different story if we ask for £5 to 10m.
Seriously. Elneny needs to go. We won’t play the bottom team every week. Just imagine how he’d look against top half teams?!
Now many would ask why Gabriel wasn’t on the pitch against the Liverpool PL game??
Spuds… United…. draw would make my weekend complete.
TYGN, bit weird for you to be taking this angle after another win as we sit in the top four, after beating Liverpool in the cup.
Ish, Pepe really brought everyone to life today. A very purposeful performance. Also thought Saka looked very good today. Future of our #10?
Oh the stat really died? Unbelievable
Is leno not at fault for that goal? He had 2 players covering his left angle, no way the player was gonna play left, he only needed to position himself better knowing there’s only the right angle to cover, yet he messed it up. Leno is a suspect, always a suspect
———
Seriously?
Leno not at fault for that beaut of a strike.
Kenyan
Made a chest control inside the box straight into the Sheffield forward 10 secs before the end, allowing him to have a final chance.
Nothings changed except being slightly tighter at the back Pedro. And if luiz had been sent off for a pull back (we’ve all seen them given) we might of even lost. Seriously I see no real major improvements apart from players are happier under him than Emery. I like Arteta and want him to succeed. But Ancellotti was my first choice and still would be. The clubs a fuckjng mess from top to bottom and it needed an old head to get best out of the players and playing half decent football.
McGoldrick goal was pure nobody plying their trade between the sticks stops that…. barring of course Emi.
Next.
Reasons for positivity…
Three points.
The first victory in an EPL game for an absolute age where neither PEA and Laca was on the scoresheet…
We are grounding out wins. This is good.
As Leicester City proved, Man City is vulnerable — we can win against them.
Spuds… United…. draw would make my weekend complete.
MIDWEST, yep.
Whatever did happen to Kyle Martino?
Tim Howard could put a spastic monkey to sleep.
Pedders “Pepe really brought everyone to life today. A very purposeful performance. Also thought Saka looked very good today. Future of our #10?” Very nice goal when he came on but tbh Arsenal could and would have found themselves ahead if they didn’t start Nketiah in the match. Basically it was wasting time with him on the pitch today. As others have noted today the real significant thing was that the midfield play was more fluid than we have seen when on the ball. And this was because Xhaka wasn’t around to stall and slow moves. I hope you mention… Read more »
Saka as our left sided No8 at home is the way forward.
With Aubameyang down the middle, flanked by Pepe + Willian.
If we can’t get our top targets? we should look to internal solutions for our creativity problems.
Ceballos was brilliant today, we should at very least look to sign him now on a permanent deal, particularly if we can’t get our other targets.
Ish, Balogun training with the first team apparently, wouldn’t be shocked if he became the chosen one this season if we don’t sell him today
Usero.
We made SHU looks a mid table team.
Yeah, did 80 minutes, until Grant freaking Xhaka came in.
Rich
“Ceballos was brilliant today”
You would always want him on the ball starting Arsenal moves in midfield over Xhaka.
More vibrancy, more fluency.
I like the ball retention and smooth passing Elneny brings to the side.
Bielsa turned Leeds around virtually from the word go, Arteta hasn’t really improved us at all. Bland signings. Favouritism towards certain players and a fucking boring style of football. Fuck me even big Sam Allardyce had Bolton playing better football than we do when he had jay jay and campo their.
Thorough, they finished 9th last season, they are a midtable team.
We had 65% posession as well, they were totally dominated. We just didn’t create a lot, which says more about us than them
Rich
Totally agree.
Ceballos came alive in the second half.
Ishola70
No service for Nketiah but he also looked flat.
Aside from a couple of nice moments, that was another fairly drab display, but it was also another victory, and at some level, that might be all that matters this season. Arteta’s approach might be a little conservative, but it might be the best way for this group to get the results it will need to get. People looking for us to play more expansive, free-flowing football may need to wait till next season. We will see.
Pepe changed the game.
Who needs Aoaur when you got MoM Dani.
@Pedro, The important stat for me is both goals were created by the right had side – the very side SU and many other teams targeted last year. The key is Bellerin’s confidence – which resulted in 2 assists. Apart from the assists – Wilders tried and tested method of severe overload on the opponents weak side (right for us) was well neutralized. I los5t the count of #times they tried that trick with deep runners one after one overloading the right side but to find Bellerin and Willian and Mo El perfectly positioned. Last year we lost to a… Read more »
@Bamford
That’s the problem, it’s always next season with Arsenal
Big thanks to West Ham for giving us 3 points and then thrashing Wolves and Leicester.
Moyes doing wonders working from home.
Not just about service Graham regarding Nketiah.
He was poor in controlling the ball and hold up play when the team were building moves. Lost cheap possession too many times.
I thought I saw signs of improvement from him late last season but today was a massive step back for him.
Like a fish out of water.
Raptors LOL?Just because he’s been consistently fking the starting lineup then today for a change he made the right subs that had to start the game and you call that him winning the game? Nketiah is an average player and Arteta decides he deserves to play CF ahead of Auba and bench our most expensive player ever. Unreal some of you.” Firstly I wasn’t talking about the subs. Arteta shifted Elneny’s positioning to a wide-sh RB and got him to make 3rd man runs. It’s what won us the game. As for subs,come on. Auba bags as many from the… Read more »
MIDWEST, yep.
Whatever did happen to Kyle Martino?
Tim Howard could put a spastic monkey to sleep
_______
I know right… Howard talks in a low monotone drone. I thought Martino was usually spot on… and at least interesting.
lol, just seen the hammers result.
Who was telling us yesterday west ham were one of the worst teams in the league?
Left, what is a 3rd man run?
TYAG
Neither Rome nor Liverpool was built in a day. Klopp didn’t move Liverpool from 9th or 10 to 4th in one season. (Not that I think Arteta is Klopp, but I do think he’s smart.)
We finished 8th last season for a reason, and contrary to what some on here think, part of the reason is that this isn’t a great squad. If Arteta manages a 6th or 5th place finish this season, that is a step in the right direction.
Then we improve the squad next summer and we go from there.
Fully agree, think Arteta will revert to 3 in the back though especially for matches that he feels we will be overpowered Like I get it in certain games and against certain teams and with injuries but the back 3/5 shouldn’t be a mainstay in our team. The second he brought on Pepe and had Auba centrally and went 4-2-3-1 we just looked better. Sure we were still a little cautious and sure Auba didn’t have a good game but we had overlapping fullbacks and players in position to receive the ball and wingers attacking space that we never saw… Read more »
Nketiah is a goal poacher like Auba.
Ofc his hold up and link up play is bad
He is not that type of CF.
He should be starting because of his athleticism.
Making multiple sprints in behind and pressing.
It’s necessary to have 2 runners in behind, always.
Looked like AMN slipped when he took that ball on the chest. Very wet pitch today, luckily it didn’t cost us.
So everyone agrees, Eddie nikita is just not good enough
@Bamford
Yes mate but that’s the story of the past 10 years, it’s always “just watch us go next season” . Bit like me with my diet plan, “ yep last donut and I’m on a diet from tomorrow “ NEVER HAPPENS 😃
Thank you and goodnight Apart from being a legendary manager Bielsa has had 3 seasons with Leeds I think. Arteta might be heading to a similar position just taking a different path. As for Everton let’s see where they are after 12 Premier league matches. We’ve been poor at the back for years and we’ve finally got a manager who is sorting that bit out. I’m happy with looking boring for now as we try to develop some balance in our play. I thought today was encouraging as we changed formation without losing that solidity Arteta has built up in… Read more »
Carlos Vela was 5 times a player Nketiah is and he didn’t make it at arsenal..
At one stage we had Henry, Van Persi, and Adebayour in the same squad ..
Those were the days ….
Then we went to a Giroud, Polodski and Sanaogo !
And now this..
Also Gabriel continues to look like a really good pick up. Makes his dropping at Liverpool still bemusing. Especially considering that Tierney as a LB is far better than Tierney as a LCB
That was NOT a penalty
Well it only took 30 secs for United to get a dodgy pk..
1. Pepe has to trust his speed. He is very dangerous when he runs with the ball. When he stands still and dances with the ball, it usually leads to nothing.
2. I prefer Saka as LW and Auba inside either as striker or left attacker. Our team looks much more threatening.
3. Ceballos has a very fast reaction to the ball and Xhaka is just the opposite. You won’t expect Xhaka to block a shot.
Just saw Manure scores a PK.
Every game now Man U get a penalty.
Fergie still on the phone.
Unreal
Talk about defending. Look at the Spurs and United game.
Crazy start to the game
1-1 already..
1 – 1
Swear the intelligence levels of defenders has plummeted with the introduction of VAR. Endless gormless tackles.
Couldn’t have happened to a better guy than Harry the convicted felon
Even bendtner had much more impact then Eddie nikita, its not hes fault,arteta keeps picking him.
Hahaha comical defending… Ol’ Harry with an assist on his own goal.
Any excuse to give the fuckers a pen
1/1
Harry Maguire at his best lol