Arsenal creativity found wanting again

by .

Arsenal took a defeat away at the Etihad in the first game back after the international break. There are no two ways about it, the result was disappointing, but probably not the disaster performance many are trying to paint.

Our truth right now is very similar to what it was last season under Mikel Arteta. We are well organized, we are resolute, and we’re tough to beat. We are… good at defending. Arteta wants to build a side based on strong foundations. He’s not far off cracking that code. Before yesterday, under Arteta, we were top 4 for total points since he took over. This is our best start in the league for 7 years.

… we are, however, a little bit shit going forward.

It doesn’t really seem to matter what combination the manager uses, we’re one dimensional. Arteta tried Willian in a false 9 role yesterday and it wasn’t very effective. Our front three weren’t really given much to work from. We tend to deliver one type of move and it’s not that hard to defend against. I think it’s fair to say that we attack with the handbrake on.

The hope was that we’d get runners in behind City’s centre backs yesterday like Leicester did but it didn’t really happen. We lacked ball speed when passing. Our attacking moves seemed almost over-rehearsed. We didn’t possess that extra 5% that comes with confidence. You don’t feel that we have the extra gear to kill a game when there’s blood in the water.

That might be a little unfair. We did have some good chances but we fluffed our lines. Bukayo Saka, having another excellent game, forced a brilliant shouldered save from Ederson. Nicolas Pepe didn’t do well with two pretty sound chances for headers. The opportunities were few and far between, but we really should be doing better with the pace and pedigree we have in the side.

I think Pepe will look back and be disappointed with how he played. He was very meek again. His passivity is infuriating to watch and his pressing is very hit or miss. Quite often, it looks like he’d prefer to be fouled than fight and beat a man. Willian also didn’t seem at the races, not what I was hoping for after dropping such a huge amount on his contract, he looks less settled than Gabriel.

There has to be a way around it. I’d be excited about ESR if he could stay fit for longer than 6 minutes. Having someone that can run with the ball and play in the pockets is what’s needed, but it’s quite a reach to think he’s bailing us out this season. Saka is great out on the left, I’m sure he could play through the middle, but you’d be teaching someone on the job which would require a steep learning curve. It is always tempting to think that Mesut Ozil is saving you here… but be real, our dismal away record isn’t going to be solved by someone that has bottled tough away games for 5 years at Arsenal. Wenger used to let him have days off. If you can’t commit behind the scenes, what makes anyone think he’ll do it on the pitch in a game like yesterday?

I think my biggest worry is that we sold the wrong keeper. The mistake we made for the goal was a catalogue of errors, I don’t doubt that. Bellerin and Luiz both have to do better in that situation. However, I find it difficult to look past Leno palming a shot like that right back into the feet of Sterling. This is now a pattern. He repeated the same thing about 10 minutes later. Emi Martinez was very much a catcher and he mostly palmed shots away from danger. The keeping coaches need to get on top of this issue because it’s starting to look like a tactical opportunity to shoot from distance against him.

Outside the goal, our defence was pretty good. David Luiz was originally dropped, then had to be called upon when Rob Holding tweaked his hamstring in the warm-up. It seemed like he was sulking a little bit. He’s a player that you can’t really drop because he takes it badly. I think this will become apparent as he transitions behind younger models this season. Also… stop indulging the garbage freekicks. He’s not a specialist.

It’s still early days in the so-called process. You can’t fix everything at the same time. We’re solid defensively, it is an objective fact that we did not get battered like we usually do in away games. That is a massive shift forward regardless of how offended your sensibilities are. It is an objective fact that we were still in that game right until the death. It is objective fact that when we were battered by them in June, we conceded 20 shots and yesterday and didn’t hit the target ourselves… yesterday, we limited them to 5 shots on target from 13 attempts. We had 11 attempts and 3 on target.

This is a process and things take time. Let’s see what a difference Thomas Partey will make to our midfield. Let’s see what happens when Willian settles and Saka grows in confidence and experience.

Things will get better. I want to get over the novelty of Arsenal being a competitive team, because we can’t be celebrating failure like this past January. We want to be the best, there’s no glory in losing, Arteta has to learn from these games and push the team forward… because this attacking conundrum has to be addressed with the players we have.

Onwards and upwards… we have a month to fix these problems against two more top teams. Let’s see what the coaching staff can do to make good on this result.

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prvhc

Aaron
What’s not realistic about us winning the league ?
Mikel’s got the sauce, right ?

Buzzy

The keepers at either end in this match are the top 2 keepers in the league….Allison and Ederson get more recognition only because they play for bigger clubs

Luteo Guenreira

“has silenced me here a couple of times — in my opinion, unfairly.” Bamford are you confusing this place with a workplace? Do you think Pedro is HR? You’re playing in someone else’s backyard, if he doesn’t want you on his property then it matters fuck all what you think is fair or not. Like I said yesterday, you’re just miffed about being banned because you think you we’re wronged and because you think you “bring value” to this place. Where you’ve grown that kind of ego in your life without being checked, I’ll never know. Even earlier talking to… Read more »

Danny

Martinez makes a 60 yard pass to Grealish………

prvhc

AFC forever
Statistics by definition are facts. How you interpret them is another matter.

Valentin

Marko,

Wenger had trusted Martinez to be No2 to Peter Cech the season he was sacked, so it did make sense to slowly replace him.
You miss the main point. Nobody cares about he had or not done, but what he was able to do. Anyway Martinez is now gone.

Right now the big question is how to improve Leno and what Arteta can do to alleviate his flaws. Unfortunately Arteta tactics just expose Leno’s poor distribution.

Bamford10

Luteo

Yeah, that never happened. I think I once mentioned my Twitter handle to people. I never said that I was “leaving Le Grove” on account of opinion here. You should try to … I don’t know … actually remember the past correctly?

You’re another one who spends an inordinate amount of time harassing me. It’s super weird.

Nelson

Torreira started for AM and his team won 2 – 0. Torreira was given a 7.4 rating by Whoscored, the highest of any outfield player. Partey is supposed to be the better player and our supposed to be smart manager thought he was good only for 6 minutes.

andy1886

“Statistics by definition are facts” Not entirely true, they can be subjective. For example, what is a ‘chance’ in football? Statistics might say a six inch pass that leads to a shot forty yards from goal that goes out for a throw in is a ‘chance’ but anyone who has ever watched football knows that’s complete bollocks.

Why do you think Ozil is claimed to be this great chance creator when his measurable output is pathetic?

Rubbish in, rubbish out as they say.

AFC Forever

“here you actually wrote a goodbye letter in the comments saying this place had opinions too different than yours, that you’d be carrying on on Twitter, and inviting anyone who was interested to come join you. Spoiler: no one did. So much for all your “friends”

That along with the Dariano crap was a real insight into a severely compromised personality. Narcissist. Full of his own self importance. Amazed people engage with him, he must be w** *”g himself silly when he triggers a Gooner..All jokes aside he could be on the FBI’s wanted list.
.

Graham62

crimson

Marginally!!😂

This has nothing to do with having a debate, what some on here are pointing out is that we have a weak link in our team that’s going to be difficult to rectify.

Imo, there is a big difference between the two.

The players know this as well.

Danny

our supposed to be smart manager
——————
……who dropped Gabriel against Liverpool
…..played Willian as centre forward against Man City
….kept Elneny but loaned out Guen and Torreira
…..and the icing on the cake – sold Martinez

DivineSherlock

I didnt know LeGrove had so many Spurs fans commenting . Didnt we Beat West Ham 2-1 ? lol . 3-0 up and bottling after 82 mins , must be some kind of record. Arteta Knows . Defense is important people .

prvhc

Sherlock
ArtetaKnowsBest

TheLegendaryDB10

“… we are, however, a little bit shit going forward.” I cannot agree more. And that is my only gripe right now. I am happy that we are defensively sound. But to be sacrificing so much on the attacking front is a crime against football! This was a game that was crying for a CF, and that was definitively not Willian. That was quite the cock up by Arteta. The set up was good. All he had to do was put Auba upfront and Willian on the left. Who knows we would have scored. one, and even dare I say… Read more »

DivineSherlock

prvhc

Arteta Knows Best > Arsene Knows Best .

Graham62

The handbrake has been applied in all our games to date.

All the other teams look far more dynamic and play at at a faster tempo, whilst we are marching up and down the pitch like regimental soldiers.

Arteta has to up the anti and start to utilise our weapons.

Hopefully Partey can help in this matter.

Champagne charlie

Damford That entire passage is a classic YOU comment. Nothing introspective from you, no admission of fault in anything, all “merited” from you and “unfair” against you. Banned for 6 months and your takeaway was you did nothing to deserve it. You’re a victim too it appears, “harassed” and “bullied” by myself and the rest of the “jerks” who do nothing but ‘give-it-to-Banford’. You take yourself, and football talk in general, far too seriously. You’d be a really good poster if you were receptive to debate, criticism, and disagreement, but you’re terrible with any of that and totally absent of… Read more »

SuperRob

Why did villa and Leicester score 7 and 5 goals in their last matches but are drawing a blank here?

Anyone?

AFC Forever

“Statistics by definition are facts. How you interpret them is another matter.” No, a statistic is just a number. Numbers are as easily manipulatable, incomplete, and misleading as words are. Because numbers are associated with math, and math is associated with fact, they are dangerous. .Stats are useful but without any weighting are worthless. For example. I had a choice of 12 beautiful models I could have married. I asked each of them to marry me. Is it a FACT? When I asked them I was 12 years of age. They were not beautiful. They were not models. Politicians use… Read more »

DivineSherlock

LegendaryDB10

So Martinez shouldve been the no.1 just because he played well for 3 months vs. Leno who had consistently outperformed him over the course of two seasons ? I am glad these kind of people are not incharge of contracts .

Graham62

The LegendaryDB10

………….and what a mistake.

The knock on effect of this decision will be massive.

Mark my words.

Buzzy

Slimani is absolutely terrible..reminds me of Sanogo..lets hope Vardy doesnt recover in time for the game next weekend

AFC Forever

Divine Sherlock “I didnt know LeGrove had so many Spurs fans commenting . Didnt we Beat West Ham 2-1 ? lol . 3-0 up and bottling after 82 mins , must be some kind of record. Arteta Knows . Defense is important people” I did. Pretty obvious. Just read the comment section and there are one or two regulars. Luckily they aren’t too bright as this afternoon proved on here. Just scroll back. So obvious & some of them are regular fakers. You have to be obsessed and so sad but it shows what a huge club we are compared… Read more »

Buzzy

Villa go 2nd…totally deserved..happy for Emi

Nelson

Looks like Villa will get top 4.

G8

Emi would have saved that!

Luteo Guenreira

Emi has done it again!

Graham62

Divine Sherlock

Leno was made to look good because we has a shite defence.

Flashy reflex saves are not the mark of a top keeper.

Surely you know that.

I can’t believe that some on here don’t see this as being a massive issue.

Yes, Martinez has gone but still doesn’t hide the fact that Leno is not and never was the answer.

AFC Forever

I confess to being a Martinez fan. His handling was superb, he would catch balls where Leno has a tendency to punch. I prefer a keeper who is prepared to dominate like that. We should never have sold him.

Saladin

Did we keep the receipt for Emi? I want a return lol

Nelson

Why not we get Barkley instead of Willian. We need someone who can score from 25 yards out.

AFC Forever

Last team to nearly get relegated and win the Premier League the following Season:

Leicester.

Mind you, Vila and Everton won’t finish above us, we’ve only had 5 games FFS. Long season,m; form, injuries & suspensions so depth of squad is important.

Graham62

we had

AFC Forever

*Mind you, Vila and Everton won’t finish above us, we’ve only had 5 games FFS.

Long season; form, injuries & suspensions will play a part so depth of squad is important.

Nelson

“where Leno has a tendency to punch.” Even worse, he likes to palm the ball towards an opponent. If he punches the ball, it would fly much further away.

Graham62

From what I’ve seen so far, both Everton and Villa will finish above us.

No fans, no real pressure, different dynamics to the games.

Unleash us Mikel.

Kaz

5 saves and a clean sheet.

Good on you Emi

Rich

Mari £8mill on a 4yr deal, when we already had 7 other average senior centre half’s
Soares 4yr deal, for Southampton’s second choice right back
Willian 3 year deal at 32

Is some really strange transfer business.

Graham62

Personally, I would drop Leno and bring the Icelandic lad in now.

TheLegendaryDB10

DivineSherlock

You could see that Martinez was instilling confidence in the back 3 by his constant communicating. From what I saw in the last 3 months was a far more professional and rounded display than the maverick that Leno is. And he is not what we need right now.

We don’t need a one shot wonder because we don’t (yet) have the defence for it.

You do realise that had that ball been caught the score line would have been a draw?

Havyn

EMI is better than Leno
Emery bought Leno because he didn’t know EMI
After Arsene let Cech go and sold off Ospina.he meant to rely on EMI then AW himself left

So is not like EMI has been bad for years, they sacked all the coaches when Emery came in. So Emery brought in his own GK

All the players Raul bought were overpaid. Leno, Papa, Pepe and the rest. Seems some backhandering went on under the table. Pepe at 72m should rather have secured Zaha.

Tom

Villa three clean sheets already , none away last season.
Martinez a huge upgrade obviously but also Mings much improved. Barkley a huge get for them from Chelsea to complement Grealish.

Graham62

This is not your normal season.

Arteta must understand this.

SuperRob

Villa and Everton both to finish above us? Now I’ve heard it all

AFC Forever

Pedro
“Well, well, well… that certainly put a bit of perspective on a narrow loss to Manchester City”

Lol.

They are the gift that keeps giving.

G8

Didn’t we loose to villa back in July with our own Martinez in goal?
Villa never looked back since

Our problem is far from goalkeeping!

AFC Forever

Havyn

To be fair Leno is a very good ‘keeper who has saved us on a number of occasions. Both excellent. I do like Me artinez though, I think his handling is better.

AFC Forever

*Martinez

Leftside

Still early in the season but circumstances and having no audience in grounds really is making it an exciting prospect. Any team can beat each other, the kneejerk conclusions so early should be kept on ice bearing this in mind.

Valentin

With the money we spend on David Luiz agents and salary, we could have got Ming. I know which club got the better deal.

Havyn

You can’t do well without a great GK
Villa has that now

Arteta made a terrible mistake selling EMI
We’ll all live to regret it
Chelsea is struggling with GK and they’ll go for him next season for 50m

Luteo Guenreira

Mings is one I will admit I didn’t rate a few years ago, I’d happily have him now. Pierre actually called this one way back then I think.

Leftside

‘Villa and Everton both to finish above us? Now I’ve heard it all‘

Don’t mind Graham. Usually reasonable but been all over the shop since beloved Martinez left the club.

AFC Forever

It’s good to see other teams struggling defensively like Chelsea & Spurs. Sky all over & saying how well Arteta has done to fix that. Which is true. I don’t think this Arsenal team will go three nil up and draw like we would previously.

Marko

Looks like Villa will get top 4.

Oh for sure

Marko

With the money we spend on David Luiz agents and salary, we could have got Ming. I know which club got the better deal.

Ming(s) doesn’t have agents or get a salary I suppose

Luteo Guenreira

Marko I didn’t realize until I’d already posted that I let that one from Val slip past me.

Thorough

So Villa flogged 2 top 6 teams back to back, but we’re okay with losing to Liverpool and ManCity because it wasn’t a walloping?

AFC Forever

Tom, Luteo, you are right to praise Ming’s, he is looking strong. A lot of that will be having a ‘keeper behind him that he trusts.

Tom

Marko, not a top four team but easily a solid mid table club.

Thorough

William will keep looking like a dud so long Arteta keeps playing him wrongly. He played in the hole for 45 minutes against Sheffield and we looked more penetrating.

And can Arteta just stop this rubbish of playing Saka in defense? He was our shining light in the attack yesterday even though he was playing defence. The few times he overlapped they couldn’t live with him. How much more if he was playing on the wings.

SuperRob

Leno was unlucky with that goal 6-7 yards out power shot? Any keeper hasn’t got a clue where they’re parrying that let alone catch it.

He also made 2-3 good one on one saves but that doesn’t get mentioned? Why is that?

AFC Forever

Marko

I like Gabriel, he is a class act. Goes about his business calmly; has the same composure as Gilberto Silva. You need calmness at the back and he doesn’t panic. Excellent signing.

SuperRob

Why is everything so reactionary and knee jerk after each game?

People have eyes and can actually see the game past superficial stats that thrown around are happy to trust in the process and enjoy the improvement.

We aren’t soft touches any more.

AFC Forever

Pedro..

Villa play much better football than Sheffield United. Like watching them, Barkley & Grealish are great players.

Havyn

EMI moves to Chavski next season for 50m

SuperRob

Pedro I’m fully aware of what keepers are
meant to do. Some shots just have to be diverted
somewhere cos you don’t have the time or luxury to decide that at any level.

MuddyGooner

EMI man of the match
Oh god, what have we done !

Ishola70

Fucking star ain’t he Emi.

Pierre

“Tom, Luteo, you are right to praise Ming’s, he is looking strong. A lot of that will be having a ‘keeper behind him that he trusts.” I agree. Before the start of last season, Mings was my no.1 choice to sign in the 2018 transfer window…. His game had improved during his spell on loan at villa and for me , he was the main reason they were promoted. I felt that last season he dropped too deep into his own 6 yatd box , he needed a vocal keeper to push him out away from the goalmouth, it looks… Read more »

MuddyGooner

Is he our Gnabry ?

Havyn

We should’ve looked for buyers for Leno instead of selling EMI, a through and through Gunner who’s been here over 10, got his break and we let him go.

Thorough

Peddlers.
Being difficult to beat doesn’t show on the table. We shouldn’t be playing timid by now. We kept passing backwards yesterday even when we were behind.

AFC Forever

Thorough We lost one nil away to City. Created two good chances and had a blatant penalty denied. The team looks solid, we lost 3-0 there last season. Artetas priority is to coach us to be disciplined off the ball, our biggest weakness for years. He’s done that. It’s delivered us an FA Cup already. All great teams are built on solid defensive foundations. You have to get that right first. City & Liverpool have a 5 year start on us. Be patient. Arteta Needs time with the players & the new signings. Gradually we will improve creatively. Man City… Read more »

SuperRob

We offered him a new deal he didn’t accept it, he wanted to leave. What don’t people understand?

Dry your eyes he’s gone. Support what is here,
wouldn’t that make more sense?

SuperRob

Thorough definitely doesn’t understand football.

Calypso

AFC Forever

I respectfully disagree, the defence was always going to be resolved no matter sho was in charge once Wenger left the club.

Pierre

Super rob
The foden shot was weak and close to the keeper , Leno should have caught the ball….

The camera angle behind the goal in slow motion shows clearly that Leno could and should have done better..

Not a massive error though..

Words on a Blog

Did Martinez join Cilla cos he wanted to be a key part of a Top 4 team?

Villa’s got the strongest defence in the Premier League now that he’s a key part of it!

Words on a Blog

Cilla. – Villa

AFC Forever

Pierre

Absolutely.

A keeper is there to talk to and organise those in front of him. The defence need to trust him. When the defence is confident behind them they only have to worry about their own jobs.

Just seen that VVD tackle by Pickford, awful. This VAR nonsense is a joke.

raptora

https://www.whoscored.com/Regions/252/Tournaments/2/Seasons/8228/Stages/18685/TeamStatistics/England-Premier-League-2020-2021 2017/18 Wenger’s last season Shots per game – 5th Shots on target – 2nd Dribbles per game – 9th 2020/21 Shots per game – 18th place Shots on target – 13th place Dribbles per game – 12th place Pedro, this is some banter statistic, isn’t it. Or saucy means not shooting towards the goal? This is Arsenal. Watching Villa, Everton, Leicester, Wolverhampton, Leeds, Brighton, West Ham – these teams are playing good, exciting football. We are Arsenal but we’re set up with the idea to barely win or as we did yesterday, lose by a goal and be proud… Read more »

Tom

AFC
Mings is a unit and his attributes are very impressive.
Against Pool he intercepted a 70 yards ball over the top meant for Salah, left Salah for dead and sprinted with the ball up field past two more Liverpool players to create an overload , with Villa up one nil.
A very impressive player.

raptora

Pedro: “This is our best start in the league for 7 years.”

2013/14 – 12 pts
2014/15 – 9 pts
2015/16 – 10 pts
2016/17 – 10 pts
2017/18 – 7 pts
2018/19 – 9 pts
2019/20 – 8 pts

We actually had fewer points just 2 times in the last 7 years.
Come on Pedro.

Tom

So I thought Leno was the better shot stopper but weaker with his feet and coming for crosses.
Now Emi is also better at slapping balls away just the right places from close quarters shots?!?!

At this rate by the time the season is over Emi would’ve kept 38 clean sheets had he stayed at Arsenal to complement his league leading 25 assists.

Hitman

Emi: I’m better than Leno.
Arteta : Not so sure
Emi: If you can see that, you haven’t got a clue mate. I’m off.
Was that the gist of it?
Too many inexplicable mistakes from Arteta creeping in…
Why not just play an in form Eddie down the middle?